"NO!" Came the voice of the infamous shadowsinger and immediately Gwyn got up and walked out of the door.

She was just about to leave when Azriel held her arm firmly, "You are not going to the spring court." He said, in a deadly voice.

A voice that even scared Gwyn a bit, but she didn't let it show. She tried to wiggle out of his control but he held strong. Gwyn gulped visibly. She was nervous, he could tell. But then, she straightened her shoulders, held her chin high and immediately attacked Azriel.

In a second he was pushed up against the wall, with a dagger on his throat.

Rhysand was standing at a distance, "Gwyn-"

"Control your spymaster Rhysand, you don't wanna wage a war with the spring court," and then, she simply walked out of the estate.

"What the hell is wrong with you-" Rhysand started but Azriel had already left by then, taking flight.

It was his fault, he knew. He should have never let Elain kiss him. He should have never kissed her back, he shouldn't have done anything. He knew his wasn't worthy of Gwyn, he knew he shouldn't want her, but he did.

He did even after forcing himself to kiss Elain, to make something happen between them so that he could leave Gwyn, let her live a better life.

But his feelings, his mind, his shadows had completely different thoughts. All they wanted was Gwyn, Gwyn, Gwyn. He'd kissed Elain one time, but that one time had ruined his relations with almost everyone in the inner circle.

Nesta won't even look at him. Cassian spent less time with Azriel and in the moments that he did, he looked at him with pity. Rhysand talked to him, but only regarding the matters about the court.

Hell, his own children won't even look at him without tearing up.

He'd made a fucking mistake, and he knew he was gonna pay the price for it with all the people he'd ever loved. His self pity had gotten the better of him, his own darkness had finally bested him. He had given into it, but yet, it didn't feel right.

Azriel flew around Velaris. Trying to think of a solution to unfuck this mess. But, the only solution that came to him was talking, something, he wasn't particularly good at.

So he got the courage to go up and talk to Gwyn. He didn't know where she was, so he went to their only shared place, their room. He landed on the balcony of their- his room. The room which Gwyn was planning to leave.

He saw Gwyn packing her bags. No, he thought his heart couldn't break more, but it did. It broke into a million more pieces.

He sent one of his shadows to her, to inform him of her presence. The shadow immediately wrapped itself around Gwyn's arm, at which she smiled. But when the realization hit her, that smile immediately disappeared.

She looked around the room, for the source of that shadow. And then, her eyes landed on him, through the glass door. And for a second, he could see the pain behind her eyes and feel it in their throbbing bond, before she cut of their connection, again.

Gwyn cleared her throat and walked towards the door. She looked at him once more, before opening it. She moved aside a bit so that he could enter

He could see the tear stains on her cheeks, could see the tears in her eyes, ones that she quickly cleaned with her sleeve.

She then tried to smile, but that smile didn't reach her eyes. "To what do I owe the meeting shadowsinger?" She asked, trying to be a bit cheerful but miserably failing.

Azriel's voice stuck in his throat. Tears threatening to fall from his own eyes after seeing his mate 'pretend' to be happy in front of him. He knew that mask, one he used to put on many years ago in front of the inner circle when Gwyn hadn't entered his life. She'd learnt it from him only.

Gwyn continued to pack her bags, putting clothes in that bag. "I-," Azriel tried to speak but again, he was never the one for words.

Gwyn then looked at him for a second. She'd just frozen, disappointed. She didn't want to admit that she was, because if she did, she'd also admit that she had been expecting something, anything, from him. So she didn't. She let her mask slip, just to put on a new one.

She laughed bitterly and said, "Wanted to apologize for kissing Elain? Oh it's all old news now, what's new with you?" Sarcasm dripped like venom from her voice.

A tear slipped from Azriel's eye. She could feel his pain from the other side of the bond, but she was not gonna fall for it. She fell for it once, but never again.

Azriel closed his eyes, and a few more tears left his eyes. Gwyn's heart broke to see him like that, but she kept reminding herself, that he alone caused it.

He then opened his eyes, and let himself be vulnerable. Gwyn knew it wasn't easy for him to do so, but he was trying, for her. He was letting her see his true broken self finally. But it was too late.

If it was some other normal day, Gwyn would have ran to him and wiped his tears, tell him it was all going to be okay. But it wasn't a normal day, and Gwyn didn't feel like lying anymore.

So she stood there, fighting against all her instincts, because she was not gonna let him break her. She knew he would just run to Elain and stay happily with her forever. Why should she be there for him when all he was ever gonna give her, was pain?

"Don't go." Azriel said, his emotions showing as clear as the teal in Gwyn's eyes. She walked up to him, a tear leaving her own eye. She stood in front of him, and gently wiped a tear on his cheek, the last time she would ever do so. "I don't have a choice." She said, letting her emotions be seen through the bond one last time, before she left him as well.