The Whispers of Shadows - Azriel

48

Lips were pressed to Aurora's hand when she climbed back to consciousness. A groan left her throat as her eyes fluttered open. Darkness himself was sat beside the bed, his hand holding hers to his lips.

"Az," she breathed out. His eyes snapped to hers. He pulled their hands down, his free hand going to cup her face.

"Aurora," he responded, voice just as airy as her own. Her mind went back to when Rhysand said he had been tied up, her brows furrowed.

"Where were you?" Shadows climbed onto his face at that question. His jaw clenched.

"The High Lord decided I was too much of a danger when you were taken. He knocked me out and brought me to the chamber beneath the Hewn City. Chained me up with warded chains and left me there until you returned," Azriel seethed. Her chest fell as the air left her lungs.

"Why did he think that?" Aurora questioned. Azriel's lips lifted into a dark grin.

"I sent half the mountain tumbling into the valley outside of Velaris. Then I came back to the estate, he made me bring Elain back, and I almost killed her for sending you to Beron. He locked me up when he found me backing her up to the wall with my sword at her throat."

Aurora stared at him with wide eyes. He had collapsed half a mountain and almost killed a female he once loved just because she was taken.

"She's up at the House, Rhys warded it so I can't get in," he continued. Aurora blinked at him, her fingers running against the back of his hand.

"How long has it been?" She asked, trying to sit up. Small flecks of pain were scattered around her body as she placed herself against the headboard.

"Rhys brought me in here five hours ago," Azriel explained. He stood, lifting her hand to his lips before laying it on the bed. "I'm going to get Madja to check you over then we can take a bath, okay?" Aurora nodded. Azriel gave her a small smile before leaving the room. Aurora relaxed against the board, her eyes falling to the thin blanket draped over her. She wondered if this day had left any other scars she'd hate. Something in her wished she had succumbed to Eris's wish to kill her, or left herself on the mountain. Something had shifted in her brain during the time she had crawled down that mountain and now.

Her eyes shifted to the door as Madja and Azriel walked in. Madja gave her a soft smile. "Welcome back, dear. I'm just going to check you over," she explained, tugging the blanket down. Aurora looked at her body, bare and exposed to the two people. She felt anger, humiliation, frustration, any emotion that she could pinpoint. Madja cut the wrap from her arm, leg, and waist. Purple and yellow bruises coated Aurora's wrist, thigh, and her entire ribcage. They spread down along her stomach, where a new scar was seen. A silvery pink line was along her waist where Eris had cut her. The scar that was already on her thigh was now more indented and pink, the other place he had stabbed her.

Small bruises were on her arms and legs as well, but Aurora closed her eyes and turned her head away. Madja pressed her fingers against the bones that had been broken. She looked over Aurora for a while, ending by checking her eyes' sensitivity to light.

"Alright, Aurora. Your bones have healed correctly, but are still fragile. No training for at least a week, preferably two. No rough intercourse or anything too complex. Your body is in rough shape and you need to let it heal," Madja explained. Aurora nodded, mouthing her thanks to the old fae as she collected the bloodied wrappings and left the room. Azriel was stood at the side of the bed, eyes scanning her body with some hurt expression on his face. Humiliation and anger grew.

"Stop looking," Aurora snapped. She pushed herself to the side of the bed and began limping to the bathing chamber, grunting slightly when a joint popped in her hip.