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"Don't underestimate the hell we can raise."
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Eira
EIRA CESAIR WALKED along the bustling streets of Velaris, keeping to the shadows of her magic as though her life depended on it. It was beautiful, beyond that really, but it was unfamiliar as well. She didn't know these people, she didn't know this place. And...well, she had never been exactly comfortable in crowds when she was not undercover.
People were smiling and laughing as she waded through the streets, music drifting up from a far off part of the city.
Eira took her time. She studied the world, as she always had. Except this time...she found that she liked what she was seeing.
She watched store clerks grin at their customers, watched friends laugh and drink, she gazed at the architecture, at the colorful, brandished buildings. Eira even found herself taking a detour to the apothecary, found herself exploring a bit further as she marveled.
Eira had been to city's before, been to one with glittering lights, sky scraping buildings. But she had not been to one like this. One so...peaceful. Unified. People were kind, they apologized when they bumped into one another, they smiled as others walked passed them in a way that felt welcoming rather than strained, some even made an effort to talk to those they didn't know. That, she had never seen.
And in a city so beautiful where the stars in the sky looked like a wondrous piece of art...Eira thought it was too good to be true. It made her suspicious. Still, she found herself exploring, studying.
And when she came to a stop outside of the small, white building that Danika had shown her through her mind, Eira felt a bit off-kilter.
She noted the exterior of the small shop, composed of bricks and a bright white awning that was stark in the night. Windows peered inside, the interior full of sage greens and soft blues, calming like a cool-toned ocean.
For a moment, Eira stood there.
And it hit her then. How different her life was now than it had been three weeks ago—two days ago even, when they had ventured through the courts unfalteringly. Now she stood in a glittering city under the moonlight...free...in most ways as she listened to the music drifting up from the city. Free in most aspects as she stared at the first store she'd ever actually been to on her own accord—no orders, no medicine given to her by the Flame. Gods, even just a three months ago she had been in Vallahan, posing as a flirtatious courtier in order to get information about a possible coup being staged against their ruler.
It was her own fatal flaw, why she was so bad at the more social interactions she'd had so far. She was a spy, she was the head of the Flame's operations. And...she wasn't used it.
In truth, Eira Cesair was just bad at being herself. She had spent so long playing a part, conforming to a certain role that she hadn't a clue of who she was on the inside. She didn't know who she was because she had never had the chance to figure it out. Or perhaps she was just no one—rather a mix of the people she had become, the roles she'd donned.
She stood, leaned against a wall looking at the brick building, using her magic to call on the darkness, the shadows that seemed eager to obey. She was visible, yes, but she would not be spotted unless someone was looking for her.
She found herself wondering when this merry dream might end, when the past might come knocking on Velaris's doorstep.
At that particular thought...Eira found herself wanting to enjoy it while it lasted, before Hybern came calling and the Flame inevitably came to kill them.
And so she pushed off of the wall, willing her dark-shrouded magic back into herself, and strolled right into that apothecary with her head held high.
She had studied the smiles on people as they'd passed, studied what people said to the store clerks and whether they thanked people or not—she had been to cities where it hadn't been customary. But here everyone seemed kind.
An older woman stood behind a white countertop, reading a book with wire-rimmed glasses hanging on her face. She appeared middle-aged by human standards, but judging by the pointed ears poking out from her her curly brown hair, she'd had to have been older than that.
The woman smiled, "Hello there."
"Hello." Eira replied in turn, walking over to the desk where the woman stood setting down her book. She stopped when she stood in front of the woman. "I'm looking for..." what was she looking for? She'd never learned the name of the tonic she took by the Flame's orders. They'd just given it to her. "Erm, a sleep tonic." Eira said unsurely.
The woman nodded, "Do you know the name of the herb?"
"I...don't. I'm very sorry."
"No need to apologize, Dear." the woman grinned just slightly, turning around and waltzing out from behind the countertop. "I'd just wanted to know if there was something specific to see if we had in stock."
Eira nodded, feeling utterly out of place in this small shop. Utterly out of place in general. The woman gestured a hand to her, a sign to follow. She did, the corset and top she still wore rustling just slightly as she turned.
The store-clerk walked to a hallway near the back of the store, soft faelights illuminating the aisles of herbs and tonics. With a soft hum, she came to a stop in front of a shelf, littered with small bottles filled with different colored substances. Eira looked on curiously as the woman studied the shelves, "Have you ever taken a sleeping aid before?"
EIra nodded, "Yes." she looked. "But...I never knew what it was called. I know that it was green though."
The woman's brows rose, turning to her. "Green?"
"Mhmm."
The woman furrowed her brows. "It's an herb called Xavith. We stopped selling it here a long while ago." She winced slightly. "It's really more of a sedative than a tonic."
"Oh." was all Eira said. "That's unfortunate." though she'd already known that.
"Indeed."
Eira asked again, a bit more hesitantly this time, "Do you have anything else that could help?"
The woman smiled again, "Of course." She looked back to the rack of bottles, "How strong would you like it to be?"
"Strong." she answered. "Strong as they come."
The woman snorted, reaching out a tan hand and grabbing a glass bottle full of a stark blue liquid Eira thought looked like deep ocean water. The store-clerk turned, "Strong as they come." the woman repeated Eira's words.
"I'll take it."
Again, the woman chortled a bit, dipping her head a bit toward the counter. "Let's get you sorted out then."
When Danika had gone inter her mind earlier, she'd made it clear that she would cover the cost for Eira's tonic—said she'd asked her mate to add her to their personal tab open throughout the city. Eira hadn't even known how to voice her thanks correctly.
After the woman had ventured behind the counter, and Eira had given her name with a bit of surprise from the woman, she'd walked out of the apothecary with a brand new white bag full of what was called Khosine.
She'd made it all of five steps from the building before she felt it. An odd feeling, but a familiar one.
One of being watched.
She'd not let her surprise show, nor had she let herself give any indication that she knew she was being stared at. She'd just walked. Quietly formulating a plan in her head and silently hoping that it had just been a passerby watching her exit the shop and would disappear any second.
When the feeling didn't disappear for two blocks, no matter which corner she'd turned, it became clear that someone was following her. Watching her.
A thrill raced through Eira, an icy one sent by her instincts, her training flaring within her. As if she was wading down a river, slowly something in Eira settled into a preternatural-like calm—her mind tossing and keeping ideas as to how she might handle this situation.
She settled on the least obvious approach. Softly, Eira flung her power out into the world, the darkness of the night magnifying the murkiness of her power. The darkness was her own, and nothing happened within it without Eira knowing.
Her magic caught its target, whispering its secrets back to her. A male. On the...rooftops? He was walking as she did, slowly monitoring her as she ventured through the city.
Eira's body settled into something lethal at that. She could be kind—she could be grateful. But she could not handle being treated like something to fear—untrustworthy and childlike.
So Eira turned a corner into a dark alleyway.
And she winnowed onto that rooftop.
In a whorl of black shadow, suddenly she stood behind a winged-figure. One she vaguely recognized as one of the male's that had been there that day in Winter Court—one of the ones who had even been there at dinner tonight.
Azriel.
The spymaster.
His body was frozen and taut, head turning and studying different directions as if searching for something. For her, no doubt. She stood there for a moment, watching him search for someone who was standing directly behind him, watching his shadows curl around his shoulders as she flung out her magic to stop them from whispering her presence in his ear.
Her thoughts were clouded, trying to figure out why in the seven hells the man had been following her. And it was only when she couldn't figure out another reason other than mistrust and suspicion that she spoke, "The spymaster...caught spying." her own shadowed voice spoke through the dark, tone like a steel blade cutting through the peaceful silence of Velaris. "I must say I'm disappointed. I expected better."
His entire body seemed to turn to utter stone—but she had to give it to him, he composed himself quickly. Slowly he turned, facing her with an expression full of void and icy calculation. The shadowsinger's gaze was searingly cold as he studied her apathetically.
For the first time, Eira actually studied his features and logged them. He was dark haired, and tan-skinned with eyes of a lighter hazel. The male was beautiful—classically so, as if you'd see him in some sort of artistic portrait or ancient sculpture. His face was made of harsh lines and almost—delicate features. His muscled body was covered in a dark scaled armor, glittering with glowing blue stones that Eira had read to be siphons.
He didn't seem as disgruntled as she had hoped. Eira had at least hoped he'd startled, or look even remotely surprised. But his tone was cold, and if she had to compare it to anything it might very well be the shadows curling around his shoulders. "What were you doing in that shop?" he asked, his voice like midnight given form.
Eira looked on unamused. "Ask your High Lady."
She could have sworn his eyes narrowed in the slightest. "What might Danika need there?" Suspicion.
"You're the spymaster." she said, deflecting. "You tell me."
He cocked his head. "You spoke with the store-keeper for a while." he said. "It's for you."
Eira pushed down her surprise at the fact he'd been following her for so long. She found herself questioning whether the reason the shadowsinger wasn't surprised to see her was because he had indeed planned for her to figure out she was being followed.
Eira didn't like that. Eira didn't like that at all.
Her eyes drew to the shadows curling around his shoulders, leaning outward as if looking at her curiously. Her ice blue eyes turned back to his hazel gaze, "Perhaps. Perhaps not." she stepped forward, the movement languid and perfectly relaxed. She chose a role this time; opting to be the silver-tongued wraith rather than the fumbling fool. "Why were you following me?"
She turned her body slightly, approaching Azriel's blind spot as she began circling him. He turned slightly, making sure she was still in his slights as his eyes truly did narrow that time. "My High Lady may trust you, but it is my duty to figure out whether you are trustworthy."
"You question Danika's decision?" Eira challenged.
"I question bringing people into Velaris on the brink of war."
She hated to admit it, but he had a point. She'd never admit as much though. "What is your great theory then?" she asked. "That we will stage a coup? Attack the city—all three of us?" A snort. "What did you think I was buying tonight? Poison? As if I'd be so obvious."
"A risk I was not willing to take." he replied with a pointed look down at the white bag she held in her hand. "What did you buy?"
"Still none of your concern."
Eira still circled him, and Azriel turned so that she was not behind his unprotected back. "It is when my court is at risk."
She snorted, deciding that deflection might be the best way to go. "Why is it they call you a shadowsinger?" she questioned. "Where I come from you'd simply be a shadow wielder." Like her.
He did not answer.
"Come now." she said, coming up to his other side. "Indulge me."
She did not think he was going to answer. "I am Illyrian."
"And that somehow affects it?"
"We do not possess shadow wielding magics. I've never even heard it called such."
Eira shrugged, realizing that perhaps he might be fishing for information of his own. Trying to lead her into a segway of where she was from. "I suppose all territories are different." a concentrated squint. "Do your shadows sing to you?" Hers certainly didn't. Eira's darkness was like—knowing. Like a premonition. She sent her power out and it was as though the answer floated on her intuition.
"Not in the ways you are thinking of."
"Do they whisper?"
"You ask a lot of questions."
She shrugged. "Can't blame me for being curious."
"The bag." The shadowsinger reminded, likely realizing she could not be fooled into revealing much information. "Or maybe I should ask Danika." he asked just as she rounded back to the front of him.
Eira arched a brow, a spark in her eyes. "Was that meant to be a threat?" she asked cooly. She leaned forward, meeting his piercing stare without so much as a flinch. "Let's get one thing straight, spymaster." she began, "I have no ill intentions toward your court nor this city. But I do not take kindly to being insulted and questioned like a child." she narrowed her gaze. lI am here of my own volition, because I wanted out." her voice quieted into a low whisper. "I don't care if you wish protect your court, but I assure you, we will give you the answers to your questions if you ask, less so if you try to steal them."
"I'll keep that in mind." Azriel said, but his tone of voice made Eira question whether he was serious or not.
"Fine ." was all she said, and then she turned around without so much as another word, feeling his gaze on her back as she began to stroll across the rooftop.
"Where are you going?" he asked, not bothering to raise his voice.
She answered, "To sleep." and turned to look over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, spymaster." She called.
And promptly winnowed away.
A/N: AHAH S(OJDIOJDDPIDPODJo they met
Just wrote half of the second to last chapter of this book lol. I've also I've been working on a re-write of book one 🤪
This book is now as long as A Court of Stars and Flame. This book is now as long as the first book in this series. Thats crazy
HERES MORE AI STUFF