A Tale As Old As Time - Azriel

Chapter XI

The silver of armour and weaponry glinted in the faelight, making the whole room seemingly shimmer. Even the sunlight seemed to dance upon them which seemed completely hypocritical considering what it was all used for. There were countless iron and steel weapons among the rack that Azriel could pick out, knowing that they'd been in war. Knew they'd been used to kill.

He tried not to think of that. No, he tried to think of Mor and her particularly bad influence, especially after a drink. Or perhaps many drinks. And then many more. Azriel shuddered, "Countless examples spring to mind."

"Name one." The particular flail he was swinging between his arms like nunchucks Azriel had never wielded himself, but he'd seen it used more than once. Enough to memorise almost exactly how the blood had splattered from its victims chest then dribbled as if it were hungry for more.

"One word. Sidra."

Cassian tusked in response, rolling his eyes and nodding with acceptance. "That's on me, I set the bar too low." The swinging of his arms stopped and he gently placed the weapon back into its holder on the wall before picking up a double headed battle axe. "In all seriousness, if you want to talk-"

"I don't." Azriel replied quickly and quietly, looking away and sparing his glance to the table before him, all sorts of weapons sprawled before him.

It was times like this that Azriel really felt like the harbinger of death, like the darkness of the instruments called to him in a way they shouldn't have. Even a stray shadow swept from him to slither amongst the silver.

There was one that had caught his eye. It was curved and elegant and reminded him of a talon. Lethal and graceful and would no doubt make killing look like an art form. Even its weight, he figured when picking it up, felt divine as if the weapon was made for him, or perhaps his equal. Azriel twiddled it between his fingers, flipping it amongst his hands even knowing his brother's eyes were watching him sharply enough, he could feel the gaze cutting into him.

"Which is as wonderfully vague as always. Az-"

The metal clammered back against the surface, and Azriel was standing back up straight almost unnaturally. "It feels like everytime we think we have a solution to something it creates more problems than we had before. I don't think a blade is going to fix that."

"Yeah, but you lost your last one, so we're finding you another one. The blacksmith was here this morning, I'm sure you'll find something to your liking." Azriel still didn't look at him, though he didn't look at anything else around him either, other than that one stray shadow that swept around the room carelessly.

It made him wonder for a moment what it was looking for, if it was looking for anything at all. Perhaps it just wanted to be free. Azriel wished his mind was free, just like that even if only for a moment, so he didn't feel so confined with all his emotions.

A hand on his shoulder had him finally looking up. "I want to tell you everything's going to be alright, but we don't know that. What I do know, is that Rhys and the rest of the court are fighting for a better world. A better future. I think that's worth fighting for no matter how many battles it puts us through."

And, well, Azriel couldn't argue. It made him feel that little bit lighter, a knot or two untying in his shoulders as he released a shuddering breath, nodding before continuing his search of the rack.

"So," Cassian clapped his hands together, rubbing them greedily against each other. "Where were we... Ah!" And he was off around the corner, continuing his search for something more to add to his collection.

Azriel didn't follow, only staring at the small talon shaped blade when the clipping of shoes made him turn.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't know anybody would be down here." Well, he'd lasted a whole two minutes not thinking about her, maybe the world was rewarding him for that.