✔ Mrs Mandray

5. Speculation

Azriel

It was obscene the amount of wealth this manor had.

Carved window frames, detailed brickwork and the occasional stained glass window. Not to mention the garden sprawled out beneath the three story house. But there were holes in this woman's clothes. I can't even begin to estimate the cost of this home but when my shadows peered into the all but empty kitchen they chose to report on the state of her clothes.

It was something to take note of. Human families tend to work as units and groups, alliances formed between marriages. She should have been taken care of with how close the Archeron sisters seem to be despite their differences. Maybe it's because of the wedding band on her finger but- if I had a sister I wouldn't let her walk around in those boots. Certainly not in this weather.

She's alone in there. Holding onto a glass of lemonade that she seems to savour more than necessary. I can feel the way Cassian tenses at the sight, having joined me in my causal monitoring of the Archeron estate. I know he sees what I see.

The way she stands is more akin to a queen, conquering in her own right with a straight spine, set shoulders and a casual fighting stance that an Illyrian would be jealous of. Every movement, every lift of the glass, curl of her wrist practised and precise with a trained grace of someone comfortable in the presence of princes and lords.

It was the same grace and defiance she had displayed when standing before me in the snow. A curiosity she couldn't crush and a ferocity born of loyalty clouding her thoughts until she stepped into the wild with glamoured beasts.

But she saw me. Or she saw something. It shouldn't have been possible, but it was like she honed in on a single sound, a single movement. It makes no sense.

"Sometimes it's just an instinct." Cassian muses beside me and I fight the urge to quiet him, to tell him she'll hear even though we're hidden beneath Rhys' glamour. "Could've been a curiosity for Feyre, wondering how she arrived here." Rhys adds on, no doubt sensing my own curiosity as we watch the woman in the kitchen.

"She looked straight at Cassian." I counter, feeling my brother tense beside me. So he did catch her eye. I had wondered if my shadows were wrong for once, considering they were acting up and refusing to tell me much about the woman or where she disappeared to after talking with Feyre.

She had panicked, the Shadows had mentioned as much. The fear is still there in her eyes but the longer I watch her the more I see it cool and settle into something else entirely. A calmness setting over her features.

"The house is nearly empty." Rhys comments clearly trying to draw my attention away from the puzzle before me. Even Cassian shoots him an unamused look.

There's something wrong with the picture of the woman - Isabella - her threadbare dress, loosely hidden by a pretty shawl that is less for warmth and more to hide the fraying edges of the dresses hems. I recognise some of the old tricks of embellishments and hidden stitches used to make her dress more presentable. Cassian must see them too because he's tugging at his sleeve like he can still picture the clothes we had both worn until Rhys' mother had taken us in.

She fitted in perfectly with the domestic scene of the kitchen, the quiet emptiness and homely feel. Or she would have done if it weren't for that look. Somehow.... Somehow I couldn't find her just domestic and light, despite all appearances there was more to her than the box of domesticated marriage life Feyre had described her as being in. There was an elegance, a burning passion and rage hidden quietly behind those clothes and demeanour.

A stunning paradox. A riddle that didn't need an answer but an answer you could get lost searching for. A pauper that could bring empires to its knees, a queen without a kingdom to rule. But that ferociousness is bellilled by a care displayed in her every movement. Everything about her is a contradiction.

I went into the forest and taught myself how to hunt, Feure had said the first time we had a meal together. I'll never forget hoe the Cursebreaker had looked then, sitting in the uncaring marble halls of the House of Wind. Broken and shadowed, she had been little more than husk of her former self. Fighting the urge to constantly look at Rhys for permission and reassurance. Completely baring her soul to fae she had never met and had no reason to trust. I kept us alive.

Feyre's story had been one of sacrifice and suffering. Giving and giving more of herself until there was nothing less. What did this caring powerful woman give? What sacrifices did she make when Feyre had been willing to die for love, for our people.

Nothing. None of the sisters had given anything. Nesta had stood by while Elain at least tended to their father. But it was Isabella who left, who abandoned them in that cottage for a better life.

Maybe she deserves this. This could be her punishment for leaving.

I remember what it was like to be locked away, to be trapped in the dark cold and alone. Something about her, the way she stood in that kitchen that should have been full of laughter and light alone brings those memories back. Something about her clothes reminds me of the women in Windhaven. The fire in their eyes drowned out by their husband's control.

Rhys exhales sharply through his nose. A sign I recognise from 500 years of brotherhood. He doesn't like her. Most likely unable to see past the pain and suffering she may have caused Feyre. Already blinded that female and yet he thinks it's the mate bond. It would make sense in his head, I can see why, the utter devotion and the connection of their power.

Or the connection that could be born from Rhys' power reborn within her, the devotion he holds as some version of survivors guilt mixed with a hero-love. No one wants to consider that maybe after all the fucked up things that happened to him he might just be clinging to the one light he can find in the darkness.

It would be wishful thinking to hope that he would keep from making judgements during this meeting. 

A/N: Rhys has some explaining to do and I intend to explore that.... any requests?