Aelin woke up that morning with a book covering her face. What time was it? She soon learned that it was 5:00 am. Crap. She had a meeting with everyone at 6:00. She turned towards Rowan, but he was still fast asleep. He stirred slightly, reaching an arm over to hold her. She leaned over an nipped her nose earning a deep growl.

"Rowan, we have to get up or we'll be late."

He squinted opened one eye as he replied, "You were reading all night, and you need rest to plan a war. Stay a little longer."

She leaned in for a quick brush of her lips against his then moved to get up again. This time, she ducked under his arms in a fast maneuver when he tried to reach for her. She shot up and went to the closet locking the door behind her.

When she finished changing, she opened the curtains and set every candle in the room on fire. Rowan quickly covered his eyes blinded by the bright lights.

He got out of bed and started to walk towards her. "Was that necessary?"

"Absolutely." She was looking in the mirror as she applied the finishing touches to her outfit.

She was wearing a teal day dress with golden threading that went down just below her knees. She thought the color complimented her eyes nicely.

She had gone to her parents' old room to see if there was anything of her mom's she could wear, but she immediately turned around the second she got to the doorway. It brought back too many bad memories. She had instead opted to wear this dress she found in the closet of another bedroom.

Rowan came behind her and grabbed her around the waist. She let out a quick squeal of surprise then cupped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.

"You look beautiful."

She rolled her eyes. "We're going to be late. We need to go."

He spun her around and kissed her. The kiss was lazy like he knew they would have a million more mornings like this. If only. They quickly walked out the door to the meeting.

They had acquired more people, so they had to move the meeting to the large dinning hall. She remembered running around the gigantic dinning table with her father chasing her. She wondered what he would have thought of Rowan. He would probably admire Rowan and ask him questions about where he had been and all of his adventures.

She quickly reigned in her thoughts. They were having a war meeting. She couldn't drift off to another time and place.

She moved to the middle of the table, and addressed the leaders, lords, and generals. "You all know why we are gathered today. We are in a war handed down to us from generations before. We inherited their burdens, so they would not have to carry them on their shoulders. We will finish what they started." She paused for a moment as they all cheered. "What you all don't know is why we were handed the war and how we are going to finish it." Everyone froze with confusion. "Mala gave up her human form to create the lock with the help of the crochan queen and King Brannon. The lock was meant to be used by Brannon to get rid of Erawen and the valg for good, but Elara stole the lock from her father in an atempt to end the war. Rather than send Erawen back to his realm, she put him into a deep slumber locking him under Morath." She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Her friends had their heads turned down. They knew what was coming next. "When the gods heard of what Elara did, they were enraged. Brannon was supposed to use the lock to send them home too. They told Elara that Erawen would awaken one day. When that time came, she would have to prepare an heir of Brannon to defeat him using every last drop of their power and life source. They told her that there would be two heirs of the Havilliard line and the Galathynius line that she must choose from to prepare. That happened to be me and King Dorian. She choose me. Over the past two years, Elara has been slowly preparing me for that time. I only figured out her plans and what I must do right before I was captured. I am currently in possession of two wryd keys with Erawen having the other. You must lead your troops in a battle against the valg while I sneak in, find the last wryd key, and defeat Erawen. Because I will not return, I expect Rowan, my consort, to lead in my stead along with General Aedion and the other lords. Does anyone have any input on how you think we should proceed from here."

Aedion was the first to speak up, "Now that we have our troops and allies all gathered, we should start traveling to Anielle where we can camp in Oakwald Forrest. From there we can move to Morath. Oh, and like hell am I going along with your shitty plan to sacrifice yourself. You are not dying on that battlefield, Aelin."

She met his eyes as she spoke, "Then, we should be gone by morning. We need to move before the civilian casualties get higher, and if it means I save millions of lives by sacrificing my own, I'll do it again and again. I will go onto that battlefield knowing I won't return. If I die, I give millions of people the chance to live life the way I wish I could have. To spend the rest of their lives knowing that they will be safe and their children will be safe. That they won't wake up wandering if that is the day the get attacked or possessed. I don't want children growing up without their parents like I did. I want them to live the joys of life. If this is what my death means, then I will die in honor knowing that I have saved these people."

A tear escaped down her cheek, but she quickly whipped it away composing herself and hoping no one noticed. "If that is all, then I think we should start preparing to head out tomorrow. Good day."

She turned on her heel walking out the door. With only silence in her wake. As those large, oak doors closed behind her, she started sprinting down the hall and out the door leading to the forest.

Once she was a safe distance away, she unleashed the feelings she had been holding inside. She ripped off the smile she had plastered on her face. She expressed her feelings with fire. Before she knew it, a large area surrounding her was scorched. Nothing but dead grass and ashes. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do.

She would tear Erawen down from the inside out. She would cook him and unleash her full might until he was nothing more than ashes. Yes, ashes. They would build her kingdom up from them. A kingdom of ash. She wished she could be there to see it, but she must create the ashes before they can be built upon. She must die before her kingdom can prosper. If it meant her people, her friends, and Rowan could live, she would be glad to do it. This time, she truly meant it.

*Okay, I know I said I wouldn't do anything else so depressing, but I felt like the other leaders needed to know the full scope of things before they started moving troops and waging battles. That's why nothing much happened this chapter. I tried to add some Rowaelin fluff at the beginning in an attempt to breathe some life back in to this chapter, so I hope that helped.

Also, the mystery character that we have not seen in a while was not in this chapter. I will try to bring the character into the next chapter or the one after that. ThroneOfGlassFanatic, the character is not Evangeline, but I think I might write an epilogue or maybe even a second book depending on how this one goes that includes her and fleet foot. They will definitely be in this FanFiction just closer to the end. I don't think that children and dogs should be trapped in the middle of a war against demons (that's just cruel). Anyway, keep commenting about who you think this character is going to be.

I know I haven't updated recently, but I need to be encouraged to write or else I won't get around to it. The more comments and support I have, the more I will be motivated to write. Please, keep responding to my chapters, and tell me what I am doing wrong or right or what I need to fix.

I'm again publishing pretty late it's one am here in Tennessee (USA). Am I crazy or am I turning into a vampire? We'll just have to wait and see if I can walk in the sunlight tomorrow. Yep, I'm definitely going crazy. Anyway, have a good day or night. Keep commenting I need to know how you feel about the story and chapters, so I can get better.

—Anna