Azriel held her close all night, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other cradling her head against his chest where Gwyn lay practically on top of him. She blinked as the sunlight coursed through the curtains, and brushed Azriel's hair back out of his face,
"You need a haircut," she chuckled when he opened his eyes and she laughed when the arm around her waist tightened, "Thank you," she whispered, unable to really explain what he'd done for her last night, but he just nodded, brushing a hand through her hair, refusing to let go when she wriggled, "You don't want me to go,"
"No, but I know that you need to, I just want you to be careful, remember your promise,"
"I know, I'll be fine, I'm not the one fighting everyone,"
"It's not proper fighting, just a taste, they'll have no idea what's hit them if I do fight any of them properly." Gwyn snorted,
"I'm sure," she laughed, "Are you going to let me go?"
"Don't want to," Azriel rolled sideways and tugged Gwyn closer, planting a kiss on the top of her head, "I'd stay here forever if I could."
"Here?"
"Alone, with you, not worrying about the world," Gwyn eased back enough to meet his gaze,
"We'll have that time, I promise, there you go, another promise, seems I can't help but make them to you," she wriggled her way out of his arms, "You need to get up, or we'll both be late." Azriel groaned, but Gwyn made sure he was getting up before sorting herself out, going as far as dragging the duvet away from him, earning wild complaints, and glares, but, sleepy as he was, Gwyn couldn't help but laugh as he dragged himself to the bathroom.
Gwyn sighed when she pulled on her dress, wishing she could get away with something easier to fight and move in, not that the corset was an issue, it didn't restrict her, but she still marveled at how it could fit properly whilst not obstructing her wings. The skirt however, was an issue, Illyrians favored full skirts, and while she could run, she didn't fancy her chances in a proper fight, in a little one she would be alright, but she didn't like it.
She was brushing through her hair when Azriel appeared behind her, stealing the brush form her hand,
"Az! Give it back," she complained, but he just twirled a finger, and she huffed as she turned back to the mirror, sighing when he kept working through the more stubborn tangles and knots. She couldn't help but smile at the way his brows bunched when he was concentrating on a particular knot.
"What are you grinning about?"
"You, being all adorable," Azriel didn't get a chance to respond before someone pounded on the door, Gwyn jumped up to answer it, leaving Azriel to pretend to be gathering his kit for training, but she relaxed at the sigh of Laylah at the door,
"Amirah," she sobbed, "Thank the Cauldron, I was so worried I'd have gotten it wrong, please let me in," Gwyn stepped aside, quietly closing the door behind her,
"What is it?" Laylah made to speak, but shook her head at the sight of Azriel,
"He won't hurt you," Gwyn promised, "He's not like some of these others,"
"He's not?"
"No, he's not."
"Oh gods, my father is going to kill me, I ran away, just like he thought I would. I had to, you have to understand, he wanted to marry me to a human! A prince, but a human, he'll be old and grey in no time, I can't, I just can't do it, I won't!"
"It's okay, it's okay, you don't have to do anything you don't want to,"
"Okay, okay, can we stay here for a moment?"
"Yeah, okay, Gavin's heading off to training, he'll be back later, we can stay here if you like,"
"Thank you, you won't tell my father?" Azriel offered a gentle smile,
"Tell him what?" He nodded to Gwyn as he slipped out,
"Did your father say why?"
"He wants to build alliances, and marriage does that, but if I were to marry him, I would be surrounded by people who hate me, I didn't think even my father would be cruel enough for that. He said, I don't really understand,"
"What? It's okay, you're safe here,"
"He said that if they were to pull something off, to get the Spymaster and General in one go, all it would take would be a little reassurance and he'd get what he wanted,"
"Oh gods, did he say anything about that plan?"
"No, but he had some papers on his desk he was writing on last night, I wasn't supposed to see,"
"Thank you, please Laylah, stay here. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"But where are you going?"
"To try and save lives."
Gwyn kept her head down but hurried as fast as she could to Laylah's room, and froze at the sight of a male there, she'd expected him to be at training, all the others were. She didn't give him a chance to shout, or move, her fist connecting with his nose with such force that it crumpled under the impact, and her strike to his temple sent him tumbling to the ground. Papers, something about attacking Az and Cass, together, to kill them both. She let her instincts guide her, not quite knowing what she was looking for, but there it was, a battle plan, or less of a battle plan, more an ambush plan, shit.
She was about to rush back to her room, not even bothering to copy the plan, they'd be long gone before anyone discovered it was gone, but there were voices outside the door, one voice she recognized, Azriel's half brother. If it really was him, he would recognize them, both of them, she had to get Azriel out, now. She dived into the bathroom, freezing as the door flew open, revealing the very male she'd hoped was dead, along with three others.
"Shit, go and get him, now, I'll find the redhead." That voice, it was that same voice, she was going to make him pay for what he'd done to Azriel, several times over. She would never beat them there, and with Azriel surrounded by hostile Illyrians, they couldn't just fight their way out. She was on the first floor, she could get across the courtyard to the training pitch, and pretend, what, that she was ill? No, she'd pretend that someone had tried to touch her, that was allowed to get Azriel's attention.
She threw the window open, and flared her wings as she fell through the air, not quite flight, but it had slowed her fall enough that she could roll to recover, sprinting for the training pitch, racing those nameless males who sought to hurt her, what? She wasn't scared, she refused to be scared any longer. She loved him, and she chose him, he was one of the only things she'd ever chosen, and she chose him, not because of anything else, but because of him, and anyone who sought to hurt himwould die before they reached him.
She staggered on her feet when she opened the door to the training pitch,
"Gavin!" She screamed, and Azriel's head shot up from the corner he was currently wrestling another male in, "Gavin please, he's scaring me!" She forced herself to cry, gasping when Azriel launched into the air, landing just in front of her, "It wasn't my fault, please, I tried, he just,"
"Amirah, not here, outside," she sniffed and nodded, letting Azriel guide her away, "What's the matter,"
"Your brother, he's here, he knows we're here, he's coming, we have to go, now! I got a plan for an ambush form Laylah's father, but we have to go, and we have to take her with us,"
"Okay," Azriel nodded, and Gwyn's heart swelled at the way he wouldn't hesitate to help a female he barely knew, again.
"We can't go that way," Gwyn tugged Azriel round the corner, "I came across that way, probably looked really suspicious, but he's coming from that way,"
"I can't winnow in here, the wards are too strong, back here, come on, there's a servants' staircase, we should be able to fit, hopefully," Gwyn ran, Azriel at her side, squeezing through the narrow gap, and practically dragged Azriel through, she was already running when he checked for any guards, sprinting down the corridor beside her, "Where is she?"
"Our room,"
"Shit, I'll get her, I can fly out of the window, then it's a clear shot to get away, you get out, the back entrance,"
"No, I won't leave you," Azriel spun on his heels, pinning Gwyn against the wall as someone ran past, panting as they didn't take notice of them,
"Please, Gwyn, you have to,"
"I can't, I won't leave you, you can carry two, and you'll need my help to fight if they find you." She was right, she knew she was right, and she didn't blame him for the reluctance in his gaze, the conflict at knowingly putting her in danger, "I promised we'd have time, but we have to fight for it, both of us."
"Okay."
With that one word he shattered any worries he still had, calming his fears as he hauled Gwyn's mouth to his, that ghost of a kiss the last he'd get until they were safe again,
"Stay alive," she murmured,
"We fight as one,"
"Always." There were three guard positions between them and their room, with two or three guards each, he sent his shadows ahead to find how many there were at the first, two, nice and easy. They sprinted through the corridors, and just before that guard post Gwyn nodded and sprinted forward, faster than before, slamming to a halt when one of the guards burst out to chase her down. She pivoted, slamming her elbow up into his throat, and he fell immediately, just in time for her to turn to catch the second guard's wrist, stepping across to flip him to the ground, stumbling once on her skirt before drawing her dagger and slamming the hilt into the guard's temple as he struggled to rise, knocking him back to the ground, unconscious.
She looked back to Azriel and he nodded approvingly,
"Looks like you don't need me anymore," he teased, and she just glared, grabbing her skirts,
"I can't fight in this," she complained, "Not properly, gimme that," she drew a sword from Azriel's belt slicing the bottom of the skirt away above her knees, "That's better, I'll just scandalize them into submission," she winked, and Azriel couldn't help the chuckle from breaking out of him,
"You okay?" She nodded,
"Let's get out of here."
The second guard position had two guards, and Azriel smirked at Gwyn as they approached,
"My turn," he stopped and knocked on the door, smiling as the guard realized he was the one they were supposed to be looking for and opened his mouth to shout, backing away, but not fast enough as Azriel's fist connected with his nose. The second guard was faster, darting sideways, only inches from the warning bell when Azriel swept his legs out from underneath him, almost wincing at the crack as he fell hard on the floor, not needing a second blow to knock him out,
"Not bad," Gwyn chuckled, "But yours were closer to sounding the alarm, I win,"
"We'll see about that, Valkyrie,"
"Nothing more to see, Shadowsinger," Azriel laughed again, already running down the corridor,
"You're doing great with your wings now,"
"I'm pretty much used to them by now, it'll probably be weird when Feyre vanishes them again," she laughed, "Guards, three o'clock"
"One each, fastest gets the third," she grinned confidently, and Azriel laughed to himself, there was no way he was letting her win this one, he downed his guard with one blow, cursing as Gwyn managed the same, his shadows flashing out to disorient the third, letting Azriel reach him first. He dodged the wild dagger throw before tackling him to the ground and squeezed a pressure point on his neck to knock him out without hurting him too badly.
"You cheat!" Gwyn complained, "I'll get you for that!"
"I look forward to it," Azriel raised an eyebrow, his gaze flicking up at a scream from the end of the corridor, from their room. He paused outside for a moment, trying to gauge what was happening,
"I don't know! Please, who the hell is Azriel?" Laylah, she was still there then, a shadow slipped under the door, three males, including his brother, he gestured for Gwyn to wait a moment and threw the door open, a dagger already flying for the male holding on to Laylah. She screamed and fell away as the male hissed in pain, pressing a hand to the dagger in his side,
"Wonderful, a family reunion," Azriel forced himself to wait, this male was a monster, but he had a job to do, "We've missed you, little brother,"
"You are not my brother." Azriel snapped, "Let the girl go,"
"Or what?"
"I don't think you want to find out," he snarled, but his brother's attention had flicked over his shoulder,
"So this is the Priestess, she with you now? Doesn't matter, she's not leaving here, shame though, pretty little thing," he broke off with a cry when Gwyn's dagger buried into the base of his wing, and he dropped to the ground, whimpering in pain, especially when she rushed forwards, leaving Azriel to threaten the last male back,
"Now," Gwyn said, her voice like cold death, "Unless you want me to find out exactly how much it hurts when I cut this off, tell me what your plan was,"
"Kill him," the male shrieked, and Gwyn grasped the dagger's handle, "Don't! Please, we were going to kill him, Azriel, and the other one, the General, I was going to use Laylah's father to get control of Illyria," he screamed when Gwyn drew the dagger out, driving her knee up into his groin,
"That's for threatening Az," she snarled, and Azriel hesitated for a moment, somehow still shocked at the proof of how she felt, giving the last male a chance to attack while he was distracted, forcing Gwyn to throw her dagger again, burying it up to the hilt in the last male's chest, "Are you okay?" She demanded,
"Fine, what about him?" He gestured to his brother, now trying to crawl away,
"Your call,"
"We should bring him back in chains," Gwyn stepped onto his injured wing, and he whimpered again, falling still, "We can't kill him yet, no matter how much I want to, I'm not sure I can carry all three of you," Gwyn looked out of the window,
"How far do the wards go?"
"About fifty meters,"
"I can climb down there and run that, wait just outside, and be ready to winnow,"
"That's too dangerous,"
"Then leave me the shadows, take Laylah and this idiot and wait there for me, I'm right behind you," Azriel couldn't leave her, she was right, and he knew she could do it, but he would have to leave her. If he left the shadows they could break up her outline, make it difficult to hit her, and she was fast, but he would have to leave her.
"I can't."
"You have to. I'm right behind you, I promise." Another promise, he had to let her do this, he trusted her with his life, he had to trust her with her own,
"Stay alive," he parroted from earlier, and Gwyn laughed,
"I'll see you in a minute," she threw the window open as wide as it would go, and climbed out, finding a foothold to start climbing as Azriel knocked his brother out, throwing him over a shoulder and extended a hand to Laylah.
"Hold on, whatever you do, do not let go,"
"You're the Spymaster," she whispered, "You were here the whole time, you can get me out of here?" Azriel nodded,
"We'll keep you safe," Laylah nodded, stepping up to him, and wrapped her arms around him, helping to hold on to his unconscious brother as she did so, squeezing her eyes shut as he dived out of the window, flapping furiously to keep high enough in the air to distract attention from Gwyn's shadow-shrouded form just reaching the floor. She looked up once before she sprinted forwards, and Azriel looked back to her the moment he landed, she was so close, so, so, close, just a few more steps.
She stumbled, and fell, an arrow protruding from her back. Azriel screamed in rage, making to run for her, but she was back up, reaching for his hand. Laylah was still gripping his arm, holding his brother as shadows encircled them, winnowing them away, back to where he'd stashed all their spare supplies. The moment they landed, he yanked out of Laylah's grip, his heart racing as he reached for Gwyn, only to find her laughing as she yanked the arrow out, no blood on it.
"Finally something a corset's good for," she snorted, "It struck one of the bones of the corset, never even touched me, I just got the impact,"
"Oh gods," Azriel murmured, "I thought I'd lost you,"
"You can't get rid of me that easily," she chuckled, but didn't complain when he folded her into his arms, still checking that she really was uninjured, the unbridled fear that had been racing through his blood fading slightly as she wrapped her arms around him. He couldn't fathom losing her, not now after everything, not when she was all his dreams come true. "Always," she whispered, "I meant it, you know, it's going to take more than an arrow to separate us."