Azrianna sat quietly and looked down to Alhazier's head with a soft smile of infatuation. He was back in her room and on that cold marble top on her dressing table.
Thanks to Amyra's assistance and insistence to speak to Ilsandra in private, he didn't have to be in the brig or around an angry ring-leader.
"Thanks for being my baby sitter, Azrianna. You and Amyra seem to be the most pleasant...." his voice had lost its playfulness due to the knowledge he had just acquired.
"Azier..." she started softly and just as gloomily as his tone was.
"Yes?" He looked up to her softer red eyes as though whatever she said was going to make it all better.
"I don't think it's right what is going on, but I'm too scared to say something. Ilsandra is very scary, and very cruel when crossed," the poor girl whispered as she laid her head down next to his as she kept her gaze on his frowning face.
When the tender woman blinked, two large tears rolled down her cheeks (and over her nose) and made soft plops of glassy tears onto the surface they shared.
"What do you mean? Are they planning on tossing me over after all? If so - that's probably more cruel than anything anyone has ever done to me. 'All of your brothers are dead and it's your fault - now have a nice time in the ocean'" he said half mockingly, and half bitterly sarcastic.
"I...I won't let them, my master," she tried to say bravely, but he could tell she was shaking.
"Hey now, none of this 'master' talk - I mean, unless we're intimate in the bedroom, and then..." he tried to grin and play off the foul mood he was in, but it didn't work as his quip trailed off.
"I'm sorry, I forgot. It's habit," she replied sadly and rolled her eyes away from his in shame.
"We're going to have to build a new one, then." Azier replied as tenderly as he could and took pity on her instantly.
Azrianna and Amyra were so much more than they let on - so the other girls must have been, too. There was absolutely something they were hiding. He needed to know, but he also didn't want to put his delicate flower into a bad position.
Azrianna had a gentle, dark soul that he was becoming deeply fond of - and that odd feeling of desire to possess and protect her washed over him again. To put her into any harm's way was out of the question. As she nodded in agreement, he gave her a stronger smile than before.
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"...and I disagree with you, Ilsandra!" Amyra argued back to the redhead who was holding some kind of blade in her hand.
"You would," the eldest, tallest, and most influential of the group touted back to the oracle. "We have a job to do - and there is no way that Alhazier could offer us protection of any kind. You're all foolish!"
"You just hold a hatred against him for something that honesty wasn't his fault. It's not like he plunged the world into this chaotic mess. Azier would have done what he did either way," Evyra chimed in as she leaned against a crate with her arms crossed tightly.
"I agree with them. He's actually very, very nice. I think we were lied to - I think everyone was lied to," Sera added with brightness in her voice even though she was clearly irked.
"And what about you, Miss Silent?" Ilsandra asked snidely as she put her hands on her hips and darted her eyes at Zephyra.
"I think that you are looking too short past your nose." The swords woman replied honestly.
"Of course that's what you think. We can't just put all of our hopes and dreams on a stupid playboy who cares of nothing but himself." Ilsandra asserted again.
"You didn't see his face when I read the fate of his siblings, Sandra. I did. I looked into the future, and while I saw struggles - I did see a few possibilities of victory. I'm tired of having to be Azrael's slave. I hate having to lay with him and pretend he didn't kill Tobias in cold blood. I want him to die, and Azier is the perfect one to make him die. He can do it." Amyra presented the facts again, and this time took a step towards the fearsome female in front of her.
"I want my revenge. Azier does too. How did you feel when you woke up to find Dagon stabbed so badly that he was torn to pieces? Do you not want revenge,too?" She continued with a new rage in her throat.
"Don't bring up Dagon. Don't." Ilsandra warned.
Zephyra cleared her throat gently and inserted herself into the conversation calmly. "We all want revenge. Having Azier on our side would only make us more powerful. We have the location of his body parts, why not collect them and instead of returning them to Azrael, we restore Alhazier to his former glory. The other option is returning to the castle and having the last good man from the Varkys bloodline snuffed out, and never once thanked or shown affection to by the cruel ruler who sent us."
"We should tell him the truth, and then ask for his help. I hate Azrael, and I hate the world he keeps in chaos and terror. Stop being scared - and stop thinking this is as good as it gets, because it isn't." Amyra popped in with renewed passion for her argument.
"You are technically outnumbered, Sandra. We promised to do this together," Sera reminded her counterpart with a sweet, but stern gaze (and somehow still a real smile on her face).
"Yeah, that's right - you did say that." Evyra recalled and then she too stepped towards the leader.
"Fine. You all win. We'll go and tell him the truth about everything - but this is a risky, foolish, and doomed decision." Sandra stated with finality.