Kingdom of Ash
But Ren’s dark eyes met Aelin’s. Scanned them.
She’d heard about Murtaugh. Knew now was not the time to mention it, the loss dimming his eyes. So she kept her face open. Honest. Warm. “We could always use one more to partake in the nonsense,” Aelin said, an invisible hand outstretched.
Ren scanned her again. “You gave up everything and still came back here. Still fought.”
“All of it for Terrasen,” she said quietly.
“Yes, I know,” Ren said, the scar down his face stark in the rising sun. “I understand that now.” He offered her a small smile. “I think I might need a bit of nonsense myself, after this war.”
Aedion muttered, “You’ll regret saying that.”
But Aelin sketched a bow. “Oh, he certainly will.” She smirked at the males assembled. “I swear to you, I won’t bore you to tears. A queen’s oath.”
“And what will not boring us entail, then?” Aedion asked.
“Rebuilding,” Elide said. “Lots of rebuilding.”
“Trade negotiations,” Lysandra said.
“Training a new generation in magic,” Aelin went on.
Again, the males blinked at them.
Aelin angled her head, blinking right back at them. “Don’t you lot have anything worthwhile to contribute?” She clicked her tongue. “Three of you are ancient as hell, you know. I’d have expected better from cranky old bastards.”
Their nostrils flared. Aedion grinned, Ren wisely clamping his lips together to keep from doing the same.
But Fenrys said, “Four. Four of us are old as hell.”
Aelin arched a brow.
Fenrys smirked, the movement stretching his scars. “Vaughan is still out there. And now free.”
Rowan crossed his arms. “He’ll never be caught again.”
But Fenrys’s smirk turned knowing. He pointed to the camped Fae army on the plain, the wolves and humans amongst them. “I have a feeling someone down there might know where we could start.” He glanced at Aelin. “If you’d be amenable to another cranky old bastard joining this court.”
Aelin shrugged. “If you can convince him, I don’t see why not.” Rowan smiled at that, and scanned the sky, as if he could see his missing friend soaring there.
Fenrys winked. “I promise he’s not as miserable as Lorcan.” Elide smacked his arm, and Fenrys darted away, hands up as he laughed. “You’ll like him,” he promised Aelin. “All the ladies do,” he added with another wink to her, Lysandra, and Elide.
Aelin laughed, the sound lighter, freer than any she had made, and faced the stirring kingdom. “We promised everyone a better world,” she said after a moment, voice solemn. “So we’ll start with that.”
“Starting small,” Fenrys said. “I like it.”
Aelin smirked at him. “I rather liked the whole let’s-vote-on-the-Wyrdkeys thing we did. So we’ll start with more of that, too.”
Silence. Then Lysandra asked, “Voting on what?”
Aelin shrugged, sliding her hands into her pockets. “Things.”
Aedion arched a brow. “Like dinner?”
Aelin rolled her eyes. “Yes, on dinner. Dinner by committee.”
Elide coughed. “I think Aelin means on vital things. On how to run this kingdom.”
“You’re queen,” Lorcan said. “What’s there to vote on?”
“People should have a say in how they are governed. Policies that impact them. They should have a say in how this kingdom is rebuilt.” Aelin lifted her chin. “I will be queen, and my children …” Her cheeks heated as she smiled toward Rowan. “Our children,” she said a bit softly, “will rule. One day. But Terrasen should have a voice. Each territory, regardless of the lords who rule it, should have a voice. One chosen by its people.”
The cadre looked toward one another then. Rowan said, “There was a kingdom—to the east. Long ago. They believed in such things.” Pride glowed in his eyes, brighter than the dawn. “It was a place of peace and learning. A beacon in a distant and violent part of the world. Once the Library of Orynth is rebuilt, we’ll ask the scholars to find what they can about it.”
“We could reach out to the kingdom itself,” Fenrys said. “See if some of their scholars or leaders might want to come here. To help us.” He shrugged. “I could do it. Travel there, if you wish.”
She knew he meant it—to travel as their emissary. Perhaps to work through all he’d seen and endured. To make peace with the loss of his brother. With himself. She had a feeling the scars down his face would only fade when he willed it.
But Aelin nodded. And while she’d gladly send Fenrys wherever he wished—“The library?” she blurted.
Rowan only smiled. “And the Royal Theater.”
“There was no theater—not like in Rifthold.”
Rowan’s smile grew. “There will be.”
Aelin waved him off. “Need I remind you that despite winning this war, we are no longer flush with gold?”
Rowan slid his arm around her shoulders. “Need I remind you that since you beheaded Maeve, I am a Prince of Doranelle once again, with access to my assets and estates? And that with Maeve outed as an imposter, half of her wealth goes to you … and the other to the Whitethorns?”
Aelin blinked at him slowly. The others grinned. Even Lorcan.
Rowan kissed her. “A new library and Royal Theater,” he murmured onto her mouth. “Consider them my mating presents to you, Fireheart.”
Aelin pulled back, scanning his face. Read the sincerity and conviction.
And, throwing her arms around him, laughing to the lightening sky, she burst into tears.
It was to be a day for many meetings, Aelin decided as she stood in a near-empty, dusty chamber and smiled at her allies. Her friends.
Ansel of Briarcliff, bruised and scratched, smiled back. “Your shifter was a good liar,” she said. “I’m ashamed I didn’t notice it myself.”
Prince Galan, equally battered, huffed a laugh. “In my defense, I’ve never met you.” He inclined his head to Aelin. “So, hello, cousin.”
Aelin, leaning against the half-decayed desk that served as the lone piece of furniture in the room, smirked at him. “I saw you from a distance—once.”
Galan’s Ashryver eyes sparked. “I’m going to assume it was during your former profession and thank you for not killing me.”
Aelin chuckled, even as Rolfe rolled his eyes. “Yes, Privateer?”
Rolfe waved a tattooed hand, blood still clinging beneath his nails. “I’ll refrain from commenting.”
Aelin smirked. “You’re the Heir to the Mycenian people,” she said. “Petty squabbles are now beneath you.”
Ansel snorted. Rolfe shot her a look.
“What do you intend to do with them now?” Aelin asked. She supposed the rest of her court should have been here, but when she’d dispatched Evangeline to round up their allies, she’d opted to let them rest. Rowan, at least, had gone to seek out Endymion and Sellene. The latter, it seemed, was about to learn a great deal regarding her own future. The future of Doranelle.