A Court Of Love And Lies {ACOTAR ~ Azriel's mate}

25

Seeing in the dark was a skill Kit had grown adept to long before her time under the mountain. Back, as a child when hiding in the darkness from males with prying hands and high expectations had roamed free, it had been a necessity. Now it was just useful— a force of habit. Kit trailed her fingers against the wall. The stone felt bumpy and the grit lodged itself under her nails.
Hyburn had been an awful place to grow up— males, females, children, forced to slaved away in mines, whipped and brutalised at the best of times....  and it had still been better than that godforsaken mountain.

It was on nights like these, the ones where nightmarish memories haunted her dreams, that the walls of the house felt like those of a prison cell... except when she was in the cell there was nothing; no loving arms smothering her, and no one to notice when she needed some time alone. She'd tried everything; trained during the day, fucked at night, kept herself busy until she thought she'd go mad from exhalation. Still the nightmares haunted her.

"I thought I'd find you here." Rhys purred, appearing from behind her. Kit raised a brow at the High Lord. "No hello?"
She could feel the tention in her shoulders rising along with the lowering of her patience. They hadn't spoken much since the confrontation but they hadn't been avoiding eachother as much either. Did that make them acquaintances again? Or more like colleges?
Kit sighed before finally huffing and rolling her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Not gonna beat around the bush then?"

"Why would I?" She shrugged, leading the way to the kitchens. "I've said what I wanted to say."

"Right..." Rhys hummed, following her. "Cassian says you can hear things."

"That would be the result of having ears."

Rhys shot her a look, raising a brow. Kit could feel him pressing against her low defences, asking. She rolled her eyes, allowing him in. It didn't take alot for him to get through her defences— she'd left them down deliberately, a futile hope that he'd maybe see that she was struggling and maybe offer to help.
'That's not what I meant.'

'Cassian should learn to keep his trap shut.'

"He's worried about you....we all are."

Kit paused and Rhys nearly barreled into her.
"And was it that same worry that convinced you to leave me under the mountain?" The smile on her face was nothing short of feral amusement— a horrid feeling crept into his gut and coiled around his stomach.

He gulped it down. "Are we really going to have this conversation again?"

"I don't know, are you going to give me a different answer?"

"No."

"Then I guess not."

The first few nights after her return, the house had tried to bring food to her, it hadn't realised her need to wander and rehabilitate herself before she ate, but now it knew. Now it left food for her in the kitchen. Now the only issue was being alone with her thoughts, except now she wasn't.
She was next to Rhys, albeit awkwardly, but she wasn't alone.

Kit didn't have to search for the food, the sweet aroma led her straight to the warm pot. The house had prepared a firm favourite for her— home made dumplings in some kind of casserole. Kit dipped her finger in the broth and popped it in her mouth. It was beef this time.
Silently, she grabbed two bowls from the counter and started divying the contents of the pot between the bowls.

Rhys helped himself to the wine stacked beneath the cupboard, pouring them both a glass. Kit raised a brow at him before sliding a bowl, fork and spoon towards him. He took it, begrudgingly, and poked at the dumpling. Kit's eyes narrowed as she squewered one of the dough balls with a fork.
"Don't play with your food."

"Sorry mum."
Kit smirked, rolling her eyes. It reminded her of when they were kids and Rhys mum had made them all eat their dinner and try new things— Neither Rhys nor Rhea had wanted to try any of the Illyrian dishes, and both she and Az had been dubious about the food from Velaris; Cassian hadn't cared— food was food, especially if you'd been used to starving.
"What is it?"

"Food."
Rhys rolled his eyes, but accepted her answer. Kit watched the high lord in amusement as he ate. He'd taken one small, tentative bite, then he'd dove straight in, devouring it— at least until he realised Kit was watching him.
He cleared his throat, using the wine to wash the food down.
Kit laughed— actually laughed— and dove straight into her bowl. It wasn't exactly how she remembered, but it was still good; warm and gooey but with that doughed filling that made it impossible to resist.

The house hadn't quite perfected her mother's recepies, but every attempt drew closer and closer. And this, beef casserole and dumplings, was her favourite. Her mother had made it for her as a child, back in Hyburn when meals were few and far between, and Lord Devlon had made it a few years in a row on her birthday. The recipe had been a secret, or so her mum had said— she'd even gone as far as to scratch the names of the herbs and spices off their packets— but Kit had committed the smells and measurements to memory years ago.

"It's.... err it's good." Kit nodded, smirking. She could see him eyeing the leftovers in the pot. "Can I have more?"

He half expected her to say no, that he'd left her and now he could starve but he'd had to ask anyway. It had tasted so darn good and he'd never tasted anything so, so, so.... good didn't cover it.
"If you pour me another glass, then yes." The glass was infront of her before she'd even finished the sentence and Rhys was already helping himself to a second helping. He dished her one to and they ate in silence. Even after, Rhys lingered, pouring himself glass after glass of wine.
"Trying to distract yourself?"

He shot her a dazling smile. "And from what would I be distracting myself?"

"The wedding."

{A/N- chapter 25 is done and dusted and Feyre should be coming back soon. Hopefully we'll be back on schedule for the main plot soon.

Rhys and Kit are sort of back on talking terms and I'm enjoying their banter, but I gotta say, I am missing the banter between kit and a certain Vanserra, as I'm sure you are to. Also, how is everyone finding this story so far? Is it all making sense oflr is their anything you guys wany explaining a bit more? If so please let me know.

As last time, thank you for reading and don't forget to vote and comment!}