A Court Of Fire And Pain

Preparing

Chapters 18 Azriel:

She knew. I saw it on her face. I had made it halfway to my room before I had to stop and process what just happened. It was like I couldn't control myself. My instincts took over. This bond was going to be more difficult to suppress than I thought.

That was when Feyre ran into me. And I knew she scented it. Luckily she hadn't been around Fenrys too much, so she shouldn't be able to figure out it's him. I quickly found my room and sat down. Back there with Fenrys, I had felt things more than usual. It was like everything had been enhanced. And I just left him there even though he was upset with tears still streaming down his face. What kind of male did that make me? I shouldn't have done that, should have stayed and comforted him, personal feelings be damned.

There was nothing I could do to change that now though. I had to get these strange feelings under control. And pray Feyre didn't tell anyone or figure out it's Fenrys.

Fenrys:

As I walked home from my mother's house I managed to suppress my tears. I could feel all the pain and sadness inside, but I didn't want people to know something was wrong. At least that was the plan.

Once I entered the High Estate, which was what Feyre's house was called, I saw Azriel waiting by the door. Seeing him, I didn't feel like I had to hide what I was feeling. Everything became stronger when he was around, and I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. When he asked what was wrong I threw myself at him without thinking, and he didn't push me away. He held me like no one ever did, like I deserved this, like he understood.

The tears had started to flow again, soaking his shoulder in the process. I told him what I was thinking, and he seemed to get it. And when I apologized he held me tighter. Then we both woke up a little, and realized how close we were standing. He pulled away from me, and even though I sort of missed his warmth, I separated myself from him as well. I could feel my cheeks grow warmer and hoped it would pass off as an after effect of crying.

He gave me a stiff nod,as if it was all he could manage and said, "Goodnight."

Then he walked away, like everyone else. I wiped my eyes. I shouldn't have been surprised. He had to come to terms on what I was eventually. I was a low born nearly powerless murderer, while he was part of the high lord/lady's inner court and powerful shadowsinger.

I wiped my eyes again and made my way back towards my room. I had to hide a couple times as somebody else passed since my face would clearly show something was wrong. Finally I made it to my room. Rowan and Aelin's room was next to mine on one side, and on the other was Lorcan and Elide. How I managed to be stuck in a room between two different couples I would never know.

That night I never fell asleep. My thoughts kept swirling around Azriel, even though I told myself neither of us were interested in each other.

But no matter what I did, my thoughts kept coming back to the beautiful shadowsinger.

Aelin:

The next morning I awoke with a plan. It was so obvious I had mentally berated myself for ages before telling everyone.

I sat in front of everyone from both courts and began. "I have a plan. We obviously need to go back to Erawail and start our search from there. We will need to split into many small teams to cover more ground. Our goal is just to figure out where they are, and who is in charge. Feyre and I will show you the places we saw them last and we will split up from there." I paused as they all nodded their acceptance. Then I glanced at Rowan, who nodded as well. "Rowan and I also have an idea of who the traitor on our side is."

Rowan spoke up now. "It caught my attention when I remembered something that happened the day before it all started. I had been out in the garden when I heard someone yell these words, 'get away from me you devil! You'll destroy the fruit!' It had been one of the gardeners, but that's not important, what's important is that what flew away wasn't some normal bird, but a giant osprey." He looked directly at Lorcan and Fenrys who both had realization in their eyes.

"No..."

"Could it be?"

Rowan nodded grimly. "Exactly. We think the traitor is Vaughan."

From their stunned expressions I knew the rest of my court hadn't even thought about him as a suspect. Honestly we all had kind of forgotten about him.

"Vaughan was part of the cadre right?" Elide asked and Lorcan frowned.

"Yes. He was never around much, but I do think he would do this. As long as he benefits from something, he's willing to see it through to the end."

I stood up, drawing their attention back to me. "Alright! Time to create groups."

Once we were ready we went outside and created a portal. Each of us preparing ourselves in our own way, then taking the leap of faith.

And we landed on the oh so familiar cobblestone street.

Group1: Feyre and Aelin

Group2: Rowan and Rhys

Group3: Lorcan, Elide, and Cassain

Group4: Lysandra and Aedion

Group5: Fenrys, Azriel, and Mor

Group6: Dorian, Manon, and Amren