Divided (Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses Crossover)

Chapter 41

"I know. I was just wondering," Aidan said, resting her head back against the wood and wondering why it didn't hurt her. Azriel had been scared to death about it. 

She tried once again to call a little bit of flame to her fingers. She imagined that they got just a little bit warmer and smiled at her foolishness. 

"What are you smiling about?" Azriel asked. 

Aidan giggled, "Nothing."

Azriel opened his mouth to reply but the stomp of boots outside their cell stopped him. The door swung open and a guard tromped in. 

"Come on, you two. Let's go," he said gruffly. At least he didn't shove them as they once again made the trek to the throne room. Aidan laughed darkly to herself. Maeve was both lazy and unoriginal. 

She sat on her throne, and Aidan couldn't imagine that the old thing could be comfortable in the slightest. She held a silver mirror in her hand, but Aidan noticed that it was broken, the face smashed into several different pieces. 

"How did you come here?" Maeve asked, without much ado. 

"I don't know," Aidan lied. "Aelin said some words, opened it, and pushed us through."

"Liar," Maeve smirked, bobbing her head to the side. In an instant, Azriel was surrounded by a triple of guards with swords drawn. 

"I'm not lying. I have no idea how we came here, Maeve," Aidan answered. 

"You see, I just don't believe that Aelin would send a defenseless child here without a reason. Aelin is many things, but she has never been cruel, has never had what it takes to do what is necessary." 

Aidan remained silent, and Maeve continued, "But I do."

With a snap of her fingers, a guard stabbed a knife through Azriel's left wing. His shriek pierced her heart and something inside of her broke. Maeve snapped her fingers again, and a second guard plunged a dagger into Azriel's right thigh. A flicker of black passed a window, and Aidan's heart leaped. 

Warmth licked at Aidan's hands as something she didn't recognize snapped into place in her. Maeve snapped a third time, and another dagger dug deep into Azriel's forearm. 

Before Maeve's fingers could rub together again, Aidan had bent the room around her, shooting flames at the guards that surrounded Azriel, and using what little he had told her about winnowing, she stepped through a fold she created in the world up beside Maeve and plucked the mirror from her hand before winnowing away to Azriel again. Maeve's face was a mix of confusion and shock.

She grabbed his hand and stepped through another fold in the universe, out onto the rocky cliffs of Hybern, right in front of a hulking Illyrian clad with seven cobalt Siphons, and two petite females. 

Azriel gasped, blood running down his wing and back, "What did you do?"

Aidan shoved the mirror into his hand and quickly smashed her lips into his before saying, "I'm sorry."

Before any of them could stop her, Aidan winnowed back into the cell that she knew held Tamlin, Feyre, and Feyre's mate. 

Feyre hissed, "Aidan, what's going on?"

"How do you know her?" Rhys asked quietly, but both of them shushed him. 

"I can only take one of you at a time," Aidan said, grabbing onto Feyre and winnowing her out to the beach where her family waited. 

"Please," Feyre whispered, looking at the giant castle in the distance. "Go back and get him."

Aidan nodded, feeling a little dizzy, knowing she was close to burning out. She stepped back into the cell that held Rhys and Tamlin. 

Aidan reached for Rhys in the dark cell. In the hallway, Aidan could hear soldiers marching towards their room. A key began rattling in the lock. 

"I'll be back, Tamlin," Aidan whispered through the dark. They both knew it was a lie. 

She had a hand on Rhys and was stepping through the fold when another hand grabbed onto her, gripping her arm angrily. 

It was too late to stop the winnow as Tamlin growled, "You can't leave me here."

It took forever for her to wade through the winnow, trying to carry both of them with her, but finally she reached where she needed to be and dropped them heavily into the sand and rock. 

A pair of strong arms caught her as she fell to the rocky cliff, burnout evident in every way.

Looking up in his hazel eyes, Aidan whispered his name before succumbing to unconsciousness. 

Hey everybody! Next chapter will go back to what's happening with Aelin and Rowan! Thank you so much for reading, commenting, and voting! I really appreciate it!