A Court of Golden Shadow || Elain x Azriel

Chapter 22 - Shadowsinger

Azriel swirled the dark wine in his golden goblet, shifting his weight slightly as he leaned back on his elbow, his wings resting loosely behind him on the silk-embroidered floor pillow.

The visiting guests of the Night Court; the Valkyries, the mates, and the Shadowsinger, were dining in Helion's personal dining room, gathered around a low-set cedar table filled with elaborate cheeses and fruits. They were having yet another chaperoned dinner for the gods-forsaken courting charade Elain was torturing them all with.

Azriel had been in Patras for nearly three weeks since Calanmai, and he was beginning to feel as though these draining group dates were just her way of reminding him once and for all that she had not chosen him.

When Elain had requested Rhys for Azriel to stay in Patras, offering protection and comfort in the wake of the visions and the river fiasco, he had held out a fool's hope that amongst her courting and gardening, she had maybe also intended on dragging him into her rooms... perhaps to recreate some of the Calanmai magic. Or at the very least, to just spend time together... like they had in the past.

But, leaning his goblet into his mouth for another swig of the rich fae wine, Azriel had learned that the beautiful and oh-so frustrating female hadn't intended any such thing. Because she hadn't so much as shaken his scarred hand in greeting in the three weeks he'd been in this fucking palace, let alone spoken privately to him. In fact, it seemed as if she was intent on keeping a foot of distance between herself and him at all times, dodging his shadows, averting her eyes from his gaze.

It was madness.

But for Elain and Lucien, while not behaving as other mates Azriel had been familiar with, things had progressed to the point where they at least seemed to be more comfortable with each other.

His shadows had gleaned that the fox had indeed apologized, and she had accepted. For gods-only-knew what reasons, they were still courting, and though it was slow progress, he had noticed a shift in their interactions, almost as if the repetition and proximity had worn them both down to the point that they no longer viewed one another as total strangers. Azriel's gaze drew to the head of the table. Helion was telling Lucien a story from his youth, the drawn-out details of how he had come to inherit the Day Court. Lucien and Helion had apparently bonded throughout the summer, despite the long-held feud the High Lord seemed to nurse against Beron. But maybe that was partly why the fox and the High Lord got on so well; mutual hatred for the abusive firelord of Autumn. And while the fox and Azriel had yet to bond over anything, he no longer felt malicious fury whenever he was in the presence of Elain's mate. The two had fallen into simply ignoring one another instead.

Elain was listening quietly, her attention fluttering between Helion's story and Gwyn and Emerie's giggling chatter next to her. Azriel was at the foot of the table, across from Helion, flanked by the Valkyries. He had been tuning them out, preferring to lounge in peace, his shadows whispering and swirling around him as he nursed his wine. He had gotten quite used to tuning out Valkyrie chit-chat throughout his time training the females, and although he enjoyed their company, there was only one female here whom he desired to spend time with.

"Az," Gwyn's voice carried toward Azriel, breaking him from the privacy of his thoughts. "How does one become a Shadowsinger?"

Azriel felt the room still, Lucien's chatter pausing mid-sentence as the gathered fae peered over at him. Helion opened his mouth, presumably to answer the Priestess, but closed it again after looking at the Shadowsinger, his eyes falling to the ground. Emerie's eyes darted to Gwyn's, widening with an expression that seemed to communicate, 'you just put your foot in it.' Azriel had to assume that the older and more experienced fae in the gathered party would know exactly what it meant to become a Shadowsinger, and none had the heart to tell Gwyn about it over laughter and cheeses.