Rhysand stood at the corner of the roof, watching Azriel and Cassian teach the new trainees Nesta had convinced to come, an angry look masking his features. Nesta looked at him from where she stood with Cassian, fixing her form. "Why is he here?" she asked, annoyed that the High Lord had come.
Cassian shrugged, glancing at Rhysand before excusing himself and making his way towards him. She let out a soft groan at the daggers Rhysand stared at her. He was probably there because of something she had done. She swore softly and worked on adjusting her form, shooting looks at Cassian and his deepening frown from time to time.
After another 15 minutes of this Cassian suddenly barked a loud curse before turning away from Rhysand and stomping towards the steps. Everyone stilled, staring after the warrior as he disappeared from view. Azriel softly nodded at Rhysand before saying, "Training isn't over, and a distraction on the battlefield shouldn't make you all stop and gape."
Rhysand shot into the sky as all of the trainees started practicing again, but Nesta couldn't stop staring after Cassian. What had Rhysand said to make him so angry? When Azriel turned to help Gywn, Nesta quickly seized the opportunity to sneak away, hoping his shadows wouldn't catch her…
vVv
Cassian stormed down the hallway with his hands balled into fists, silently cursing. Why the hell did Devlon have to fight against females and their training? How many times was Cassian going to have to re-enforce it? Soft steps chased after him, "Cassian!"
He clenched his teeth and kept going, ignoring her, he had too much to do right now. "Cassian! What's wrong?" Nesta grabbed his arm and he froze.
"What did he tell you?" Nesta said as he pulled from her grip and kept walking.
He needed to calm down before he did something he regretted. He would calm down and then go deal with Devlon. Nesta managed to get in front of him, blocking his path, "What happened?"
"Leave me alone Nesta," Cassian mumbled before sidestepping her and continuing down the hallway towards the balcony.
"What's wrong? We can-"
"I can't deal with you right now Nesta! I have other problems I need to deal with first!" Cassian exploded, spinning around to face her.
Nesta's face crumpled slightly, hurt flashing in her eyes, and he immediately knew he went too far too fast. He hadn't meant to say that and he hadn't meant to direct his anger at her. She blinked, all the hurt vanished from her eyes instantly, an icy rage taking its place. "Nes I-"
"I told you not to call me that you brute," she hissed.
"I didn't mean that. I was angry and I shouldn't have directed it at you."
"It's the truth though, isn't it? I'm just a thing you need to deal with. A thing you need to babysit for your High Lord, " she seethed, looking him up and down with pure hate, "You're a bastard. A fucking bastard who's accounted to nothing but messing everything in his pathetic life up."
Her words hit him like a punch in the gut. Heck he might have preferred one over her words. "Nes-," Cassian began.
"Stay the hell away from me," then she spun on her heel, going back the way she came.
He followed her, "Nesta," she ignored him, "Nesta," he grabbed her arm and she whirled.
"Don't talk to me. Don't look for me. Don't even think about me," she growled, pointing a finger at him, "And I'll do the same."
And with that she turned and strode away. To where Cassian didn't know although he had guesses. Let her calm down, he thought to himself. He slowly made his way back up to the training ring. Looking around at all the training females, wishing Devlon could just make his life simple, wishing he wasn't a fucking idiot.
He stopped by Azriel, "I'm going to deal with Devlon," he murmured.
A raised eyebrow, "Are you ok?"
He merely shrugged before launching himself into the sky, hating himself even more. He had hurt her. After she had opened up to him, even if it was only a little, and he had still been unable to control himself. Maybe he was a pathetic bastard.
He shook his head, he couldn't think about this, not yet. He had to deal with Devlon. But he couldn't resist taking a lap around the House of Wind to see if Nesta had started her journey down the stairs, and it was only when he saw her that he left for the Illyrian Mountains.
