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Elain was the last sister to settle in front of the fireplace on Solstice morning, her apron covered in flour and some of it had even found its way into her hair. The smallest members of the Night Court were still asleep, with Azriel’s shadows posted outside their doors. Azriel had crawled out of bed early that morning for their annual snowball fight- which now had a strict two hour limit. There were far too many things to do on Solstice between Feyre’s birthday and the younglings that were impatient for presents.
“They were whispering about mistletoe last night. Cauldron knows what our mates told them.”
“Rhi and Nyx?”
“Yes. Nyx screams about how disgusting kissing is- if only he knew.”
“He’s ten. And his Illyrian training does not cover any of this- well not love. And before you ask- no I have not seen what is to come for him when it comes to Nyx’s future with a mate.”
Heavy footballs filled the hallway, the sisters growing quiet as they exchanged a glance. This was the quickest snowball fight they had ever had or Solstice celebrations were about to be cancelled. Shadows wrapped around her in welcome and she let out a sigh. At least Azriel was fine. She watched as her sisters relaxed as well and confusion settled between all of them. Until the sound of two much smaller Illyrians sprinting towards the living room met their ears.
Elain moved first, walking towards the hallway and Azriel. Her sisters could handle whatever their children had conspired to do that brought back their fathers and her mate in this much of a huff. She glanced at Cassian and Rhys- both of whom were staring at their children with a fury she was sure they would not soon forget. Azriel only shook his head and walked over to her side, pulling her under mistletoe that his shadows conveniently held over his head.
His fingers were freezing as his hands reached up and cupped her cheeks, pulling her in for a kiss that made her melt. Whatever point he was trying to make to the young ones- she was certainly appreciative of it. As their shrieks of disgust went up they both chuckled before she pulled him into the living room. He needed to warm up and she could now bring up the muffins and other pastries she made for a lazy morning breakfast. They needed food as they got this story out of Nyx and Rhiannon.
“You did what?!”
Cassian placed a hand over his mouth as Rhys and Nesta looked ready to kill their respective child. The message they had sent to the mountain- on Azriel’s shadows- had them abandon the snowball fight and sprint for Velaris. It was just the right amount of scared and undetailed that they had all felt the need to fly home. Rhys didn’t even try to reach out to Feyre and while he felt that Nesta was fine, he could not be sure.
“It’s just a prank, Dad. You do stuff like this all the time.”
“I…how did you convince his shadows to even do that?”
“Auntie E taught us the key and those were her shadows- not Uncle Azriel’s. It’s present time and the muffins won’t be warm forever.”
He grabbed Nesta’s arm and pulled her back, pressing her face into his chest as she let out an unintelligible shriek. Rhiannon’s eyes locked with his and he shook his head. He was disappointed, but Nesta losing her shit would not teach their daughter the lesson he knew they needed to learn. Nyx’s own shit eating grin faltered as Rhys stormed away. If only his mother was around to see the payback for all the things Rhys had done as a youngling.
Feyre, alone, was able to quietly guide Rhiannon and Nyx into the living room and he heard her quiet chastising about how and when to use Uncle Azriel’s shadows. It would sink in with them far better than any yelling might. He slowly released his death grip on Nesta and her eyes flashed fire up at him.
“How are we going to survive puberty? They’re already ganging up against us.”
“It’s a miracle they didn’t know how to ask Az’s shadows to do things for them before now. We’ll talk with them and they both go back to training next week. We’ll get them to understand.”
“You and Feyre better talk fast- or Rhys and I will teach them a lesson.”
He nodded as he pulled her under the strategically hung mistletoe- he needed to distract her for a moment. Nesta looked up and shook her head before she rose onto her tiptoes and he leaned down to meet her. Drips of snow melted off his wings as he cocooned her within them and she let out a contented sigh. He knew that her gut reaction was to punish Rhiannon without mercy, but he also knew how desperate she was to not be her mother. Some days it slipped out, but most of the time if it was too much- she let him take the lead in these moments. Rhiannon held equal parts of both of their stubbornness and temper.
“Ew! Gross! Mom- Daaaaad.”
Nyx and Rhiannon were each asleep on one of the couches, as Elain quietly cleaned up breakfast and Feyre reached out to Rhys in the silence. His frustration was well warranted for what they had done, but his silent treatment would do no good with Nyx. If there was one thing she knew about their son, he took silence as meaning that things were fine. This was not fine.
‘Yes, darling?’
‘He’ll learn a lesson better if we talk with him. He needs us to explain it.’
‘I was so scared that you and the baby…I didn’t even think to reach out, to check…’
‘So we’ll get back at him with mistletoe and deal with this in the morning.’
“Mistletoe?’
‘Rhi and him think it is the most disgusting tradition in all of Prythian. Only serves them right after their prank.’
Rhys chuckled under his breath as she sat down in his lap and he pulled her close. Comfort. Comfort that they desperately needed. Madja wanted her to rest, but she found it impossible and Rhys was not much better. She watched as Nyx’s wings fluttered in his sleep and a smile spread across her face. His father’s mischievousness certainly led today’s prank and she loved it in both of them, even though Nyx was learning the boundaries of where it was funny and harmful.
Azriel settled on the floor in front of the fireplace, setting up a chess set with Elain curled into his side. She quickly fell asleep against him and Feyre watched as Azriel’s shadows brought over a blanket. There were moments when she thought the ten years apart had ruined them. Then she saw their spymaster and torturer tuck her in and reposition her head to keep her from waking up in pain and she knew that was foolish. Azriel had done more than any of them to care for his mate and she still was not sure of all the things he had truly done. Each time she pressed Elain, a new story came out.
“Uncle Az- can I play?”
“Sure. But you won’t have Auntie E to guide you today, she needs her sleep.”
Nyx nodded his head, his seriousness about chess making her chuckle. Azriel started teaching him before his Illyrian training began, his reasoning being that he needed to be taught logic and strategy. She thought it was more likely that Azriel wanted to provide Nyx an opportunity to talk about training without judgment. Cassian resorted to more training and Rhys would lecture him. Az just listened.
Over the next two hours, they played multiple games. Even as Rhiannon begged Nyx to join her for a snowball fight, he chose chess instead. Something was bothering him and she was sure he was working up his courage to ask Azriel about it- even though she and Rhys were soundly within earshot.
“Why was it bad that we tricked you to come back? All of you play pranks all the time. Why can’t I?”
“You can, Nyx, but one day you’ll meet someone you care about. You’ll care about them so much and the thought that they’re in danger will drive you to protect them viciously. You, Rhi, your mother and aunts- they’re who we care about most and while we are powerful and can protect you- there’s nothing we can do when we’re hundreds of miles away. And you’ll not want anyone to prank you about their safety, their health. My shadows are meant to keep Auntie E safe and because we care about you- they’ll come tell me if you and Rhi are in trouble. But if they had also come and said that another part of the Night Court was threatened? We’d have to choose and we would choose all of you every time. And if this is a false alarm- others will die, Nyx. I need you to promise you’ll only use the shadows again when you are in trouble.”
She exchanged a look with Rhys, both of them glued to their son’s response. Neither of them would give him this mature of an explanation. They would protect him, spoil him. Azriel refused to do that with a potential High Lord in the making and she felt the realization hit Rhys only a moment after her. They were scared to lose him. Azriel was concerned with what he would become if he didn’t learn consequences from those that cared about him. The trainers in the Illyrian camp most certainly didn’t, which left them.
“I didn’t know, Uncle Az. I won’t do it again. When will I be strong enough to protect myself?”
“Still another 20 to 30 years. You’ve got a lot of time to learn from your mistakes, Nyx. And I…I still make plenty. The most important thing is to learn how to apologize and to keep your word.”
“I can do that. I’m going to go snowball fight with Rhi. Thanks, Uncle Az!”
Nyx jumped up and walked over to the two of them. He gave her a fierce hug and then leveled his gaze at Rhys, building his courage to speak. She watched as her little boy pulled together all his courage and let out a ragged breath.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I won’t do it again.”
Rhys wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug and she knew he was speaking directly into his mind, the way that Rhys was always most vulnerable with his emotions. Nyx nod confirmed it as he then sprinted off to play and she glanced over to see Cassian also staring at Azriel like he had grown a second head. Azriel quietly reset the chessboard and motioned to Cassian to join him.
“We don’t get to gross him out with a mistletoe kiss.”
“You have plenty of time to scar him for life. Prepare yourself for a real challenge, Shadowsinger.”
“I quake in my boots, General.”