The second that the arrow hit Maeve's throat, the shield around the two fell and Rowan leapt by Aelin's side, who was now slipping in and out of consciousness.
"Stay with me," Rowan panted. He grabbed the knife embedded in her side and gently pulled it out.
"Rowan," Aelin whispered. "You came." Her eyes were fluttering shut.
"To whatever end," He grabbed both sides of her face that were now tear streaked. He picked her up bridal style, not looking back at the dead Queen of the Valg or his court.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Aelin had slept the whole ride home. Rowan tried his best to heal all her wounds but some were either to deep or too complex for even him. They decided to go back to Terrasen and find a skilled healer for Aelin's trove of wounds.
"Do you think she'll ever get over it?" Dorian asked Rowan. "I mean, Endovier left her in a dark place, and this was ten times worse..."
But Rowan had already thought about that, millions of times. He didn't know how his mate would be when she woke up, but he knew he'd help her walk out of the darkness like hi did before.
"She is strong," Rowan reminded Dorian.
"I know."
"We're about twenty miles to Terrasen," Aedion said from his place in the carriage.
"When we get there, we'll have to explain things to everyone," Lysandra said.
"No," Rowan replied. "That's for Aelin to decide."
The carriage went silent, everyone looking at Aelin, laying on Rowan's lap. His tattooed hand stroking her hair.
A few minutes later, Rowan firmly said, "Thank you," to Lorcan who was flipping his dagger over in his palm.
His former commander looked up and simply said, "I owed it to her."
The two most powerful full blooded fae males in the world simply looked each other in the eye. Then Rowan looked back down at Aelin. She was wearing one of Lysandra's shirts, but even with the shirt, the whip scars still marred her neck.
"We're here," Manon said. The witch joining them after Rowan left the castle, as she was busy helping injured soldiers.
Rowan stepped out of the carriage, picking up his unconscious Queen on the way out.
"Holy..." Dorian said.
"Welcome to the Castle of Terrasen," Aedion said.
Rowan looked up at Aelin's castle-no, his castle, he realized.
"Welcome home Queen Aelin Ashryver Galathynius," Rowan whispered in her ear.
And so the Prince Consort of Terrasen walked into his castle with his Queen in his arms.
Author's note - Sorry this was so short! Also we're at 500 reads! *incoherently sobs* Anyways, I am going on vacation for eight days and I will try and write as much as possible, but don't give up on this story, I have big plans hehe.
P.s. thank you to everyone who votes for this story, it never goes unnoticed. I always see the notification on my phone and it makes me smile, thank you. I also reply to all comments :)