Azriel POV

It took a long time for the debates to subside before we finally decided who was going where. Amren had been grumbling for over an hour in the sitting room of our adjoined rooms.

Mor had enough of her grunts when she huffed loudly, "Since the firedrake doesn't want to go, send me instead. I can be of better use."

Amren shot her a withering stare as she drawled evenly, "Yes, please. Send the one currently dressed in a sparkling, floor length dress.

Feyre ducked her head to hide her grin as Mor stared Amren down. Even a hidden half smile started on my face as I remembered the feud between the two over the centuries. The scene of Rhy's favorite mountain home in ruined pieces came to mind.

Rhys groaned from the arm of Feyre's chair that he had perched on. He was rubbing the bridge between his nose as he said once more, "You're going, Amren. Mor, I need you back at the Court of Nightmares to oversee a meeting or two."

She nodded her head, but not without a slight eye roll. Nesta and another legion would be arriving soon. It had put a damper on all of us, knowing we'd need more than a few thousand Illyrians to win this one. And the idea of Mor going to the Court of Nightmares...

The shadows whispered in my ear that my High Lady was now gauging my response to what Rhys had mentioned.

"When are you leaving?" Rhys asked me quietly. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of sending his mate, but Feyre had made a point to join me anyways.

It was not the dominance of his mate that he bothered over; it was the idea of her being amongst enemies. Of any of us being amongst the enemy. Once we stepped into the forest, we were officially in enemy territory.

"In an hour. We are waiting on Cassian to get back." I said in a lower tone than usual.

"I wasn't even gone that long," he grunted as he strolled through the door. He smelled faintly of wood smoke and… rain.

He passed me a glance as I tensed at Asena's scent. Then crossed the room and plopped down on the couch next Amren. With the weight discrepancy between the two, Amren was hoisted slightly into the air as Cassian's weight hit the couch.

Feyre didn't bother hiding her laugh this time, nor did Mor. Cassian winked at Amren then addressed the room, "The border is secure for now. Asena and Ret have been keeping watch the majority of the night. Jasper and Lucas just took over and said they'd be waiting for your return and to come back a different route than the one you went in."

A bit of that betraying rage simmered only slightly when I realized his only reason for speaking to her was solely for our safety.

Feyre leaned back in her chair, "Did you ask her?"

Again, a glance towards me before Cassian said, "Yes. She's willing to combine our females with hers and train them together."

I had heard Rhys and Cassian talking about it yesterday. The shadows had reported that with the amount of training Asena's females had, it would bode well for some of untrained ones.

"Do you think Nesta will like that?" Mor asked him. Not a voice of judgment but solely one of curiosity. None of us really knew Nesta and her moods save for Cassian and Feyre. But Cassian had learned to read her better than her own sister in the months since she arrived in the Illyrian Mountains. Even Elain had seemed to have trouble with this new Nesta.

"Asena isn't one to take shit in her own camps. If Nesta doesn't like it, then she's going to have a brutal wake-up call." Cassian said with no amount of remorse in his tone.

Silence met his statement as they pondered how much damage the two would reap if they found themselves brawling. Cassian would not interfere, even if it was Nesta.

"We need to get going if we are to figure out another route back," I said, breaking the silence. "I'll meet you two on the border. I need to grab a few things first."

They each nodded to me as I made my way back to my rooms. I wasn't surprised that Cassian followed me in, shutting the door behind him.

I pulled open the trunk at the foot of my bed and pulled out a few more daggers. Even with my Siphons fully replenished, I still wanted the extra weight at my sides.

Cassian plopped down in the armchair beside the door and eyed me intensely. I heard the door open and shut just as Rhys came into the room. He sat in the chair next to Cassian as he too watched me raid through the trunk for one more knife.

Rhys sighed loud enough that I turned towards him, crossing my arms over my chest. I raised one eyebrow, the only sign of my annoyance.

Cassian kept his eyes trained on me before he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Asena has offered her soldiers if we need them." His voice was hard and… exhausted. None of us were sleeping well in these strange lands.

I looked towards my High Lord and my brother who seemed to be pondering the statement.

He nodded once then said, "Drakon brought it up at dinner as well. I think if we need them then we can-"

"We won't need them," I said sternly.

They both eyed me as the shadows wrapped around my body. They never faltered in their need to obscure me from sight.

Rhysand leaned back in his chair, crossing an ankle over the knee as he pondered it, "If that time comes, we may very well need all the help offered." He pinned his violet eyes on me as I kept my face unreadable. If there was anything the shadows had taught me, it was how to keep others from looking too closely. Of course, that did not apply to my brothers.

I recalled the years where they pushed and prodded, trying to force me to speak to them. To simply open up. And I owed them a great deal of who I was because of it.

"With the amount of training we are putting them through already, using them in the upcoming conflict could be in our best interest." Cassian said as he rubbed his hands together. His stare was fixed on the floor as if he was pondering exactly where he'd put the Seraphim army in his own ranks.

Rhys picked an invisible piece of dirt off the arm of the chair then asked, "What have your spies told you?"

I shifted my weight only slightly. A major movement for myself, but would be unnoticeable to my comrades. I hadn't quite had the time to sit down with our circle and explain to them the amount of discourse running through the camps. Rhys and Cassian knew most of it, but this new information was going to be the cherry on top of all the hell we'd been experiencing. "The queens are still holed up in their joint castle." I passed a quick glance to Cassian before saying, "It seems the discourse among Illyrians has spread to their doorstep and they plan to exploit it."

Cassian's body tensed as the anger threatened to consume him. Rhys's face became near unreadable at the news.

I continued on, coldly voicing what we all were thinking, "We are not all needed here."

Rhys pinned his stare on me, shaking his head, "We owe Drakon our lives and our victory."

I took a step towards him, "I agree, but we have the entire inner circle as well as a thousand Illyrians with us and we just called more in."

"So what are you suggesting?" Cassian said as he finally rolled his shoulders, releasing a bit of that tension. He knew what I was insinuating. Had likely thought of it himself. These were not our lands and we needed to be focusing on the mutiny that was likely doubling if not tripling while we were all away.

"It's not my call."

Rhys nodded once then spoke softly, "We stay. We stay and fight for the ones who came to our aid when we needed it." The voice of our High Lord.

A moment of silence. "Feyre went over the route with you?"

Another nod from Rhys, "Yes, I think circling around on the ground will be best. They know the Seraphim and they'll likely have traps ready for wings."

Cassian chimed in next, "Get the info then get out. If they've captured the other patrols as well as the spies then they'll be waiting for you."

"I think I've done this a time or two, but thank you." They chuckled at my dry humor.

Rhys passed me another glance, this one full of more seriousness than he usually uttered, "Come back in once piece. All of you."

I nodded, letting the shadows whisper to me. Letting that sort of other power whisk me away into smoke and shadow. Not winnowing, but something else. Something that could never be compared to my High Lord's power simply because it was entirely different.

I felt the shadows tugging at me, pulling me along. No matter how many times I'd done this, it didn't stop the thrill.

They never let me venture off. Never let me even think of straying in the place between worlds. It seems the shadows had taken to me as much as I had taken to them in the many, many years in the dungeons and beyond.

Yet we still had much to come to terms with.