A Court Of Moonlight And Shadows (An Azriel/ACOTAR Fanfiction)

Chapter 10

The night wasn't hot but Azriel was covered in sweat at the mere thought of telling Arcane about the truth. As if he wasn't already juggling enough, right in the midddle of the forest, he had to feel the bond. Of course. He thought. Of course.

His feet were more unsteady than they have ever been before and he didn't dare to turn around and look at her sleeping figure behind him. He looked away from the fire when his eyes started watering and blinked rapidly to make the sting go away.

By the time he was done cursing his fate, the sun was rising and he splashed cold water from the stream on his face. He berated in through his nose and out through his mouth with his eyes closed as water dripped from his chin and lashes. It's okay. This is not the time to worry about this bond. We are in enemy territory and can be killed any instance. He rationalised the situation.

He would get out of here, go back to Velaris and then ask Feyre on how to deal with this. Arcane was her sister after all. If she rejected the bond in the middle of this journey, he wasn't sure how far he could go with that burden on his back and Hybern was not the place where he wanted to deal with that.

His ears rang and he only opened his eyes when a sharp pain made him wince. He had cut his hand with a sharp rock and blood oozed out of the wound. He sucked the blood with a frown and looked behind himself. Arcane stretched but cozily curled up again and tucked her face in the folds of his jacket that they had both used as a pillow. Her long  braid snaked around her waist and fell over her stomach. She muttered something before opening her eyes to slits.

Blinking a few times she frowned, "Did something happen?" She pushed herself up when she saw the blood on his hand.

He raised eyebrows and then shook his head, "No. It's just a small thing."

"Oh." She whispered. "I hate mornings here." She looked at the sky and the sun was not visible. Heavy could still hung and only the barest light passed through them.

Azriel nodded at his jacket. "Can I have that?"

She handed it back and he dusted it off before putting it on.

Arcane leaned back and tilted her head sleepily. "Why can't we just winnow?" She whined. "This is so unnecessaryly hard."

For a second, he explicitly thought about her scent on his clothes before inhaling deeply and clearing his throat. "You want something to eat?"

She pulled herself to her feet, "Of course. Do I look like I'm going to miss breakfast of all things?"

"Right. My bad." He nodded. "Unfortunately the only thing you can eat are fruits."

She shrugged. "Fruits are good. A little, I guess."

"Let's go collect some. Then, we will start moving towards the tunnel. It's only a little bit farther away." He held out his hand she accepted it, walking with him over the roots and dodging the branches. He cut down most of them with Truth-teller but a few still remained.

"Oh, look!" She pointed to a tree. "A pear!"

He looked closely and sure enough, there were a few green fruits hanging from a tree. "I'll have to climb. Wait here." He sheathed his sword but Arcane put a hand on his chest.

"Wait. It's not that high. Just pick me up real high."

"I love my arms." He deadpanned.

"Azriel!" She sighed. "I have asked you this before - What are you going to do with your muscles if not lift maidens in need?"

He rolled his eyes but wrapped his hands around her waist and picked her up. He once almost slipped and burst both of their heads open against some rock but thankfully gained back his balance in time.