The Lost Heir

Chapter 12 - Dorian

"You heard?" She whispered, as if she were steeling herself for his answer. His reaction.

He would have nodded, but to have done so would have been to put his life in even more danger, so he choked out a strangled "yes", barely getting the word out.

Not the answer she wanted, it seems, as a stream of curses left her mouth. After a moment, a mask of a mixture of calm and ruthlessness appeared on her face as she drew closer, her teeth bared in a savage grin.

"You're not going to tell anyone about this... are you Dorian? It will remain our little secret. As far as you know, and everyone you know, knows, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius is dead, I am not her, not anymore, all I am, now, so Lilian Gordaina, a simple jewel thief, and now the King's Champion, and am I very loyal to the crown. Right?" She slowly said in a sweet voice. A voice that was too sweet.

"Y-yes."

"Good. Now go back to your nice little tower room, and forget that you heard anything and that this ever happened." And there it was. That savageness. Yep, the was once innocent and young princess of Terrasen is most definitely gone.

Dorian slowly made is way back to his chambers, going over everything that had occurred in the last hour or so and mulling over what it could mean for his kingdom. It did seem like Celaena had not intention of being Aelin again, because the way she had told her story... it was in a way that made it sound like it had happened to someone she knew. Not herself, or even someone she was close to. Just someone she had met at some point in her life and hadn't seen in years. Which she hadn't, he mused, after all, she had become Arobynn's protégée 10 years ago, and, Dorian assumed, that it was at that point that she had stopped being Aelin Galathynius and, instead, started being Celaena Sardothian.

Dorian had no idea what he was supposed to do now. He couldn't very well act like he had never heard this, because this... this changed everything. But Celaena had made it very clear that we couldn't tell anyone, and had somehow made it clear that she had no intention of ever being her old self again. All he could do, he supposed, is avoid all three of them, celaena, aedion and Chaol, and ignore it for now, until something happened. And he seriously hoped that that something, wouldn't happen for at least a few more years.

Celaena's POV

Well wasn't that just great? The freaking crown prince of Adarlan, her enemy, if she wanted to think about it like that, knew who she was, and that she was a massive potential threat to the kingdom he oh so loved. But she couldn't do much about that, except for killing him, she supposed, but that would also be killing one of her friends, if he even still was one. Gods they hadn't spoken properly in ages, she had been too busy dealing with gods damned Archer and then had been shipped off to Wendlyn. Ah well, he was probably going to avoid her now anyway.

As soon as Celaena had dealt with Dorian, she had swept out of the secret passage, intending to be left alone, and hoping to start that new book she had gotten. But nooo, Aedion had questions, and Chaol wanted to know what the hell her threat had meant. She ignored any questions Aedion asked, and only told Chaol that she would do what she had to to keep her past in the past, before pointedly picking up her new book and settling into an armchair by the fire, tuning out any further questions, as she got absorbed into a fantasy land, where all problems were solved by the end of the story. Finally, after she had read a few chapters, Celaena heard a frustrated sigh come from Chaol as he gave up on getting any answers from her and left, with Aedion, she guessed, quietly agreeing with Chaol and leaving right behind him. Peace and quiet at last. If only it would last long, but, of course, it didn't last longer than a few hours.