Aftermath

Azriel's PoV:

He could hear screaming again.

It was Cassian.

Then it was Rhys who bellowed in pain as Hybern tried to break his bond with Feyre.

Azriel tried to unhear them, he seemed have been stuck in an endless loop. He couldn't see anything, only hear.

He then heard Cal.

She too was screaming. It was the scream from when she was lying against Mor and Amren was cutting through her shoulder, trying to free the arrow.

"Az," came a soft voice and he felt a cool hand on his forehead. "Az, it's okay. It's just a dream."

Az opened his eyes in shock.

He was in his room and it was day outside, as evident by daylight streaming through the wide windows.

He turned around to see Mor sitting beside his bed. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying.

"Mor," said Az softly, trying to get up. He felt a sharp pain in his wings.

"Carefully," said Mor, helping Az up so he was sitting on the bed. "Your wings aren't fully healed yet. Amren just put a sling on them."

"What happened? Where's Cal?"

"Well, we escaped Hybern, Feyre made a terrible sacrifice to get us all out of there, now we are at war while our High Lady is also a spy at Spring Court."

Azriel's head felt heavy at this amount of information. He sat quietly and slowly the events started coming back.

"When was this?" he asked, looking at Mor who seemed to be doing better than the last time he remembered.

"Day before yesterday," she replied. "Yes, before you ask, you slept the whole day. But you needed to sleep and rest to heal."

"Where is Cal?"

"She is good. She woke up yesterday. Her wounds were less serious, just one arrow and mostly skin wounds. There were a few broken bones, but they healed fine. Much faster than your wings at least."

"Broken bones?"

"When she was abducted."

"She didn't- why isn't she here?"

Azriel did not mean to sound rude but he had hoped to see Cal's face after he woke up.

"Glad to know how happy you are to see me," said Mor with a pout.

"That's not what I meant, Mor," Az said, smiling tentatively to see if it was okay. "I just-"

"It's okay, I know what you meant. Well, she is actually showing her sisters around. They are new here, and Cass isn't very well yet. Amren is trying to translate the Book, I am here taking care of you and also I don't like the eldest sister very much. Rhys is a bit- you know- down in the dumps because Feyre isn't with him. So, somebody had to show them around."

"That's understandable."

It really was.

"Everyone else has already eaten," continued Mor. "Do you want me to bring your lunch up here?"

"That would be nice," said Az. "Thank you."

Mor left the room as he got up from the bed, wincing and grunting in pain as his wings protested against the movement. He tried not to move them as much as he could while he went to the bathroom.

He washed his face and brushed his teeth, trying to think why Cal hadn't visited him. Was it just because of her sisters?

Maybe she was angry. Or disappointed.

He did fail her. He tried to protect her and yet the arrow had somehow found a way into her shoulder.

And while she had healed his back, she had been gravely injured.

And finally, when Amren was digging the arrow out of her and she was screaming in pain, he had just watched. He had just laid there and watched, unable to move, or even hold her hand. She had screamed until she had passed out.

He hadn't had the energy to scream then, because he knew he would have.

He debated whether he should try taking a bath but his body seemed to have reached its limit.

He stepped out of the bathroom and saw a covered plate on his table. He considered wearing a shirt but the pain in his wings made him decide not to.

He heard a knock on his door.

"Come in," he said absently.

He heard the door open and close. He didn't hear any footsteps though and that made him turn around.

Cal.

She had been so quite that it actually scared him.

Her eyes were red and she seemed a little taller. Her limbs seemed to be longer and thinner.

"Az" she said softly.

"Cal," he replied studying her face carefully. She still had some bruises, specially the ones on her neck. But she seemed fine.

"Mor said you were up," she said, as if searching for a way to start a conversation.

"Yeah. How are you?"

Cal ran to him then, abandoning all sense of situation, and then fell flat on her face.

"Oh God, Cal!" Az almost yelled, rushing to her. He tried to bend to help her up but his wings had other plans. A sharp pain shot up his back and he had to stand up straight, groaning in pain.

"Az," said Cal again, getting up slowly and then throwing her arms around him.

She pressed herself so tight to him that he knew that even with inhuman strength, he would be unable to push her away.

And he didn't want to. She felt good to him. She felt right.

He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her tight against him, feeling her soft and small body mould against his.

He ran his hands up and down her sides, as if trying to comfort her, but also making sure she was real. And she was safe.

"I am sorry I fell," said Cal wetly against his chest. "I am still not used to my new body. The limbs are a little- out of size, I think."

"You're perfect," Az said, caressing her head and kissing the top of her head. "The proportions are slightly altered I think, it will take some getting used to." Even though she was taller, her head still only reached the middle of his chest.

He then remembered how she fell and now that she was in his arms, the memory was funny.

An unexpected bubble of laughter escaped his mouth and Cal drew her head back, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Are you laughing at me?" she said.

"No," he replied. "But yes. You fell and I think it was pretty- humorous."

"I fell on my face and you think its funny?"

"Stop, don't remind me!"

Az burst into laughter then, even though his ribs protested a bit. He laughed until his stomach hurt and he had to sit down on the bed, holding his chest so as to keep his ribs from shaking.

He felt Cal sit down beside him.

When he looked at her, she was smiling too.

"You are such an ass," she said with mock anger. "You are forgiven because you are injured."

"You're not hurt, right? From the fall, I mean." Az had sobered up a little, holding back his laughter.

"I am fine."

"Yeah, you should be. I mean, you didn't really fall from a height, it was quite close to the ground."

"Shut up!" Cal shoved Az on his chest playfully but very carefully and Az laughed.

When the laughter finally stopped, he looked at her properly.

She looked like herself, except for her ears which were protruding out from under her hair. He looked at her cheekbone where the guard had slapped her. The cut was fully healed, but a thin scar remained. He traced the scar with his finger.

"Have you eaten?" asked Cal, eyeing the plate on his table, gently moving away from his touch. She seemed to actively avoid his eyes. As if she had allowed herself the single moment of weakness when she tried running to him, and then, she was done.

"I was about to," said Az, trying not to cling to Cal. She had been through a lot, it would take a while for her to return to herself.

"Wait, I will get it for you then."

She got up from the bed and brought the food to him, sitting down beside him.

"Are you alright?" Az asked, biting into his food. The taste was good and he suddenly realised he was ravenous.

"I am- I am okay."

"That's good to know."

He ate as Cal seemed to study him, looking at his wings carefully. She glanced at his back and she seemed to take a deep breath at whatever she saw.

"Everything good back there?" asked Az, noticing her worry.

"Yes, technically," she replied, "the wounds haven't fully healed though. I mean, I am worried. Do you think I might have made a mistake?"

"I don't think so. I healed fairly fast given the magnitude of injuries."

"But still. Maybe I stripped too much of muscle?"

Az felt his hands trembling as he suddenly remembered the excruciating pain when she had stripped through his muscles, trying to reach the bolts.

"Sorry," said Cal, noticing the tremors. "I- I am so sorry."

"Please," said Az, taking the last bite and keeping the plate away. "Stop apologising. You did the right thing."

"But still, I mean, it hurt a lot. I am sure if I had had more experience, it would have hurt less."

"Maybe. But its okay. You tried to make it less painful, I know you did."

"But- I cant get it out of my head, Az. It's like, stuck there."

"I know what you're talking about. I really do."

"Maybe we shouldn't be talking about this, you know. We should just forget and move forwards. I mean, we won't be doing any good holding onto the past will we?"

She got off the bed and removed the plate. She then got a wet washcloth and cleaned his hands.

"I think we do," said Azriel, grabbing Cal's wrist when she was walking away. "We do. We can't escape what happened. And letting it all sit will only make the wounds fester."

"I don't-" Cal looked away. "I don't think I can. It's too-"

"Try. Please. I will help you."

"I failed again, Az." Her voice broke and she still wasn't looking at him. "They took my sisters. And I couldn't protect them."

"I think you fought well. They said you took down eight faeries singlehandedly. That's good."

"Ianthe was there, Az. She was there. And she-" She stopped talking, taking a deep breath.

"She did what?" He felt Cal trying to remove her hands from his but he just tightened his hold. "Look at me, Snowflake." He put a finger under her chin and made her look at him. "She did what?"

"This." Cal lowered the sleeve on her shirt and Az saw red welted marks on her left shoulder. He grabbed the fabric and yanked it backwards to look at it more carefully. It was a shoe print. "And this." Cal lifted her shirt and Az saw a similar mark on the centre of her stomach, right over her navel. This mark was deep.

"What the fuck is this?" Az tried to keep the anger from his voice so as not to scare Cal but he couldn't help it. He clutched her shirt and lifted it, seeing the mark carefully. "Why didn't it heal?"

"She had put a special spell on her boots. They were normal boots, until they touched mortal skin. At least, that's what Amren thinks. And they can cause burns. And no faerie magic can heal them. They will heal in natural time. Natural human time."

"I will kill her," growled Azriel, touching the burn on her stomach gently. She gasped at the contact, her hands flying to his in order to stop his movements. He saw a few blisters form around the edges. "I am going to fucking kill her."

She took a step towards him, her hands on his neck. He was sitting on the bed and so he looked up at her eyes. His hands rested at her sides. She kissed him on the mouth then, gently and lovingly. He removed one hand from her side and touched the marks on her neck. Now that she was closer, he could see that the marks still looked very painful.

"She spelled these also, didn't she?" asked Az and Cal nodded. He gently stroked through the marks, thinking about all the nice things he could do to her neck. But none of them involved hurting her like this.

"You threw yourself in front of me," said Cal, looking into his eyes. "You took on so many arrows and bolts to save me. And I couldn't do anything but scream and beg them to stop. I should have done something more."

"No. It was my choice to protect you. Trust me, I would rather go through that ten more times than watch you go through that even once. I don't regret it."

"But I still hurt you."

"You had to. You are a healer. Sometimes, healing can be painful."

"You were begging me to stop."

"Which is why you are so much stronger than me. Because if it had been the other way around, I wouldn't have been able to continue if you had begged me to stop. You did what you had to do, and I am proud of you."

"How can you be so proud of me? I failed to protect the people I had promised to protect. I hurt you when all you have ever done is protect me from pain. You fucking stood in front of a hundred arrows to save me, and all I did was hurt you so much you had begged me to stop."

"You did enough. You protected your sisters as much as you could. You saved my life. I think I would have bled to death if you hadn't pulled all the ashwood out of me. As brutal and painful as the process was, I am glad you did it."

"You sure?"

"I am absolutely sure."

"Thank you."

Cal moved closer to him, standing in between his legs. She kissed him on the lips again, and Az could taste her salty tears on her lips.

"I am sorry too," Az said, wrapping his hands around her waist.

"Why?"

"I failed to protect you too. I mean, an arrow still found its way to you. And while you healed me, I could do nothing more than watch as you screamed and Amren yanked that arrow out of you."

"That wasn't under your control, Az. You protected me from so many others."

"I left you in that house where Ianthe and everyone found you. Look at what she did to you."

"You had no way of knowing." He closed his eyes as her forehead touched his, her lips brushing along his nose. "The queens betrayed us, nobody had seen that coming."

"I watched them hit you." Az felt the tremor in his voice as he remembered the moment the guard had slapped Cal and blood had poured out of her cheek. "I am so sorry."

"Don't be. We went through that. And we are here today. And we both are stronger than what they tried to put us through. We survived, Azriel. And we are going to survive more."

"You make a pretty faerie," said Az, opening his eyes and looking into Cal's soft eyes which were a contrast to her newly acquired sharp features.

"I guess that makes up for being clumsy." She laughed a little and Az followed suit.

"Do you remember what it felt like when you had first seen me? Just after you turned?" Azriel didn't know how to broach the topic, she had just been through hell and he didn't want to become another Lucien. But he felt like she deserved to know.

"Yes, I do. It was quite odd actually. It felt like something electric. Is that normal?"

"Yes, well-" Az looked at her concerned expression and realised he didn't want to tell her. Not yet, at least. He didn't want to burden her more with an added information that would probably do her more harm than good. "It was the change, emotions and feelings are heightened. And since the change happened so fast and drastically, some odd sensations are to be expected."

"Oh, that's a relief. I thought- maybe- you know- the change screwed me up or something."

"No. But I think we need to talk about the small burst of power you exhibited after being turned."

"I did?" Cal's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and her expression seemed downright comical. Az wanted to laugh but he thought it would seem a little cruel to do so.

"Yes. You made the ground shake, remember?" Az pronunciated every word carefully, like he was explaining it to a child. Maybe she had a small memory loss from the transition.

"The ground actually shook? I felt it, I thought it was because I was dizzy and that it was just in my head."

"No. We thought it was an earthquake, and your eyes also glowed a little."

"Oh, now that makes sense why the guards suddenly tried to kill me. I thought they had all gone mad for some reason."

"No! They felt threatened."

"That's- something. What power could that be? Something to do with earth?"

"I don't think its something to do with earth. It is completely new. We will have to see for a while, I thought maybe you would have some idea as to what triggered the power."

"No. I have no idea. I just remember feeling angry and wishing that the mountain could actually collapse on all of them."

"Hmm. Well, we will see then as time goes. Maybe we will figure something out."

Cal's Pov:

Cal, Az, Rhys and Mor spent the day talking about how Feyre could be fairing in the Spring Court. Rhys looked extremely stressed.

"Don't worry, Rhys," said Cal, putting a hand on his. "Feyre is a strong, resourceful person. If anybody is up for doing whatever she is doing there, trust me, it is only her. Before you know it, she will be back here with us."

They went down for dinner then. Cassian was still ill and Mor took a plate for him to his room. After dinner, Cal saw Elaine heading to the kitchen.

"I'll be back in a while," said Cal as she excused herself from the table after finishing dinner.

Cal entered the kitchen and Elaine was stirring a batter that looked a light shade of pink mixed with yellow.

Yes, Elaine was still in shock after the events, but she seemed to have taken a sudden liking to baking.

"Why is that pink?" asked Cal, walking up to Elaine.

"I put some strawberries in it," said Elaine with a hint of a smile. "I wanted to try something new. I hope it will rise."

"Well, you know more about bread than me, so you are the only one who will be able to figure it out."

"Thank you."

"Can I ask you something, if you don't mind?"

"Sure. Just, don't ask me why I am not trying to grow flowers anymore. I am really tired of Nesta asking me that same question again and again."

"No, no. I was about to ask, have you had any contact with Lucien lately?"

"No." Elaine's voice hardened. "Why would I?"

"No specific reason. But, since he is your mate, I thought maybe he tried to get in touch."

"I don't see how that is any of your business."

"It kind of is. Our sister, Feyre, is a spy in Spring Court. And we have no bloody idea what is going on there. Your mate, Lucien, is also there, and could be a potential ally. He had been alone for a long time, Elaine, he will try everything in his power to maintain a good relationship with you."

"So, I should pawn myself away for information?"

"No! Absolutely not! I meant, maybe, if he tries talking to you, don't be dismissive."

"So, I should give him a chance even though I don't know him just because the Cauldron said so? I have no say in this?"

"Of course you have a say. You can even reject the bond if you want. But, give him a fair chance. Not just for the sake of diplomacy and Feyre's safety, but also for him."

"Why for him?"

"Lucien, is a good person. He has saved mine and Feyre's lives more than once. Yes, he made some bad choices, multiple of them due to his loyalty towards Tamlin, but he is trying to do better. I know that."

"I don't see what you are asking of me." Elaine's eyes were still glued to the dough she was kneading.

"I am asking you to give him a fair shot. Just get to know him if he reaches out. Don't do it because he is your mate, absolutely not. I hate that concept myself. Do it because he saved both your sisters' lives multiple times. It's a request, please."

"Alright. I will." Elaine sounded a little contrite. "I often tend to forget how much you and Feyre have been through. I am sorry. But you understand, right? I mean, he is my mate and I don't know him. At least you are lucky enough to be mates with your friend. I mean, you know him, so you don't have to worry that much."

"Yes, we- what? I am lucky enough- WHAT?"

The spatula fell from Cal's hands at what Elaine said.

"Why do you look like that?" Elaine asked sweetly, a puzzled expression on her face. "The way you're reacting, one would think you didn't kn- oh!"