Olethros

eight - azriel

Rhys never spoke of the screaming we had heard from the dining table the night before. I'd shown up to supper late, needing some sort of distraction from the suffocating sound of my shadows and thoughts. I'd stolen away a servent who often made eyes at me. I knew she'd be an easy target- they usually were. Leona was the shy type, so I couldn't indulge in the sweetest of desire. My knife had stayed on my thigh as I took her from behind. It wasn't satisfactory, nothing more than a job. I wondered if I needed to pay Flora another visit before we left, but time was running out.

We'd gone our separate ways after supper. I'd stayed up with a throbbing headache and the hollow words of my past. I'd tried to distract myself by using my shadows to check in on Freyja, but they gave me no answers other than the fact that she had yet again fallen into exhaustion from her emotions. I'd taken her wine away when she told me to leave her bathing chamber, and I had a sneaking suspicion that her screams were caused by that discovery.

I wasn't one to judge on other's vices- Mother knew I had too many of those- but she had put herself in a dangerous situation the last time. I didn't know if she would do it again. I didn't understand the desire to protect her, but I thought it could be because of the fact that she hadn't wanted help. As though she planned to do it again.

Either way, Freyja had slept and I had not. I'd gotten up in the early morning to spar with Cass, but he hadn't shown up to the ring on the cliff side. I'd done my own training before returning to bathe and change. When I'd returned to the corridor, I saw Rhys pacing outside of Freyja's bedroom. Surely he wanted to calm whatever had happened between them the night before, but she didn't seem in the mood to talk.

After bathing, I'd wandered the palace in search of Odessa to bid my goodbyes. Cass and Rhys had gone off to speak with the High Lord, but I couldn't care less to see him. I made my way down the eastern wing, glancing through the alcoves to the mountains beyond. This wing held the library, a lounging room, and Odessa's craft room. She spent her time alone here creating gowns that she was sure Rhys's future mate would wear. It was silly, I thought, but Odessa had her own coping skills.

Just as I thought, she was in her crafting room. Rather than pricking her fingers with needles or getting irritated by tangled thread, she was pacing along the open window. Her hair was unusually messy and her fingers covered her mouth. I rasped my knuckles against the doorframe, making her jolt.

"Oh, Az. I'm sorry I didn't come find you. I hope you all make a safe trip to Velaris, and come visit again soon. Freyja and I will be going back to my home in Windhaven in a few days short of a fortnight. Alcaeus will be travelling to the Spring Court for a meeting then and I would like Freyja to be away from the Hewn City at the time."

My spine went rigid. A meeting in the Spring Court could mean developments to Freyja's marriage arrangement. I knew things were growing more tense between Aled and Alcaeus, but he hadn't been allowing Rhysand to join them for the meetings. None of us were aware of the severity. Odessa seemed to notice my tenseness because she laid a hand on my shoulder and offered a wavering smile.

"This is for the best, Azriel. It is also imperative that Freyja is not aware until the deal has been made. Aled is... frustrated with Alcaeus continuing to support the separation of our kind from the mortals, and Freyja could be a great offer for an alliance. You know how these things are."

I shook my head without realizing it. I did not know how these things were. Odessa loved her daughter, yet she, too, spoke of Freyja like no more than a bargaining chip. An offering. I could understand the young female's frustrations; it truly did seem unfair. It was similar to how I felt after the war. Everyone seemed to move on and continue to live their life as before, but I was stuck in a continuous cycle of being trapped in those memories and fighting for a way out. Freyja was a breathing female, yet everyone treated her as if selling her was common. I supposed it was, but it didn't make it right.