On Thin Ice: Azriel x OC

Chapter 7

After the last few rounds, Nova bathed and changed into some thick leggings and a sweater, as it was fall and starting to get colder. She went downstairs to meet Mor and Feyre.

Mor spotted her first. "That was pretty quick."

"Yeah, Az let me off easy." She replied, Mor smirking at the words. "What? Is something wrong?"

"Nope, everything's perfect." Feyre quickly chimed in, shooting a look at Mor.

"Let's go," Mor said, before leading everyone out the front door.

They walked through the streets of Velaris, Nova making sure to note the way, she had only been out a few times, so she tried to make a mental map of everywhere she went.

They arrived in front of a small shop, and Mor stopped to hold the door open. Feyre walked in first, Nova and Mor following behind.

"Take a look around, shout when you find something you like," Mor said, Nova's mouth gaping open at the amount of fabric in the one-room shop.

Dresses were hanging everywhere, all along the walls and on racks in the center. There was every color imaginable, and all different types, short dresses, long dresses, even some jumpsuits.

Nova immediately walked over to the wall and started sifting through all the dresses, making mental notes of the ones that caught her eye. After a few minutes, she came across a navy blue, glittery, short dress, that had a slight v neckline and a low cut back, to show off her new, toned muscles. Her breathing stopped for a second as she looked over the dress.

Mor walked over and grabbed the dress out of her hand saying, "This is the one," before walking over and putting it on the counter in front of the shop owner, who reached to the rack behind her and grabbed the 2 dresses that Mor had picked out.

Mor and Feyre paid, they all left the store and started their walk back.

"Do we know what type of visitors are coming to dinner tonight?" Nova asked, trying to fill the silence as they walked.

"Rhys didn't tell me much, just that some people that work under Thesan are coming to discuss the aftermath of the war," Feyre replied.

"And he's gonna let them into Velaris?" Nova asked, her face full of confusion.

"They are supposed to report back to Thesan with our progress, and with Velaris no longer a secret, they specifically requested to meet here," Feyre responded.

Nova just nodded, still confused as to why they would meet here.

After a moment of silence, Feyre blurted out, "Would you want to work under Azriel and be Rhys' second spy?"

All three slowed down. Nova looked over, at a loss for words as she processed what Feyre had said.

Feyre continued, "I wasn't supposed to ask you until after dinner, but now seemed like a better time."

Nova was still silent, blankly staring at Feyre when Mor pitched in, "We know you can't go back to Winter Court, so it was the least we could do to offer you a job here."

Still not knowing what to say, Nova responded, "Yes, that sounds great."

Mor squealed and Feyre smiled saying, "Welcome to the inner circle."

They all could barely hold in all their excitement as they finished their walk.

When they arrived back at the townhouse, Rhys was in the kitchen waiting. The three girls set their bags by the stairs and walked into the kitchen.

"Congratulations." He said to Nova, as soon as they walked in. Her confusion must have shown on her face because he added, "I heard you accepted the offer."

She realized Feyre must have told him through their bond, and her face relaxed, "Yes, I did. Thank you, by the way."

"You deserve it," Rhys said, returning Nova's smile.

Mor left to start getting ready, congratulating Nova once more before leaving. Rhys noticed Nova staring at Feyre's arm tattoos, and said to her, "We can make it official."

"What?" Nova looked over to him.

Rhys gestured to Feyre's arms, saying, "I can give you something like that if you want." Nova shrugged, and Rhys continued, "People need to know that you're part of our court now."

"That," gazing toward Feyre's arms, "might be a little much," Nova said, her eyes lifting back to Rhys.

"I can give you something smaller," Rhys said, trying his hardest to convince her.

Nova finally gave in, figuring it could be useful for her to be an apparent member of the Night Court.

"Fine," Nova replied, walking the last few steps to close the space between her and Rhys.

He lifted Nova's left hand gently by her fingertips, and Nova closed her eyes.

Her wrist tingled, and she opened her eyes to find a black band of Illyrian markings, roughly a half an inch thick.

She didn't take her eyes off it, as she rotated her hand around to see the whole thing.

Feyre walked over, analyzed the small tattoo, and said, "It's official."

Nova looked over and returned her beaming smile, and looked back down towards her wrist, to say quietly, "It's beautiful."

There was a moment of silence until Feyre said, "We're meeting down here in an hour to go over to the House of Wind, I'm gonna get ready."

Nova nodded, walking out of the kitchen first, grabbing her bag at the bottom of the stairs.

She went upstairs and quickly bathed again, admiring her tattoo the whole time. She knew the main reason Rhys did it was to show Alex that she's not going down without a fight and that she had people on her side. She thought everything was a little rushed though, she had only been in Velaris for less than 3 weeks.

She figured there had to be a reason why they did it so quickly. She made a mental note to ask Rhys about it later.

She finished and got dressed, into the navy dress that she picked out hours before. Nuala and Cerridwen came in right after, they curled Nova's hair and applied just a little makeup. Nova put on some black block heels, about 4 inches tall. She had found them in her armoire a few days prior, figuring Mor added them in case of this sort of occasion. She had never been fond of wearing heels, but they added a few inches to her height, so she didn't mind for one night.

Nova went downstairs, hearing voices in the living room. She had made sure not to wear any jewelry on her left wrist, to show off her new tattoo. She took a deep breath and walked into the living room, where all eyes shifted to her.

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A/N:

Hey guys! Sorry for not updating for a few days, I have been super busy with work and school, but I should have more chapters out this week. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it so far!