Unknown Heir (ACOTAR)

TEN

I walked with Azriel out of the house and onto the streets. He led me to an enclosed area with no one around. It was a clearing in the forest nearby the house and a cliff on the other side of us. "You can practice here. This is where I also taught Feyre how to fly. Though she doesn't often use her wings," Azriel said, looking around the clearing.

"Was she a fast learner?" I asked, walking up to the cliff. He seemed to think back to the moment and smiled.

"Somewhat," he said before coming to stand next to me. I looked over the cliff and saw the drop below. A breeze sprung up and hit my face, making my hair blast back behind me. I looked ahead again. "How long has it been since you flew?" I looked over at him.

"7 years," I said after looking away again. He seemed to tense.

"Why?"

"It's not a very nice memory," I said before walking away from the cliff. He followed me.

"I've seen some of your bad ones already. I think I can handle it," he said. I gave him a disbelieving smile and rolling my eyes before finding a rock to sit on. He leaned against a tree.

"When I was a little girl, I loved to fly. I would usually go flying at night with my mother because we both had wings and my father didn't. He didn't like it very much. He knew about it but as long as he didn't have to witness it, we were fine. When my father killed my mother, I would still go out for two reasons. One, I just loved flying. And two, I did it to honour and remember my mom. One some nights I would feel her with me. One night, she was closer than usual. And I knew it was because of my magic that she was able to come close to me, even though we would never be able to hold each other. My father felt her. And he punished me by making sure I would never fly again," I said, wrapping my arms around me and looking to the floor. Azriel stayed quiet, encouraging me to continue. I took a deep breath. "He broke my wings." Azriel was almost instantly on his feet.

"Broke them?" he asked, voice a little distressed. I nodded, not looking at him. I felt him move to my side. "How?" he asked quietly. I shook my head.

"Not pleasantly. If I had left them untreated, I would've never been able to fly again, just like he had wanted," I said, my voice shaky.

"But you got them treated?" I shook my head.

"I'm not-" I started, debating how to put this. "I was the only one with my type of wings, beside my mother. We didn't have healers that knew how to work with my wings. They're different than yours," I explained.

"How'd you treat them?" I shook my head and stood up.

"It's complicated. But so I haven't flown for the last 7 years. And I miss it. A lot. But I'm too scared to try because I healed them myself and I don't know if I did it completely correctly," I said, looking out to the cliff again. Azriel came beside me and held out a hand. I looked up at him.

"Let me help you. We can fly together and I'll hold you and you can try. Test your wings. See if it hurts," he said, smiling at me. "Flying is amazing and I want to help you do it again. Because you say you loved it so much." I smiled at him and took his hand.

"Okay," I said. We walked to the edge of the cliff and he spread his wings and nodded to me. I took a deep breath and a moment later my wings appeared. I stretched them and the feathers ruffled in the wind. It sent a shiver through my body. I smiled and breathed in deeply, letting the wind hit my wings.

"Does it hurt?" he asked gently. I shook my head. "Are you ready to make the jump or do you want to practice here?" I didn't answer his question as I let the wind run through my feathers. I let my magic search my wings. It pulsed through the bone, the cartilage, and the feathers, finding no damages. I knew they were fine because my mother had guided me through healing them. But through magic I didn't want them to know of. Not yet. I couldn't tell him yet. I just hadn't flown because I didn't want my father to find out and break them again.