A Court of Flames and Shadows

16. Complexities

The artwork above is not mine.

•༻☾☽༺•

Seren pulled a book off the shelf and opened it. A slip of paper fell from between the leaves. She picked it up, skimming over her plans. She dropped the book and began tearing the paper into tiny pieces.

"I will not betray them. I will not betray them," she repeated in a hushed voice. A lump formed in her throat. Seren pushed past it. "They trust me and I. Will. Not. Betray. Them." Being High Lady of the Autumn Court wasn't worth this price. She would find another way to help her old home, but she would not betray the friends she'd made in this one.

Flames singed her fingertips and set the shredded paper ablaze. Seren watched it burn, keeping the fire contained to the paper alone. Beron would learn of her betrayal eventually. She would deal with that when the time came.

As the last of the paper dissolved into ash, Seren exhaled. Guilt and fear fled from her mind, leaving her feeling serene and exhausted. The ashes disappeared and she stood. Seren returned the book to its shelf and collapsed onto her bed.

•༻☾☽༺•

Azriel entered the river house and started up the stairs. He was running behind again. He'd stopped by the House of Wind to set up a few things for Seren's next lesson. Gwyn had found him and asked for some help with her own blade tactics. He had worked with her longer than he meant to.

"Az."

The High Lord approaches, his shadows whispered.

Azriel turned and spied Rhys climbing the stairs behind him. Nyx was in his arms. "Yes?"

"Things didn't go as planned this morning."

"What do you mean?" Concern pricked at his gut. "Is Seren all right?"

"She's fine. Her powers are stronger than I expected. We did a simple exercise, and then...she told me things."

"What kind of things?"

"She's resting," Rhys replied, ignoring his question. "And I think you should let her."

"If she isn't awake, I'll leave her be," Azriel promised. He turned away, but Rhys spoke again.

"Did you break your bargain with her?"

"What?" Azriel gestured to the flame that had been wrapped around his arm the entire day. "No?"

Rhys shook his head with a grin. "I wondered about that, but I'm talking about your other bargain. The first one. Seren said you promised to stop monitoring her after her daemati training began, but she still has her tattoo?"

"I do too." Azriel turned, letting Rhys see his bare shoulder and the three crescent moons, interwoven with his other tattoos. "And no, I didn't break the bargain. I promised to stop spying on her when both you and Feyre trained her. Right now, you're the only one training her. The bargain isn't complete."

"Ah. You should remind her of that," Rhys said. He rocked Nyx gently. "Are you still angry with me?"

Azriel stiffened and tucked his wings closer to his back. Shadows curled over his face, offering comfort and security. "No."

"Are you sure?"

They watched each other for a moment. "What do you want me to say, Rhys? You ordered me to stop pursuing Elain, even when you knew how she made me feel." Azriel's voice dropped to a whisper. "As my brother, I thought you would understand that. How would you have felt if someone had ordered you to leave Feyre alone when she was with Tamlin?"