A Court of Light and Darkness

Two: Azriel

         The war was over against Hybern. He was dead, his armies along with him, leaving them to continue their lives as they pleased. But the Illyrian Camps had a civil war rising, making the men who trained there uneasy. The women in the camps were mistreated and were fed up with the inequality. They wanted to train, wanted to help. Cassian and Azriel obviously have no objection with that, but it's hard to regulate how the women are being treated when they're not present all the time and the camp leaders disagree with the woman fighting.

So here they are, sitting in the Autumn Courts dining hall, awaiting Beron and his Court. They needed to negotiate some terms on their alliance. Needed to approve putting more of his soldiers around the camps to protect the woman and regulate the laws.

The Inner Circle sat around the sitting area by the long dining table, awaiting their hosts. A fire was burning in a fireplace in the corner of the room, its crackling being the only sound present. Rhysand and Feyre sat on the love seat closest to the fire, Rhys' arm laid over Feyre's shoulders as she leaned into him. Mor and Cassian were seated on the long couch opposite of the love seat, the former flipping through a magazine she found on the coffee table in front of her and while the ladder picked at his fingernails. Azriel stood by the wide window facing out to the lowering sun over the colorful forest ahead. He was almost invisible in his lingering shadows as he swept the manor and land around it for any danger. He had searched the area three times, just in case something had slipped through his shadows.

Azriel heard the wide double doors open and footsteps pad in as he turned, dropping his shadows to only have them swirling around his shoulders. Three of Lucien's brothers, which Azriel only knew the name of one, strode into the room, the setting sun catching in their red hair.

"Rhysand, Feyre, how lovely it is to have you here this evening." Eris walked up to Azriel's High Lord and Lady, bowing his head slightly and kissing Feyre's hand. Azriel stepped up to the side of the couch that Mor and Cassian occupied. Feyre and Rhysand stood in unison, causing Mor and Cassian to do the same.

"Thank you for having us at such short notice, Eris." The High Lord said, turning towards the three brothers and nodding his head as a thanks.

"Our Father should be here any second. He got caught up with a complication but shouldn't be too long." One of the brothers on either side of Eris said, looking towards the doors nervously. Azriel noticed the man shifting from one foot to the other and the way he wrung his hands behind his back as his eyes jumped from the Inner Circle to the doors and back. 

"We apologize for the wait. You see, we have been very busy lately, with the war just ending and all." Eris spoke, placing his hands behind his back like his other brothers had them.

As Feyre opened her mouth to reply, the sound of the double doors opening stopped her, as two figures walked into the room, one slightly hidden behind the other. Beron strode over to the group by the fireplace, a small female trailing behind him, her eyes on the floor.

Azriel had never seen the girl that now stood next to Beron, her hands placed in front of her with her fingers intertwined. Her shining auburn was in a bun behind her head and she wore a grey dress that swept over her thin and fragile body. Azriel's shadows, suddenly present, started whispering to him, filling in the blanks of her identity.

He couldn't focus on them for long though, as someone squealing had broken his concentration.

"Freesia? Is it really you?" Mor was sprinting across the floor now towards the stranger girl that started trembling next to the High Lord of Autumn. "I- I thought you were married off. Over in the Spring Courts with some High Fae!" Mor grabbed Freesia by the shoulders, pulling her into an embrace as the two girls shook with sobs.