Daddy Azriel

Chapter 2: Skylah

Everything hurt. Every muscle, bone, and breath felt like I was being stabbed over and over again.
With my eyes still closed, I could hear a soft male voice say, "Madja said that it would be a long recovery process, but that she will, eventually, recover fully."
"She has just given birth, was brutally whipped, and had a word carved onto her stomach," a deep voice responded. "And that's not even beginning to talk about her wings, that were bound in chains when we found her."
"I know," the soft voice began talking again. "While her body may heal, her mind will likely take longer to heal from the traumas that she's endured."
I peeled my eyes open to find two winged males standing in the corner of the room that I was currently in. I recognized them both from the group that I had found seconds before everything went black. Memories flooding back to me, I suddenly whispered, with a voice sounding like gravel, "Mate."
The winged men instantly swiveled their heads toward me with wide eyes.
Coming out of his shock, my mate quickly stepped up to the side of the bed and said, "You're okay. Both you and Lovia are safe here."
My daughter. She was only a day old when I escaped him.
"Where is she?"
"With my mate," interrupted the male still in the corner, "The High Lady."
I felt my eyes widen. If his mate was the High Lady then he must be, "My Lord," I tried to awkwardly bow my head to him while lying down, but all it did was send shooting pain all over.
"There is no need for that," my High Lord said quickly. "I'm just glad that you have finally woken up. You can call me Rhysand, by the way."
What did he mean by finally waking up?
Seeing the confused look on my face, my mate stated, "You've been unconscious for about a week."
A week. I have missed the entire first week of my daughter's life.
"If you'll excuse me," the lord said, "I'm going to go retrieve Feyre and your daughter." Rhysand walked out of the room with what looked like an attempt at an encouraging smile towards my mate.
With the High Lord gone, I looked to the only other male left in the room, to find him already staring at me. When his golden eyes met mine, I felt that strange, ancient tug in my chest, again.
I have somehow found my mate. That's something that I never thought that I would ever experience in my existence. It was something that I had only ever read about.
The mating bond is the most sacred and strongest bonds known to ever exist. It is not only rare to find your mate, but even more rare to deny bond.
But the thought of even considering to love another so soon after losing him...
I shoved the thought down into the lowest parts of my mind until I could no longer feel the pain of losing him.
"Who...Who are you?" I asked timidly.
"My name is Azriel. I'm the spymaster for the High Lord," he responded, in his deep rumble of a voice. "And you are?"
"Skylah."
"Hello, Skylah," he said as a thrill ran through me at the sound of my name on his lips. "How much pain are you currently in?" He said the words as he inspected my entirety. His assessing gaze strictly professional.
"Nothing that I can't handle," I responded.
His eyes darken and he said, "I don't doubt that you can handle it, but that doesn't mean that you have to. I can ask the healer to make a tonic for your pain."
I was about to tell him that I was fine when someone knocked on the door.
"Come in," Azriel called while still keeping his eyes on me.
Rhysand and a female that I assumed was his mate, the High Lady, walked in. Within her arms was my beautiful daughter, bundled in a blanket.
As soon as my eyes laid upon Lovia, silent tears sprang to them. I saw and heard no one else, other than my daughter, as tears slid down my face.
"Can I hold her?" I choked out. I wasn't able to move without nearly passing out in pain, but motioned with my chin towards my right arm, that was laid out on the bed near my body. Lovia would fit perfectly between the crevice of my arm and body.
The High Lady of the Night Court said, "Of course," as she rushed toward the side of the bed and placed my baby girl where I had motioned.
Unable to move my arms or head, all I could do was look down at her. My beautiful, beautiful daughter.
"Hello, my sweet child," I cooed. "Momma's missed you."
At the sound of my voice, her big eyes slowly began to open, revealing the sapphire blue eyes that she had inherited from me.
"Thank you," I blurted out. I looked up, and found the High Lady's eyes. "Thank you for taking care of her."
"We would do it again in a heartbeat," she murmured. "We had our healer examine her, and she told us that Lovia is perfectly healthy." She smiled down at the child laying in my arm. "She is truly angelic and has bewitched everyone into loving her."
The sheer warmth in the High Lady's voice as she spoke of my daughter tugged at my heart.
"She has a way of capturing people's hearts," I said softly. "I put part of the word 'love' into her name to remind her that, no matter where she goes, love will always follow her."
"I can't imagine a better name for her."
Her eyes were still on Lovia when I reached out and brushed against her mental shields.