A Court of Smoke and Shadow

Chapter Thirteen: Azriel

Selene was gone the whole night.

No one knew where she was. Everyone was panicking. It was utter chaos. Rhys was so stressed, trying to figure out where she was. She couldn't have gone to Elfhame because they wouldn't let her in. Plus, she was excused from her classes at the Little Palace. So where else could she have gone?

I thought back to what she'd said about Noel. She was an oracle in Enchantia and a close personal friend of several royals throughout Enchantia - Vikander Romanov, Everly and Truly Morrow, Roth Charmaine, Saxon Skylair and his wife, Ashleigh Charmaine-Anskelisa, and, of course, Selene. She likely went to Enchantia, where she'd be closer to her friends there but somewhere we wouldn't find her. Clever little thing.

"I think she's in Enchantia," I told Rhys.

"Why do you think that?" he asked.

"It's the only other option she has," I said. "She can't go to Elfhame or they'll report it to us. She's been excused from every class at the Little Palace. So the only other option would be Enchantia."

Rhys nodded. "We'll winnow there. See if we can find her."

The others nodded their agreement and we all winnowed to Enchantia.

***

We winnowed in the general area of where Selene was.

She was apparently somewhere in a mountain range. A quick look at the map in Rhys' hands and I discerned that we were in the Avian Mountains. That and the winged people flying over our heads. Their feathered wings were in varying colors - ranging from blue to purple to green. No wonder she chose this place.

We trekked through the mountains and made our way to the palace. It was so large and open. Landing pads were in almost every part of the castle - which made sense given the Avian fly. We were stopped at the palace gates by two male avian guards.

"Do you have permission to be here?" the first one asked.

"We're looking for a female," Rhys said, avoiding the question. "Her name is Selene."

"We know her," the other male nodded. "But why are you looking for her?"

"I'm her brother," Rhys said, patience thinning.

"Yeah, well," the first male - the one with green wings - said. "She's requested to be alone. The king and queen aren't allowing visitors."

"I'm her mate," I stepped in. "I should be allowed to see her."

"You were the first person she asked not to come," the one with the purple wings said.

"Hello," Selene's voice sounded from the other side of the palace gates before I had the chance to respond.

She was flanked by two people who I presumed were Saxon Skylair and Ashleigh Charmaine-Anskelisa - who was visibly pregnant. Despite that, she was more than happy to stand next to Selene. Selene, whose eyes were rimmed with red as though she'd been crying.

"What's going on here?" Selene asked.

"They won't let us in," Cassian said, glaring at the purple winged male. "Said you prohibited us from seeing you."

"I did," she nodded. "I don't wish to be around you at the moment."

"We're your family," I protested. "Why would you do that?"

"After last night? It's deserved," Selene retorted. Turning towards the guards, she told them, "Feel free to escort them out of here. I have nothing else to say to them."

With those words, the avian guards rounded us up and shooed us off. Over the green winged avian's shoulders, I watched as Selene turned on her heel and walked away.

She didn't look back once.