A court of Shadows & Blood (An ACOTAR / Azriel fanfiction)

Chapter 13

Please don't do that again, I will cry in front of everyone." I mumbled with my face pressed against Alcina's chest.

"I will be front and centre, applauding and cheering. " She replied and I smacked her forehead.

Cassian bickered with Morrigan outside and Rhysand and Azriel were trying to break them up. Well, Rhysand was trying to suppress a smile and Azriel was shifting from one foot to another.

"Are you feeling better?" I touched her forehead.

"I've seen better days." Alcina groaned. "How are you?"

"I'm.....alive." I answered, not bothering to hide my emotions from my sister.

She tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Why don't you just try?" She whispered.

"No, Alcina." I sighed, remembering what she was talking about. "Not Azriel. He does not deserve it. I just want him to live a happy life."

She clicked her tongue, "You would say that, wouldn't you?" She jerked her chin towards my neck, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Oh shut up!" I felt my face warming up."Why don't you tell me about your time with Morrigan?"

"What about it?" She suddenly decided that the curtains were more interesting than me.

"You tell me." I poked her ribs playfully.

She hissed and glared at me. "Why don't you ask your shadows?"

"You know I would never invade your privacy with them." I reminded her.

When we were little, I would often use my shadows to sneak into her room or to listen to our parents talking on our birthday to ruin the surprised for myself.

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Morrigan....." She trailed. "It's complicated. I'm not sure what to say. We'll have plenty of time to talk about it." She smiled softly.

I decided not to tell her that we won't.

The door suddenly swung open. "-no you said that." Cassian entered, followed by Morrigan, Rhysand and Azriel who was shaking his head in exasperation. "I was the one who threw the paper. And Rhys chucked it at you."

He glared accusingly at the High Lord who put his hands up. "In my defense, I wasn't thinking then. "

Morrigan rolled her eyes. "Like you ever do." She basically skipped over to Alcina's side and my sister rested her head on the side of her waist.

"It's good to see that you are not calling me a "Pompous ass of a man" anymore." Cassian grinned at my sister.

She chuckled, "Was there any lie in that?"

"Hardly any." He shook his head.

"I would say it's the best description for Cass anyone has ever come up with." Rhysand added.

Cassian gave Rhysand a betrayed look and looked at me. "I thought your sister would be as polite as you."

"That's because you haven't made her angry yet." Alcina said. "She has got quite the tongue."

"She's not lying." I had completely forgotten about the dark gems around my neck until the familiar velvety voice reached my ears.

I almost choked on air as the spymaster smirked at me from a corner. I glared at him but he only winked at me before diverting his gaze.

"Shameless flirt." I mumbled, only loud enough for it to travel over to the shadows; and got a ripple of pleasure back.

Soon enough, Morrigan declared that she was not going to sit around and waste this excellent opportunity to show us that she was undefeated in board games. With a lot of cries of opposition from Cassian and Rhysand, they all settled down to have a match.