Nightfall {An Azriel (ACOTAR) FanFic}

Chapter 9

The sun was barely poking its rays over the few clouds that hung in the sky when Azriel had returned from a job that Rhysand had given him. He had spent the entire night crammed up in a very uncomfortable space and he wanted nothing more than the comfort of his own bed. His mind, like the rest of his family, was stuck on Nyx. After the further slowing of this 'Time Wrap' that, as Heart had explained, could lead to various delays in his development to the point that it could hurt him, Rhysand had become more and more agitated and even Feyre had snapped a few times.

Azriel was about to open the door of his bedroom when he heard a faint noise from the adjacent corridor. He could tell the difference between the footsteps of every person in the house and so, naturally, he rushed over when he recognised Pippor. There was no reason for him to be up so early and it could mean nothing good and that was just the case. Pip was standing in the middle of the otherwise empty hallway in his pajamas, his stuffed lion pressed closed to his chest, looking around with shiny tear drops rolling down his cheeks.

"Pip." He approach the boy who almost flinched at his noise. "What are you doing here?" He kneeled down and asked carefully.

Pip then sniffed once before whimpering, "Mumma." His voice shook as he forced the word out and Azriel quickly scooped him up into his arms. Holding him close to his heart, Az kissed the top of his head and Pip wrapped one of his little arms around Azriel's neck while still holding onto his toy. His tears were still rolling and he had broken down into small sobs at the comforting touch.

"Wasn't she there when you woke up?" Azriel asked quietly while smoothing Pip's hair.

He shook his head while resting it on AZ's shoulder. Two large tears rolled off his lashes and fell onto the leathers Az was wearing.

"It's okay. She'll just be in her study. We'll go find her." He cradled Pip to calm him down but to no avail. The little boy sobbed on and on until they had reached Heart's study and Azriel's didn't bother knocking.

Heart was sitting in her chair with her knees tucked under her chin and a pencil between her lips. Her hair were clipped back and the large sweater hung loose from her frame. She looked up when she heard Pip and jumped out of her seat.

When she reached out to take him from AZ's arms she whispered, "Did he wake up on his own?"

Pip mumbled a quivering "Mum." before clinging to her as Azriel nodded in response and she started rubbing his back and kissing him on the top of his head, his cheeks and his forehead. She soothing murmured, "I'm here. Everything is okay." Pip's sobbing seemed to slow down but that didn't stop Azriel from peaking over Heart's shoulder to check on him. Heart turned around and took Pip near an open window while cradling him. Now he was only faintly sniffing and rubbing away his tears so Azriel waited quietly in case Heart needed him to put Pip back to bed. His attention went back to the stuffed lion toy that Pip had left in his hand and he turned it over idly. It was torn at a few places that were clearly patched up later on and Azriel smiled faintly at the realisation that it was very dear to Pip.

He ran his thumb over that fabric, inspecting any other damage and wondering if he should get Pip something like that if it made him so happy.

His smile fell flat when he noticed the backside of the neck of the lion. There it was, very small, but very much the same symbol that Azriel could never forget - Hybern. The symbol on their ships, every flag, on the right shoulder of every soldier. And it was right there, on Pippor's stuffed toy.

Azriel probably didn't even breath until Heart called out to him.

"Azriel." She said, her voice flat.

He looked up in a daze, his vision floating.

She held out her hand, "Pip's toy." Her face was emotionless and he knew that she had seen him notice the mark.

Slowly, he extended it towards her and she carefully took it. Pip still looked sullen but had stopped crying. His eyes half closed on his mother's shoulder, he looked very tired.

Heart started towards her and Pip's bedroom and Azriel followed her in a daze. He didn't even realise they had reached the room until Heart tucked Pip in and locked the room from the inside. She motioned him to follow her to the balcony so he walked up to the railing where she leaned over the metal.

"I see there is no point in hiding this anymore." She sighed.

"Yes." Azriel nodded. His eyes briefly lingered on the pointy ears.

Heart was silent for a long moment during which Azriel tried very hard to get his emotions under control so that she couldn't sense them and the bond. He could, however, tell exactly what she was feeling and the the wave of panic that had washed over him was tremendous. But even more than that, he could feel fear. Was she scared of him? He couldn't tell but that almost made him lose his composure.

"So," she finally started. "I didn't know about any war. I was living my life." She shrugged. "Until I decided that I wanted to see how my father was doing and showed up at the Archerone house's doorstep. I never got in however, they abducted me from the doorstep."

"Hybern." Azriel's throat closed up but he pushed his emotions back and uttered the word. "They had you before they got to Nesta and Elain."

Heart nodded. She avoided eye contact with him as she continued, "I- I was there for longer. Not just before they were bought in, but after they were rescued. I only escaped after the King was dead."

"Then why weren't you there when they forced them in the couldron?" Azriel's knuckles turned white,  his skin splitting open at the edge of the railing.

"I was turned right when they brought back Jurian and was separated from everyone else. I did not even see Nesta and Elain. They only told me that they had my sisters." She paused to gather herself. "I couldn't- they didn't want to give me away. He didn't want to give me away." Venom filled her voice and Azriel could sense the murderous rage rising inside of him.

"The King. Why?" He gritted his teeth and pushed out.

"I was carrying his child." She spat out and it was like the world splitting into half.

Azriel felt the air being knocked out of his lungs and the world blacked out. The only thing he could see was the moment his dagger pierced through the King and the utter disappointment that he didn't get to torture him. To pull out every scream and screech that could be formed out of his vocal cords until it bled and he gave up and submitted to his cruel fate.

"Pip is the son of the King of Hybern?" He whispered.

Heart hesitantly nodded. Her eyes were focused on his hands and it occurred to him that she was expecting him to strike either her or Pip. That thought subsided some of his anger and he said, "I don't care about that. He is your child."

She looked up at him and looked deeply into his eyes and, perhaps seeing sincerity, looked away. He could see that she was on the verge of tears and almost reached for her before remembering that she might not appreciate that given that he had just heard about another man forcing her to carry his child. Physical affection might not be something she would be comfortable with.

For the sake of his now trembling mate, he pushed his anger to a side and cleared his throat.

"I won't tell anyone, if that's what you would like." He whispered.

"Thank you." Heart replied but kept looking away.

"It makes no difference, Heart." He said sincerely. He knew that she wasn't aware of their bond, but he felt compelled to say that so she knew that Pip being the King's son didn't mean anything to him. To him, Pip was Heart's son and perhaps his own, if they would both have him as that.

He eyes wandered inside the room and landed on the tiny, curled up form of the sleeping child and his heart twisted mercilessly inside his chest. The thought that he had been trapped in that hell as a newborn was horrifying.

When his anger once again took over and Heart seemed to be done with the conversation, Azriel excuses himself, "I have to run an errand for Feyre." He said without looking at Heart.

She nodded at Truth-teller. "This is that dagger that killed him, isn't it? Good." Her eyes were stone cold and all the depth in them was gone when Azriel looked at her.

He didn't say another word before leaving the room and flying away. Somebody was going to have a particularly horrible day in one of his prison cells.