This started as fluff and turned Angst really quickly so be aware.
This started as a writing prompt (of sorts) for when Keir visits Velaris for the first time and kinda mutated to this, so... Enjoy.
@sadbitchlorcanâ @cirieaelâ @captainthefangirlofhpâ @theshadowsinger-and-thefawnâ @stars-fallingâ @illyrian-bookwormâ
They escorted Keir and his entourage through the empty city. Everyone was under strict order to avoid leaving their houses for the day.
City guards were on high alert, patrolling every street.
Rhys lead the excursion personally, Azriel and Cassian flanking the group.
At the end of their tour, Feyre and her sisters awaited them.
Azriel imediately positioning himself between Elain and Keirâs field of vision. Only to recieve a sneering insult from the Stuart.
Elainâs face contorted by anger, she steps around Azriel.
âApologize at once, you brute!â She demands, staring him down.
The young woman freezes, her eyes turning vacant and before Keir can so much as get a good look at her, Azriel steps in front of her, blocking her from sight, as his wings wrap around them, his shadows filling in the holes.
He hugs her close to him, pressing her face to his chest as her vision plays in her mind. Her murmurs muffled by his Illiyrian leathers.
She is trembling when the vision fades away, her arms wrapped around Azriel.
The sound of Azrielâs wet, rasping sobs as he took his last breaths on the forest floor, still ringing in her ears.
Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.
She decided then and there to stop waiting. She could not imagine a world without Azriel by her side.
She was done wasting what precious moments they had left.
âTake me away from here, Azrielâ, she whispered into his chest. âTake me home!â
And he did. He shot into the sky, Elain warm and secure, pressed to his chest, right against his heart.
They arrived at the townhouse moments later.
It had been their place ever since Rhys and Feyre had finished renovations on their estate and moved there.
Azriel set her down on the front steps and made to turn around.
âStay, pleaseâ She asked, wringing her hands nervously.
He smiled and followed her inside.
They talked for a long time before Elain found the courage to confess her feelings for him.
She felt as if an eternity had gone by, before Azriel had gotten up from the sofa and knelt in front of her and looked at her with those expressive eyes.
The smile he offered her had been so breath-taking that she shuddered under his gaze.
She had smiled back at him then, leaning towards him as his eyes dropped to her lips. And kissed him.
They had spent the rest of the night tangled up in each otherâs arms. Laughing. Talking. Giggling. Kissing.
And when the sun, at last, rose over the city of starlight, they finally fell asleep, holding each other tightly, a soft smile placed on both the lips.
The next few months were the happiest they had ever been. Azriel made her come alive in ways she had never thought possible.
And Elain made Azrielâs heart and shoulders feel lighter than they had felt for centuries. He was laughing freely and carelessly and the darkness that had festered in his soul for so long had been cast away entirely by her sweet smile and gentle eyes.
On Winter Solstice, Azriel had planned a picnic in their garden, just for the two of them. He was going to ask her to marry him.
He knew how important her human past and upbringing was to her and he wanted to give her the wedding she deserved. The wedding that was taken from her all those years ago.
Everything was set. The picnic was neatly arranged, the ring he had purchased for her hidden at the bottom of the basket.
The only thing missing for this to be perfect, was his little flower.
Azriel found her mangled body days later. In the same place they had left his friend all those years ago.
Her beautiful, amethyst colored dress torn, bloodied. Her limbs disfigured. Her hands. Those beautiful hands. Those gentle fingers. Broken. Contorted. Maimed.
The world stopped turning. Â His shadows silenced. His vision blurred and his knees buckled. His chest tightened. The forest closed in on him. The scent of blood. Pain. Fear.
It hit him so brutally, he fell to the ground before her.
The roaring in his head stopped the moment he saw her face. Her beautiful, sweet face. Bruised. Her lifeless eyes still holding unshed tears as they stared at nothing.
âElain?â he whispered, voice breaking.
He gently touched her right shoulder then. Shaking it. Trying to wake her. Denying the inevitable.
âElain!â Louder this time.
He placed his other hand on her left shoulder. Shaking harder.
He started crying then. His lip quivered, a sob fighting past it.
âElain!â Begging her. Besieging her.
âI love youâ Another sob.
âPleaseâ he cried out. Hugging her limp body to his chest. Rocking her gently.
 Azriel screamed then. Again and again.
Each cry more guttural than the last. Until the agonizing screams slowly turn into sobs. Then whimpers.
His shoulders slumped. His wings lowered to the floor, not feeling the sticks and rocks beneath them.
Without her, it doesnât matter anyways. Without her, his life doesnât matter.
Finally, silence. As he closes his eyes, and begs the darkness to take him as well.