A Court of Gold and Shadows

Romance is not dead if you keep it just yours - Chapter 3

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Chapter 3: Eris Vanserra, Heir to the Autumn Court

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Sadly, trying to find out who Azriel's secret lover was...turned out to be a bit of an impossible feat.

There wasn't anywhere Cassian could follow along to that Azriel wouldn't find out about. There was nothing that Azriel was doing that was making it obvious who he was seeing.

It was so annoying that Cassian had no clue what he was supposed to be doing anymore. Why couldn't it just be easier?

But he wasn't the General of the Night Court Armies to give up that easily. He was not.

Cassian was going to figure this out.

One way or another.

First things first: Badger Azriel about the stupid Siphons.

"So can I have the name of the blacksmith that you are using?" he asked Azriel without preamble, watching him attentively. Maybe that was gonna give him a hint of what was going on with his brother. Maybe that would be helpful...

"I am not using a blacksmith," Azriel answered, after a moment. Cassian took in the way the shadows seemed to swirl around him more like they were telling him something and how his hands tightened nearly imperceptively. Azriel didn't have many tells, but Cassian could see them. He knew him for long enough to know him that well.

So that was the truth. He wasn't using a blacksmith. But it wasn't the whole truth. Of course, it wasn't.

"Then who else did the whole thing with the siphons for you?" he asked curiously. If it wasn't a blacksmith...though he had snuck a peek of the mechanism that held the siphons in place. It seemed too delicate for a simple blacksmith. More something a goldsmith would use. Definitely not Illyrian by origin.

But where would Azriel have found a goldsmith...

"A friend," Azriel answered, looking decisively shifty. Interesting.

"The same friend who made Nesta's hairpins?" A stab in the dark but a good one. Azriel looked less than pleased about it...maybe his friend had something to do with whoever he was seeing... "Where did you meet that friend?" Cassian kept pushing.

"Since when do you care how I spend my time?" Azriel gave back with a sigh.

"Since you got new toys to play with and aren't sharing," Cassian shot back immediately.

"I gave Nesta the hairpins, didn't I?" Azriel defended himself.

He had. Hair pins that Nesta absolutely adored and wore nearly every day these days. Azriel had come through with another set after the first, that one set with moonstones of all things. Nesta loved them just as much as the first set.

"You aren't answering the question," Cassian pointed out and Azriel gave him a very pointed look that seemingly told him, Oh really?

"You aren't going to, are you?" Cassian said with a sigh before he grinned. "Worried he'll like me more than you?"

The flinch was the last thing he had expected. Yeah, he had hit the bullseye. Unintended though.

"No. Just that I won't get any more new toys," Azriel gave back, crossing his arms.

So whoever that friend was...he was important to Azriel. Very important.

"Fine, keep your secrets," Cassian agreed, even when he was already plotting his next steps. "But I want first dibs whenever he figures out something really cool."