Feel free to skip the A/N, I'm a rambler.

Hey Guys! So I'll just preface this A/N with by saying the there is a note below that will be addressing anyone who has followed my previous stories (now deleted, but more on that later) if you guys are still out there. So this story is based of the Throne of Glass series, but I'll try to make it so that the story can be followed without having had the series. I just finished Queen of Shadows and am halfway through The Assassin's Blade, so I have no clue if my story will make sense after reading Empire of storms. I'm writing this as if Queen of Shadows was the last book, and the king was defeated and now its just the gang (that makes me envision them like the cast of scooby doo, ignore me) ruling the kingdom. Maybe this will change when I read EoS, maybe I'll write a different story for that, WHO KNOWS (certainly not this crazy). This is rated M+ because of gore, language, and bang bang banality banging. Lots of bangity bang actually...

Ok, I'll shut up.

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Aelin savoured the simple moments, the moments where her senses weren't pushed into overdrive from adrenaline, where electricity wasn't coursing through her veins, slowly wearing off until she felt she had no light left in her body. Simple moments were when she decided which senses to indulge in, like the relief of her scalp being set free from the tight braid running down her back like a second spine, the subtle hints of jasmine shampoo she had used earlier that morning mixing with the steam of the bath being drawn behind her. More particularly, rather than indulgence, the beauty of these moments was selective ignorance. Aelin didn't acknowledge the crunch of dried blood that whispered as her deft fingers unwound her hair, she didn't feel the pain that pulled at her right shoulder she refused to raise, and most definitely she acted as if she didn't recognize the metallic tang of blood that mingled with the rising steam so intently she could taste copper on her tongue.

Ignorance vanished as the sound of rusted metal hinges snapped her spine into steel, but then momentary indulgence followed immediately by guilt surged through her as she drank in what had startled her. Rowan.

He moved so quickly yet so calmly it was as if the world around him slowed as his calloused hands pulled the bathing room door shut behind him. Each vertebra seemed to sigh in relief as Aelin sighed out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding part of in since she last lifted her bloodied dagger.

"You don't get to run away from me Aelin" Rowan said, his voice cool but not distant as he leaned against the door, his fingers digging into his arms as he crossed them over the grey t-shirt he had changed into.

He was right. After what she had done tonight he had every right to be angry with her, to want to shout in her face until his throat felt ready to bleed. She was a coward for sprinting away from him, from the bodies, the same black suit she still wore now, slipping through the night as she darted along roof tops so she could be alone was a pure act of cowardice. Of ignorant indulgence. But she had needed to.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have… that I could have… well, fuck, I'm just sorry. I won't ask your forgiveness because I don't deserve it. But know that I will do it again if I need to. Without hesitation." She whispered, looking at the white tile beneath her black clad feet, speckled with bits of brown -dirt or dried blood, she didn't want to know- not daring to raise her eyes to meet his.

A scoff echoed around the room as Rowan slid towards her.

"You're such an idiot" Rowan murmured as he stalked closer the her, backing her into the sink so she felt the cool ceramic seep through her suit into the hollow just above her tail bone. His hands rested on either side of her, his figure looming over her bowed head.

"I know. I know sorry can't excuse stupidity. Those men…. We'll never know what they could have told us. Fuck, I know you could have taken them out, but when I saw Xavier pull the dagger to your throat…. I couldn't stay with the plan. I'm sorry for ruining the information extraction, but please understand I will never apologize for keeping you with me on this earth." Aelin said just loud enough so that Rowan could feel the pain in her voice, the shame that muddled with a ferocity that was woven into every fibre that composed her.

A cool finger singed into her scorching skin just under the tip of her angular chin, drawing her eyes up to meet his. She nearly reeled back at his expression.

His eyes were warm as they drank in the sight of her bloodied face, shadowed by slightly furrowed brows. His full lips squirmed in their crooked smirk, as if fighting to hold back a laugh. He looked…. Amused.

"I don't understand how you can be so daft" He said, a warmth in his tone stumping her as he shook his head in exasperation.

"I sai-" she began, utterly dumbfounded as to how he wasn't tearing into her, but a calloused palm came down over her mouth, crushing her lips so they could move a millimetre.

"Can you shut up, for one second? Please?" He said, disbelief and humour lightening his deep voice, "you risked your life against sixteen men, sixteen trained men with a combined force nearly three times stronger than you, as I was bound in iron and had a dagger beginning to spill my life's blood, and you're apologizing?!

"I would have died had you not risked your life tonight Aelin. Yes, maybe I could have gotten the answers to our questions about our magic being changed, but they would have died with me."

Aelin knew this was a lie for her benefit, that Rowan could have had the dagger that had been held to his throat out of Xavier -the most feared warrior to travel into their land yet- 's hands and used it to gut each of those men within a matter of seconds. But as he held his finger under her chin, drawing closer with each exasperated word, the intimacy of the gesture made his words seem more genuine.

"You're not angry?" Aelin said, cursing herself for sounding like a child waiting to be scolded.

"Yes, I'm angry that you ran away from me, that I had to see the look of pain in your eyes before you jumped to the next balcony." He said, each word drawing him closer until they shared breaths, "But I'm most angry because you smell like absolute shit and I have to share a bed with you tonight."

And with that he pushed off the sink making her suddenly feel freezing as he rummaged through cupboards for more of her lavender salts to toss into the steaming tub. She was dazed, not realizing that she had been in a dizzy haze between his eyes and his mouth, his words sinking deep into her sore muscles and up into her brain until she felt their warmth.

"Rowan?" She said, snapping out of her haze and clearing her throat.

"Yes Idiot?" He said turning to face her as he swirled the water around.

Her gaze traveled from his toned legs that strained against the simple cotton pants he must have changed into since he got home, as he squatted beside the tub, up his narrow hips and the hanging shirt that hid a muscled abdomen, ascending his muscled arms and neck, and finally landing on his flawless face.

"Thanks." She murmured.

"Can you just shut up and get in the bath" He stood, crossing his arms waiting for a snapping retort or another argument.

But for once, Aelin listened, fingering the last of the knots out of her hair delicately but swiftly, then began deftly unzipping the skin tight suit that clung to every curve as if it were painted on her scared skin.

Rowan chewed at the side of his tongue, waiting for her sarcasm or… Or what he didn't know. But the look in her eyes of pain from earlier tonight after she slaughtered the last of the men that might have been able to answer their questions, had turned into something else. Something that reflected the want, the fire, the pull he felt pulse through her veins with each contraction of her heart. He could hear the zipper reach its end, and he knew he should have seen that as his cue to leave and let her undress and wash away the blood that surely soaked her… But he couldn't. Instead his eyes traced her elegantly toned body, taking longer to pass over the crook where her thighs met, how narrowing of her waist, the curve of her breasts, until he realized he was seeing the hollow of her collar bone was now the tan colour of her skin, not the black fabric of the suit. No, she had ever so slyly and slowly pulled down the shoulders of her suit to right before the curve of her breasts, showcasing the crooks where neck met shoulder that he had to fight himself not to grab her and run his mouth over, tasting her scent, feeling his teeth and tongue against her hot skin as he made her moan.

He snapped out of his reverie to notice she continued to peel of the suit ever so slowly, and he had less than one second before he saw enough of her breasts that he lost all control. He turned on his heels, knowing all too well she could tell -if not see- the effect she had had on him.

"Bloody idiot" He murmured as he slammed the bathing room's door behind him with such force he was surprised it hadn't splintered .

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Alrighty! I know that was kinda confusing, but if you've read my stuff before you know that I like to make it so you have to figure out stuff as the story comes together chapter by chapter.

So now for my old readers (I'll honestly be so amazed if there's more than a couple of you left). I'm sorry I left (and, y'know, deleted all my old work…) but I'm back and I'm healthy and all over just living a better life. I made some huge changes in my life and am happy to answer any questions you guys have if you want to leave them as reviews or feel free to private message me. I do still have all of Daunted (except for the first chapter, which I think I can re-write) saved on my computer and will republish it once I'm able to get it all in order. I know some of you guys didn't mind me rambling in my author's notes and updating you about my life and all it's craziness, so if you guys would like/don't mind, I would still love to do that because it was the first time where I felt people wanted to listen to me. If I get a lot of the same questions I'll respond to them in the next chapter's author's note, but I'm also happy to chat to anyone who wants to catch up, or if you need some advice I'm always around. I love you guys.

D