Chapter Two
Feyre was in complete shock. She knew that Amren had fallen through a portal from another world many, many years ago, but seeing it happen up close was quite the experience. Not to mention what happened after the woman landed in the middle of their meeting. The male that fell after her must have been an enemy, considering how fast she was to cut off his head.
The beautiful stranger stood up, her black cloak a stark contrast against her golden-blonde hair. Her blue eyes were ringed with the brightest yellow that vaguely resembled fire, matching that of the metal sword strapped across her back; she was ethereal.
"I think-" Helion started, but when the girl glared at him, his lips instantly sealed. She surveyed the room - the large mahogany table; the throne-like chairs, the papers scattered on the surface as if they were planning something, and the violent amusement shining in Rhysand's eyes, and muttered, "What is this? The bad guy convention?"
"Maybe it is, " Feyre's mate laughed sarcastically, "So if you don't tell us who you are and where you came from- Oh," he cut himself off, "and the reason why you just chopped that male's head off, then we might be inclined to use our evilness on you."
"Big words for a little boy," she muttered. Of course the Queen knew that this fae male was nowhere near little (or lacking any muscle), but compared to Rowan... well, he was nothing. Rhysand, however, took great offence. He crossed his arms and sat further up in his seat, fingers drumming against the armchair in annoyance. Aelin simply raised a single brow.
She walked over to the window in silence and surveyed the outside world. It was stunning - hills layered in fluffy grass with bright flowers that littered the green, and trees swaying softly in the breeze. The sky was a canvas of pink and orange watercolours, constantly swirling through the clouds and around the sun, but never fading. It was as if the land was stuck in the permanent time of dawn.
The High Lords took her "distraction" as a chance to argue. Beron and Tamlin immediately burst into shouts about the girl's disrespect of coming into such an important meeting when she was a pathetic human, but the others were just confused as to who she was, and how she got past the wards. They all saw the swirling purple portal and wanted to know more.
"Be quiet!" The girl suddenly shouted, rolling her eyes, "Gods, I can't even hear myself losing the will to live."
"You dare order us?" Tamlin stood up, standing to his full height in order to intimidate the girl. His fear tactics didn't seem to be working, however, as she pulled a delicately carved dagger from her waistband and absentmindedly began picking at her nails with it.
"Tamlin," Thesan warned, "She's just a young girl."
Just a young girl, huh?
"I don't care. We are High Lords and she just interrupted a very important meeting, so she needs to be dealt with."
At that, the blonde looked up, "Dealt with? Look, Tamlin, I get it. I'm really trying my absolute hardest to see things from your perspective, but I... I just can't seem to get my head that far up my own ass. Now sit down and be quiet."
The High Lord of Spring did no such thing. He launched forward but was stopped by a shield of flickering red, courtesy of Cassian. Rhysand stepped forward and sighed, massaging his temples to desperately try and get rid of his growing headache, and spoke again. "Look," he started, "We just want to know your name and how you got here, alright? Is that too much to ask?"
"Fine," Aelin sighed, "I'm Celaena Sardothien and I guess I'm from another world. I have this rare ability that allows me to open portals, but I've not got around to controlling it yet... so this happens."
"And say we believe you," Helion hypothesised, "How do we know you don't mean to kill us all or cause our world danger?"
Beron scoffed, "You can't be serious? She merely a human-"
"But what if humans are different in her world? What if they possess magic?"
Aelin hummed mentally. She had to admit that Helion (she'd picked up on everyone's names earlier whilst they were arguing) was quite smart, even though he was wrong about her. Yes, some humans did have magic in Erelia, albeit it being very rare, but the queen had to change into her fae form if she wanted access to her fire.
And now that she thought about it, she felt stronger - more powerful. It was the same feeling as before she forged the lock, when her flame was untamed and destructive; at its full glory. Had this world somehow given her power back? Aelin supposed she'd have to shift to find out, but she wanted to keep her fae form a secret in case she needed the element of surprise.
"We can take her to Amren," Rhysand suddenly spoke up. Aelin could have sworn the high lords tensed at the name, but she was merely curious - not scared. He turned and directed the next part at her, "Amren is from a different world. Answer her questions truthfully and then we can decide on what to do with you. She might even be able to send you back home."
Aelin contemplated it for a moment; would she be better off by herself? After all, solitude had been most of her life, and her ruthlessness tended to show the most when she was alone. She'd need that - the merciless personality and her cruel demeanour if she was to get answers. "No. I'll be just fine on my own, thank you."
"I wasn't really asking."
"Oh really?" Aelin took a step closer to Rhys, a smile playing on her lips. "You may have magic on your side, but make no mistake; I'm the one who has all the power here." Her hidden dagger instantly found itself at the male's throat, and Feyre tensed, but he just laughed.
"I like you," he smirked, and with that, the world around Aelin disappeared into a cloud of darkness, her body pushing through the folds in the universe as they travelled to a new location. When they appeared, she was a little disoriented, but mainly pissed off.
She surveyed the area quickly, seeing the same people as before - the high lady bedecked in an elegant black gown, that was Feyre; a beautiful blonde woman in red she knew was called Mor, the high lord (of course), and Cassian, the general with the freaky wings. But where did the other one go?
"Where's the pretty boy?"
"Who?" Rhysand asked with a raised brow.
"The one that was lurking in the shadows. I know he was supposed to be hiding but I have a keen eye."
The whole group was shocked that Celaena had realised there was another amongst them. It must have been a rare occurrence when people noticed the male, especially when he didn't want to be found. But she was raised as the most deadly assassin in her world - able to pick out the most minute details.
"Azriel? He's gone to retrieve Amren. Now come inside and get warm, you must be freezing out here."
"Not in the slightest," Aelin replied, looking at the intricately decorated house as they walked through it. The palace was covered in black and deep purple hues with white accents, but she was more focused on counting the windows and exits in case she needed to escape. "The kingdom I'm from has some of the harshest winters. That light flurry of snow out there? It's nothing."
"Can you tell us more about your kingdom?" Feyre asked, speaking to Aelin for the first time. She'd gotten involved in the conversation with the high lords, but hadn't directly asked her anything. It was almost as if she was scared of her, or nervous at the thought of such an otherworldly threat. Aelin scoffed.
"No."
Before anyone could respond, two more people appeared directly in the middle of the room. Azriel was the first, wreathed in black shadows and dressed in dark grey fighting leathers that were engraved with a scale-like pattern. He walked over to the sofa in the corner of the room, one where he had a view of everything going on (with nothing behind him), and sat.
Aelin followed and plopped down at his side. The male tensed, his wings shuffling to his left and further away from Aelin, but she just winked at him. When a small blush spread across his cheeks that was immediately masked in shadows, she smirked.
And the other... the queen didn't know why everyone was scared of her. She was so tiny - so short, and the least threatening person she had ever seen. Standing at five foot and ten inches, Aelin was pretty sure she could step on the female and crush her.
"Where are you from?" She asked without so little as an introduction. It was time to play a game, the assassin grinned inwardly, to rile her up and see what type of person she was.
"Here and there."
The woman rolled her eyes, "What do you do?"
"This and that."
"You ever-" she started, but the queen cut her off.
"Now and then."
"Rhysand," the female snapped, silver eyes glowing with an inner light, "If she doesn't answer my questions properly in the next thirty seconds then I'll kill her and drink her blood. I don't care if I have a fae body now, it's still delicious."
Aelin held her hands up in surrender, "Fine, fine. My name is Celaena, the world I come from is called Erelia, and do I ever... Well, I suppose that depends on the rest of the question."
"Do you ever stop talking?" Cassian snapped. Aelin looked up at him and grinned, and it wasn't annoyance shining in the general's eyes - it was humour. The assassin was sure that she would grow to like him; after all, he seemed to be the mischievous type.
"I'll have a look in the library, but you'll do well to make yourself useful as well, girl. Don't be causing the High Lord and Lady trouble."
"Of course not," Aelin smirked, and with that, Amren vanished.
"Right then. Give us your weapons and you're free to roam the house."
"I don't think so, Purple eyes. You'd have to pry them off my dead body."
"Very well," Rhys sighed, "just please don't make a mess or leave this place. The wards will stop you, so unless you want to be incinerated, I'd try and stay within the boundaries of the house."
✻
In the comfort of their own bedroom, back at the townhouse in Velaris, Feyre snuggled up to her mate and sighed. They'd left Celaena with Cassian and Azriel, so at least the latter would provide enough supervision. Although, the high lady pitied the fact that he'd have to watch over both the stranger and the general.
"I don't trust her," Feyre whispered, "she's... so wild. Unchecked. I think she's going to be a problem."
"I agree," Rhys replied, "she's like one thousand Cassians stuffed into a female body, but all we need to do is keep an eye on her. After all, she's only a human and no match against anyone with magic. No offence."
Feyre laughed and shifted slightly so that her head laid on her mate's chest. He started to run his fingers through her hair idly as she spoke. "None taken. But seriously, we can't let her into Velaris - I don't know what she'd do to the people, or what kind of person she is. Something tells me she has a violent past and wouldn't mind getting her hands dirty. You saw all the weapons she carried."
"Everything will be fine, Feyre darling, don't worry. Besides, I'm sure Amren will find a way to send her back home.
The light that pooled in through the windows started to fade as the night blanketed the sky of its home court. The stars twinkled brightly against the black, blue and purple hues, and the full moon illuminated the streets below.
"There was one thing, though," Rhys started, "I couldn't get into her mind. It was surrounded by a wall of blue flame and every time I tried to enter, It just burnt my magic to dust."
"That's unusual," Feyre muttered, "I'll try tomorrow as well, but hopefully she decides to tell us the truth the normal way - without us having to force our way in."
Before Rhys could reply, a knock sounded at the door. "It's me," Amren called urgently, "I have some important news."
Maybe it was about Celaena, the high lord thought, but the way the fifteen thousand-year-old spoke was a lot more serious - maybe even a little scared.
"Come in!"
"Elain had a vision," she cut right to the chase, "nothing to be really wary of at the moment, but something tells me it leads to more."
"Spit it out," Rhys snapped, forgetting who he was speaking to. Amren may not be in her true form anymore, but she was still terrifying. And on top of that, the war had only ended a year ago - he didn't want any more trouble. They'd only just regained peace.
She chose to ignore his tone and continued, "A group of Vallahan soldiers have been sneaking around Prythian, mainly the spring and autumn court. You should send Azriel to find out what they want, but I don't believe their intentions are good."
"Thanks, Amren, I'll get on that."
Cauldron, could the day get any more confusing? A stranger from another world, and now a new threat to their freshly built peace. Rhysand just hoped that things were not going in the way he expected them to, but after all, his life had always been a huge mess.
✻
[2338 words]
I have a question... In a lot of the crossover fanfics I've read, Aelin is very quick to help the Inner Circle with a world-threatening problem they are facing, such as an evil being that only has the intention to destroy.
However, I've been doing a lot of thinking and wondered if Aelin would actually help them or not. Some part of me feels like she's been through so much and this isn't her problem (because it's not her world) and would refuse to fight another war, or do you think she'd happily help, or maybe just take a lot of convincing? I'd like to hear both sides of the debate in the comments :)
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Have a nice day/night <3