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Why me series:

Why me? (ao3 link)

Why him?

Why now?

Why you?

Why her?

Why here?

Why try?

Why lie?

Why Choose?

Why Pretend?

Why Fight?

Why Hide?

Why Search?

Why Listen?

The Enemy of My Enemy Series:

The Enemy of my Enemy

The Bond of my Bond

Be Careful What you Wish for series:

Be Careful What you Wish for

High Lords and High Jinks(One shots but can be read as a series):

High Lords and High Jinks

Azriel x rhys sister! reader! ao3 link

angst/eventual comfort (it seems that we are in the midst of chaos now)

Summary: When you walk in on Azriel and Elain the mating bond snaps leading you to flee to Autumn with Eris so you can be free of Azriel. Your absence causes Azriel to come to some drastic realisations, but is it already too late and has your time in Autumn led to you moving on?

Parts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII , and XIII, if you missed them!

-

"So you're telling me that after days of searching, you found the answer to our problems literally sitting on the floor?" The dark circles underneath Rhys' eyes were so pronounced that you could see the edges of the capillaries that outline his eyes.

"Yeah, basically." Azriel shrugged. You guys had been going over the book for hours after its mysterious appearance in the library.

The tattered pages of the worn leather encrusted gold binding housing the first clue you guys had gotten in days.

The book was a record of rare magical artefacts that were taken into inventory after the founding of the Night Court. Somewhere in the middle of the book Elain had let out a yell that had shocked everyone out of their tired stupors.

"That's the blade!" She yelled.

This set off a chain reaction. First, Cassian jumped, knocking over a pot of tea which had spilt onto the table, waking up the High Lord, who was collapsed from exhaustion on the table of his overcrowded office.

This caused Rhys to jump, his wings going out and hitting a zoned-out Azriel in the face.

Under the picture of the blade was a single entry into the record sheet. It just said Prudentia Sub Terra.

"They can't just tell us where the knife is, no, that would be too easy." Cassian started to mumble to himself as he put his head in his hands.

A collective groan followed by a minute of silence passed as everyone mulled over the new information.

"No wonder this court is a mess. You people genuinely must be daft." Eris strode in and immediately went to the pot of tea sitting in the middle of the table, carefully pouring himself a cup.

You gave him a puzzled look, and his eyes slightly softened when they met your curious gaze.

"I mean the words literally mean knowledge underground." He took a long sip of his tea, trying to force patience onto himself.

Mor's frustrated groan resonated with everyone at the table. "We already scoured the library, I think we would have known if there was an enchanted blade sitting somewhere."

Eris looked up to the sky, begging the mother for every ounce of patience he could muster. "Yes, it might not be in that library, but is that the only underground library in your entire court? Do your temples not hold underground chambers of knowledge? We are operating on ancient knowledge, we cannot limit ourselves to the court we know today."

Rhys' brow furrowed, and you cocked your head at the pensive look in his eyes. It would make sense that such an item would be hidden underground, who would know to look in an abandoned library for such an item.

Your voice caught everyone's attention, shocking them out of their half-sleep daze. "We have an extensive record of maps starting from the founding of the Night Court. We can scour all the abandoned sites that fit the description."

You look to your left to see Azriel giving you his sole attention. You dart your eyes away, trying not to flush from his inscrutable gaze.

"Once we know what we're dealing with, we can make a strategy that would optimise on time since we are running on a ticking clock that we can't see."

Your eyes go around the table and you saw agreement in everyone's eyes, each of them giving you a nod as you raked them over.

Cassian clapped his hands together. "Alright, we have a plan, then let's go to bed before the sun decides to grace us with her presence."

Words of agreement laced in exhaustion reverberated around the room as everyone started to make their way to their respective chambers.

Something was different this time. You guys had been looking for days for any clue, but this is the first time you had all felt an ember of hope. No matter how small the belief, you believed that you could stop Azriel from befalling whatever terrible fate the universe had written out for him.

That was what was important. Keeping Azriel alive. Any questions of feelings or mating bonds came second to that sole motivation. All of that would be sorted out eventually, but as long as he was alive everything would be okay.

"For a court with such a comprehensive library, you people are surprisingly bad at doing research."

You could have sworn you heard Eris mumble under his breath behind you, but when you turned around, there was nothing there except for a stray shadow.

You stopped in your tracks, eyes narrowing at the small dark tendril, when your focus was yanked to the pang in your chest. You turned your head in confusion at the shadow, and you felt it again, this time it was a full tug.

You flushed at the implication of the feeling. This meant that the bond was getting stronger. You reached inside and you could almost see the golden thread tying you two together.

You looked back up at the shadow and followed it down the hall. You made your way up the staircase and around the corridors until you realised that you were being led in the directions of your rooms.

The excitement in your chest slowly started deflating as you heard the raised voices echoing throughout the halls.

"So after literal years of messing with her emotional well-being, you're going to put her in physical danger as well?"

You flinched from the pure vitriol that Eris was spitting. His words pointed and tone sharp, the complete opposite of the careful way he spoke to you.

"You are in no position to stand on any moral high ground here, Eris." Azriel's voice was low and threatening; you could almost see his shadows positioning themselves like blades, ready to attack.

"Like hell I am! You may be blind, shadowsinger, but I did not take you to be a fool. Who was it that ensured her safety when your recklessness led her to run away from your court? Who listened to her and gave her everything she needed, regardless of whether or not it fit my agenda?" While Azriel's voice got lower in anger, Eris' only got louder.

You saw the shadow about to slip out from around the corner and announce your presence, but you gave it a harsh glare and it froze in its tracks.

"Do you really expect me to believe that you decided to help out of the goodness of your own heart? Your court is a poison Eris and it slowly kills everyone it touches. It was only a matter of time before it got to her, too."

Eris let out a low chuckle. "Only you, my dear shadowsinger, would throw out such accusations in the face of devotion. At least I can say that I know where my heart stands, my affections have not wavered in the slightest since we met. Can you say the same for yours?"

Azriel growled, and you could hear the movement of his wings as he lunged for Eris. The sound of impact never came, because they were both thrown onto opposite walls.

"What is wrong with you two?" Lucien's unmistakable voice cut through the halls.

"I've seen children with more self-restraint and decorum. Do you really want her to witness this ludicrous squabble, fighting over her like she is the last piece of chicken on the table? Honestly, it's a wonder that either of you have ever talked to a woman before." Lucien facepalmed his head, as he scolded the two fae.

You almost forgot you weren't supposed to be listening, you were about to make your way back down where you came from, when the shadow decided it had grown tired of hiding.

"Seems like it's too late for that." Azriel's voice echoed down the hallway and you flushed as you made your way around the corner.

Eris immediately stood up, returning to his usual perfect posture. He approached you and gave you a small bow.

"Princess, I believe that I have made my intentions clear. I do believe in the sanctity of a mating bond, but I believe more in a woman's right to make their own choices. Nonetheless, I have said what I came here to say for now." He grabbed your hand and brushed his lips over the back, light enough to be polite, but scathing enough to express his intentions.

"When and if you are ready to hear everything that I came here to say, you will know where to find me. Until then, or until your mating bond is accepted, I will be here supporting your court and its idealistic endeavours."

Eris nodded to Lucien, and they began to make their way around the corner.

Eris stopped before he fully rounded the corner. "You may find my reasoning to be selfish, but know that the limits of my devotion have no bounds. If she asked me to lay my life down, I would do it because I wanted to, not because I don't think I am enough."

With Eris' last scathing comment, he left you alone in the corridor with Azriel. You could see his shoulder's slightly sinking in towards himself and his nostrils flaring in anger.

The bond getting stronger also meant that you felt the self-doubt radiating through his chest.

You walked up to him. The wall was dented behind him with an imprint of his body. The wooden beams in the ceiling cracked, and dust scattered across the floor from pieces of pulverised wall.

You looked at his face and saw a blood spilling down the side of his head, small scratches littering his shoulders dripped blood onto the floor.

You reached out towards him, and he took your hand graciously. You led him into your room, as you waved a hand letting your magic clear away the mess and knit the wall back together.

You dragged him through your room to the adjoining en-suite bathroom and sat him down on the large crystalline tub. Neither of you said anything as you grabbed a small cloth and began running water over it in the sink.

You approached Azriel and began to dab away at the blood on his head. Yes you knew he could easily heal, but it seems that he had suffered more than a physical blow and he could use being taken care of.

"You didn't have to do this you know?" He says, almost as low as a whisper.

"And you know that you don't have to take everything so personally? Let's not judge one another for the things we are prone to doing." You gently scolded him as you continued to dab away at the blood crusting on his head.

"Maybe Eris had a point. You deserve better. Not someone who spent the better half of a millennium mistreating you." He refused to meet your gaze.

"Eris did have a point. I should be allowed to make my own choices, and what those choices entail has nothing to do with your wants. Now you may choose to respond given the time, but currently I haven't given you anything to respond to".

You made your way behind him and stopped at the small scratches littering his shoulders and wings.

"I can stop... If you would prefer?" You tried to make your voice sound as steady as possible.

"You may do what you want with me." Now you were refusing to look at him, your face going red at his words.

Your hands began to shake as you slowly brought the cloth around the expanse of his back muscles and shoulders, initially going around the scratches on his wings.

After wiping the blood from his shoulders, you just stared at the expanse of his wings. This was too much.

You took a small step back when he suddenly grabbed your wrist. His hold was gentle, but firm, as he guided your hand to the outer membrane of his wings.

You let out a small breath that you didn't even realise you were holding in. This may have been the most vulnerable Azriel has ever been with you, any wrong movement and he would scamper away like a frightened puppy.

"I've always thought you had the nicest wings." The words slipped out of you before you could stop them and he let in a sharp inhale as you caught the base of his wings with the damp cloth.

"I would have made sure to use them more if you ever told me." He looked back at you with a small smile.

You knew he preferred to move through the world using his shadows; he couldn't fly until he was in his tweens, so flying never felt like a right to him the same way it did to the other Illyrians.

"Is it too late to ask now?" There was a lot buried in that statement. Looking in the golden hues of his eyes, you knew that he knew it.

"Not for you. Never for you." He stood up and grabbed the cloth from your hands before putting his arm around you to walk you over to the sink.

He made sure you washed all the blood from your hands before taking them and placing a kiss on each of your palms. You fought the urge to wrench them away and hide the way you were accustomed to.

Displays of affection had never come naturally to you, the way they did with others. With family and friends you were fine, but anytime anything alluded to anything more you had the urge to flee.

"I have never been good with words, but I wanted to thank you for your help. Not just for this, but for every struggle in my life, you have been the one light I can count on flickering in the darkness."

He continued to hold your hands, stroking the back of your hands with his thumbs while you guys stood in peaceful silence.

Nothing was defined, but it didn't need to be. You both knew enough to be satisfied with whatever was going on in the moment.

"What Eris and I argued about was who you were going to be partnered up with during the blade search. He said that I had a target on my back and I would be a reprehensible fool to take you with me, to endanger you like that, but I don't know what I would do if something happened and I couldn't get to you." The words spilled out of him and you kept quiet scared that he would stop talking as quickly as he started.

"It would be selfish for me to ask you to come with me, so I will not ask. But I am also done lying to you about my wants or desires. This time, I am going to choose you, whether you believe me or not. I will take whatever you will give me and revere it all the same. Punish me for it if you'd like, but I would gladly welcome it if it came from your hand."

His eyes were clear and open in a way you had never seen before; his shadows weren't hiding behind him; they just were. This was Azriel in his purest form; this was the one you had seen and chosen all those years ago.

"Azriel-"

He turned around and walked towards the doors, refusing to turn around.

"You don't need to make a choice right now princess, but I want you to know that you hold all the cards."

Azriel left without another word, leaving you alone with your thoughts and the new swirling emotions in your chest. You went to lie down on your bed when your pet fox decided to jump on your right, while Azriel's shadow remained fastened on your left.

-

note: Hello my lovelies, it has been quite a while. I did not mean to take a hiatus but things kept happening in my life, I fear. I moved, I got my life together, I lost my dog, which was absolutely brutal and I would never wish that upon anyone(rip juno i will spend the rest of my life missing you), it fell apart, it got better, a war broke out (I am safe but I wish the best for anyone who is currently affected by any of the wars breaking out), and now we just take it day by day. Every time I would sit down and make progress on this chapter, something major would happen. Initially, this chapter was meant to be twice as long, but I felt you had all waited long enough. I've been active on my AO3, but this is me getting back into this story and back on Tumblr after what feels like forever. Well, that is enough oversharing on the internet, like always, until next time my darlings I have missed you all dearly!

note note: This chapter was pure self-fulfillment and I just crammed every single trope that I love into it. I swear we will get back to the main storyline, but right now I believe ths is what we need in honour of acotar 6.

Note note note: Also, after this fic is completed how would we feel about an Eris story?

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When an enchanted Black family heirloom binds Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger together they begin to share more than just magic. As they grapple with the unpredictable bond and the flood of shared emotions, Hogwarts itself begins to unravel under the weight of an ancient curse triggered by Voldemort’s dark legacy.