From the shadows, they watched as Nymiria shoved herself up another foot, hair coming loose from from the tie, and hoisted herself onto a limb that was just out of reach of the beast down below.
Her blue eyes darted around the forest, chest heaving, before she looked back down at the creature. “Listen, you brat,” shesnapped. “I don’t want to kill you. It’d be wise for you to take your leavenow. There are other people in the world you can tear apart. But,” she cursed, gripping her branch tighter when the creature snarled and jumped three feet off the ground, its claws tearing a gash into the bark mere inches away from her foot. “Fine!” She snapped. “I see we aren’t in the mood for a conversation.”
Trio took that moment to glance at Aziel, whose muscles were so tense, he feared they might snap. “Should we gonow?” He asked again.
Aziel didn’t even bother to respond. He could feel the slow swell of power building inside of her, even from this far away. He inched back, murmuring quieted words of encouragement.
Nymiria drew in a deep breath, eyes screwing shut with a look of pain and regret. She shook her head, shoulders dropping a fraction.
She was reaching for it.
But then, just as soon as those flowers danced along her skin, the light died. The determination that’d settled into her had vanished and she looked down at the creature with such conflicting remorse that even Aziel’s brow drew together at the center. He watched as she closed her eyes again and within seconds, she was able to procure a slab of dripping meat in her hand that she hurriedly dropped to the forest floor.
The large, leathery creature let out a low gruff of a noise, following the scent of blood and flesh to the forest floor. It swallowed the meat in a single bite and then, much to Aziel’s surprise, looked up at Nymiria and whimpered for more.
He and Trio watched in awe from the shadows, as Nymiria fed the beast. By the fourth slab of meat devoured, the creature sauntered off into the forest without a single glance at the woman still clinging to the branch of the tree.
She didn’t kill it. Shefedit. As if leaning into her nature, she’d fed the thing that likened her to a hearty meal, disregarding that the thing had been moments away from carving into her flesh with those lengthy claws. In the grand scheme of things, knowing who she was, Aziel understood. Perhaps, she saw it. Perhaps, she felt it. That the beast hadn’t come to her to kill, but that it saw her and recognized what she could give.
When she finally relaxed and released a relieved breath into the night sky, Aziel unclenched his jaw and turned to Trio.
“Alright,” he whispered. “That’s enough.”
His friend blinked up at him. “We could still retrieve her. She’s already heading this way.”
Aziel shook his head, placing Trio’s sword back in its place at the footpost of the bed. “Won’t be necessary. She will get here on her own time.” He sighed, feeling the temperature of the room shift significantly higher once the shadows dispersed. Feeling Trio’s eyes watching him, Aziel let out a sigh. “Please don’t press this matter with me–”
“You are punishing yourself, Aziel.” Trio stated firmly, a rare bite of disappointment to his tone. “She hasn’t eaten a good meal in weeks, nor has she slept–”
“I thought I told you to stop spying on her.” He snarled. Aziel turned to his friend at that moment, his regret slamming into him immediately when he saw the darkened features on Trio’s face. His hand clenched into a fist at his side, the other combing through the disheveled silver locks of hair on his head. For once, he wished that he could feel the intense guilt that should have been accompanied with what he’d done, but the numbness he’d cursed himself with was stronger than ever. The twisted dark roots that marred his chest and torso were pulsing with his indifference, pumping unwelcomed anger into his blood.
“I manipulated her.” He said in a whisper. “I seduced her to get her to come back. And while I don’t have the means to regret my decision, Ido. In the only way I know how.”
Trio assessed him with brows drawn, slowly lifting himself to his feet. “You don’t want to intervene anymore?”
Aziel nodded. “Unless it is absolutely necessary.”
They sat in silence for a moment, both of them refusing to spare a single glance at the other. It was useless for Trio to try and convince Aziel that he wasn’t a bad person. Aziel had long-since come to terms with the fact that his moral compass was inherently skewed. They’d had this conversation weeks ago, when Aziel came back from the harbor–that while Aziel had wanted nothing more than to kiss Nymiria– tofeelher, it’d instilled a sense of self-loathing in him that he hadn’t been able to shake.
Aziel felt as if he hadn’t acted on impulse, that it wasn’t his innate desire to be with his mate that inspired his actions, but that it was the curse of his being that led him to leave her in such an indifferent manner. He didn’t want to leave her on that ship, but one glimpse of the pain in her eyes made him…
Ashamed.
Finally breaking the pregnant silence with the clearing of his throat, Aziel lifted his eyes to his friend. “Where is your sister?” He asked quietly.
Trio gave him a knowing smirk. “Come on.” He sighed. “Let’s go home.”
“Was it all worth it?”
Aziel lifted his gaze to the gilded throne perched at the center of the dais. Harsh blue eyes stared back at him. Inasha Celentas lifted herself to her feet and Aziel recoiled, bracing himselffor the burn of the runes on his spine, but the pain did not come. She folded her arms across her chest, wearing the smug proudness of someone who believed they had won a game no one was aware they were playing.
Aziel had been here before. Years ago. He’d been at the foot of this dais, wrists shackled, his heart aching for a princess that would be sequestered to a life of torment.
Was it all worth it? The witch queen had asked.
Aziel wasn’t sure.
The moment Dorid declared that Nymiria would become a courtesan, Aziel had felt every ounce of good in his soul leave his being entirely. He’d been flooded with an overwhelming desire to destroy everything in his path. But Inasha had felt that rage. She knew what lived inside of him and she’d done everything in her power to ensure that it was never directed towards her and her own personal agenda.
