A Court of Shadows and Thunder // AzrielxOC SlowBurn Romance, ACOTAR FanFiction

Chapter 51 - Old Memories

Yohann was silent as he sat at the foot of Brianna's bed, leaning against one of the gossamer adorned posters.

He had been silent for a while now, since he had followed Brianna to her room, had watched her take her shoes off and slip into bed with her clothes still on. She had sunk into the covers, rolled onto her side and didn't say a single word to him.

But Yohann had a lot to say, a lot of angry and concerned thoughts, and he kept quiet simply as to not let any of those thoughts come out. The last thing Brianna needed now was an argument, even if he was itching to start one.

He looked over to her then, his hazel eyes roving over Brianna's lying figure. Her own eyes were wide open, her brows drawn into a frown, and he knew her mind was far away.

"You don't look so dead anymore," Yohann said, and her gaze snapped to his with a glare.

He was right though, she did look better. Her mousy hair had become smooth and shiny again, the brown so deep like molten chocolate. Her sunken cheeks and pale skin were no more, her tan complexion was lively and there was pink in her cheeks. The dark of her under-eyes was gone, and she even had a sparkle in her eyes.

Brianna looked healthy, looked well fed. And Yohann was reminded that that was the bitter truth behind her glowing appearance.

He didn't know how many of those beasts she had consumed in the forest, but it looked to be enough to satiate her. He knew she had been near starved from being so far away from the Strofades, so far away from Nosseus and the Harpies that resided there. He had grown worried and scared of what might happen, had confronted her and tried to convince her to feed for her own sake.

But her limits had been tested and she had snapped and killed and fed, and the fact that only Naga were harmed and not any fae told Yohann that the Gods must have been listening to his prayers. And while he did pray to them, he cursed them just as much, for if only they listened to him a little more, if only they had prevented Brianna from resorting to such cruel methods. If only they hadn't even created such a curse.

Yohann let out a sigh and crawled over to Brianna, taking the other side of the bed. He laid himself flat on his back above the sheets, staring up at the ceiling.

"I've been thinking a lot," he said to her, "But surely not as much as you have."

Brianna said nothing at first, but he felt the covers tug as she shifted a little.

"Are you mad at me?" She asked him, and he couldn't miss the guilt in her voice.

"No," Yohann said immediately, if not only to reassure her. But he hated lying to her, and he knew she could tell it was a lie anyway, so he said, "Maybe just a little bit."

He couldn't pretend he wasn't mad, because he truly was. He felt betrayed, more than anything, that Brianna would keep something like this from him. And not just about Azriel knowing of her curse, but also about Azriel being her mate. Her Cauldron-be-damned mate.

Yohann tried to think back of a time when Brianna had never lied to him, had never kept any secrets from him. When they had been children, only little faelings, when they still ran about the forest near their village, when they first started to take to the skies above blooming meadows.

There was always the little white lies, the most innocent ones a little girl would say. Her telling him she never ate his cream puff, that she did not tell their school-mate Suzie that he had a crush on her. Denying that she broke his favourite wooden play sword, that she did not steal his collection of sparkling multicoloured marbles so that she could admire them herself.