Females were very rare in the night court's ruling family as it was, all either die young or end up forgotten in the abyss of history.
Rhysand ever thought he'd have to father one of these, in fact, he did't believe he even deserve to be a father, u...
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PROLOGUE
are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers?
__________________
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___________________
Rhysand Anwar was definitely not in love with Elira Elez. People often assumed they were in love, truth was that even their friendship was barely hanging on by a thread. He didn't know how that happened, or when, but he could feel it, bridges burning day after day as he watched them.
Sure, they tiptoed the lines, blurred the limits in countles passionate nights they never really talked about, a few hours stolen from their hurt and lonelinesswhere they both poured their souls into each other.
Rhys watched as Ellie slept, observing each rise and fall of her chest, wondering if they'll ever be more than that, more tha the words they used to define their friendship. They just were, and he was completely satisfied with it.
He remembered the first time they crossed that red line, when Rhys was grieving and she was drunk, both trying to fill their own holes with the other, puzzle pieces fitting in the dead of night.
He traced the outline of her cheekbones, the constellations of freckles scattered across her golden brown skin, observing how her long lashes fluttered and how her face shifted from whatever dream she had. The round shape of her ears, the one clear trait of her Illyrian heritage apart from her wings.
The clipped wings he couldn't save centuries ago, the one regret he still held for all that time. "Time to wake up, Elle." He whispered into her ears gently, he soaked up every single second before he had to eventually go back home, to Velaris.
"Stay a bit longer." She mumbled sleepily, not opening her green eyes just yet.
"You know I would do, if I could." He planted a kiss on her forehead. "Mor would have my head if I stay absent another day."
"I'll miss you then, my Lord." She managed to tease through the knot in her throat. He was leaving, again. She was staying behind, again. "Don't take too long to come back to me, all right?"
"I wouldn't dream of it, my most esteemed lady." He replied with the same playful tone. "And write to me, whenever you need, I'm only one letter away."
"I know." She nodded then shifted her weight on her elbows, covering herself with the sheets that reeked of alcohol, her ad him.
She stared at him like he was a soft dream that might disappear at any given second, and deep inside, he hoped that this look meant something, that the cauldron had that string between them to be much more than that.
He put his clothes back on, hands smoothing over the wrinkled fabric that had been discarded on the floor for hours now. He didn't know that that invisible string would mysteriously vanish merely weeks later.
The next time Rhys visited that collapsing cabin in Windhaven, Elira was nowhere to be found, and not a whisper of wind was heard of her ever since.
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Author's note:
Watch me try and give actual contest to Rhys and Elle's relationship, because I HATE NO CONTEST.
Anyways, thank you guys for your votes, comments and understanding, because between med school, writing A Sky Painted Golden and trying to keep my mental health intact, I don't have much time to focus on this one.
I promise that I'll at least publish one chapter every week, until I am satisfied with it.
Love, Zyran
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