Azriel relied on the light of the day to save him from the darkness. To keep him from the shadows and scars that haunted his nightmares.
Tahlia relied on the darkness to save her from the light. By keeping to the shadows, she can protect her future...
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One is not what they think they are,
But instead what they choose to hide...
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A light patter of rouge danced across the spanse of her cheeks and bridging across her nose. It was the robes- Cassian decided- the silk white of her robes that made the pink tint and her caramelised skin that every bit more striking. As if she was purity personified. Divine. Ethereal, almost.
Was it wrong to want to be the one to corrupt her? To see her explode into nothing but light and flames. From a gentle, careful creature into something that toed the line of ferocity. But then again...
Then again there was that glint of wonder, of playfulness, of fire that flashed across her eyes that made him think she might just already be there.
Rhys cleared his throat beside him and took a step forward in greeting. "Cassian, I'd like to introduce you to Helion's Third, and his personal seer. Tahlia."
Cassian was sure he was grinning, if only because of the way she shyly ducked her face away out of view, quickly joining Helion's side. And if anything, it made him stand that little bit taller. That little bit broader.
"Friend, Rhysand. There's no formalities between Tahlia and I. She works for me just like Cassian and your other lap dog works for you." Cassian was quick to snort at that, storing it in a safe corner in the back of his mind. He already looked forward to it, the moment he relayed such a message back to the Spymaster later, then perhaps to Mor... just for good measure. "She's as much family to me as they are you."
And gods damn it if he saw the female blush one more time he might just sweep her straight off her feet there and then and steal her away to the Night Court. In fact, he very much liked the sound of that. How he'd never been graced with her presence before was just positively infuriating.
There had never been an ounce of understanding of Tamlin, keeping the woman he fell in love with locked away from the outside world. Worried that she'd break or be stolen away from him. Now Cassian only wondered how Helion hadn't done the same. It was an awful thought. He knew that. Rhys most likely knew that too if the burning of Rhys' gaze into the back of his head was anything to go by.
"You've managed to keep her very quiet, Helion. Why?" Because Cauldron did he want to know the answer. Though he wouldn't blame the Lord for a moment for keeping such a gentle, sweet thing so far away from the nightmares outside the castle walls. It sort of reminded him of a fairytale he'd been told once by his mother.
Helion took one menacing step forward, eyebrows creasing and face contorting into a blatant warning. It might've been imagined, the way the sun seemed to be sucked from the room, leaving a frosty coldness in its place. No, that couldn't have been a figment of his imagination, but the High Lord's doing.
