Acomaf -Rhys Pov

Part 1. Before the wedding

"You look like hell Rhys. I bet I could whip your ass with both hands tied behind my back." Cassian smirked .  I looked over to Az who looked like he was about to kick him under the table . I knew I was out of shape but I'll be damned if I let Cassian know that.

" Is that a challenge Cass?" I let a flicker of a smirk show on my face.

"Last one to the ring buys drinks tonight" Az added  as the shadows swirled around him. And 50 gold marks on Cassian bleeding in ten minutes.  Cassain gave him a vulgar gesture while bolting for the door.

" No cheating either of you bastards ... wings only..." plates were clattering behind us as both Az raced behind him hot on his heels, neither of us cheating and winnowing for once.

I was so much more out of shape than I thought. But doing everything not to let it show . Thank the mother thar Mor showed up a few hours later hungry, demanding we get lunch. Also distracting Cassian while they bicker about where to eat ...

Az and I were locked in a match blade to blade.
"Next hit wins." I said knowing his competitive nature would take over . He flew at me with absolute brute force totally unexpectedly. Az was fast as hell,but brute force was not his style. He was graceful in a fight, almost elegant.
"Spit it out Az." I commanded. Something was eating at him for him to break form like that. Though I knew him deciding to actually telling me was unlikely . He whipped his leg out faster than I could catch the movement and I fell flat on my back knocking the wind out of me. He threw a wall of shadows around us effectively blocking all sound. And leaned down into my face like I'd watch him do when carving truth out of an enemy.
" Don't do any bull shit like that again. You could have trusted any one of us to go with you and it would have never gone down like that and you damn well know it. You think you're the only one who can Make sacrifices, the only one who can take on the consequences but you're wrong... you bound our hands ... you took away our choice to help you ...the guilt of losing you nearly shedded us apart." he finished. His voice was cold as the darkest night but he reached out his scarred hand to help me up off the ground .

" I know." Was all I could respond to but he understood everything I wasn't fully saying.  I clapped my hand to his shoulder. I wanted to hug him close but Az would not appreciate the gesture, he would never be like Cassian or mor and relish open affection ...he had too many traumas in his past ...but I felt the soft wind of his shadows dance around my hand  still on his shoulder up my wrist and forearm before retreating to between his wings.  I've only felt his shadows a few times in our history. My heart warmed and his face opened as we joined cass and mor .

After so much time under the mountain there was a lot of work to be done to regain control of my court. I was thankful for the distraction during the day and had become so accustomed to wearing masks this new one wasn't a huge adjustment . Nights however left me rattled either with my own nightmares or a front row seat to Ferya's I could feel her pain and loneliness shooting down the bond into my heart like an ash arrow.  I had my own demons to deal with but I had my family. Cassian helped me work out my frustrations either in the training rings or chasing down some of the ilk in my court that was wicked enough to support Aramantha. Armen an Az keep me driven with following up on leads I discovered under the mountain, I wasn't a fool I knew our courts were weakened and that someone would come sniffing around to try and take us down before we could rebuild. Mor with her endless effervescents knew I wasn't fully myself , truthfully I'm sure the others did too but she was the only one brazen enough to call me out on my bull shit behavior.

I was sitting up on the rooftop patio of the town house swirling a glass of very old whiskey when Mor breezed into the chair beside me.

" Are you planning on telling Cassian why you want to get shitfaced with him tomorrow? " she asked