#and i was for some reason travelling with sellen who had for some reason gotten through security just fine

[snarp]

Last night I dreamed I got held up at airport security in Nagoya for like 3 hours because my backpack was full of 1) raw meat, 2) Poke Balls containing Pokemon specifically banned from boarding airplanes including Onix and Electrode, and 3) kratom.

Also, I was Ranni the Witch, and, as such, my ID was obviously fake, but they never actually noticed that.

[mayhemories]

Braids & War Paint (Part 9)

Notes On: Part 1: / Part 2: / Part 3: / Part 4: / Part 5: / Part 6: / Part 7: / Part 8: 

Italics is bond talking. 

“Be seen but not heard.” Said Evalin Ashryver, kissing the top of her daughter’s head. Aelin was dressed in various shades of brown for her travels, the track to Ellywe was long and her baby girl was going alone. But if her Fireheart had to leave, if Aelin had a reason for leaving like this, Evalin would support her trek, even if that meant Aelin had to be alone. 

Evalin wasn’t naive, she knew just like the next person what Aelin’s power was like. Evalin knew firsthand how skilled she was with metal and weapons. She could almost feel the presence of the little folk from where they stood. 

“I’ll be back before you know it,” Aelin smiled. Evalin could see so much of Rhoe in her. “Would you like me to bring you anything?” 

“I think my finger is calling for a new embellishment.” Evalin said, her sad, worried smile didn’t reach her eyes as she made the joke. Aelin will highly likely bring her home a ring. 

“I’ll see you soon.” Aelin said before riding off on Kasida. 

Rhoe’s hand rested on Evalin’s shoulder, it was comforting in the time when Evalin needed it. Like now, when the only thought running around Evalin’s head was that she was a bad mother, letting Aelin leave like that without anyone. 

“Lady Marion said she’ll take Fleetfoot back with her and Elide to Perranth.” Rhoe said, neither of them wanted to move until Aelin was out of sight. 

“What of Aedion and Lyansdra? When do they take leave for Illium?” Evalin asked. She hated when the castle was quiet, hated when her family was gone.

“Tonight.” That meant it would just be Evalin, Rhoe and Orlon. Evalin loved the Galathynius brother’s with all her heart, but Evalin lived for her daughter. 

Aelin hated dust and her arse hurt so much she wanted to scream. She had made it to Rifthold by nightfall. She thanked the gods for her animal form, a human was a good disguise, a buzzard was not. 

Dorian had advised her to stay clear of the Glass Castle. So she had done just that and found an inn. She laid on the stiff matress and thought of her buzzard. If she had planned correctly he would’ve received her hawk by now. She had tried not to think about Dorian’s letter, he had wrote her a frantic message about Wendlyn closing their borders, Doranelle closing all intercontinental shipments. 

She wondered if her dreams weren’t dreams at all but visions or memories from a long time ago. She thought of how her grandmother always blesses her at Yulemas, she thought of Brannon and Elena and Gavin. What did Mala Fire-Bringer think of her? What did Mora think of her and Rowan? 

Aelin hoped Aedion would pay his respects in Brannon’s temple while he was in Illium, only the Gods know the answer to all the bodies popping up in Illium and surrounds. All of them drained of blood. 

If Rowan was here she could ask him more about Doranelle’s history. She had heard of Brannon being born a bastard there before he and Mala sailed across to Erilea. She had heard of the First War, when Valg had poured in through portals, many were killed or exiled back to their home dimension using powerful wyrdmarks. Very few of them remained in Erilea but the king remained, Erawan killed and slaughtered many members of the Bane centuries later. What happened next is muddy, some say Elena killed him, some say Elena sent him back to the pit he crawled from and others theorise that he had been suppressed somehow and that he would return again. 

The demons of her dreams would have to be the Valg, there was no other explanation for it. Especially if they were memories or visions. Aelin had experienced visions before because of Brannon’s mark, but they hand never been this dark. 

The Wyrd had been forged with keys, two of which Aelin knew of. She had one, The Amulet of Orynth and Dorian had the other, The Eye of Elena. Aelin was damned if she knew where the third one rested, or even what the third one was.

All of this speculating without fact hurt her brain, the two strings in her chest felt different, one laid loose- as if nothing was connected on the other end and the other felt taught. The latter was the carranam bond. When she was a child Aedion used to tell her bedtime stories of carranam that remade the world, the dreamers bought forth a better world for everyone. 

Aelin sent his name barreling through the bond, deep down she knew it probably wouldn’t do anything. But she was a dreamer. 

Rowan?

Nothing. For the first time Aelin felt alone and it was all Rowan’s fault, how dare he storm into her life all cannons blazing and then leave? She would see him soon enough but just the thought of him made her happy. But the idea of him leaving again made her want to hit him. 

Aelin?  Rowan’s accented voice slammed into her head loud and clear, her whole chest warmed, both strings felt a tug before she answered.

I didn’t expect this to work. Aelin laughed into the cold empty room. 

Are you okay? 

I’m fine as anyone could be in this shitty inn.

Inn? Are you travelling or just sneaking out?

I’m seeing Nehemia, I’ve been having…strange dreams recently.

It was quiet for a long time and Aelin had thought the connection had faded until he spoke up again. 

Dreams? What of? 

Lots of things- evil bastards usually.  Aelin tried to joke about it but the screams still rang in her ears from last time she slept, she prayed Rowan couldn’t hear them. 

We won’t talk about it if you don’t want to.  He said, understanding her seriousness, with his own sense of wary Aelin could feel it from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes that Rowan knew what she spoke of. 

But if we stop talking I’ll have to sleep and I’m not too keen to do that. 

What if I read to you, Fireheart.

Okay. Aelin said as Rowan started to read the gods awfully good romance book she had slipped into his saddle bag. 

That night Aelin fell asleep to Rowan’s voice and across the sea Rowan fell asleep with a romance novel in his lap. 

A curt knock at Rowan’s door caused him to jump, the shitty romance novel he had been reading to Aelin fell out of his lap and slid under his bed. 

Rowan quickly got to his feet, fixing his tunic as he opened the door. 

Gavriel smiled at him.

“Let me guess,” Rowan said, his morning voice fleeting as he cleared his throat. “I’m wanted at breakfast.” 

“How did you guess? You must have gotten smarter in Terrasen.” Gavriel said, rolling his eyes. Gavriel was the kindest of them but when he gets sarcastic he takes no prisoners. 

The two of them walked through the light corridors of the Palace of Rivers. A maid quickly darted past them, carrying a vase of geraniums.   

Aelin hated geraniums.   

“Had a big night?” Gavriel quirked, gesturing to Rowan’s messy hair.   

“New book.” Gavriel laughed at him before nudging him in the ribs.   

“Since when do you read for fun?”   

“I don’t.” Rowan grumbled as they passed a group of Wendlyn Nobles.

He was almost relieved to see Lorcan as he strode away from Gavriel’s teasing. Rowan had never been a morning person, neither is Lorcan. 

The table had been set for sixteen, Rowan spied the place cards and calculated: there were seven of them, including Maeve. Three Ashryvers, Rowan’s uncle, Endymion, Sellene, Lady Remmele (Which Rowan couldn’t help but cringe at the sight of), Lord Benson and Lady Essar. 

The breakfast had been going well, Rowan had been placed far away from Remmele and across from Enda, Sellene and His uncle. No one was really talking, quiet chit-chat in between close guests. 

Until Remmele opened her godsdamned mouth. 

“Prince Galan, her Majesty was telling me that you have been in Terrasen of late.” Remmele said, causing the room to fall into a cone of silence, everyone was listening now.

“Yes, Prince Rowan and I sailed over.” Galan said. Rowan was going to stab him in the thigh with his butterknife if he kept talking. He felt a kick under the table and was met with Endymion’s narrowed eyes. 

“Oh really? And how was your…kin across the sea?” Rowan knew that Remmele only meant Aelin. His temper flared. Tales of Aelin’s war against the witches had reached Doranelle before the war was won. How Aelin had no need to dismount her horse, with one look she had burned through legions. 

“One cousin I favoured more than the other Lady Remmele, if you want to know more about the Crown Princess I’m not the one you should be asking.” Galan said staring straight at Rowan, his mouth pressed into a straight line. 

For the first time all morning, Maeve spoke:

“What did you think of my niece, Rowan?” Her voice stern and cold.

“Princess Aelin was everything the rumours suggested, my queen.” It was true. She was a fierce fighter, she was heavily trained, she was an expert with every form of weapon, she had the deepest power Rowan had ever encountered, she was the most beautiful life form to ever walk the earth, she had an inner circle to rival all of the spy rings in Wendlyn. She was too intelligent for her own good, she was reckless and wild. She was his, though that wasn’t a rumour nor was it well known. 

“A threat to me, then?” Maeve said leaning back in her ornate dining chair, her finger with her nail shaped into a sharp point circled the rim of her drinking goblet. Her even voice caused the whole table to stiffen. 

“Terrasen is just as big of a threat as any other, your Majesty.” Rowan said cryptically. He felt Lorcan’s gaze burning him. As well as Sellen’s worried eyes. 

“I did not ask you, Prince Rowan, about Terrasen. I asked you about my niece.” 

Rowan stayed silent.

That was the only answer Maeve needed. 

She stood so quickly glasses and tableware shook. She left the dining hall, a plethora of Queen’s Guardsmen trailing after her, their purple capes fluttering in the ethereal breeze.   

Rowan stabbed a piece of meat when everyone at the table started talking to him at once, save for the Ashryvers who quickly took their leave.   

He couldn’t believe Maeve had the nerve to ask him about the threat of Aelin instead of asking him if Aelin would help them in a potential war against the Valg.

Darkness was the best time for it to crawl through.   

It was made of smoke and was cut from the cloth of blackness that will cleave the world apart.   

It jumped from room to room in the castle.   

Until it could taste their breaths.   

It held her in it’s claw, her blonde hair hung off her limply when she was in this rag doll state. With it’s sharpest claw on the opposite hand it cut her throat as it drank the scarlet life blood from her golden body.   

It moved on to the other sleeping body, it was a male. Their blood never tasted as sweet. When his head hit the pillow seperate from it’s body It moved onto the next one.

It was an older looking version of the last one it fed from. There was only one body in this bed. 

It was a crimson lake when the darkness left. It crawled back to his master. Royal Blood was always better, especially in the name of revenge.

AN: OMG GUYS! You’ve all been so supportive and cool! The follower count is nearly at 230 already! 

I can’t thank you all enough!

This piece was written for: @2-bookmaster-2 @aelin-and-feyre @rowanismybae @sparkleywonderful @cassiancalore @igniscorde7112 @illyrian-high-lord @daughterxofxnight @bigsis227 @crazybookladythings @gcarroll @sugarcoated44 @wolffrising @notjustanyoldfangirl @bluephoenix222  @fck-tamlin and @readinglikewildfire

If you have any questions, ideas, prompts, requests, asks or just want a lil chat jump into my inbox, leave a comment or ask me something! I love getting to know everyone. 

Much love and many thanks!

-El.