A Court Of Frozen Shadows- Azriel X Reader

21 Swords Play

I practised my swordplay for hours on end, the feeling of the sword in my hand was amazing. I felt powerful, for once in my life. My back was straight, hand clenched around the sword, legs bend, head high, another hand ready to block at a moments notice. I felt free, this was natural, it was as if this was my birthright. Balton had taken that away from me, I would never let him do it again. Elain was in the field next to me, planting her flowers as I cut into a grand oak tree, over and over. 

"You're going to cut it down if you are not careful" Elain called out, her head was tilted slightly as she tugged on the roots of the plant. 

I looked at the barely cut tree, "Yeah, I don't think that will happen any time soon Elain," I called back, getting in position, my thighs were burning, my shoulders were aching and my stomach was twisted, I wanted- needed a break, but I loved all of this too much. 

"Need a partner?" Feyre smiled, two swords in her hand, sharp swords, unlike my small training sword. I nodded, she threw the sword, though I dropped it. As I picked it up, I readied myself, letting myself get used to the weight of the sword before getting into my practised stance. She copied my moments, a sly smile on her face as she made the first move, I calculated her movements, blocking her attack moments before it happened. 

She rose her eyebrows, obviously impressed. "I've been practising," I smiled- actually smiled.

"Yeah," She swung, harder this time, I blocked her movement by inches, "Azriel said," She took a few steps back, my time to strike, taking a few steps forward, I swung for her stomach, she blocked it easily, spinning around to my back, she tried to hit me, though I turned around just in time to block her, I was at a bad angle, bending back slightly, desperately clinging onto the sword. "He speaks of your sessions an awful lot," Feyre spoke, holding back a smile. 

Taking a few steps back, I attacked again, only for her to block it, she tried to trip me up, though I jumped over her swinging leg. "Does he really?" I humoured her, our swords meeting in the middle, we both used our body strength, the sword version of an arm wrestle, though I know she was stronger than me, I needed a distraction, so I raised my eyebrows, my mouth opening a slight bit, looking behind her, I forced my practice look of horror onto my face. "Rhysand no!" I called out, desperation heavy in my voice. 

Feyre froze, as she looked to turn back, I reached down, grabbing her ankle, I pulled her to the ground, I looked at the high lady who I had beaten proudly before disarming her, I kicked the swords away, they landed under Cassians and Azriel's feet, both of them looking at Feyre and I with amusement heavy in their expressions. My gaze met Azriel's, his shadows lighted around him, the corners of his mouth tipped up as he mouthed, 'behind you'.

Quickly turning around, my sword met Rhysand's, he lazily held the sword with one hand, the other in his pocket. Feyre had gotten up at some point, calling out something like 'good game' to me, though I was focusing on Rhysand, my attacks were lazily blocked by him for a minute or two and it was annoying me, my entire body was aching and I could barely hold the sword any longer. As if he wanted to put me out of my misery, he attacked me, his sword quickly swinging into my stomach, inches before it reached me though, shadows covered my side, blocking the sword from reaching me, protecting me. 

Smirking, I kicked Rhysand in the stomach, taking advantage of his confusion, he had his gaze locked with Azriel's when I forced him to the ground, once again, disarming him. Though after, I fell to the ground myself, letting my sweaty body cool off on the cold grass. "That was hardly fair, you had Az's shadows protecting you," Cassian scoffed, "and there wasn't even any blood! Amature's," 

"I'll give you a beating if you'd like Cassian," Rhysand smirked, "Azriel's lessons are paying off, good stance," Rhysand smirked, sitting up. 

"Don't let my win bruise you ego high lord," I mocked him, raising my eyebrows, a small smile on my face. He returned that smile, before Cassian knelt down next to him, whispering something in his ear, his expression grew serious and he rose up. 

"Next time, Evangeline," He tipped his head slightly. 

"Call me Eve," 

Cassian's face dropped, "What the hell? So everyone gets nickname privileges except me?"

"Pretty much," I shrugged, Cassian huffed, before ruffling my hair and walking off with Rhysand. A large, excited smile grew onto my face after the two of them left, I clasped my hands together, "Did you see that Az? I beat the high lady and the high lord!" I laughed happily, "I could hug you right now, it's all because of you," I tried to find him, I wanted to thank him, thank him for giving me confidence, a gift that's better than anything in the world. I was floating on clouds.

Whipping around, I expected to see him with a grand smile on his face, though when I saw him, he was sat in the field with Elain, talking with her, a hand on a petal, a smile on his face. She made him smile. Of course, she did. Gulping, I turned around from the happy couple. My excited mood suddenly draining away, I turned my gaze to the grass. 

"Did you say something Eve?" Elain called, 

My heart was hallow, I suddenly felt dumb for being so excited for something, feeling dumb for thinking he would be excited too. "...no, I didn't say anything," looking up, I saw her hand on Az's scarred on, I winced. 

Azriel's eyebrows furrowed, he pulled his hand from Elains, standing up, he made his away to me. "Are you hurt? Did the sword hit you through my shadows?" He tried to look at my side. 

"No, no," I stood up, dusting off my clothing. "I'm okay," I didn't try to smile. "I'm going on a walk, don't send your shadows after me," I couldn't look at him in the eye. 

Elain walked up to Az, grabbing his hand in hers once again. I wanted to ask about her mate, though I didn't have the energy, my body was tired and so was my mind, turning around, I walked into the forest for a couple of minutes. 

I didn't admire the trees like normal as I sat down between two roots, they seemed to make me my own chair, I settled onto the seat made just for me, leaning my back against the harsh wood and let myself breathe. 

Gazing around the forest, an uneasy feeling settled into my stomach, darting my eyes around, I tried to find something out of place, something was wrong, the wind was sharper, the roots were harsher and the entire forest did not emit a single sound. It was as if nature was telling me to leave. It was warning me. 

Before I even had the chance to stand up and run, I felt something hit the back of my head, and I plunged into darkness.