The previously attacking males all turned to look at the bar. A few of them seemed confused but then a cheer rose up, calls of "Afu!" echoed around them as the barkeep stood in silence watching the havoc before him.
Afu, as the male seemed to be called, rearranged his jacket and ran a hand through his hair, bringing to Aelin's attention for the first time - just how brightly his red hair glowed.
"I built this empire you know," Afu's voice had a lilt to it, an indication of a country life spent under the sun in the fields. "Fighting rings, good drugs, good drink, what more could this city ask for from me?"
Nesta hissed at him, going as if to move again and begin fighting, but Afu began speaking in a tone full of warning. "The Night Court was said to be a crime kingdom, a place where those with violent tendencies and a will to live by our true natures could thrive."
The majority of the crowd let out whoops at that, grinning madly and looking every part the rogues Afu was making them out to be.
"I gathered the strongest, what you people call 'criminals and low-life scum' and brought them here." He twisted a ring round his finger again but only Aelin picked up on how it was a nervous tick. "I've always been told I'm smart, too smart to be a country farmer you know?"
The boldest of the fighters around them called out in support, it would seem he was a good speaker and had managed to convince them all to believe in him. Aelin couldn't help it, she laughed.
Afu snapped his neck over to where she stood, a goddess of blood. "Something funny?" He seethed.
"Yes, actually." She began to move, so confident in herself that the males in her way actually stepped aside as she strode towards Afu. "Are you their leader then?"
The ginger gave a nod of affirmation which caused Aelin to let out another peal of laughter, "Oh this is gold!"
Nesta, Amren and Mor picked up on her attitude and relaxed from battle stances, switching from 100 to 0 in a blink of an eye. "You know, I was so upset when they told me that male this morning, Darius or whatever it was, was the leader of crime in this city."
Aelin brought her hands up to her chest and clasped them together as if she were praying, "I'm so glad you're the real one," she faked wiping away a tear as Afu glared at her.
"You're underestimating me!"
"Who me? Never!" Aelin choked another laugh as it crept up her throat and she shook her head furiously.
Afu roared in fury and raised his arms, palms pointing outwards. He snarled in Aelin's face, nearly spitting on her, as he sent bursts of flames at the buildings on the street.
"Don't burn down your little crime kingdom now, your majesty!" Aelin couldn't help but goad as the brawl resumed behind her.
"You whore!" He screamed, pointing a hand directly towards Aelin in order to incinerate her. Unfortunately for him, she dodged - easily.
"You're awfully slow, your majesty!" She rolled to the side and bounced back to her feet with a grin, she realised too late that in dodging the fire it had instead hit a wooden chapel behind her.
"Fuck," Aelin muttered, scanning the area to pinpoint what was important. Nesta and Amren were on the other side of the fire wall, fighting off the rest of the warriors and looking thoroughly bored with the little performance. Mor was closer, sweeping the legs out from beneath men and trying to get closer to Aelin.
The problem, was that the flames seemed to have summoned another 50 fighters by serving as a beacon throughout the city. Undoubtedly they were members of the organisation Afu had gathered, and they were all well trained in battle.
No one was coming close to Aelin however, so she focused on Afu who was snarling at her from where he stood just outside of the tavern. She began stalking towards him, looking forward to ripping him apart infront of his men. To her surprise, he began sprinting towards her with an arm raised. Aelin braced herself, ready to tackle him down but a shriek came from her left - Mor.
The other female slammed into her at such speed and with such force that even Aelin was completely winded from the blow. The pair skidded across the road, Aelin taking the beating from the harsh surface underneath her.
She saw it then, above where she had been standing: Afu had sent a burst of fire at the roof of the chapel which hung over the street, it would have fallen right ontop of her. Aelin would have lived through hell, only to be crushed by an idiot who wasn't respecting the rules of a street-brawl.
"Bastard!" Aelin bellowed, sliding out from under Mor who... oh gods. The wooden beam which had fallen, it had pinned the Morrigan's calves underneath it, burning them an awful shade of red.
Afu sneered, "That's what a slut gets for trying to fight."
Mor gave a low moan, "Dammit, I thought I'd dived long enough."
Aelin laughed, voice slightly shaky as she reassured her friend, "You were nearly there, I was probably just a bit fatter than you thought."
"Too many cakes yesterday huh," her wounded friend grunted. Aelin looked up as Afu stalked towards them, Mor twisting round with a hiss to watch his approach.
"Don't." Aelin warned, turning her friends head back around, "Lie still now, you'll be alright in a minute."
The queen crouched beside the burning plank, and then, while making direct eye contact with Afu, she reached out and grasped it firmly with her bare hands. He looked shocked, but she simply lifted the flaming object with ease. No matter that it was incredibly heavy, it wasn't to Aelin - not when her friend was hurting.
Careful not to stand on her newly freed friend, she adjusted her grip and began to turn. She twisted her torso with the wood, and then with a sudden swing, she threw the entire thing at the male's horrible face.
Aelin had been so angry that she had thrown it almost over his head in her rage. Afu was smart enough to realise this and instead of running away, or to the side, he sprinted forward, towards the burning chapel as he ducked under her projectile. How cute, he thought he would be safe inside.
Afu slammed to halt doorway, turning around to yell at her, "YOU FUCKING FREAK!"
Aelin had dropped back to a crouch to assess Mor's injuries but raised her head at his voice. Her only response to his insult was to bare her elongated canines. The male, as observant as he was, still seemed surprised by the revelation that she was not normal.
"Kill her!" His voice seemed to reverberate around the buildings, a single instruction to his legion of soldiers. On instinct, Aelin let out a snarl in response. She hadn't meant to act so feral, but the wounds on her friends legs looked rather serious despite the fact she had only been trapped for less than a minute.
The noise rippled out of her throat and echoed the same way that Afu's shout had, only her sound was ripping into the instincts of the fighters around them. Shoving into their minds, whispering in their ears - that if they fought her, they would not only lose, but they would die.
"Do it!" Afu screeched, and Aelin realised he must have some sort of persuasion magic, because a few of the males began to step forward again. It wasn't enough for some of them however, scared shitless, they ran for the hills.
Encouraged by her enemies futility, Aelin let out another, more forceful, growl. It worked, for every single male on their side of the street turned and ran tail. She could see well enough through the flames to know that Nesta and Amren were still joyfully beating the shit out of the males who chose to hang around.
Afu's face fell, paling to the whiteness of a sheet as he realised that he had been abandoned by his network. The one he had spent so much time and effort on building, broken apart by one mightily pissed off Wild Fae.
He spun and began racing into the building, Aelin heard him going up the stairs, encasing himself in more fire likely in hopes to scare them off.
Mor brought Aelin's attention back to her by trying to rise and letting out another hiss of pain. She flopped back to the ground with a sigh, "I think one of my tendons got damaged, there were metal nails in that gods-damned plank."
Aelin sucked in a breath, "Nasty."
Her friend laughed, "Tell me about it." She twisted her head to the side to look back at the chapel. "You want to chase after him don't you?"
Aelin laid a hand on Mor's shoulder, "We need to get you help. Then we can deal with that ginger bastard."
The fallen woman just laughed into the dirt, "I'll be fine, Nesta and Amren will be here soon."
"I'm sorry, I should have checked there wasn't anything in your leg from the plank." Aelin felt like crap, how had she not realised that it wasn't going to be that easy to free Mor. In her rage at Afu hurting her friend, she had acted recklessly. It was a reminder that she could do with more battlefield experience, her years as an assassin were spent alone. She had never truly gotten used to working in groups she didn't know too well.
"Just go catch him, I'm sure a little fire isn't gonna stop you." Mor giggled as she pushed Aelin away, "Fae healing is pretty good remember?"
She relaxed with a grin at Mor's reassurance and rose to her feet, "Don't run off to anywhere now!"
The female's laughter echoed in her ears as she sprinted over to the doorway which was beginning to collapse under the pressure from the debris burning above. Aelin barely made it through the frame before it completely fell apart, trapping her inside with Afu.
In the flickering light, she made out pews leading up to an altar, with stairs close to the back of the large room leading up to what she assumed was the tower of the chapel. Despite the fact she sensed nobody else in the building, Aelin still moved as barely more than a glimpse of shadow to reach the staircase.
Aelin sprinted up the half-ruined steps, twisting round and around the tower, chasing Afu's heaving breaths just out of reach above her. They finally reached the top, she had nearly caught up to him but kept silent enough, timing her steps to echo his own in a way he wouldn't notice.
He nearly fell over as he reached the top, folding over the top railing overlooking the burning street below as he tried desperately to get his breath back. "How? There's only 4 of them and I had over 80 fully trained fighters!"
Afu let out a growl of frustration, "And two of them are taking on 15 each without any weapons," he clenched his fist on the railing, "by the Cauldron who are these females."
"One could ask the same for yourself, firewielder." Aelin responded as she moved from the shadows of the stairwell.
The male whirled around, "How are you up here?! The entire building is on fire!"
Aelin gave a small smile and moved closer to him, floorboards creaking under her shoes. "Who are you, Afu? Because we've never heard of you." A slight bluff there, as if Aelin would know anyone by name from this world. Still, none of her friends seemed to have known who he was, likely just a small time nobody.
"I'm from the Autumn Court you idiot, where else would I get the flames?" Afu sounded half a breath away from spitting on her, perhaps he had already tried but the fire had evaporated it before she could notice.
"You're in charge of all those men? Little old you?"
He hissed, "Little old this, little old that! Thanks for the extra tip by the way, but we already had unrest I didn't need you being a little bitch in there." Afu was clenching his hands by his sides, like he wanted to attack her but was hesitant to begin a confrontation he was no longer so sure he would win.
"Awwww, little old baby." Aelin simply could not resist the taunt, "Did I hurt your ickle wickle feelings?"
Afu snapped, flinging a wall of fire towards her in an ungaily sweep of his arm. She tutted and swatted it away with a twitch of her wrist. The flames slammed into the wall with more than double the force he had managed to muster, with half of his effort.
"I would reccomend calling a healer...."
Aelin began stalking towards him, her steps were echoing clicks as her feet made contact with the weakening wooden floor. The male let out a whimper, glancing behind him down into the street. It was almost as if he was considering jumping.
"But not for me."
The ginger-haired male appeared to steel his nerve as he turned back to meet her gaze. "So what is it? Air magic? You've trained to shield against fire, yes?"
His words were demanding, arrogant despite his rather nasty position. Aelin just sighed, coming to a halt once she had halved the distance between them to a comfortable handful of paces. "Well, your fire magic is really quite pathetic."
She quirked an eyebrow at his shocked expression, one of adamant disbelief. "What?"
Afu blinked, clearly confused as he practically stuttered out.
"I'm one of the most talented, recognised fire casters within the Autumn Court."
"Well what are you doing here then?" Aelin asked scathingly, although a strong range of emotions flickered through her.
She had rather been looking forward to playing with strong firewielders, wanting to know tricks that could only be picked up through several hundreds of years of experience. On the other hand, the more obvious one, this was a good thing. It meant she could handle herself against others of her class, that she wouldn't have to worry too much about those with fire magic while in Prythian. Still.... it was a pity.
"I wasn't born in a position that I could make the most of my power, I would have to serve under a noble who was probably going to be weaker than me. Magic-wise, that is."
The Queen of Fire snickered, "My, my. You do like to talk don't you? Think it'll get you out of the consequences that are so very well earned by your actions?"
His complexion paled, which was actually rather impressive for a ginger who looked like he only went outside at night.
"I was told the Night Court was for criminals, a Crime Kingdom!" If possible, Afu was becoming increasingly desperate.
"I gathered those I knew would thrive in that environment while I travelled from the Autumn Court. I made promises to them!" His tone turned pleading, legs sagging beneath him as he met her eyes with his own terrified gaze. "What am I supposed to do with them? I did what I could!"
The males voice cracked as he slumped to his knees, repeating somberly, "I did what I could."
Aelin burst out laughing.
The bitter light that flickered in Afu's eyes in the instant before he raised them again to meet her own was a dead giveaway. He likely assumed the flickering firelight under the nightsky would be enough to hide his emotions if he turned away from her.
Rather unfortunately for him, Aelin was Wild Fae, hence: better eyes.
"Get up." She spat, barely containing her rage. "There were children in your little gang."
This time, the male did genuinely look ill. Hatred burned in his eyes, seemingly as deep as his very soul as he rose to feet, which were awfully steady for somehow who had just 'collapsed to the ground' moments before.
"So what?" His voice was barely more than a grumble as he narrowed his eyes at her. In a matter of moments he had composed himself to a manner that nobility favoured: cold, distant and collected.
"So you led them to their deaths, took them away from their parents and made them criminals who could never return, loyal only to you." Aelin gave him a bright smile, "Trust me, it's a good plan. I'm quite familiar with the method."
After all, it was close enough to Arobynn's methods. Kind of - but that was something Aelin had gotten over, many evenings spent with Rowan and a bottle of wine had helped her work through the majority of her issues. She had seen Arobynn use this plan many times throughout Rifthold, met the kids he brought in, and had asked the gods to help them. Another thing Aelin had worked out, is how ironic it was that she had prayed to the very being she had killed... whoops.
"They chose to be here." Afu replied, words clipped and strained. Aelin could see the wheels turning in his brain as he tried to work out his escape.
"There's a reason we don't let children consent to things you dimwitted fuck."
His glare may have felt severe, but to Aelin it was like a slightly annoying bird at the window. "So what, you built up debt and made promises you now can't keep?" She crossed her arms over her chest, "Sounds like a bad investment, my friend."
If he was insulted by her insinuating their friendship, he said nothing. Afu also crossed his arms in a mirror of her own actions. "An unfortunate mistake," he insisted, "But I shall take over this city and make it a place worthy of the Crime Kingdom title."
Aelin smirked, "I really don't know why you're telling me your whole 'evil plan', has somebody been reading too many stories?" She lowered her chin with a conspiratory smile, like they were sharing the dearest secret.
The male hissed, "It is you, woman, who has been reading too many stories." Afu unfolded his arms, and Aelin could feel the buzz of magic as he began to bring it forth. "There is no real world where you could beat a male like me."
Just because she could, Aelin cut the tension in half. Smile turning aloof, she asked in a way one might ask for more milk in their coffee, "So have you called that healer yet?"
Insulting him just by taking her gaze off him, she examained her nails in close detail as Afu frowened in confusion. It seemed that he had expected to get a rise out of her, a smidgen of fear in her scent, a tension in her body that hadn't been there a moment before. Aelin felt no threat from this male, and he took that as the greatest insult of all.
"I'll have you know! I'm one of the strongest fire users in-"
"Yeah, yeah.
"You haven't even begun to see my true pow-"
"Look. Dude." Aelin looked around her as if there were people watching, eyebrows lifted in a 'get a load of this guy' expression. "I'm short on time okay?"
The first step the assassin queen took towards the male, was like an earthquake to Afu. He suddenly felt the full onslaught of Aelin. She was... endless.
Before he could even react, flames shot out from her in the form of chains. She hadn't even moved her limbs, not even a twitch of her fingers while she displayed such delicate control.
Aelin pinned Afu there, dragging him down to his knees as the red-hot chains wrapped around him. He began to beg. She ignored him.
Afu had never felt anything like this before, his own flames were so strong that no other could summon ones that could burn him. But now this unknown Fae female was making fire feel so foreign the him that he began to doubt he could ever control it.
His own fire was calm, collected within this grasp, whereas this woman's felt like... wildfire. He tried to reason with it, Afu begged it to recognise him. The fire laughed.
"Mala says hello." Aelin's voice broke through the fire, crackling and husky as Afu began to sink into the sweet bliss which was beckoning him from the darkness.
As if in answer to their wielder, the flames, which were digging into Afu, chanted a response: "Mala says goodbye."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Aelin!"
The female in question stumbled out of an alleyway grinning like a wild dog. She hadn't been able to get out of the chapel from the front and so had to jump out of a back window.
"Heya ladies!" Aelin announced giddily, drunkenly giggling as she draped herself over Mor's shoulders. "Look at you! All better already!"
Nesta just snorted while the mighty Morrigan flopped into her friend like a dead fish. Amren however, narrowed her eyes on the Wild Fae.
"You aren't even burnt."
With that, both Nesta and Mor turned in surprise, taking in Aelin's wrecked appearance. Well, Aelin would say wrecked, others would say she looked like an etherial war goddess, drenched in blood, knuckles dusted in other people's suffering and hair windswept from the exploding flames. Her clothes were torn, but rather tastefully, Aelin liked to think it was a talent to remain decent and dignified despite her clothes being trashed.
"I had a rather weak gift, is it so hard to believe I bothered to train it to use it for the little things like fire resistance?"
Amren just grunted then tilted her head to look up at the sky.
"Well I think this has been a rather successful evening." Mor was tired after healing her injury, and just pressed her face into Aelin's side, humming in agreement.
Surprisingly it was Nesta to make the suggestion, "I know the bar exploded but I'm sure they still have drinks."
Amren just grinned at her and sauntered daintily off into the rubble that used to be the bar. The others followed with matching smiles, well apart from Mor who Aelin had to carry.
"Drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks." Mor mumbled into what was left of Aelin's shirt. Instead of answering, the queen just sat the warrior down like one might do a toddler, and left her on a large slab of roof.
She returned a moment later with two bottles Amren had found in the fireproof cabinet labelled 'Blackouts'. The others flopped onto other bits of rubble around Mor, and the four of them enjoyed drinks they would definitely regret in the morning.
Over the next half hour most of the brawlers dragged themselves back into consciousness, many of them glanced around in fear then limped off in shame, while the more professional pit-fighters just came over to join in the drinking.
The four women lay around until the light started seeping back into the ruined streets, before lugging their weary bodies back to where they were staying.
It was in those stolen hours that Aelin felt a piece of herself knit back together, a reminder that she could still live. Sitting on the ruins of an establishment she herself had set on fire with respectable underground fighters sated a part of her soul she thought she had lost. Celaena Sardothien was as much the Queen of Terrasen as Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius was, after all.
AN: Look I'm sorry but I'm a mess. That's all there is to say. Hopefully if I kick the bucket with addiction I'll stop failing school and manage to finish this hot mess of a fic. Side Note: I wrote this in like September/October and I just went off using em dashes. why? I dont know either. I wrote most of this ages ago so sorry if its a mess but you either get this or nothing cause I'm crap at editing properly, I write it stream of consciousness and if I try change it then it just fucks up the flow. Like I can add to it and shit but if I have to delete a whole ass paragraph then its just a mess. The idea for like the chapter title and the wee meme in there was something I came up with like.... over 9 months ago? so im sorry if its stale but by the time i got to writing it I just didnt care enough to make sure it was funny.
Anyway, hope y'all are good. me and my cat and doing great! oh and I got a hamster who's called Egg and I would die for him :)
Second side note: if you got 2 notifications for this, sorry I had to edit it cause I saw too many spelling errors for my poor heart to stand
[ Current Standing Author's Note: Heh Heh ]