A VOW OF STARS

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CHAPTER SEVEN

all of me, a wound to close

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Elayla couldn't find the courage to say anything about the house stretching around her, it was beautiful yes, but something about it felt so wrong. It wasn't home. Home was on the other side of Velaris,locked and abandoned, a fragment lost of a now shattered girlhood. 

"How do you like it, kiddo." Cassian's hand found her frail shoulder. Elayla stared up at her uncle, the one who was considered the more qualified to take care of her in that inconvenient situation.

She still remembered that afternoon, barely two weeks after that night, all four of them gathered up in Rhysand's office, voices were raiseing and bad blood stirring, untily they decided that Cassian -The Lord of Bloodshed, note the sarcasm- was the one who emotionally stable enough to take her in.

"No offense, shadow singer, but you will turn the girl into a mute statue." Amren told Azriel with her usual harsh tone.

"As if you would turn her into a ray of sunshine." Morrigan was quick to defend the spymaster, her warm brown eyes glaring daggers at the night court's second in command.

"Can you stop making this about us and remember that we're here for Layla." Cassian cut the fight before it could even beging, making Elayla's heart loosen up a bit. 

They didn't know she was eavesdropping at them, they didn't know she heard every advantage and inconveniance she now represented. An heir without a throane.

"I say Cass should take her in." Azriel's voice finally said, staring at his brother. "You're the one she trusts the most after Rhys, and you are the most emotionally available one out of the four of us."

Amren and Mor stared at each other. "That actually... makes a lot of sense." The princess to the court of nightmares.

"What?" Cassian took a step back. "Mor is her blood related family." He tried to reason.

"Elayla is not used to having a feminine parental figure, having me or Morrigan keep her would only disturb her further, and we don't need someone as powerful as her freaking out." Amren agreed, giving Cassian a tough stare. 

"I don't want to screw up Rhys's child." Cassian scowled at the ancient one, his eyes narrowing at her.

"Believe it or not, Cassian, you're the one who'll screw up her the less than any of us." Azriel sighed.

Cassian's kind hazel eyes carried a deep sadness, one that she felt in her bones. Everyone was sinking, she already reached the bottom. She mustered up her best smile. "Your house is beautiful, Ujak."

"It's our house now, Layla." He knelt down to get into her height, looking her in the eyes. "Look, Lays. I know that I'm not Rhys, and I can never be him, but I am here, and I will do anything he would do for you. Anything." He emphasised. 

Her throat constricted, tears stung her eyes. "I know." She nodded quietly, biting on her cheek. She wouldn't  cry again. Never again would she let her broken heart act on her behalf. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me for it." He ruffled her hair gently. 

Elayla looked around at her new room. It wasn't as grand as the one she used to have, but it was pretty by neutral standards. There was a small garden, a cosy living room, enough life space for her not to get overwhelmed.

Her eyes roamed across the stuff she brought with her, her Rhysie, fixated on the handmade paper butterfly sitting on her nightstand. Her heart cracked at it.

She wasn't going back to Windhaven anytime soon. She wasn't going to see Alaric anymore, the boy with the sandy brown hair and golden eyes. The one who showed her what having a friend felt like.

They had met a few times after that eventful nights, since her father had the generosity of letting the boy use the family cabin when they weren't around. Layla assumed that it's because he reminded him of a younger version of Cassian  and Azriel.

Her soul ached even more.

Her Baba was gone, life as she knew it was gone. And a small, almost inexistent part of her was ready to do anything to wake up from this nightmare, including dying.