Myrrh

"What are we doing?" I asked Az as we walked up the stairs. He shook his head and we walked down the hall to his room. He closed the door behind us.

"Can you make it so nobody can hear?" he asked me.

I nodded and mustered enough magical strength to keep us within our own minds.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

"I don't want Rhys to hear this. I don't want anyone else to get into trouble and if they can't hear then they won't know."

I nodded. "So, what are we doing?"

"We're leaving," he said.

I was sure I had heard him wrong. "Leaving?"

"I can't let you go to Tamlin. They can't send you if they can't find you," he said.

"But Rhys will figure this out," I said.

Az nodded. "He will but he needs time. I'm going to give him the time he needs."

"Ok. Where are we going to?"

"Past where the wall was maybe. They'll be less likely to look for us there. We could go north too." Az glanced around the room and picked up a pen and a piece of paper.

"Where's Nuala?" I asked Az. "She could get us some food before we go."

Az shook his head. "I don't want anybody to see her and get suspicious. They might check on us."

I looked up at Az and giggled. "Do you honestly think Rhys won't get what we're doing?"

"He'll figure it out but they're too busy right now. I want us to be gone with an hour."

I nodded. Az had Truth-Teller back and I looked around to see what I could take as a weapon. In looking around the room, I realized that I was going to miss this place desperately. I had barely been home for a month and now I was going to have to leave again. I felt tears spill onto my cheeks and wiped them away quickly.

Az knelt down next to me and kissed me. "I'll miss it too. I don't want to go but I lived without you for far too long. Now that I have you back, I just can't," he choked out.

I nodded.

I understood what we were doing and why but I didn't like it and I hated Tamlin for chasing me out of my home.

"Ok, this should be good," I said standing up.

Az crept over to the window and pulled it open. I listened quietly, hoping nobody would hear.

"Are you ready to fly?" he asked.

"I guess it's a good thing you got me back in the air, huh?"

"I would have anyway," he whispered. "How could we not fly?"

He kissed me one more time.

"Follow me," he said quietly.

He climbed up onto the window ledge and flew towards the east. I climbed up onto the window ledge after him and watched him go east and then a little north, so that no one could guess if they happened to see us.

Az would be mad at me but I couldn't help it. I searched down the bond to my brother. Az was right that Rhys was completely preoccupied. I sent a message down the bond, before going knowing that I'd be out of sight before Rhys figured anything out. My brother was my world outside of my mate. I needed him to know that I was ok.

I love you Rhys. We're safe, I promise you.

With that, I put my shields back up, thankful that my brother wouldn't be able to get past it and took off into the sky. I felt the familiar tug at my shield that was my brother questioning what that meant exactly. I didn't look back as I flew. I had to catch up to Az.

It didn't take me long to catch up to him as I flew east and then north. I got level with him and he grinned at me.

"Ok, let's start to head back south. Go wide though. They'll be looking for us soon."

I nodded, getting the feeling that Az knew I would have told Rhys something. We turned west and started to take a wide berth, so we could avoid Velaris easily.

"Wait," I said, as he started to turn. "They'll look for us in the sky. Let's make for the cabin for the night."

"They'll check there," said Az.

"Well, we don't have enough of a start to make it far if Cass and Rhys go in different directions."

"Good point. Let's keep going north."

"Where too?" I asked him.

"The mountains south of Dawn Court."

We flew as fast as we could, knowing that we had to get down before to long or we'd be caught. I could feel Rhys tugging at my bond, trying to get me to tell him where we were but I kept the shield up. I knew by now that they would be up in the air. We headed down to the ground as we got over Under the Mountain. It was dark and quiet in the woods at the base of the mountain. It was eerie, knowing all that had happened there. Az found a tree that we could use as shelter that would keep us off the ground and out of sight. He climbed up a few branches and found a spot that he made into a nest against the tree trunk. I snuggled up in front of him, letting him wrap his arms around me and buried his face into the side of my neck. I could feel his warm breath. I leaned back against him, feeling safer than I had in centuries.

"I will keep you safe," he whispered. "Always."

"I know," I murmured, getting sleepy snuggled into him like I was. "I trust you completely."

"Mine" he whispered.

"Forever," I whispered.

Then I slept.