The Forgotten Sister: An Azriel fanfiction

A Backup Plan

Cal's PoV:

Mor, Cassian and Amren were so drunk that Azriel had to winnow them in front of the house and get them to their beds.

The thought of winnowing made Cal feel sick and Azriel gave her an understanding nod.

"It will be dawn in a few hours," said Azriel, sitting down beside Cal who was sitting on the bank of the Sidra. "Rhys said-"

"That I have to be back before Feyre wakes up," completed Cal. "I am going, don't worry. I just- I like this view. Its pretty."

She was looking at the stars above her and how they reflected on the Sidra to make a glowing rainbow. Azriel stayed quiet beside her, and somehow, there was peace in that.

Silence was peace.

"Should I be worried about your work tomorrow?" asked Cal, looking at Azriel who looked at her face in confusion.

"Why?" asked Azriel.

"You are a spy. Your work tomorrow probably involves infiltrating some enemy place and risking your life if you got caught."

"The work is worrisome. I meant, why would you worry?"

"Why not?" asked Cal, nervously chuckling. "Rhys wanted us to be friends. I think the first stage of friendship is worrying about the other's safety."

"Well, Cal, thank you for your concern. But, I will be fine. I wont really be entering any place. I will just be watching. From far."

"Good."

"How did you end up at Amarantha's?" asked Azriel suddenly and looked at her unflinchingly, as if he wasn't even apologetic for the question.

In a way, Cal appreciated that. She hated having people walk on eggshells around her.

"I was caught," replied Cal simply. "I was in the woods beside the wall, you see. Feyre is my younger sister; cousin sister to be specific. We were just a year apart. My father, who is Feyre's father's brother, had married against the family's wishes, and then had me. My mother passed away shortly after, and my father dropped me off at my uncle's to be taken care of. But my father had bad habits like gambling and drinking, and soon he befriended my uncle's business friends and loaned money from them. When he became unable to pay back the loan, my father disappeared, leaving my uncle and aunt to take care of me. Of course, my father was part of the reason why the loan sharks beat up my uncle, why our family descended into poverty. When our family descended into poverty, Feyre decided to hunt for food. And I accompanied her. A fourteen-year old girl shouldn't be entering the forest alone, you see."

"Odd," said Azriel with a laugh and Cal looked sharply at him. "You too were just fifteen. Not that big a gap."

"Yes. But she was my younger sister, I couldn't let her go alone. Then one day, Feyre wasn't well. She had a fever and we had no food. So, I told her to rest and went to the forest. I waited there till dawn had drawled on to day and then to noon and dusk. I couldn't go home without food. So I decided to stay there. That's when I noticed a rabbit. A big rabbit. I had originally thought that it must be a faerie by its size. The rabbit could feed my family for at least two days. So, I went after it with my hunting knife, and then it disappeared. I searched around in the bushes until I found a wall with a big hole in it. I knew it was the boundary but I couldn't help it. My family was hungry. I had to get them food. So, I entered Prythian, searching for the rabbit that had so unwittingly escaped. And then I got caught. Maybe my human scent attracted the Attor to me and he took me to Amarantha. I was hoping that my uncle would at least come looking for me. But later, I learnt from Feyre, that after I had disappeared, he had told them a story as to how my father had come back and taken me with them, ensuring that nobody would ever come looking for me. I understand why he did that though: I was not his own daughter, in fact, my father was half the reason for the entire family's misfortunes. I was not worth the trouble of searching for. He was just protecting the family, and so he lied. And so my disappearance went absolutely unnoticed."