𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐒 | azriel

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐨

"We could have helped you, Saffire," Rhys said, with an attempt to keep his voice calm but the sadness in his eyes betrayed him. "Why didn't you come to us?"

"It was all too much," Saffire said. "I could feel a surge of power threatening to release and I knew that it would be fatal to anyone within my vicinity. When I left, I never expected to survive it until it happened– that burst of power. It didn't kill me but I felt weak, I could barely move, but I knew that power surge would happen again. It happened three more times until I reached Vassuryn and Queen Selvina took me in. She helped me control my power and master it. I owe my life to her."

The room was silent once more as Saffire let her power fade away. "I never came back because I expected to die."

"Why didn't you come back after?" Mor asked, speaking up for the first time. "We would have all understood."

"I owed Queen Selvina my life for helping me control my powers," Saffire replied. "I began working as Prince Floris's guard at the palace. I made a home for myself there."

"And abandon the one you had here," Azriel said, his words cutting Saffire like a knife.

Saffire tried not to let his words affect her, but as she toyed with the hem of her sleeve, it was evident to everyone that his words had cut her deep. Rhys was the first to speak up. "Saffire, for the next few weeks, we will be happy to host you while you tell us about Vassuryn."

Azriel's gaze shot to Rhys, his eyes narrowed at his brother. Rhys simply ignored him. "We can meet tomorrow to go through anything Queen Selvina needs to discuss." Saffire nodded as everyone began to stand from the table. "Elain will show you to your room."

Saffire's gaze met Elain's and she offered her a small smile, Saffire tried to return it but failed once she noticed that Azriel hadn't even risen from his chair.

"I will meet you in the hall, Saffire," Elain said before swiftly exiting the room.

For the first time in two centuries, Saffire was left alone with Azriel. And for the first time ever, she had no idea what to say to him. As Saffire opened her mouth, Azriel looked up at her.

"If you are going to apologise, don't," Azriel snapped. "I don't want to hear it."

"I am not going to apologise for leaving," Saffire said. "I did the right thing."

Azriel scoffed. "You did the right thing by leaving your family? By leaving me?" By the time the second question left his mouth, Azriel's voice was barely a whisper. "I searched for you for fifty years, long after everyone else gave up. I still held onto hope that you were out there."

Saffire closed her eyes as Azriel rose from his seat, stepping closer to her. His familiar scent, the scent that used to relax her, now made her tense.

"But you were out there, weren't you?" Azriel's voice was low and void of any emotion. "You were happy in a palace while all of us were driven mad thinking you died. Tell me, did you ever think about us in those two hundred years? Did you ever want to come back?"

"Of course I thought of you all," Saffire said, her eyes meeting Azriel's. "I missed you all so much."

"But not enough for you to come back or even send word that you were okay," Azriel hissed.

Saffire swallowed, her words dying on her tongue. Of course she had wanted to come back. Her found family were the only people in her life she truly cared about– the ones she truly loved. But she couldn't. Not when she was such a danger to all of them and to the city of Velaris.

"I did think of you, Saffire," Azriel continued. "I thought about you every single night after Rhys told me you left. You left me while I was in the middle of recovering from a mission, you promised you would help me train the next day to build my strength back and you were gone. Do you have any idea how I felt when Rhys told me you were gone?"

"I am sorry, Az," Saffire said, a tear finally falling down her cheek.

"Don't apologise to me," he snapped. He took one step forward, before bending slightly so his mouth was next to her ear. "Don't even try to talk to me when you are here. I don't care what you have to say to me. I don't care about you– not anymore."

Azriel stepped back and turned his back on her without another word, leaving Saffire watching him leave. Saffire felt her heart shatter as the door slammed. She anticipated this reaction but as she lived it, she never could have imagined that Azriel's voice could be so cold to her. Ever since she had met Azriel, the two had always been close. He had been her best friend for as long as she could remember. His voice was always full of warmth when he spoke with her now she was afraid it would never return– and it probably wouldn't.

Saffire's feet moved on their own accord until she exited the room to find Elain waiting in the hall. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Azriel's scent lingered in the hall and she sighed. "I am. I am ready for this task to be over so I can return to Vassuryn."

"Everything won't stay this hostile forever," Elain said as she led Saffire to her room.

"I doubt that," Saffire replied. "Azriel hates me. I'm sure Cassian does too. Mor and Amren are harder to read but they will most likely not want anything to do with me. Rhys is only playing nice because I am here on official business. If I were here for any other reason, he would banish me as soon as he got the chance."

They paused outside the room Saffire would be staying in. Elain turned to her. "They don't hate you, everyone is simply emotional."

"How would you know?" Saffire questioned. "You don't know anything about the situation between us."

Elain offered her a small smile. "I know more than you think. And from what I know, not everything will remain like this. Things will get better."

Saffire studied her for a moment. "I'm not sure I completely believe you, but I hope so. The less hostility, the easier my job and the sooner I can return home."

"If you chose to remain," Elain said, her voice distant. "You will find that you will soon have a very difficult choice to make."

Saffire furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

Elain seemed to snap out of a daze before smiling at Saffire. "Don't worry, just something I read earlier."

Saffire wasn't too convinced but placed her hand on the door handle. "Thank you for walking me to my room, Elain."

Elain nodded and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "It was no problem. I hope you get some rest, Saffire."

"Thank you," said Saffire, thankful that at least one person was not hostile towards her in the house.

Elain bid Saffire goodbye before leaving down the corridor. Saffire pushed open the door and stepped inside. The bags she had packed were sitting by the bed but that was not the first thing Saffire noticed. The first thing she noticed was the familiarity of the bedroom. The sage green walls and the ornate furniture. The bedside cabinet held a mirror gifted to her for her three-hundredth birthday. The wardrobe in the corner was still missing one leg and was held up with a pile of books.

It was her room.

Nothing had been moved since the day she left, the only thing that had changed was the bed covers. Everything else remained the same. After two-hundred years, Saffire thought that her former family would have forgotten about her, but from the looks of her former bedroom, it was clear they hadn't.

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