𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Eighty-Five

Days fell away like leaves. Floating in the air as they were swept away in time. It had been weeks. Weeks of waiting for the Queens to write back and help us and help keep a plague away from our homes. Violence, death, battles...war. There was no time to waste, and yet the Queen's continued to tease.

    Weeks of forcing us to wonder whether they would ever meet with us to prevent war.

Days that had stretched long, each of us filled with suspense as to when we could continue to the next phase.

    Azriel had continued his attempts to infiltrate the mortal courts—still to no avail. It was nearly impenetrable, the guards the wards, there were no breaks or cracks. Though Azriel still continued trying. I had made it my mission to help the shadowsinger take breaks.

I.e helping him take breaks by making him play drinking games with me even if he brooded and complained the entire time.

    It always began the same, where I dragged him down to the wine cellar of the House of Wind while he made my job much harder, quite literally dragging his feet all the way down there. It was like dragging a corpse through the halls and it was entirely tiring.

As per usual, I then grabbed six or more bottles of wine and the shadowsinger called me a miserable drunk, to which I didn't disagree.

    I then forced him to carry the wine as punishment for his statements, and I again dragged him up the stairs and into the living room to play said drinking games with me.

    Azriel, it turned out, was a very odd drunk. A mix of anger, sad, and out of control. He got so drunk he once even suggested we go prank Cassian and Rhys, which I believed was a marvelous idea granted my love of very elaborate pranks, though it was out of character.

    Of course, I agreed. How could I not? A chance to make the High Lord of the Night Court and the General of his armies scream, was one I couldn't pass up.

Cassian was Azriel's job, and Rhys was up all up to me. Even sober we followed through, both of us eager for opportunity.

Azriel was expert pranker. The shadowsinger was sneaky, I admit, very, very serious about his pranks and I do believe that's the entire reason we're friends.

He had Cassian digging sand out of every crevice of his body.

But me...Rhys never saw it coming. I wondered if I took it too far, I had no regrets even if it meant Rhys was still pissy about it a week later. I did what I had to, it was war and in war, there must be sacrifices. I hit him where it really hurt, using his greatest fear against him...

Lint.

I had collected it for days, slowly increasing my supply as I searched for it. And then I struck. Dumping it all over the clothes in his dresser and armoire. I knew when he found it. He screamed like a little girl, so loud I heard him from downstairs.

Rhys could only be described as ravenous when he came down in a lint-covered suit. Ravenous for blood. My blood, as he practically growled, "Run."

Me being the sensible person I am, did as told.

Though they did get us back, those awful pricks teamed up on us. Even Azriel hadn't seen their ambush coming. The two attacked blazing into the House of Wind with no mercy as they assaulted us with what I gathered to be snowballs.

It was awful. We could do nothing as they struck, both of us backed into a corner as they pelted us with cold balls of powder. We stood there as the battle continued, as they spared us no mercy.

I knew both Azriel and I were rethinking our lives in that moment. Wondering how mere drinking games had turned into war. A great battle that we had miserably lost.