A Court of Golden Shadow || Elain x Azriel

Chapter 7 - He Fucking Missed Her

Rhysand did not need convincing to join the celebration at Day.

But Azriel was warring between three desires.

Firstly, he wanted to respect Elain's wishes.

She wanted separation from the Inner Circle in order to give her courtship a fighting chance, and he wanted to protect that for her. It felt wrong to disturb her peace in Patras only moments after she had arrived. Azriel wanted her to have the courting experience she desired, and he was pretty sure that did NOT include a Shadowsinger lurking in the corner while she chatted with Lucien.

Secondly, he wanted to please his High Lord.

Truthfully, manipulating Cassian into rallying the brothers towards Helion's party could possibly be interpreted as "panting" after Elain. He felt annoyed at himself that he could not sit back and obey Rhys' orders after all his brother had sacrificed for him over the years. Why couldn't he just give her up and make Rhys happy?

But thirdly, and perhaps most importantly and most persuasively to his own mind, he just fucking missed her.

Elain had been gone for only half a day and he was going out of his mind, flying the coast, sparring with Gwyn, manipulating Cassian into heading to Patras... what was happening to him? Where was the cool-headed Shadowsinger? He had gone days, sometimes even weeks without seeing Elain in the past...

But this felt different.

It was like Elain's exit from Velaris had unwound something within his soul. Because even when he wasn't able to see her, having her living nearby in Velaris, going through her typical routine, living and breathing and safe in the mansion where he knew she would be... it gave him comfort. His spymaster instincts found natural peace when he knew what she was doing, that she was happy, and that she was safe.

And now, separated by thousands of acres, cities, mountain ranges, and even a desert, he felt like he was losing his mind.

He just needed to know what her surroundings in Day would be— that she would be properly cared for, her servants trustworthy, and her gardens suitable and available for her to access. Azriel knew her sisters were helping Elain settle, and the fox would be there too, but he wanted to ensure it all for himself, as he always had since she was Made, working in the background of her life to make her happy. To keep her safe.

He had already formed concrete plans to slip out from the party tonight to inspect the gardens, test the strength of the enchantments on her rooms, and potentially interrogate her staff, if necessary, to ensure she would be happy, safe, and cared for in Helion's court.

The plan had worked out in Azriel's favor.

Rhysand agreed that they would attend the party as a sign of good-faith between the courts, staying for a few days until the sisters left as well. Helion, being one to enjoy a party, had invited all the High Lords after Rhys expressed interest in attending.

Thankfully Tamlin's invitation was apparently unable to be delivered, as he was still roaming around Spring in beast form like the dramatic cad he was. Beron flat-out refused to come to Patras on the grounds of some centuries old feud, though Varian and Amren were coming, representing the Summer Court. Kallias and Vivian sent their regrets, stating that Summertime in Patras, though beautiful, was highly uncomfortable for their arctic-tuned bodies. Their regrets were sent along with a sweating Winter Court messenger and an enormous ice sculpture carved into the shape of a swan. Thesan however, was pleased at the invitation and would arrive with his winged lover around the same time as the males from the Night Court.

Azriel's shadows and connections had collected the information easily for Rhysand, ensuring that they were walking into a safe and happy event, no threats to worry about, save for overheating or seeing a little too much nudity.