Continuation of the last chapter. A Kingdom Burned to Ash - Part 2

Aedion stared over the table at Aelin.

It was stupid, so rutting stupid how proud Aelin and Rowan both were. It was clear that there could never be anyone else for either of them. They had been so in love that they had practically glowed with it.

Aelin proped her head up in her hands and closed her eyes.

She seemed to be doing that quite a lot these days.

Aedion sighed. "You knew this day would come someday, Aelin. You can't keep a hold of Lina forever."

Aelin slid her head into her hands.

"I know. Gods, I know."

"Just talk to him."

Aelin's head snaped back.

"No."

He slammed his fist onto the table. "Damn it Aelin, stop being so proud. You still love him, go rutting talk to him!"

Aelin's mouth formed into a hard line.

"And what would that be like? I just waltz into the woods, find Rowan and say 'Hello! Sorry I banned you from Teressan. Suprise! You now have a daughter that I've hidden from you for eight years. Would you like to come back and have tea?'"

Aedion groaned.

"Yes. Just…"

"He couldn't forgive me. Not for what I did."

Aedion stood and walked to his cousin's seat. He lifted her chin in his hands.

Her face was thinner than it had been, even in the midst of war. There was sadness as well on her face. Aelin's features had always been sad, but it had been a sharp cut kind of sorrow, banished with a smile or a laugh. This sorrow was tired and everlasting, like a drop of ink in water, turning the water from clear, to grey.

"Aelin..." He murrmered. "Of course he could."

Aelin turned her face from him and stood from her chair.

"Keep Lina away from the forest."

"Do you want him to?"

He called after her.

But she was already gone

Aelin braced herself, and knocked on her daughter's bedroom door.

"Lina, sweetheart, can I come in?"

"No."

She almost smiled, though her heart was heavy. Smiling seemed somewhat foreign to her these days.

Aelin pushed down the latch and walked into the room.

Lina was sprawled across her bed, golden hair burried in a mound of pillows.

She sat down at the edge of the bed and made to pull the covers from over her daughter's head. Lina sat up, her tearstained face red and blotchy, and pulled the covers back up.

"Are you mad at me because I won't let you go see the man again?"

The pile of pillows jerked in something like a nod.

"If you sit up, i'll tell you a story about the man. And then maybe you will understand.

Aelin waited.

The covers shifted and Lina tucked her knees in under her night gown.

"Once upon a time, Lina, there was a Queen and a Knight…"

"Was the queen you, Mama?"

Aelin smiled.

"Yes. Now, the Queen had a Knight and she loved him more than anything in the world. Her Knight promised to always be by her side and in return, she would have given up her kingdom to keep him safe."

Lina tilted her head to one side.

"So the man was your Knight? But Mama, you don't have knights."

Aelin ran a hand along Lina's golden hair.

"Shall I continue with the story?"

Lina nodded.

"Then the Knight broke his promise. He left. The Queen begged him not to leave. He promised that he would come back."

"Mama, did he ever come back?"

Aelin had to swallow the sudden pressure at her throat.

"He wanted to, Lina. But the Queen was proud. She said that if he was to leave, he need never come back. And so he went, and when he returned, the Queen had built a wall so that he could never returm. She thought she could never forgive him. And so he left."

"That is a horrible thing to do Mama. You should have forgiven him! You always tell me to forgive Uncle Aedion for ruining my dresses and throwing knives at my head!"

Her daughter stood from her bed and crossed her arms.

"You should forgive him and stop being silly."

Tears trickled down Aelin's face. She started in suprise. She hadn't realized she was crying.

"It's not that I don't forgive him, Lina. Its that he will never forgive me."

Lina opened her mouth.

"Thats not true…"

"You can't understand Lina, but for me, will you stay away from him in future?"

Perhaps Lina heard how pathetic she sounded, but her daughter nodded, slowly.

"Won't you tell me his name, Mama?"

His name, her mate's name clanged throughout her being like a bell.

The shadows momentarily lifted from her face.

"Buzzard."

The dagger wizzed through the air and landed outside the target again.

Lina cursed. For an eight year old, she could curse very colorfully.

Her uncle grinned.

"Don't let your mother hear you."

She was distracted today. She knew she was. She had been distracted for the past week.

Uncle Aedion hadn't said a word. She guessed he knew why she was so distracted.

"Do you think that Mother's best friend won't forgive her?" She said before thinking.

Her uncle looked confused.

"I'm sorry. Are you asking me if I forgive your mother for something? I don't think she has done anything particularly terrible very recently."

Lina clapped a hand over her mouth, then removed it.

"No, mother's other best friend, Buzzard."

Aedion's eyes filled with the strangest look.

The he burst into laughter.

Lina tapped her foot against the training room ground in frustration. Everyone was always laughing at what she said even when it wasn't at all funny. Even Buzzard did.

She drew a knife from around her belt and threw it.

It wizzed by her uncle's ear, and landed, cleanly in the center of the target.

"Answer my bloody question."

Aedion glanced at the knife and the back down at her. His features turned serious.

"Yes. I think he would. And I think your mother is afraid that he would."

"Why?"

Aedion plucked the dagger out of the target.

"Throw again."

And she knew there would be no more talking until she did.

After asking Aunt Lyssandra about Buzzard and getting no answers - Aunt Lyssandra had howled even louder than her uncle, Lina gave up on asking.

She went to the kitchens and asked for a plate of hazelnut truffles. Also for a plate of sandwiches. She then wrapped the sandwiches and chocolates up in a cloth and put them in a basket.

Nobody saw her as she slipped out the back door. Her mother and Aunt Lyssandra were in a meeting with some foreign ambassadors and Uncle Aedion was in the barracks, overseeing his Bane.

The door closed behind her with a creak as she began to walk towards the forest. Towards the man.