𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕(𝙰𝙲𝙾𝚃𝙰𝚁)

𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔢

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

age: 15

There was a smug smile stretched upon my features when the three boys got to the top of the 10,000 steps of the House of Wind.

My father wouldn't tell me what exactly they'd done, but it'd been bad enough to warrant this punishment. Even I'd never been forced to climb these stairs.

They were covered in sweat when they collapsed on the floor of the hallway. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of them.

I could scent vomit from somewhere on the steps, and I knew Father would make them clean it.

Azriel's shadows were wrapped around him as he leaned against the wall, gasping for air. Cassian was face down on the floor, and I wasn't entirely sure that he was conscious. Rhys was on his side, trying to brush his hair out of his face.

"Supper is in ten minutes," I informed them. "And Mother won't let you attend unless you've all showered."

"Let us catch our breath," Rhys said into my head.

"Okay, but it's not my fault if you miss supper," I grinned.

"When I can breathe again, I'm socking you in the face," Cassian managed between breaths. Good, then he was conscious.

"You boys are pathetic," I teased.

In response, Jamie weaved through the air, over to me. She wrapped around a chunk of my hair, and yanked.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, the smile completely wiped from my face. "Az, that hurt."

"Don't whine, you know I can't control them," he spat back.

"Whining is all she knows how to do," Rhys told them.

"You guys are assholes," I complained, rubbing my head. "I'm going to eat supper while you lot waste away here."

I turned on my heel to walk away. Rhys tried to slip into my mind, but I put up my shields firmly enough to give him a headache.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

I'd never been one to fight with my mother, but when she'd found out that Morrigan and I had snuck out to meet older Illyrian males in a tavern, she was more furious than I'd ever seen her.

We hadn't done anything with them. We'd just had some drinks, and danced. Nevertheless, she was outraged.

After the two of us had been screamed at for nearly an hour, she'd winnowed us to the cabin in the mountains and left us alone.

She'd made every single book disappear so we had no form of entertainment. We weren't sure how long she was going to keep us there. There was enough food and water to last months, but she wouldn't be that cruel. Hopefully.

We'd gone to the birchin, but we'd only been able to last a half hour before we felt as though we were going to pass out.

So now, we were sitting in the living room, already sick of each other.

I jumped at the sound of a knock at the door. Morrigan got to her feet and nearly ran to the door. I followed her hesitantly.

When she opened it, Rhys was on the other side, holding some books and bottles of wine.

"Mor told me that you two were bored," he explained, handing the stuff to our cousin.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Morrigan gushed, handing me a bottle. I opened it immediately.