Rhysand
I slammed into the floor of the House of Wind, and Amren was instantly there, hands on Cassian's wings, swearing at the damage. Then at the hole in Azriel's chest.
Even her healing couldn't fix both completely. No, we'd need a real healer for each of them, and fast, because if Cassian lost those wings ... he would be as good as dead. Most Illyrians would prefer it. And if he lost both his mate and his wings - I shuddered to think of it.
But Amren's magic would at least ensure they would live. And once she'd staunched the worst of the bleeding, I couldn't focus on anything but the gaping space where Aelin should have been. Not on my brother's, not while she was gone.
All I could see was the tears streaming down her face, the wall of fire she'd erected to keep us out, to keep us away from her -
The utter confusion and horror when she kept me out - because I hadn't known, hadn't guessed, hadn't even dreamed of what she'd obviously planned to do.
And now, the only person who would have known - who could have known -
Was here.
"Where is she?" I demanded, snarling at Amren. She had to know, someone had to know, had to know.
Where is she where is she where is she
"Get the Book out of here," I said, dumping the pieces onto the ground. I hated the touch of them, their madness and despair and joy. Their reminder of what Aelin had done. Flashes of memory on repeat in my mind. The shield of flames - the tears streaming down her cheeks, the fact she wasn't here. Amren ignored the order.
"Where is she?" I said again, as Amren pressed a hand to Cassian's ravaged back.
Mor appeared with Rowan in tow - panting, haggard. He collapsed on the ground beside her as she dropped to the floor beside Azriel, her blood-caked hands shaking as she ripped the arrow free of his chest, blood showering the carpet. She shoved her fingers over the wound, light flaring as her power knit bone and flesh and vein together.
"Where is she?" I snapped one last time.
Amren, my long-loyal second, stared at me with remorseful eyes. "She's gone," she whispered. "She is no longer in Prythian."
It was all I could do not to mist her on sight.
She was gone, she was gone, she was gone.
I couldn't bring myself to speak, my throat spasming at her words, chest caving in. At the questions and grief that threatened to overwhelm me. So Amren spoke again, "She took them didn't she? The Cauldron, the King of Hybern - they're gone.
Mor was still shaking as she murmured, "We could do nothing as we watched. He had us by the balls. And then she stopped us from interfering."
None of us said anything about Amren's other words. That Aelin wasn't in Prythian.
I thought I might be dying - thought my chest would cleave in two as those quicksilver eyes shot back to mine. "Rhysand."
I couldn't even ask how, or why. It was temporary, it had to be temporary. She would come back. She had to have a plan to come back.
Everything would be fine, everything was salvageable. As long as she came back.
"Go get her," I hissed at Amren. "Right now."
"No," she said softly, and I had never hated a word more.
"No?" I snarled, "my mate is in our enemy's hands."
We had left her with Hybern, with Mantyx, and even if she had taken him out of this realm, she was still with him. Alone. She was alone.
Amren shook her head sadly, "No, no she is not."
I gaped at her, rage clouding my head. I wanted to roar at the fact my mate wasn't with me, that my brother's were coated in blood, near unconscious and suffering on the carpet. That Rowan hadn't spoken a word from where he still knelt on the bloody floor.
"Weren't you listening to what Aelin said? The Cauldron needed to be broken down, to reforge the realms - that takes immense power. She planned to use that power to rid us all of Hybern - but she still needs the Wyrdkeys to heal the rift, " Amren said.
Mor's face paled, her magic flaring. "Are you saying she's going to reforge the realms? That she took the Cauldron to reforge the realms by herself?"
Amren nodded, "She is likely already back in Erilea - she has a plan to do what needs to be done, to fix both our worlds."
And then I felt it, the stretching of the bond. It was still there, faint and soft - but so thin it felt like it could be snapped by a strong gust of wind. Stretched not just by space and time, but across realms.
And it was at that moment that my heart shattered. Breaking for what my mate had done. For what she planned to do. Alone.
"She is my mate," I bit out. "She is our mate. Go get her."
It didn't matter what she'd planned - we'd do this together. I needed us together. I needed her.
"I can't," Amren said too quietly. "I don't know how."
Wind rushed past my ears - sweeping away any cognizant thought.
"You mean she didn't tell you how," Rowan croaked out, and I looked over at him, startled. He was pale, drawn, looking as wrecked as I felt.
Amren nodded solemnly in confirmation. Rowan rose on unsteady feet, drawing closer.
"She didn't tell you how," he continued in a terrifyingly calm voice, "because she doesn't want our help - doesn't want us in any danger, refuses to put us in danger. That's why she took Hybern with her, to get him out of our way."
Amren nodded again, not daring to speak.
Rowan faced me, grief and agony written across every line of his face. "Even with Hybern gone, if she is in Eirlea, she is returning to a world that another Valg King is poised to conquer, and if what she spat at Hybern today is true - a world where a Valg Queen lies in wait. A world where she is a fugitive, a lost queen with no allies and far too many enemies."
"What?" Mor whispered from where she knelt. Azriel's bleeding at last eased, the gaping hole in his chest sealed, and I could see him trying to make sense of our words through the pain. Cassian's wings had finally clotted, still in need of healer to mend the delicate tendons and nerves. Despite this, he had regained his senses, the thunderous expression behind his panting breaths and wide eyes the only indication of his wrath as he struggled to his feet.
"You mean to tell me," I breathed, "that our mate is now utterly alone, in another realm, surrounded by enemies?" I could feel a lethal sort of calm creeping over my face. My power built, rubbing itself against my skin, my bones, desperate to be unleashed.
"I mean to tell you," Rowan said, his voice breaking as the calm fury that had prevailed finally fractured. "That I do not believe our mate intends to survive reforging the realms."
Terror and anguish surged so fiercely that it broke through my centuries of control, and my power burst forth, plunging the room into darkness. The next heartbeat, I had sucked it back in as I lunged at Amren, snarling in her face.
"What did you do?"
She was trembling in her sorrow, a tear glimmering in those otherworldly eyes - but I didn't care, couldn't care. Not as she raised her chin in determination.
"She asked me - She knew what was coming, so she asked me. To help her. To protect you all. To not let her sacrifice be in vain."
"What sacrifice," Rowan snarled.
Amren still kept her eyes locked on me as she explained, "Aelin had already been warned that there she would need to sacrifice much to save her realm. Our translation of the Book of Breathings confirmed it. She is the price to reforge the realms. Nameless. The Gods decreed it."
Rowan breathed out, "Brannon's mark. She's his heir." My stomach lurched as Amren nodded in confirmation.
"What mark? What does that mean?" Mor demanded, eyes wild.
"Nameless is the mark of Brannon. Aelin's ancestor from long ago, who defeated the Valg in the first war. If Nameless is the price -" his voice broke, "Aelin is the price."
"No -" the word ripped from my chest.
It couldn't - She couldn't -
NO
Cassian and Azriel were both on their feet, snarling with rage despite their wounds - despite the pain. Physical pain had nothing, nothing, on the pure agony ripping apart our souls. The snarls and growls escaping us were not human - were not even fae. They were feral, demonic.
Amren spoke softly, but not hesitantly, not apologetically, "I will not apologize for what I've done. She is the Queen Who Was Promised, and I did as she asked. But, I do have something from Aelin, something she left for you all."
Quivering hands pulled out an envelope, which I tore from her grasp. I devoured the words in front of me, soul guttering out, heart clenching with every line.
Face blank, I handed it to my brothers. To Rowan, who I now counted among them.
And I watched as their hearts broke, as their souls shredded. As they read the words our mate had left us on tearstained parchment.
Her final words to us.
Rhysand, Rowan, Cassian, Azriel,
If you're reading this, it means my plan has succeeded, and I've vanished with the Cauldron and the King of Hybern. That's two threats gone from Prythian, and I have the utmost faith you'll be able to deal with his remaining soldiers without issue. I would caution you to also take action against the Mortal Queens, as they've already demonstrated their willingness to act against you. Personally, I would recommend getting rid of them entirely and placing new Queens on the throne - but I'll leave that decision in your capable hands.
I know you must be angry, and I'm sure you have questions. I hope you won't be too angry with Amren, as I made her swear an oath to not reveal my plans. You may tell her I release her of that vow, and she may speak freely regarding anything you want to know.
I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry that I lied to you all, but I will never apologize for protecting you. I love the four of you so much. Love that spans realms, across time and space, and I will never stop. It is a well that will never run dry. You are all my only reason for existing, for living. I will never stop being grateful for you all pulling me from my dark path and bringing me back to the light.
But it was all borrowed time anyway.
I only wish we had more of it.
Still, in the time we had together, you all woke me up. It is because of you that I know what true, unbreakable love, what devotion and adoration, what happiness is. What it should be. I will treasure our memories in the one bright spot of my soul that remains, for as long as I can.
You see, my loves, I will not survive what is to come. I've accepted that, but I couldn't do what needs to be done without knowing that you would survive. I swear to reforge our realms, banish the Valg, and create a better world. I will do this for you, for your futures, for the desperate hope that you will live, that you will thrive, and that one day you will love again.
I will go to my grave gladly and with peace knowing that your futures are safeguarded. I know this may come as a shock, but know that I go willingly, with no regrets, and that I will be holding tight to your love the entire time. I hope you understand, and in time can forgive me.
So, I beg of you, do not mourn me. Lean on each other. Live. Please live.
I love you all with the fire of a billion suns,
Aelin
p.s. Rhysand, I'm sorry I kept your ring. It was my own personal moment of selfishness and desire to have a physical reminder of you all. When the realms have merged, seek out my cousin Aedion in Terrasan. I will entrust it to him for safekeeping.
That was it.
That was what Aelin had left him, left them. Begging them to accept her demise, to pick up the pieces. To love again. He could barely suppress his roar of grief and frustration.
His Goddess.
His mate. His brother's mate.
Their equal, their lover, their mate.
Goddess, Fireheart, Princess, Little Warrior.
It was all borrowed time anyway.
Aelin did not expect them to come for her.
She did not think she'd ever see them again. She'd accepted it. Had planned to sacrifice herself for them. To save them. Knowing she would never again be held in their arms.
And she assumed we would just accept it. That we wouldn't fight for her.
Well, I didn't accept that. I couldn't accept that. I would not accept that.
We would not accept that.
Looking up, I saw a similar rage and commitment echoed in my brother's eyes.
Cassian snarled in displeasure, "Yeah fuck that. I swore to her we would never break, and I intend to keep that promise - no matter what petty gods stand in my way."
Azriel growled, low and intense, "We'll get her back, one way or another. She is our mate, we will follow her to the ends of the world - of all worlds. "
I merely fixed Amren with a piercing glare, "You will find a way to get us to our mate. I don't care what you have to do, what you have to sacrifice - you will find a way. Figure it the fuck out."
Rowan rasped, "We'll find her. Together. We'll find her together."
And hope - precious and fragile - stirred in my blood.
We wouldn't let you go, Aelin. We refused. We would hunt to the ends of all the realms to find you.
We will find you.
And if you think we'll let you sacrifice yourself at the whims of some pathetic, petty gods? You have another thing coming.
⤞ End Part One ⤝