Hellfire

Aelin

Aelin sat in silence, stewing over the story she had just been told. According to the Fae, Morgan was a bedside tale told to younglings to make them behave, an ancient story so few alive had read. Aelin wondered if Emrys knew it. She was still stewing when Connall leaned forward, his face drawn in concentration. 

"You swore to us that you would free us on your daughter's life. Who is she?" 

Her attention shifted as Morgan took a deep breath in. She hadn't wanted to broach this subject.

"My daughter is Galena. 'Healing' in the Old Language, or some form of it. She inherited my dark power."

Aelin waited for her to say more, but Morgan fell silent. She knew what topic she was avoiding. 

"I'm going to hazard a guess and say you don't want us to know who the father is," Fenrys rasped, leaning back in his chair. 

Morgan blew out a breath and met Fenrys's dark-eyed stare. "He is someone you know well, someone I mentioned in this narrative."

Aelin gulped, staring at Morgan. They didn't part on good terms, from the way she was staring at the floor. Connall inhaled sharply. "Lorcan." Morgan blinked in confirmation. "Does he know?" Vaughn pressed. A shake of the head. "Does Maeve know?" Aelin asked quietly. Morgan nodded slowly. "She's the reason my daughter can't speak."

All the breath in Aelin's lungs whooshed out. Maeve must have been furious. For one of her blood-sworn to have a child. She'd taken that anger out on said child, it seems. Anger threatened to overwhelm her vision.

"That's despicable," Vaughn seethed.

"There was nothing I could do. She chained me down and whipped me, then cut out her tongue and scarred her face. I tried, I really did."

Morgan's voice began to break, and she put her head in her hands. Silence fell over the room, and all that could be heard was the creaking of the ship.

"Where are we headed?" Aelin blurting, breaking the silence. Morgan lifted her head a bit.

"We're heading back towards your country. From what I gather, you have amassed an army. I think it's best if you make it back to them. And to your mate," Morgan added with a small smile. Aelin nodded, feeling her throat close up. Fenrys's face had become drawn, and Aelin knew he was recounting what had gone down on that hill. He looked up, feeling her gaze upon him.

"You gave up your immortal life to save us all, Aelin," he said hoarsely, eyes never leaving her face. "I saw your face when Maeve said you were going to Settle soon. It killed you, knowing that you had centuries with him, but you did it anyway. Why?"

Aelin didn't know if she could speak. "Because I would rather it be me than any of them," she said quietly. "I didn't know that I was going to Settle. When she said that-" She blew out a breath. "I knew he was my mate for a while. I knew I had weeks, maybe a month or two at best, days at worst, once I realized that the cost would be me. My life. But I will do it. For my country, for the hell I endured along with the rest of my people." She lifted her blazing eyes to his.

"But you are needed Aelin," he said softly. "You are needed alive for your own future, for Rowan's, for your cousin's, for your court's. You can't give yourself up for your country, not until you've considered every possible angle." She opened her mouth to argue, but Fenrys plowed ahead. "You think you are not needed, that you are not important to the future. But you are exactly the reason why people are trying to save it. So you need to live, you need to live and breathe and love and laugh because we all know damn well how little you've done that in the years leading up to this." Aelin didn't know when she started crying.

"I know Rowan probably has words to say to you about this, about what you are trying to do, and he'll probably do a better job of it, but you need to know, that I was willing to attack my former queen to get you out, because you and your court are how things are supposed to be, and how they were years ago. You deserve to keep living, simply because you are willing to give your life to save everyone you care about."

Silence. Aelin just sat, staring at her hands folded in her lap.

"How old are you, Aelin?" Connall whispered. Vaughn twisted in his seat to look at her.

"Nineteen," she answered quietly. Vaughn swore under his breath.

Morgan looked at her sadly. "Tell me. Tell me why you have to give your life." So Aelin did, explaining what Elena and Gavin had done, and the promise Elena had been forced to make. The Queen Who Was Promised.

"It could be you or Dorian, then. The blood runs in both your houses," Morgan reasoned, contemplating.

"Maybe. But Dorian wasn't ready. I was. That was the decision made," Aelin answered softly. "I don't know if he still qualifies." Morgan was looking at her, as if she could read every thought flowing through her head.

"Would Dorian's younger brother work?" Morgan inquired, and Aelin blinked. She hadn't considered that. "I don't know," she answered truthfully. "He does have Brannon's blood." Something sparked in Morgan's eyes, then vanished, and Aelin wondered what thought had appeared in her head.

Morgan shifted to look at the clock ticking on the wall. "I believe it's time we all go to bed. We'll be nearing Terrasen by the afternoon or early evening tomorrow. We'll work out a plan from there." Aelin just nodded, the mere thought of scheduling war making her head throb. She stood, following Morgan out of the room. The three males shifted to watch them walk out.

"Goodnight, you three," Aelin said tiredly, waving a hand in their direction. Fenrys, Connall, and Vaughn all put up a hand in farewell, and she caught Fenrys wink as the door snicked closed. Morgan again helped her walk back to their room. Aelin stared up at her, thinking.

"What is it?" she queried. 

"How did you free them from the blood oath?"

"Ah," she responded, nudging their door open with her hip. "My magic, like yours, is stronger than Maeve's. I think my father may have foreseen that one day, his mother may want to try to become stronger than he was. Their magic was matched, and he knew that if she had enough tricks up her sleeve, she would win. So, when I came into the world, I believe he found ways to make me just a little stronger, so that it would be just enough to best her. The power and knowledge to break blood oaths was one of these things; to weaken Maeve from the powers she holds close."

Aelin considered this, the fact that Erawan may have chosen to work against the Mother of the Valg. "That sounds like a long history that can't be shared tonight," Aelin pointed out, yawning, and Morgan guided her to her bed. Her back protested as she lay down, and Aelin groaned, that burning pain starting up again. Morgan's eyes shot to her, as if reading a passage from a book. Wordlessly, she filled and handed her a cup, filled with the same water laced with painkiller she had been drinking earlier. "Sleep," she prodded, blowing out the candles. Aelin drained the cup, and was out before her head hit the pillow.