𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫 || 𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 ||

21. Verlaris p.t iii

This is the last part of Verlairs, I promise!!!! (For now 😉)

_*_*_*_*_*

Meira:

The blade feels comforting in my hand, like a cool breeze on a summer's day. The bonfires on New Year's Day.

It feels right.

There's no pain, no burning, searing pain.

Just a cool, silver crescent knife in my hand.

It fits perfectly.

I test it out, feet positioned, as I move the blade with my wrist, turning and twisting it like a fan in a dance before throwing it up in the air and catching in perfectly.

"Thank you," I whisper to the lady, and she nods, before Turing away.

Az looks at me, then back at the knife.

A small smirk spreads across his face. "How about a detour?"

*_*_*_*_*_*_*

"This is..."

Perfect. Heaven. Hell.

All in one really.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," I say slowly as me and Az circle each other in the ring, both of us in training gear, Az with his shirt off - looking very, very fit, which makes me sure many ladies has swoon over him. Or men. Whoever really, and for some reason, a sense of possessiveness flickers through me before it's gone, like a candle blown out. I frown, trying to place where it came from, but I can't.

But then my gaze rests on his many scars and burns and whip marks. How strong he was to withstand all of that.

And that could only make me think of mine...

I trace the death marks on my left arm and drift, trying to place a memory of something that doesn't exist.

"Ready?" Az says, and I nod.

He lunges, favouring his right side, at the very same time I leap out of the way. He's on offence , and I'm on defence.

My knife in hand, he comes back up at me, right hook that I defect with my right before aiming for a roundhouse kick that he manages to dive out of the way first, before coming back at me.

Punch after punch I defect and shield, before just as he tries to pull my legs from under me, I leap.

I jump and push off from the edge of the fence, faintly aware there's an audience, and I twist 360 before I land, going instantly into a forward roll and coming back up and landing a roundhouse kick of my own, sending him sprawling backwards-

With me, holding the knife aimed at his throat.

"Yield," I say, clearly, panting hard.

And then the applause starts.

"That might be the quickest takedown I've seen," A voice drawls from the side. It's only then I notice the audience, a group of Priestesses and Cassian and Nesta, along with Feyre and Rhysand.

"Thank you," I manage to say before I tear away from them in the opposite direction.

"Where did you learn that?" Another voice asks, and I turn around in time to see Nesta slowly approaching me.

She's trying.

I pause, thinking back. "You're training to be Valkyries, right?"

She nods. "We're trying to re-create them."

I smile crookedly. "Show me, and I'll show you."

"But first," I say before she leaves, "Find me a beam. And mats. Lots and lots of mats."

*_*_*_*_*

We start simple, and I show them how to mount the beam, only a couple of feet of the floor and to balance on it. It took a few rounds for them to get used to it, before I started raising it.

We practised walking, simple jumps which turned to simple leaps, keeping it only a few feet off the floor.

"Perfect," I tell one of the Priestesses, Roslin was her name. "Are you sure you weren't a dancer?"

She pauses, and sends a shy, wry smile at me. "Maybe,"

I smile back at her. "Then do you want to try something...a bit more challenging?"

She bites her lip.

"Just let me know. There's no rush," I reassure her. I turn back to Nesta. "Your go," I say, and she mount the beam and starts to do simple leaps and twists.

"Nice," I tell her and we high five at the end, and before I know it the sun is setting and the session is over.

"Help me move these over here," I tell Nesta, and she rushes over and we slowly make a stack of them at the edge of the ring.

"You were really good, you know."

"Well, you did teach me a few moves..."

"Yeah? Was I drunk or sober though?"

"Both?" Nesta asks and we both erupt into laughter.

"Come on," she tells me, and leads me into the House of Wind.

"Can we have your oldest bottle of wine, please," She asks the house, and a bottle and two glasses appear in her hand.

"Oh, who are we kidding? We don't need glasses."

That makes us burst out laughing again, but I still grab them, and we link hands as she takes me through the hallway past the dinning room, where everyone seems to be having dinner.

"We'll join you in an hour," Nesta tells them, while I try and make ignore some of the curious glances from everyone at the table, and leads me to the balcony on the edge of the house.

"So...how's Windhaven?" She pours me a glass, and I gladly take it.

"You been how was Windhaven," I roll my eyes,
"5 years and it's all gone."

"To the Flora Marketplace," Nesta declares and we clink glasses before looking out at the view.

It's beautiful, the sun has just finished falling, and dusk is upon us. The stars are already out it twinkling, and I loop upon the familiar constellations with a pang in my heart.

"I'm sorry," I tell her, meeting her blue-grey eyes that always looked more like molten steel when we were living together. "For suddenly leaving."

"I remember, you know." Nesta turns to me. "The night you were taken."

I look away.

"It's wasn't you fault," She tells me gently.

"And it wasn't yours," I tell her fiercely. Nesta is like a sister to me, and in those dark days after the war, we kept each other afloat. Just. Barely.

She rests her head in my shoulder,and I rest my head against hers, just like how we used to.

I take a small sip from my glass, having watched Nesta take a sip and be fine.

"I miss the music. The dancing." I murmur to Nesta.

"So did I. Those were the only things I valued for a long, long time. Have you played recently?"

"No." The words feel heavy. Cause a lump in my throat. "But I do miss it."

"Then play. Dance. There's a piano and a violin in the music room at the house. We can go out to Rita's tonight!"

"Yeah?"

"Yes. You're free now." She looks at me, and I see the truth I've been searching for a long time in her eyes. "None of us will let them take you again. I promise."

———-
Hey everyone!

Kinda love this chapter but it needs MAJOR editing. 🙃

Sending love and hugs!! ❤️🫶🏻🤗 xx