A Court of Gold and Shadows

for the first time, what's past is past

The mating bond snapped into place in an instant and he could just stare at her, hands reaching out to hold her up.

His.

Even his shadows agreed with him, hissing in agreement.

Ours, Master

He was frozen in place as he drank her in.

For once in his life, he wasn't the only one surrounded by shadows. His were different than hers, Tartera shadows seemed to surround the fairies making it impossible to see anything but just sometimes a hand or a shoulder poking out.

Hers were...far weaker than he had ever seen, just smudged at the edges. And then there were the pointy ears that stood out from a dark cloud of beautiful curls and the near-black skin that covered the rest of hers.

So not Tartera after all? A high Fae?

Either? Both?

It didn't matter. He had never cared about anything less.

And then her eyes had looked up at him. They smoldered like embers, nearly red and he could swear he saw flames licking into them. It was probably the most startling thing he had seen in centuries. And then she blinked, and they were completely pitch black, and the embers were gone.

Full lips pulled into a wide smile, showing white teeth.

"Oh, I've been waiting for you!" Those were her first words to him at that street corner.

Waiting for him.

His heart constricted. She...she was happy to meet him?

He hadn't expected that.

He could feel the bond pulling against his ribs, pounding in time with his too-quick heartbeat. He couldn't help himself. Azriel had never felt quite as wrong-footed with another fae in his life.

But with her he was. She made him just want to stare at her.

She was beautiful.

She stepped back and immediately he ached with the lack of her warmth surrounding him and the feeling of...loneliness. He wanted to stare at her, wanted to drink in every inch of her because this was... her .

He had waited, hoped, and prayed for her for so long that it had become second nature to him.

He just had never thought that he was going to actually have this.

"Are you alright?" she asked him softly. "You look pale." He probably was.

Azriel had fought for his life, waged war and lived for centuries...and still, this female that he didn't even know could put him on the floor with nothing but a smile and a look out of black eyes.

"Yes, I...I didn't think I was ever going to..." he managed to bring out and she gave him a soft smile.

"You let me wait a long time," she teased him and he barked out a laugh.

"You made me wait too," he responded quietly and she laughed, a tinkling tone like a bell.

"I am Oriana," she introduced herself, holding out her hand and he took it dumbly, only a moment later realising that she hadn't flinched back from his scarred hands for even a second. Instead, she held it in her smaller and much, much darker one, her skin nearly as pitch black as her eyes.

Oriana .

It suited her.

But then he would have thought that about any name because it was her .