Chapter 17

I spent the entire day sitting with Alcina and Morrigan; who would, every few minutes, lean over and plant a gentle kiss at my sister's cheek.

Watching them laugh and fuss over each other bought me a sense of calm I've not felt in a long time.

Rhysand soon joined us, telling me that Feyre insisted on seeing me as soon as possible and that she had almost cried when she met Azriel.

Cassian, on the other hand, refused to let me cook and hovered behind me for hours when I declared I absolutely needed to do it. Every time I stopped work for a moment, he would drag me over to a chair and make me sit for at least fifteen minutes before letting me continue. He was gentle however, everytime he touched me or moved something out of my way, even thought I could see it. If got on my toes to fetch something, he would brace an arm behind me in case I fell back.

The dinner passed quicker than what I expected and Cassian decided that he wanted to get into a fight with Alcina.After, Morrigan and Rhysand had to pry both of them off my arms, I finally closed the door behind myself and climbed onto the bed.

I waited for Azriel's silent footsteps or his mesmerizing shadows to come poking through the door. I could always feel them when he was near, but this time, I couldn't. I slowly slipped under the covers and waited for him to return as cold creeped up my legs and I wanted nothing more than to curl up with him with his wings wrapped around me.

A few hours passed as my eyelids finally grew heavy. I was dragged into a mercifully dreamless sleep as I slept on the side of the bed that would have otherwise belonged to the shadowsinger.

When I woke up, the sun was already shining and a new day was upon us. Still, no sign of Azriel. I groggily dragged myself out of the bed and only stopped when I hear laughter from outside a window.

Outside, Alcina huffed and rolled a snowball almost five feet tall and Morrigan sat on the porch and laughed at her efforts.

She looked my way as if sensing my gaze, and smiled. Her cheeks were tinted red and her eyes shone under the buttery sunlight.

I returned her smile the best I could but waking up was not something I wanted to do when I could barely keep myself from vomiting again.

I slumped down in a chair in the kitchen and stared at the fruit basket with empty eyes.

"Stupid fruits." I mumbled.

"What did they do?" If he hadn't left me alone all night, I would have smiled and kissed Azriel.

"Go away." I grumbled. "I don't want to see you."

Alas, he knew me better than that and wrapped his arms around me from behind. "I thought I would spend some time with the two most important people in the world. Is that too much to ask?" He kissed the top of head.

"I thought I would sleep peacefully by your side. Is that too much to ask?" I glared at him.

"I'm sorry, my love." He knelt beside me and kissed my hand. "Some matters require urgent attention. " Of course, they did. I knew finding a shadowsinger was more important than anything right now but it was early in the morning and I was not happy about having to wake up.

"And I don't?" I raised an eyebrow.

His beautiful mouth curled into a smile and he shook his head slightly, " So demanding."

Laughter rang inside the house as Morrigan and Alcina both collapsed in a heap in front of the fireplace.

Azriel glanced at them before saying, "Cassian had an argument with Alcina." "I know." I chuckled. "They were arguing over the name of our baby."

Cassian had declared that if the child was not named after him, he would personally hunt down Azriel and break his jaw and Alcina had threatened to kill Cassian if the child was named after him and not her.

In the end, neither had backed off and I had heard the loud bang when Cassian stormed away in the morning.

"We can't name her after all of them." I was still in awe of the his breathtaking features showered with morning sunlight when he spoke and Morrigan called my name.

"Do you want to play with us?" She asked with her face pressed against Alcina's shoulder.

Azriel answered for me, "I would like to steal her away for a while, if you don't mind."

Alcina waved an arm dismissively, "Yes, yes. Go off, you two. We'll finish this game by ourselves."

After that, they both got busy and I grabbed the closest fruit I could find. Azriel picked me up and I cradled an orange in my palms as he walked into our room and shut the door behind himself.

"Did you just wake up?" He asked.

I nodded while peeling the orange. "I couldn't sleep last night."

He placed me on the bed and continued to shake off what little snow was settled on his hair and lashes.

He kicked off his boots before asking, "Do you want to take a bath?"

I contemplated the cold weather and the comfort of hot water before answering, "Yes, actually. I'm coming with you."

After helping me out of my clothes and many futile attempts at using stretching to make my muscles less sore, he gave up and simply rubbed my shoulders while I sat in the steaming water with my knees to my chest.

The lingering nausea faded away after a while and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

Azriel pulled me closer and nuzzled his head in the crook of my neck. His warm breath tickled my neck as he planted small kisses along my collarbone.

"About Cassian... " He mumbled against my skin.

I ran a hand in his wet hair and hummed.

"He threatened me to name our daughter after him." I chuckled at that.

"He got into an argument with Alcina about that." I told him about the lengthy debate that had happened in his absence.

He clicked his tongue as the ghost of a smile appeared at his face. "Cassina." He whispered.

"What if it's a boy?" I mused.

"It's a girl. I know that."

"Mighty confident, aren't you?" I raised an eyebrow.

"We've talked about my confidence before." He smiled before leaning down into a deep kiss.

"It's inside....me...Azriel. I think...I know...better....what sex....it is." I mumbled against his lips.

"That makes no sense." He pulled back.

"Neither does your logic. At least I have some ground to speak." I poked his chest before deciding to step out of the bath.

He followed close behind but didn't object this time.

The cold air was like small knives on my skin as I slid into the dress.

When I came back to the bedroom, however, my eyes immediately landed on a small bracelet on the bedside table.

The soft pinks and blues of the petals were wrapped around delicate greens of leaves. I knew exactly who had left it there.

"What is that?" Azriel frowned.

"It's a charm for warding away evil." I smiled. I slid it onto my wrist and traced the pattern as it imprinted itself on my wrist. Soon enough, the flowers were gone and their colours had seeped into my skin.

He watched with careful curiosity, but as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, someone shouted from outside the room.

"Az! Get your ass here and tell her that your child is going to named after me!" Cassian sounded nothing short of furious but Alcina was not someone who would be yelled at.

"It's Lily's child too! And it's going to be named after me, you baboon!"

We both shared a mutually sympathetic glance, "It's going to be a long day." I shook my head at his words.

As soon as Alcina saw Azriel, she pounced at him. "Listen here, Spymaster. If this child is not named after me, I will follow you into hell and have the devil pry out your eyes."

"Oh no. Not the devil. Anything but the devil. What will I ever do if I had to face the devil?" Azriel replied and I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing as Alcina threw a cushion that hit him square in the face.

It was going to be a long, long day.

However, it wasn't long before I was napping in the arms of the spymaster in front of the fireplace.