The sound of dry leaves crunching under their boots echoed through the empty forest as Azriel and Tassia made their way to the wall dividing the mortal realm from the faerie one. They had winnowed in close to the border before Azriel decided that if they went any further using magic or wings, they might alert other fae to their presence, something which wasn't ideal in stealth missions.

It took them half a day to reach the edge of the forest and Tassia could see a faint glimmer of magic where she presumed the border was.

They walked alongside the wall, searching for one of the many holes in it. Tassia pressed her palm against the invisible barrier, feeling the faint sting of the barrier reacting to her touch. She withdrew her hand and followed Azriel, making sure to tread lightly lest any members of the Spring Court be alerted to their presence.

"Here." Azriel stopped a few feet ahead of Tassia, his wings drawn in. He shifted the bag in his arms to allow himself to reach out and stick his arm to where they presumed the hole was. He then looked up at the sky and sighed, "We're faster than expected. Are you fine with walking for another two hours before setting up camp for the night?"

Tassia nodded, ducking her head as she crawled through the hole behind Azriel. "It would probably be best if we don't rest until we are a safe distance from the wall."

By the time the sun had started to dip below the horizon, they had reached relatively flat ground and began to set up camp. Tassia looked around and breathed in the fresh air. Flat plains rolled as far as the eye could see and tiny clusters of various flowers dotted the horizon

She walked into the tent and organized their things while Azriel went out to do his business. She peeled off her shirt and splashed some cool water from a nearby stream on her face.

The flap of the tent rustled as it opened and Azriel walked in. Tassia scrubbed at her filthy face when the footsteps halted and Azriel's breath caught. Tassia looked over her shoulder to see his eyes focused on her back. On the expanse of ruined flesh from the lashings she had recieved.

He had gone deathly still and Tassia turned, hiding her scars from him as her arms reached out for the muddy shirt. Azriel's eyes darted to her face and her shaking arms before his arms reached to his sides and he took off his own shirt.

Tassia sucked in a harsh breath as she looked over his skin. Over each scar from whips, burns, and weapons alike. The shirt in her hands fell to the floor and Azriel gave her a slight nod, letting her know that she wasn't alone. That she wasn't the only one who was scarred and that the scars didn't make her any less of a person. Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned again and her hand curled into a fist as Azriel looked over her scars, the same way she had done to him.

He had not said anything, had not needed to. The silence was enough, full of acceptance and understanding. Not the pity she had been terrified to receive. A far cry from the mocking she had expected. But understanding. Because he too knew what it was like. To have the people who were supposed to love and take care of you turn on you, for things she knew weren't her fault but still hadn't accepted it as such.

By the time the sun rose, Tassia and Azriel were already walking towards the town. When Azriel''s shadows informed them of human activity, they moved closer to each other, their faces and bodies painted with obvious signs of mortal exhaustion.

There was a long line to get inside the town walls and they joined the back of it right before a wagon pulled up with a group of oddly dressed people. She looked at the dozen or so soldiers at the front of the line, checking through papers and wagons.

A woman with raven hair stretching past her waist smiled softly at Tassia who grinned back.

"What brings you Wellsbury?" The woman asked as a dark-skinned man, who was presumably her husband, walked up behind her and rested his arm around her waist.

She forced herself to lean into a stiff Azriel, linking her arm with his, careful to hide her bare ring finger, "Oh, my husband and I wish to look for trade in the town. How about you?"

"We're with a traveling troupe," the woman replied, eyeing the queue, "It looks like we'll be here for hours yet. Would you like to get a bite to eat with us?"

Tassia's eyes narrowed minutely. The woman was either too trusting or naive but both suggested that they could learn more about the town from her and her troupe. She looked at Azriel, ever the doting wife looking upon her husband for permission for the simplest of things.

Azriel gave her a slight nod, his body still too tense to be convincing. The woman and her husband seemed to buy their lies though and gestured to their friends that they were leaving the line and to hold their spot.

The woman turned and walked towards the tavern near the barracks with her husband next to her as Azriel turned to Tassia, his hazel eyes unreadable as usual.

"What?"

"Husband?"

Tassia blinked. Whatever problem she had thought Azriel had with what she had agreed to, she hadn't assumed them playing a married couple to be it. "We needed a convincing reason to be here and our relationship. Being married seemed like an easy enough way to do that. And males will not fear the threat of anything else. I would still be unclaimed—still be open for ... invitations. I have seen how little respect males have for anything they think they are entitled to. Unless you'd rather next time, we play siblings instead?"

Azriel nodded and as his eyes roamed over Tassia, his fingers drifted to his neck, hesitating momentarily before he unclasped the chain to a necklace Tassia hadn't noticed and pulled the ring out of its end. "Don't lose this."

She allowed Azriel to slip the ring onto her finger. "Don't be so tense. You won't win us any friends like that." Azriel stiffened, even more, causing Tassia to roll her eyes. "Walk in there looking like you're ready to kill someone and we'll end up with more enemies than allies."

"What am I supposed to walk in looking like then?"

"Just... Don't glower."

Azriel forced his shoulders down and an easy but false smile flitted on his face. She heard more than saw the woman and her husband turn to see what was taking them so long and reached up, ruffling Azriel's hair, her body pressed close to his. "I'll do most of the talking. But you have to play nice."

Azriel glared at her as Tassia pulled away, handing some of their bags to him before half-running away and clicking her tongue at him when he took an annoyingly necessary amount of time in walking towards her, his steps purposely slower into a human walk.

The tavern was packed and loud, so loud that she could barely hear herself think as she followed the woman to a free table. She introduced herself as Rhoswen and her husband as Enzo.

"I'm Ithi," Tassia offered, stretching her hand out over the table to Rhoswen first and then Enzo, "And this is Oren."

If Azriel had any objections to the fake names, Tassia couldn't tell as he shook the couple's hands, "Pleased to make your acquaintances."

Rhoswen named a few items off the menu and Enzo nodded, getting up to order the food. Azriel turned to Tassia, who shrugged, not really having a preference. She was so starving she would eat literally anything.

"So," Rhoswen leaned over conspiratorially, her eyebrows wiggling, "How did you two meet?"

"Oh!" Tassia hadn't prepared herself enough on mortal relations so she hesitated for a few seconds before answering, "We practically grew up together. My brother and Oren were close friends and whenever he came over, we would always talk about random things. And a few years later, he finally got up the courage to ask me out."

"With a looker like him, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a group of women lining up for a chance to have him."

"Talking about me, are we?"

Azriel had a smirk on his face as he set their food in front of them. Enzo was behind him, balancing two trays and a leather pouch. Azriel slung an arm around Tassia who looked at him and then away, giving him permission to brush his lips against her skin.

"I only ever had eyes for Ithi. She was my first everything." He took her hand and turned it so her ring shined in the dim light, "And now she's my last."

Rhoswen had a smile on her face at that and leaned into Enzo as she recounted the story of their relationship. By the time they were done with their meals, Umar, one of the troupe members, told them that their group was nearing the front of the line and needed to go and join it.

"Don't look them in the eye and don't talk back," Rhoswen warned as she looked through her bags for the necessary papers to enter the town. Tassia nodded, her mouth dry as a soldier stepped towards them.

"Papers." His eyes appraised Rhoswen before his attention snagged on Tassia, an ugly, all-too-familiar expression on his face that made Tassia stiffen.

Azriel slid an arm around her waist and glared at the man, shoving their papers towards him. "This is for me and my wife."

The soldier noticed him, then and backed away a step, a bit pale, before ordering their supplies to be searched.

When Tassia made to step away, Azriel tugged her back against him, an arm across her abdomen. He met each soldier's stare as they passed and Tassia looked over at Rhoswen, wondering if Enzo was looking over her in the same way.

The question was answered when she saw Rhoswen wearing a large and rather ugly coat to hide her slim curves and a wide-brimmed hat, tipped low over her face. Her mouth was set in an unpleasant expression, drawing attention away from her hidden beauty.

Tassia shook with barely restrained anger as a soldier dragged a protesting young woman away from an older couple she assumed to be her parents. Azriel made to move towards the girl but Tassia grabbed his arm and shook her head once, the acidic taste of bile filling her mouth. They couldn't blow their cover, not even for this. Tassia hated it. And herself more for not doing whatever she could about it.

Azriel handed over a few coins - the regular amount plus a few extra for faster passage - to a man. The soldier who took it looked through their bags, taking whatever he pleased before nodding at them, allowing them to move forward.

They hadn't brought any weapons for this exact reason and most of their bags were filled with useless items meant to support their reason for visiting the town - in fact, only one bag had anything that they actually needed and they would buy the rest.

By the time they had reached the other side of the wall, the sun had started to set. They went towards a modest inn.

"Two rooms, please." Tassia asked and the owner raised his eyebrows in question, "He's my brother." She couldn't for the life of her understand Azriel's aversion to them being fake-married but respected it all the same even though there was a high chance of it backfiring on them.

The owner nodded and gave them the key to their rooms as well as the directions to get there before helping the next customers.

Their rooms were small and the only bathroom was downstairs. The only furniture was a bed and drawers for their things. They were both exhausted and quietly went to bed without saying much to each other.