*Aelin PoV*

Aelin sighed, and considered jumping out of the window.

She had been in a meeting with the lords of Terrassen for over three hours, and was no closer to an agreement than she had been when they started. She had finally worked out a plan to give the people representatives in how their country was governed, brought it before the lords and hit ... problems. Only Darrow seemed to consider it, the others instead arguing that they knew how to rule while the people had no experience at all. She'd just sat and let them rant, unable to find a gap in which to speak.

"If you're quite finished, may I respond?" She asked, annoyed. Not waiting for a response, she continued. "You may know how to rule the people, but you do not know what it's like to be one of them. No one in this room can claim that. They need to have a say. My plan sets out that every legislative decision goes through representatives chosen by the people in each region of Terrassen. We still come up with the legislation and decide if we think it is useful, but the people have to agree. Is that acceptable for you?"

The Lords were momentarily shell shocked. They never considered that my plan might actually be a good one. They never did. They hadn't even read the information in front of them.

Then, they agreed to consider, and pass on their verdict on the following day.

Hopping out of her chair, she walked as smartly as she could to the door, where Rowan had been standing guard. She collapsed into his arms, then squealed as he lifted her up bridal-style and carried her to the queen's room. She expected her children (Lyria and Sam, twins who were 8 years old) to come running over as they usually did, their sharp ears picking up the sound of the door opening, but there was no sign of them.

"Rowan, where did you leave the kids?"

"In the garden, why?"

"Why did you leave them out there? Tell me you at least put a shield around the plants and the garden wall."

"The plants? Yes. Why would I put one around the garden wall?"

As fast as she could, she ran out into the garden and climbed up the wall.

"What the hell Fireheart? You could fall from up there ... oh."

Below them, clinging to the small ledge that hung out half way down the wall, was Sam, using all the strength of his fae form to cling on. He had inherited his mother's power over fire, but all he inherited from his father was ice. His other form was human, and not very helpful given the situation. Lyria had inherited her father's hawk form, and was attempting to haul him up onto the ledge. She had inherited mastery of all her parent's abilities, and was slowly succeeding with her wind magic to ease the strain on his arms. Sighing, Rowan added the strength of his magic to Lyria's, and pulled them up to the spot where he could simply pull Sam over, into the garden.

"What could you possibly have been thinking?" She yelled after they had both landed safely in the garden. "Sam could have been killed! You need to be more careful!"

Meeting Rowan's eye, she conveyed Dorian and Manon are coming over tonight. They both like to play with Josefin, so we'll seat them at opposite ends of the table. Then pack them straight off to bed. Rowan's smile was answer enough.

That afternoon, the royals of Ardalan arrived into Ornyth. The people had mostly forgiven the events preceding her reign, but they did not give as large a fanfare as they could have. They entered the great hall, and sat down for a formal dinner. Dorian looked around the room and asked

"Is it just us?"

"I didn't want a repeat of last time." She replied. The resulting brawl had been spectacular but ... it was a bad idea. Aelin took the centre of the table, with Rowan on the right. Aedion and Lysandra sat next to him with their son, Gavriel, constantly butting in to conversations with quips. Elide and Lorcan were also there, calm and collected as ever. Dorian and Manon sat to her left, a hand each on Manon's swollen stomach. The baby was due in a few months. Chaol and Yrene sat beside Manon, there daughter Josefin straining to see Sam and Lyria at the opposite end of the table.

They were halfway through the meal when Nox Owen - Nox Owen, of all people, the man she had not seen since she helped him escape Rifthold - burst in, panting "Aedion, you need to see this."