The Velaria Discussion

THE VELARIA DISCUSSION

✦ ───── ✧ Rhysand's Poor Choices ✧ ───── ✦

Velaria

"You're up." His voice was rough, as if he hadn't spoken for days.

Velaria carefully studied her mate, tracking every detail of him that was different from when he had left for his mission. "Always," she said quietly. "Always."

His hazel eyes softened as he recognized the meaning behind just what, exactly, she was saying. He looked away from her, turning towards the windows.

He unbuttoned the leathers surrounding his torso, leaving a charcoal tunic that he also began to unbutton. Underneath the tunic was a black impenetrable top that, as he reached to unclasp the top from around his wings, revealed the new scars and cuts now dotting his waist. He continued until he was shirtless, and it was then that Velaria noticed the blood soaked bandages encircling his right shoulder.

Velaria only gestured, and he knelt on the bed in front of her. She rose to her own knees, carefully unwrapping the bandages with steady hands until the wound was revealed.

A muscle in Azriel's jaw twitched as she gently ran her fingers over its tender edges. "Bastards shot me with an arrow dipped in ash while I was investigating," he grunted. "It wasn't an ash arrow, but..."

Velaria shook her head, her power beginning to flow out of her hand and into the wound, slowly stitching it together. "And because of the ash, it couldn't heal," she said after a moment. The last bit of glowing power stopped flowing, and she sighed. "Done."

She couldn't stop the pang of worry that flashed through her at the sight of the new scar adorning his shoulder. She had left a scar in her healing work because, although she could easily remove it, the scars meant something to Azriel, just as her scars did to her.

"I was being careful, Vel," Azriel said quietly, having sensed her worry. "I promise."

"I know." Velaria looked away from him, exhaling. "You're working far too much, Az."

She could feel his gaze burning into her. "Vel, your brother controls my schedule, and you know tha–"

"He keeps assigning you to far too grueling missions," she continued, summoning fresh bandages and wrapping them around the wound. "I don't want to sound selfish, but I barely see you anymore."

Azriel's hazel eyes glinted at that. "It is never my intention to have my job take me away from you," he said in a low voice.

Velaria placed her hands on his bare chest, unable to contain the hurt any longer. "Then do something about it," she cried. "You come home late at night, and you leave early in the morning. Sometimes you don't even come home for a few days. But when you do come home you're wounded or bloody or you get nightmares that wake you up. But I wake up to an empty bed, terrified that today will be the day that you don't return to me."

Azriel brought a scarred hand to her cheek, his thumb reaching up to wipe away the tears now falling from her eyes at the words she previously hadn't been able to speak. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice breaking along with her heart. "I don't mean for you to be scared for me. I'm sorry that you have been hurting and I didn't notice."

He pulled her head into his chest, running his hands through her hair. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "I'm so sorry," he rasped, voice thick with tears and body tensed.

"It's not your fault, Az."

"But I've thrown myself into my work to distract myself, Vel," he said, the corners of his eyes glinting with silver. "It is my fault because I needed to ignore my grief, but in doing so I forgot you were hurting, too. I'm so, so sorry."