The truth teller had been living a lie.
"Please," she whispered, her lip quivering, "Say something,"
Azriel swallowed, looking up at the pair of brown eyes that met his. He ignored the shadows that whispered in his ears, the voices that filled his head like a cloud of smoke. "I-," he began, "I'm happy for you Morrigan."
Nothing on his face revealed his true feelings, but Mor knew him too well. He was distancing himself from her, building a brick wall that no one could see over. Her posture shrunk as she reached forward to grab his hand, "Az, I'm sorry."
He stood up, away from her grasp, "You have nothing to apologize for Morrigan," her hand retracted as he used her full name again, "I've always wanted you to be happy, and if Selene makes you happy… Well. Who am I to stand in the way?"
"No," she shot up, "It's not like that. I was just scared, all those years. I didn't know how you all would react. I couldn't lose my family, I-I couldn't lose you."
The look she gave him, the feel of her hand on his leathers hurt worse than any burn or wound he had ever received. Over the past five hundred years he had believed that she was the only one he could admire, she looked at him in a way no other woman had. Like she loved him.
"I have to go," he said taking a step back. He needed as much space between them as possible, more space than Cassian had ever provided.
"I know you hate me, you have every right to." She whispered as he neared the door. He stiffened, his calloused hand brushed the brass knob, "I didn't know what else to do Az. I-I do love you Az, but the love I have for you is different than the love you bear for me. Please Azriel," she shuddered out a breath, "I can't stand the thought of you hating me."
The shadow singer turned back to her, briefly admiring the way her blonde hair fell beneath her shoulders. She was truly beautiful, on the inside as well as the outside. The desire he felt for her had never been just a physical attraction. He loved every dark and light part of his friend, she was a force made of steel. She blinked back her tears, noting the way the shadows flickered away from his face as he spoke to her, "That's the thing Mor, I don't." And then he was gone.
Once the door shut behind him the shadow singer had realized his mistake, there was no way for him to escape.
The war had ended a half century ago; when he wasn't gathering information on other courts he was attending another in the hopes of striking diplomatic correspondence. Nesta tended to the northern courts, as Azriel did for the south. He had returned from a trip to the Summer Court that afternoon when he walked into his apartment to find a disheveled Mor sitting in his kitchen.
When she stood up and gave him a small smile the shadows whispered in his ear, You are too late Master of Shadows. The Lady of Truth has found someone new.
He shook his head, ignoring the shadows taunts. That was until he glanced at a ring on her finger. A muscle feathered in his jaw and he knew that she realized what he had seen. "Az," she said, "Please sit down, there is something important I have to tell you."
Nodding his head, he sat across from her. She told him that they should have had this conversation ages ago, when she had known for sure who she was.
"I'm getting married," she breathed.
"Congratulations," he offered her nothing more than what was expected of him. A ruined bastard who was nothing, and would never be anything no matter how his brothers felt about him.
"Thank you," she nodded tucking her blonde curls behind her ear, "Her name is Selene". His eyes widened slightly and his thoughts went rampant about what a fool he had been.
So she told him everything. Who she really was, why she had never turned him away, and why she had been scared for his reaction. She told him from of her past human lover and how after she died she thought she would never find anyone again. But after the war things had changed.
Selene.
Morrigan had known her most of her life. The lady of the Winter Court was High Lady Vivianne's older sister. She was as brash as she was beautiful, with wispy white hair and eyes like snowflakes. She told Azriel that Selene had pursued her in the past but, out of fear, she had avoided the relationship. It wasn't until Selene had found Mor after the final battle that she told Mor that she would never lose hope that one day Mor would change her mind, that she would be open to the idea of their union.
It started out small, notes before breakfast and 'diplomatic meetings' to Kalana, the Winter Court's capitol. For the first time, Mor said, she felt the freeness she had craved all her life. With Selene, she never had to worry about who she was.
It took her a long time to invite Selene to Velaris, "I had two dreams and it seemed selfish for them both to coincide with each other." She told Azriel that the more in love she fell for Selene, the more guilt she felt for him. Over the past half century Mor found herself completely and unequivocally in love with the Lady of the North, she asked for her hand in marriage the night before.
The entire time Azriel had just listened, he made no comment or made any sort of expression that would reveal how he felt.
So now he was without a home to hide in, and every other place he knew she would have tried to look for him. He had meant what he said, about her being happy. He had loved her since the day she walked into that camp, but he had wanted her to be happy more than anything after finding her body in the Autumn Court.
For the first time in what seemed like centuries, he was too overcome with his thoughts to be aware of his surroundings. That was until a gentle had placed itself on his shoulder. He whipped his face around to find Elain, smiling at him. "I told you to quit sneaking up on me like that," he chuckled before she eloped him in a hug.
"I know, but I like sneaking up on you." She stepped back, noting how pale he was and the bead of sweat that grazed alone his hairline. "Az, are you alright?"
"I'm fine Elain, how was Day Court?" She eyed him warily as he attempted to move on from the conversation.
She looped her arm into his and began walking down the streets of Velaris. After the war Lucien, despite taking up residency in the Night Court, visited the Day Court often to familiarize himself with the courtly affairs of his father. Elain, in turn, would miss her mate far too much and break down and join him. "It was fine, I think I'm going back tomorrow though-" She paused for a moment, standing in the streets of Velaris just staring up at the Shadow Singer.
"Light will bend itself into shadow." She said. Azriel furrowed his brow as she went on, "What is lost was never found,"
A vision, he noted but did not bother asking why. Her visions since the war were miniscule and she often kept them to herself. Elain stated that she did not like being a busybody like her youngest sister, what was fate needed to run its course.
But as she saw this vision something changed as she looked at the shadow singer. "Elain," he said, "Are you alright?"
She smiled up at him, "Oh you know me, I'm more than fine." She tucked a piece of her golden hair behind her ear, "But I was just wondering, would you perhaps accompany me to the Day Court? I know Helion has been talking about you and Cassian non-stop. He wants to see you too again soon anyway and I need an escort." He gave her a wary look; since her mate had started visiting the Day Court Elain had never had an escort. He asked his shadows but they revealed nothing to him. Still, this was a good excuse to get away from Velaris, away from the Court of Dreams.
"Of course," was all he said before she started spouting out plans for their supposed week in the court of Day.
It didn't take long for Feyre to find him at breakfast the next day. He had agreed to meet Elain at the townhouse so they could go over any last diplomatic tactics with their High Lord and Lady, "You're just leaving?" Feyre said her brows furrowed at the spymaster. "Without so much as a word to her?"
Azriel shrugged his eyes piercing her, "There is nothing more to say."
"Feyre," Rhys warned, but the High Lady shook his hand away.
"She is your friend," Feyre emphasized, "How could you leave her during the most important time in her life." The High Lady crossed her arms and her eyes turned solemn, "She's worried about you."
He took a deep breath, tightening his jaw, "You can tell Morrigan that nothing has changed between us. I am happy for her. I just need space, I'll be back in a week, I think she'll be okay without me running around after her."
This time it was Rhys who spoke, "It's not like that Azriel."
"It was, and it wasn't." Azriel replied before turning to Elain, "Are you ready to go?" The middle Archeon nodded, "Then lead the way."
As soon as Elain grasped his hand they were winnowing to the palace of the Day Court. In a moment the town house disappeared into smoke and the image of an entrance hall made entirely of sunstone replaced it. Elain stepped away from the shadow singer as soon as she caught a glimpse of her mate.
Lucien was slowly adapting to the clothing choices of the Day Court. He was draped in a navy toga and he wore a golden laurel wreath. Elain jumped happily into his arms, after Hybern Azriel wasn't sure if Elain would ever truly be happy. Nonetheless he was happy that Elain and Lucien had found one another.
"Spymaster," Helion boomed, reaching out to clap his shoulder. Azriel turned and greeted the High Lord, "Where is the other one, the General?"
"Currently in the Human Lands with Nesta. Our friend Queen Vassa has needed some help reconstructing the hierarchy."
The High Lord shrugged and offered him a smile, "Well I'm glad to see Elain has finally brought you for a visit. It's been so long since we've had you as a guest."
"Indeed."
So this is the secret of the Day Court, one of his shadows whispered in his ear. He turned and saw, quite possibly, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. With eyes as fresh and wild as the emerald sea and hair the color of deep honey, she was an enchantment in that of itself.
The High Lord of Day reached his hand out to gesture her, "This is Aurora the Princess of Day, my niece."
A soft pink toga wrapped colorfully around her waist, the straps were adorned with gold trinkets that matched the clippings in her hair. Her caramel skin glowed, similar to the magic that Feyre and Hellion shared, but the light that came from her seemed to dance around her. It glowed and fluctuated with every move she made, and unlike Feyre and Helion's it was not as blinding. "What are you?" Elain asked, just as entranced as the shadow singer.
"She's a Light Bringer." Lucien said just below a whisper in his mate's ear. Elain glanced between this supposed Light Bringer and the Shadow Singer, opposites in every way.
Azriel straightened; a Light Bringer was a legend kept on the high shelves of the Day Court's vast libraries. The bursts of light were able to manipulate the light around them, and pass secrets to one another just like his shadows could. They were supposedly crafted by the first of the Fae, so that these Light Bringers could spread their magic far and wide while also keeping their own court safe. She was to share knowledge and goodness for all of Prythian.
This woman, Aurora stepped closer to the spymaster with a coy smile playing on her lips, "It seems you and I are two sides of the same coin." The smile she gave him released something in his core, an emotion he had never felt. An emotion he wasn't sure he was ready to feel. So he said nothing as the Princess of the Day Court turned to Elain, telling her all about the legend of the Light Bringer.