Life after the War - A Throne of Glass Fanfic

Settling

The same old man, to his credit, had come on time. He wore steel rimmed spectacles and slightly dustier robes and stood beside his horses, his gaze fixed at the wooden cottage. It was late morning, the sun shining to its fullest but still it was chilly in these mountains. Rowan and Aelin came towards him, the luggage already at the back of the carriage.

"Back to the castle?" He asked.

"Yes." Aelin said brightly. The ride was smooth but Aelin was soon feeling an overbearing pain that she tried to discard as mere travel sickness but it wouldn't go away.

"Rowan..." She managed to say. Fear and agony very clear in her voice. She knew this pain. It was magical and not some mortalish pain she hoped it would be. Fire was running through her veins, faster than ever.

"Rowan, I don't feel..." But she stopped midsentence and shouted, "STOP!!!"

Hardly had the driver stopped when she ran towards the forest – small deciduous one not the snowy coniferous they had lived near. She ran as fast as her legs could take her. Her magic it seemed had gone rogue, not accepting her command to calm down. She knew it would blast soon. The only hope she had that if she went deeper into the forest, it would lower the damages.

There was a clearing few meters ahead. She put the last of her strength to run towards it and fell down on her knees. Tears began flowing down, instantly turning to steam as her skin began to heat due to the fire she was trying to hold. And when she knew it would burn her, she let it go.

Her fire came out as a tornado around her, growing in size every second. But there was this other magic around hers. Fighting to keep her fire away from the trees and preventing it from starting a forest fire. She knew that force just as much as she knew hers. And when its bearer came towards her, her fire gave way to the silver-haired warrior who walked in without a hint of fear for his own life. The fire knew, her magic knew that it was her mate and try as it will, it couldn't so much as touch him.

"Aelin." He said at last, both relieved and tense as he saw her in this state, "Stay here. I am going to get you some medicine. Wait here."

The last sentence came out as a plea and Rowan rushed through the fire again, running towards the nearby town. Aelin lifted her face which was red with boiling blood and gave him the best smile she could muster when Rowan stopped to check if his magic was properly holding.

And when he was out of sight, Aelin burst into tears and crouched with her head between her knees.

Rowan entered a disreputable looking inn and talked to the owner who seemed really scared and bowed deeply when Rowan removed the hood. He told him his needs briefly and the owner agreed to supply it. Rowan took a glass phial not much longer than his finger and came back again, his face straight towards the forest where his mate was burning. With a flash, he shifted and soared above the jungle, looking for a sign of her. This time it was not Deanna, he knew that for sure. Aelin was settling.

When he swooped down towards her, neither his or her magic stopped him. He shifted again and showed Aelin the phial. It was filled with a silvery black liquid.

"Iron?" She croaked out.

"It will keep your fire down till tomorrow afternoon. We will figure it by then." He offered.

Aelin nodded and Rowan pushed the liquid down her throat. Her magic gradually snuffed causing her immense pain throughout and she fainted. Her fire no more than an ember now with so much iron in her body.

She could not feel as the familiar tattooed arms enclosed her and then took her out of the forest towards the inn. She was too hot, every inch of her skin touching his burnt him but he didn't care. As long as she was with him, he didn't care. He opened the door with a kick and there was no one, absolutely no one, as he walked towards the room at the end of the corridor. Good, the owner knew to keep his promises. Rowan had threatened him to have no audience at the inn and even the owner himself appeared to have vanished out of the scene.

Rowan opened the door to the bathroom and gently put Aelin in the bathtub. Her clothes were but rags, burnt and torn form many places. He put on the taps to fill the tub with cold water and then used his magic to freeze the water. Using his magic physically pained him, having exhausted most of it in the forest to keep Aelin's fire away from the trees, but as it is said before, he didn't care. When all the ice melted, he froze it again. And again. And again.

He did this till Aelin reached a near safe temperature and didn't immediately vaporize the water in the tub. He fell asleep right then and there.

Aelin slowly opened her eyes. She didn't know where she was or how she got there but she was in some sort of bathroom. She looked around to search for some clues as to where she was but then she saw Rowan asleep at the foot of the tub, she didn't feel the need to find any.

She moved very slowly, not wishing to wake Rowan just yet because he looked very tired but he woke.

"Fireheart?" He mumbled.

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Love,

Memeismeme : )