A Court of Flame and Shadow (Azriel x eris)

Chapter 38: Azriel

Azriel was still talking to the Lady of Autumn - Cassandra, when the sun slipped below the horizon. She had come out of her shell quickly, and had an awful  lot to get of her chest. Of course she did, she had been imprisoned since she was twenty, the only joy in her life her sons. And even with seven them, only two of them were ever going to be loveable. Only two of them had survived Beron.

Cassandra had informed him that after Breons murder, her sons had ran, just like their coward father would have. A bounty had been sent out for them, of course, and they had been retured to the castle promptly. They were never very smart, and never any good at hiding games, she told him. They now sat in the dungeons, awaiting sentancing by Eris, whenever he may return.  

She had gone silent after that, and Azriel didn't need his shadows to tell him who she was thinking of. 

"Why don't you ask him to come?" He asked quietly, wringing his hands in his lap. Was it a stp over the line?

Cassandra laughed. "He'll never come. And even if he wanted to, Thesan wouldn't let him."

Azriel gave her a puzzled look. "Why would that ever be the case? Thesan lets my family be here, why wouldn't he let someone be there for you?"

She pursed her lips. "I haven't been with him in a long time, Azriel."

Azriel furrowedd his brows. Just how withdrawn had she become, locking in Berons puratory. He knew what isolation could do to a person, make them belive they were unworthy of everything, but...

"Do you have any idea how much he loves Lucien? I never really listened when Lucien spoke about him, I could never really look at him without thinking of Eris, but I heard what he said, every word. It's crystal clear, Helion loves Lucien, and he wants a family. You can be part of that family! You are part of that family! He is the father of your son, and dammit does he love you."

Cassandra sighed. "Just because he loves his son doesn't mean he loves me."

"Why are you so hard on yourself?"

"Oh, you're one to talk."

"Hey- this isn't about me. This is about you. Write him a letter right now, he'll be here before you even send it. I'm serious, Cassandra. If I could kill the male that stood between me and Eris, you can send a letter the distance between you and Helion."

~

Cassandra left, promising to send letter in the morning, which would roll around in only a few hours anyway. Time had slipped right though his fingers, and another day had passed with his mate asleep, as good as dead. 

The owl was back, cooing relentlessly this time. No screaming distured his hollow stature though, which surely was an improvment.

Shadows hummed in his ears, whispering the same words over and over, the words they had repeated every day since her had arrived in dawn. He can hear you! He listens...

Stupid things, Azriel thought. The had developed a nasty habit of lying to him recently, which was surely what this was. but what if they weren't lying? What if, lying there, pale and hollow, his mate heard every little thing he did? Felt every stroke of scarred hands over his cheeks, every kiss on the forehead, every hand run though hair?

What if he could hear the song the shadows had sung to Azriel when he was trapped in his fathers basement, if Azriel sung it to him? 

"I've been meaning to tell you,
I think your house is haunted,
Your dad is always mad and that must be why.
And I think you should come live with me,
And we can be pirates,
Then you won't have to cry,
Or hide in the closet.
And just like a folk song, 
Our love will be passed on."

By the time Azriel reached the final note, sobs wracked his body uncontrollably. His shakey hands reached for Eris's face of its own accord, perhaps hoping that Eris would wake. But his mate remainded quiet, although perhaps a ghost smile crossed his lips.

Or perhaps Azriel imagined it.