Linger in the Shadows

Only Azriel admits himself that staying away from Elain is torture. That if he didn't have to, he never would. He struggles and hates that he can't be with her.

Lucien, on the other hand, says, 'I don't have to see my mate every time I am in Velaris."

That's the difference.

Azriel yarns.

Cerridwen & Nuala

Our favourite half wraith spy twins 🖤 They steal information from empires and bake in their spare time. Who wouldn't love them? A lot of my excitement for the next book is also for more of them. I seriously can't wait.

I drew thiiiisss, so please give credit when reposting. 🖤

art by: frostbite.studios 🤍

She leans in to make sure it’s not a dream.

Even breaths. Calm cadence. Relaxed face lines.

He’s truly asleep.

On instinct, as if he could feel her exhale on his skin, her proximity, Azriel’s eyes flutter open, crinkling to adjust to the stark contrast. That mole by his left eye disappears.

“Az.” Elain breathes, mouth agape, but she doesn’t move away. “I was just checking if you were truly asleep.”

Azriel blinks once. Twice.

Then, his eyes widen just a fraction before he pulls himself up, Elain backing up to give him space.

“Sorry I…” He mumbles, rubbing his neck, “I must’ve dozed off while waiting for you to wake up from that vision, and the floor was really comfy and truly the only place where I—”

A soft laugh bubbles out of her.

“The marble was comfy?”

A faint redness stains his cheeks. “I should go.”

“What?”

“I will meet you in the greenhouse tomorrow morning to discuss that vision.”

Everything happens so fast. Az is on his feet, stumbling towards her open balcony door to fly out while Ellie stands in the middle of her bedroom in a pink nightie, dumbstruck.

“Azriel,” comes out of her mouth.

He stops.

Her feet find feeling and she turns to him. Or his back, which is facing her now.

“If you ever want to sleep…” Her voice is soft. Warm. “My bedroom floor is always yours. I’ll leave the balcony door unlocked from now.”

He says nothing, but only because she’s pushed him into speechlessness.

“You can come anytime. I mean it.”

A swallow betrays his nerves, and all he can do is give her a hesitant nod of acknowledgment, because logic always flies out when it’s with her.

Every night, Elain waits.

But not a shadow arrives for a week.

Maybe she scared him away. Maybe it was too forward of her. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Until one unreal midnight, Az willingly crawls through that entrance, quiet as night, his heart warming while watching a passed out Elain buried in her covers. Then notices a pillow and bedding by her cot.

For him.

As if she had hoped he would come and sleep in her space.

A strange burn glitters his eyes, and quietly, he makes his way there to lie down, his mind settling.

Azriel falls asleep to the sound of her gentle breaths. It doesn’t even take him five minutes.

It becomes an unspoken ritual—her lying on her bed and him on the floor by her side. They don’t touch each other, no, but Az looks forward to these nights with her regardless, because just being around her calms him down. Sometimes, she’s awake. Sometimes, they talk in the soothing darkness.

Fun fact: this was tweeted after ACOFAS came out. The same ACOFAS that SJM and BB market as what bridges the gaps between the first trilogy, and sets things up for the spin-off books.

Let’s recap what happens on this book:

-Azriel stares out the window down into the garden for almost the entire time he’s talking with Rhys and Cassian upstairs

-Azriel doesn’t spy on Lucien bc he doesn’t want to see if he’s visiting Elain

-Azriel grabs the potatoes from Elain, giving her a chance to freshen up dinner, he also makes everyone wait till Elain sits before they start eating

-Azriel blows past Feyre to wish Elain a happy solstice

-Elain gives Azriel a present so funny, yet so meaningful that he tips his head back and laughs and his eyes are brighter than Feyre has ever seen

-Elain and Azriel stay up till the wee hours of the morning talking

-Lucien comes over, making Elain uncomfortable

-Lucien had a light in his eye and a smile while talking about Vassa

-Elain tells Feyre she doesn’t owe Lucien anything

ACOFAS is also the book where SJM, supposedly, said during tour that you would know where Elain’s love life is headed by the end of ACOFAS.

Seems pretty obvious to me

LLM seems to comprehend better than them…or maybe LLM learned from us.

I’m obsessed with parallels so I wanted to make a masterlist post of all the parallels we have found so far and I will be adding other parallels we will find in the future to this post.

A special piece in honor of the ACOTAR 6+7 announcement and cover colors 💜

We truly cannot overstate how excited we are to see how Elain and Azriel’s love story unfolds over the next few books!

Thank you deeply, as always, to @celestarly for bringing this vibrant piece to life for us- you truly never miss 🥹🫶

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

Art by @celestarly

Commissioned by @lovelyfawnxx & @theseersgarden (me)

NO REPOSTS // Likes & shares appreciated

Instagram post

Flower Moon (May 1) - associated with blooming life, the peak of spring

Blue Moon (May 31) - associated with rarity, heightened energy, clarity, and connection to the divine

This is all in good fun, of course, but it seems like such a happy coincidence to have a rare, Blue Moon grace the Flower Moon during elriel month. It also made me think of the rose Paper Archeron carved for Elain, half-hidden in shadows and next to the Mother:

And if you add April’s full moon to this auspicious occasion, the Flower Moon is surrounded by a Pink Moon and a Blue Moon. Like Elain, amid bursting blooms:

Later in the story, when she is compared to spring, she’s wearing a color to honor the queen of shrubs, combining pink and blue:

This elriel short piece was originally inspired by the poem No Meio do Caminho by Carlos Drummond de Andrade, with Elain being a witch and Azriel serving Rhys' tyrant father who is the current high lord of Night Court. In a troublesome stormy night the fates present Elain with a daring secret to keep. Living in hiding in a peaceful village, Elain must decide if the dangers of her task are bareable or too much to handle.

I. Sunshine

II. Brown eyes

III. A Trespasser

IV. The Witch

SJM wasn’t even trying to be subtle about Elain’s power and Elriel, was she?

Life.

And Azriel.