𝒜 𝒞𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝑅𝑒𝓈𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒮𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓈 | ᴀᴢʀɪᴇʟ

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Arwen wished she could laugh at the sight before her. Just outside of Rita's, Azriel stood next to her, holding her mint green parasol over their heads. Next to him, she was turned into her side, still evening her breaths. His arm hung loosely around her hips, forming a ring of warmth around her.

"Why don't we go home?" he suggested. "Get out of this rain."

She could only shake her head. His shadows swarmed them like a blanket against the rain. A cloak against the world. In her early youth, Azriel would send his shadows to her. They would snake around her, prodding and tickling, all while hushed murmurs filled the other end of the room as he talked with the others.

"How did you know?" Arwen lifted her head from the side of his shoulder. "H-how did you know to come here?"

There was not a hint of shame, nor uncertainty that might appear if he had been spying. "I felt your panic," he said. "Your heart. My shadows... like you and searched. I'm not sure they're ever far away." At the end, he added a small frown, his voice trailing like the observation hadn't been meant for her to hear.

She used to feel his heart too.

But those feelings—that connection... She shut them out long ago, forcing them to numb until only the faint tug of the bond remained. Hadn't he done the same? "Thank you."

Arwen lay her head back down, nestling her cheek against the curve of his shoulder. At her hips, his hand made a gentle squeeze before he slowly turned into her front until they faced each other. She kept her head in place, watching the silver splashes cascade down on the stone road over his shoulder. Her forearms lifted to rest on the rigid lining of his belt, fingers loosely curling around the fabric of his tunic. They stood there, silent and fighting the cold together.

"Would you like to go somewhere?"

Arwen lifted her head after asking but didn't let go of her gentle hold. It wasn't something she could do often, and wasn't prepared to yet give it up. Azriel nodded. "Wherever you desire."

She watched him for a moment longer, waiting for any sign that he wanted otherwise. Their time alone had become so few and far between that she was never sure what to do around him anymore. But there was nothing but patience lining his tanned face. Nothing but searching hazel eyes that waited for her to respond.

So Arwen tightened her grip and they disappeared.

Her ears twitched as the sound of the rain changed from soft patters on the road to metallic drumming. They had appeared exactly at the intended destination, upon a small pavilion right near the edge of the Sidra. Azriel peered upwards and lowered the parasol, smiling at the setting. Arwen stepped away from him, meandering to a bench seat near the outer edge that was still dry.

Eventually, he followed over but leant against one of the white beams instead.

Splatters of colour rippled across the river, the rain dismantling any clear image that might have been there. It was darker there, away from the lights of the town and with no moon to grace them with its soft luminescence.

"Was that the first time you've been inside Rita's?"

Azriel turned his gaze from the river to her. "Yes," he said.

"What did you think?"

"I wasn't thinking much of it."

"Would you want to go back one day?" she asked, turning to sit sideways along the stone bench to face him properly.

A slight smile pinched at his lips. "You could convince me," he answered. Arwen laughed and muttered something about doing just that. "Cassian won't talk to you for a week if he finds out that's where you went without him."