Realm Of Ashes (Throne of Glass #7)

Chapter 10

We did it guys! I got past my weird habit of leaving a book at nine chapters and here is the tenth. I hope you like it...

@HeirOfTheBookstore

Aelin's legs were sore as she raced out of the door and skidded to a halt. The cold air nipped at her malnourished and cracking skin and she had to squint from so long locked up. She could feel every movement of the forest as her recently deprived senses caught up and she started searching. Searching for the one thing that had kept her alive in the horrible darkness. Rowan. Her eyes, heavy lidded and aching, scanned the expanse of green as she breathed deep. Nothing. But then again, Rowan would cover their scents, that was the way the 300 year old fae warrior worked. Careful and cunning, stealth incarnate.

Fenrys had told her that he would be to the right of the compound, so that's where she would start. She started running again, desperate, parched and could feel her heart hammering against her chest. As she rounded the corner, she caught a glimpse of 3 Fae males and a human girl. She slowed her place, using the thick brush and her assassin skill to mask her approach. She studied the girl, catching the slight limp and perfectly poised ballerina figure. Her breath caught in her throat. Elide! But that meant... She caught a flash of white hair, stark black tattoo offsetting pale white skin so beautifully scarred. Rowan was here for her. She almost broke her cover and ran for him when her fae ears picked up a muffled scream. She noticed then: the posture her mate was In. There was a low growl and she caught the words.   'traitor' before Rowan lost his cool and started punching the guy in front of him. She caught a sight of brown hair and tanned skin. Fenrys? But it couldn't be. She had knocked him out just a few minutes ago. That meant that it must be...

She released a breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding. That meant that the guy Rowan was torturing was Connall. Fenrys twin brother. The one he had given up his freedom to protect. She owed it to Fenrys to save him from the wrath of her mate. Her feet started moving before she knew what she was doing. With one swift movement she was plummeting towards Rowan, screaming "NO!".

By the time Rowan turned around, she had already pounced on him. They tumbled to the ground, Connall forgotten. She felt a shaking in his huge muscled chest and realised he was crying. She shifted her position to look at his face. He smirked up at her and she felt a knot in her chest loosen a bit.
"What?" She croaked, her voice an octave high from trying to hold back her own happy tears.
"I've missed you, Fireheart."
She smiled at that and stared into his beautiful eyes. A thought struck her then and she put her hand up between them and said
"To whatever end?"
He broke into a grin and his hand met hers and clasped together. She remembered the first time they had said those words, in a whole different world, or what seemed like it.
"To whatever end." He replied, his voice a bit husky from the swell of emotion.

At that moment, the bubble they had seemingly created for themselves shattered. The pain in her side roared with a new found flame and it was if reality had come crashing in on them.
She saw Elide from the corner of her eye, crying and pushed off Rowan to go to her. They didn't speak because they both knew that words would do nothing and, besides, what should she say to someone she barley knew, even if they had grown up in the same castle. She had said everything in that terrible night in Ellwye, had let her heart bleed the words that had been so heavy and unbearable. Now she had nothing. She just smiled a bit and bowed her head. 

Allowing herself to finally relax, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the scent of her mate entrapping her in a cocoon of warm. They were all so entrapped in the serenity of the moment that they didn't notice Connall rise from his slumber, using the tree to steady himself, and slide a knife in front of Aelin's throat.