Aelin Ashryver Galathynius was about to set a foreign emissary's pants on fire for suggesting she step down from her position because of her "condition", when a glittering black portal surrounded by wyrdmarks appeared right above the massive dining table. Many of the foreign diplomats jumped back with fright while Aelin just peered at it suspiciously. Aelin moved to stand from her throne at the head of the table and Rowan went to help her stand up, but when Aelin shot him the iciest glare of icy glares, he let her heave herself up. She grabbed the wicked twin blades she always had hidden behind the throne. With that Aelin jumped onto the table, accompanied by her trademark smirk and calmly stalked towards the portal, leaping over mountains and mountains of food. Rowan reluctantly followed while gathering an arsenal, after realising what was going to happen.
Aelin stopped directly in front of the portal and said "In my absence, my dear cousin, Aedion Ashryver, General of Terrasen will reside over Orynth. Capiche?"
Aedion stopped chewing and wore his usual dumbfounded expression "Wha, what?" He sputtered with food still in his mouth.
Aelin ignored him and snapped her fingers, "Let's go bird-boy." Was all she said before she sauntered into the portal, leaving the obnoxious ambassadors behind in the cavernous hall of Orynth.
Aelin was violently spit out of the portal and tumbled onto the frost covered ground. As she gathered her bearings, she realised that it was the dead of night and there were many large mountains barely visible in the distance. Aelin lay on the ground and looked up at the sky, which was sprinkled with stars. It seemed as if someone had painted the sky because it was so beautiful. The full moon brightened the clearing and made the night sky even more beautiful. Aelin attempted to sit up and immediately snapped out of her trance. Where was she? This definitely wasn't Terrasen, and it didn't look like anyplace in Erilea for that matter. Where was Rowan? With that thought Aelin began to panic. Where was he? Separated from her beloved mate, again? Aelin began to hyperventilate and she stumbled to the nearest tree, tripping over frozen roots and slipping on the frost. The Queen leaned her back against the tree bark to calm down. That tactic was clearly not working. She sank down onto her knees and let a tear slip out. Soon the slowly falling tears turned into hiccuping sobs. Not again, this could not be happening. She was so foolish. Why? Why, did she have to insist on going through the portal? She'd been her usual arrogant self and lost him.
Aelin let herself cry for Rowan for a while longer, and then decided she would get him back, no matter the cost. She was Aelin Galathynius and would not be afraid. She was the Queen of Terrasen, and was previously Adarlan's most infamous assassin. Why was she acting like a weak school girl? Standing up to scour the area, she shifted. She instantly felt stronger. Damn Darrow and his old fashioned court saying that it would be better if she presented herself as human. She shivered, so she instinctively reached into her bottomless well of magic to create a lick of blue fire in her palm. Aelin immediately warmed up and found a place to camp for the night. She didn't know what type of creatures lived in this realm so she steered clear of building a large fire.
She'd found a nice~ish tree to sit against so she could keep watch. Aelin spat a foul curse as she remembered she was wearing her favorite shirt with billowing sleeves and loose but stylish pants suited for court business. It would've been nice to have something a little more battle worthy, after all she was in a foreign land and a Queen. She soon became bored of sitting against the tree and began to re-establish her arsenal. She had Goldryn sheathed at her side, as well as the four daggers she always kept strapped to the bottom of her boots. She also had two wicked blades she'd grabbed before she'd left the castle behind. Aelin sighed with disappointment and began to sharpen the few weapons she had.
Aelin was beginning to doze off when she heard a twig snap in the distance. She quickly stood and flattened herself against a tree. She then cursed at herself for her inconvenient clothing choice and her "condition", as her court liked to call it. As the steps neared, Aelin prepared herself for the bloodshed. The person was downwind so she couldn't get a whiff of their scent. She peeked around the tree and caught a flash of silver hair reflecting off of the moonlight. Aelin's heart beat faster as she began to run towards it. She trampled over bushes and leaped over frozen ponds as she ran to her mate. They collided and fell to the ground. Rowan held her tight, tighter than ever before. Tears slid down her face and he kissed them away.
"I thought I lost you again." he said in a gravelly voice.
He didn't mention anything else, so Aelin just leaned her head against his chest and breathed in his scent. He was here. She wasn't alone. She had him back. She fumbled for his hand in the dark and once she found it, grasped his hand so hard it might fall off.
"Come on, let's go to your camp, I assume you set up camp." Rowan said.
Aelin rolled her eyes and began walking towards the clearing.
"Of course I set up camp. Who do you think I am? What we need to talk about is, that twig snapping. You must be aging quickly. Old man." She taunted, and took off.
"First of all, Fae males are not men!" He shouted at Aelin's retreating figure but sprinted after her.
"You are not going to lift me into that tree. I can do it perfectly fine myself, thank you very much." Aelin said, with fire in her eyes.
"It is my du-" Rowan replied.
"Don't make me pull the Queen card." She interrupted, with that Aelin quickly scaled the tree and sat on a firm branch. Rowan followed and sat behind her, back resting against the tree. She leaned her head on his chest, and while he played with her hair she promptly fell asleep.