~14~
Terrasen was very different from what Sam Cortland had expected. He wasn't sure what he had expected from the northern kingdom, but it sure as hell wasn't this. The towering mountain peaks dominated the landscape, able to be observed from miles away. The grassy, forested lowlands were the only part of Terrasen's countryside that reminded him of Adarlan, of home.
Yes, Sam was forced to admit that there were mountains in Adarlan, but at least those gentle grassy slopes were what mountains were meant to be. Not these frozen monstrosities.
Sam was brought out of his reverie by the gentle murmur of nearby voices. "I can't believe that we're almost at Orynth already. The flight north normally takes longer than this," Sam heard someone say.
"I certainly wish that we had longer to enjoy ourselves before continuing on to Orynth," he heard a man's voice say. Definitely Athril. "I had forgotten just how beautiful Terrasen is. Now I remember just why Brannon and his descendants have always loved it so much."
The first voice laughed at that. Definitely a female laugh. Low and sexy. "Say that in front of Aelin and it'll sound like you're sucking up to her. She thinks that Terrasen is the most beautiful kingdom in the world and that the rest of the kingdoms on the continent are terribly inferior."
"But Adarlan is terribly inferior to Terrasen," Athril sassed back. He couldn't resist the teasing. Back in the country that his dear friend had loved so fiercely, the woman he loved in his arms… It almost felt as though there was no shadow ready to overtake the world, no eternal darkness ready to devour all that was good and kind and right in the world.
"I wonder how Sam is going to cope when we reach Orynth," the female voice said worriedly, ignoring Athril's teasing.
"You're worried about the boy, aren't you Manon?" Athril said almost tiredly.
"And you aren't?" Manon replied, the stress in her voice now obvious. "You can't deny that you aren't worried, I've seen how stressed you are when you so much as look at him."
"Yes, I'm worried about Sam as well," Athril admitted. "I'm starting to worry that I did the wrong thing when I saved him from Lyria. If I'd left him there, I could gone back regularly to check on him, to keep an easy eye on Lyria, find out what more of her plans are. Now we're left out in the cold."
"You did the right thing Athril," Manon said gently. "Yes, things are harder now that we don't have easy access to Lyria and her plans, but you did the right thing for Sam. He didn't deserve to be treated the way she treated him. No one does. And besides, if you left him, who knows what would have happened to his mental health?"
"I'm also worried about what Sam will go through when we reach Orynth," Athril continued flatly, as though Manon hadn't spoken at all. "He'll have to face Aelin again – who he knew as Celaena – for the first time in four years. I know he's said that he understands and accepts why Aelin moved on with her life, but no young man is ever that accepting. I'm worried that he'll blow up when he sees her with Rowan, sees how far her pregnancy has progressed."
"I hadn't thought about it that way," Manon said quietly, frowning. "Now that I stop and think about it, we never actually told Sam that he would have to see her again when we fled Adarlan. Maybe we should have told him. It would have given him some time to prepare himself mentally, at least."
"We should have," Athril admitted. "None of us were thinking very clearly that day. I know I wasn't – I was far too panicked about what I saw and what it could mean."
"You are not the only person to blame, Athril," Manon insisted. "I blamed myself for not moving the camp earlier. I blamed myself for jeopardising the Sam's safety and the safety of the Thirteen, for waiting until I knew you were safe as well."
"Come to mention it, I was rather pissed off about that," he replied, a hint of laughter in his voice. "But I also found it rather flattering, in a way. That you would risk the safety of your friends just to make sure that little old me was alright."
"You're a cad," Manon snapped, punching Athril in the arm, making him stagger. "You think a few fancy words will be enough to win my heart? Well, I'll have you know—"
At that, Athril surged forward to kiss Manon passionately. "Actually, I'll have you know," Athril said once he broke away, "all it will take to win your heart will be a bit of kindness and human decency. If that weren't the case, you would never, ever, have cheated on Dorian with me."
"Since when were you Mr Smooth," Manon said, leaning into his embrace. "Not that I'm saying that you are, because you most definitely are not."
"Not very romantic of you, Manon," Athril replied, leaning in for another kiss, completely oblivious to the fact that the other witches in the camp were waking up. The thought made Sam smile a bit. Ever since Lyria had abused him, and Celaena had abandoned him before that, he had a disparaging state of mind when it came to romance.
"Ugh, why can't you two get a room?" Asterin grumbled upon seeing the pair. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for Athril and Manon, it was just hard for her to see them together, especially after losing her last lover.
"Maybe because there isn't a room, Asterin," Athril sassed back cheerfully. "There won't be a room for another day or two, not until we reach Orynth."
In that moment Athril was looking over at Asterin and thus missed the expression that Manon was wearing. It was part lust, part jealousy and part something else.
"Whatever you say, old man," Asterin purred in response, glancing surreptitiously at Athril out of the corner of her eye to see if Athril had seen Manon's expression. When it became apparent that he hadn't, Asterin turned the conversation to other topics.
"How do you think Aelin will deal with this new information that we have?" Asterin asked, eyes flickering between Manon and Athril.
"I'm not sure," Athril said honestly. "In one of her last letters, Aelin pretty much said that she considers her friendship with Dorian to be over, because she can't forgive him for standing aside and letting Lyria become this powerful. But we don't have the time for personal feelings to get in the way of doing the right thing."
"That's true," Manon butted in, "especially when this whole bloody thing with Lyria is like a powder keg waiting to waiting to explode. One wrong move, and the world will explode. As much as we can't afford another war, we have to be realistic. Open war likely is Lyria's end game, if she can't get what she wants by other means."
"Lyria has been clever about hiding the extent of her knowledge and her plans so far," Ghislaine said, entering the conversation for the first time. "But she isn't the only clever person who knows how to play the game. I'm sure that by working together, we can outwit her."
"Well said, Ghislaine," Athril said, groaning. "I can only pray that we can."
"Are you saying that you think Lyria is smarter than us?" Ghislaine asked, suddenly worried.
"Yes. No. I don't know," Athril groaned again. "Maybe I am. I mean, after all, we've barely been able to stay one step ahead of her all this time. And I'm afraid, too. I'm afraid that there is far worse yet to come, afraid that we haven't seen the true extent of Lyria's nastiness. I'm scared that she's even more evil than she's letting on. And I don't know what to do next."
"But you always know what to do!" one of the gathered witches exclaimed so loudly that the words echoed through the trees until the forest was ringing with the sound of her voice. "You can do anything!"
"I wish that were true," Athril said miserably. Gone was the man in love that he had been just a few minute before. Here was a broken man, weighed down by the expectations that had been piled on him. He had tried so hard to hide it from them for so long, but in reality the Fae male that they had all thought he was, was no more.
"Athril…" Manon said as she crouched beside him as he sank to the ground. "What happened? Can you tell me?"
"I don't know," Athril croaked out, burying his face in his hands. "I don't know what happened. Honestly, I don't know. It was as though all the pressure on me, all of the expectations, just… crushed me. Crushed my soul. I couldn't cope with it all. I can't cope with it all."
"You'll feel better once we've reached Orynth," Manon said gently as she wrapped her arms around him. "A more positive atmosphere will help."
"A more positive atmosphere will most definitely not help," Athril growled, nearly shouting. "Because it will be just the same in Orynth as it was down in Adarlan. A whole whopping heap of expectations that I can't meet. Expectations that I will never be able to meet."
"But just remember that Aelin and Rowan know what it's like to be in your shoes," Manon said quietly. "They know what it's like to be shoved so far down that you can't even help yourself. And yet they kept moving forward, kept fighting back. I remember Aelin telling me once that you don't know how strong you are until you need to be that strong. Then you can do anything at all."
"I failed her too, you know," Athril nearly shrieked. "Aelin. I swore to Brannon that I would protect his bloodline, his descendants. To protect Terrasen for him. But I was unable to look after Aelin. She was just a child, and she needed to protected. I let that monster Hamel take her in after her parents were killed, and look what happened to her! Hamel did everything in his power to turn her into a monster. I couldn't look after one little girl, and she was turned into a monster by a psychopath. I broke Brannon's trust. He'll never forgive me."
"But Hamel didn't manage it. He didn't break her," Manon soothed as the rest of the Thirteen stood awkwardly by. "Despite everything Aelin went through, she's not a monster. She's a good person, who knows what it is to love and be loved. Brannon would be proud of her, and I think you will be too."
"Do you really think so?" Athril hiccupped. "I can't bring myself to hope…"
"You know that Aelin's not a monster," Manon sighed. "You may not have met Aelin yet, but you sure have corresponded plenty with her. She's happy with Rowan, and they're looking forward to the child that they're having. Terrasen is healing, recovering from the war, and I think a lot of that has to do with Aelin."
"Do you really believe that?" Athril asked, a tinge of hope finally back in his voice.
"Yes," Manon said simply. "You haven't seen it yet, but outside of this forest, the kingsflame is blooming again, in a way it hasn't since the time of Brannon. And surely you have to know what that means."
"It means that Terrasen is at true peace and that its ruler has been blessed by Brannon himself," Athril whispered in shock, but slowly starting to look a bit more like his old self again. He was still in shock, but the ghost of a smile began to grace Athril's face.
"Okay, that's enough," Sam suddenly snapped, storming over to where the coven was clustered around Athril. "We've managed to cheer up the Fae male. Hurray. Well, isn't that just great for you, isn't it? But what about doing something about making me feel just a teensy little bit better? You know, what with everything that I'm going through?"
Everyone just stared at him, blinking in shock. None of them had known Sam to be so angry at the world – at them. This sort of behavior was out of character for him, and they all knew it. Asterin was the first to snap out of the shock.
"What on earth are you talking about, Sam?" Asterin asked, confusion lacing her tone. "Ever since Athril brought you to us, we've done nothing but treat you kindly, and tried to help cope with the trauma that you've endured. Not that you've made it very easy for us."
"Ask them, ask them!" Sam shrieked, pointing wildly at Athril and Manon. "I heard their entire conversation this morning! They didn't think I was awake and listening, but I was! I was! They were saying how much better this horrible place is, compared to Adarlan and saying that I'm not coping well enough to come to Orynth with you! They want to abandon me! They don't care about me! No one cares about me! Everyone hates me!"
"No one hates you, Sam," Manon said quietly from where she was still crouched next to Athril. This was shaping up to be a long morning, and it was barely dawn. "Athril was just worried about how you were going to cope seeing Aelin again after so long. Particularly after everything that you've been through in the last four years. You have to admit that you haven't been free for very long. We were just concerned for you."
"See!" Sam shrieked again, storming back off to gather his things. "No one trusts me! No one even likes me!"
"No one said that that they didn't like him or trust him," Kaya pointed out unhelpfully. "Just that we're concerned for him. Not the same thing at all."
"I hope there's a better reception for us in the capital," Asterin muttered darkly. "We deserve that much at least."
Agreement quickly rumbled through the clearing.