The Past Lies Ahead (A Throne Of Glass Fanfic)

Chapter 72

The entire city of Rifthold was celebrating the victory from two weeks ago, however in the glass castle another sort of party would be celebrated. Lysandra stood behind Aelin's chair, carefully arranging her hair in a coronet atop her head, fastening it with pearl pins. «Thank you, Lys, it's beautiful.» Aelin said as she looked in the mirror.

«Anything for the birthday girl.» she chirped as she placed the last pin. «There you go, all ready.» 

Aelin rose from her chair and walked over to the tall mirror to see the end result. Her ocean blue dress was close fitting at the bodice, and the skirts flowed around her in beautiful waves accented with silver threading. Diamond earrings were dangling from her ears, but she had decided not to wear a necklace. She smiled to herself as she twisted and turned in front of the mirror. Lysandra grinned to her in the mirror

«Sam will go all weak in the knees when he sees you in this.» Lys said, as she admired her own handiwork.

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She hadn't celebrated her birthday since she had turned nineteen, and now the butterflies of excitement and expectation fluttered in her stomach. She straightened her sea green velvet dress. It was very sleek and close fitting, a beautiful, yet, simple dress. It had an open back, revealing her fresh tattoo and the countless scars beneath them. 

She glanced at the clock. Time to go to the ballroom. She left her rooms and followed the hallways until she reached the large glass doors leading into the ballroom. Dorian had invited absolutely everyone, friends, allies and family. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous, so she took a deep breath to settle her nerves. Footsteps sounded from down the hall, and Young Aelin came around the corner looking every bit the staggering beauty she was. 

«Ready for our grand entrance?» She said as she approached, eyes gleaming with eagerness. 

«Ready when you are.» she said, and smiled at her vibrant young friend.

Young Aelin grinned and grabbed her hand, eagerly pulling her towards the doors and opened them. Everyone in the room turned towards, faces from all over the world, everyone who had joined the alliance.  «HAPPY BIRTHDAY!» they all cheered as the two women stepped inside. Young Aelin let go of her hand and bounded over to Sam, and Aelin headed towards her own man. 

Rowan was wearing a matching outfit, and she could not take her eyes of his beaming face. Her mate. She took his hand in hers, and interlaced their fingers. Music began to play, and she saw Sam ask Young Aelin to dance before leading her unto the dance floor. Rowan squeezed her hand gently, and she turned to look up at him. «Do you want to dance with me?» He asked gracefully.

«I'd love to.» she said, and let him guide her to the open space where Sam and Young Aelin were twirling about. Aelin placed her hand on his upper arm, he placed his on her lower back the gracefully began to move across the floor.  

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She couldn't stop smiling while Sam spun her out, then pulled her in close again. She had no idea how long they had been dancing, but long enough for her feet to start aching. Other people had joined the dancing at some point, but she only had eyes on the man before her. Some commotion however made her like to the side, and she blinked as she beheld the two biggest cakes she had ever seen. 

«Time for the birthday cakes!» Dorian announced as eight servants, four on each cake, placed the cakes on separate tables. «Come on, birthday kids, blow out the candles and make a wish. And remember; No use of magic to blow out the candles, or the wish won't come true!» 

Their dancing slowed and then they made their way towards the big cakes. Aelin stepped up beside Old Aelin, who was gaping at her cake, which was so full of candles it almost looked like a bonfire.

«Did you seriously have them put 427 candles on it?» Old Aelin asked her smirking mate. «How do I even blow out all that?»

Aelin and Sam exchanged a glance, suppressing a laugh. «I'm glad I'm only eighteen.» She said lightheartedly and playfully nudged Old Aelin. 

«Judging from how widespread your candles are, you won't have an easy time blowing out all of yours in one go either.» she laughed and nudged her back. 

«Girls, take your places, get ready» Dorian said, and people gathered around to watch them try to tackle this challenge. The Aelins stepped up to their respective cakes, smiling at each other.  «BLOW!» Dorian's voiced boomed, overly excited.

Aelin drew in a deep breath, the rule was one intake of breath, no more. Even though her candles were spread out she was glad she only had eighteen. She began moving around the cake to get at all of them, and struggled not to laugh as she saw Old Aelin hurrying around hers to get all the candles.

Aelin got to her last candle with barely enough breath to blow it out, and took a much needed breath. She grinned at Sam, who winked at her then pulled her into his arms.  A whoop of victory sounded from next to her, and she turned find Old Aelin triumphantly placing her hands on her hips, breathing heavily. 

«Just you wait, Rowan, I'll get back at you for this.» she said, still a bit out of breath, but her eyes were shining bright. Rowan, however, just grinned like a hellion as he pulled her into a kiss.

Aelin laughed, then turned to cut out a piece of her cake for herself, and then a piece for Sam. With their cakes in hand, they quickly wove their way through the room and unto one of the balconies overlooking the garden. Once her cake was devoured, and she had helped herself to some of Sam's cake as well, she snaked an arm around his waist and nestled in close to his side. 

She sighed, and leaned her head against his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, and held her in his arms. «Happy birthday, Aelin.» he said. Aelin lifted her head to gaze up at him, then leaned in and kissed him deeply.

«Thank you, it couldn't be any better.»  she smiled up at him. 

«Are you sure? Check my left pocket.» he said with a grin, and she raised an eyebrow at him. She gingerly reached in, never looking away from his eyes. Her fingers touched something hard with a soft velvety surface, she bit her lip, grabbed it and pulled it out. «Open it.» he urged her. Despite already knowing where this was going, her heart still began to beat like crazy as she flipped open the lid. 

«Will you marry me, Aelin?» he asked and she threw her arms around him, squealing with barely contained excitement.

«You already know the answer to that, silly.» she pulled back to look at his face. «But, Yes. I want to marry you, Sam.» He laughed softly, and took the open box from her hands, then lifted out the sapphire ring and slid it unto her finger. She didn't bother saying anything else, instead she pulled him in and kissed him passionately. Now it was officially the best day of her life.