A Court of Shadows and Thunder // AzrielxOC SlowBurn Romance, ACOTAR FanFiction

Chapter 36 - Green Eyes or Red Eyes

The steam rose up from the hot bath, and Brianna watched the mist swirl, slowly fogging up the nearby mirrors.

She put her hand under the nozzle, letting the hot water run through her fingers. She let the water drip down her hand, until the heat became too much, until she felt her hand burn and pulled away.

Red, blotched, near scalded by the hot water. And then in an instant it was gone, pale, smooth once more. Completely healed, like nothing had happened at all.

Brianna let out a sigh, then stripped down to nothing and slipped into her bath.

She needed this, needed something to end the ache she felt in her brain. The headache that had formed itself only moments ago, created by the anger that had risen in her, by the disbelief of the words spat at her.

They didn't believe her - or at least, they were adamant at it being nothing but a false hope.

I'm not leaving Prythian until I find my cure.

The moment those words had left her mouth, Yohann looked as though his jaw had fallen to the floor. Then he had stood again, had paced round the room, had asked all sorts of questions that Brianna couldn't possibly answer him. And Dorian, he had an expression that could have been impossible to decipher, if only Brianna hadn't seen it before.

Disbelief, that was one element she saw in his eyes. But she didn't mind that, she had expected that. It was the horrible touch of pity riddled in his eyes that had got to her, that had riled her up inside, that had ignited such a horrible migraine.

Brianna sank deeper in her bath, until her chin touched the water, until the bubbles she had poured within tickled the tip of her nose. She could feel her cheeks getting hot, feel the sweat building up on her forehead, but she didn't mind that either.

She began to calm down again, began to reel in the heat of her bath, until there was a knock at the door.

She said nothing, for she knew who stood outside, and knew that he didn't need to resort to such a formality - not with what they had between them. But he still knocked, and soon after the door opened up, and she heard the footsteps make their way inside, heard the door close shut once more.

It was only when he spoke that her eyes snapped open once more.

"A bit warm in here, isn't it?"

Brianna glanced over to find Dorian tugging on the collar of his shirt, his own cheeks beginning to flush red by the heat caught within the bathroom. There was so much mist swirling round them that he almost appeared before her like a vision of gold and white and blue.

Again, she said nothing, watching as he went over to her, quietly sitting on the edge of the marble bath. He didn't seem to care that she had accidentally splashed water on it, or that the water in question was near scalding hot. The Prince of the Strofades sat silently, his back facing her, a rather respectful distance away. His hand floated over the necklace she always kept round her neck, now sitting besides him. His finger touched the cool gem, then his eyes unwillingly went to the place where that gem usually sat. In an instant, almost instinctively, he looked away.

Then, he slowly turned to look at her, his eyes peering from above his shoulder. She watched him give her a sly smile, peering at the several crystal jars of colourful salts and soaps lined up against the wall.

"Want me to scrub your wings?" Dorian asked her, but Brianna did not have the patience for his humour.

"I have a headache, Dorian," she said with a sigh as she closed her eyes again, scrunching her brows together. But Brianna knew she would come to regret those words, because she knew what sort of reaction it would get out of him.