Chapter Text
Azriel felt his eyes becoming heavy. Hours ago he had finally laid down in his oversized king bed, made specifically for his wings. The cloud-like softness of the mattress, with dark blues and greys on the pillows and comforter made it warm and inviting.
Too bad it did not invite rest.
He had given up on pacing around his bedroom in the House of Wind long after the sun had gone down over Velaris. He should be exhausted, spending his days staying in the shadows spying around Prythian, nights awake endlessly thinking about…
He shook his head. He needed sleep, not to spend more time thinking of someone he can’t have.
He took a deep breath and slowly felt his body giving into sleep, when the unmistakable scent of sex wafted through his room. Azriel frowned and opened his eyes. Cassian and Nesta were busy again. It was the third time that night.
Their constant mating didn’t help the situation. Azriel did everything he could to ignore it, but Rhysand had gifted them the House for their mating ceremony. It was theirs, they were allowed to use it how they pleased, even if their wild animal mating scent covered every inch of the place.
Azriel sighed and swung his legs over the bed. He was awake now. He rubbed his eyes with his index finger and thumb before standing on the cold stone floor, tapping his siphon to don his Illyrian armour. Another sleepless night meant another night of training.
Stepping out onto the open balcony facing the Sidra, Azriel gently pushed off the balcony and flew up to the training ring, dropping from the sky a little higher than normal. He landed heavy on the hard floor next to the weapons rack, grabbing his favourite sword.
Taking the weapon to the middle of the ring, he braced himself in a fighting stance when the subtle shift of the air alerted him to the presence of another.
Azriel smirked, “You’re up late.” He turned to see Rhys standing a few feet from him, wearing a black silk shirt and pants, the male definitely coming from his own bedroom.
“I just put Nyx back to sleep, I could feel that you were up.” Rhys said that as though it was common for Fae to feel if their friends were awake late into the night, “Something bothering you, Az?”
So much. “No.”
Rhys nodded, Azriel knew his High Lord didn’t believe him but he let the lie slide. “So training in the middle of the night is just something you do for fun?”
“You can’t,” he paused for a moment, “ sense Cassian and Nesta up here.”
Rhys chuckled and leaned against the wall of the training ring, “I’ll give you that.” He paused, “My offer still stands, if you would prefer your own space, the townhouse is yours.”
Azriel had thought about leaving the House of Wind and taking up residence in the now empty townhouse in the middle of Velaris. He would be alone, no Cassian, no Nesta, Feyre and Rhys were busy now with Nyx and their duties as High Lord and Lady of the Night Court.
But he would still be able to sense her. To smell her baked bread and the roses she planted. He would think of her every time he saw the garden, every time the windows were open and the fresh scent of floral wafted through the house.
Azriel shook his head, “I’m not here much anyway.”
Rhys nodded, “If you ever change your mind…” Rhys audiably sniffed as his brows furrowed together, throwing Azriel a quick smirk. “You’re leaving again then?”
Azriel nodded, thankful his brother was changing the subject, “When the sun rises I am going to the border of the Winter and Autumn Courts. My spies say dark things are happening there.”
Rhys hummed, his eyes pensive, “it’s too far away for myself or Feyre to sense if something happened. I am uneasy with you going.”
“Koschei is up to something, we need to be prepared.”
Rhys straightened up, more power flowing off him, “I don’t like it.”
“We won’t get anywhere in this war without information. I’m going.” Azriel knew Rhysand was only throwing his weight around because he was worried, because he and Feyre didn’t want anything happening to him. But without his spying, Koschei could be planning anything, and Azriel did not want them left unaware. He sighed, “I’ll be careful.”
Rhys sighed, “how long will you be gone?”
“Three days.”
Rhys nodded slowly, thinking, “Two days maximum. Come back as soon as the sun goes down on the second day and we’ll re-evaluate from there.”
Rhysand went still, his eyes focused on the wall behind Azriel, a small smile on his face. He was having a conversation with his mate. Rhysand’s bright eyes flicked to Azriel, “Looks like my mate is wondering where I got off to this late at night.”
Azriel smirked, “That took longer than I thought.”
“Well she gave us a couple of extra minutes before asking when I was coming back.” Rhys looked at him, his violet eyes bearing into Azriel, “I’m serious. Two days or we’ll come looking.” With that, Rhys winnowed away, leaving Azriel alone once again in the training ring.
Azriel exhaled and flipped the sword in his hand. He was exhausted, his body and mind spent. He wasn’t sure the last time he got more than a couple of hours of sleep, let alone a full night's rest. He rubbed his eyes again before refocusing his beyond tired mind on training.
He practised with his sword until the stars in the sky began fading as the crisp autumn morning started to rise. Exhausted, muscles tight, Azriel put away the sword and headed into the House, back to his room for a bath before he would take his leave.
The bath was already waiting for him when he returned to his room, the House having heated the water to a steaming temperature, soaps smelling of spice and musk filling the room. Tapping his siphons again, his armour vanished and Azriel lowered his body into the scalding waters.
Two days. Rhys had given him two days to gather information about Koschei. He had been trying for weeks to get information about the Autumn Court, how involved Beron truly was with Koschei, watching from the shadows, waiting.
Azriel slowly hauled himself out of the bath and dried off before donning his Illyrian fighting leathers again. He headed down to the dining room for breakfast before he would winnow out. He hoped he could avoid seeing Cassian and Nesta before leaving, he didn’t need them asking questions either.
Thankfully, the dining room was empty. The house left out a plate of fresh bread, cheeses and meats along with a pot of tea. Azriel took his plate and poured a cup, trying his best to choke down the food, which tasted like ash in his mouth.
Just as he downed the last of his tea, footsteps from outside the dining room alerted him to the arrival of his mated roommates.
Nesta entered first, her hair tightly wound in a braided crown on her head. She wore a simple gossamer gown of dark blue, swooped down from her neck. She smiled quickly at him as she took her place at the dining table, pouring two cups of tea.
Cassian stomped in after, smiling broadly, “You’re up early.” He commented, eyes narrowing on his brother.
“Are you leaving?” Nesta asked.
Azriel nodded, “yes, my spies have said something is happening down on the border between the Winter and Autumn Courts.”
“Does Rhys know?” Cassian’s eyes narrowed on him.
“Yes.”
“And he’s…ok with it?”
Azriel noticed his brother and his mate eyeing him down. He knew he looked tired, and he knew the others were just showing the same level of concern as Rhys had during the night. “He gave me the timeline. Just watching and gathering.”
Cassian sat down next to Nesta, looking ready to either fight with Azriel on the decision or offer to join him, but Nesta put her hand gently on his muscled arm, “Are you meeting with Eris?” She asked.
Azriel shook his head, “No.” The eldest son of the Autumn Court High Lord had reluctantly given Azriel information a couple of times on the Death gods movements, but it wasn’t very useful. Azriel was unsure how involved Beron truly was with the Death God, and if he was, how much he shared with his son.
“And you’ll be careful?” Cassian asked, again eyes narrowing.
He sighed, “If you think I can’t-”
Cassian put up his hands, “No, no just assessing the risks. If you’re not back in two days, we’re coming looking for you.”
Azriel rolled his eyes and gave them both a quick goodbye before leaving the dining room. As he headed towards the stars he could hear their mumbled voices. Azriel bounded up to the training ring again, taking in the early morning sun before pushing off the ground and flying out over the Sidra.
He looked down at Velaris, the city slowly waking up. People were out on the streets below, shops were bringing their products and produce outside to the sidewalks. People were shopping, sitting at cafes, he could hear their laughter.
He sighed and re-focused his mind. He had long cleared the enchantments of the House of Wind, not allowing winnowing for everyone but Rhys and Feyre. He wanted to fly that morning, enjoy the crisp air and the sun. There was nothing like flying over Velaris to bring joy to his heart.
As he cleared the borders of the city, he winnowed into shadow and disappeared from the Night Court.
He winnowed to the borders of the two courts, the icy wind blasting through his dark hair. He was hidden by thick, dark trees, but just ahead of him he could see the swirling, not quite frozen waters of the lake just across the border into the Winter Court.
Azriel shivered, the last time he was in this area was when he and Cassian had saved Feyre and Lucien from Eris and two other Vanserra brothers. Azriel kept his wits about him as the wind howled through the trees. His spies had said movement from unknown soldiers had been seen in these parts of Prythian, he only hoped he would find enough information to return to Rhysand and Feyre with.