Daisy Blooms - Azriel

Chapter 17

Helion, High Lord of the Day Court, arrived at the Hewn City the next afternoon on a flying horse.

He'd wanted to enter the dark city in a golden chariot led by four snow-white horses with manes of golden fire, Rhys had told us, but Rhys had forbidden the chariot and horses, and let Helion know that he could winnow in or not come at all.

Hence the pegasus, Helion's idea of a compromise.

I have heard the rumors of Helion's rare pegasuses. Myth claimed his prized stallion had flown so high the sun had scorched him black, but beholding the beast now ... Well, I might have been envious, if I didn't have wings myself.

The winged horses were rare-so rare that it was said Helion's seven breeding pairs of flying horses were the only ones left. Lore held that there had once been far more of them before recorded history, and that most had just vanished, as if they'd been devoured by the sky itself. Their population had dwindled further in the last thousand years, for reasons no one could explain.

This hadn't been helped by Amarantha, who had butchered three dozen of Helion's pegasuses in addition to burning so many of his libraries. The seven pegasus pairs that remained had survived thanks to being set free before Amarantha's cronies could reach their pens in the highest tower of Helion's palace. (Why'd she have to kill his pegasus? That's so sad.)

Helion's most beloved pair-this black stallion Meallan, and his mate- hadn't produced offspring in three hundred years, and that last foal hadn't made it out of weaning before he'd succumbed to an illness no healer could remedy.

According to legend, the pegasuses had come from the island the Prison sat upon-had once fed in fair meadows that had long given way to moss and mist. Perhaps that was part of the decline: their homeland had vanished, and whatever had sustained them there was no longer.

I admired the sight of Meallan alighting on the black stones of the courtyard before the towering gates into the mountain, the stallion's mane blowing in the wind off his jet-black wings. Few things remained in the faerie realms that could summon any sort of wonder, but that magnificent stallion, proud and haughty and only half-tamed, did.

"Incredible," Rhys murmured, similar admiration shining in his face. Feyre beamed with delight, and I knew from that look that she'd be painting this beast-and possibly its stunning master as well. Azriel and Cassian, too, blinked in awe as the stallion pawed at the ground, huffing, and Helion patted the pegasus's thick, muscular neck before dismounting.

"Well met," Rhys said, striding forward.

"It's not the parade I wished " Helion said, clasping Rhys s hand, "but Meallan knows how to make an entrance." He let out a whistle, and the pegasus pivoted gracefully despite his size, flapped those mighty wings, and leaped back into the skies to wait elsewhere for his master.

Helion grinned at Feyre, who'd watched the stallion soar into the sky with wide eyes. He said "I'll take you on a ride if you wish."

"I hope that's not an innuendo." I whisper to Azriel.

"Oh, everything I say is an innuendo, dear Daisy. Oh how I've missed your magnificent wings." Helion winks at me.

"Sorry, but I'm a mated female now."

"Then invite Azriel with you. It would be marvelous with both types of wings. I've never been with both an Illyrian and Peregryn at the same time. I'd like to see how they compare." He says. I look over at Azriel and he has a scared look on his face, his eyes wide open.

"Sorry, not this time." I reply and Helion looks sad, but I add, "Maybe in a few centuries though."

"I'll happily wait for that." He says and continues on.