A Court of Gold and Shadows

Romance is not dead if you keep it just yours - Chapter 2

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Chapter 2: Gwyneth Bedara, Valkyrie

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Cassian thought he was going crazy.

Ever since he had talked to Azriel about Mor...there seemed to be a minute shift in his behaviour. It had taken a while until Cassian could put his finger on it though.

Azriel seemed much more...content. Quicker to smile, quicksilver things that disappeared quickly. Even his shadows seemed happier. Calmer.

No longer nearly strangling him, like they had done after Elain and Lucien got engaged and then married... Then, Cassian had often caught a peek at how the shadows clung to Azriel's bare skin like they were part of him. Like they didn't dare to leave him alone in fear of...something.

Cassian had never allowed himself to think about what that could be. But now...now they were back to swirling behind him, sometimes darting out to investigate something and Azriel seemed...calmer.

Calmer and intense .

Cassian was waiting for something to happen, something to tell him who it was that Azriel had given the flowers to. He clearly had bought them with an intended recipient and Cassian just knew that it wasn't him.

The flowers had been too beautiful for a joke. Azriel had given them to somebody he liked.

And Cassian was going to find out who it was.

And then he did. They were at another training session at the House of Wind, when Azriel's voice reached his ears, talking to Gwyn, one of the Valkyries, One of Nesta's best friends.

"Is the teapot working?" Azriel asked, his voice sounding hesitant and pleased and Cassian couldn't help but watch that whole interaction because for cauldron's sake what were they talking about?

Gwyn smiled at Azriel, twirling a strand of hair around a finger. It was...

Huh.

Now he was curious.

"Oh yes, it's great!" Gwyn responded, her smile blinding. "Though you really didn't need to do that..." That was all Cassian needed to hear.

Gwyneth Bedara.

Azriel had found himself a pretty, red-haired priestess to love, hadn't he? A priestess and a warrior. Somehow that seemingly fitted him just perfectly.

And if Azriel had bought Gwyn a teapot of all things...maybe all the other gifts had just been used to wash away any evidence of him doting on her? Maybe Azriel was courting her?

Maybe he was keeping it quiet for some reason, both of them unsure and not wanting to share with their family yet. That would make sense.

Oh, he was so happy for Az!

Nearly giddy with excitement he went to meet his brother in the training ring.

He kept his mouth shut, not without difficulty, though that was because Azriel was trying to put him on his ass that day, Even managing to burn out one of his siphons.

Replacing them usually sucked because they were worked into the leather that held them into place. If one needed to replace them...well, then the only way to do that was to open up a seam at the edge, carefully work out the old one, slide a new one in place and sew it back up. Not exactly user-friendly. Better than them flying all over the place though.