A Court of Gold and Shadows

Something good and right and real: Chapter 9

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Chapter 9: know you by heart

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"It's nice. The music is good. I think you wouldn't hate it," Oriana ended her presentation of why he should accompany her to dance.

Quite frankly, Azriel had been willing to agree with anything Oriana had been saying, because she was sitting on his lap after they had shared lunch. He had managed to take a break from his duties for once and lunch with Oriana was definitely worth the detour he had needed to make it happen.

And he was more than willing to agree when Oriana told him that she liked going there with friends to dance, as it was quick stomping dances that reminded her of the mountain.

"Let's go tonight," he said impulsively. Even if he ended up hating it, he would have seen Oriana do something that she loved. He could sit through a few hours of that.

And really, sitting through a few hours with live music was a far cry from the less pleasant aspects of his job. So really...

"Yeah?" Oriana made sure, but a smile was growing on her face and he nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed, and the kiss she bestowed on him at that was worth so much more than sitting through 4 hours of music that may be horrible.

He caught her face in his hands when she pulled back, kissing her again...and then another time.

He only pulled back suddenly, when he felt a razor-sharp talon at the edge of his mind.

He wanted to curse.

It must have shown on his face because Oriana cradled his head in her hands.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, eyebrows furrowing, and he nodded.

"My Brother," he gave out with a sigh, as Rhys scraped at his mind edge, obviously unwilling to wait.

"Your brother," Oriana repeated flatly.

"He's a daemati," Azriel explained. A daemati and a pain in his ass.

He slipped open his mental shields just enough so that Rhys could slip into them.

His shadows hadn't told him that anything was amiss, so really, what could this be about?

What happened, Rhys? he asked.

Elain and Lucien are coming over from Day.

Right. And that mattered to him how exactly?

It was nice that Feyre and Nesta could see their sister. But Azriel himself...well, he doubted that either Lucien or Elain would be happy to see him.

Good for them? Azriel responded bemused.

He hadn't heard that it was a diplomatic mission of any kind between Day and Night, Helion hadn't been the one dispatching his son and heir.

So really, what did it matter?

We'll have dinner at the River House this evening.

Now, he had his answer.

I have plans, Azriel responded quickly.

He did. And he could really imagine a better use of his time than sit through the awkwardness than that dinner promised to be.

Everything so that he didn't need to sit through that.

Being cooped up alone in your house isn't a plan, Rhys responded pointedly. Azriel wanted to bristle.