Hybern's Heiress (Shadowsinger Love Story)

One

[Author's Note: A Court of Thorns and Roses below is set somewhere after King Hybern's death. It's going to be a slow burn romance between Azriel x OC so be patient hehehe. Also: My first ACOTAR fanfic, so please be kind.]

***

THREE YEARS AGO

The female walked upon the forest floor with such grace, even for a High Fae standard. Her steps were silent. The only sounds came from the way her dark blue dress trailed gently behind her against the dried, golden leaves.

Her hair was unbound, an inky black strands curled slightly at the end of the small of her back. With a feminine hand she tucked her hair back behind her pointed ears while she walked aimlessly, a basket with some small berries in it was in her other hand.

A beautiful young maiden she was; decent and plain in the way she dressed herself, but even centuries' worth of sorrow and old age could not conceal her beauty and grace. Beauty, clothes, jewelries-they meant nothing for her. To her, kindness and virtue are everything.

Or so what her late mother had taught her, despite the darkness that she grew up with. Arwen's mother had eventually found her demise in the hand of her own husband, the most cruel High Fae who fathered her.

Her father died just recently. Despite his notorious cruel and evil reputation, he was her father, and she did mourn for him. She had loved him, and even when the others couldn't see or comprehend it, she knew the monster that was her father had loved her too.

To some degree, at least.

Now that he was gone, at first she thought she was free. But even in his death, her father still managed to cage her. The enemies that he made would not hesitate to torment and kill her for his sins.

Perhaps, it was her sins too, for she did nothing to stop him; powerless under his authority.

She wondered if she should just stop living by her mother's virtue; after all, being kind didn't give her happiness-it left her broken.

Arwen was contemplating to stop trying to survive. Despite her looks, she was older than most-much older, and she had grown tired of living. It was such a temptation to just lay here on the forest floor, simply waiting for a beast to devour her at night. Maybe the small amount of fruits she gathered from the forest would make a somewhat decent last meal...

A faint choking sounds entered her ear, stopping her train of thoughts. She halted her steps, unbothered by the sound of the dying animal. Suddenly a roar of mighty wings flapping from afar soared on the sky above her.

An Illyrian, the lesser fae race who inhabited this land, flew above with such a mighty wings before disappearing. And again, the sounds of a dying animal reached her ear.

Arwen contemplated it before deciding to investigate the sound. Through the thick leaves and roots on the earth beneath her feet, her steps remained precise and yet still graceful as she navigated her way through the bushes.

Then her heart stopped. She clamped her mouth with her two hands, dropping her fruit basket in the process.

A child, not more than two year old, laid in the pool of red that spilled from his back in a stream-like torrent. He was choking on his own blood.

With trembling feet, she rushed to his side. The child was but a baby.

A baby. Who could do such a cruel thing?

Her heart wrenched in her chest as she remembered the Illyrian that had just passed her. He had clipped the boy's wings and left him here to die.

Mother above. She was indeed too old and too tired for this life. Arwen slid down to the floor, feeling as if she had no more strength to live as she watched the innocent boy bleed. The small body shivered from the cold of approaching death.