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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"We have a week." Tahlia spared a glance over her teacup to see Viron looming over her. "One singular week and you're both doing... what exactly?"
Viron's uneasiness had grown in the weeks they'd left the night court. From paranoia, to outright insanity. A mild exaggeration on Tahlia's part, but even the calming herbal teas the healers had given him weren't working anymore.
He screamed through the nights and when he didn't work during the day, he trained to keep his mind busy. Or... he pestered the pair of them with his worries. The exact same ones that had been plaguing them. He'd had some vital points to begin with, but hearing the same things over and over again got tedious after a few days.
"Having breakfast. Care to join us?"
"Helion-"
"Viron. Sit." He placed down his cutlery and folded his hands in front of him. "You're right, we have a week. And then... then we will get your men back. We will fight whatever battle necessary for our people, but there is nothing we can do now besides prepare." The same preparation they'd been doing for weeks. Training and training until their bones were aching and their muscles sore. They'd slaved for hours over the maps of the battlefield, analysing vantage points and where they'd be at more of a disadvantage. "We don't know where they are."
Which had been frustrating Tahlia entirely, as well as Azriel if the letters he'd sent were telling. The Night Court were taking turns to patrol and search Prythian and Hybern and the mortal lands.
Yet, there was not even a whisper of an army. Or the new King. Or the Queens. Or their patrol team that had disappeared weeks ago.
Viron finally took a seat opposite them both. "What about her?" He asked with a voice mildly calmer than it had been before. A facade, most likely.
Tahlia raised a bored eyebrow as she tore at a piece of bread and stuffed it in her mouth. "What about me?"
"Would you mind not eating like a wild beast?"
She shrugged. "I'm famished."
Viron was as close to a brother as she'd ever gotten, but with her family history, not having any blood related siblings seemed like a safer bet. Still, over the centuries, they'd become this. An insufferable pair of non-related siblings. They had the rivalry and bickering down to a tee.
"Why can't you see them?"
"I don't know. Possibly because they're not making their own decisions." And as much as he got on her nerves the majority of the time, she didn't have the heart to tell him the alternative. Not unless she was certain, and she had a feeling, deep in her gut, that they were alive. But that led to the next question. If they were alive, why, and how long for? Those conversations were usually kept between herself and Helion.
"You gave the spiked wine to Eris, meaning you saw him."
She scoffed. "When I figured out I couldn't see Eris, I started watching Beron." Even keeping tabs on him had become almost impossible in the days passed. Between him sitting in his office or drinking tea with his wife, it didn't seem like he was doing much at all. There were glimpses of Eris here and there, nothing out of the ordinary.
