Aelin's POV
I ride hard on my way to Adarlan, leaving my guards behind on more than one occasion. My mind is cycling through the worst case scenarios, frantically questioning why Dorian would call me here so urgently.
I left Rowan and the court in Terassen, preferring to ride alone with just my guards. If I hadn't barely won back my city, I may've brought him with me, but I don't want to tempt fate. About half a day's ride from Rifthold, the skies above us grow grey with storm clouds, and snow begins to fall from the sky. I smile, reminded of my home, feeling guilty again for leaving on such short notice. I hope everything's ok.
We have to stop at an inn that night, the snow falling too quickly for us to safely continue on our journey. As my guards push open the door, a hushed conversation falls silent, and I briefly wonder what they were talking about. The innkeeper and his wife are expecting us, as my guards rode ahead to warn them I was coming. The innkeeper bows as I enter.
"You Majesty," he says. "May I take you to your room? Offer you a mean or a hot drink?"
I consider him disdainfully, my royal mask slipping on easily, ever the haughty visiting queen. Eventually, I say, "A hot meal in my room. Thank you."
I'm led to my room, and hastily offered what looks like mush before I wave the innkeeper away. Then, I wait. Whatever they were talking about earlier has built up a tension in here that I am not part of, and I wonder if it's to do with why I've been called here. I lay casually on the floor until the conversation begins again. Thanks to my fae hearing, I easily catch what they're saying.
"That's not what I heard," the innkeeper says. "My cousin a guard told me she tried to kill him, and only his powers and incredible wit could save him."
"That's likely," someone says sarcastically. "We all know you and your 'cousin' have an unhealthy reverence of the new king." There was some grumbling, then the same voice said. "Have you heard there might be another war?" My blood runs cold, my heart clenching. What are they talking about.
"Don't be stupid. The new King is foolish, but he's not that foolish. We've barely survived a war. We can't fight another," a second unknown person says.
The innkeeper's wife tsks. "I wouldn't be so sure, Rivo. A war against the witches would sure secure his legacy."
"He already has a legacy!" the innkeeper exclaims. "He fought in the Battle of Orynth, and he -"
"Everyone fought in the battle of Orynth," the first voice counters. "A king fighting for his country is not a legacy. Neither is one doing the right thing."
"I still think he's foolish," Rivo insists.
"He couldn't even secure an alliance," the innkeeper's wife agrees. "Even after he fuc-"
I stop listening. Sit up from the floor. Gods, I want to burn this whole place down. I walk mechanically down the stairs, pause for breath, then light a fire in my hand as I hold it by my face. They all looked around, and went pale.
"Your-"
"I would be careful what rumours you feed," I say, eyes blazing. "Rumours are a bit like fire. A bit too much wood and - pouf! the world is up in flames."
"Queen Aelin, I-"
"Have a pleasant night," I say venomously, and turn from the room with them all gaping after me.
**********
When I wake the next morning, the snow storm is over and the world is covered in a fine dusting of white. I say fine dusting - for Adarlanians, it's probably a lot, but the snows in Terassen are treble this depth. I bite my lip as I think of home again, worrying about what they said last night.
I mount my horse, the snow crunching crisply under her hooves as we leave that rumour-mongering place. I don't deign to give it a second glance.
When we finally arrive at the royal palace, we're greeted by a small party of guards who obviously want to keep my presence here as unnoticeable as possible. It only heightens my nerves more. I'm led up through the castle, only to find Dorian's chambers in exactly the same place. Not that I'm surprised. He's said before he doesn't want to move them. A wave of nostalgia hits me, and the guards knock to announce my arrival.
Dorian appears a second later.
"Dorian, what's going on?" I ask immediately. "I heard -"
He hugs me, hard, and it's slightly unexpected. I'm taken aback for a second before embracing him too. "I've missed you, Aelin," he says.
I smile. "Me too."
He pulls back. "Please, come in," he gestures, then turns to the guards. "Someone alert Lord Chaol that the Queen has arrived. After that, no disturbances."
"Yes, your Majesty," the guard says, and bows before hurrying away. I follow Dorian away from the corridor and up to his rooms.
"So, how are you?" he asks, casually, clearing away some books for me to sit down. I do gratefully, my back sore from riding. "How's Rowan and the rest of the court?"
I pause, unsure of the question and unsure about his strange behaviour. "He's alright. I'm fine as well," I say slowly. "You?"
"My court - my entire kingdom, really, are a bunch of idiots. Only through self-restraint have I not put them all to death," he says. I try not to react, though he doesn't sound like himself. "I almost ordered an execution the other day, but you know, didn't want to be like my dear old dad -"
He's rambling, and I have to stop him. "Dorian, what is going on here? I was worried on my way over and now you're just - are you ok? Where's Manon?"
His face hardens briefly. "Manon is not here, and won't be for a while," he says icily. He turns to me, sighs and slumps down. "I'm sorry for being so cryptic, I just... I needed to be around some friends."
That, I can understand. Not that the people at Terassen aren't my family, everyone's so focused on rebuilding, and the responsibility - "I understand," I say, and offer him a smile.
Chaol walks in. "Hi," he says to me, and we hug briefly.
Dorian smiles. "Back to the original trio."
---------------------
HI peoples,
how are you?! How are you doing? I would've written a lot more on the last part but I had no energy for social interaction.
hope you enjoyed this part, i kinda feel like having just a bunch of aelin dorian and chaol chapters thats mainly just them hanging out while i figure out what's going on with manon and what shes going to do next, so you can look forward to that lol!
Anywayyyyyyyy, i got an ao3 account (ao3 is just another fanfiction website) and i wondered if i should upload this on there as well. it will probably be more editted as i edit as i write it up, so i may notice more mistakes. obviously, this will still be my primary publishing site but i just wondered what you all thought?
we got snow this week! which is why i included it in the part lol, but we never get snow so its exciting.
OH also if i started a fanfiction account on insta where i put shorter mini stories i write as well as updates on this one and other larger projects would you be intersted in following that as well (this isn;t definite its just if i feel like i have enough time)
thanks so much for over 25k reads,
stay safe and hope you enjoy :)
stay safe