A Court Of Flowers And Shadows {Azriel Shadowsinger}

Chapter Nine

Why was everything so bloody loud? The manor hadn't been this loud in decades so it was definitely a shock to the system for Amara when she left her bedroom (feeling dizzy already) and she was greeted with the bustling sounds of a manor that was long forgotten. It felt like her entire head was being split open and she was fairly certain that she was bloated beyond comprehension. Amara avoided a corset dress that morning just for that reason. She didn't need to make herself feel any worse about her figure than she already did. 

The manor was never this loud so why was it now? Amara's theory was that it was because she was hungover and the world currently hated her. That this was the world's way of making her feel even worse about going behind her brother's back and making a deal with their rivals. Then again, she was probably just being extra dramatic about the whole thing and the manor was probably just as loud as it always was. Then again...

Even the thud of the glass of water that Tamlin set down beside her was too loud for Amara to manage. She groaned and ran a hand through her hair as she sat up, wincing away from the bright sunlight that was currently streaming through the windows and in to the dining room. She never could understand why all of those windows were always uncovered. Just because they lived in eternal spring didn't mean that they also had to live in eternal sunshine. There are always moments where sunlight streaming in to the building is not necessary and when half the court is hungover, those curtains need to be closed. It was just excessive to have to be blinded at all hours of the day.

After her bargain with Rhys and making sure that Feyre was safely tucked away in her room, Amara had stayed out all night in her clearing, scribbling on a piece of paper and drinking from her stolen bottle of wine. Obviously she had decided to take some of Tamlin's best but that was purely for the reason that she just couldn't be bothered to go and get anything from her own stash. It just made sense for her to take some of Tamlin's instead. She'd never found that piece of paper that she'd scribbled all of her drunken thoughts on. When she went to throw it away as soon as she got home, she found that it wasn't in her pocket so she just assumed that she had just dropped it somewhere in the woods. It wasn't a big issue, it was just a piece of paper with the drunken ramblings of her mind on them.

"Why do we have to have the curtains open? It is way too bright in here and the sun is right in my eyes," Amara complained with a sigh as she laid her head against her arms on the table.

"Just swap seats with Lucien if it's bugging you that much," Tamlin commented, much to Lucien's annoyance who was very quick to argue against it.

"What?! No! Then it'll be in my eyes instead!"

"Honestly, Lucien, you truly are a gentleman. Such a catch," Amara said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes as Feyre walked into the room.

The first thing that Amara's eyes went to when Feyre walked in to the dining room was the bite mark that was painfully obviously in the crook of Feyre's neck. She raised an eyebrow at the mortal girl who just shrugged and took her seat, causing Amara and Lucien to share an amused look. The pair seemed to be sharing that look a lot more recently since Feyre had moved in with them. Amara noticed an all too familiar glint of mischief in Lucien's hazel eye which made her lightly shake her head at him. Though that was a bit pointless as when Lucien was teasing a mood, there wasn't much that could stop him from acting on it.

Amara knew better than to be around when things blew up in Lucien's face from the round of teasing that was about to occur so she grabbed her cup of coffee and sent Feyre an apologetic smile before she excused herself from the lunch table. There was only one room in the entire manor where she would be able to control how much light was allowed to blind her and that was her own bedroom. She closed the door with her hip before she made her way over to her curtains, closing all but one all the way so that she still had a little bit of light flowing in to the room so she could still a read a book if she so desired.

That was when she saw the piece of paper with her drunken thoughts scribbled all over it on her bedside table.

Only now, there was another person's handwriting on it as well.

Handwriting that she knew all too well.

Handwriting that made her heart flutter at the sight of it. 

Handwriting that had never actually been addressed to her before now.