Chapter Text
Azriel still did not cry. He still did not wake up. He didn’t think he ever would again.
Lucien’s Home
Azriel almost fell to his knees mid-winnow as he was ripped away from the throne room. Ripped away from the other half of his soul. Ripped away from Eris.
It felt as though all the breath had been squeezed from his lungs.
He felt the world ripple and pull as they made several jumps until they stood directly in front of Lucien’s door. He had been staying on the border of the Dawn and Winter Courts acting as emissary of the Day court.
Shadows swirled around Azriel hiding him from sight as he attempted to fill his lungs but no matter how many breaths went in and out the overwhelming squeeze around his chest was unrelenting. Every breath was more painful than the one before, his lungs were on fire, and raw and hot breaths ghosted across his tongue as he took lungful after lungful of burning air. Three booming knocks broke him from his reverie as he looked up and his shadows parted, momentarily startled forgetting where he was. Before he had time to fully process Lucien threw the door open.
“What do you….” His sentence cut short as he took in all three Illirians standing on his doorstep. His metal eye whirring between the three before finally settling on Azriel.
“May we come in?” Rhys asked, although it sounded more like a command than a request.
Lucien opened the door fully to allow them entry, his eyes never leaving Azriel.
The male was dressed casually in a thin white shirt cuffed at the wrist and brown riding pants with only thin multicolored rings adorning his ears in varying shades of pink, blue, and orange. Only one small braid adorned with gold bands trailed over his left ear leaving the rest loose around his shoulders. The choice in clothing and jewelry was a conglomeration of different court styles, befitting of a male who did not call any one court his home but wandered through all of Prythian like a leaf on the wind changing with the seasons.
The shuffling of feet across the wooden floor was the only noise reverberating throughout the small apartment as the males made their way to the seats in the living area.
The room was small, but not uncomfortable, more a cozy sort of small. Despite Lucien never settling down for long he seemed to have made himself at home as small objects and items throughout the room clearly held some sort of sentiment to the male. Books on the history of every court, a small golden statue of the sun dangling by a golden chain, a frame of pressed wildflowers, a small glass dome with a flame flickering within. To bring these items from place to place as he traveled and take the time to display them, they certainly must have meant a great deal to the male.
A gentle clearing of Rhysands throat had Azriel breaking his gaze from the flame within the jar and drawing his attention back to the auburn-haired male before him as he inclined his head towards the couch indicating for them to sit.
“Well, we have good news and better news which would you like first?” Rhys quirked a dark eyebrow.
“Does it matter if they’re both good?” Lucien drawled condescendingly, sounding just a tad too much like Eris for Azriel’s comfort.
“Well good news is Eris made his move for the throne and Beron is dead.”
Lucien snapped both eyes to Rhys, his jaw going slack.
Silence heavy and thick covered the room, only broken by the occasional whir or click from Lucien’s mechanical eye as he stared blankly at the empty fireplace.
Finally just as Azriel was beginning to feel as though the silence was slowly sucking all the oxygen from the room Lucien shuffled forward on his feet and began speaking.
“By the cauldron, I honestly didn’t think he would do it.” as he made his way to a chair in the sitting room and flopped carelessly into it.
Rhys and Cassian both took a seat on the couch across from Lucien while Azriel stood behind. Shadows swarming about, his lungs still uncomfortably tight.
“Well if that’s the good news what could possibly be your better news?” Lucien asked, with a curious gleam in his eye.
“ Ahh yes, that little thing. Well, it seems that your dear eldest prick of a brother underestimated the power needed to kill Beron as he managed to get himself killed in the process as well.” Rhys said, violet eyes twinkling.
It took a significant amount of effort for Azriel not to physically bristle at the harsh words from his brother regarding his m-
“You still with us bud,” Cassian said waving a hand in front of a visibly pale Lucien.
Lucien’s metal eye whirring and clicking the only sound in the tense room as he scanned each of them looking to see if this was some sort of trick.
His metal eye started spinning wildly once landing on Azriel and Lucien’s brows furrowed in thought. Azriel wondered not for the first time what exactly the male was able to see with his metal eye. Lucien looked Azriel up and down for a moment longer than was comfortable and finally rested both his metal and russet eye on Azriel’s siphon, the one placed on his chest above his heart. The heart that was currently beating out of his chest as Azriel tried to quickly establish what exactly had Lucien so captivated. Lucien’s eye narrowed, almost imperceptibly at the very spot where Azriel had felt the bond golden, pure, and full of love just hours ago.
Thankfully Lucien merely shook his head as though to clear his mind and looked back to Cassian.
“I’m surprised. My brother is not one to miscalculate things, especially with the stakes being as high as they were. What happened?”
“Well, we are not entirely sure what happened as there was no one else there when we arrived,” Rhys says, watching Lucien critically.
“What do you mean no one?” Lucien’s hands flexed and curled into tight fists at his side.
“No one means well no one. Not a soldier nor servant in sight. Not even one of your damned brothers, just Beron and Eris.” Cassian said, his wings rustling behind him as he adjusted his seat on the couch.
“My mother?” Lucien asked quickly, worry flashed across his face, there and gone in an instant. Typical Vanserra always the mask of indifference Azriel thought to himself.
Azriel spoke up before his brothers could say anything. “Not there but alive. My shadows tell me she is currently in Day although I do not know if that occurred before or after the death of Beron” as he pointedly avoided looking at Lucien while answering.
Rhys raised his eyebrows at this information that had been unshared with his High Lord until this moment. Azriel currently did not have the capacity to care about Rhys’ High Lord ego being hurt by not sharing one tiny little detail of this whole fiasco of a day.
“Oh… Well, that is… Unexpected” Lucien closes his eyes, brows furrowing, lost deep in thought.
A long uncomfortable moment of silence engulfs the room.
“I think I actually have some emissary business to attend to in Day.” He says as he reopens his eyes staring at Rhys as though to challenge him to say something.
“Oh yes, emissary business of course,” Rhys says standing from the couch, Cassian following quickly behind. “Best we leave you to pack then. Give Hellion our greeting.” Rhys said as he stood, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Well, this has been a very enlightening afternoon. Now unless you three are staying for tea I’ll show you out.” Lucien said, already standing to lead them out.
As he moved towards the door he caught Azriel’s gaze and lowered his voice just a hair as though what he said next was just for him to hear. “I am very glad that Beron is dead and I hope that he suffers in the lowest pits of hell for all eternity for all the suffering he caused.”
Azriel looked away but not before Lucien saw a flash of furry pass through the shadowsingers eyes.
The three crowded onto the small front porch as the door clicked shut behind them and Rhys winnowed them all back to the River House.