A Court of Fate and Failure | Azriel

12: Hands and Hearts

Rhysand led her to the balcony as soon as they left and now they leant against the railing. Rhys was casual, staring out at the trickling of colors in the setting sky. But Naoise relied on it as she did her own bones. 

Everything was heavy, the world swaying around her in a blur of colors that made nausea curl in her gut. It took everything in her to hold her wings off the ground and keep swirling darkness encaged. Her one solace was that she had yet to collapse into a seizure. In fact, this exhaustion felt nothing like it usually did. It felt like she needed a long nap, not that her body was about to tear itself apart by the seams.

Rhys smiled to himself, the wind playing with his mussed hair. "You've impressed me, Naoise," he said.

Naoise started and blinked to clear her mind. "How so?"

"You saved his life."

"Thank Cauldron."

"You couldn't tell?"

She shook her head and regretted it immediately, the world swirling in a blur of colors. It took her a moment more to whisper, "The rot remains. I wasn't sure what difference it would make."

"Well, it made the difference," he chuckled lightly. Rhys flitted his gaze to her with a smile for the briefest of acknowledgements. "I didn't think you'd be willing to even try."

"You saw."

"Yes. You scared the shit out of him, Naoise. And seeing it for myself, I can't blame him."

Her? Scare a High Lord? One known for his ruthlessness? Now that was wishful thinking at its finest.

"No wishful thinking here," Rhysand laughed. Her mental shield must have fallen with her exhaustion, a fact she couldn't bring herself to care much about. "You know, you and Azriel are a lot alike."

Her heart picked up pace at the mere mention of his name.

"In the most basic of senses, you are alike in your silence. But while I believe that is actually where your differences lie, your methods reflect much of what he has honed over the years. You match the other in ruthlessness, not an easy feat in itself. As a team, I'm sure the two of you could accomplish multitudes."

"A team?" she sputtered. "I—he... works alone, right? And I–"

"–may be just what he needs. Or, rather, a partner in what he does. Azriel claims to prefer being alone, and while I'm sure there are many a circumstance where that is true, working as he does so often utterly alone is taxing, even if he won't admit it. Besides, together, you two may just be reckoning incarnate. Two heads are better than one and many hands make light work, as they say."

"Is this an offer?"

"Whatever you like to think of it as. An offer, suggestion, recommendation? Plea?"

"All of the above?"

"Sure," he chuckled.

Mind running slow, a thought drifted into focus. A fact she'd overlooked. Naoise looked over the city below, the lights turning on as the night progressed and truly seeming to earn its name. Every light twinkled like a star in the sky.

"What of Velaris? I can't..."

"No one is abandoning Velaris," Rhys said, voice soft and comforting. "You have helped maintain its peace, but Velaris is not like many other cities. It has survived centuries under my inner circle's watch and that of my father's, and it will survive many more without fail. Every one of us works together to ensure that."

She was not needed. Not even here.

Rhys glanced her way, brows lowered and a frown surprising her. "You are needed. You're part of my inner circle, are you not?"