The Princess of Terrasen

Ch.6

Gavriel Ashryver's very blood chilled as Astern instantly appeared, a hand rising to cover her mouth, swearing viciously

"Sebastian..."

And she moved toward him, hand outstretched but a cool feminine voice crooned

"Stop, General. Take a step away, Sebastian, don't move"

Astern instantly obeyed, even though her body seemed to pull her the other way, she struggled. Deanna roared with laughter as two males approached, pulling out their swords.

Astern said nothing, but snarled as the males came closer, and closer. Finally, she caved.

"Stop it, Hadrian. Now."

Her entire body strained, trying to work around the command her Queen had given.

"Hadrian." She growled.

Her mate was straining against his order as well.
"Why would he stop, General?" Deanna asked, amused
"Because I'll give you anything."
"Anything?" Deanna arched a brow
"Gods damn it Deanna!" Astern spat, frantic as the males got close enough to cut off his head.
"Dungeons, I suppose will do for him." she mused, smiling at Sebastian.

Gavriel took advantage of their stunned stillness and shifted, flapping out of the open window.

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Aella could hardly care that Gavriel had escaped, all she could think was a roaring in her head that was quieting but not disappearing entirely. The dungeons. She knew Deanna wouldn't harm him, she was too much of a key player in all this. If Deanna did hurt him, all those primal animalistic instincts would take over- and with her power, she tried not to think of what would happen.

Sebastian was hauled to his feet and dragged away, but Deanna turned to her, the amusement fading.

"Go and hunt down those people that escaped from Rosk. I expect them here day after next."

And even though she cursed herself for it, she bowed her head and gave her confirmation. She felt the command that froze her in place dissipate and without a glance backwards, expelled her mate from her mind despite every instinct it roared against.

In a flash of light, she shifted. The hawk's wings had felt so freeing mere days ago. Now they weighed upon her like an iron cage. Hating herself with very scrap of her wicked, shredded soul, she caught a swift wind of her own making and banked southwards. Landing in a small town a couple hundred miles away from where the family would've run, she landed in a busy street, diving from the skies to land with a ground shaking boom.

Everyone on the street gaped at her, remembered the hawk, pieced two and two together and paled drastically. She smirked, setting those elongated canines gleaming and people lined up against the walls giving her a wide berth.

"That's the Huntress's General." a mother whispered to her child

"That's Aella Astern?" the child whispered

The mother shushed him frantically, her fear wafting towards towards Aella. Her smirk became a razor sharp smile as the mother pushed her son behind her. It was because of that that Aella changed direction.

She prowled up to the mother, glanced behind her back at the child who stared at her with pure fascination to show what was at stake. The mother gulped before raising her chin. Aella wanted to pat herself on the back for the gamble but she leaned against the wall, removing the folds of her cloak from her blade. The child's eyes roved over it, widening before they turned to look at her own. Aella winked at him before turning her attention back to his mother.

"Did a family from Rosk pass through?" she drawled

"Rosk? I don't think so." despite her fear, her voice was unwavering. People were still gaping and she turned her predatory focus to them, baring her teeth, they looked away.

Aella rested a hand on Arondite's hilt, but the mother shook her head.

"If they did I haven't heard about it." at Aella's growl she spoke faster, her hand tightening around her child. "if you're going to do it, do it. But not in front of him."

Aella cocked her head, nostrils flaring at she scented the woman. She almost gagged. The woman was wasting away from some sickness. She looked back at her child, at the wonder in his brown eyes and stalked away, heart pounding.

She tried searching some more but the child's eyes kept coming back to her.

So she turned her face toward the heavens before swearing so much that Jaena would be proud.

She had sensed something in that child, something that would change the world. Power called to power amongst the Fae and she knew he had some sort of power. His mother would need to teach him about it. She couldn't do it if she was dead.

"Damn it Aella get a grip." she snarled to herself

So, to appease her damned curiosity and rutting moral values, she followed them. They went to a run down house in the slums of the city, little more than a shack that could fit in her room twenty times.

She couldn't explain why she cared so much, but she had felt a similar tug on her very soul when she had met the members of her cadre. And something told her to tug back. So, counting all the gold pieces she had and unpinning the glittering clasp that fastened her hair, she took off all her visible weapons and stashed them behind a crate before walking in. The child was sitting in a corner, watching his mother as she stood up quickly.

"What do you want?" she asked slowly.

Aella shook her head and went closer. When she flinched back, Aella raised her hands in appeasement.

"I just need to talk to you."

"What?"

"Your sickness."

"And?" she gasped, almost involuntarily, her gaze falling on her child.

"I'm not a healer. But you can go to one."

"How? I don't have enough-"

"Here." and Aella shoved the coins into her hands

"Why are you doing this?" her guard was back up and she stared at Aella suspiciously

"Because your son is a light in this darkness and it can't go out."

When her throat closed up too much to say another word, she just walked out. She walked out and redirected all that raw emotion into her hunt. She let go of whatever that feeling was- she let go of her qualms about capturing that family, and became Aella Astern once more. With a smirk at the thief who had started eying her weapons, she became darkness and shadow and night. And Aella Astern began her hunt.