A COURT OF FIRE AND ICE - AZRIEL -

Chapter Two

!If it's Lovin that you want - Rihanna!

Lexia POV

A bucket?!

"You're kidding right?" I said holding onto my stomach, the world around me spinning as my feet touch the ground. We walked into the foyer of the House and Cassian pointed proudly to the bucket at the corner.

"Don't come in till you use it" Cassian laughed as he walked through the grand doors letting them slam shut behind him. It was just Az and I now.

"Don't use it" he said calmly, stalking towards the large stainless steel bucket. In my dizzying daze I couldn't understand if Cassian was taking the piss or he was so idiotic to think we was actually helping my providing me a bucket that looked like a dungeon piss bucket.
Azriel picket up the bucket and placed it upside down. "Shit why does it smell"

That made me want to throw up even more than moments before. I held my stomach, taking loud breathes. My motion sickness had always been bad but it had gotten significantly worse after the events of 3 years ago. Azriel turned his head, his eyes meeting mine. Without uttering a word he grabbed me and pulled me outside, placing me on the side of the top step. Overlooking the whole of velaris. Sadly I was took sick in that moment to take in any of my surroundings.

"Just breath"

"I'm about to throw up my guts right this second and you're telling me to JUST BREATH?!" I exclaimed between loud heaves.

"You don't actually need to throw up. Just breath" he calmly repeated sitting next to me, his legs firmly planted into the ground while my hung idly. "In for 3 hold for 4 and out" he said again and again.

I followed his instructions with my eyes glued shut. Despite him pissing me off with his calmness and meditation bullshit I knew there was always method to his what I would call stupidity.

After what felt like 10 hours Az broke the silence. "Ok. How do you feel now?"

I opened my eyes, the sun so bright it made everything look blue. I placed my heart on my chest in disbelief. "Damn. What magic voodoo spell did you put on me?!" I exclaimed. I had thrown up every single time in the past 3 years I had been forced to fly.

Azriel smiled. The corners of his eyes creasing. A singular dimple on his right cheek emerging. "It's called breath work. I've been doing research on it to help the young Illyrian warriors because believe it or not like you many them like you have the tendency to throw up on various occasions. I got sick of it" he shrugged.

"It's probably because you're so fucking scary to them" I stood up dusting the dirt my clothes has gathered from being in the sky.

"I'm scary?" Azriel asked suggestively as he stood to his feet. I turned to face him. I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or if he genuinely was so unaware that he didn't see how absolutely terrifying he was to the ordinary fae. To passerbys. Standing at over 6ft, Illyrian build. Siphons so blue they might blind a human. Definitely blind a human. He communicated with most in a series of grunts, not usually having much to say and when he trained you, you were prepared to die. In fact death would be more appealing.

I just rolled my eyes, unwilling to answer his question mostly because personally I didn't have an answer. And it was fun to leave him unanswered. My relationship with Azriel was always not a strong as it was with Cassian and Rhysand. That's not to say we were strangers to each other. I'd know the three of them for many many many, almost a century. They taught me the basics on fighting and defending myself when it was severely against ruling for girls to fight. I would sneak to meet them at a field far for the main city to train in the dark before the sunrose and after it set. Soon as they took positions of leadership they were often away for long period of time and during Amarantha, it was just Cassian and I most of the time. Things had somewhat gone back to normal now, our relationship was back to how it was all those years ago. Crude insults, teasing, empty threats and aggressively uncivilised behaviour. That last part was mostly reserved for Cassian and I.

We silently re-entered the House, this time making it past the foyer. "Thank you" I quietly speak, my eyes stayed on the red carpet while we made our way to the dining hall.

"Don't mention it" he replied. Despite both our eyes unwilling to meet, I could hear him smile through his words and it was enough for me.

"What the fuck took you so long" Rhysand exclaimed as we walked through the doors. The table had been set for six, six plates of delicious breakfast foods. The centre of the table filled with juices and coffee and too many pastries.

"Sorry, I was busy throwing up in the steel bucket our dearest here has prepared for me"

"Did you actually use it?!" Cassian exploded in a fit of laughter as a I sat next to him, Azriel opposite me, Feyre and Rhys on opposite heads of the table.

"No dumbass" I hit the back of his head. I noticed the seat next opposite Cassian remained empty. "Are we expecting a guest?"

Rhysand and Feyre let out a long, exhaustive sigh simultaneously. I turned to look at Cassian and his look said it all. Nesta.

"Bitch" I muttered.

"Hey!" Feyre yelled, shooting me a glare that screamed death.

"What? Is no one here willing to admit the truth? That's what she is. I've been cleaning up her mess for the past 2 months. And you might as well start cleaning up her plates because she's not coming" I replied nonchalantly. I had received a tip last night that the High Lady's older sister was rampaging through the clubs, refusing to pay for her drinks and mess, picking fights and engaging in 'treacherous propaganda' against the High Lord and Lady. Hence my lack of sleep last night, jumping from place to place cleaning up her shit.

"Why wont she come?" Cassian asked eagerly. My heart dropped, Cassian and I had often worked together to clean her messes and talk to her and persuade her to stop and I had seen the way she had hurt him time and time again.

"You should probably ask her yourself" I say looking to Feyre, but addressing Cassian. I was not in the mood to make this entire breakfast about her. It would be exactly what she wanted.

"Very well, that knocks off half of what I wanted to talk about today. I guess I'll just get to the next thing then."

"I knew this wouldn't be just a friendly breakfast among friends" I sighed shoving a croissant into my mouth.

"Well if this was a friendly breakfast among friends you wouldn't be here" Cassian retorted his eyes hyper focused on shovelling eggs into his massive mouth like there was no tomorrow.

"Both of you shut up" Azriel shot us both glares.

"What I wanted to say before I was rudely interrupted by a pair of hooligans was that we have a VIP coming to stay with us as the House of Wind and I want you to host them" Rhysand said quickly before he was interrupted. You? Who? I looked up from my plate to realise everyone was staring at me.

Oh. You as in me....wait me? 

Y'all I know there's some grammatical errors but I dont have time to edit it right now so please turn a blind eye. 

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xo venus