Important things that happened in one scene between Gwyn and Azriel:
1. His shadows not warning him that someone was in the ring. That someone is Gwyn. Azriel left the River House to go there by choice so claiming her was lured there is nonsense. The behavior of his shadows throughout this scene gives some clues and I think it's intentional on Sarah's part especially after mentioning how the shadows skitter back from Elain "the only thing we saw they skitter or recoil from is the Cauldron in ACOWAR". The fact that they didn't tell Gwyn was there is something new.
2. His shadows looking at her with curiosity and Azriel thought she was smiling back at them. Sarah went out of her way to highlight that fact she rarely addresses the reactions of his shadows and that Gwyn was acknowledging the presence of his shadows by smiling at them, the same shadows that intimidate others around them and others barely acknowledge their presence or just vaguely mention they're floating around Az.
3. Gwyn gave an opening for Az to leave by saying "Happy Solstice" in dismissal and he chose to continue the conversation by teasing her back.
4. Gwyn gets a bit flustered when Az teases her about kicking him out but tells him she knows he likes to be alone. Two important things here: she is aware enough of Azriel to know he likes being on his own and asks him if he came up to the House of Wind to be alone on Solstice night. She's indirectly getting to know him.
5. Azriel lies to her about coming up to the ring because he forgot his favorite dagger and Gwyn immediately catches his lie and indirectly calls him out on it. She's compeltely amused by him at this scene and he offers her a crooked smile back. Azriel, who was in the shittiest mood, bothered to offer a smile back.
6. She teases him about him not being able to sleep with his dagger and his lips twitch as if he's about to smile again. Icy raged Azriel? Smiling when not an hour passed since his conversation with Rhys? That's big coming from him. He even refrains from actually letting her know that he actually does sleep with daggers in every corner of his room.
7. She asks him about the party and her breath clouded in front of her since it's cold and it one of his shadows dart out to dance with it as if it's heard some silent music. Two things here: the reaction of Azriel's shadows and a hint about some silent music. That's a big clue for the reader here.
8. Azriel's awkward attempt at being social with Gwyn. His ice is starting to melt during this conversation and we have seen multiple times throughout the books that when Az is in a shitty mood he barely manages a polite hello or even a smile. The fact he is interacting with Gwyn, instead of leaving to brood somewhere else is not something insignificant. He even notes his answers are not socially acceptable and tries to give a more polite answer.
9. This is one of the highlights of the scene: Gwyn asks Azriel if he sings. That's a personal question and one Azriel even says caught him off guard and he mentions that it wasn't everyday that people took him by surprise. But Gwyn did didn't she? And it's an important question for Gwyn because she loves singing. She connects that to him being a Shadowsinger but that also means she wants to know who he is and being a Shadowsinger is part of his identity. Remember, we started out this scene with a pissed off Azriel but now we have Azriel answering Gwyn either a chuckle about him singing.
10. She almost asks him to demonstrate his singing but Az being good at deflection asks her to cut the ribbon instead. He thinks of it a good distraction but he still helped Gwyn.οΏΌ
11. Gwyn jokes about Cassian being too focused at Nesta to not realize the mistakes she's making while training and Az laughs at that. He. Laughed.
12. Gwyn thanks him with a smile and Azriel dips his head in a sketch of a bow and notes something restless in him settling and even his shadows have calmed down and were content to lounge on his shoulders and watch. This scene started out with Az being depressed and angry and ended with him laughing and feeling calmed down enough to remember to actually get some sleep. We rarely or even have never saw Azriel's mood change in a span of an hour let alone a day. Sarah doesn't only highlight Azriel is feeling settled down, she also mentions that his shadows have calmed down and were content to watch Gwyn.
13. Azriel wishes Gwyn a happy solstice and leaves. As he was walking down the stairs he swore he can hear a faint beautiful singing following him and his shadows sang back in answer. This is another big clue here, you know why? Because Sarah used almost the same line for Bryce and Hunt in HOSAB: βHis lightning flowed into her like a river, and he could have sworn he heard a beautiful sort of music between their soulsβ. She wrote HOSAB after ACOSF so the fact she used music yet again for mates, it wasn't the kind of music anyone could hear but it's music only mates could hear. Azriel being a Shadowsinger gives him a better chance of detecting it but I wouldn't put it past him to not realize what it is.
All of this is packed in one scene. You can clearly tell or I personally think those are the crumbs SJM scattered all over his bonus chapter. There quite a few emotions and reactions Gwyn is bringing out of Az in one scene. It's significant because Azriel keeps his emotions locked in and barely shows emotions especially when he is pissed. He just keeps an icy exterior but it crumbled quickly around Gwyn. The scene started with him feeling shitty to him and his shadows feeling calmed down.
dailybridgerton
areudirty
2087
gracieabrams
stormborns
