#┊ ┊ ⋆˚ 𝘛𝘖 𝘉𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘛𝘌𝘙𝘔𝘐𝘕𝘌𝘋 › verse

[f1ameheir]

-- @moondevoured get's an au starter !

it was over.      the silence after such battle was a sound , even after the many years since their own , that one did not get used to.      a hollowness that clung to the blood soaked battle field.      the grunts of survivors gasping a welcome breath , groans of those who lay upon the doorstep to the afterworld , and the clattering of shield and sword overpowering the stale air around where aelin stood beside her mate.      looking outwards , how the blood of both friend and foe melded in with the mud of the earth , it pulls her back for a moment.      back to a time when it was her own people who lay there in the muck.      the armor of many allies that had come to her aid gleaned against the sun’s breaking rays.      as if he knows , can see what she sees , the hand of the towering fae beside her reaches only in silence to grab hold of her hand.      a wordless reminder that the view she peered out upon was not their home.      that they had won their war , just as prythian had reigned victory in their own.

exhaustion looms , the lingering burnout only adding to aelin’s own tiredness as she turns to look into the pine green eyes above.      a confirming nod is all he provides as the two depart from where they stand , moving to rejoin the camp below.      the eyes that momentarily turn their way a varying shade of hazel or brown clashing against the black armor they still wore.      the wings , that was the strangest sight to behold.      oh how different they were although their core of their worlds both gleaned in magic.      looking upon them long did not last however as the two came to the overly large tent erected in the heart of the camp itself.      but before aelin could make her stride within , regrouping with not only her own friends but her allies from this world , it is the hue of a grayish blue that pulls her attention.      ❛   go in without me , i’ll be right back.   ❜

departing from her mate’s side , armor of her own trudging through the muddy terrain moves her closer to the outlier standing outside the tent.      her appearance , it was so similar to that of feyra’s that there was no doubt that they were related in some way.      but the gleam in her eyes spoke a different call.      one aelin knew of all too well from her own past.      ❛   they always preach that the battle is the hard part , they never take into account the aftermath   . . .   ❜

[f1ameheir]

-- @feylived get's a rowan starter !

❛   if that oversized bat with rabies says one more thing   . . .   ❜      goldryn is plucked from between where it lied on her hilt and moved to the side of the bed on which aelin now sat.      whilst the man they had traveled worlds to see after heeding a plea for aid was the very one that had ensured aelin’s return to her world and in turn saved her life , that fact alone did not negate the ire that he caused to boil in her blood.      the initial meeting alone near caused the flame to overpower her all together.      we need your help.      that was the basis of his note.      but it was clear to aelin that her court’s aid would not be met without push back.      and to be talked down to , it was a feeling she had never come to get used to.      even as far back as when she moved through the streets of rifthold under the guise of celaena sardothien.      more so when it came to be talked down to by a man. 

fingers move to pull away the pins that adorned the long blonde locks , much like shedding the costume of queenliness she prepared for this day and returned to that of solely aelin.      hues of blue centered in gold move from where the precious clips now rested in her palm and onto the towering fae that she had somehow been lucky enough to call her husband.      a man who had been the picture of kingly royalty in the meeting in comparison to their queen.      ❛   he calls for our help , we haul our asses across worlds , and he has the balls to question what aid we do give ?!   ❜

[f1ameheir]

peace never lasted.      it was a harrowing reality that aelin had come , long ago , to accept.      quiet times did exist , times of joy and ease , but they never lasted forever.      she just didn’t expect it to be shattered like this.      two years of happiness uprooted and crushed like a big under her boot with one letter.      one note handed to her as the moon hung high in the skies over terrasen from a messenger paled in appearance.      reading the words from the world she had only seen a few times now reaching out to her after the arrival of a threat they were unable to handle met their shores.      a danger she should have never doubted would return for vengeance for the lives she had taken that day on the battlefield.      within her , her magic plummeted in response.      the bottom that had been crafted after forging the lock crumbling and the deep well reopened allowing flames to surge through her veins.      to have her magic respond in such a way due to a worded warning   . . .   aelin did not waste time.

sending her own urgent call to her friends across erilea to convene at orynth immediately ,  aelin gathered those who were housed in the castle , waking them from sleep and gathering them within the war room to await the others.      

had it been hours or days until the room was filled was lost to her as she sat.      flame dancing at her fingers as eyes hollow as the day she had escaped maeve watched the last few enter.      faces of those who had given and lost so much two years ago.      of who pushed aside their own wishes to follow her.      the thought of asking them to walk back into this again made her stomach coil inwards on itself.      but what choice did she have ?     

❛   i’m not going to sugar coat as to why i asked you all here so urgently.   ❜      she started with the voice of a war worn queen.      ❛   and i don’t know all the answers.      but what i do know is , somehow , a gate was opened in prythian.   ❜      the next words struggled to come , to say their names , to say the reason becoming near impossible as she looked towards everyone. ❛   and what was described can only been his remaining brothers seen coming through.   ❜

@ircnwrought gets the plotted starter for elide !

[f1ameheir]

where aelin once had weeks to mentally prepare for what was to come , what she would have to do , seemed to within a blink turn into mere hours.      to give all of herself to protect those she loved.      to keep her promise to make a better world.      one she would not see , would not get to exist within , but knowing they would , the friends that had all given more than enough in her name , it eased the fear.      if only a bit.      however , there was one thing she still sought out to do.      night upon them , sounds of the camp in slumber that was well needed , aelin moved carefully as not to wake anyone from the tent and into the winters bite outside.      cold , has terrasen always been so cold ?      or had this been in result of the keepers of oakwald’s attempt at protecting their sacred forest ?      pulling her cloak tighter , each step past the boundaries of camp felt heavier.      the smell of fresh snow melding with that of the salt mines just ahead pulling at her knees.      but she needed to do this , one last time.      before she was wiped from the afterworld.      her immortal price to pay for bringing aelin this far. 

with a swipe of her blade , blood falls from her hand onto the snow well away from camp.      fingers tracing out the marking in the frozen soil before her.      one last time , to see elena.      what aelin hoped to hear from her she wasn’t sure.      would it hurt ?      would it be quick ?      questions that seemed daft in the grand scheme of things.      but when the mark was finished , the silhouette of another forming , she found her breathing uneven.      and when it took form , she felt her breathing stop.     kaltain.      ❛   i   —   ❜      lost for words , the broken queen who was promised scrambled to collect her thoughts.      but there were only two words that seeped out instead upon seeing the woman before her now ,      ❛   i’m sorry.   ❜

@fablemyth get's a semi plotted starter for kaltain !

[f1ameheir]

there was no moment of pondering , no putting it up to a vote.      when called upon by those who hailed from the lands of snow capped peaks and stary vast skies , aelin held no reserve in calling in that of  her most trusted to her side to venture to a world only she had once witnessed.      it was a debt she owed to the man who wrote to her.      the winged man who had slowed her that day just enough for her to return back home.      the conversation with the others not only of her court but lands vast beyond to the south had not been easy.     to ask for their help and walk into war yet again after the months of rebuilding finally began to slow after the victory of their own.      but after explaining in grand detail of falling through the worlds , emphasizing on the one in which lead her home , soon after agreement sounded through the meeting room.      and not a moment after aelin with rowan alongside her blood sworn , the king of adarlan , the two women in which aelin credited their victory against the valg to with their husbands beside them moved forth.      traveling through a gate that the queen had spent a good while in learning to craft and open with the old scrolls from orynth’s long past. 

she had expected   —   well aelin wasn’t sure what she’d expected    ––   when they stepped to the otherside.      the sun had long set over the towering peaks and yet the city before them glowed from the starlight above.      it was a sight that took lorcan clearing his throat to pull aelin from her trance and send them trekking forth into the city itself that held her in such awe.

whispers were the first sounds to fill their ears as they passed by the citizens of this place.      who could blame them ?      aelin was aware of how they appeared to the unknowing eye.      a mixture of fae and human , scented by places not of this world , with powers among them that had defied the gods themselves.      even offering soft smiles did little to stop the wary eyes.      thankfully the feeling of being out of place did not linger as a woman who appeared around her own age came into their path.      her beauty was remarkable and by which she looked at aelin , at those behind her , it was that reason the queen knew the woman before her was the one she had witnessed beside the man that night atop the balcony.      only , not as round.      ❛   hello ,   ❜    her voice that of civility as she took in the other.      ❛   i am   —   we are here to see rhysand.   ❜

@starseternelle get's a semi plotted starter !

[f1ameheir]

❛   it’s no apartment in rifthold   . . .    ❜      celaena’s fingers drag along the forgotten hearth that stood the centerpiece of the small cottage.      there hadn’t been much after fleeing the city , and less when it came to finally stumbling upon a house they could make their own.      but even if it were nothing but a box in an alley , after all they had endured and survived , as long as sam was there at her side   —   it was home.      a smirk on her face reminiscent of the girl she had always been , the part of her not even arobynn could stiffen , grows as she faces sam near glowing in the light of dusk.      ❛   but i guess i can get used to it.   ❜

@sparelove liked for a starter for sam !

[f1ameheir]

it was in the dead of night that the courier delivered the other worldly letter to aelin. the rapid knock pulling her from her deep slumber causing her interactions with the innocent man to be rather brash. but there was nothing that could have prepared her for what lie beyond that sealed envelope with a deep violet seal of three mountainous peaks pointing to a trio if stars above. apart of aelin wanted to toss it to the side to read it once the sun arose. but there was a pull to it , one of which made the small drop of flame within her dance to life beneath her skin. eyes glimple towards the bedroom door that sat mere cracked across the sitting area of the king and queen's chamber , ensuring rowan had not been disturbed by her abrupt rouse from the bed. silence. silence was her answer that he slept undisturbed on the other side of the wall. aelin moved from the middle of the room , finding comfort in the soft fabrics of the couch before the dying fire in the herth , the envelope still tight in her grasp as she did.

within the light she turns over the small letter. only two words sat marked on the outside in deep ink – aelin galathynius. why had the quick spelling of her name cause her heart to jump in her chest , why did she find it so hard to open the note from the world beyond ? fingers pull away the seal , pulling out the paper as eyes move over the words. and as she did , apart of her wishes she never had. because what was written to her from the high lord of the night court , the man she'd become allies with over the years , was something that made the world spin.

no , no , no , no. aelin moved without knowing , eyes vacant as face drew pale as fire began to burn hotter and hotter in her veins so much so a coating of sweat began to bead down her forehead , closer to the bedroom door. no caution , no gentle knock. only the swing of the room slamming against the wall alerted the fae in her bed to wake. distant , hollow words filled her as her own blue hues met his tired ones. but when she tried to speak again , the floor of her magic seemed to erupt pulling the queen of fire down to her knees in response of the floodgates reopening and an onslaught of fire filled every crevice of who she was. knocking her breathless as she found her voice once more. ❛   rowan . . .   ❜

@homiines get's that plot !

[f1ameheir]

her face , distant and solemn in lieu of her normal mask of ease and thought as she tightened the laces of her boots before sitting before the dying fire.      trekking from the remnants of rifthold towards the northern terrain , more thoughts than aelin could siphon through danced in her mind.     the looming battles , the outcome of chaol’s healing , every possible threat they may encounter in the meantime   . . .   so many ravaged her very focus.      pulling the usually chatty , sarcastic nature of the blonde queen to that of a quiet demeanor.      but it was only a matter of time until one of those she traveled north alongside moved from the shadows and braved the task of asking what stuck her quiet.      and low and behold , to not even her own surprise , rowan’s voice cut through the twilight veil that illuminated their campsite.      the care in his voice upon approach pulling aelin’s gaze briefly from the subtle flames of the hearth dancing before her eye.      ❛   you know   . . .   i was kind of expecting dorian to have drawn the short straw.   ❜

@denouemente liked for a starter for rowan

[f1ameheir]

❛   by gods . . .   ❜ her voice was near breathless when it sounded in response to the other. lost in another world as she explored the breathtaking library velaris held home to , aelin seemed to all but forget others lurked in the shelves. aelin collected herself , fixing the books that dangled from her arms from the fright , before looking back to the auburn haired girl before her. ❛   you scared the hell out of me.   ❜

@valkyrd liked for a starter

[f1ameheir]

she listens.      heeding elides words as they meld with the waves that rock against the ship below.      how easy it would be for aelin to agree.      to cast blame upon the warrior fae for , well , all of it.      there would be no others who would fault her in casting him away.      but at her core , even if she forced herself , she could not wholly and righteously pin him as the cause.      i did it for elide.      that is what she was told , what kept aelin from banishing him into the afterworld herself.      he had fears so greatly for elide’s safety upon seeing ansel’s fleet that day unknowing the host and called upon the only choice he had believed he had at the time.      maeve.      all to keep the girl who stood beside her safe.     that was the cost of her wielding her cards under the table.      a cost she would spend however long it took to make it up not only to him but to her.      turning her back to rest against the ship's railing , eyes drained of the glimmer they had once held long ago , looked out upon the northern horizon.      

❛   she would have still found me elide ,   ❜      they are near whisper , as if to keep all others from overhearing.      ❛   she already had.      she   —   she had been waiting until i was weak to show her hand.      if anyone should be to blame for what happened that day , it’s me.   ❜      how daft she now feels for playing right into the demon witch’s hand so blindly right as she had predicted she would.      arobynn has trained her better than that and yet still she fumbled.      and the pain encasing elide’s features only deepen when her final statement drops between them. 

❛   i’m not one to speak on his behalf   . . .   ❜     eyes move to see the looming tower of dark power in human form across the ship momentarily before shifting her attention back to elide.      ❛   and it is not my place to apologize for him , but the way he looked that day on the beach when   . . .   when he crawled wasn’t one of heartbreak for her.   ❜      she can feel his eyes , the way his body shifts as her words ring just loud enough for his fae hearing to pick up.      ❛   it was fear i saw in him.      the same fear i saw in him when fenrys attacked you. and i can't imagine he would have that same look if he was trying to get to her.  ❜

__________☾     SHE       CANNOT       HELP       HOW       HER       HANDS       TIGHTEN       ON       THE       SHIP'S       RAILING       OR       HOW       HER       CHEST       TWISTS    IN       THE       ANGER       SHE'S       BEEN       SEEPED       IN       SINCE       THAT       FATEFUL       DAY       ON       THE       BEACH.       she   is   ever   aware   of   lorcan's   shadow   casting   across   the   deck,       the   sun   beginning   its   dip   under   the   horizon.        she    can    picture    just    how    many    paces    are    left    between    them,       how    the    seabreeze    tossles    his    hair,       how    the    shadows    gather    at    his    feet    like    some    death    god    incarnate     (       hadn't   he   said   hellas   gifted   him   his   powers   as   anneith   had   gifted   her   hers    ??       consorts   together,       fate   bound.        she    wonders    if    lorcan's    hubris    has    cost    them    some    kernel    of    destiny       )        but   it   hadn't   been   destiny   that   had   turned   their   animosity   to   kindness,       kindness   to   something    new    –     it    had    been    choice.       she   had   chosen   him,    &&    now   she   must   pick   up   the   pieces   of   her   shattered   hope    &&    heart.     ❛    how   could   he   not   be    ??    ❜       she   turns   to   her   friend   then    &&    wishes   she   could   erase   all   the   pain   that   now   reflects   across   those   golden   features.     ❛    she    --    ❜       the   lady   refuses   to   use   the   valg   queen's   name.        it    can    rot    in    the    pits    of    hell    from    whence    the    false    god    rose.     ❛    –    never   would   have   found   you   if   he   hadn't   called   her.    &&    despite   that   betrayal   of   you,     of    terrasen       …       he   still    crawled    to    her.    ❜     the   final   betrayal,       of   her.     perhaps    it    makes    her    ever    the    fool    to    know    she    loves    him    still.

[f1ameheir]

every facet of the universe had done everything in its power to cleave them apart. and at times , it had nearly succeeded. but was a pull between them , a thread of sorts that withstood every storm even if it , at times , seemed to vanish all together by which kept them in the same orbit. two stars flying around one another until they finally collide. and standing in his arms now , the feel of his lips against the bare skin of her face and neck , it was then did celaena sardothien finally believe she had made it. that she had won the battle she for so long did not realize she was fighting. ❛   there's nothing i want that i don't already have.   ❜ with those words , only then does she pull back to let her blue hues connect and sink into his. that wicked grin so seamlessly appearing on her face. ❛   but if you're offering . . . chocolate cake sounds amazing right now.   ❜

sam learned when he was young not to expect much, to live cheap and light. all he took from rifthold was a few outfits to sustain their travels. everything else would either come in time or it wouldn't. he didn't care. what he needed was the girl in front of him. his lips pepper kisses across her cheeks and down her neck after crossing the room to hold her; pressing them against her skin until he feels her lean into his grasp further. "give me a week and i'll get you whatever you want." a promise he would keep. if celaena gave sam a list, he would come back with a bounty.

[f1ameheir]

aelin keeps her features calm , hand leaving the hilt of her sword she had not realized she had been clutching as to convey peace , at the others wary appearance.      this world , when she had seen it last , had not appeared like this.      there had been no remnants of battle fought or a gaze of exhaustion on either of their faces as she fell through the stars.      worlds and time.      that is what she stumbled through.      not only had she seen this place , this woman , but had witnessed it within another time all together.      had it been the past or future she broke through remained a mystery , but regardless , they had saved her.      and in turn , saved terrasen.      and this was her debt to pay even if explanations would be murky when the time came to convey her story.      her reasoning for being there.      but with the air which only lingers after a hard fought battle began to set in as the glamor of the world they’d now found themselves within calmed , even aelin herself knew this battle was only the beginning.      the sturdiness of rowan at her side for her cementing her thought as correct.

eyes of blue flame met with gold take in the female in further detail.      the way in which her body holds heavy even though the self - inflicted force to stand at the ready , how she looks over the gathered group of fae and human with calculated weariness.      a feeling she herself knew all too well.      so she keeps her words soft , her hands raised with palms out before her.      ❛   we didn’t come from outside the city exactly.   ❜      perhaps it would be harder than aelin imagined to explain after all when the other begins with questions.      ❛   it is a long story.      one i am more than happy to tell you and your mate.      but he called for me , or well us.      he did not give much detail as to why but it is a debt i owe both of you we have come to repay.   ❜

__________🏹       EXHAUSTION       CLINGS       TO       HER       BONES       AS       SHE       HELPS       VELARIS       REBUILD       FROM       THE       ATTOR'S       ATTACK.       the   city   had   been   untouched   for   millennia    &&    yet   it   had   been   her   dreamer's   heart   that   had   imperiled   her   people     (       a   belief   that   the   human   queens   would   help   prythian   if   only   they   knew   the   truth       …       if   only   they   understood   the   night   court   sought   to   create   not   to   destroy     )       it   had   been   for   naught   at   the   end.       the   queens   betrayed   their   own    &&    the   inner   circle   was   no   closer   to   preventing   the   impending   war   than   they   had   been   before.     indeed    it    may    have    only    accelerated    the    inevitable,       she   thinks   as   she   pauses   to   take   a   breath.     her    magic    has    nearly    been    spent    picking    up    the    pieces    of    her    folly,       only   the   arrival   of   the    strangers    causes   her   to   immediately   push   herself   to   her   feet    &&    come   to   meet   them.

🏹__________       THOUGH    HER    FACE    IS    IMPASSIVE,        SHE       NOTES       EACH       SHEATHED       WEAPON       &&       THE       FEEL       OF       MAGIC    IN    THE    AIR.       ancient    &&    not   of   this   world.     she    braces    herself    for    an    attack    that    never    comes,       suspicion    giving    way    to    wary    surprise    that    she    is    spoken    to    first.       still,       it   does   not   stop   the   calculus   in   her   head     (       measuring   how   close   she   is   to   the   sidra,       how   much   power   remains   to   her,       how   far   the   warriors   in   her   circle   are     )       her   hand   flexes   a   bit,       trying   to   stop   the   tremble   it   has,    &&    she   levels   her   gaze   on   the   blonde   female   who   appears   to   be   the   leader   of   the   group.     ❛    how   did   you   bybass   the   city   wards    ??    ❜     it   had   taken   days   to   weave   the   strands   of   enchantment   back   together   only   for   them   to   appear   to   fall   nearly   instantly.     she    does    not    even    consider    that    the    spells    had    been    keyed    to    keep    outsiders    out,       not    world    walkers.       ❛    &&    what   exactly   is   it   you   want   of   my   mate    ??    ❜

[f1ameheir]

had a book been crafted of their history , it would be mere pages in length.      a tale of antagonism , disdain , and trying.      the short stint of time their stories overlapped those months in the glass castle had been spent at the other's throats for reasoning that seemed so juvenile now.      had dorian known the animosity that lingered between the two had been over him ?      gods forbid he ever find out or else aelin was sure she’d never possibly hear the end of it.      but times then had long past , both blonde fire - bringer and the spirit figure of the woman before her had faced horrors of which neither could possibly underestimate since then.      kaltain in particular   . . .   when she was told what she had done , what she had given , it ripped at aelin’s soul.      through the horrors of not only morath but erawan she had still fought and retained her promise.      because of her , they had the keys to send the dark king back to the hells themselves.

❛   is that why you’re here then ?      to tell me what i already know is at stake ?  ❜      aelin’s own words mimic the bite that the other carry’s.      not intended , but over the last months , patience had not been something the cursed queen had spent much time practicing.      not when she would be nothing but a memory to be passed on through stories and song in just a few hours.      it is forced , the ivey bite of the winter air stinging at her lungs as she inhales to calm the defensiveness that rises within.

❛   just   . . .   ❜      the exhaustion that is painted on aelin’s face is matched in her tone as she keeps her eye upon the other.      did she come as some penance , some sort of reminder of all those who had perished because of her ?      yet another cruel joke of the damned gods who seemed to enjoy toying with the queen who was promised rather than aiding ?      the scars may have been wiped from her body as if they’d never existed , but the memories and knowledge still lingered.      every single person whose lives were forfeit in her wake haunted her each passing hour.      their lives a weight on her shoulders.      so if that was the reason kaltain came through   . . .   well aelin was just wasting time she did no longer have.      ❛   why are you here then ?   ❜

she'd wondered if the lost queen would ever reach out. not to her, specifically, their history leaving little wiggle room for a friendship that would have been born from little more than antagonistic barbs shielded by pretty words, and kaltain was likely the last person the queen would like to actually see, but it seems fitting that she be the one who appears.

" miss me? " small smirk plays over her lips, a ghost that's as much as similar as she is to it now. she moves tilts her head as she takes in the young woman before her, noting every line and change that's taken her face since they last met. is this how she looked to the witch at the point of their meeting, tired and gaunt? or did she simply appear like she'd had her will stripped away slowly, binding her time until she could take her revenge? " surprised to see me? i'm sure i'm not exactly who you were hoping for. "

the ghost doesn't wait for an answer before she's waving celaena sardation's words off, her amusement sliding into a mask of anger. " don't apologize. " some of her old bite from when she was alive seeps into her tone, and kaltain can't help but straighten her ghostly figure just slightly more. " you'll have plenty of time to apologize after you get through this; because if you don't, there's not going to be anything left for any of us anymore. "