Amarantha's Daughter

The High Dick of the Night Court

Two days earlier...

AZRIEL

It didn't seem like Rhys was surprised that he hadn't brought Dianthe. But he had gotten the feeling that he hadn't been summoned to talk about her either.

They were in the river house. In Rhys' study. The office he used to conduct official Night Court business. For the first time in his life, Azriel didn't know what to say to his brother.

Rhysand was sitting beside his desk. So deep in thought he didn't hear Azriel enter. Azriel could make himself unnoticeable, having been forged in shadows, but he'd elected to walk through the door normally. He stood there for a couple of moments before he cleared his voice to alert Rhysand he was here.

Rhysand, who was in the midst of reading a letter, looked up, startled. "Azriel. I didn't realize you were here." He said. He looked tired as hell, so Azriel had no issues believing him.

"You asked me to come." He replied. He was already counting the minutes he'd been away from Dianthe, picturing her asleep on the sofa with the half-eaten sandwich in her hand.

"I did." - "Are you okay? Is D... is she okay?"

"We're both fine. She doesn't want to meet you at the moment." It hurt him to say it because of how his friend responded. He seemed so defeated. But even though Azriel felt for Rhysand, he didn't blame Dianthe one bit for not wanting to meet with her father considering the current circumstances.

Rhys nodded. "That's fair." He looked up at Azriel with tired eyes. "I can't believe your mate is my daughter." He admitted. He seemed conflicted about it.

"Luckily for you. I might not have jumped after her if she wasn't my mate. It was a split second reaction. Instinct." Dianthe was his mate. That she was Rhysand's daughter didn't really matter to him.

"Right."

"Is that why you asked me to come?"

"No." - "There's been stirrings across the sea. The human queen is up to something." Rhysand explained. "We need to find out what."

Azriel nodded. That had technically been his job to find out before Dianthe had showed up. Then it had been babysitting duty, and then it had been taking care of his mate. "I can't just leave her now." He said. She didn't trust anyone else but him, and barely even him. And he couldn't just let her wander freely into the world looking like she did. There was a plethora of people eager to get something on Rhysand. Something to use against him, a daughter would be the perfect thing. There was a reason Rhysand had cast an ironclad spell on Feyre so that no one would find out that she was pregnant.

"I know." Rhysand rubbed his face.

"At one hand, as a father: I wanna give you all the time in the world so that she can recover and get accustomed to be what she is, and get to know all of us and you and Velaris. And on the other hand, as the High Lord of the Night Court: I know that time is not on our side, and we need to find out what Briallyn is up to before we have another war on our doorstep, and you're my best man to find out."

"I can't leave until I know she's safe. Until I know she's okay with staying in Velaris so that she can be looked after."

"I can't ask for more." Rhys said.

-

He returned to the cabin, only to find it empty. There was no sign of Dianthe inside. Even the sandwich was gone. Where could she have gone? He triple checked the bedrooms and bathing room, but she wasn't there. She must have left. No one else would have been able to enter the cabin while he was gone. But where could she have gone? And why? He thought she understood how big of a target there was on her back? Hadn't that been made abundantly clear? He felt his heart start hammering, but he couldn't allow himself to panic. He had to stay calm so that he could find her. What if she was in danger?