Too Young to Rattle Stars

Chapter 5

Aelin followed silently with tear stained cheeks as Rowan was placed on a stretcher that his body barely fit. Two large men in full armor rolled him onto his stomach and lifted the stretcher off the ground. Rowan was big, she realized. Of course bigger than her but he was bigger than the other fae carrying him.
"Not so fast Princess Aelin." A voice called from behind her. She turned quickly to see the dark queen's pointed face looking at her. She felt fire grow in her belly.
"You may go as soon as I've introduced my self and you have done the same."
Aelin turned again as Rowans slumped body began to be carried away from her.
"Why did you hurt him?" She muttered.
"Speak up Princess," she encouraged.
"He brought me to you like you asked and you hurt him?"
Maeve tilted her head at her. She was beautiful some how but just as terrifying. She seemed to bleed power that Aelin had never seen before.
"He was disobedient, I keep my pets on a tight leash little Aelin."
Pet?
How could a person be a pet, she understood that Rowan was bound to the queen through blood, but he wasn't a horse.
"It was a bad way to meet, I know. Hopefully you never see me like that again." She ran a hand through her raven hair and briefly shut her eyes. Her face took on a more somber tone, she sensed what was coming.
"I am sorry for the loss of your family, they will be missed. I am glad to have you with me now, to keep you safe."
Aelin couldn't look at her any longer without crying, she went from whipping a man to offering her condolences? There was something off about the Fae Queen. There was something odd about everything here.
"Thank you." She offered.
"We're going to have to work on your mumbling dear, along with many other things." She sighed, "as you already know I am the queen of Doranelle, and it is my pleasure to meet you Princess of Teressan. Now I can tell you are worried about my blood sworn and no longer care for my presence. Take a right at the next hall and you'll be able to follow them to his room. I'll have a servant show you yours at a later."
Maeve turned away from her, toward her throne room that they had just left. Aelin watched her go; unmoving. There was a dark man behind her throne watching with hard eyes. She hadn't noticed him before in the chaos and as she looked around the room she quickly forgot about him again and remembered the events that had just transpired. She'd felt every single blow that landed on Rowan in the back of her mind and it had hurt. She did not like her aunt. She was something evil.
She felt an urge to growl at her but instead turned on her heel and ran down the hall, almost tripping on her makeshift dress.
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Rowan woke to find his face tucked in a pillow, a headache, and a pain in his back. He groaned as he felt cool pressure against his wounds.
"Are you awake?" A young voice asked, at the same time absently pushing more. He growled and sat up.
Aelin was sitting next to him on his large bed with wide eyes and a wet rag in her hand. He stared at her in awe until she spoke.
"I- they told me to clean the blood off?"
He noticed the bowl of water that had partially spilled on his bed. He looked at her again, she was still here, still wearing his ridiculously large shirt as a dress.
He tried to look back at his wounds but couldn't see them from that angle. She grabbed the bowl before it could spill further.
"Be careful dummy" she scolded. "I can tell that hurts."
It did of course.
He took a third look at the small girl. He couldn't stop himself from looking at his child mate. She had just watched him whipped and was now softly washing away the blood. He didn't know whose idea it was to make her do this but he couldn't protest. She was such a beautiful little thing, still in Fae form. Little pointed ears tucked up under her hair that he could barely see.
Did she like helping him? He wondered. Or was she just doing what she was told?
She stared back at him unabashed and curious. His heart was beating a little faster than normal and he could hear his blood. He didn't know how long he looked at her before he realized what he was doing.
Rowan opened his mouth to talk but no words came out, his mouth must have been to dry. She broke the silence anyway.
"A lot has happened this week." She said, still looking deep into his soul, "and there's nothing I can do about it."
His heart broke and a tear slid down her cheek. He pulled himself up despite his still fresh wounds and took the bowl of fresh water stiffly from her hand and with some trouble poured it onto his dry tongue. He waited till he felt the cold liquid flow down his throat into his stomach. He readied himself to explain the latest events away. He tried desperately to think of an excuse but came short. He knew he needed to tell her the truth. The truth had been hidden from him for too long
"How long have I been asleep?" He murmured, buying himself time.
"A couple minutes." She watched him put the bowl in his lap.
"We need to talk about what happened. I need to explain." He was still looking at the bowl that used to be filled with water. His wounds were definitely healing. The Fae didn't know what to explain but he owed it to her. He ached to tell her about his discovery. It really had been a long week.
For both of them.
"I don't want to talk about it!" She cried, "I'm tired of talking about everything I don't want to hear it!"
She did the unexpected and pushed her head into his shoulder and he felt tears drip onto his bicep. "Are you going to be ok?"
A door opened in front of him and a young male peeked in, causing Aelin to lift her tear filled eyes. He wanted to pull her closer and tell the young boy to leave but he knew why he was here.
"Mistress, would you allow me to show you to your new rooms?"
She looked at the servant boy without a word and looked back at Rowan. He resigned himself to the fact that he would have to have this conversation with her later, at a far more stable time. She wanted to stay with him he could tell. She was waiting for him to tell the boy to screw off. He felt how she wanted to wash the rest of the blood from his back like a healer.
He wasn't opposed to the idea, but she couldn't just stay in his bed. She was ten.
"Go Princess, I will be fine soon enough."
He saw the disappointment form on her brow. Aelin picked herself up and pushed away from him and off the large four poster bed. She didn't spare him another glance, most likely upset by his response.
The servant boy seemed to only be a couple years older than her and he felt the urge to follow and warn the boy of the harm that would be fall him if the Princess was not the utmost comfortable. Or if the boy thought of trying anything improper. He then realized his entire situation was improper.
A pain that shot through his latissimus made him change his mind as he stood and the door closed once more. He was alone.
Being alone, he mused, was when normal people broke down after hard events. He took time to collect his thoughts of course, but he'd been through much worse.
He stiffly made his way to the washroom attached to his rooms. They were hardly used as he never spent a lot of time here in the fortress.
He'd found a new sense of purpose in the West. A new chapter was starting.
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The stone floor was cold on her bare feet as she walked through the halls. Everything in the castle was stone, no plush rugs to walk on, no wooden beams like her castle in Terresan. It was a little odd.
The older boy walked a few paces a head of her, his long ears were visible beneath auburn hair. He was tall and built like a lot of Fae she'd seen in her own court, but he wasn't old, probably a teenager. They didn't go far from Rowans room. Two doors down they stopped at the entrance to an open door. He planted himself in front of it and began to introduce himself. "My name is Elran, i am a servant of Queen Maeve, but I will help you with what ever you may need, your highness."
She expected him to bow or something but he made no move to do so.
"Therissa, will be the one to dress you. She is waiting inside."
She tried to look behind him and he moved out of her way. Her room was almost an exact replica of Rowan's. High ceilings and wide walls made of lighter stone than what decorated the halls felt cold and empty. These were not the candle lit rooms with large windows she was used to, the windows were all to high for her to look out of and there was no balcony. Two doors decorated the left side of the room, equal distance apart. They were uncharacteristically wood with metal handles. Elran watched her silently from the door with a smile.
She pushed the first door open and inside was a washroom similar to the one she had at home. A wash bowl, a toilet, and a porcelain tub. There was a vanity close to the door in the main room piled with different products. As she walked back out she found the hall door closed and Elran gone.  She took a look at the large bed with gold covers and pillows that matched her hair. Fae light lit two candles on either side of the massive bed.
"Miss Aelin? Is that you?"
She turned toward the last door to see a small woman with onyx hair standing there. She had dark eyes and crows feel to compliment. She was as cold as the room.
"It is nice to finally meet you mistress, come let me help you out of what ever that is, and into a bath."
That ruffled Aelins feathers a little. "It's all I had."
The woman nodded as she walked toward the washroom door. "It reeks of Whitethorn."
"Is that Rowan's last name?" he might've mentioned it but she'd forgotten.
The woman just looked at her and then moved on to the washroom.
"Get undressed." She obeyed pulling the material over her head.
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It's been a long time, id love to hear what you think and what you'd like to see, I don't really have a clear ending so I'm just pulling it out of my ass as u can probably tell