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sarawritestories · 3 months

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Unwavering Presence Chapter 4

Cassian X Archeron Sister (Reader)

Summary: Y/N comes to after being attacked and formerly meets the inner circle. Cassian and Y/N finally begin training, and he shows her around what he calls the heart of the Night Court.

Content Warning: Nightmares, flashbacks to under the mountain, Fluff

Word Count: 4.1

Chapter 3 Masterlist

A/N I want to take this moment to say thank you for all the love and support on this story! I am so grateful for you all! It honestly makes my day with every like and comment and reblog that I see! I hope you enjoy this chapter as we finally get some good Cassian X Reader quality time!

The Naga approached the sound of them slithering close causing me to whimper. One gripped my bound arms tightly from behind me, its dry tongue sliding up the column of my neck. The other gripped my breast tightly eliciting a shriek from the back of my throat. “A delicious treat, brother. Just for us.”

I begged for Rhysand to help, prayed he would make it in time. As the creature in front of me gripped my face puckering my lips as he pressed his to my own. I thrashed against them as hard as I could, but they were stronger than me.

Rhysand’s voice came clear as day but instead of sending help it was just my name.

“Y/N! Y/N!”

“Wake up, Y/N.” My eyes blinked open and violet eyes came into focus. Calloused hands grazed my damp cheeks, wiping away the tears. “It was just a Nightmare, Angel.” I sat up as he released my face and moved toward the edge of the bed. I looked behind him to find the chair Cassian was sitting in the night before empty and I tried to dampen my disappointment that he had left sometime after I had fallen asleep. Rhys looked to me, “Shields up, Y/N.” I jolted him and worked on building that wall around my mind as the High Lord continued, “I sent Cassian off this morning to run some errands for me. He put up a fight about before he left though.” He gave me a smile.

There was a comfort knowing that he stayed with me, but other thoughts whirled in my brain I sighed and rubbed my face, “Rhys, what happens now? Also where are we?”

“You’re in my townhome, this is where I reside normally. You were staying in what we call the House of Wind.” Rhys’ smile fades, “As for what happens next, there are two options we can take due to the fact you’re still human. The first, would be that we can send you back to the human lands and you would be able to be with your sisters.” I bit my lip as he prattled on, “Or option two, you become a member of the Night Court as my human emissary.” He grips my hand, “In my opinion, not that you asked for it, I would hope you would like to pick option 2. I would pay you well and you would be able to see Feyre every month. Not to mention, I like having you around.” I gave him a small smile and his eyes held unspoken emotion. “You remind me of someone I knew long ago, she would have loved you.” A tear slid down his perfect cheek.

I squeeze his hand, and with my free on wipe the tear from his cheek, “She must have been really special, if just mentioning her has this reaction. One day when you’re ready I would love to hear more about her.” I pause, “Especially all the reasonings as to why she would love me.” He laughed a boisterous laugh, and I was happy to take his sadness away.

When he stopped, he asked, “One day huh? Does that mean you would like to stay?”

“Yes, I would like to stay.” My stomach rumbled.

“We can discuss logistics and details on your position after we have gotten food in your stomach.” He rose. “There are clothes in the closet, Mor has already claimed you for the afternoon to go shopping.”

I quirked a brow, “So you knew I would say I wanted to stay?”

“No.” He opened the door and gave a playful smirked, “I was, however, hopeful that you would want to. Get dressed and come down to the stairs I’ll introduce you to everyone, formally.” With that he closed the door. I took a moment to look out at the window and gasped at the beauty of the city I am staring at. The sunrise coated the city in various shades of pink and orange the sun glimmering on the river as soft waves flowed down stream.

I got out of bed and discarded the nightgown I was gifted and put on the Teal sundress that had sheer sleeves and flowed down to my knees. I placed my hair up in a simple bun and walked down the stairs. Laughter erupted and I followed the sound I found a dining room that has almost every seat filled all for one that was in between Mor and Azriel. There was a short female with short black hair and mesmerizing silver eyes that rolled her eyes at the laughter and her eyes met mine. “Well, well, well, appears someone is awake.”

The laughter dies down, and all eyes turn on me and I rub the back of my neck, “Hi.” I whispered. Mor shot up and ran over to where I was and almost tackled as she wrapped me in a bone crushing hug.

“I’m so happy you’re staying with us.” Mor squeezed causing a squeak to come out of me.

“Mor, let her go you’re going to crush her.” The low timbre of Cassian caused me to meet his gaze and he gave me a smile and a playful wink as Mor released me mumbling the word asshole under her breath. She led me to the seat next to her and I gave Azriel a smile, he simply nodded his head.

“Okay as promised, formal introductions. You know Mor, obviously,” He points to Azriel, “This is Azriel, the Night Court’s Spymaster and our very own shadowsinger,” I looked to Azriel whose shadows swirled around him as if a part of him and he puffed his chest slightly a sense of pride of his High Lord’s words. “The tiny angry looking one over there is my Second in command, Amren.” She doesn’t look phased by how she’s introduced and raises her goblet to me and takes a sip. “Last but certainly not least, the General of the Night Courts armies, Cassian. Though I believe you two have been acquainted.” My head snaps at Rhys’ who gave us both a shit eating grin.

“Sorry, Princess, I may have told them about that night we met.” My eyes met the General’s hazel ones his face had a flush on them as he smiled.

I grabbed a croissant from the platter in front of me and took a bite, and gave him a smile, “That’s alright, General.” I took another bite as two puzzle pieces clicked together and I ask, “Are you still willing to train me?” I avert my gaze and pick at the pastry.

“Any reason why I wouldn’t want to?” He asked, the table has fallen to an uncomfortable silence awaiting my answer.

Flashes of last night whirl through my head, of how I couldn’t even push the Naga away from me. Before I’m able to catch it, a tear falls then another, and sobs unleash until I can’t stop them. I cover my face and let it wrack out of my system. I feel Mor’s hand rubbing my back and can feel a talon on my mental shields of Rhys trying to get me to let him in. Then there is the scraping of the chair, sound of large boots. Mor’s touch vanishes as my chair is gently pulled back. Large hands grip my wrist and give them a light tug as the sobs continue, as I meet Cassian’s face, there was no judgement or pity, if anything there was an underlying rage there. He grips my hands tightly as if to remind me that I’m safe and that nothing would harm me. I look at the table and everyone gazes hold the same sentiment.

“Look at me, Y/N,” Cassian softly ordered, I face him once more and his thumb is rubbing soothing circles and my heartrate spikes. “I promise, I will make sure that you will never feel powerless again. You were ambushed last night; you were wounded and left out to fend for yourself, no one here thinks that you are weak because of it.” He wiped the tears from my face. “Would you like to start today?”

I nodded my head, and he gave me a beautiful grin, “Wonderful, we can get you some training gear and you can meet me outside after we eat. Okay?” I nod again, and he squeezes my hands before letting them go and instantly missed the warmth they provided. As he stands pushes a free strand of hair from face and tucks it behind my ear, “You know what happened last night wasn’t your fault right?”

I bit my lip, “Maybe if I wasn’t so confrontational with Tamlin.”

“Don’t even finish that sentence, Girl,” Amren spoke for the first time since I entered the room, and everyone stilled. I met her gaze it was as if her irises were swirling with silver liquid, “Tamlin, is a coward and fool. He feeds off feeling superior over the weak.” Her red lips formed a smirk, “You weren’t willing to bend to him and challenged him. He simply used the one thing he had on you. The simple fact that your human. Make no mistake that Tamlin is the worm here.”

I tilted my head at her, and let her words really sink in and I blurted out, “You’re Stunning.” Heat immediately racing up my cheeks. Amren’s eyes widened a fraction as the table filled with laughter at the immediate shift in mood.

Amren smiled and tipped her head to me, “Likewise, girl, I think you’ll fit right in.”

Breakfast went on, and Rhys shared what my duties at Emissary would be, and he provided me with some fighting leathers that hugged every curve of my body. I made my way outside to find that Cassian was stretching, in his usual leathers with those gems on across his body. With the mid-day sun, he looked like one of the old gods long forgotten. He was beautiful, and the way he moved as he practiced made him lethal. His wings twitched, and his spine went rigid. He turned in my direction, “Right on time.”

I walked toward him, feeling disoriented by the heavy boots Rhys had given me. “What are these gemstones? If you don’t mind me asking.”

He smiled and I decided that I would never get tired of him smiling, his whole face lit up when he did the gesture showing genuine happiness there. “They’re called siphons they harness my power to make it easier to control. They are earned during this thing called the Blood Rite, an Illyrian tradition but I won’t bore you with the details about why we do it, or their backwards beliefs of them. Not today anyway.”

“Well, another time, I’ve never heard about Illyrians before. They are not talked about much in the history of the fae we’re taught back in the human lands.” I walk past him to where he was practicing, “I’m also a sucker for a good story.”

“Well, when I can steal you for more than an hour. You can ask me all the questions you would like.”

I crossed my arms, “Why would you have to steal me?”

Cassian quirked a brow, “You have met Mor, correct? She has not shut up about wanting to spend time with you.”

“Hmm. Well, I will need someone to show me around. Where are we exactly? As I know this is Rhys’ town home, but I’ve never seen a city as beautiful as this. Well, I’ve never really ventured far from our small cottage anyway.”

Cassian made a few strides toward me, “We’re in Velaris, the city of Starlight. I personally think it’s the heart of the Night Court.”

“I can’t wait to explore.” I was acutely aware of how close Cassian had gotten, leather and sandalwood infiltrating my nose. “So will you show me around?”

“Sure. Though you’ll break Mor’s heart.” Cassian joked and caused me to smile, “Alright, Archeron,” I turned to him and gone was the playful face is gone. Replaced with the serious gaze of a General. “Let’s get started.”

Cassian had me show him what Rhys had been teaching me and showed me some more stretches before he asked me how I would punch someone. I clenched my fist and Cassian immediately shook his head. “No, Princess, you hit someone like that you’re going to hurt yourself more than your opponent.” He came up and grabbed my hand. He opened my hand he began folding my hand where the tip of my fingers was tightly placed in the base of my palm. He then places my thumb over my index finger. “There, this will protect your fingers and give you the best chance of hurting someone instead of yourself.” He walks behind me and raises both fists and nudges my legs with his own to get me in the perfect stance my heart was racing at the mere touch and proximity of him. “Tomorrow we’ll go over exactly the best stance to throw a punch and keep your balance but standing like this,” He whispered in my ear and chills ran down my warm body. He moves my arm in a punching motion, his other hand on my waist twisting to move with the punch. He does it a few more times and after the fifth time he releases his grip and has me do those movements on my own. I could feel his eyes on me as I kept repeating the motion until he held up his hand. “Very good. I think we’ll call it for the day.”

I nodded and he walked over to hand me some water. “Thanks.” I sipped the water, and he drank some from his own cup. He grabbed my cup and placed it down with his. He pointed to the floor, “On your back, Princess.”

My face heated and I’m sure my cheeks were pink, “Why?”

Cassian smirked, “I’m going to help you stretch, its important to stretch the muscles so you’re not sore tomorrow.” He crossed his arms, “What were you thinking about?”

I huffed and followed his order to lay on my back. “I was thinking about nothing, grow up.”

Cassian knelt his hand rubbing my calf with a smirk, “I’m quite grown up, thank you. I’m over 500 years old.” My eyes widened at the fact as he bent my knee and pushed my leg toward my chest, the muscles stretched, and I bit my lip to suppress a moan.

“That feels divine.” I whisper and I hear a low chuckle as the General moved to the other leg. He met my eyes as he pushed back my leg, and I could not hold the moan this time. I covered my mouth as he placed my leg down and massaged my calves. “I’m so sorry.”

Cassian looked like he wasn’t breathing his eyes holding something like yearning there but shook his head and waved me off, “Don’t worry about it, Princess. It’s a natural reaction,” He pat my legs and rise to his feet. He holds his hand out to me, and I take it he lifts me up with ease and releases my hand. “Good job today, we’ll pick up tomorrow.”

Rhys walked outside and tucked his hands in his pockets, “Mor, sadly had to go do her job and has left for a few days. So, your shopping spree has been put on hold.” Rhys shrugged, “I could take you around, and give you a tour of the city if you would like.”

I looked to Cassian, “If you don’t mind Rhys, could your General take me?” Cassian smiled and draped an arm around my shoulders. “If you don’t mind, Cass.”

“I don’t mind,” Cassian looked at Rhys, “Do you mind if I steal her?”

Rhys smirked, “Not at all. Have fun you two.”

The two of us parted ways to bathe and change. A midnight blue top and matching pants were prepped for me as I came out of the bath, and I placed it the top on used to the slight mid drift. I placed my hair fall in its natural curls and placed it on moon pin in my hair and slipped on a pair of silver slip on shoes. I walked down to the front door to find Cassian, wearing a casual shirt with a leather jacket and pants. His wings were relaxed and tucked close behind him and his hair was in a half up bun.

He looked up as he heard my footsteps coming down the stairs, “Well you clean up nicely,” I teased elbowing him. He smiled and rolled his eyes at me.

Cassian’s eyes lingered on my outfit and back up to my eyes. “I could say the same about you, Princess.” He opened the door, and the late afternoon breeze tickled my skin, “Ready to go?”

I nod, and he lays a hand on my back and guides me out of the front door. Once he shut the door behind me, we were off. Cassian and I walked the busy streets of Velaris. We went into various shops looking at clothes and different works of art. I stopped when we were at a vendor selling various paintings. My heart sank, Feyre had not painted in months, and I doubt after yesterday she’ll ever want to. I would do anything if it meant that she would want to paint again. If I ever see her. Calloused hands grazed my neck and brought me out of my thoughts, “Where’d you go?”

“I want Feyre to paint again,” I whispered, “She loved to paint after we came out of Under the mountain she just wouldn’t. Now with last night will I be the reason she never paints again?” I cross my arms and I walk past the paintings, “I don’t know if I could live with myself if that were the reason.”

Cassian gripped my elbow, “Y/N, Feyre has her own healing journey to take, her reasons, for doing or not doing something are her own, you don’t need to shoulder responsibility for someone else’s grief.”

I give him a small smile and give his hand a pat, “Thanks Cas, but my job was always to protect her, and I took pride in securing that small ounce of peace she would get when painting. I would sneak money just to make sure she had enough paint.” I kept walking Cassian meeting my stride his wing flared and wrapped slightly around me almost protectively. “I was like that for Nesta and Elain I always made sure anything they wanted books for Nesta or plants for Elaine, tensions were high a majority of the time, I just tried to keep the peace and made sure everyone was happy and safe.”

Cassian was quiet as we approached a bookstore, and I gripped his arm with an excited squeal, “Can we go in here?” Cassian nodded and opened the door for me, and the smell of books and a thin layer of dust fills my nose and i couldn't contain my smile. I walk up and down the aisle, looking at all the stories. Cassian was a silent yet steady presence behind me. There was a portion of the store that had various leather-bound notebooks.”

“What about you?” I turned to Cassian my brows furrowed. “Feyre has painting, Nesta reading, and Elain had gardening. What did you like to do?”

I bit my lip and shrugged, “Protecting my sisters I guess.” I grazed the top on a journal, “I never really had the time to do anything, if I wasn’t chopping wood, or helping Feyre hunt, or trying to make money. I didn’t have time for hobbies.”

Cassian frowned and guilt washed over me for taking his smile away, “If you did have the time what would you have liked to do.”

I lifted a Journal and flipped through the blank pages, “Don’t laugh.” I looked at him, “I would have loved to write. Even if I didn’t know how to write, I would have loved to tell stories. The kind of heroes and villains and romance things that Nesta would read to me when I was small.” I placed the journal down and shrugged. “Just a silly little dream.” I give him a smile one to hide the lingering sadness. “Enough about that, I’m hungry.” Cassian’s frown deepened clearly seeing my deflection.

“I’ll be out in a minute. Rhys ironically enough wanted me to see if they had a book in stock. “ I nodded my head and walked out of the store. I looked out at the river and quickly walked over and leaned against the railing to stare out at the sea. The sun is beginning to set and enjoy the scenery around me. Soft waves crashed amongst the bridge, and the scent of the water spray filled the air. It was peaceful and serene.

I was entranced by its beauty that I didn’t even hear Cassian approach, his hand on back caused me to jump and turn. “Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you.” He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry for being a little jumpy. Did they have the book you needed?” I asked as he offered his arm for me to take, leading us to a little restaurant in an area he called earlier the rainbow.

Cassian shook his head, “No but I did find something else that piqued my interest.” He grabbed out of his pocket the leather-bound journal I was holding in the store and handed it to me, it felt as though the air had been sucked out of my lungs.

“Cassian-“

He interrupted me, “You may find that you have more free time here, you have worked hard to make sure your sisters were able to keep their hobbies. You should be able to explore something that interests you.” He gave you a smile “Plus I know there is one person for sure who would love to read whatever stories you come up with.”

I stopped, tears pooling in my eyes, “Cassian, I can’t repay you for this.”

Cassian also stopped, his hazel eyes warm and shining bright, “It’s a gift, Princess. Nothing to be repaid.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, “Thank you, Cass.”

He chuckled and wrapped his arm around me. “You’re welcome, now let’s go get something to eat.” He pulled away and looped my arm with his once more and led us to dinner. At dinner he shared some stories of how he and Rhys met and how they met Azriel how they have been friends for centuries and in turn I told him of all the trouble Feyre and I used to get in before we lost our fortune and when it was over we fell into comfortable silence on the walk home.

Music played on the bridge, and it caused me to pause in my tracks. I gripped Cassian’s arms as my mind went back to late nights under the mountain.

Feyre had fallen asleep after sobbing, and I was still in the corner tears stained my face. The feeling of hopelessness taking over. I wish I had told Nesta and Elain how much I loved them before we left. I tucked my head into my knees and sobbed. Beautiful melody flooded my eardrums, something that held hope and happiness. Images flashed against in my mind of a beautiful orchestra on a bridge over river. The night sky was breathtaking as if they were swirling and dancing to the melody of the music. My eyes grew heavy as the melody hit the crescendo. I laid my head back and let the music sweep me into a peaceful slumber.

My breathing was labored, “Hey, hey, hey,” Cassian’s hand cupped my cheek, “what is it?”

“Rhys...he played this music in my head to help me sleep Under the Mountain.” Tears were streaming down my face clutching the journal Cassian bought me, “He was letting me know I wasn’t alone when I was convinced Feyre, and I weren’t coming out alive. He was showing me this band a piece of his home.”

Cassian eyes gleamed silver as well, “He’s annoyingly a good friend like that.” He looked over at the band as I chuckled, “Would you like to stay and listen for a little bit?”

“Please.” I whispered and he lowered his hand from cheek, but I reached out and laced my fingers with his. He tucked his wing around me to block the wind as we stood and listened to the music that kept me from breaking under the mountain.

Chapter 5

Story Tags: @hellodarling1357 @hnyclover @waytoomanyteenagefeels @amara-moonlight @impossibelle @esposadomd @sleepylunarwolf @stressed-reader @kylaisra @marvelouslovely-barnes @magicstrengthandcourage @spideytingley @awkardnerd @donttellthecats @tastydewdrops @vermillionwinter @asweetblueberry2 @bunnyredgirl @homeslices @azriels-mate2 @oksloan3 @wallacewillow0773638 @fandom-crashlanding @writingstreetspirit @hannzoaks @minnieloo @tuggboatfishin @judig92 @atrxidxs @dustyinkpages @secretlyhers @mxblobby @blogforficslol @historygeekqueen

#cassian x reader #cassian fanfic #cassian acotar #cassian x you #acotar #acotar fanfiction #rhysand x reader #azriel x reader #archeron sister #unwaveringpresence #cassian acosf #cassian imagine

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artethyst · 23 days

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~ Shadows Bathed In Moonlight ~

Azriel x Youngest Archeron Sister!Reader x OC

Little Ezekiel was not like his cousins.

Nyx, older only by two years, was cheerful and outgoing, curious like his mother and with an unbridled fearlessness just like his father.

Baby Thena, the youngest of the three, who had only just began to walk- toddle, already had the will of both her mother and father.

Cassian’s mischievous grin with Nesta’s piercing gaze.

Ezekiel, however, was just like Azriel.

He was very shy, in fact, he preferred to hide behind his mother’s legs and cling onto the shimmering skirts that pooled over them than chase after his cousins.

Rest his curly mop of raven hair against his father’s neck who was more than happy to scoop him up and carry him around, protective over the innocent child who had yet to be tainted by Prythian’s cruelties.

It was no secret Azriel preferred it that way, Rhysand and Cassian often teasing his parental axiety and overbearing behaviour, reminding him his son was an Illyrian after all.

Just as Illyrian as he had once been- delicate wings folded against his little back but with unblemished hands and love in his heart.

Azriel would keep it that way.

His Mate knew it was because of the innate fear of the Mother snatching his happiness away- as though he had never deserved it.

Ezekiel was a little miracle.

Not only were Fae children rare, the dangerous birth had put his mother in a coma, and him confined to the Healer’s for the first month of his wavering life.

It was the worst time of Azriel’s centuries long existence.

If he had been protective before, he was a hundred times worse now

When the other children played, Ezekiel was happy to curl up in another adult’s lap, to which many of them had no qualms, as Ezekiel was just the “cutest” according to Mor- a tiny version of his father that the Inner Circle could squeeze and smother with kisses.

Feyre often scolded Nyx for dragging the poor boy around, but Ezekiel held no grudges, a small blush on his face as his cousin tugged him along ranting on about whatever a child of his age had to rant about.

But now it was time for him to leave the nest.

The one his parents has so throughly wound.

“Ezekiel,” his mother bent down to his eye level, twinkling hazel eyes wide and scared. “Mama will be back soon okay?”

The little boy’s lip wobbled and tiny fists came to rub at his eyes which quickly filled with tears. His silent sobs broke her heart, Madja had always said he was an easy baby, like his father.

And even now- when he cried, he tried to hide it.

It worried her- that he would never throw a tantrum or openly seek comfort- but hide it as though he was ashamed to feel.

He choked back little cries as his mother had to force away her own.

She hated to think her little boy felt the need to internalise his feelings- especially from her.

Azriel had assured her it was okay- that he had been that way too, even when his own mother had shown him nothing but love.

“You’ll have lots of fun my Little Shadow,” she pressed a deep kiss to his wet cheek, gently brushing away his tears, trying not only to convince him but herself. “Nyx will be with you-“

“Yepppp! Come on ‘Zekiellllll!” His cousin’s voice sang in anticipation, not understanding why the boy was so reluctant to play with toys and read funny picture books all day.

Ezekiel continued to cry and so his mother picked him up, cradling him against her chest as he sobbed without restraint.

Unusual for such a well-behaved child such as he.

“D-Don’t leave me mama!” He wept. “I-I pwomise I’ll be good p-pwease don’t give me away!”

Her heart broke as he trembled and her free hand came to stroke at his curls, the way she had done to comfort her own husband many a time.

“I would never give you away my darling, and you have not been bad,” she smoothed his raven locks, “you are a big boy now, just like Nyx. You are old enough go and play with all other children-“

“I not a big boy I-I still a baby!” He cried and that was when his father appeared, face just as torn as his mother’s.

The boy did not giggle as he usually did when his father’s shadows came to tickle against his cheek, his cries coming out in small hiccups as she looked to Azriel in pure misery.

He wordlessly plucked the child from her arms, his own chest tightening at the sound of his only child’s pained cries- crying under the belief he was being abandoned.

Azriel had vowed his child would never feel the way he had, unloved and nothing but a burden the Mother was so cruel to burden the equally dismal world with.

His Mate had changed that outlook.

And now his greatest treasure- a part of them both, homage to their fiery passion and proof the Shadowsinger was indeed capable of love.

Ezekiel continued to cry as Azriel’s shadows were equally as unsettled, trying their best to cheer up the little boy who quivered so violently, he might have fallen from his father’s arms had the older male’s grip been so secure.

He would rather suffer burns across his while flesh- take Truthteller to his heart than have his son feel unwanted.

“You know that your mother and I love you- more than anything. More than the sky above.”

Ezekiel sniffed, his little head nodding pathetically as best it could smushed into Azriel’s chest.

“You are our little star Ezekiel. You are the most precious thing to us- in all of Prythian. We would never let anything or anyone harm you, you never have to be afraid of the world as long as I am here.”

Feyre stood in the distance- letting her brother-in-law share the moment with his son, knowing just how heartbroken Rhys was at the same situation.

The difference was, Nyx hardly gave him a second glance- sprinting into the unfamiliar building with a new sense of reverence and promise of adventure.

“D-Daddy stay?” The boy became hopeful as Azriel shook his head, running a hand lovingly through his son’s inherited locks- a sense of pride and indescribable love overwhelming him at the sight.

Before he could come up with some semblance of comfort, Feyre saved the day. Pressing a wet kiss to her nephew’s cheek with an infectious smile on her warm face.

It wasn’t that she thought her own sister incapable, she just knew the poor woman was just as worried as Azriel.

Their forced smiles and glossy eyes hardly convincible even to a child.

“Hmmm, a little shadow told me that Uncle Cass has a surprise back home waiting for his best Spy…”

The boy paused, his little face red and besmirched with tears but an undeniable curiosity to his eye.

“Spies don’t cry Zekie!” Nyx chimed in as his mother sent him a gentle look of reprimand. “Come onnnnn, the faster we get home, the faster we get the suprise!”

“You like painting, don’t you Ezekiel?” Feyre continued, distracting the boy enough for him to perk up in curiosity, loosening his little balled fisted grip on his father’s leathers. “Would you like me to show you the art room?”

Azriel- albeit reluctantly, lowered his son to the ground, gently encouraging him towards Feyre who happily received his little hand in hers.

The Shadowsinger took his Mate into his arms as replacement, the loss of his son weighing heavy even on his own marred heart.

The boy had never once been out of their sight for so long.

And as Feyre guided him into the Nursery, her sister mouthing a watery ‘thank you’ as a tear cascaded down her cheek, Azriel couldn’t help but let one of his own slip as Ezekiel passed through the doors and out of his sight.

Hesitant in his little steps, but with his cousin there to help him along.

Just as Rhysand had done for his father.

#fanfic #acotar #acotar fic #acotar x oc #acotar x reader #azriel x archeron sister #azriel x original character #azriel x oc #azriel fanfic #azriel shadowsinger #azriel acotar #azriel x reader #azriel #dad!azriel

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throneofsmut · 3 months

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BOUND IN FLAMES - Part 8

Eris Vanserra × Archeron-Sister- Reader

Description: Feyre and her younger sister go hunting in the forest behind their family's cottage and go through life changing experiences.

A / N: I’m back from the dead 🧍🏻‍♀️ lmao and this next part is straight up smut with the tiniest fucking grain of plot hidden in it. I swear it’s just fucking filthy, well at least to me it is but that might be because i haven’t written smut in a while but i hope you all enjoy. I mean it has to do with calanmai which is basically a faerie fuck fest. So if you guys are just as sick and depraved as I am you’ll eat this shit up. Also life has been life-ing recently but im hoping to be more active and if you guys have any requests don’t be shy SEND THEM. well anyways enjoy and happy reading !! 😚

“Eris, I swear to the Mother if you hurt her-“ Lucien snarled, baring his teeth, as he pushed the tip of his dagger deeper into Eris’s porcelain skin. A droplet of crimson red blood sliding down the column of his throat.

The sight of it had you moving on instinct.

In seconds you had moved away from the dagger Eris had pressed against your throat, disarming Lucien and pressing his own dagger against the sun tanned skin of his throat. Fae — mating — instincts coming to the surface, you growled and then whispered two words deathly soft into Lucien’s ear, “Watch It.” I pulled back, still keeping the blade against his throat and looked at him. His face had blanched and his eyes were wide with fear or shock, I wasn’t sure.

I blinked once and saw myself through his eyes and blinked again and I was looking at him through my own eyes again. His eyes were still wide, but now I knew it was mostly fear. He knew I wouldn’t actually kill him, though he knew I definitely could if I wanted to by the way I had the knife angled at his throat.

Lucien had finally realized it for the first time in that moment, that I wasn’t all talk, that I would and could kill. And I scoffed. Flipping the dagger in my hand so the handle was facing him, “Enjoy the Rite,” handing it back to him.

He took it and sheathed it.

Behind me Eris chuckled in amusement. Though not at his little brother but at my antics. Turning around to face him, I took one step towards him, but stopped. He had a look in his eyes as he took me in that I couldn’t describe, “What ?”

He shrugged, “Nothing,” but I noted the way his pupils dilated when his eyes met mine again. Then he held his out for me to take. A silent invitation.

Before I could even take a step Lucien’s hand was gripping my arm and a growl ripped its way out of Eris’s throat — possessive and protective. My eyes never left my mate, not even as he glared at his brother. Lucien sighed once he realized I wasn’t going to look at him, “I know I can’t stop you so… be careful, Y/n. He’s not safe.” But you didn’t want safe, you wanted him.

You still didn’t look at Lucien as you ripped your arm free of his hold, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lucien. Enjoy the rite.” My voice sounding sharper than I intended, but this would likely be the only night I would have with Eris, my mate and we were wasting time.I made my way towards Eris and he was still glaring at his youngest brother when I finally stood before him.

He was the most beautiful male I had ever seen. Dressed in Autumn Court colors, his clothes — all dark wine red with gold threading, all finely made — cut close enough to his body that I could see how magnificent he was. Anyone with eyes could see that by the way they clung to his muscular body. Eris wasn’t bulky with muscles he was more so lean. His red shoulder length hair dancing in the night spring breeze like living flames. And his amber eyes seemed to be gifts from the sun as they both glowed the same shade of gold.

We were standing so close that I could feel the heat radiating off his body and his scent. His scent was intoxicating — cedar, citrus and crackling fires — invading all of my senses and before I could even stop myself I was in his arms. He was so tall that I had to stand on the tips of my toes to wrap my arms around his neck. Not even a second later I felt his arms immediately wrap around my waist, holding me to him.

One second we were standing in fields of the Spring Court, the next the world seemed to fold in on itself as we winnowed and now we were standing in a cabin. My body wanted to stay near him but the years of training that were drilled into me had me pulling away taking in my surroundings. Eris seemed to still as I looked around, “Where are we ?” I asked.

“My home away from home.”

I only nodded my head, letting him know I had heard him as I continued to look around. The cabin itself was beautiful; floor to ceiling mahogany and autumn court color and style furnishings. It was very much Eris. The small living room had the fire place going but I heard wood crackling from the back of the cabin. Tilting my head so I could look past my mates broad shoulders, what looked like a bedroom door was open and just past it in the room was a bookshelf. A well stocked bookshelf. Eris cleared his throat, voice tight, “Do you like it ?”

I looked at him and gave him a sweet smile, “I like it.”

He threw his head back and laughed and I realized I had never heard a sound so beautiful before. Eris was still laughing when he stepped closer to me, I didn’t back away this time, as he cupped my face in his large hands. Then he leaned down so close that if he spoke our lips would brush against each other… and he did. One word.

“Liar.”

He took a step back and it was my turn to laugh, “I’m not lying,” I said in between giggles.

“Alright, fine. You like it but…”

“But, my favorite color is blue and it’s just a lot of red, orange and yellow everywhere.”

He bowed deeply at the waist — mockingly — “I apologize, little flame, that our cabin is not up to your standards. I vow that the next time you see it will be to your liking.” Eris stood back up to his full height wearing a teasing smile on his face.

I wanted to roll my eyes at his antics and tell him to shut up, but instead I only asked, “Our ?”

“Our.” He affirmed.

I blinked at him, brows furrowed, “Why ?”

“What belongs to me, belongs to my mate. What’s mine is yours, little flame.” Eris said matter of factly.

“About that… how did you find out we were mates ?”

“You.”

“Me ?” He nodded his head, “Eris I need a little more than that.”

He took a step forward until he was right in front of me and I had to crane my neck back to meet his eyes. Then he lifted his right hand that was adorned in gold rings and tucked my hair behind my left ear. “Since last winter, when you made it over the wall, I’ve been dreaming of you every night. And every morning since then I’ve had the same nightmare.”

“What nightmare ?” My voice was barely more than a whisper.

“You’re not by my side when I wake up,” he breathed.

The way he was looking at me, like he was drinking in the fact that I was still here. That I was actually here and I realized I was doing the same thing.

I don’t know how much time passed before he spoke again, “How did you find out ?”

“The Suriel told me.”

His brows furrowed, “You ensnared a Suriel ?”

“No, he found me.”

This time his eyes narrowed and he blinked, “The Suriel found you and told you ?”

“Yes.”

“Why ?”

“They’re an old friend,” I shrugged.

Eris shook his head as he gave me a broad smile, “My mate is friends with one of the Suriel.”

I nodded my head, “Mhmm.”

“What did the Suriel tell you ?”

My eyes flickered between his amber eyes and then settled on the crackling fire beside us, “That like me my mate has fire in their blood and we would find each other on Calanmai. You’re heir to the Autumn Court. The both of us bound in flames. Bound to each other.” My eyes met gold ones again, “We have always been meant to burn together." I didn’t tell him that the Suriel also said I was heir to Spring. I couldn’t tell anyone, not yet.

“How did you know I was your mate and not Lucien ?”

“I felt a tugging in my gut — in my chest a couple times like there was a string inside of me and when I saw you it felt warm like it was glowing,” I smiled softly because that same feeling hadn’t gone away yet.

Eris’s eyes tracked my lips movements and I noted the way his pupils dilated and his the way his scent shifted. It was muskier and even though we weren’t in Spring anymore we could still hear, still feel, the pulsating drum beats.

His left hand that was also adorned with gold rings, cupped my face, his thumb swiping against my cheek as he uttered a single question, “Can I kiss you ?”

I felt my cheeks heat and only nodded my head in response not trusting my voice. His nostrils flared and I knew he scented my arousal.

“I need words, little flame. I want to hear it from your lips,” Eris commanded, his voice rough with lust.

“Yes, please.” My voice a breathy sensual whisper.

His large hands cupped my face and then he was surging forward, our mouths met with a desperate need, it was all teeth and tongue. He was savoring every brush of your tongue against his, every drag of your lips, eagerly exploring every part of you. You both knew what you wanted — needed — and were going to take it.

His hands moved from my face to roaming over my figure before settling on my ass making me moan into his mouth. I buried my hands in his hair, it was soft beneath my fingertips as I tugged and pulled on it. Making him groan into my mouth every time I did.

We both begrudgingly pulled away needing to catch our breaths. Eris’s eyes darkened as he took me in, “You are so beautiful,” he murmured panting softly.

I felt my cheeks redden at his words and shook my head, looking down at our feet.

His hands titled my head up, making me meet his eyes, “I’m serious, little flame, you’re beautiful. You are a goddess… My goddess.” You were going to brush him off but the sincerity in his eyes and voice made you believe it.

“Then prove it. Worship me, Eris,” my voice was breathy and raw with lust. We were both succumbing to the effects of the magic felt on Fire Night. The drumbeats were now pounding and pulsating rapidly and something shifted in both of us. You needed him and he needed you in any and every way you could have each other. Neither one of you knew who moved first, but the both of you began tearing at each others clothes, your mouths meeting again.

Once you were both bare before each other, you pulled away again drinking him. Your mate was beautiful, his body was powerfully built, corded in muscles as if the Mother herself carved him from marble just for you. His body was sparsely littered in scars, the pink raised skin stark in comparison to his porcelain skin and you had no doubt he’d had more on his back.

You were for once grateful that the blood spell your mother used on you covered your scars. You wouldn’t ask him about his scars, in a way they made him more beautiful to you, but mine were more brutal than anything.

Both of our chests heaving as we drank in the sight of each other. Breath hitching when I saw him, hard and at attention. He was long and thick, I knew it was going to hurt, but some fucked up part of me wanted it to. Wanted to feel every glorious inch and vein of him as he buried himself in your cunt. Licking my lips at the thought of him inside of me.

And he’s licking his lips when he sees your cunt glistening with arousal. The both of you make eye contact and I don’t know what he sees on my face, but the sight of it had him closing his eyes as a groan fell from his kiss swollen lips. Then he placed his hands on the back of your thighs, hoisting you up and carried you to the only bed in the cabin.

Eris kissed you again, like a starved man who couldn’t get enough of the taste of you. He pulled away only to start kissing and biting the tanned skin of your jaw, neck and chest. The only sounds coming from the both of you were lewd moans and groans as he laid you atop the soft bed.

Climbing on top of you, he trails his tongue down your neck, swirling it around your hardened nipples and between your breasts. Down your tummy and between your thighs. All while leaving kisses behind.

“Eris,” his name was a plea and prayer on my lips.

He moved to sit back on his haunches as his eyes rove over your body before settling on your soaked cunt, “Yes, little flame ?”

“I need you,” I whimper.

“Have you—“ he shudders as his jaw and hands clench and unclench. His eyes darkening with the promise of violence, “Have you ever been with—“

You don’t even let him finish the question, “No… just you.”

He visibly relaxes and smiles, “Gods, the Mother really made you just for me,” he says under his breath to himself. Amber eyes meet yours, “I’m going to be the first and only male to ruin you,” he promises.

“So what are you waiting for Eris, ruin me,” you tilt your head at him, your mouth curving into a teasing smirk.

Without another word he settles himself between your thighs and puts your legs over his shoulders. His large hands holding your thighs apart as he licked a single long broad stripe through your folds. Digging his fingers into your soft skin, groaning at the sweet taste of you on his tongue and your hands fist the sheets beneath you at the feeling.

Back arching off the bed as his tongue flicks your clit, “Oh… f— fuck Eris,” you cry out in pleasure. Then he circles and swirls his tongue before sucking on your sensitive bundle of nerves.

You start to squirm beneath him as he savors you, heat begins pooling in your lower tummy, but his large hands keep you spread and in place for him. Sucking in a sharp breath at the feeling of his tongue entering you, “Eris, Eris, Eris !” His name a prayer on your lips and he is your god.

Muscles tensing as his tongue leaves you feeling empty, but then he goes right back to sucking on your swollen clit. Your walls spasming and contracting on nothing as the heat in your belly turns to fire and spreads throughout your body. Time seems to stop as he begins to suck harshly, the sheets fisted in your hands ripping out of pleasure and then you shattered.

Your mates name on your lips as you fall apart.

Eris doesn’t give you to time to catch your breath as he moves to sit on his knees beside your still trembling body. One of his hands plays with your tits while he uses the other to run through your folds, gathering your arousal on his fingers, your hips jerking up in response.

Then he’s moving his hand that was playing with your tits, resting it atop your lower belly as he buries two slicked covered fingers into your cunt. Eris moves them in and out at a relentless pace fucking you with them, pushing down a bit applying pressure on your belly with his other hand, as he curls them inside of you. Hitting that sweet spot inside of you that has you crying out in pleasure.

“Eyes on me,” he orders.

Your nerves, your entire body feels like it’s on fire.

“Eyes on me or I stop.”

It takes everything in you to open your eyes, but you do. The sight of him nearly taking your breath away entirely. His red hair was mused, blown pupils with small rings of gold around them, his mouth and chin covered in your slick and a smug smirk on his lips.

“That’s it’s, little flame. Eyes on me,” he coos. Walls fluttering around his fingers at his words, his voice, him. The coil inside of me tightening, legs shaking and then the coil snapped.

You were a babbling incoherent mess as you squirted, soaking his fingers, your thighs and sheets beneath you. “Good fucking girl,” he praised, but he didn’t stop. I couldn't tell where one climax ended and the second began as continued thrusting his fingers in and out of me relentlessly. You didn’t know how many times he made you squirt before he stopped.

Your body was still shaking and your chest still heaving as he licked a long stripe from your sensitive cunt, making you whimper, up to your lips. Kissing you and then swiping his tongue along your bottom lip asking for permission, your tongue met his, making you moan as you tasted yourself on his tongue.

Eris pulled back smiling proudly at you before placing a soft gentle kiss on your forehead, “You did so good, little flame.” You looked at him with heavy lidded eyes. “Can you keep going or do you want to sleep ?”

I knew if I said I wanted to stop he would stop, but I also knew this might be only night I get to be with him and I wasn’t going to waste it. So I nodded my head.

He chuckled, “I need words,” he pushed my hair out of my face, “I need to hear you say it.”

“Yes,” I breathed, my voice raw and hoarse from all the pleasure.

Eris kissed me on the forehead again, praising me, “Atta girl.”

I was still panting softly when he rose from the bed and said he would be right back, he left the bedroom, coming back with two glasses of water in hand. “Drink up, sweetheart. We’re just getting started.” I didn’t even reach for the water as I stared at him, his cock, unabashedly. Eris was still hard as rock — just from looking at you. Since he saw you bare before him.

The sight of him, his tip red and angry had you running your tongue over your lips, hungry to feel him in your mouth. You didn’t say anything as you crawled to him, to where he was standing at the side of the bed and wrapped your hand around him.

He hissed when you pumped him a few times which only motivated you do more, so you could see how’d he react. But before you could, Eris stopped you pulling your hand away, “Drink,” he ordered.

Taking the glass of water from his hand you gulped it down greedily. You didn’t realize how thirsty you were until you were knocking back the glass. Practically chugging it as water trickled down from the corners of your mouth and down your neck. Eris only shook his head, chuckling, “Good ?” Taking both of your empty glasses and setting them on the nightstand.

I nod, giving him a shy smile, wiping the water off my chin with the back of my hand, “Good.”

His hand wraps around my neck, guiding me to where he wants before he leans down to kiss me hungrily. Then I’m wrapping my hand around his length, pumping and twisting slowly, his hips bucking in response to my touch.

The both of you pull away from the kiss and he groans as you grip him harder and pick up the pace. Letting out a shuddering exhale as you lay on your stomach infront of him, biting your lip, enjoying how your mate reacts to your touch. Stroking him a couple more times before licking a long broad stripe on the underside of length.

Eris lets out a lewd moan as I swirl my tongue around the head of his cock. His hands brushing my hair back as I lightly lap at his sensitive tip, savoring the taste of the salty bead of precum that was on it.

Kiss swollen lips part to take him, making me gag as his cock hits the back of my throat, “Oh fuck,” Eris rasps out. Hollowing my cheeks as I pull almost all the way back. Making eye contact as I swirl my tongue around his tip, working his long thick length with my hand, the other playing with his balls. “Mother’s tits,” he groans.

Lips wrapping around the head of his cock as I guide his hands to grip my hair. His amber eyes twinkle when he realizes what I want him to do, “Are you sure, little flame ? I won’t be gentle.” I hum a ‘yes’ to him as best I can with him in my mouth. The feral look in his eyes matches the smirk he wears and he doesn’t waste another second.

Not as he tightens the hold he has on my hair and mercilessly bucks his hips into my mouth. Eyes watering as I sputter around his cock, “That’s it… fucking take it like a good, little slut,” he growls.

Tears run down my cheeks and saliva runs down my chin as he fucks my mouth. My hips grind on nothing in response to the obscene noises he makes and the lewd sounds of him roughly bucking his hips into my warm mouth. Then he’s suddenly pulling me off of him and crashing his lips to my slick swollen ones. Before I can even catch my breath he’s swirling his tongue around mine.

He pulls away, both breathing heavily, he presses his forehead against mine. He chuckles, “You alright ?”

I nod my head, “Mhm.”

“Gods I wanted to finish in your mouth, but I’d rather finish in you,” He confesses.

“Please,” you breathe and he nods his head.

Then he’s moving, positioning you in the middle of bed and sliding a plush pillow beneath your head, as he sits on his knees between your thighs. He sighs contentedly, scanning you from head to toe, “Gods, my beautiful beautiful, mate.”

You sit up on your elbows, wrapping your right hand around his cock and stroke him, “My beautiful beautiful, mate,” you repeat back to him. The smile Eris gives you, gives you butterflies and then he’s leaning forward capturing your lips in a way you could only describe as loving.

His left hand cups the side of my face as he lays me back down, still kissing me and his large right hand covers the one I have wrapped around his cock. Then he’s rubbing the tip of it through my folds, hips jerking when it rubs over my clit as he swallows my moans.

Pulling back, pressing your forehead to his chest, “Eris… please…” you whimper.

“Please what, little flame,” he chuckles darkly and I don’t even have to look at him to know he’s smirking.

“Fuck me—“ My voice dies in my throat at the feeling of his cock pushing into me. My hands move to grip his bicep as I hiss out in pain, I know i’m wet enough but he’s just so big. Eris continues pushing in slowly, inch by inch, until he’s fully buried in my cunt.

My chest heaving at the lingering hint of pain, but he doesn’t move, letting me stretch and adjust to his size. He just places kisses all over my face as I adjust, “You’re doing so good,” he praises. “Take your time.”

We stay there not moving and he just continues to kiss me and talk me through it for a couple minutes longer.

Letting out a shaky breath, I utter one word, “Move.”

That’s all it takes for him to start slowly rolling his hips, my walls fluttering around him, making him groan. “Fuck,” he drawls out. Eris continues fucking into me with slow but precise rolls of his hips, but he’s starting to tremble with restraint from holding himself back. Not wanting to hurt his sweet little mate.

But any hint of lingering pain is long gone and I want — need — him to ruin me. “Eris ?”

“Yes ?” He grits out.

“I need you harder… faster,” I murmur against his skin.

His hips still for a second, then he’s throwing my legs over his broad shoulders, hips snapping against the back of my thighs and ass as he fucks into me at an impossibly fast pace. This new position making me cry out as his tip repeatedly hits my sweet spot, “Ohh f-fuck Eris !”

“Gods… you take me well,” he says between pants, “You were made for me, little flame.” Then he sets your legs back down and puts his hands down on the bed, beside your tits as he deeply thrusts into you, causing you to throw your head back into the pillow. Screwing your eyes shut and screaming his name out while my nails scratch his back.

He lets out a hiss that has me opening my eyes, scanning his face, I open my mouth to ask if I hurt him. But he quickly shakes his head ‘no,’ “I — I just feel you, little flame.” He reassures me, shifting his hips at another angle, hitting spots he hadn’t hit before.

“Fuuuck, Eris.” I cry out, my hands finding his back again, scratching.

"Look at you," he murmured as he moved inside me.

I manage to rise up enough to see where we were joined — to see his cock pulling almost all the way out before disappearing back into my body. And the sight of it wrecked me so thoroughly that it pushed me right over the edge. My mates name on my lips as I fell as he worked me through my orgasm.

We stay like that for a little while longer — him rutting into me — then he’s flipping us around so I’m on top. He doesn’t even move yet and my body shudders, the fit so much deeper in this position.

I press my hand against my lower belly and gasp, his cock twitching inside of me. He has a smug smirk on his face, “See, you were made for me. We’re a perfect fit.”

I lean down to kiss him, and then whisper in his ear, “I want to make you feel good. Let me make you feel good.”

Eris sucks in sharp breath and now it’s his turn to beg, “Please, little flame.” So I sat up, hands braced on his broad chest, and rode him.

Eris howled my name — thrusting his hips up to meet mine — like the devotee of a god. My tits bouncing wildly in his face as I rode him, faster, harder. His fingers digging into the soft skin of your hips, no doubt leaving bruises behind in their wake. “Touch me…” I breath, my voice dripping sin.

Grinding my hips down on him as he moved his hands to grope my tits, pinching and pulling my nipples. His touch making goosebumps appear and spread all over my body. Breath hitching every time my swollen clit rubbed against the muscle of his abs. His own pleasure making his abs twitch only adding to my own pleasure. Causing heat to build in my belly from the friction.

I braced my hands on his chest again, slamming my ass against his hips, drowning out the drumbeats that still sounded outside for Calanmai. The only thing I could hear was the sound of skin slapping skin and our sounds of pleasure.

Then he pulled me against him so we were chest to chest, wrapping his arms around my back, jackknifing up into me relentlessly. “Be a good little mate and fucking take it,” he grits out. The fire in my belly turning to molten lava. My hands fisting the sheets at his sides before biting into his shoulder.

It looked like they were glowing with starlight, or maybe my own vision fractured as release barreled into me again like a lightning strike.

And Eris found his, gasping my name over and over as he grinded my hips onto his with a bruising grip. His cock twitching as he spilled himself in me. My walls spasming and contracting around him, milking every last drop of his cum, as he held me there on him until he was well and truly empty.

When we were done, I remained atop him with him still inside of me and he still had a hand on my hip, while the other played with my hair.

For other parts: Bound In Flames Series Masterlist

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 9 part 10

part 11

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#a court of thorns and roses #acotar #acotar fanfiction #acotar smut #eris vanserra #eris vanserra acotar #eris vanserra fanfic #eris vanserra smut #eris vanserra x reader #eris acotar #eris fanfic #eris smut #eris x reader #bound in flames

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throneofbriars · 4 months

Text

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫

PAIRING: Inner Circle x Reader; intended eventual Eris x Reader

SYNOPSIS: The reader wrestles with being the only Inner Circle member without powers and begins to realize just how isolated she feels.

WC: 1.0K (just a short little snippet from an abandoned fic that I didn't want to keep locked in the vault)

AUTHORS NOTE: This was intended to be an Eris x Reader fic, but I abandoned it 1k words in because it wasn't going where I wanted it to. I might pick it up again someday if people are interested, but, for now, have this little snippet of a powerless Archeron Sister!Reader contemplating power within the IC.

What does it mean to hold power?

Rhysand held power - he was power and he used himself as a weapon, artfully skilled in being both the blade that felled and the shield that defended. Feyre held power, gifted to her by the High Lords of Prythian themselves, who were unaware of the unfettered access she had to the gifts of the Courts - Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Dawn, Day, and Night.

The power that simmered between Rhysand and Feyre - the High Lord and Lady of Night - was the reason their Court could be as free as it was.

Cassian and Azriel held power. The Lord of Bloodshed and the Shadowsinger, owners of seven siphons each - a great testament to the raw power that ran through their veins. They used their powers - Cassian’s unforgiving strength and Azriel’s manipulation of the dark - to protect the Night Court.

Elain held power gifted to her by the Mother - by the Cauldron she so desperately wished to forsake. The female was a Seer, a prophet who was ignorant and inexperienced in reading the prophecies she saw. Elain rejected the Cauldron's gifts, both her power of sight and her mate, Lucien. Though the Cauldron still called to her, still whispered prophecies into her ear, still haunted her with ghosts of a future she had no desire to foretell.

Even Nesta - bitter, cruel Nesta - held power. It wasn’t a gift like Feyre’s or Elain’s, nor was it inherent like Rhysand’s or Cassian’s or Azriel’s. No, Nesta’s power was taken from the Cauldron, clawed from the damned thing as retribution for the suffering the female went through in the name of its power.

Lady Death, they called her. A being of frigid night and silver flame; one of the few who could wield the Dread Trove without consequence. She offered the power back to the Cauldron as the price for Feyre’s life and the Cauldron happily accepted. But, Nesta held onto a fraction of that power and it became part of her, the death magic weaving into the very foundation of her being.

So, what does it mean to hold power? Nothing.

Power means nothing until it’s used - for better or for worse.

It was unfair, you believed, how meaningless the Inner Circle’s powers were now that they sat idle, waiting to be taken from the shelf, to be dusted off, to be utterly unleashed.

It was unfair that those who take it for granted were gifted powers that most could only dream of. If you had powers, you would cherish them, use them to make the world better.

But, you didn’t. You weren’t given any gifts by the High Lords of Prythian like Feyre. You weren’t deemed fit by the Mother to be gifted with power from the Cauldron like Elain was. You didn’t have the same claws as Nesta, the claws used to rip power from the Cauldron by force.

You were just you. A Cauldron made female. High Fae. The product of a wicked king’s endless greed. Plain. Simple. Powerless. You.

“Cassian, you really shouldn’t be using such foul language around Nyx,” Nesta reprimanded, bouncing the winged baby in her arms.

“You should have heard the things said around us when we were growing up, Nes,” Cassian countered, looking pointedly at the female sat next to him. “Your first curse word is a right of passage in the camps.”

“This isn’t an Illyrian war camp, Cassian, and-” Nesta’s words were cut off by Rhys, who spoke up from the head of the table.

“-And that will not be a right of passage we’ll be celebrating. His first flight, sure. When he inevitably kicks your ass- butt- for the first time,” a cunning grin made its way onto the High Lord's lips, “absolutely.”

Those sitting around the table, privy to the conversation - Rhysand, Azriel, Cassian, Nesta, Elain, and yourself - laughed at the High Lord’s words. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that sooner-rather-than-later the little winged child would kick the Lord of Bloodshed’s ass. It was inevitable.

“The High Lady will have your head if she finds out you’ve been speaking like that around the little one, Cas.” Azriel smiles, equally as cunning as Rhysands, before continuing, “You should keep your big mouth shut.”

“Ha,” Cassian’s laugh is booming, his words cocky. “I’m not scared of Feyre.”

“Why would you be scared of me?” Feyre’s voice rang out from the entryway of the dining room. Flecks of paint decorated her hair and clothing, a testament to her hard work in her studio on that morning.

Cassian’s eyes went wide, his face falling into one of surprise and - fear?

“Nothing- no reason,” the Illyrian male floundered. “I mean- who said anything about being scared? I’m not scared; nobody is scared.”

Azriel snickered as he shoveled another forkful of eggs into his mouth. Cassian latched onto the movement, a silent conversation passing between the two Illyrians before the Lord of Bloodshed turned his attention back towards his High Lady.

“Azriel cursed in front of Nyx-”

“Eat shit, Cassian.” The words rolled off of Azriel’s tongue before he knew what he was saying, his face blanching as the realization caught up with him.

“Azriel.”

Rhys and Feyre jumped to reprimand Azriel, the others around the table holding back their laughter. You, however, had stopped listening, withdrawing into the comfortable presence of your own thoughts.

It was always like this with Rhysands Inner Circle.

Once upon a time, you had enjoyed it - listening to the familial banter of your sisters and their mates… of your family with their family. But you had grown tired, weary of never feeling the sense of belonging, of connection that you desperately craved.

You were part of the Inner Circle, part of the family… but you were distinctly separate.

Perhaps it was your own fault. Life hadn’t left much room for hope - hope for connection, hope for family, hope for love, hope for hopes sake. You’ve become certain it’s too late for you to learn how to hope for anything.

And, though you were tired, though life and fate had left you thoroughly devoid of hope, you would play the role that was assigned to you - you owed Feyre that much.

One empty smile at a time.

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thesunloveschips · 4 months

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Eye of the Storm - Chapter 3: The Archeron Sisters

Summary: Nyra is one of the older Archeron sisters. Twin to Nesta. Plagued by a mysterious illness that her mortal body cannot endure for too long. And yet, it seems her curse is to see her family suffer. When the youngest of her sisters is whisked away into the land of fae, immortality soon follows for the rest of them. And as an immortal, there is more to her that she has yet to know.

Chapter Summary: Feyre remembers something from her childhood right before she visits her sisters for the first time after being Made.

Click here to access the Masterlist of the Eye of the Storm

****

“Feyre!” A six year old Elain chased after her sister. Feyre had spilled the coloured water she was using for her most recent painting and that too on Elain’s very new dress. The fabric of which was brought home for Elain as a birthday present for her seventh birthday, two month after the twins' birthday. The twins' new dresses were ready and dear little Feyre had just turned five.

Feyre laughed as she ran, escaping Elain easily. Her sister’s heavy skirts and her own lighter ones gave her a good advantage. Their father had brought new colours from the continent for her and she had started painting immediately.

Since she and Elain never had any lessons like their older sisters did, they were free to enjoy their gifts. Their father had resumed his travels. Their grandmother had been busy with her lessons for their older sisters. And their mother was occupied with something. Or so they thought.

“Feyre!” The sharp voice of their mother had the sisters stopping on their tracks.

Their mother was a lady whose frown was often her most prominent feature. It eclipsed every jewellery, every silk that their father had brought for them from his travels. In his absence, their mother and her mother ruled the Archeron household with an iron fist.

While their mother busied herself with parties and other invitations and hosted her own grand soirees, their grandmother took notice of the four daughters. The old lady decided that discipline had to be enforced and had invited herself into their household.

Feyre’s laughs died down and so did her energy. Elain slowly reached Feyre and held her shoulders. The youngest had paint all over her face, skirts, hands and that was enough to earn her mother’s ire. Their mother knelt down to meet the sisters at their eye level and gave the youngest one tight slap to the cheek. Tears pooled in both the children’s eyes and Feyre turned around to hug Elain.

“A lady does not run around the house. Does not ruin her appearance with paint. Am I clear?”

Feyre continued to sob into Elain’s shoulder. Their mother was a... she did not know the correct word back then. More than a decade later, a discussion between the four sisters would reveal that the appropriate words to describe their mother would probably be a stuck-up bitch.

“Am I clear?!” Their mother had repeated her question louder, fury evident in her glare that would probably turn them to dust.

“Yes, mother.” Feyre managed to give her reply between sobs in fear of another slap.

“What is all this fuss?” The voice of their grandmother had somehow frozen the children. The mother and her younger daughters turned to look at the old lady who had come out of the nearest room upon being disturbed. Nyra and Nesta stood by their grandmother’s side, thoroughly afraid for their sisters because the old lady was furious and she was now holding a cane.

“Feyre was running down the hall.” Her mother was indeed a cruel woman but Feyre could not escape the feeling that this old lady was worse. Time and again, Nyra had warned her to see this woman as less as possible and to talk even lesser as possible.

“Is that so?” The old lady walked up to Feyre and looked at the girl clutching Elain like a lifeline. “Come forward, girl.” Feyre obeyed, fear enveloping every inch of her being.

“Why were you running?” The old lady had asked a very simple question but her eyes gave away who she was. A bigger monster than their mother.

In fear of her wrath, Feyre dutifully answered. “I spilled coloured water on Elain’s dress, Grandmamma.”

“And were you chasing her?” The grandmother turned to Elain who nodded silently. “Answer me!” The grandmother’s louder voice had Elain saying a ‘yes’ in a meek voice.

The grandmother then turned to their mother. “It seems both of them are at fault and you punished only one,” She looked at Elain once more. “Show your hand.”

A trembling Elain showed her hand, the palm facing the ceiling. It would have been a happy sight if the old lady was a loving grandmother asking her granddaughter to show her hands to give her candy. But this old lady did not have an ounce of love. She had a cane. And with one quick movement, the cane struck Elain’s palm. Feyre clutched Elain’s dress with a hand from the behind. The limb that connected her to Elain received a strike at the arm. Feyre’s tears flowed freely.

“Release her if you do not want another strike.” Feyre was quick to let go of Elain. The grandmother looked at the younger sister in disgust. She then turned to the older ones and issued a command. “Take them away.”

Nyra and Nesta quietly walked over, took their sisters by the hand and quickly walked away. As they walked away, the conversation between their mother and grandmother began. Something related to the twins’ dance lessons.

It was then that Feyre and Elain noticed that their sisters had been subject to that cane too. They headed straight to Nyra’s room where it was decided that all of them would spend the night. No separate rooms tonight. Just one bed for the sisters.

They locked the room and rushed to the bathing chamber. With whatever strength they wielded with their fingers, the twins took the large bowl of water used for washing the face and set in on the floor. Feyre and Elain were still too short to reach it on the table without a stool which Nyra’s room did not have.

“Come here, you two.” Nesta called out. Her tone was kind and not haughty for once. It was because all of them had been struck today. Nesta and Elain dipped their hands in the water slowly. Nyra took out two pieces of clean cloth and dipped it in the cold water. She folded it and then turned to Feyre.

“Show me your arm.” Feyre obeyed. Nyra pushed up the sleeve as gently as she could, trying to avoid any pain for Feyre. She has failed since the youngest has clearly winced a couple of times. She placed one cloth to the part on the arm where the cane has struck. The other she extended to Feyre. “Hold it to your cheek.”

Feyre did as told. Nyra then put her hand into the water and all of them simply stared at the hands in the water. Nesta’s hand was red the most. The lines of the cane were too prominent. The skin had torn at one part and it was bleeding and Feyre wondered whether it would scar. From the expression Nesta wore, she too probably wondered the same thing.

Elain was the first to let out a sob. Nesta, who sat with her twin on one side and Elain on the other, gently wiped her tears away. Feyre started crying after watching Elain. She looked at Nyra who motioned for her to come closer. And even with her hands in the water, Feyre could feel the concern of her sisters as she crawled next to Nyra and laid her head on her lap. Elain set her head on Nesta’s shoulder and the twins looked at each other.

After a while when the pain had reduced to tolerable levels, the sisters exited the bathing room. Nyra and Nesta headed over to the former’s wardrobe to find nightgowns for the four of them. They helped each other change clothes and then went over to their younger sisters.

After the younger two had been put to bed, the older ones lied down on either side of the bed. Feyre turned to Nyra. As much as she wanted to speak, she couldn’t. In the darkness of the night after all candles were blown, Feyre felt like Nyra was awake and distant. She snuggled closer to Nyra and closed her eyes.

That day, Feyre learned that their grandmother was a cruel woman. A woman who used any excuse to enforce discipline, as she called it, on the twins. She used every excuse, took every fault she found and enforced that discipline with a cane. A few days later, a mysterious illness had affected Nyra. A few days later, very conveniently, their grandmother had passed away. And none of the sisters mourned her.

****

Feyre shook her head. That was not a good memory and she did not understand why she remembered it.

“You ought to practice shielding your mind more often.” Rhysand’s words made her realise that he had probably seen that memory. She was tired right now. Not in the mood to advocate for privacy of her mind or anything.

“Why is it that we need to put effort to remember the good things in life but the bad things are always there, waiting for anything and everything to push it into the forefront of our mind?” Rhysand, Cassian and Azriel were surprised. The High Lord looked straight at the female while his brothers looked at each other and then at Feyre.

“I wish I knew, Feyre darling.” Rhysand replied, his voice cracking the slightest. Maybe his own bad memories had surfaced at Feyre’s words which might have acted as a trigger. She looked at Cassian and Azriel who were now lost in their own thoughts.

“I’m going.” She announced, gathering their attention. Once they were ready and alert, Rhys nodded at her once. Feyre stepped out of the glamour surrounding them and made her way to the Archeron estate.

****

Feyre had been invited in by Elain. When Nesta came down they had gone to the drawing room where she told her sisters her story. After Elain convinced Nesta to allow the meeting to be held in their home, she stood up and left the room to order the servants away.

It was then that Elain realised that in order to order them away a bit more convincingly, she would need money. That would mean she would have to talk to Nyra. They did not call her down since Nesta had just left the room after ensuring that her twin had taken all her medicines and was comfortably tucked into bed. But now, Nyra needed to be awakened.

“Nyra.” Elain knocked her sister’s door once. She knew her older sister was not asleep. Nyra had a habit of reading before she fell asleep.

“Come in.” Elain opened the door and walked over to Nyra. Her sister lay on the bed, the blankets covering her stomach and downwards. She held a book in her hands and three candles on a candle stand to light up the room just enough for reading.

For a second, Elain stood by the door and admired the health blooming from within Nyra. The medicines were taking effect. There was now a glow that captivated Elain. She was now able to walk around the house, stay awake for a longer time. Her headaches were less and lesser. She was even out in charge of handling their father’s accounts in his absence. Which is exactly why Elain needed her to be awake right now.

“I need your help.” The urgency in her voice had Nyra closing her book and keeping it aside.

“What happened?” She sat up properly on the bed, ready to get up if needed.

“It’s a long story. Feyre’s back. She has been reborn into fae. And we need to send the servants away.” Elain was now walking over to her wardrobe. She opened it and pulled out a thick grey robe that reached the floor and a shawl. The older sister understood that she definitely needed to get up.

Nyra pulled away her blankets and wore her slippers. She stood up and Elain was already by her side, ready to help her wear the robe. “There is a meeting Nesta has agreed to host. A meeting between fae and the Queens of the Realm. A war looms over us humans and the fae and this mating is pertinent for building alliances. And I was thinking, if we need to send the servants away, a little money would make it easy to convince them.”

“All right.” Nyra and Elain left the bedroom. “Bring the servants to father’s office. I’ll prepare their wages.” Elain nodded and they parted ways. Within the next two hours, they had managed to send the servants away with their wages and a generous bonus.

“Give me a few minutes to record the payments. You can go join them in the drawing room.” Nyra was already sitting on their father's chair. She had begun recording the payments and only a few more left. She knew that they were at the drawing room for now.

In a complete hurry, Elain headed to the drawing room where Feyre and Nesta were sitting in awkward silence. Once she conveyed the news about the departure of the servants, Feyre took her leave to bring in her companions from the Night Court.

Elain then looked at Nesta. “I told Nyra only the gist of this. She doesn’t know the complete story.”

“That is fine.” Nesta nodded at her and then sighed. “We shall fill her in when she comes. Where is she anyway?”

“Recording the payment of wages.” Nesta nodded again in understanding.

A few minutes later, three fae had entered the house with Feyre leading them in. While the youngest sister was impressed that Elain hadn’t fainted and Nesta hadn’t hissed at the males, she was still wondering where Nyra was. She scented the fear and apprehension, heard their thundering heartbeats, saw how Nesta took a step in front of Elain as if she could actually protect her against fae.

“My sisters, Nesta and Elain Archeron.” Feyre’s introduction of her sisters did not make the awkwardness any lesser. And even when she introduced the males to her sisters, it seemed that the awkwardness had increased. Probably because Rhys was putting on a carefully crafted performance, and Cassian was uncharacteristically quiet, and Azriel was more than ready to be a shadow himself.

Nesta said something about dinner and then proceeded to lead them to the dining room. She stood between the seat at the head of the table and one at the left and watched as the others occupy the remaining seats. To her left sat Elain and beyond, Cassian. Feyre took the seat opposite to her, then Rhysand and then Azriel.

“Where is Nyra?” The males became a bit more alert at the mention of this sister. Feyre was now becoming worried. Had something happened to Nyra in her absence?

It was then that Nesta remembered that Nyra did not know about the change in location from the drawing room to the dining room. And that she did not know about the three additional visitors. Nesta looked at her for a second before replying. “I’ll be back.” Feyre nodded.

Nesta had taken three steps and had reached right ahead of Cassian’s seat when the door opened and the last of the sisters emerged.

****

#a court of silver flames #a court of thorns and roses #acofas #acomaf #acosf #acotar #acowar #azriel shadowsinger #azriel x oc #azriel x original character #feysand #feyre archeron #nesta archeron #nessian #azriel x reader

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acotar-taylorsversion · 2 months

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Thoughts and Takes As I Re-Read the ACOTAR Series

This is extremely long and I have been typing it for weeks now. These are just my thoughts and I am typing them as I go. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it and maybe we can agree on most things. I would really love to hear everyone else's thoughts, too! 🙂

I don't feel like people blame papa archeron nearly as much as they should. It should not have been any of the sisters' responsibility to do what Feyre did. And after reading Nesta's POV, I don't blame Nesta for being so cold and hateful towards her father.

Lucien annoyed me so much in ACOTAR so much so that it was hard to like him in ACOMAF but I really tried to like him and give him a chance when Sarah made him Elain's mate and I realized that he could have a big role in ACOWAR.

I believe Tamlin had his redemption arc in ACOWAR when he saved Feyre and Az when they were rescuing Elain and then again when he saved Rhys. But I don't think Sarah will explore his story and she might be keeping him alive right now so that he can die at the right time.

After what Tamlin did to her and then allying with Hybern, I don't blame Feyre for ruining his court. He deserved it.

I don't think Ianthe suffered enough and I think that Nesta or Elain should have been the ones to have killed her.

Elain and Az were obvious to me in ACOMAF, just like Nesta and Cassian were and I was truly truly shocked when sarah made Lucien Elain's mate. I believe that there is so much more to that night than we know about and we'll learn about it when we get to Elain & Az's POVs. I believe that the bloodbane in Az's blood was killing him and nullified any bond that could have been there even before Elain was turned. Az was shot with the arrow before they went up to the throne room and that is why Lucien showed signs of mate behavior once Elain showed up. I believe the cauldron was wrong.

That being said, I tried to give Lucien a chance in ACOWAR and he just gave me the ick when talking about Elain. It didn't feel right to hear him say that he wanted to "see if she was worth it." Like she should already be worth it. Don't hesitate. I just did not see it at all.

I think that LoA will be the one to kill Beron. Don't know why, but I just feel that she will lose it and run to Helion.

Sarah had every opportunity to set Elucien up and she didn't. I believe she set them up for failure from the get-go. She instead focused on Elain and Az. I could do an entirely separate post about Elain, Lucien, and Az.

I believe Mor and Eris are mates, especially after what was said in ACOSF. I believe that he knows that she prefers females and wanted to save her from a loveless, unsatisfying marriage. I do think that he handled it wrong. Like that whole situation could have been handled so much better.

I think the whole Mor, Az, and Cassian situation was extremely weird. And now that Cassian is with Nesta and Az could possibly be with Elain, maybe Mor can finally move on and be free and not hide anything anymore. I wish that Mor would have talked to Nesta in ACOSF and explained and apologized for everything. Maybe she'll sit both the sisters down and talk about it one day.

I think Amren and Varian are cute together, but I think Amren should have stayed dead. Sarah is notorious for killing and then unkilling her characters and I think that gets old. I believe that sarah brought her back as a way to keep the summer court involved with the night court and to have a "know it all" character.

I think that Feyre and Rhys have a true, soul mate, true love, fairytale mating bond and I think Nesta and Cassian have a more realistic one. Feyre and Rhys fell in love before the bond was accepted and Nesta and Cassian were just beginning to fall in love before the bond was accepted. Lust and attraction and the pull of the bond is what truly brought them together but they quickly fell in love with each other.

I hate all the hate that Nessian is getting. People who say that Nesta should get with Eris literally make me sick and I want to throw ACOSF at them. They obviously need a to read it again. People need to realize that Nesta was in the wrong in HOFAS and Rhys had every right to freak out like he did and Nesta needed to be yelled at for that. I don't blame Cassian for not stepping in. And people forget how sarcastic Nesta is and they actually take her seriously when she said that Rhys debated executing her. Like do yall really think Cassian and Feyre would allow that or that Rhys would do that to his brother and his mate?? Like come on now.

Speaking of Rhys, I don't think he was wrong for keeping the danger of feyre's pregnancy from her. As a mother of 3 myself, I would be terrified every single day if I knew that my pregnancy could end with the death of myself and/or my baby. Like I would not want to know. Pregnancy is stressful enough as it is, even with healthy ones. And this is why I don't think he was wrong for freaking out on Nesta. I mean, he almost lost his mate, his son, and his life like what, 6 months before that? Like I can't imagine how scared Rhys is every day knowing that he almost lost everything and then Nesta gave a STRANGER a MADE OBJECT from the trove and could have LOST IT to the ASTERI who could have come to their world and DESTROYED them all. GIVE RHYS A BREAK YOU GUYS!!!!! I love Nesta, love her to death, but she was wrong for that.

I have my thoughts on Gwyn. I think she's a lightsinger. I think that is what Az's shadows react to, just like Nesta reacts to her. I don't think her and Az are mates. I don't think she's attracted to Az at all. I think she wants to prove herself to him because he did see her on the most traumatic night of her life. I think she wants to prove to him and everyone around her that she is and can be strong. That's it. There is nothing more to her and Az other than trainer and trainee. I also think that Merrill is the one manipulating everything and everyone, including Gwyn who might not know that she's a lightsinger. I think Merrill is working with Koschei.

Even after all the books, I still believe that Elriel will happen. There's just too many canon moments for me to ignore to see the possibility of Elucien. I only say elucien because gwynriel isn't a canon couple. They are not canon at all. The only thing that elucien has going for them is their bond.

I think Lucien will reject the bond for Elain. Lucien isn't a bad guy. I don't think he'll fight for Elain when he knows that she does not want him or their bond. He won't let Elain become his mother. I think he will find happiness with Vassa and they will be like Elide and Lorcan.

I believe people who support elucien only care about Lucien. I mean, how could you think that Elain wants to be with him after reading the books?

Based on the story of Koschei, it's not crazy to assume it will be 3 sisters and 3 brothers. Sarah is a very predictable writer and this is what most of the fandom has expected since ACOMAF and Koschei being the last big bad confirms that. Especially when you add in Vassa and Lucien into the mix. Just read the story of Koschei and tell me I'm wrong.

I believe that Az is experiencing the effects of a mating bond with Elain. He acts more like her mate than Lucien does and there's canon proof of this.

I believe the only reason Rhys stopped Az and Elain that night was because 1. he was convinced he would die with Feyre when she gave birth and didn't want his court to be in this war with the autumn court and 2. he is a political figure and he is using elain's bond as leverage with lucien. I believe that if Elain expresses to him how she wants to reject the bond, he would support it and accept Elain and Az.

I hate how everyone focuses on Gwyn and forgets about Emerie. I don't understand why people think Gwyn would be involved with the Illyrians. She is not Ilyrian and even though she finished the blood rite, she has said she does not want that illyrian warrior title. After what she went through during the rite, I don't see her being involved with them in any way. I do believe we will hear about Emerie doing something more like that. She could be an inspiration to Ilyrian females. Speaking of the Valkyries, I don't think they should have won the blood rite. It was very unbelievable. It would have been more believable if they had hid the entire time and waited for Cassian to come find them when the week was over.

Speaking Gwyn again, I think most of her fans overhype her too much. I like Gwyn and I'm glad that Nesta has her as a friend because she needed that. But I don't think we'll ever get her POV. I mean, we heard her story. We know what happened to her and we know pretty much everything about her. We know that she doesn't want that warrior title and she went back to the library not even sure about going to Nesta's mating ceremony. I think her fans forget this. I think they see her as a self insert character. I think they over sexualize her way too much. I'm not saying that SA survivors can't have a sex life so don't come at me. I just don't think she's going to want to be tied up with ribbons while Az holds her down and "ravages" her. The same male who seen what she went through that night. That just makes me uncomfortable. I think Gwyn would be embarrassed by the majority of her fans.

I will another post about that bonus chapter because there is so much to discuss.

I hate the amount of hate Elain gets and the side of the fandom that hates her does not deserve her. There is so much to learn about her and her powers and what goes on in her mind and I can't wait for her book.

I also think that papa archeron unknowingly traded Elain and/or Feyre and Nesta in his deal with Koschei for Vassa's temporary release.

I don't understand how people could hate feysand or any other members of the inner circle. In my opinion, if you hate them then why are you reading the series?? Why are you still here?

I don't think that sarah will make Nesta or Elain an actual queen or high lady. I think that Rhys and Feyre will always be more powerful than them and I think they will be High King and High Queen when the series is over. I can't see sarah making the sisters having the same amount of power or say as much as Feyre. She has always been above them. That has been obvious since the beginning because she's always protected them and taken care of them.

If you guys remember my other posts, then you will know my thoughts on how I think the rest of the series will go. Like elriel, vassien, koschei, the queens, the prison, the dusk court, the trove, all that. Elain and Nesta are the keys and Vassa should be the one to destroy Koschei. Rhys and Feyre will be High King and High Queen with nessian and elriel at their sides and everyone lives happily ever after.

What do you guys think?

#acotar #nesta archeron #cassian #nessian #elain archeron #elriel #pro elriel #azriel shadowsinger #feysand #archeron sisters #rhysand #feyre archeron #gwyneth berdara #lucien vanserra #vassa acotar

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fabulouslyflamboyant5 · 2 months

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The Unrighteous Knight Part 2

pairing: azriel x second archeron sister!reader

summary: After the events that occurred between Azriel and you, nothingness seems rather appealing. (Also some insight into readers past, and how becoming fae has affected them)

warning: su**ci*al thoughts, canon typical violence, nesta slander…inner circle slander?

word count: 1.3k

a/n: Sorry for delay, my drafts got deleted! This chapter is a little slow, but necessary for character development. Turns out, reader isn’t such a meek character after all…

Part One Part Two Part Three

To be, or not to be.

That is the question. The simple question, as mortals would insist. But what hold do the claws of mortality have upon an immortal being? How far must a cauldron made fae go to completely rid themselves of their humanity, with no guarantee that they will find solace in immortality?

Nowhere.

That is the answer, the simple answer your youngest sister and her dashing mate insist upon.

You must go nowhere, because simply put, the act of searching for serenity is sure to attract confusion.

But the answer is surely not so simple. Is nowhere not anywhere when you have been dragged to a land different from the one you’d grown to love?

The soil of Prythian feels foreign beneath your feet. Then again, your own skin feels foreign against your blood, which feels volatile within your soul.

Prythian, the continent home to Feyre Cursbreaker, Lady Death, and the most beautiful of the three sisters, Elain, cannot possibly be home to you, (y/n) Archeron, the sister who stands out for no reason other than her own lack of brilliance.

While the cauldron may have lent your younger sister the power of a seer, you were left with nothing.

Not brave enough to take it for yourself, you have come to terms with the fact that you are once again, left behind.

The forgotten sister. Perhaps that is what you are. What you always have been.

They insist that this is your home, that Velaris will bathe you in its light and rid you of your struggles. But you have found that you quite hate the light. It is darkness that you seek. It is nothingness you yearn for, the absence of everything in its entirety.

You try not to let these thoughts fester for too long.

Writing, for all you know, is the only way to remedy the situation. After all, it is considerably easier to distract yourself when you have something to look forward to.

Something that you enjoy.

Perhaps it is the nothingness within your leather bound notebook that brings you peace. The unfilled pages are not lonely, but instead, freeing.

The cruelty of your reality leaves no mark on the pages of your worn book. Nothingness, or in this case, fiction, is all that lines its pages.

Stories of the past, present, and future are maimed into something foreign. You are the narrator, you are the creator, you are in control.

Control.

That is your answer. Supplied by none other than yourself, of course.

It is control you seek. The ability to lead a life you choose, without ever having to bow down to forces external to your own psyche.

Forces beyond the harsh stare of Azriel, the Night Court's Shadowsinger, and the bane of your eternal existence.

In the many years you’ve known him, he has never failed to remind you just how deep his hate for you went. Like a raft sailing down an empty river, your efforts to mend your relationship are continuously shut down.

Not that any of it matters, not anymore.

The second his blade made contact with your abdomen you knew, just knew that the two of you would never make peace.

Even now, days since the incident, a phantom pain remains, pulsing within the thin scar below your left rib.

It’s frustrating really, how do you move on from something you never want to forget?

Staring down at the tea stained pages of your journal, you let the question linger.

A whole bunch of nothing.

That is the answer you arrive at.

It should be familiar now, this nothingness within you. This nothingness you embody.

Your sisters, bless them, will never grasp the emptiness that resides within you. But how could they, for all they know you appreciate solitude, find serenity in the freedom this world has provided you.

But it is not freedom you embody, it is loneliness; nothingness in its purest form.

“What is it exactly you are working on?” Nesta’s cool voice asks you. Had you not known her better, you’d surely mistaken her inquiry for judgment. But you do know her, so you send her a hum too weak to be mistaken for one of contentment and forbid your eyes from leaving the shadow filled paper below you.

“Nothing,” you are working on absolutely nothing.

Had you looked up, you would have seen the two cups of tea in her hands.

Had you looked up, you would have seen the sheer weight of determination resting on her shoulders.

Had you looked up, perhaps the shadows moving slowly across your hands would have stopped their movements and removed themselves from your proximity.

But alas, your eyes remain on the dark creatures, hoping, praying, that they leave the library and take your loneliness with them.

“I know what you're doing,” she spoke once more, clearly set on making her presence felt.

“And what may that be?”

“You’re overthinking,” she moves across the shelves, elegantly placing herself onto one of the cushioned chairs in front of you.

“I can assure you, that is not the case.” Nothing, that is what you are doing, and have been doing since you were forced upon this planet.

“Come back to the training ground tomorrow, I’d like for you to be there,” her voice is sincere but it is dissatisfaction that overtakes you. Of course that is what this is about. You’re foolish for assuming she had come here with the answers to the questions you seek.

“I’ll consider it,” you say dryly, reverting back to the page below you, noticing the shadows have seemingly disappeared.

Whether or not Nesta is satisfied with your response means nothing to you.

It means nothing, really.

Nothing does.

“I don’t think he meant it.” And so Lady Death strikes again. As is if her words tore open your jugular, you find yourself recoiling into the chair. Of course she would think that, it’s not as though she were present to witness the hatred in his eyes, the malice within him as he raised his sword, the eagerness of his actions against the vulnerability of your torso.

“Oh?” The paper crinkles under your tight fist, its sound serving as a reminder of your demeanor.

“He was wrong to do what he did. He hurt you and I hate him for that,” she halts, carefully thinking of what to say, “That said, I don’t believe he meant to hurt you. Had he known your skills in combat, I think the situation would have been avoided.”

It’s your fault really, you should have guessed as much. The path of wrongness will always lead back to you. You shouldn’t have expected Nesta, of all people, to see through the situation.

“I’ll see you on the training grounds before sunrise tomorrow, because from what I am gathering, I cannot trust anyone here to not kill me if I don’t refine my skills.”

For a moment, guilt can be found on the face of your sister, though it is quickly replaced by something akin to anger.

Looking as though she intends to say more, Nesta rises from her chair and makes her way towards you. You find comfort in this, it reminds you of home, or something that once was home.

“If you despise your life that much then perhaps it is best you leave.” Too far, she’d gone too far. In typical Nesta fashion, she expresses her guilt through absence. The two filled tea cups serve as the only indicator she had even been present.

This is on you, completely your fault. You dared to welcome presence into nothingness and allowed for tension to fester. How foolish you were.

So with that, you begin to write.

tags: @sidthedollface2 @marvelouslovely-barnes @impossibelle @chessebookgirl

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readychilledwine · 6 months

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Bound by Fate Pt 4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

Summary - When Kaylee Archeron meets Azriel, her world turns upside down. Between balancing her trauma, new powers, a mating bond, and war looming over her new home, Kaylee learns every thing is not as little as it once seemed.

Warnings - jealousy, poor communication

A/N - it's @azrielappreciationweek free day and ✨️double post day✨️

No one spoke at breakfast. The tension in the air between Rhysand and Azriel was at a breaking point. The two had been heard arguing with each other early in the morning while Cassian stood there and tried to play middle ground.

Kaylee poked the eggs in front of her. Glancing up at Amren every so often as the ancient female studied her as if she was an old textbook written in some unknown tongue. Her gaze flicked to Cassian, and the general smiled softly at her before pushing fruits her way and taking the eggs. "Did my mate give you permission to take her food or were you just feeling entitled to it?"

Kaylee sighed. "I don't like eggs, Az. He's been eating my eggs for a few weeks now." She felt his discomfort down the bond. Another thing his brothers got to learn while he was being forced to play the part of her sisters' keeper.

He was angry. Beyond angry. He was being forced to make a sacrifice and guard Elain and Nesta while his own mate was burying her pain and feelings so deep within herself he thought she'd explode.

Silence fell back over the table, leaving the door open for that heavy tension to set in again. Kaylee felt a pressure in her mind, as if something that shouldn't be there was forcing it's way to her. Rhys shifted uncomfortably. "Kaylee. Stop."

"I'm not doing it on purpose."

"I know," he sighed. "Just think of your powers like a faucet and turn the faucet off."

Kaylee tried. But something kept reaching for her, calling to her like a siren spell, and her magic locked in on it. Cassian froze at the sight of her, eyes glowing white as she began to almost radiate, at the same time, Azriel froze, eyes going almost black as his head tilted to the side. "Uh, Rhys?"

Amren paused her drink, looking between the two mates before chuckling. "Well, that solves that mystery. Azriel has a beast form."

Rhys was in Kaylee's mind, searching for a way to pull her from accidentally bonding to a centuries old creature his own brother had not even had touch with, but that bond, that damned and blessed mating bond, blocked him. Rhys closed his eyes, knowing there was only one other option to stop them from completing the connection. "Azriel, I am commanding you as your High Lord to leave for the House of Wind at once."

Kaylee fell unconscious as the connection severed, Azriel immediately holding his mate's face as her nose bled. "What the fuck just happened?!"

Rhys stood, moving between Azriel and Kaylee. "She found your beast form. It would appear after a millenia without a tamer, every form of beast is anxious to have a fae who speaks for them and their well-being." Rhys took a napkin, gingerly cleaning Kaylee's nose before motioning for Cassian to take her.

"Until she has control, Azriel. It's best if you stay in the House of Wind. Amren and I can push her out. You-"

"I will not be banned from seeing my mate," the growl he released had shadows clashing against starlit darkness, siphons beginning to glow as their wearer's mind and magic prepared for battle.

Rhysand rose a brow, "So you will risk all of us and her? If she makes you shift for the first time and your beast kills her, what will you do, Azriel?"

Azriel growled again as Cassian protectively held Kaylee away from him and backed up. "Give me my mate, Cassian."

Amren came between the two then, silver eyes a flame. "Touch her and you toy at the risk of sealing that connection, boy. Listen to Rhysand and think of her. Not yourself."

It was a stab in Azriel's stomach, his brows knitting together as he backed away from them in anger. "She's all I think of," he said firmly but quietly. "She needs me just as much as Nesta and Elain seem to think they do." He disappeared then, swallowed whole by shadows and gone from the Riverhouse.

Kaylee woke up alone and afraid, tugging the bond the way Azriel told her to whenever she needed him. She was met with silence. No soft tugs back, no wave of comfort. She stood on shaking legs, trying to remember what happened as she drank the water the house provided.

She remembered Rhysand's beast trying to speak with her. A great powerful thing with large wings and talons. She remembered telling him Rhys wanted her to get out and the creature's great huff of annoyance like he was no more than a frustrated cat wishing to has his way.

Then she was trapped by something else, and it wanted much more from her. Another winged beast, dripping darkness like ichor. It had not let her see it, just its imposing figure as it pinned her below it and stared down at her.

Her eyes grew wide when she remembered what it growled. Mate. She tugged the bond again desperately, praying to every fae God he would answer. It was a cold knife to her heart when he left her in silence.

Rhys stood and watched as the stag nudged Kaylee, then rested his large head on her shoulder as if he was hugging her. She wasn't okay. He could feel her turmoil tearing her mind and heart apart. They had been training for hours now, her practicing warging into the beast, their communication, their emotional link. Rhys now knew of several areas of the forest that had been plagued by evil. He knew of areas where food and resources were lacking. He knew what he could do to restore those areas and had begun drafting out plans.

He walked to the stag and Kaylee, scratching the stag behind his ear and then placing a hand gently on Kaylee's back. "Are we content with today?" The stag seemed to nod and gently pushed Kaylee into Rhysand's waiting arms. "Let's go get some food for you, little one."

Cassian greeted them, nodding as he stirred stuff into the soup he was making. "How was our antlered friend?" Kaylee shrugged, her eyes still looking wide and lost. She went upstairs, leaving Rhys and Cassian alone in the kitchen. "She needs him. We either take her up there or bring them here, Rhys."

Rhys rose a brow. "She needs the woods."

Cassian didn't argue, tightening his lips into a line. "We're going to lose Azriel if you aren't careful, Rhysand. You know this is all he's ever wanted."

Rhysand sighed taking the seat across from Cassian. "Do you remember when I accidently shifted for the first time? The damage and hurt I caused." Cassian closed his eyes, nodding at the painful reminder. "I've had centuries to be one with my beast. Azriel didn't even know he had one. If he shifts and hurts her in anyway, we will lose him for not protecting her. We are damned if we do, damned if we don't."

2 weeks.

Kaylee had not seen Azriel in two weeks. And now he stood in the living room, a redheaded male in hand and Feyre in Rhysand's arms. The two couldn't stop staring at each other. Eyes locked in need, love, and desperation.

Cassian cleared his throat at the scent of the bond between Azriel and Kaylee and Rhysand and Feyre. He shot the new male, one Kaylee was blocking from her memory, a sympathetic look before motioning for him to follow outside, and Azriel doing the same to Kaylee. "Kaylee, Lucien," Cassian said once they were outside. "Lucien, Kaylee."

"You were there," she whispered. "You were with Tamlin."

He nodded. His beautiful face changed. "We didn't know. I promise on my life we did not know."

"I believe you." They all paused as a shift in the trees came. A large hawk came and landed on Lucien's shoulder, head cocked before flying to Kaylee and resting in her arms.

Lucien stared between the two, then looked to Cassian and Azriel. The wild life around this house was extensive. Thriving. The woods themselves sang songs of joy and healing. He studied the littlest sister, seeing her magic giving and taking. "Dangerous powers. Nature is a cruel lover. She tends to take and take and you do not see the give back right away." Lucien came close to her, stroking the hawk on his feathered head. "The last female with your powers was drained so much by the lands and wildlife, she ran into the woods of Autumn one night never to be seen again. There's children's stories and campfire legends about her."

Azriel growled, causing Lucien to shoot him a look. "Has she bonded to Rhysand's beast yet? Typically the tamers and their High Lord's beasts are quite close."

Cassian shook his head. "We're going to the House of Wind," it was firm, ending the conversation regarding Kaylee's progress before it could start. "Az, you got Kay?"

The shadowsinger nodded, pulling Kaylee close to him and smiling slightly as she giggled and the hawk flew away. They were in the air in seconds, her nuzzled into Azriel's neck, taking in his scent and covering him in hers like a kitten.

Cassian shot a look to Lucien. "Do not bring up Rhysand and Kaylee's bond in front of Azriel again. Please. I would prefer not to have to clean up another fight between them."

"It's not a romantic bond or sexual?"

Cassian nodded, agreeing and thankful the new connection Rhysand had allowed Kaylee to make was solely business. "But we all know how… Animalistic and protective males are of their mates. Azriel believes what they have is beyond sacred. Kaylee potentially losing herself to-" Cassian rolled his eyes with a smirk as the first noises came from the house and picked Lucien up. "There have been signs already, Lucien. Hopefully having someone from the Court Tamers typically are born into will help."

The dinner was silent. Rhys and Feyre sitting at the heads of the table, Lucien across from Kaylee, freshly bathed and in impeccable clothing. Azriel to her right, Amren to her left. And Mor and Cassian on both sides of Lucien.

Kaylee had begged for Nesta and Elain to come down, pleading with every fiber of her being for just a second of their time. Just a singular moment to see them. To be held by them. She was met with silence. That silence turned to rage inside of her. She had destroyed her guest room. Screaming as the furniture replaced itself and began to redo the process until Lucien had came to her.

Not her mate.

Not her sisters.

Not even Cassian.

Lucien.

He held her, whispering words of comfort, telling her she was safe. She had not noticed her own hands shifting, but Lucien had, he watched as the tanned skin turned back from the soft blue it was shifting to. As her nails became normal instead of daggers.

Lucien held her until those moments of shaking rage became what they truly were, trembles of sadness.

Sadness from her mate immediately leaving her at the House to go sit with Elain. Sadness from her older sisters ignoring her. Sadness from the sheer agonizing feeling of abandonment setting into her soul and bones.

He held her until that trembling stopped. And then he held her again as he took in those tear stained cheeks and watering ocean eyes.

Lucien understood Kaylee to his core. The youngest sibling left to their own devices and knowledge in a world they hardly understood. He understood that anger, that sadness, that longing to belong.

He saw Kaylee.

He saw her for more than her power, for more than just Feyre's sister. He saw her for her. He saw her brokeness from mistreatment, her exhaustion from being forced to train from breakfast to nightfall.

And he didn't understand how Azriel didn't. The male cared for his mate, that was clear as he filled her plate with more food, kissed her temple, ensured her drink was never empty. But how he did not sense Kaylee's humanity slipping away already was concerning. Lucien leaned back, studying her as Rhysand studied him.

"Something interesting to you, Lucien?"

He shook his head, eyes still on Kaylee as she looked up, small signs from her breakdown still there. "No," he stated calmly. "Just admiring her. She's not something you see everyday."

Rhys nodded in agreement, pride leaking into his voice as he looked at the youngest Archeron sister. His favorite new project. "No. No, she is not." He allowed his beast to touch Kaylee. Stroking that bond between them gently in praise.

Kaylee gave a slight smile, her cheeks flushing slightly at the complement and at Rhysand's otherside almost purring at contact with her.

And, unseen to everyone but Lucien, Azriel began to seethe.

Taglist:

@impossibelle @luvmoo @wallacewillow0773638 @nightless

@cat-or-kitten @knmendiola @holb32

@mis-lil-red @minakay @whatsupb18 @deeshag @justdreamstars @pyrostatic @acourtofmarvels @no1massassin @dream-alittlebiggerdarling

#acotar #azriel acotar #azriel #azrielweek2023 #azriel shadowsinger #azriel x archeron!oc #azriel x oc #azriel fic #boundbyfate

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bright-side20 · 5 months

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Elain Archeron/The seer 🌸

Art by book_s150

_In greek mythology seers are often given their power by divine powers, and the visions they have are considered messages from gods for a purpose.

_Mor about Elain’s Vision:

“There is a reason why Elain is seeing these things. She was right about the other queen turning old, about the Ravens’ attack—why is she being sent this image? Why is she hearing this queen? It must be vital. If we ignore it, perhaps we’ll deserve to fail.”

I believe the cauldron gifted Elain such a powerful ability – the literal control of the future – because it saw her heart, recognizing that she could use this power properly for the better. That's why it didn't hurt her when it lured her, and why it purred when she stabbed the king because she had done what she had to.

With all the hints about the dusk court in silver flames, and now that Bryce is in Prythian, the plot of acotar is heading towards freeing the dusk court.

_ Nesta felt that she had been brought to the prison to take the harp, the instrument in which the people of the Dusk Court were probably imprisoned :

"She had the creeping feeling she’d been brought here. Not by the Cauldron or the Mother or the Harp. By something vaster. Something that stretched into the stars carved all around them."

_Elain:

"Elain began praying to the Fae’s foreign gods"

_Bryce :

“You think the gods have something to do with all this?” Again, the hair on her arms rose; the star on her chest dimmed and went dark.... “After this spring, I can’t help but wonder if there is something out there. Guiding all this. If there’s some game afoot that’s … I don’t know. Bigger than anything we can grasp.”

“What do you mean?”

'......' all of us, the Vanir … we all came from elsewhere. We were immigrants into Midgard. But what became of our home worlds? Our home gods? Do they still pay attention to us? Remember us?”

And then she ended up in Prythian 😃

Since the whole thing is planned by divine powers, and Elain is a seer who receives visions from divine powers for specific purposes—whether guiding, as when she told them about Vassa, warning, as when she told Feyre about the twin ravens, or shaping the course of events, like when she stabbed the king of Hybern to save Nesta and Cassian and directly helping in winning the war —I believe that she also received a vision about Bryce coming to Prythian and maybe other visions about the dusk court.

_Amren to Rhys :

Do not forget that Nesta herself—and Elain, with whatever powers she has—is here. Feyre is here.All three sisters blessed by fate and gifted with powers to match your own.

Yet, antis believe her story will be about leaving the NC and becoming an emissary. Nah, her power won't be wasted like that, and she won't leave her sisters; they are literally blessed and reunited by Fate.

_Amren :

you are immune to the influence and power of the Trove. You might use them, yes, but they cannot be used upon you.” A glance to Elain. “Either of you.”

And since the people of the Dusk Court were imprisoned using the harp as it had been hinted :

“ I think someone very wicked used this last.” She stared into the darkness above. “I think they used it to … to trap their enemies and their enemies’ children into the stone itself.” Was that what had been happening to her just now? The Harp had been pushing her into the rock, fusing her soul with it?

The only one who can deal with the power of a made object without being hurt, the only one capable of rescuing the people of the Dusk Court now, is Elain, the cauldron-made seer. Elain, who it had gifted with such powers, found her so lovely it had wanted to give her something.

_Nesta took death, what could the cauldron have given Elain?.... Perhaps rebirth

And then we'll have the three sisters representing the circle of life: Feyre for life, Nesta for death, and Elain for rebirth.

#elainarcheron #elriel #pro elain #elain archeron #sarahjmaas #acotar thoughts #elriel supremacy #sjm #art #pro elriel

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litnerdwrites · 9 days

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Justice for Nesta recs (AO3)

Most, if not all, of these recs are in the Justice for Nesta/ ACOSF rewrite/fix-it vein. It will be updates as I find more fics, but feel free to send any recs you have.

TRIGGER WARNING! Many of these fics will be very dark, with references to suicide, ptsd, misogyny, and IC BS. However, I'll be sure to add specifics where applicable.

Fics For Those Craving Nesta JusticeI put all the fics I found into one collection on AO3 that, as the title suggests, are for those craving Nesta Justice. Please read the relevant tags for each fic, as many of them contain reference to PTSD, SA (both past referenced and in story), and general IC BS.

I'll also list every fic in this collection bellow, just to keep them all in one place. Feel free to also add your own finds or works if you have any. The collection is open, but moderated.

Those the Stars Cannot Hear by @kataraavatara An ACOSF rewrite where Mor makes good on her threat to leave Nesta in the CON.

Baby, now we got bad blood by Pumpkinspice_Lou They say you should never come between a male and his mate. Rhysand should've known better. Aka Cassian finally choosing Nesta. Completed two-shot.

A Court of Vice and Victors by Wishcamper Acosf rewritten by a therapist. Need I say more? Incomplete.

You Made Her Like That By BookWorm77071 A few days into their Hike from Hell, Nesta is able to form one coherent thought: I don't want to do this anymore. So she stops. Three chapter short story. Completed.

Nesta becomes a baby by Theladyofbloodshed Exactly what the title says. Oneshot.

A Court of Tangled Flames by Theladyofbloodshed A Neris fic where Nesta gets the love story she deserves.

ACOTAR snippet collection by Theladyofbloodshed A collection of Acotar what ifs.

Nesta vs. The Buffer by Theladyofbloodshed After Nesta finally snaps at another 'family' dinner, calling Cassian and Mor out on their shit, she begins to heal and fall in love on her own terms. With a certain shadowsinger. Completed. Nezriel fic. Anti IC but they kind of redeem themselves at the end. Completed.

AU Where We Pretend Acosf Didn't Happen by Theladyofbloodshed An alternative take to ACOSF, starting from post ACOFS. Nesta ends up leaving Velaris, starting herself on a journey of self discovery and healing. TW Beron Vansera, implied/referenced SA, IC being assholes.

Nightmare Dressed Like A Daydream by This_Immortal_Hope Nesta was a wolf. So, much like a wolf, she bided her time, accepting her exile with ice in her and determination in her heart. When she was ready, she tore their Court of Dreams apart with their own hypocrisy. One shot. No ship. Rhysand is thoroughly put in his place. Oneshot.

Second Chances by miryamdev Cassian apologises to Nesta after the HOFAS bonus chapter.

A trick of the light by closet_monster There was nothing condemning about madness or paralyzing fear. Nesta was familiar with both — they seemed to be a recurring theme in both womanhood and life in Hewn. Oneshot. TW Depression, self harm, and implied abuse. Please double check the tags before reading.

Burn for Eternity by rosemai Nesta is defeated and broken down by the words of her sisters and the IC, so she takes matters into her own hands and meets a group on individuals who could give her the help she needs. Incomplete.

Nesta's Truth by grovellingboyfriends After another year of leaving Nesta alone, Cassian finds Nesta in her apartment on Solstice, standing over a dead man. TW for implied SA, parental abuse, Elain is a bitch. 3/5 chapters published as of making this post.

Daylight by Flowerflamestar Nesta Archeron, banished and betrayed, ran from cold and hatred straight into the light of Day and found a place where she could belong. Completed.

Might I Suggest You Don't Fuck With My Sis by MacabreGiggles The intervention rethought, where the Archeron sisters decide to stand up for one another and put the IC in their place. Incomplete.

I died. I will die. It's alright. I don't mind. By MacabreGiggles Nesta resorts to other means to cope, like drugs. Incomplete. TW. Abuse. Alcolism. Suicide. Sexual assault. Drug abuse.

The Veil of Silence by Hrizantemy There exists a veil of silence, it shrouds our voices masking our truths, muffling our cries, our voices are muted, and dreams whispered. Incomplete.

You're a crisis of my faith by porque_nolosdos Nesta and Elain leave the NC, and upon seeing the IC's reaction, Feyre decides to ditch them too. Incomplete.

A thousand cuts by adelindschade It finally clicks for Cassian just how badly Nesta was hurting (it only took three TW suicide TW attempts), so he decides to try thinking of what Nesta would want. This decision leaves a ripple effect that will change the NC as we know it. Incomplete.

The consequences of normality by TheTeaQueen After the events of ACOSF, things seem relatively normal. Until Cassian realises that Nesta doesn't ask for things, or that self hatred still grips her, or the facade she puts on for her family. When she starts cutting back on training and work in the library, he begins to worry. Maybe things aren't as perfect as he thought. Maybe their methods in helping her weren't as effective as he thought. Incomplete.

Three little words by TheTeaQueen Cassian finally says those three little words that Nesta needed to hear. Oneshot.

Like fire, she raged by TheTeaQueen Emerie stands up for Nesta and puts Rhys and Feyre in their place. Completed.

Of Death and Resurrection by TheTeaQueen Part 1 of In the name of healing and happiness. Nesta was ready to die. So to save Feyre and Nyx, she did. Can Rhysand, the only person who can save her, bring her back from the brink? Completed. TW Implied suicide, rape/sa, anti Elain.

Of Shadows and Light by TheTeaQueen Part 2 of In the name of healing and happiness. Technically more of a Gwynriel fic, but does have some Nessian since it follows the aftermath of Of death and Resurrection, only Azriel, Gwyn & Elain are the main focus. Ties up a lose thread or two from part 1, and is 100% Anti Elain. Completed. TW Implied child abuse, implied suicide, torture.

Of Reopened Wounds and Retribution by TheTeaQueen Part 3 of In the name of healing and happiness. A trip to the human lands to discuss the treaty leads Nesta to face Thomas Mandray again. This time, she has family willing to go to hell and back for her. Incomplete. TW Implied rape/sa, panic attack.

Lady Death and Her Kingdom by TheTeaQueen Amren pushes Nesta too far, causing her to awaken a strange new power. TW Implied child abuse. Incomplete.

The Hike, Alternatively by TheTeaQueen An alternative take on The Hike from Hell, where Nesta attempt to TW commit suicide TW, and Cassian realises just how messed up their methods, and the events leading up to the hike are. Written for Suicide prevention month. Completed. TW Self harm, suicide, The Hike.

To Pay a Debt by TheTeaQueen When Nesta sees that Feyre didn't include her in any of the paintings, she does the only thing she can think of; Run. Incomplete. TW, attempted suicide, suicidal thoughts, mentioned sa.

Burning from the Inside out by TheTeaQueen An au where Nesta's secretly lived with Chronic pain her whole life, only for the cauldron and her new powers to exacerbate it. Complete. TW Implied/referenced child abuse, suicidal thoughts, ableism, internalised ableism.

The Whole Truth by TheTeaQueen An alternative take where Nesta's deepest secret comes to light when Elain explodes at the dinner table one night. This forces the IC and her sisters to reevaluate their perception of her. Incomplete. TW: Child abuse, suicidal thoughts/ideation, forced prostitution, sexual assault (underage!!)

Set my Soul Alight by moodymelanist Nesta finds solace in Autumn. No Nessian. Completed. TW Implied/referenced child abuse, implied/referenced rape, implied/referenced torture.

Falling by becauseofreading Another take on what happens after Cassian tells Nesta that everybody hates her. Incomplete. TW Self harm, suicidal thoughts, blood and injuries.

Destruction and Renewal by Vorbi Nesta is given the opportunity to form new alliances. Initially, she scoffs at the idea, but after a small, final act of disrespect from the IC, she decides to see where this new path leads us. Incomplete. TW Implied/referenced abuse.

No One Likes A Mad Woman by Separatist_Apologist You made her like that. Nesta has had her choices tripped away, so when Eris offers her an out, she takes it. No happy ending for Cassian. The Night Court gets no sympathy. Completed. TW Domestic violence

A Cup of Tea by shaziskhalid After realising that the Cassian of her dreams isn't the Cassian she's mated to, everything changed. (MCU! Wanda, modern Au). Incomplete.

Promise by Daughterofthesea Begins during that scene where Cassian follows Nesta, and ends with him understanding just how much pain she's in, and deciding to actually help her.

Stay here (I love you, but I need another year) by littleplease Nesta is tired, and losing the will to even try. Complete. TW Apathy, depression, vuage suicidal thoughts.

What you did to me (I'll spend my life trying to rise) by filthymouthedslut Nesta is done with the IC's holier-than-thou attitude. No ship. Incomplete (3/4) as of updating this post.

Everybody hates you by Booksandsushi A different take on the time Cassian tells Nesta that Everybody hates her. Incomplete.

Change is good by Booksandsushi Nesta figures her life out on her own. Complete.

Truth of the Heart By TheFreakPanda The months after ACOFAS leave Nesta presented with some new opportunities. Full of therapy and dancing. Completed.

I've Always Liked to Play with Fire by catalyste After her village is destroyed and family killed by Hybern following Feyre's revenge mission, you wake up healed in the NC. After Lucien leaves you there, you find yourself trapped with Nesta Archeron, who turns out to be an unlikely ally. The two of you plan your escape with the help of Eris Vansera. Polly, Neris/reader, with IC bashing, and dragons. Incomplete.

The relapse by Janes_Melodies Something broke in Nesta when she learned about the results of the vote, knowing it was a tie until Feyre. She was trying for her sisters and for Cassian, yet they still think she's cruel enough to create a whole new trove just to kill them all. For the first time in months, she gave into her desires. Incomplete. TW Alcoholism, Implied/referenced self harm, suicidal thoughts.

You're safe now by annieleonhardtsring Rewrite of the scene where Nesta falls down the stairs, and Azriel stands up for her. Complete.

Love her how she should be loved by julemmaes Cassian overhears his family making some not-so-subtle comments about Nesta, and it pushes him over the edge. So he goes to bat for her, blaming his friends for everything wrong with their relationship with his girlfriend. Modern AU completed.

The Nest World - The Next Life by bat_called_phil ACOSF canon divergence fic that starts with the intervention, but diverts when Nesta takes a stand for herself, and Feyre starts holding Rhys accountable. TW Implied/referenced suicide, Implied/referenced abortion.

A Court of Spite and Isolation by xxTAO Nesta choses the human lands, separated from the IC and the distractions from her trauma, she spirals. Incomplete (4/6) TW Suicidal thoughts, Implied/referenced alcoholism, Suicide attempt.

Come Home by Rhysanoodle Cassian learns how Nesta's been living since she came to Illyria, and which fears haunt her the most. Complete.

#pro nesta #anti inner circle #anti ic #anti acosf #nesta deserves better #pro nesta archeron #anti rhysand #nesta acotar #anti elain #the archeron sisters deserve better #anti rhys #anti amren #anti cassian #anti feyre #anti mor #anti morrigan #fic rec

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deathsweetblossoms · 6 months

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Elain Archeron’s Character Growth

I'd never once seen [Nesta and Elain's] hands sticky with blood and fur. (...) It wasn’t that Elain was cruel…Elain sometimes just didn’t grasp things. It wasn’t meanness that kept her from offering to help; it simply never occurred to her that she might be capable of getting her hands dirty. I’ve never been able to decide whether she actually didn’t understand that we were poor or if she just refused to accept it.

—ACOTAR

Getting Her Hands Dirty:

"“Don't forget that gardening often results in something pretty, but it involves getting one's hands dirty along the way." “And torn up by thorns," I mused, recalling a morning this past summer when Elain had come into the house, her right palm bleeding from several gashes thanks to a stubborn rosebush that had pierced her gloves. The thorns had broken off in her skin, leaving sharp splinters that I’d had to pull free."

—ACOSF Bonus Chapter

“Enchanted gloves,” she read from the card. “That won’t tear or become too sweaty while gardening.” She set aside the box without looking at it for longer than a moment. And I wondered if she preferred to have torn and sweaty hands, if the dirt and cuts were proof of her labor. Her joy.

—ACOFAS

"Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him, and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the king's neck as she snarled in his ear, "Don't you touch my sister".

—ACOWAR (thank you @tealeaves-and-rosepetals for this one)

Elain "Grasping Things":

“It’s their tradition, though,” Elain countered, her face still flushed with the cold. “One that they fought and died to protect in the war. Perhaps that’s the better way to think of it, rather than feeling guilty. To remember that this day means something to them. All of them, regardless of who has more, who has less, and in celebrating the traditions, even through the presents, we honor those who fought for its very existence, for the peace this city now has.” For a moment, I just stared at my sister, the wisdom she’d spoken.

—ACOFAS

Elain saw every single thing Nesta had done, and understood why.

—ACOSF

Elain Offering to Help:

A lady—that’s what Elain would become. What she was risking for this. (...) “I’ll do it,” Elain said, taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders.

—ACOMAF

Cassian shifted in his seat. “So we track down the Dread Trove—how?” Elain spoke from the doorway, having appeared so silently that they all twisted toward her, “Using me.”

—ACOSF

But she hadn’t hesitated to come. When Feyre had offered to let her remain home, Elain had squared her shoulders and declared that she was a part of this court—and would do whatever was needed.

—ACOSF

Elain Accepting The Hand She is Dealt:

Elain, who would not eat, or speak, or do anything at all. Elain, who had somehow become the adjusted one.

—ACOSF

Elain, mourn as she might for the life she would have had with Graysen, had found a place, a role here. Tending to the gardens of Feyre’s veritable palace on the river, helping other residents of Velaris restore their own destroyed gardens—she had purpose, and joy, and friends: those two half-wraiths who worked in Rhysand’s household.

—ACOSF

Silver lined Elain’s eyes, but her voice remained steady, sure. “There was nothing that could have been done to save him, Nesta.” The words were kindling. Elain had accepted his death as inevitable.

--ACOSF

“It’s already ended badly. Now it’s just a matter of deciding how we meet the consequences.”

—ACOWAR Anyways she's perfect. She is everything. She is the moment.

#pro elain archeron #this is for the elain lovers for seeing our girl when nobody else can #inara rereads ac*tar #elain archeron #elain: so full of light #Elain reference for myself #reference: Elain

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sarawritestories · 3 months

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Unwavering Presence Chapter 5

Cassian X Archeron Sister

Summary: Y/N falls into a routine and finds her place in the Night Court. Even gets to have a one on one moment with the renowned Spymaster. But her anxiety spikes when Rhys and Mor Bring Feyre back urgently from the Spring Court

Content Warning; Nothing comes to mind

Word Count: 3.1

Masterlist Chapter 4

The next few days I was able to fall into a routine. Mornings were dedicated to training with Cassian, where I could feel my body getting stronger little by little. The more I trained, I found that the nightmares were kept at bay. Lunches were spent with Rhys. He was casually asking me questions about Feyre. Her favorite color, if she had any favorite meals before we lost our fortune, any embarrassing stories I could share. Along with that he would lay out the King of Hybern’s plan and how he wanted to take the Human lands back. He gave me more information than Tamlin and Lucien were willing to share. Then Mor would take me to the closest café before we explored the town and all the shops.

After a long day of working out Mor made sure to take me clothes shopping to make sure I had a sufficient wardrobe even though we had gone shopping the day before. My hands were full of the bags from today’s excursion as walked toward the dimly lit sitting room of the town house. Azriel was lounging on the sofa staring at the fire in quiet contemplation, a glass of whiskey in his hand. “Hey, Az.” I dropped the bags and his head moved toward the thudding sound. He tilted his head, his mouth pressed in a tight line as his gaze met mine, a silent question in the air. “Mor made me buy every item that I glanced at for longer than 5 seconds.” He huffed out a breathy laugh, but I noticed how his shadows perked at the sound of the blonde female’s name.

Azriel lips quirked, and he reached over to the end table of the sofa and grabbed an empty glass and filled it with the Amber liquid and held it out for me patting the spot next to him. I dragged my feet over to him and grabbed the drink in thanks for taking a seat on the other end of the sofa, my back resting on the arm rest where I’m facing the spymaster. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with the Spymaster, he had been out doing some missions and I only got to see him in passing. “Thanks!” he nodded and clinked his glass with my own. I took a sip and let the burn of the amber liquid warm my throat. I watched as the shadows swirled around his shoulders and his wings; they were magnificent. “Have you always had your shadows.

Azriel took a sip of his drink, “For as long as I can remember.” He looked at me mischief in his eyes as a breath of cold kissed the back of neck and both of my wrists. Looking down at the sudden temperature change I found his shadows swirled around my arms like the night mist kissing my skin and tickling the back of my neck causing me to giggle. I lifted my free hand and watched as the shadows slid around my arm and through my fingers the scent of citrus and the night breeze wafted through my nose.

I was entranced by their movements and the sensation of them along my skin, “They’re so beautiful.”

I could feel the sofa move and I didn’t need to look to see he was shifting, not used to the compliment I paid his shadows. Though he whispered through his glass, “Thanks,” throwing back the rest of the liquid. He didn’t even flinch from the burn of the alcohol as I tore my eyes from the shadows that were now settling into my hands. Azriel stared back into the fire, his hand idly twisting his glass around his knee. The firelight accentuated the white scars covering his hands. Cassian left out how Azriel got those scars when he talked about how he and Az met, and I would never pry, but he looked glum. There was a haunted look gracing his features and it unsettled something deep in me.

I set my own glass down the whiskey long forgotten and scooted closer to Az. I was about to reach out and looped my arm around his and I caught how he tensed at my reached-out arm, and I retracted my arm the shadows pulling it in protest. As if they wanted me to reach my hand out. “I’m so sorry, Azriel,” I scooted back from him. The shadows left my arms and returned to their master. “I should have asked if it was ok to touch you.” I sighed and looked up at the ceiling guilt building in my gut. “I tend to want to link arms or hold hands or hug anyone who may be feeling sad. I’ve never been good with words but when I sense someone’s sad,” I looked at Azriel, “Or brooding.” Az snorted, but I pressed forward, “Feyre was never one to talk about her feelings including hard messy feelings, but I always knew when she needed me to hold her hand or be nearby. Apparently knowing I was there good enough for her.” Az nodded his head as in understanding.

I scooted once more to create more distance and clasp my hands together and looked at the fire letting the silence blanket us. My thoughts went back to Feyre and how lonely and afraid she might have been feeling. The anxiousness she might be feeling thinking that I’m dead. She was already falling apart while I was there, Tamlin happy to let her wither away. I closed my eyes and tried to level my breathing. The new month was approaching, and I would be able to see her. Would she be angry that I wasn’t dead or think that I ran away and abandoned her. What if she thou-

I blinked once, twice, and was able to acknowledge that a scarred hand over my clasped ones. The softness of them going against the raised skin covering them along with the warmth they provided. The warmth contrasted with the cool kisses his shadows skittering over my cheeks I finally met the Hazel eyes of Azriel that were so much like Cassian’s but different he had more flecks of green. “Your heartrate spiked; you were thinking so hard It was as I could see every thought that appeared in your head.”

Slinking one hand out of his grasp keeping one hand in his deciding the intertwining my fingers with his. There is a silent moment before he weaved his fingers through mine.” I smiled looking back at our entwined hands. “You remind me of Cassian you know.” My head snapped back to the Shadowsinger and he smiled, “When Rhys and Cass found me, and then tormented me like the pricks they are. Whenever I was stressed or scared, Cass would always put a hand on me should or bump shoulders with me. Especially In those first few months when I was free from my imprisonment. He always wanted me to know that he was there and that he had my back.” He gave me another small smile, “Because he knew that I didn’t talk especially big messy feelings.” I smiled as he threw my words back at me.

I leaned my head on his shoulder, “He’s a good male.” I whispered.

He pressed his cheek against the top of my head, “You’re a good woman, Y/N.” I felt the shadows swirl around our entwined hands, “You’re a good sister.”

I closed my eyes for a breath moment and let his scent calm me. “I wish that were the truth, Az.” I lifted my heads and gave him a small smile, “What kind of sister lets her twin get her neck snapped?” I yawned and was met with his concerned look, and I waved him off. “So, Mor’s pretty huh?”

Az groaned and leaned his head on the back of the couch, “Have you always been a busy body like this?”

I smiled at him, “For as long as I can remember, Shadowsinger.” I threw his words back at him. “Don’t worry. I won’t press you on it. She is gorgeous but that’s coming from a plain human girl. Everyone here is extremely pretty.” He rolled his eyes but gave her a smile. “I’m heading to bed, the last thing I want is for Cassian to make me run for being late.”

“Or have water splashed on you in bed. He’s notorious for that.” I snorted to myself, “I’ll be joining you guys tomorrow. Not that you mind the alone time with our general.” Heat crept in my face, “I just want to get some training in before I’m heading out again.”

“You’ll be a nice addition.” I bite my lip, “Do you like your position, Az?”

Azriel furrowed his brow, “I do. Why do you ask?”

I shrugged, “It just seems like being Spymaster can be lonely. I know you have known the Inner Circle for centuries, but if you ever want to talk, I’m around.” I blow him a kiss, “Good Night, Spymaster.”

“Good Night, Y/N.”

***

The next morning, I stepped out in the blazing sun to see the two Illyrian’s shirtless and sparring. Sweat coated both of their brows. Two predators were circling around ready to strike and I could not help but stare in awe. Azriel’s eyes flicked to me and back to Cassian whose back was to me his wings tucked back tightly, hair up in a bun. Azriel shifted his features into one of worry and Cassian spun in my direction and he immediately recognized his mistake. Azriel took the opportunity to strike fist hitting the middle of his back, Cassian barely flinched in pain.

He turned back to the Shadowsinger and went in straight for an attack. Punch. Dodge, sweep of the leg, The way Cassian fought was like the way Nesta would dance on the ballroom floor and there was a pang of sadness that hit my chest at the thought of my sister. I wondered if either of them missed me or Feyre. I honestly doubted it as they never really cared of my presence before so my absence would not make a difference doesn’t mean that I didn’t miss them and wished for Elain to brush my hair or Nesta to read me a story like they did when we were small.

A grunt pulled me from those thoughts to find Cassian putting Azriel in a chokehold, Cassian’s wings flared in triumph. “You gonna tap, Az.”

Az smirked and gave me a playful wink, “Not a chance.” Quickly Az stuck his leg and wrapped it around Cassian’s knee and twisted his body and Cassian found himself on his back and Cassian had just enough time to tuck his wings so that it wouldn’t scrape going down. Az in a snap had his hand to Cassian’s throat keeping his wings tucked.

Cassian’s eyes shifted toward me ever so slightly and an idea bloomed in my head. I gave him a wink and made a show of stumbling causing. Azriel didn’t take his eyes off his prey, and I let the world tilt on its access and collapse on the floor the sun blazing on my cheeks and behind my eye lids. I could hear feet shifting and shuffling. A scarred hand grazed my cheek, “Shit, Y/N” Panic laced in his voice, and I opened one of my eyes to see Azriel flaring his wings to block the sun from my face.

Azriel gazed back at me in a daze and Cassian placed him back in a headlock. Azriel eyes shone shock. “Do you yield, Shadowsinger?” I teased a playful smirk gracing my lips.

Azriel reluctantly tapped Cassian’s arms and the General released his friend. “You’re an evil little thing, Archeron.” Azriel rose and walked over to the water station. I remained lying down and enjoyed the sun on my face.

Shadows blocked my sunlight and then Leather and Sandal wood wafted over me. “What a clever little stunt you pulled, Princess.” I opened my eyes to see Cassian, basically touching his nose to mine. His eyes gleamed brightly and there was a sense of pride in his face, a smile wide across his handsome tan face. “Clever wicked, Woman.” He whispered, nudging his nose with mine and I smiled placing my hands on his chest and lightly pushing so I could sit up. He got to his feet and held out a hand,

I placed my hand in his and he hoisted me up and I stood up with such speed I ran into his chest. He wrapped an arm around my waist, to stabilize me, “You, okay?” He asked concern worn on his features.

I nodded and the General released me from his grasp. “I have to say I was hoping you would get what I was trying to do.” He chuckled as he put his shirt back on.

“Oh, he got it alright, He will always find a reason to cheat. Since we were children.” Azriel grumbled. Handing some water to his brother.

Before Cassian could argue Mor ran through the door with urgency, her eyes scouring until her brown eyes locked on mine, “Y/N we have a problem. Tamlin locked Feyre in a manor, she freaked out. Rhys could feel her pain, her fae power erupted. I brought her to Rhys.”

A hand slid around my waist, as the words sank in. “Is she okay?”

Mor’s lips formed in a tight line, “She’s unconscious but we got her out of the manor.”

My hand slid over the one on my waist to ground me. “Where is she?”

“Rhys took her to the House of Wind.”

“Cassian.” I whispered.

Cassian had me in his arms in an instant, “Hang on.” He instructed me and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he shot to the sky. My grip on him tightened and I closed my eyes as the speed we were going made my eyes water.

Time moved slowly even though Cassian was flying at rapid speeds. Feyre was alone when she was abandoned by Tamlin, and I wasn’t there. I am no better than Tamlin leaving her on her own. “Stop.” Cassian gritted. I opened my eyes, “Its not your fault.” He said as he landed on the balcony of one of the rooms. He placed me down and I was about to run find Rhys when his hand gripped my arm, “Princess, listen to me.” I paused, “This. Is. Not. Your fault. Tamlin did this, not you. You don’t need to shoulder this burden.”

I bit my lip and gave him a curt nod; the General released my arm and I darted to go find Rhys. I ran through the hall and followed the pull that I always have for my sister. I slammed open the door and Rhys stood his eyes rimmed red. “Y/N.” His voice was drowned out by my sister’s unconscious body. Her breath rising and falling.

Y/N, she’s fine. She had a major panic attack. She’s just sleeping it off.

I sat at the foot of the bed and gripped my sister’s ankle and rubbed my thumb. Her chest rising and falling in even Rhythm.

“Y/N did you eat?” Rhys asked, his voice hoarse.

“Rhysand.” I whispered and his hand gripped my shoulder and gives it a comforting squeeze, “Shut up. I just want to be with my sister.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No. Stay.”

Rhys moved a chair next to the one he was sitting on, a purple lounge chair a chair that could accommodate wings. “That chair is yours when you want to move. I’ll go bring you some food.” I nodded as he walked out and shut the door behind him.

Once the door closed, did I let the tears fall as I squeezed her ankle, “Feyre, I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry.”

I sighed and moved to the chair and sat there while I watched her chest rise and fall afraid if I look away she’s going to stop.

***

I was sitting on the large chair Rhys left for me, my knees tucked to my chest watching the rise and fall of Feyre's chest. I hadn't kept track of the hours and meals missed, just the even breathing of my slumbering sister. I could feel Rhys behind me he had not been able to sit down, and they came back from the Spring Court. I lifted my arm out of my palm open. Rhys slid his hand into mine. "She'll be okay, Rhys."

"I know," His voice was hoarse. I felt his lips abnormally dry on the top of my hand, "Get some sleep. She's not going to wake up anytime soon."

"I'm fine." I leaned my head on the back of the chair.

There was a prolonged silence, Rhys's thumb swiping the top of my hand when there was a knock on the door, and door creaked open and a familiar deep voice filled the room, "Y/N, can I steal you?"

I didn't look at Cassian focused on Feyre's pale gaunt face guilt overriding my system, "No, I won't leave her." The door shut, and Rhys released my hand. Boot thudded on the tile, and I could feel the General's gold flecked eyes on me.

"Princess, you need to sleep."

A tan hand tucked a strand of hair behind me, "I can't leave her. Not when this is my fault." My voice was hollow to my own ears as I reached out and stroked my sisters, overheated cheek and leaning back.

A sigh rang in the room, and strong arms lifted me from the chair, and before I could protest, Cassian was sitting where I was adjusting his wings in a comfortable position and placing me on his lap. “What are you doing?”

His toned, muscled hands tucked me close, and he maneuvered his wings to provide warmth “I know when I’m not going to win a battle. So, I’m compromising.”

The comforting smell of Leather and Sandalwood flooded my nose, and calm and exhaustion ran through my bones. I stilled and whispered, “Why?”

Cassian pressed his forehead to mine and whispered, “You take care of all your loved ones. Someone needs to take care of you. Someone to remind you this is not your fault, and you shouldn't punish yourself because of what happened. Rhys is here. You are not the only one who wants and can take care of your sister." He pulled away, and I finally met his gaze. He patted his shoulder, indicating where I should lay my head, and I obeyed the silent command. "Good, now close your eyes, Princess." I did and let the sounds of the fire pull me under, and I swore I felt gentle lips upon my forehead.

***

Cassian POV

The steady heartbeat of Y/N's chest almost lulls me to sleep when Rhys softly speaks, "I'm going to need you to go to Windhaven."

I softly swore working hard not to wake up the sleeping woman in my arms, "Are you kidding me?"

Rhys looked exhausted and rubbed his face, "We are going to need the Illyrians you'll need to spend some time there to make them more willing to join the cause." I formed a tight line on my lips. "It's bad Cass."

I adjust my arm so that I could cradle Y/N's head as she adjusts and sighs contently. "What about Y/N and Feyre?"

Rhys looked at the woman in my arms, "Y/N will be training with Az he's coming home tomorrow. Feyre, will need time and I'll take care of her. Though Y/N is going to fight me on it."

I chuckled, "Probably. She loves fiercely and she's so protective of the people she loves."

Rhys gives a waned smile, "Just like someone else I know."

"Prick."

"You love me." Rhys leaned against his chair. "Rest Cass, you'll need your strength"

"You too, Rhys." and I took in the sweet Jasmine scent of Y/N and placed my head against the head rest and fell asleep, with Y/N tucked tightly in my arms.

Chapter 6

#cassian x reader #cassian fanfic #cassian acotar #cassian x you #acotar #acotar fanfiction #rhysand x reader #azriel x reader #archeron sister #cassian imagine #cassian acosf #unwaveringpresence

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honeybeefae · 2 years

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Desperate Times (Azriel x Archeron!Reader)

Summary// While tending to Elain's garden you come across a mysterious flower with an even more mysterious pollen. As the effects of it start to hit you, you have to fend for yourself to get the edge off...or do you?

K!inktober Prompt: SEX POLLEN // Creampie // Sexting

(HERE IT IS!! 5,423 words and we have arrived. This story is obviously 18+ and contains LOADS OF SMUT!! So minors, DNI! However, I basically wrote a mini story so it also contains some major fluff and minor angst! I hope everyone enjoys it, thank you so much for reading!)

WARNINGS: SMUT, SMUT, SMUT! Dubcon (the sex pollen kind but they talk it out), pinv, eating out, bjs, no safe sex here, wing touching, mutual pining, minors DNI!

Tag List: @marimorena06 , @mystic-scripture

(If you'd like to join my tag list for future works, feel free to comment or message!)

Elain had given you a simple task while she was away with Lucien. Tend the garden. It wasn’t hard to do and if you were being honest, you loved watering the flowers and trimming the plants. That was one of the few things you had in common with your older sister.

Being the youngest Archeron sister had its many, many downfalls. You were only seventeen when Feyre had been taken by Tamlin, fulfilling her destiny while you desperately searched for yours. During that time you tried your best to look for her, learning what little Nesta and Elain were able to teach so that you could find a way for your family.

However, it wouldn’t have ever been enough to stop Hybern’s soldiers from finding your family and dragging you to the Cauldron as a sacrifice. That day will forever live in your mind, the looks on everyone’s face as the three of you were thrown into the brutally cold water.

You survived despite the odds, as did your sisters. It was a cruel twist of fate when Nesta and Elain got gifts bestowed on them while you were left the short end of the stick. As always.

It didn’t hurt you too much though, you were used to being in the shadows. They kept you company when it got to be too much and you were grateful for it, for them. You didn’t need nor want to be seen as Feyre, Nesta, and Elain were.

But there were a pair of eyes on you that you could never shake off. Rhysand’s notorious Shadowsinger.

Azriel.

Ever since you had been pulled from the Cauldron he had watched you. At first, it unnerved you, this Illyrian spy hovering over you while his shadows whispered into his ear, but now it just feels like you’ve pissed him off in some way.

A small part of you had wondered if you were mates, especially since when Nesta and Elain were Made, the bond for their mates snapped in place. The bigger part of you knew though that if you were mates he would’ve revealed it by now.

Unless he didn’t want you.

Something sharp started to hurt in the middle of your chest at the thought. You were already lonely enough, not wanting to bother your sisters with your troubles as it seemed everyone was finally happy. Except for you.

“You’ve been washing that dish for five minutes now.” A low voice stated behind you, making you drop it back into the sink. You knew who it was before you even turned around.

“Lost in thought I guess.” You replied, shrugging half-heartedly while turning to face Azriel. He was dressed in his typical Illyrian leathers, wings tucked in and arms crossed.

Those hazel eyes were holding some kind of emotion that made you shrink back and as you did, the shadows around him seemed to flinch as well.

“Why are you-” Azriel began.

“I’m gonna-” You started.

A blush crept up your cheeks from embarrassment. You licked your lips, not noticing how his eyes followed the movement, before leaning to grab the watering can. “I’m going to go tend to the garden. If you need anything, I’ll be out here.”

You pushed through the back door before Azriel could reply, taking a deep breath when the fresh air hit your nose. The sun felt warm against your skin and it helped ease your worries about what was surely watching you from the kitchen window.

After filling the watering can you make your way to the gate, pushing it open with a creak and letting it shut behind you. This garden was Elain’s pride and joy and for good reason.

Flowers and plants of all shapes and sizes were in bloom, trimmed, and cared for to perfection. She spent most of her time here and has been in a mood since she realized she’d have to start all over again at her and Lucien’s new house. You were still stuck at the townhouse so you had promised her to take care of it as best as you could.

It was actually doing pretty well. You were very proud that you hadn’t killed a single one. Elain still technically lived here but she was letting you handle the reigns at the moment.

The wind lightly blew your hair back as you got to the last section of the garden, shadows dancing in the sun. As you bent down to get the ones in the back you noticed a new flower that hadn’t been there before.

It was a beautiful shade of pink and white, the colors swirling like marble. There was also golden dust on the edges of its petals that seemed to twinkle in the sun. You were almost positive that it wasn’t a weed but at the same time you had never seen this type of plant, even back in the mortal lands.

A sweet smell hit your nose and before you could blink you had reached out to pet the petals. As you touched them, the golden pollen stuck to your fingers. It caused a strange buzz to fill your head and body which had you almost falling onto your ass.

You felt extremely lightheaded and placed a hand across your forehead to take your temperature. That was a mistake though because the pollen traveled with you and fell across your face and nose, making your skin sweat and burn much faster.

“What the hell was on that flower?” You questioned slowly, heart thumping in your chest. The light and sounds around you were almost too much for your senses and something clicked in the back of your foggy mind.

Have I been poisoned?

It would make sense. A strange flower shows up, the pollen is making you dizzy and hot, it could’ve been anyone that put it there. Were you the target? Or was it Elain?

A sharp cramp twisted your lower stomach and you dropped the can, spilling the water across the stones. “No, no, no…” You gasped, looking around frantically. No one was here or else they would’ve heard you, would’ve noticed your pain. You were pretty sure Azriel had gone on some errand as well, leaving you completely alone.

You needed to get inside and find something to cure you. The clock was ticking yet you didn’t even know when it would be up. The Mother seemed to hate you.

The feeling was mutual.

Your skin was practically on fire, sweat soaking your face and clothes. The second you made it to the back door was when a new symptom hit you, drawing a new reaction out of you.

Azriel’s scent was still lingering in the kitchen and when the smell of cedar and mist hit your nose a huge gush of arousal went immediately to your sex. It had you clenching your thighs together from the force of it, drool collecting in your mouth.

Using all the strength you could muster you practically crawled to your room on the bottom floor, slamming the door shut with more force than necessary. You stood on wobbly legs and immediately stripped yourself down to get at least a little relief.

All of your thoughts started to turn to mush as you swayed side to side, falling back onto your large bed. Images of Azriel started to flicker behind your closed eyelids and you moaned again.

His bare chest while he trained, the shadows curling around his arms, the way his wings stretched after a long flight. Each picture made you wetter and wetter until you couldn’t take it anymore.

Whatever was in the flower had turned you into a mindless whore, sex was the only thing on your mind at the moment. You had never felt so tightly wound in your life. Hell, your only sexual experience was with a local boy when you were sixteen.

Realization hit you like a ton of bricks, momentarily stopping your inappropriate thoughts. It wasn’t a poisonous flower at all…it was a fertility flower. You had read about them in books from the continent where it explained that pollen was used in wedding gifts and mating rituals.

The next thing you realized was that there wasn’t a cure for this. You would have to ride this out for however long it stayed in your body. If you remembered correctly, the fastest way to fix this was to have your mate help.

Unfortunately for you, you didn’t have one. This was something you needed to fix by yourself.

So, with shaky fingers, you ran two fingers down your pussy, your juices easily lathering them completely. It seemed so dirty to be doing this to yourself, in the middle of the day when anyone could walk in.

When Azriel could walk in.

You groaned at the thought and plunged those two fingers into your waiting hole, hips rising off the bed at the euphoria. A small trickle of guilt went down your spine about imagining him when he clearly didn’t care for you, but, when an image of him between your thighs flashed across your head, it went out the window.

“Fuck me.” You gasped out as you raised up to your knees, riding your hand while your other one went to paw at your breast. “Please, Az, please…” You whimpered, trying to keep your voice down.

Hair was sticking to your face and neck and you could’ve sworn that a puddle was forming underneath you but you were too busy chasing your orgasm. It was growing inside you like a storm, your walls clenching around your fingers as you cried out again.

It was too much and not enough. You felt as if you were being swallowed by giant waves, pleasure turning to pain when you couldn’t reach that peak. Tears started to gather in your eyes from how much your stomach was cramping and how flushed you felt.

Soft cries tumbled from your lips a few moments later as you still rode your hand, begging the Mother above to help you take this pain away.

And gods did she have a funny sense of humor.

Three sharp knocks echoed in your room, your head shooting up as you scrambled to cover yourself. “Y/N? Are you okay?” Azriel asked through the door, his tone short.

Mother save me, please tell me he didn’t hear me.

It took a minute for you to collect yourself enough to answer, two fingers still stuffed inside of you. “Y-yes Azriel. I’m okay, go back to whatever you were doing.”

He stayed at the door, shuffling his feet before clearing his throat. “Are you sure? I felt a tug on…” He trailed off. It seemed like he had heard you, his voice low.

“Leave. Please.” You begged though your voice held no edge of authority. A sick part of you wanted him to bust down the door, see you, and claim you. You regretted the line of thought as another cramp hit you. “I’m fine. Just go.”

Azriel didn’t listen. Your scent was suffocating him and he had to know what was happening. The doorknob turned before you could stop it and he stepped inside, eyes widening at the sight of you. You were probably the last person he wanted to see like this and it was made so much worse by your tear-stained cheeks and disheveled hair.

“Gods, Y/N, I can see you dripping from here.” He growled, eyes hooded and voice dripping with desire. “What happened?”

You didn’t have time to register his tone because the scent of him wafted over you again. And again. And again. It felt like your heart was going to give out at any second if you didn’t get him closer.

“Stupid flower, pollen, I just need-” You ground out right before you felt your eyelashes flutter, the overwhelming feeling you were about to faint creeping in.

He was quick to get to you, reaching out and grabbing both of your arms to sit you upright. His hands almost seared into your skin and you moaned, reaching up to cup his face and pull him towards you.

Azriel was so caught off guard that he couldn’t stop your lips from joining, one of your hands grasping his hair to tug him closer. He tasted like shadows and secrets, lips plush and soft as you held onto him for dear life. You couldn’t think clearly anymore as the aphrodisiac had now fully absorbed into your skin. The kiss had your head spinning and cunt throbbing ten times harder than before, causing you to groan into his mouth.

“I want you, Azriel. I need you.” You panted, looking into his eyes for the first time in months. He could feel your chest heaving against his, see the wild look in your eyes. “Please help me.”

He took a very deep breath and shook his head slowly. “I can’t Y/N. You aren’t yourself and I don’t know what you did but-”

You cut him off by palming his growing erection in his pants, almost drooling from how long and thick it felt. The other hand left his hair and grabbed his left hand to put it over your bare breast, biting on your lower lip at the sensation.

Azriel’s self-control was on a razor-thin line. You were too drugged out of your mind to notice but his jaw was tight and his eyes were memorizing every curve of your body. This was everything he ever wanted, you squirming and begging underneath him, but not like this.

Not when you wouldn’t remember it.

The mating bond had formed between the two of you the second you were Made. A strong, primal feeling settled into his blood when you were dragged out and thrown to the floor. You hadn’t noticed, not that you would have any idea what it was, and Azriel thought it was better that way.

He had seen how well Elain had taken it when Lucien stupidly blurted it out that day, or even Nesta. Azriel wasn’t going to subject you to that unless you expressed interest in him as well, no matter how many times he dreamt of your touch or kiss.

His mind was made up but you weren’t about to be so easily swayed. Just as Azriel went to pull away you used all of your strength and flipped your positions so that he was the one sitting on the bed. You swiftly straddled his thigh and began to grind down, throwing your head back in pleasure as your clit rubbed against the thick muscles in his leg.

“Oooh, Az.” You keened while wrapping your hands around his neck. His pupils were blown wide with lust, so much so that you could barely see the hazel in them. The two of you were quickly approaching the point of no return but he just needed one more push.

A devious thought popped into your lustful mind.

When you ground down again you let the pads of your fingers graze against the top of his wings. It was a featherlight touch but the moment you did, Azriel let out a growl that could’ve shook the house. Two scarred hands gripped your wrists and yanked you off of him before he shoved you onto the bed.

You watched in awe as his wings spread out while pinning you beneath him. It brought you back into the moment for just a minute, enough to savor his hand coming down to circle around your neck.

“You’re playing a very, very dangerous game. I don’t want to hurt you.”

But the mere thought of stopping made tears spring to your eyes, raising your hips in a desperate attempt to show him where you needed him. Azriel briefly glanced down at your throbbing cunt and took a shuddering breath.

“I don’t want you to hurt me.” You whispered, licking your lips while gazing up at him through your lashes. His hand was still wrapped around your throat, holding you there. “I want you to ruin me.”

And just like that…you opened Pandora’s Box.

Azriel snarled and claimed your lips in a passionate kiss, immediately thrusting his tongue into your mouth and dominating every space in your mind. His shadows curled around your arms and legs so that you couldn’t move at all. You struggled against the bonds for a second but when he bit down on your pulse point you went right back to him.

“Ah!” You cried out, staring at his face that held a sinful grin. Another wave of wetness hit you and fuck, he could smell it.

“Look at me, princess.” He purred, licking a line up from your neck to the shell of your ear. Azriel bit down on it before chuckling. “I want to taste you.”

A frustrated cry slipped out of your mouth when he trailed a single digit down your pussy, collecting the juices and bringing them to his lips. He groaned at the taste and couldn’t even bear to tease you anymore, needing to devour you at that moment.

He nipped and sucked his way down your body, his shadows still keeping you spread wide and still for his pleasure. His tongue lazily sucked in each of your nipples, rolling the bud around before releasing it with a loud pop.

You were shaking in anticipation and when Azriel finally got to your core, looking up at you with those dark eyes and sadistic grin, something clicked in you. It was like a thread connecting the two of you and everything got much more intense.

Before you could say anything he went straight to business, giving your clit a harsh suck that made you try to clamp your thighs around his head. You were still restrained though and all you could do was grab fistfuls of your sheets and cry out his name, your previous thoughts scattering to the wind.

His tongue felt heavenly but when he started to moan at your enthusiasm it sent an entirely new wave of pleasure through your body. He flicked it over your clit rapidly before going down to thrust the hot, wet muscle into your cunt.

Azriel knew you were dangerously close to the edge already and wanted you to fill his mouth with your sweet nectar. He doubled his efforts and let his shadows dissipate so that he could snake an arm under your hips to lift them off of the bed.

The second you were free your fingers locked onto his black locks while your thighs went around his ears. This new angle made the pleasure increase and you could feel yourself falling over the edge, the only safety net being him.

“Azriel…I can’t. I need it-I need-” You were a blubbering mess. He took pity on you and thrust a single finger into you, curling it to hit that spot deep inside.

“Take it. It’s yours, Y/N.” Azriel urged, closing his eyes as the first gush hit his tongue.

A gasp was the only warning you gave before you came on his face. Your body went rigid before completely melting into the mattress, riding his face as best as you could from the angle he had you in. Azriel kept licking and sucking until you gently pushed his head away, memorizing his face that was now coated in your wetness.

You could feel the edge of the pollen fading away, your body not feeling quite as hot and sweaty. The ache to be filled was still there, however, and it was quite obvious from the bulge in Azriel’s pants that he would do the job perfectly.

“That was…wow.” You said breathlessly, looking up at him. He was glad you sounded more like yourself but the guilt was now crawling up his back. Azriel could hardly even look at you. And you noticed.

The gravity of the situation hit you like a ton of bricks. You were fully naked, with the hottest Illyrian soldier between your legs, after having just begged him to fuck you without even having dinner first. He didn’t even like you, couldn’t see you without shooting a glare or turning away.

A small sniffle had him turning to look at you. You sneakily tried to wipe at your face and grabbed a pillow from behind you to try to cover up your body. “Azriel…I am so, so sorry.” Your voice was low and your head bowed.

“I watered Elain’s garden and found this flower. I thought I was being poisoned but it was a fertility flower used on the continent.” You explained before he could yell or curse you. That would break you entirely. “It’s used in mating ceremonies and such. I thought I was by myself and I was in so much pain…”

He cupped your face with one hand, brushing away a stray tear. “Why did you say my name?”

Blood filled your cheeks at his question, your face and neck turning red. He wasn’t giving anything away that would tell you what he was thinking. You tried to look down but he held you steady. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I must have been just out of my mind.” A lie was the best thing you could think to do to try and save face. Azriel didn’t need to know about your feelings for him. “Are you mad?”

There was a minute of silence between you, his eyes unnerving you as they searched desperately for something. You could tell he was still very much aroused and tried to ignore the cramping that was ramping up once again in your lower abdomen.

“You’re lying.”

It wasn’t a question or accusation, it was just a statement. He knew you were lying and you would rather suffer for the rest of your immortal life than tell him why you called out for him.

“I don’t know what you’re-” You began but he cut you off, nostrils flaring. It was like he knew some secret that you didn’t but he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, tell you.

“Tell me the truth, Y/N.” He ordered you but you closed your eyes, trying to find some peace in the darkness. You couldn’t do this, couldn’t face him.

Until you saw something in that darkness, something that kept fading in and out. You felt yourself reaching out for it and when you got closer, it was a shimmering silver thread. It was beautiful and pure and…familiar.

Without hesitation you wrapped a hand around it and plucked it, gasping at the sensation. It felt like your entire body had been pulled with it but that’s not what made you open your eyes.

It was Azriel’s matching breath that made you stare at him in amazement.

Hazel eyes stared into yours with the exact same emotion while his lips were parted just as yours were. A matching pair. Two sides of the same coin. It felt as if the entire world had been condensed to just the two of you, breathing in each other.

“What is this?” You murmured.

“Our bond.” Azriel hesitated as you furrowed your eyebrows. “You finally felt it.”

“Are you…are you my mate, Azriel?” The thread connecting you got impossibly brighter in your head when you said the word. You didn’t need him to answer the question though, already knowing it to be true.

You were Made for him…and he for you.

Azriel watched with bated breath as you worked through everything in your mind and when you finally, finally, looked at him as he always dreamed you would he didn’t hesitate.

He brought your face to his and kissed you wordlessly, savoring the feeling of your mind through the bond that he had waited five hundred and forty years for. You matched his enthusiasm with passion of your own, biting down on his lower lip while pulling him closer.

The groan he let out made a new fire ignite in your bones, giggling when he grabbed the pillow and tossed it into the corner of the room. Azriel moved from your lips to your ear, biting down gently.

“Say it again.” He all but pleaded while moving back to look at you again.

There wasn’t anyone in the world that could stop you from giving him what he wanted. “My mate.” You smiled, pulling him back in for another kiss. “You’re my mate, Az.”

You started to fiddle with the strings of his pants and he all but leaped up to pull them off, watching you with hungry eyes. The aphrodisiac was certainly still in your system but it was nothing compared to what the revelation of your bond was doing to you.

It was like a primal urge was drawing the two of you to consummate the mating bond as soon as possible. Azriel removed his clothing and when you studied him you swore your pussy throbbed in anticipation.

He was massive and before you could stop yourself, you crawled across the bed to where he stood. You sat on your knees and gazed up at your mate. “May I?”

Azriel answered by grabbing your hair and tugging you to him, chest rising and falling in quick breaths. You wasted no time in taking him in your mouth. He tasted divine and his musk made you feel drunk. He grunted when you took him in as far as you could, coating his cock in saliva.

“Good girl, fuck.” He praised you, trying to restrain the urge to fuck your mouth when you looked up at him.

The praise made a fresh ripple of arousal coat your thighs which had you shifting on your legs. You badly needed him inside you but the urge to get him to cum in your mouth was greater. One of your hands went to the base of his dick to stroke what your mouth couldn’t and he moaned your name.

Your other hand drifted down to your weeping cunt and started to rub circles on your clit. The moan you let out reverberated around him and he suddenly pulled you completely off, lips curled up in a snarl.

“I’m trying hard to be gentle with you, princess. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.” Azriel warned.

The warning went in one ear and out the other, your head swimming with lust. He was being too nice and you needed to be grounded, to be reminded that what was happening was real and you actually had a mate.

So you pushed his hands away and swallowed him whole until he hit the back of your throat, your eyes rolling back as you tried to breathe through your nose. Azriel sucked in a sharp breath and smirked, using both of his hands to grab your hair once more. “You asked for it.”

He didn’t give you time to pull up, starting a brutal pace of fucking your mouth. Both of your hands flew to his thighs to hold onto as you let him use you. The sounds coming from your mouth were sinful but it didn’t matter. You were enjoying the way his face contorted in pleasure and fuck anyone else who had a problem with it.

Azriel’s fingers started to twitch in your hair when you tried to help him, sucking as much as you could while gagging. He had never seen you more beautiful than now, on your knees with tear-stained cheeks choking on his cock.

A ray of light being corrupted by the shadows.

The image was too much and you greedily drank down his cum when his hips stuttered, roaring out as he held you there until he was done. When he let you go you drew back with a gasp, cum leaking out of your mouth while you caught your breath. It was only a few moments before your mate laid you back and claimed your mouth once more, tasting himself on your tongue.

That inferno that had been building in your body was on the verge of exploding and Azriel could tell by how much you were squirming. He didn’t want to wait anymore and without questioning, lined himself up with your entrance.

You raised up on your elbows to watch him enter you, biting on the inside of your cheek at the first stretch. It felt exquisite. He pulled out slightly before pushing back in again, watching you consume his dick.

“Azriel…you feel so good.” You sighed, falling back onto the bed when he bottomed out. He had stretched you out to the max but it was as if your body craved more of him as it would never be enough. “Please, move.”

“As my mate wishes.” Azriel purred before pulling out and slamming back in in one fluid motion. The thrust sent fireworks of pleasure throughout your body and you cried out for him, back arching.

The pace he set was brutal, the two of you chasing a joint release. He bent down and took one of your breasts into his mouth, sucking the hard nub and nibbling on it until you left scratch marks down his arms.

You opened your eyes to watch him fuck you, seeing the concentration and pleasure in his eyes when you clenched down. The end was coming all too soon but also not soon enough.

His wings were covering the two of you, casting a warm light that made you feel fuzzy inside. You knew how sensitive Illyrian wings were, especially when you had made the mistake of touching Azriel’s when you had first met, but that was the goal you were going for,

Your finger gingerly reached up as he rutted into you and stroked down the sensitive membrane, your eyes taking in his reaction. He let out a full body tremble and looked down at you in untamed desire.

“Do it again.”

So you did. Over and over you caressed his wings, even letting your nails graze across sometimes. Azriel snarled and let his mouth come down to bite your collarbone, enjoying your cries of pleasure. He could tell you were getting close and if you kept touching him like that, he would be too.

Azriel doubled his efforts, rutting into you with mindless passion while you allowed yourself to be swept up by it. Your orgasm started to build and just as you ran three fingers down the edge of his right wing, you felt him hit that spot inside of you.

“Shit, fuck! Az!” You squealed as your hands fell to grip onto something, anything, as you came to the crest of pleasure. “Right there! Please, please!”

He gave you a wolfish grin and angled his hips to hit it one, two, three more times until you came with a loud cry and his name falling from your lips like a prayer. Your cunt squeezed him like a vice, causing him to follow your lead and spill inside of you with a roar of his own.

The bond between the two of you shone brightly as you met your peaks together. Azriel’s cum was hot inside of you and as he kept thrusting, you felt another orgasm ready to follow your first. You didn’t know if you could take it but he knew you could, dipping two of his fingers to your clit to rub quickly.

Your entire body shook in ecstasy when you came again, your mind going foggy. It felt like you were looking down at yourself, at your mate as he stilled inside of you to drink in the moment. You wanted to stay here forever.

His hand pushing back your hair made you come back to reality, your eyes squinting up at him. Azriel’s gaze was tender as you smiled at him. You cupped his face with one of your hands to match him, rubbing his cheek.

“My mate.” You sighed happily.

Azriel chuckled and kissed you softly, pressing his forehead against yours along with his body. The two of you were joined together in every sense of the word and it felt right.

“Yours. Forever.” He replied, breath tickling your face as you kissed once more.

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throneofsmut · 4 months

Text

BOUND IN FLAMES - Part 7

Eris Vanserra × Archeron-Sister- Reader

Description: Feyre and her younger sister go hunting in the forest behind their family's cottage and go through life changing experiences.

A / N: Sorry this took so long, work has been a shit show for the past two weeks and i have a fucking cold that makes me feel like a dying victorian child. Also the wolf in this part ( you’ll know once you get to that part of fic ) is basically like the wolves from twilight. Size wise at least. But still it’s a little bigger than that. He's also heavily inspired by Tairn from fourth wing. Him and reader's bond is similar to the bond Violet and Tairn have.

My tear stained cheek was pressed against my bent knee as I sat before the Yew Tree where the Summer Court Faerie was now buried. Fingers pulling and ripping the plush green spring grass beneath me.

Warm tears continued to wet my skin as I sat there and quietly said the prayer usually said when an Illyrian passed.

Voice cracking as I recited it, grateful that no one was around to hear the grief that was thick in my throat for a faerie I didn’t even know.

“Once soaring through skies with grace and might.

Now grounded and wounded in a fateful plight.

Though grounded they stand their soul takes flight.

Denying a flightless fate welcoming death's sweet embrace.

May the wings that once soared high carry their spirit to eternal skies.

So let us remember the fallen ones who will now become a star and be one with the night.

May they fly in the beautiful skies of immortal land of milk and honey.

Feel the wind beneath their wings.

The warm breeze a loving caress against skin.

As they lose themselves in the songs of the wind once again.”

Looking up at the stars, you searched the skies, as if you’d be able to see a whisper of the Summer Court faerie flying above you. Free from pain and suffering. Free from Amarantha. Letting out a deep sigh when you didn’t and stared at the grave at the base of the Yew Tree. You sniffled and then let out a shuddering breath, “I am so sorry I was late. Maybe—maybe if I had gone Under the Mountain as soon as I got into Prythian, Amarantha would’ve been too focused on me to take your wings.” Pulling out a small dagger from your pocket, cutting across your palm, letting your blood flow onto the earth. “Before I kill her or before she kills me… I’ll kill whoever she ordered to butcher you—your wings.” You swore.

Too drained to care to wrap your hand, you just sat there letting the darkness of the night comfort you. As it always did. But then you heard it: almost like a whisper, as if cloth were dragging over root and stone.

Nostrils flaring as you scented the air, without a doubt knowing who it was. The tall, thin veiled figure in dark tattered robes, came to sit next to me.

Then slowly, it turned to me, the dark veil draped over its bald head blowing in a phantom breeze. “Hello, Darkling.” Click, click went its fingers against each other, one for each word.

“Hello, old friend.”

The Suriel sniffed the air, once. Twice. “You’re bleeding.” Its fingers clicking again. You didn’t look at them, not even as its robes rustled as if it was looking for something. Then you heard the sound of cloth tearing. A moment later it’s too long fingers gently gripped my hand—carefully—to not touch the cut on my palm. Then it wrapped the piece of their torn robe around my hand. Squeezing my fingers before putting my now bandaged hand back in my lap. “She knows you’re in Prythian. She’s hunting you.”

“I know.”

“The faeries she sends into these lands are hunting you, faeries like the naga,” It said, its voice was at once one and many, old and young, beautiful and grotesque. “Her ilk will continue to invade these lands on her orders. To find you.”

I felt the Suriel’s eyes on me as I looked down at my wrapped hand. Then at the Suriel. They had torn the cleanest part of their robe to bandage me. “Thank you,” I gave them a small smile, it was all I could muster at the moment and they nodded their head in understanding.

“You know you’re being hunted, so why are you still out here all alone.” Not a question, but a mere fact.

As if on cue the grass brush a couple yards in front of you rustled, the Suriel and you looked up and you smiled knowing who was there. Without looking away from the blue glowing eyes that were now set on you, “I’m not alone.”

The Suriel only chuckled, “No, you are not.”

Moment of silence passed before you spoke again, “You know if I knew you were coming I would’ve brought you a new cloak,” You glanced at the old tattered cloak they wore.

“Well, I didn’t have time to schedule an appointment, my lady.” They said sarcastically, earning a chuckle from you.

“Fair enough, meet me here tomorrow night and I’ll bring you a new cloak.”

Their dark tattered robes rustled as they stood and placed a hand on my shoulder, “Thank you,” It’s fingers clicking in time with the words it spoke. Then they looked toward the grass brush again where those glowing blue eyes still watched us, “Get her back to the manor. It’s not safe out here.” All the Suriel got back was a low growl in response.

You don’t know how much time passed after the Suriel left, didn’t care, all that mattered were those blue eyes that stared back at you. Slowly you stood up from your spot in the grass and walked towards the grass brush. The same time you stood up, it did too, but it didn’t make a move. It was unnaturally still and silent. Until you spoke his name, “Raihn.” So quiet, it was barely a whisper but you know he heard by the way his ears twitched.

Then it was walking out to meet you, slowly. Menacingly.

“Raihn… It’s me. It’s me, Y/n” I whispered, I didn’t know who could be out here. Listening. Watching. He stalked closer, the night shielding most of him, all I could see were his eyes. Until he was right in front of me. Illuminated by the moonlight I could finally see him. He was bigger than I remembered, then again that was 10 years ago. He had always been huge but now he was massive. His fur was pure white and he had to be at least 10 feet in length and nearly 6 feet tall from paw to shoulders.

“Raihn, it’s me. Please. Please, you have to remember me.” My eyes filled with tears as I pleaded to him. He had to remember me, because I could never forget him.

My mother told me that her mother used to tell her stories about a rare species of wolves that hailed from the north. From deep in the mountains of the Night Court. They only ever bonded with the Lords and Princes of Illyria, if they were loyal, cunning, brave and possessed the raw killing power. The wolves used to fight beside them in battle and the more killing power the Illyrian possessed then the stronger the bond between them was. If the bond was strong enough they could channel power into each other but, if one of them was killed in battle the other would fall too even if they were physically unharmed.

It had been centuries since the last wolf had bonded with an Illyrian. Until me. Since I could remember, Raihn had always been by my side until I had to disappear.

My lips quivered as I spoke, voice cracking, “Raihn,” I slowly stuck my hand out so he could scent me. His snout twitched, once. Then twice. He looked back at me—assessing—then growled, so low, I felt the ground beneath me shake.

The massive wolf’s lips curled back as he bared his teeth inches away from my face. I know he’s confused because he can still scent my true scent beneath the blood spell my mother used on me. Which also changed my physical appearance. If only I could touch him, then I could talk to him and he could talk to me.

I let out a sharp breath, knowing what I had to do. I tried to brace myself for the pain I knew I was about to feel, it would only allow him to see me—the real me if only for a couple seconds. But still he would see me and then he’d remember who I am to him.

“Nochd.”

As soon as I uttered the word which meant reveal in the old language, my entire body felt as if it was being ripped apart yet it put back together. My veins felt as if they were on fire by the coldest flames. Gasping for breath felt like I was drowning in scorching hot water, my lungs expanding and constricting. And my head felt like it was going to explode.

Then nothing.

It was nearly dawn when I felt something nudging my face and hand. I could barely hear the whimpers over the blood roaring through my ears. My entire body felt heavy and sore as I lifted my hand and felt fur: soft and warm.

Raihn.

His head was still nudging my face. So I turned to look at him, really look at him. He has deep scarred scratches on the right side of his face but he wasn’t blinded. And most of his right ear was gone, “You’re as beautiful as the day I last saw you.” He flinched hearing my voice, hoarse from the pain inflicted from the blood spell.

You’re hurt. Stop talking, he orders, his voice deep and gruff.

Letting out a hiss as I sat up. “Yeah, and whose fault is that?”

He growled in response, Do not do that ever again. You almost died.

“Well, it’s your fault you didn’t recognize me. I had to show you it was me.” I tried to reason.

So it's my fault that you smell like you but don't look like you. How was I supposed to know. He argued.

I shrugged, “At least you know now.”

Yes, but you don't know how I felt all these years, not knowing if you would come back or if you were safe!

“I miss you too.” I chuckled.

Get on. He ordered.

I scoffed, “I can walk,” but made no move to stand.

I didn't ask. Now get on.

Raihn moved so he was laying next to me as close as he could without squishing me. All I had to do was hold onto the scruff of his neck and roll over to get on his back. I took in a deep breath and let it out once I was on his back. Cursing as he stood up, the movement jostling my sore body.

Don't be rude, he says, looking over his shoulder at me, before he huffs. You're bleeding. Stop it.”

It’s my turn to huff, “Don’t be rude,” I sit up a bit, wiping the blood coming from my nose. “Let’s just go back to the manor.”

****

The ride back to the Spring Court Manor was quiet but not uncomfortable. The both of us content with just being in each other’s presence.

None of the sentries stationed around the Manor said anything to me about the dry blood now stained underneath my nose. Or the massive wolf who was carrying my limp body inside. They only moved out of the way, letting us both pass.

As Raihn stalked into the alabaster manor and up the stairs to your room the servants let out shocked gasps. Some stood frozen in shock and when they didn’t move he growled, baring his teeth in warning.

I swatted his foreleg lightly, “Hey, be nice.”

They're the ones that need to be nice. It's not polite to stare.” He reasoned as he growled at another servant.

Once we finally got to my room he layed back down so I could get off and I slowly trudged to the en-suite bathroom. Quickly washing up and putting on a fresh night gown to sleep in. I didn’t bother looking in the mirror, I already knew my face was puffy from crying.

Walking back into the bedroom, going straight to the closet to pull out pillows and comforters. I laid them on the floor before the foot of the bed for Raihn to sleep on.

Making my way back to my bed and crawling under the covers, the wolf took that as his cue to lay down too. I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. The last thing I heard was Raihn’s voice, I missed you too.

No nightmares plagued you that night as you got the best sleep you had in over 10 years.

****

You awoke a little before noon to the sound of Raihn’s growl and Lucien’s voice.

“Mother’s tits!” Lucien whisper-yelled, his hands held up like he was trying to show Raihn he meant no harm.

Raihn only lowered his head and growled even louder, baring his teeth at the red haired male. Lucien’s throating bobbing as he remained still. “Relax, fox boy.”

Lucien didn’t look at you as he asked, “Does he bite?”

“Not me.” He didn’t have to look at me to know I was smirking.

“Y/n, please!”

I huffed, “Fine. Raihn stop scaring him.”

The large wolf turn his head slowly to face me, Is he a friend?

“Uh, no, not really.” I answered his question.

Lucien's eyes flickered between Raihn and I, “No, what?”

“He asked if you were a friend.”

“And you said no!”

I shrugged, “You never asked me.”

Raihn stalked closer and Lucien began apologizing, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

Getting up from the bed to stand between, hissing when I moved too fast, Raihn snapped his head at me, Get back in bed, he ordered.

I patted his side, “Stop fussing, I’m fine,” pushing him further back into the room to give Lucien some space. “What are you doing in here anyway, Lucien?”

“Tamlin wants to take Feyre on a ride, to show her something.”

“And,” I arched a brow at him, even though he was still looking at the wolf behind me.

He finally looked at me, his mouth opening and then closing, before opening again, “And… I want to take you.”

“All right.”

“All right?”

“Yeah, just let me change.” I didn’t give him a chance to say anything else as I pushed him out the door and got ready. Raihn huffing behind me.

****

By the time Raihn and I got to the front doors, Tamlin, Lucien and Feyre were already saddled on their horses.

Again no one said anything, Tamlin and Feyre were just gaping in shock and Lucien was just staring as Raihn lowered himself so I could get on his back. Once I was seated he began walking, Lucien’s horse keeping pace beside us.

Then Tamlin came up on our other side, “Is that a wolf?”

“Are we in the Spring Court?”

“Yes.” He answered.

“Then yes, Tamlin. This is a wolf.” Lucien snorted beside me as I patted Raihn’s neck. Tamlin glared at him and he pretended to cough.

“Is he your pet ?” Raihn’s responding growl made the High Lord stiffen.

“No,” I laughed. “No, he’s not. Raihn and I are Ceangailte."

Tamlin’s face paled as he looked at Lucien but Lucien was looking at me. Then he whispered, “You’re bonded to each other.”

“Yes, Lucien, we are.”

Raihn let out a pleased noise and you smiled softly.

“What’d he say?” Lucien asked.

“I am his and he is mine, from now until the darkness claims us.”

****

When we finally arrived at the place Tamlin wanted to show Feyre, it was an hour or two past noon. The light still thick and golden. It was a glen, a beautiful glen.

Lucien had already sat down on the blanket they brought and Tamlin had gone to where Feyre was a couple feet ahead.

“Y/n,” he patted the space on the blanket next him, “sit.”

You looked at him and then back at the trail beyond, “Uh, I think I’m gonna go for a walk… Thank you though.”

“I’ll go with you.” The male was on his feet and next to you before you could say it wasn’t necessary. “Lead the way.”

“Raihn, Stay.” He huffed in annoyance at your order but stayed put.

You and Lucien walked the trail for a bit before veering off in the opposite direction of the pool of starlight. You couldn’t look at it without being homesick for a home you’d never been to. The walk was quiet, the both of you content in just listening to the birds around you singing along with the trees and the sounds of their leaves rustling. But, Lucien broke the silence.

“Are you alright after last night?”

I looked at him, brows furrowed before shaking my head no. “Are you?”

He sighed, “No.”

I know I shouldn’t ask but curiosity killed the cat and I was the cat. “Did she—did Amaratha do that to you?” I asked softly, gesturing to his scarred eye.

He visibly tensed, jaw clenched as he gave me a tight nod.

“I’m sorry.” And I meant it too. Making a silent promise to scar her face just like she’d scarred his.

He stopped walking and I turned to look at him. Lucien searched my face for any insincerity and when he found none he merely thanked me. Then continued to walk.

We walked until we came across a beautiful bluish green colored lake with a dock. Lucien bent down to roll up his pants and take off his boots. “What are you doing?”

“We are going to dip our toes in the water, sweetheart,” his lips settling into a playful smirk.

Lucien sat beside you on doc, his hands splayed behind him as the both of you kicked your feet gently through the water. You were lost in your own thoughts while staring at the rippling water that you didn’t hear him calling to you.

“Y/n!” He whispered.

“What?”

His eyes were wide and the corners of his mouth were upturned as he gestured in front of you, across the narrow lake. Where dozens upon dozens of different animals were staring at you but, standing proud front and center was the Ruler of the Forest.

But you knew the huge white stag with great antlers as the Lord of the North.

He stretched out one of his forelegs and bent the other, before bowing his head. His dark eyes never left mine as I bowed my head to him in return. Then he and the other animals left and it was as if they were never there.

Lucien cleared his throat, getting your attention, “Listen, I don’t know who or what you are but, I know you’re different.” If he saw you tense he didn’t mention it. “You don’t have to tell me. Yet, because you’re different I’m gonna tell you something.” I finally looked at him and nodded for him to continue.

He let out a deep sigh before he began to speak again, “I’ve endured things that make times like last night. . . difficult. Not just the scar and the eye—though last night brought back memories of that, too.” I turned so I could face him better and he met my gaze. “I am the youngest son of the High Lord of the Autumn Court." I straightened. "The youngest of seven brothers. The Autumn Court is. . . cutthroat. Beautiful, but my brothers see each other only as competition, since the strongest of them will inherit the title, not the eldest. It is the same throughout Prythian, at every court.”

Which was the reason my mother used a blood spell on me because I was already showing the physical markers of a High Lord's heir. And I was female so that made it even more rare.

“I never cared about it, never expected to be crowned High Lord, so I spent my youth doing everything a High Lord's son probably shouldn't: wandering the courts, making friends with the sons of other High Lords and being with females who were a far cry from the nobility of the Autumn Court." He paused for a moment, and I could almost feel the sorrow before he said, "I fell in love with a faerie whom my father considered to be grossly inappropriate for someone of his bloodline. I told him I didn't care that she wasn't one of the High Fae, that I was certain the mating bond would snap into place soon and that I was going to marry her and leave his court to my scheming brothers." He paused again. His jaw clenching and unclenching as he tried to will away the tears pooling in his eyes, to no avail. "My father had her put down. Executed, in front of me, as two of my eldest brothers held me and made me watch."

My own eyes had started to fill with tears and Lucien gave me a sad smile when the first one fell down my cheek.

“So… I left. Cursed my father, abandoned my title and the Autumn Court, and walked out. And without my title protecting me, my brothers thought to eliminate one more contender to the High Lord's crown. Three of them came out to kill me; one came back."

"You… killed them?"

"I killed one," He said. "Tamlin killed the other, as they had crossed into his territory, he was High Lord and could do what he wanted with trespassers threatening the peace of his lands." A cold, brutal, honest statement. "He claimed me as his own—named me emissary, since I'd already made many friends across the courts and had always been good at talking to people, while he... can find it difficult. I’ve been here ever since."

"As emissary," I began, "have you ever had dealings with your father? Or your brothers?"

"Yes. My father has never apologized, and my brothers are too frightened of Tamlin to risk harming me. But I have never forgotten what they did to her, or what my brothers tried to do to me."

It didn't quite excuse everything Lucien had said and done to us, but... I understand now. I could understand the walls and barriers he had no doubt constructed around himself. My chest was too tight, to say anything to him. I knew it wouldn’t comfort him, so I did the only thing I could think of and hugged him. A couple seconds went by and I realized he might not hug me back but when I made to pull away, he gripped my tunic so tightly before he began sobbing into me.

I don’t know how long we stayed like that. I wasn’t going to pull away until he did, he needed this. Needed to go through every emotion he’s kept bottled up. And I just rubbed his back and smoothed his long red hair back as he did.

The sun was near setting when Lucien finally pulled away from me and wiped his tear stained cheeks with the sleeve of his tunic. He gave me a sad smile, voice still tight from crying, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” my voice a gentle murmur.

“Gods, I haven’t cried like that in ages.” He said, letting out a chuckle.

“You have too every now and again, it’s good for the soul.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Raihn’s deep, gruff voice sounded in my head, Come back, we're leaving.

All right.

I stood up, putting my boots back on, “Let’s go, Raihn we’re heading back.”

“Alright.” Lucien sniffled before getting to his feet and putting his own boots back on.

****

Feyre seemed tired but surprisingly content from the few hours of swimming and eating and lounging in the glen, she eyed Lucien as we rode back to the manor that afternoon. We were crossing a broad meadow of new spring grass when he caught her glancing at him for the tenth time, and I braced myself as he fell back from Tamlin’s side.

The metal eye narrowed on her while the other remained wary, unimpressed. “Yes?”

That was enough to persuade me not to say anything about his past. I would hate pity, too. And he didn’t know me—not well enough to warrant anything but resentment if I brought it up, even if it weighed on me to know it, to grieve for him.

She waited until Tamlin was far enough ahead that even his High Fae hearing might not pick up on her words but I did. “I never got to thank you for your advice with the Suriel.”

Lucien tensed. “Oh?”

I looked at Tamlin beside me, the horse utterly unbothered by his mighty rider. “If you still want me dead,” she said, “you might have to try a bit harder.”

Lucien loosed a breath. “That’s not what I intended, I wouldn’t shed any tears,” he amended. I knew it was true and she probably did too. “But what happened to you—”

“I was joking,” Feyre chuckled.

“You can’t possibly forgive me that easily for sending you into danger.”

“No. And part of me would like nothing more than to wallop you for your lack of warning about the Suriel. But I understand: I’m a human who killed your friend, who now lives in your house, and you have to deal with me. I understand,” She repeated.

He was quiet for long enough that I thought he wouldn’t reply. Just as I was about to drop back, he spoke. “Tam told me that your first shot was to save the Suriel’s life. Not your own.”

“It seemed like the right thing to do.”

“I know far too many High Fae and lesser faeries who wouldn’t have seen it that way—or bothered.” I heard him reach for something at his side and tossed it to her. She had to fight to stay in the saddle as she fumbled for it—a jeweled hunting knife.

“I heard you scream, and I hesitated. Not long, but I hesitated before I came running. Even though Tam got there in time, I still broke my word in those seconds I waited.” He jerked his chin at the knife. “It’s yours. Don’t bury it in my back, please.”

I turned this time to look at him and he gave me a genuine smile and a nod of his head.

My gaze flickered between the both of them, Feyre now inspecting the knife and him giving me a friendly smile—a silent question. So I smiled back and nodded my head in return, friends then.

****

I gave Raihn a reassuring smile, “I’ll be careful, I promise,” while I finished securing my ash daggers to my body.

I will accompany you.

“No.”

You will be safer with me by your side, he argued.

I sighed, “I’m not saying you’re wrong but, I can’t exactly sneak out with a huge wolf next to me, can I?” His annoyed huff was answer enough as he laid down on the comforters and pillows you had set on the floor for him. Petting the soft fur atop his head, “Sleep, I’ll be back before you know it.”

You know I won’t sleep until you return.

****

You made your way through the quiet empty halls of the manor, down the staircase and to the door leading towards the garden doors. The sentries were changing shifts and you knew Lucien was on patrol tonight so you took the opportunity, running towards the north-eastern part of the woods. The new cloak you promised the Suriel in hand as you made your way to meet them near the yew tree.

Their fingers clicked twice, “You came,” as they spoke .

“When have I not?” I asked, while offering them the cloak. Looking around as the leaves on the surrounding trees and bushes rustled. Ears straining to hear if something—someone was there.

The Suriel grabbed the cloak and cradled it to their chest, “Thank you, princess—“

“—You don’t have to thank me and I’m not a princess. Not anymore.”

They bent down on a knee, “For the kindness you have always shown me,” bowing his head, “you will always be a princess to me.”

Placing a hand on their bony shoulder, “Thank you, old friend.” You heard leaves rustling again, nostrils flaring scenting the air, “Go, someone’s here.”

“Be safe. I do not know when I will see you again but, I have to tell you. You have to know.”

“Know what?” My brows furrowed as I glanced around trying to see if someone was hiding the shadow covered trees.

“Your mate,” Those two words made me snap my gaze back to the Suriel. “Like you, has fire in their blood. You will find each other on Calanmai. You have always been meant to burn together.”

I felt paralyzed, “What,” felt my heart pounding, “Who… I have a mate?” I said those last four words so quietly I didn’t think the Suriel heard me until they spoke again.

They chuckled, “Yes, darkling, you have a mate. The both of you bound in flames. Bound to each other. He is heir to Autumn and you are heir to Spring. Be safe, Princess, you are of age now and will be affected by Fire Night’s magic.” The Suriel bowed again, “Till we meet again, Princess,” and walked into the dark woods.

I don’t know how long I stood there in shock that I had a mate and in fear that Amarantha would find out and kill him.

I stuck to the shadows as always, making my way back to the manor, my mind reeling with possibilities from the information the Suriel gave me before they left. I was practically in a trance when Lucien stopped me, still sitting atop his beautiful mare, “Why are you out here so late?”

“I couldn’t sleep. So I came out for a walk.”

He smirked knowingly, “Want to try that again, Princess?”

“Is there a curfew I don’t know about? Am I not allowed to come and go when I want.” Fuck. He heard the Suriel address me as Princess. He was who I heard and scented. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Did he know his brother is my mate?

Lucien chuckled as he swung a powerful leg over his horse, dismounting the beautiful mare and stalking towards me, leaning down so we were face to face, “Who—what are you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I shrugged, keeping my face an unreadable mask.

He let out a laugh, which sounded more bitter than amused, “So I open up to you, essentially baring my heart and soul to you and you won’t even tell me your real name!”

I didn’t try to cover the hurt that flashed across my face, as he yelled, “I did tell you my name. Y/n is my name, I haven’t lied about that!”

“But you are lying!”

“No! I just… I just haven’t told you everything.”

“Why?” His narrowed eyes—one russet and one metal—searched my face.

Before I could give him an answer, Raihn’s powerful body was in between us, he gave Lucien a warning. A low growl to back off.

Lucien immediately stepped back, with his hands up showing Raihn he was unarmed. My wolf growled once more, his lip curled back in a snarl, Did he harm you?

“No,” I mumbled.

No, what ? Raihn asked tightly.

“No, he didn’t hurt me.”

Tell him if he does, I will take his remaining eye and eviscerate him where he stands.

I furrowed my brows and couldn’t stop the burst of laughter from leaving my lips as I howled in laughter, “That’s a little dramatic but, no. I’m not telling him that.”

Tell him or I will take his remaining eye.

My mouth opened but Lucien’s voice cut me off, “Tell me what?”

I looked at Lucien, then at Raihn, “I’m not telling him.”

Tell. Him. Now. The massive wolf order.

“Fine,” I huffed, rolling my eyes, “Raihn said that if you hurt me he will take your remaining eye and eviscerate you where you stand.” Turning to look at Raihn again, even though he was still focused on Lucien, “Happy?”

Not even close.

Lucien’s face turned a sickly pale, no doubt imagining the painful painting Raihn, painted for him. Without another word he turned and mounted his horse. Before he could set her into a walk I spoke, “I wish I could tell you but I can’t. I just can’t, I’m sorry.”

He only nodded his head once and then left.

****

Weeks passed, the days melting together.

The first couple weeks everyone was afraid of Raihn, especially Alis, since she’d just come into my room and he snapped at her. At least he’d been sorry but since then she was wary of him. Feyre got used to him, Tamlin and Lucien did too. The other servants just tried to avoid him.

Lucien never talked about the night we had argued and Tamlin never said anything about it either. Instead Lucien just pretended it had never happened, which somehow bothered me more.

Feyre and Tamlin had grown closer over time. Well that’s what she told me at least; gentle, soft kisses, and longing touches. He’d even gifted her art supplies and given her a space to paint. The smile she’d given you when she told you was pure happiness and you wanted her stay like that—happy. All she wanted before was time and tools to paint and now she had them so, paint she did. She never wanted anyone to see them but she would let me and ask for my opinion on certain colors. Sometimes she dared to paint the High Lord, who rode at her side when they wandered his grounds on lazy days — the High Lord, whom she was happy to talk to or spend hours in comfortable silence with. While I spent my days with Lucien or the other sentries; patrolling and training.

Just like today, Lucien and I were getting ready to change shifts and were heading back towards the manor. We cleared the little wood, a spread of hills and knolls laid out ahead. In the distance, there were masked faeries atop many of them, building what seemed to be unlit fires. I halted, they were setting up for Fire Night.

He halted beside me, “They’re setting up bonfires—for Calanmai—Fire Night. It’s in two days,” he explained.

Fire Night. My brows furrowed and I shook my head.

“It’s just a spring ceremony. We light bonfires, and the magic that we create helps regenerate the land for the year ahead.”

I clenched and unclenched my hands, “I know what it is.”

He rubbed his neck, “Oh. It’s just the way you said it, I thought you didn’t know what it was.”

“No, I just didn’t know it was in two days.” I shook my head again and gave Raihn the silent command to start walking again. Lucien did the same with his horse.

“You might see more faeries around than usual—faeries from this court, and from other territories, who are free to wander across the borders that night.”

I nodded my head before letting out a sharp breath, “I thought Amarantha had scared most of them away or trapped them Under the Mountain,” I glanced back at the unlit bonfires hoping that they wouldn’t be there. That maybe I was seeing things but they were still there.

“She has—but there will be a number of them. Just... stay away from them all. You’ll be safe in the house, but if you run into one before we light the fires at sundown in two days, ignore them.”

“I'm not staying in the house.”

It was his turn to halt this time, “Yes. You are.”

“No. I’m not.” I didn’t give him the chance to argue before telling Raihn mind to mind to get me into the house. Then to go wait in my room while I hid behind a massive pot in the garden.

I saw the moment Tamlin went rigid—it was quiet with that horrible stillness that usually meant one of Amarantha’s ilk was around. Tamlin bared his teeth at… Feyre. Fuck. “Stay hidden, and no matter what you overhear, don’t come out,” He ordered her.

Then he was gone.

She looked to either side of the gravel path, like some gawking idiot. I hoped she wouldn’t move because if she did she would fuck everything up. She had just ducked behind a hedge when I heard Tamlin and Lucien approaching. I silently swore and froze. Then Tamlin’s snarl rippled through the air on the other side of the hedge she was hiding behind.

“I know what day it is,” Tamlin said—but not to Lucien. To the Attor. Him and his brothers still plagued my dreams.

“Your continued behavior is garnering a lot of interest at court,” the Attor said, deep and sibilant. I shivered, despite the warmth of the day. “She has begun wondering—wondering why you haven’t given up yet. And why four Naga wound up dead not too long ago.”

“Tamlin’s not like the other fools,” Lucien snapped, his shoulders pushed back to raise himself to his full height, more warrior-like than I’d yet seen him.“If she expected bowed heads, then she’s more of an idiot than I thought.”

The Attor hissed, and my blood went cold at the noise. “Speak you so ill of she who holds your fate in her hands? With one word, she could destroy this pathetic estate. She wasn’t pleased when she heard of you dispatching your warriors.” The Attor now seemed turned toward Tamlin. “But, as nothing has come of it, she has chosen to ignore it.”

There was a deep-throated growl from the High Lord, but his words were calm as he said, “Tell her I’m getting sick of cleaning up the trash she dumps on my borders.”

The Attor chuckled, the sound like sand shifting. “She sets them loose as gifts—for me—and reminders of what will happen if she catches you trying to break the terms of—”

“He’s not,” Lucien snarled. “Now, get out. We have enough of your ilk swarming on the borders we don’t need you defiling our home, too. For that matter, stay the hell out of the cave. It’s not some common road for filth like you to travel through as they please.”

Tamlin loosed a growl of agreement.

The Attor laughed again, such a horrible, vicious sound. “Though you have a heart of stone, Tamlin,” it said, and Tamlin went rigid, “you certainly keep a host of fear inside it.” The Attor’s voice sank into a croon. “Don’t worry, High Lord.” It spat the title like a joke. “All will be right as rain soon enough.”

“Burn in Hell,” Lucien replied for Tamlin, and he laughed again before a flap of leathery wings boomed, a foul wind bit my face, and everything went silent.

They breathed deeply after another moment. I closed my eyes, needing a steadying breath as well but Feyre yelped. I stood without hesitating, my ash daggers in hand.

“It’s gone,” Tamlin said, releasing her. It was all I could do not to sag against the hedges.

“What did you hear?” Lucien demanded—from the both of us, coming around the corner and crossing his arms. I shifted my gaze to Tamlin’s face, but found it to be so white with anger—anger at that thing—that I had to look again at Lucien.

“Nothing—I... well, nothing I understood,” Feyre said, and meant it.

I looked back at Tamlin as I said one word, “Everything.”

“If the Attor saw them—” Lucien said, glancing around.

“It didn’t,” Tamlin said.

“Are you certain it—”

“It didn’t,” Tamlin growled over his shoulder, then looked at Feyre and I, his face still pale with fury, lips tight. “I’ll see you both at dinner.”

Understanding a dismissal, and craving the locked door of my bedroom, I trudged back to the house, contemplating telling Feyre who Amarantha was and why she was able to make Tamlin and Lucien so nervous and to command that thing as her messenger. But I couldn’t and I hated myself for it.

****

After a tense dinner during which Tamlin hardly spoke to Lucien, Feyre or me, I walked out onto the balcony that was attached to my room and climbed onto the roof. I slept under the stars that night.

I went outside the following day but didn’t venture into the woods. Raihn and I were merely sprawled underneath an Oak Tree that was near the house’s private garden. Alis brought breakfast and lunch to me knowing I wouldn’t have eaten otherwise. Too lost in the thought of tomorrow being Fire Night, the thought of meeting my mate and what would or could happen.

She had tried asking me what was wrong but I couldn’t tell her. How could I when my mates life was at risk just because he was mated to me. I knew Alis wouldn’t tell anyone if I asked her not too yet, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The instinct to protect my mate at all costs was overriding everything.

****

The day of Fire Night—Calanmai dawned, and I didn’t see Tamlin or Lucien all day. As the afternoon shifted into dusk, I found myself sliding my blue cloak so dark it was nearly black over my shoulders as I headed towards the doors of my balcony, Raihn following close behind, “Stay here. No one can see you.”

He growled.

I sighed, making my way towards him.

Once I was face to face with him, I cradled his head in my hands, pressing my forehead to his, “Please. You have to stay here. They’re not only hunting me and… and if something were to happen to you. I—I wouldn’t survive it. And it wouldn’t be because of the bond. I can’t stand the thought of you being hurt.”

And if you get hurt… He let out a distressed whine at the thought.

“I’ll be careful. I promise.”

I heard him inhale, scenting me as if I wouldn’t be coming back. Without another word I walked out onto the balcony, giving Raihh a smile reserved only for him, then jumped off.

The sound of drums issued.

The drumbeats came from far away—beyond the garden, past the game park, into the forest that lay beyond. They were deep, probing. A single beat, echoed by two responding calls. Summoning.

I stood, staring out over the property as the sky became awash in hues of orange and red. Noting that my senses already felt… different.

In the distance, upon the sloping hills that led into the woods, a few fires flickered, plumes of dark smoke marring the ruby sky—the unlit bonfires I’d spotted two days ago. I needed to find my mate, I reminded myself.

The drums turned faster—louder. Though I’d grown accustomed to the smell of magic after not being around it since I was a child, my nose pricked with the rising tang of metal, stronger than I’d yet sensed it. I took a step forward, behind me, my long shadow seemed to pulse to the beat of the drums.

Even the garden, usually buzzing with the orchestra of its denizens, had quieted to hear the drums. There was a string—a string tied to my gut that pulled me toward those hills, commanding me to go, to hear—to feel the drums...

Smoke and magic hung thick in the air. There were hundreds of High Fae milling about, I could identify which court they came from but some I couldn’t. I hadn’t seen fae look this… well fae ever. I could feel the land and their magic pulsing around. It was beautiful, intoxicating to say the least.

I stuck to the shadows as best I could as I made my way through the crowd, my human features caused by the blood spell my mother put on me, hidden in the shadows of my hood. I prayed that the smoke and countless scents of various High Fae and faeries were enough to cover my human smell, but I checked to ensure that my ash daggers were still at my sides anyway as I moved deeper into the celebration.

Though a cluster of drummers played on one side of the fire, the faeries flocked to a trench between two nearby hills. I followed them, savoring the pulsing beat of the drums as it resonated through the earth and into the soles of my feet. No one looked twice in my direction.

I almost slid down the steep bank as I entered the hollow. At one end, a cave mouth opened into a soft hillside. Its exterior had been adorned with flowers and branches and leaves, and I could make out the beginnings of a pelt-covered floor just past the cave mouth. What lay inside was hidden from view as the chamber veered away from the entrance, but firelight danced upon the walls.

Whatever was occurring inside the cave—or whatever was about to happen—was the focus of the shadowy faeries as they lined either side of a long path leading to it. The path wended between the trenches among the hills, and the High Fae swayed in place, moving to the rhythm of the drumming, whose beats sounded in my stomach.

I watched them sway, then shifted on my feet. The string—the string I had felt tugged once. Twice. I scanned the fire-lit area, trying to peer through the veil of night and smoke. I know he’s here. My mate. But I hadn’t found him… Not yet.

None of the masked faeries paid me any heed. They remained along the path, more and more of them coming each minute. The Great Rite was going to begin soon then.

I made my way back up the hillside and stood along the edge of a bonfire near the trees, watching the faeries. I was about to make my way towards the shadow covered woods, my senses were beginning to feel more fae—more animalistic than fae, when someone grasped my arm and whirled me around.

Lucien.

He snarled in my face, “What are you doing out here?”

I twisted out of his hold, and he huffed, “I told you to stay in the house.”

“And I told you no.”

He sighed deeply, “Y/n, you can’t just do whatever--" he turned to look at what I was staring at and when he didn’t see it, he looked back at me. “—What the fuck are you looking at?”

I grabbed his face, turning his head, “Feyre.” There she was, my sister with a high fae whose black hair gleamed like a raven’s feathers. He had blue eyes that were so deep they were violet. You’d know those eyes anywhere. He was the High Lord of Night.

Rhysand.

Lucien cursed violently, then went to Feyre. I was stuck in my spot looking where Rhysand once stood. He was alive… He was here. I had to find him. I needed to talk to him.

I scanned the crowd frantically trying to find him, the darkness beyond the crowd beckoned me, called to me and I felt eyes watching me. But, everytime I tried to follow it, the string that had been tugging all night pulled me away, farther and farther.

Without realizing it I’d rejoined the crowd and Lucien appeared next to me. The drum beats picked up, making the flames of the bonfires flicker with each pulse. He was standing so close to me I could feel the radiating heat of his body and scent his arousal but, not just his, the other faeries too.

His eyes settled on my lips and tracked the way my tongue swept over them as I licked them. He took a step forward, reaching to cup my face when suddenly a tall high fae male had a dagger pressed against my tanned throat.

“Thank you for finding her for me, brother.” The male with the same red hair as Lucien said, but instead of russet eyes his were amber

Standing before me was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen and the string in my chest seemed to glow and warm in response to his presence.

Brother. His brother. My mate, he found me.

Lucien snarled at him, “Eris, if you hurt her—“ The tip of his dagger pushing into the soft pale skin of his brother’s throat.

“He won’t,” I cut him off. “He won’t hurt me. Will you, Eris?”

His lips were set in a feral grin that would make anyone else run but, you weren’t just anyone. “Never, little flame,” he promised.

For other parts: Bound In Flames Series Masterlist

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 8 part 9 part 10 part 11

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violet-shadows · 2 years

Text

Low on Hope (Part One)

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Masterlist

Summary: The youngest of the Archeron sisters went to great lengths to keep her family afloat before her sister went over the wall. The nature of her sacrifice was a secret she vowed never the share. That is, until Feyre and new brother-in-law’s magical abilities spoil her plan to leave the past in the past. When old memories become fresh wounds again, it’s up to a certain Spymaster to help piece Y/N back together.

Word Count: 3.4k

Pairing: Azriel x Reader (She/Her)

Warnings: violence, prostitution, sexual assault, sexual violence, PTSD, food insecurity

A/N: This one is heavy. I don’t go into extreme graphic detail but if you’re sensitive to mentions of SA, this may not be the one for you. Thank you to the anon who requested this and everyone who had supported my work.

⊱ —————— ❈ —————— ⊰

Your lungs burned as you darted through the village streets, keeping your head ducked low to avoid recognition. You had been doing this off and on for years, only taking the risk when times got truly desperate, and thus far, you had never been caught. Until that night.

You weren’t a talented thief, you just knew how to pick a mark. Pickpocketing, as it turns out, is relatively easy if the man you’re stealing from is a drunkard in a crowded pub. You only took a coin or two from each, and most of the men you stole from never even noticed the lightness in their pockets. By morning, if they noticed at all, they would blame the drink for any missing money and be none the wiser. That’s how you got away with going to the same pub time after time without raising suspicion. No one would be on the lookout for a thief if they didn’t notice there was stealing afoot.

You probably could have continued your operation indefinitely if you hadn’t gotten greedy. Perhaps greed wasn’t quite the right word for it, though. In truth, you weren’t hungry for coin, you were simply hungry. Times had gotten desperate as the winter months dragged on, and while Feyre had taken to the woods to hunt, you had taken to the pubs. It was desperation that ultimately drove you to risk taking a handful of coins from the open purse of a Lord seated at the bar. He felt the change in weight and had your wrist caught in a bone-crushing grip before you even realized you’d been caught. The fact that he had been drinking heavily was the only reason you were able to wrench your hand free and take off into the night, money going flying as you raced out the door. The man and his friends gave chase, but you were able to lose them in the market, ducking into an alcove while they ran past.

As you huddled in the shadows, catching your breath, the reality of what had transpired sank in. Fortunately, you had the foresight to wear a hat and trousers when you went to the pub, hoping to be mistaken for a prepubescent boy instead of a starving teenage girl. While your family would be safe from the repercussions of your actions, you wouldn’t be able to run the same scheme again. Caught in your own turmoil, you hardly noticed the woman observing you from the stoop of a nearby townhouse until she was merely a few paced in front of you.

“You know,” she said quietly, coming to stand with you in the alcove, “there are other ways a pretty girl like you could make money. More lucrative ways.”

That had been the beginning of the end.

⊱ —————— ❈ —————— ⊰

You woke with a start, sweat coating your back as you thrashed against your tangled bed sheets. It took a moment to orient yourself, your mind still trapped in the memory of that night, but after a few shuttering breaths you remembered. You were in Velaris, in a guest room in the House of the Wind. You were Fae now. That life was behind you.

It had been over a month since you and your sisters were torn from your beds in the middle of the night, and you still woke up confused each morning. Some days, your dip in the Cauldron seemed like a distant dream, nearly forgotten as you navigated this new reality. Other days, most days, the inky black water was a constant fixture in the back of your mind. The Cauldron made you Fae, but it also dredged up memories of your human life you had long avoided revisiting. As of late, your dreams were plagued not by the night your life was changed, but by the things you did and the things that were done to you before. So, you spent most of your days focused outward, trying your best to support your sisters while learning as much as possible about this strange new world. You had long since learned that too much time spent in your own head was dangerous.

A knock sounded on your door, rousing you from your contemplation. There was hardly a pause before Mor strode in, a warm, if slightly uncomfortable, smile on her face. “Oh good, you’re up. Come, have breakfast with me. Then, we’re going shopping.”

Of the three sisters, you had been by far the most receptive to your hosts, forming an awkward friendship with Mor, who reminded you in many ways of Feyre and Nesta. While Nesta seethed and Elain withered, you sought distractions. Fortunately for you, the two members of Rhysand’s Inner Circle you saw most were Mor and Cassian, both of whom were more than happy to do most of the talking, filling in the gaps you left in conversations. Azriel was around less, but when he was, you found kinship in his steady quietness. He didn’t seem uncomfortable with your abbreviated responses and lack of conversation, but he didn’t try to fill the silence either. You liked Mor and Cassian, but you liked Azriel’s company best.

After breakfast, Mor was keen on bringing you into the city. You had only left the House of Wind in brief stints, being the only one of the sisters to do so at all. Velaris was beautiful and full of life and wholly unfamiliar. While your trips into town were exhausting, they also served as an excellent distraction, a fact which Mor seemed to have noticed. “I should check on Elain,” you said as she motioned towards the balcony.

“She’s… the same.” Mor offered a sad smile and you nodded, making your way upstairs to lay eyes on her nonetheless. When you reached Elain’s room, you found her sitting with Nesta, who was absently leafing through a book. Like you, both sisters were pale and wilted, deep circles under their eyes evidence of fitful sleep. If it weren’t for the lavish room you occupied, the scene before you could have been plucked straight from your memories, a mirror image of the cold, hapless winters you spent in the cabin, nearing starvation and low on hope. At least then, you had Feyre.

Nesta didn’t say anything as you approached, giving you a quick once over before returning to her book. “Hi Elain,” you crouched down beside her, clutching one cold, limp hand. As usual, she didn’t respond, her eyes transfixed on some distant point. “I’m going into the city. I’ll see about getting you some seeds. You could start a garden here.”

Nesta looked up, something like hope flashing in her grey eyes, but when Elain remained frozen, she tossed the book on the side table with a huff and left. An outsider might think Nesta was angry, but you knew better. Nesta was hurt, and scared, and while Elain might need coddling, your oldest sister required space. After a few minutes, you sighed and stood, giving your sister one last long look before you stepped into the hallway. Part of you wanted to tell Mor you needed to stay with Elain, but another part, a more selfish part, feared you might end up just like your middle sister if you stayed in that stuffy, too quiet room.

You blew out a heavy sigh as you shut the door softly behind you and nearly screamed at the sound of a throat clearing behind you. Azriel’s ability to move around undetected was still a marvel, but you appreciated that he was courteous enough to alert you to his presence. Though, you supposed you wouldn’t know if he wasn’t. “I’ll sit with her, for a little while,” whether it was serendipitous timing, a lucky guess, or simply the look on your face, Azriel had practically read your mind. “Mor really wants to play dress-up.”

He gave you a soft smile, then, and you were struck by just how handsome the Shadowsinger was. All of the Fae you had encountered thus far had been attractive, but Azriel’s beauty was otherworldly, especially when he smiled. “Thank you, Azriel. I appreciate it.”

“She’ll come around,” he said softly as if sensing your lingering worry. As he stepped around you to make his way in time, you caught a whiff of his intoxicating smell. It reminded you of cedar and morning dew, like the forest after a mid-spring rainstorm. You were still getting used to your enhanced senses and you fought the urge to inhale deeply as he passed, deciding that it would almost certainly be a faux pas. As you joined Mor on the balcony, you were suddenly ashamed that your thoughts were consumed not by your ailing sister, but the man— male— who volunteered to sit with her.

Since your first meeting, Azriel had drawn you in as though he possessed his own magnetic field. He was gorgeous, that much was obvious, but there was something else about the Shadowsinger that had you enraptured. Since meeting him, and particularly since the incident with the Cauldron, you often found your thoughts wandering to him of their own volition. After everything that had happened, though, it seemed trivial to be so enchanted by him. You often reminded yourself that Azriel, like Mor and Cassian, was just another one of your hosts looking out for you out of obligation to his brother and Feyre. Soon, your sister would return and you would be stashed somewhere safe with Nesta and Elain to wait out the impending unrest. It was best not to get too attached to any of them.

⊱ —————— ❈ —————— ⊰

Feyre returned a week or so later, appearing at the House of Wind looking very much like she had never left. You ran to her then, throwing your arms around her, swallowing back sobs as the two of you clung to one another. Feyre had always been the sister to which you were closest, and despite how you both had changed drastically, having your sister back was a weight off of your shoulders.

“I missed you so much,” you whispered, hugging her tight. “I was worried.”

“I missed you, too.” When Feyre pulled back, there were tear tracks on her face. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, of course.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, and you weren’t about to burden Feyre with your troubles. She seemed to clock the half-truth, assessing the dark circles under your eyes and hollow cheeks, but she didn’t call you out on it. You weren’t fine, but you hadn’t been since long before you went into the Cauldron. Between the war and your other sisters, you didn’t need to throw your problems into the pot.

“Y/N– I’m sorry.” Feyre’s voice broke and you hugged her again, squeezing her tight.

“Not your fault, Fey.” You whispered. There wasn’t much else you could say without drawing her into a conversation about what happened. Recalling the experience was bad enough, you had outright refused to discuss it with anyone thus far, and you planned to continue. You wiped your eyes as you withdrew again, catching Rhysand’s tight smile when Feyre announced she would seek out Nesta next. Perhaps it was cowardly to hide with Elain while the two reunited, but Nesta’s pain was expressed through wrath and you grew weary of playing mediator. If anyone could handle Nesta without your intervention, it was Feyre.

When you arrived in Elain’s room, you were surprised to find Azriel at her side, speaking to her in gentle, hushed tones. A pang of jealousy ran through you and you were immediately ashamed. Over the past few weeks, the Nightcourt’s Spymaster had taken it upon himself to chaperone Elain when you or Nesta wasn’t at her side, a gesture that you should have appreciated greatly. You were thankful for Azriel’s willingness to sit with your shell of a sibling, but another part of you wished it was you he sought out. It was selfish, you didn’t need company the way Elain did, but you found yourself wishing he would join you when you sat by your own window, observing the city below.

As you peeked through the door, the misplaced envy and associated shame came over you in a wave and you couldn’t bring yourself to step inside the room. You thought you might have heard someone call your name as you hurried down the hall to your own room, but you ignored it, trying and failing to swallow the lump in your throat.

⊱ —————— ❈ —————— ⊰

That night you dreamed of hot, foul breath on your neck and a heavy weight pinning you down. The woman who spoke to you that night in the alcove had turned out to be a madam. She assured you that the work wasn’t nearly as difficult as it sounded, that you would get used to it after a while and it wouldn’t be so bad. At first, you had refused her, but when you came home to find Feyre laid up in bed with a fever and only crumbs remaining for food, you reconsidered. Two nights later, you returned to the house in the village and sought her out. Three nights after that, you had your first customer.

At first it was difficult, the pain between your legs and utter violation of the work weighed heavy on your spirits. But when you brought home food purchased in the market and told your sisters you had found work in a pub kitchen in town, the look of hope on their faces was enough to keep you going back. The work itself did get easier after sometime; with a bit of drink, you were able to take your mind elsewhere as you went through the motions of pleasing your customers. You no longer cried when they left, instead staring blankly at the ceiling until you had enough energy to dress yourself and leave the brothel. At ngiht, though, the shame of it came back, keeping you from sleep. If your sisters noticed a change in you, they didn’t say anything, likely attributing it to your family’s poverty. The money you earned at the brothel was enough to put clothes on your back and some food on the table, but with five mouths to feed and a dwindling population of game for Feyre to hunt, you were still just barely making ends meet.

The fall before Feyre was taken to the Fairy Realms, a new customer came into the brothel. He was an out of towner just passing through with a cold glint in his eyes, and when he paid the madame, you couldn’t help but notice the conspiratorial look they shared as he pointed you out, slipping a bag into her hands as he did so. The money he gave her was in fact a pay off, a fee men like him paid for others to look the other way. The man, whose name you never got or cared to have, had unusual tastes in the bedroom, and it wasn’t until he had you alone that you realized he was a sadist.

After that night, you hadn’t been able to get yourself home. Instead, you lay bleeding in the brothel bedroom, wounds on your back from a cruelly weilded blade and your wrists chaffed and bruised from being bound in rough ropes. When you started working for the madam, she had assured you that you needed only to scream if a customer stepped out of line. That night, though, you had screamed yourself hoarse and received no aid. Money was a powerful silencer.

When you finally limped home the following afternoon, you made up some story about falling down some stairs and staying the night at a coworker’s house to recover. To you relief, you sisters and father believed your tale and didn’t question you as you laid in bed for the next week, aching and fevered. You couldn’t bring yourself to go back after that, the fear of that man halting you everytime you considered. You told your family you’d been let go from the pub, replaced by the owner’s niece who needed work. They bought that as well.

You bottled up your pain, only allowing it to manifest in your sleep, when you trashed and screamed until one of your sisters shook you awake. Nesta had asked, once, what the nightmares were about. When you told her you didn’t want to talk about them, you could swear you saw a knowing glint in her eyes.

The time that elapsed after Feyre was taken had allowed you to push down the memories that haunted you, and by the time Feyre returned with Rhysand, Azriel, and Cassian in tow, the nightmares had become less frequent. Then you were taken, dragged from your bed in the middle of the night by strong hands that cared not for your wellbeing, manhandled in a way that felt dreadfully familiar. One by one, you and your sisters were dipped into the infinite blackness of the Cauldron and the trauma of your past was brought forward again. As you floated in that bone chilling water, you relived the violation those nights at the brothel, and when you emerged, the wounds were once again fresh and agonizing.

Now, the memories came to you in your dreams once again, leaving you panting and heaving when you woke. That night, you dreamt of your final client again. You felt his bruising grip and the sting of the knife against your skin as though it were happening in real time. This time, though, instead of leaving you in a puddle of blood and fluids, the man had torn you from your bed and dragged you, kicking and screaming, to a great vat of black liquid. You screamed as your head was forced underwater, icy water flooding your lungs, and just when you were sure you would drown there, you woke up.

At first, you could hear nothing beyond your heart racing in your ears. You flailed, kicking the sheets off of your legs in a desperate bid to be free of restraint. Gasping, you didn’t notice the increasingly frantic knocking at the door until it was finally wrenched open.

Azriel was shirtless, a paid of linen pants sitting low on his hips and in his hand was a familiar blade, Truth Teller. His dark, silken hair was messy and it was clear he had been sleeping. His eyes, however, were wide awake, piercing through the low light of your room as he assessed you. “You were screaming,” his voice was rough from sleep and it sent a shiver down your spine.

“A dream,” you blurted, your own voice raw. “It was just a dream, I’m sorry.” He nodded and seemed to hesitate, as though contemplating his next move. Then, he stepped forward, gently setting truth teller on the end of your bed before approaching the edge.

“May I?” He gestured to the empty space on your bed and you nodded mutely. “Do you want to talk about it?” You shook your head, not trusting your voice not to shake when you answered him. Slowly, he reached up with one scarred, beautiful hand and stroked your cheeks, wiping away the tears you hadn’t realized you were crying. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, something like hurt flashing in his hazel eyes.

“Not your fault,” you finally answered. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“I’m not,” he replied quickly. “You’re not alone in this. If you ever need someone to listen, I’m here.” You heart clenched and for a moment your resolve waivered, the temptation to throw yourself into his arms and cry out all your fears and worries stronger than ever. But you remembered the way he sat with Elain, the gentle way he spoke to her, and you thought better of it. Azriel was not yours to lean on.

“Thank you, Azriel.” You whispered, drawing a deep, shuttering breath. Sensing the dismissal, Azriel nodded, a solemn look on his face. He retrieved his blade and made his way to the door, turning one last time to look at you.

“I mean it, Y/N. If you need anything at all, I’m here,” he said it with such sincerity that your heart squeezed. You wanted to believe that you could go to him, but Azriel didn’t have what it would take to fix your broken heart. No one did. So instead, you nodded, the heaviness in your heart returning as he left.

⊱ —————— ❈ —————— ⊰

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