A Court of Golden Shadow || Elain x Azriel

Chapter 39 - Cinnamon Rolls

Rhys.

Rising from the window seat, Azriel ducked out of the room silently, leaving Elain to her slumber as he thundered down the stairs and wrenched open the front door.

"I'm going to hunt him. And then I'm going to kill him." His eyes flashed toward Rhys, his knuckles white on the knob of the door.

"And hello to you too." Rhys answered curtly, stepping past Azriel and closing the door behind him. Sidling into the living room, he sat on the edge of a navy blue overstuffed chair, his hands now crossed over his chest.

"I mean it Rhys." Azriel turned to gaze at his brother, sauntering toward the living room, his posture flexed and rigid. "I'm going to kill him."

"I don't want another war right now." Rhys raised his hands in a soothing manner, trying to calm the Shadowsinger who was now glaring at him with fury. "I'm not saying never... what you said about Feyre and I... I've been thinking about it."

Azriel crossed his arms, his posture unrelenting as he listened, intrigued despite himself.

"You're right. I have been treating your relationship with Elain carelessly. I've prioritized the mating bond, and for that, I am sorry." HIs words were spoken in earnest, as he stood up from the chair, pacing the room with his hands back in his pockets. "The thing is that relations are already precarious with the broken mating bond... we can't afford more Intercourt conflict without starting a war. And the way things are with Feyre and I—we don't feel comfortable starting a war we can't fight in. We're done sending our family to die in our place. It's—"

" No Rhys, I don't think you understand." Azriel's chilling tone quieted Rhys who paused his pacing, turning to face his brother who was now looking down at him, Azriel was slightly taller than his High Lord, as he always had been. "I'm not asking for permission to kill him." His voice darkened as he glared into Rhys' eyes. "I'm simply telling you that I'm going to kill him."

"But— didn't Tamlin nearly suffocate you before Lucien stabbed him? Shouldn't you be a little cautious with this?"

No!" Azriel's voice raised before he glanced upward toward Elain's room, and whispered, his voice a hiss under his breath. "No. You do not get to tell me how to handle this. If it was Feyre, Feyre with blood gushing down her neck, Feyre wrenched to the floor, humiliated and broken simply for LOVING you, you would not hesitate. You would end him before he had a moment to blink." Azriel spat the words at Rhys with venom, his fury unabated and broken.

"I know what she is to you— I saw it. Remember? I saw. I understand— I'm just... I'm just asking you to wait." Rhys placed his hands on Azriel's shoulders, his expression pleading and soft.

"Wait? Why does that bastard deserve to breathe another day? Why does he get to walk around Prythian terrorizing our females and making a mockery of our court? He can't even rule his own court— the other High Lords don't even want him in charge. I'd be doing everyone a favor." Azriel wrenched away from Rhys' grasp, striding toward the front window, his eyes resting again upon the peaceful passing fae as he crossed his arms.

"I agree— I agree." Rhys answered, his voice still calm. "I just... I need time. I need to sort out the pact with Feyre and I need to preserve our resources in case we need to deal with Koschei. I promise you can kill him— have his head mounted in your study even. But please... Az... just wait." Rhys' voice had drawn close to Azriel's back, and he felt his posture soften.

"Psychologically though..." The High Lord's tone caused Ariel's ears to perk up. "I'm not saying you can't notify him of your intentions... I know you like to be melodramatic sometimes... "

Azriel smiled to himself then, the pleasure at Rhys' proposition washing over him as he recalled a particularly heavenly week spent stalking a traitor of the Night Court over two hundred years ago in Autumn. By the end of the week, the wretched male was so afraid of his own shadow, he simply offed himself.