Kingdom of Ash
Rowan laughed, stooping to gather his sword belt, left neatly by the wall alongside hers. Only Gavriel would have arranged them with such care. “That need indeed trumps what I had planned.”
People gawked in the halls, some whispering as they passed.
The queen and her consort. Where do you think they’ve been these past few days?
I heard they went into the mountains and brought the wild men back with them.
I heard they’ve been weaving spells around the city, to protect it against Morath.
Rowan was still smirking when Aelin emerged from the communal ladies’ bathing room.
“See?” She fell into step beside him as they aimed not for their room and ravishment, but for the hallway where food had been laid out. “You’re starting to like the notoriety.”
Rowan arched a brow. “You think that everywhere I’ve gone for the past three hundred years, whispers haven’t followed me?” She rolled her eyes, but he chuckled. “This is far better than Cold-hearted bastard or I heard he killed someone with a table leg.”
“You did kill someone with a table leg.”
Rowan’s smirk grew.
“And you are a cold-hearted bastard,” she threw in.
Rowan snorted. “I never said those whispers were lies.”
Aelin looped her arm through his. “I’m going to start a rumor about you, then. Something truly grotesque.”
He groaned. “I dread the thought of what you might come up with.”
She adopted a harsh whisper as they passed a group of human soldiers. “You flew back onto the battlefield to peck out the eyes of our enemies?” Her gasp echoed off the rock. “And ate those eyes?”
One of the soldiers tripped, the others whipping their heads to them.
Rowan pinched her shoulder. “Thank you for that.”
She inclined her head. “You’re very welcome.”
Aelin kept smiling as they found food and ate a quick lunch—it was midday, they’d learned—sitting side by side in a dusty, half-forgotten stairwell. Much like the days they’d spent in Mistward, knee to knee and shoulder to shoulder in the kitchen while listening to Emrys’s stories.
Though unlike those months this spring, when Aelin set down her plate between her feet, she slid her arms around Rowan’s neck and his mouth instantly met hers.
No, it was certainly not at all like their time at Mistward as she crawled into Rowan’s lap, not entirely caring that anyone might stride up or down the stairs, and kissed him silly.
They halted, breathless and wild-eyed, before she could decide that it really wouldn’t be a bad idea to unfasten his pants right there, or that his hand, discreetly and lazily rubbing that damned spot between her thighs, should be inside her.
If Aelin was being honest with herself, she was still debating hauling him into the nearest closet when they set off to find their companions at last. One glance at Rowan’s glazed eyes and she knew he was debating the same.
Yet even the desire heating her blood cooled when they entered the ancient study near the top of the keep and beheld the gathered group. Fenrys and Gavriel were already there, Chaol with them, no sign of Elide or Lorcan.
But Chaol’s father, unfortunately, was present. And glowered as they entered the meeting that seemed well under way. Aelin gave him a mocking smile and sauntered up to the large desk.
A tall, broad-shouldered man stood with Nesryn, Sartaq, and Hasar, handsome and brimming with a sort of impatient energy. His brown eyes were welcoming, his smile easy. She liked him immediately.
“My brother,” Hasar said, waving a hand without looking up from the map. “Kashin.”
The prince sketched a graceful bow.
Aelin offered one back, Rowan doing the same. “An honor,” Aelin said. “Thank you for coming.”
“You can actually thank my father for that. And Yrene,” said Kashin, his use of their language as flawless as his siblings’.
Indeed, Aelin had much to thank the healer for.
Nesryn’s sharp eyes scanned Aelin from head to toe. “You’re feeling all right?”
“Just needed to rest.” Aelin jerked her chin at Rowan. “He requires frequent naps in his old age.”
Sartaq coughed, keeping his head down as he continued studying the map.
Fenrys, however, laughed. “Back to your good spirits, I see.”
Aelin smirked at Chaol’s straight-backed father. “We’ll see how long it lasts.”
The man said nothing.
Rowan motioned to the desk and asked the royals, “Have you decided—where you shall march now?”
Such a casual, calm question. As if the fate of Terrasen did not rest upon it.
Hasar opened her mouth, but Sartaq cut her off. “North. We shall indeed go north with you. If only to repay you for saving our army—our people.”
Aelin tried not to look too relieved.
“Gratitude aside,” Hasar said, not sounding very grateful at all, “Kashin’s scouts have confirmed that Terrasen is where Morath is concentrating its efforts. So it is there that we shall go.”
Aelin wished she had not eaten such a large lunch. “How bad is it?”
Nesryn shook her head, answering for Prince Kashin, “The details were murky. All we know is that hordes were spotted marching northward, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.”
Aelin kept her fists at her sides, avoiding the urge to rub at her face.
Chaol’s father said, “I hope that power of yours can be summoned again.”
Aelin let an ember of that power smolder in her eyes. “Thank you for the armor,” she crooned.
“Consider it an early coronation gift,” the Lord of Anielle countered with a mocking smile.
Sartaq cleared his throat. “If you and your companions are recovered, then we’ll press northward as soon as we are able.” No objections from Hasar at that.
“And march along the mountains?” Rowan asked, scanning the map. Aelin traced the route they’d follow. “We’d have to pass directly before the Ferian Gap. We’ll barely clear the other end of this lake before we’re in another battle.”
“So we draw them out,” Hasar said. “Trick them into emptying whatever forces wait in the Gap, then sneak up on them from behind.”
“Adarlan controls the entire Avery,” Chaol said, drawing an invisible line inland from Rifthold. “To pass north, we have to cross that river anyway. In picking the Gap as our battleground, we’ll avoid the mess that would come with fighting in the midst of Oakwald. The ruks, at least, would be able to provide aerial coverage. Not so with the trees.”
Rowan nodded. “We’d need to march the majority of the host up into the mountains, then—to come at the Gap from where they’d least expect it. It’s rough terrain, though. We’ll need to pick our route carefully.”
Chaol’s father grumbled. Aelin lifted her brows, but his son answered, “I sent out emissaries the day after the battle—into the Fangs. To contact the wild men who live there, if they might know of secret ways through the mountains to the Gap.”
Ancient enemies of this city. “And?”
“They do. But at a cost.”
“One that shall not be paid,” the Lord of Anielle snapped.