A Court Of Moonlight And Shadows (An Azriel/ACOTAR Fanfiction)

Chapter 22

It seemed Rhysand was much more wary of the spymaster than Cassian as he tried to pull back Azriel and Cassian only laughed while wiping the bit of blood that was blooming at the corner of his mouth.

"Cut it out!" Morrigan finally yelled, bringing the men to attention. "You." She pointed an accusing finger at Cassian. "You're lucky Rhys didn't kill you when you did the same thing, now you decide to do the same with Az." Cassian opened his mouth to make an excuse but Mor held her hand up. "Go back to your own mate. And you go back to yours." Azriel glared once again at the smirking male before shrugging Rhysand's hands off.

Cassian went on, "I'm just saying-"

"Cassian." Azriel growled with barely controlled rage. "Go. Away."

He didn't need to do it himself, however, because Morrigan grabbed his collar and dragged him alongside herself. "You already look like shit." She smacked his shoulder. "I let it slide with Rhys but now you have a mate as well and we can't really afford to have you killed."

Casssian chuckled, "I was just joking."

"We know that, but this isn't the right time. Maybe after a month or two."

"But it won't be funny then." He pleaded but was left unheard as the blonde female left him at his bedroom door and breezily skipped down the stairs.

Azriel on the other hand, huffed up a storm as Arcane worked on crushing a gem on her working table. After a while of ignoring him throwing things around and pacing in the room, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Cassian." Azriel answered briefly.

"He seems good enough to me." She shrugged.

"Don't-" He bit the inside of his cheek. "Don't talk about him."

Arcane rested her chin on her hands, "Why is that? Did he do something?"

"Yes." A muscle twitched in his jaw at the mention of that.

"How bad can it be? He is your brother." Arcane clicked her tongue and returned to lifting the lid of her brass pot that she claimed would be done in a few hours.

"That doesn't mean he gets to say anything about my mate." He grumbled and kicked one of his jackets that was on the floor away. "You should give me my jackets back."

"You can get new ones." Arcane dismissed it and asked, "Is this some kind of Fae thing where you go in a murderous rage if someone talks about your mate?"

Azriel simply nodded as an answer.

"Oh, wow." Arcane raised her eyebrows at that. "That does not sound very good. Like, at all."

Azriel bit his lower lip. "It will only last for a few weeks."

"It better." She said pointedly. "Nobody is incharge of your emotions."

"I know." He sighed and rubbed his knuckles that were tinged red from the punches that had also left Cassian bruised. "It gets better."

"Mother above." Arcane sighed. "What is wrong with fae? You have to make everything so complicated."

"Yes? Like what?" Azriel asked with amusement, sitting closer to her.

"What is it with 'mating bond'? Just love people you love!" She threw her arms out.

"It's about the cooking, isn't it?" He asked and she pouted.

"I almost set the house on fire."

"It's okay." He pulled her into an embrace and she slumped against his chest with a soft sigh. "I once set, not a house, but the kitchen on fire by accident."

"That's not a relief given that you're going to be cooking from now on." She mumbled against his neck.

"Maybe we should just starve together." Azriel shrugged and Arcane nodded earnestly.

"I'm sure I could learn though." She nodded with confidence.

Azriel sucked on his teeth  and said thoughtfully, "In my most humble opinion, I think I'd rather go out in the wild and hunt animals to eat them raw."

Arcane patted his back and pulled back, "That's why I love you." She idly turned around to check on the brewing plant and jumped up from her seat.

Azriel frowned as she hurriedly poured the now golden-brown mixture into a glass jar with words in a foreign language encrusted onto it. "Is it done?" He asked expectedly.

"Almost." She breathed out. "Is it supposed to be done so soon?"

"You tell me." He exclaimed while circling around the desk to get a look at what she was doing. "You need all this?" He looked around at the array of sparkly things scattered around.

"This needs to be buried near the shore." She handed him the jar with the scalding liquid and rushed to the other side of the room. "It will keep the spell in place even when I'm not around to make sure it remains intact."

"What if someone digs it out?" Azriel watched her return to him and slide out truth teller from it's sheath.

She dug the tip into one of her fingers and let the blood drip inside the jar. "It's for you to make sure that it doesn't." She shrugged and wiped the blade, putting the dagger in it's place.

"So, we can just bury it now and it'll be fine?" He asked curiously.

"Not exactly but that's the most important thing." She took the jar back  and rushed out of the room. Azriel followed suit  and held her back when she almost bumped into Rhysand.

The High Lord looked curiously at both of them but rushed back to his mate when Arcane explained the urgency of the situation. He returned with Feyre and Nyx and Arcane asked for a pair of scissors.

"Since Nyx is going to be the High Lord after you, he needs to have some command over the shields." She explained while Feyre held her son's hands that reached for his aunt who carefully snipped a bit of his hair off. "Take him back." She told Feyre who was quick to return after leaving Nyx in the care of Morrigan.

Together Arcane, Azriel, Feyre and her mate winnowed to the seashore. The day was windier than usual but that didn't seem to bother Arcane as she climbed onto the rocks towards the ancient shield. They all stood back and waited for the ordeal to be finally over with impatience.

Even though Azriel couldn't quiet see his mate he saw a strange spark rising from where her hair flowed in the wind almost like water droplets shining under sunlight. It stopped after a while and the wind around them grew warmer, the temperature rising steadily until they were all sweating profusely. Feyre took a step forward but Rhysand pulled her back when a flash of red appeared in the place of the shield.

Azriel's worry spiked but he planted his feet, not letting his instincts interfere with something so important. Besides, he was sure Arcane could handle this. He knew her enough to trust her with this. She sent a flash of excitement down the bond and Azriel smiled broadly. She's always excited to throw herself in danger. He chuckled to himself.

It seemed like eternity when the red lightning stopped but with it, Azriel stopped feeling Arcane on the other side of the bond.