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ROWAN IS seeking for any trace of her.
His wife, his mate, his queen, his Carranam. His Fireheart, his air, his life. His everything.
He stumbles through the void of endless darkness, searching blindly for just a whiff of her scent to pick up on. Aelin, he moans. Aelin! He doesn't walk in a straight line, reeling from the right to the left. His sense of direction, his eyesight, his touch. Gusts of wind blast him in the face, weakening his steps.
Aelin, he whimpers.
A shiver runs down his spine, chilling him to the very core. Inside of his soul, a line tethered to it reverberates and tingles. The sensation strengthens, a roar rising with it.
ROWAN, she screams. ROWAN!
A stronger breeze blows to hit him, but there is something standing before him that blocks it. With the breeze, his vision clears. All around him, there are crumbling stone walls—grass beneath his feet, a glittering river just outside the building with a ship floating on the surface of the water.
And standing right in front of him is Aelin.
He reaches for her. Feels her golden silky hair weave itself through his fingers. A sob rises in his throat.
They're coming for me, she whispers. They're coming, Rowan. The beasts are coming for me
Aelin, he murmurs. I won't let them touch you
You're too late, Rowan, she breathes. Then she slips. She falls out of his grasp. She glides right through his fingers, all his senses going with her.
Once again, he's let her go.
Prince Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius shot out of his bed, gasping for air. He was drenched in sweat and tangled in the sheets, his hair wet and sticky on his forehead.
The scream. Her voice. It had been her voice, screaming his name.
She was alive. Alive. She was alive.
He fell back on the lumpy mattress, running a hand through his hair. For the past few days, he'd been debating whether she was alive or not. Every time he reached for that bond between them, plucking it like a violin string, but the other end was mute.
Somedays, a...a thing would snarl back at him.
Rowan kicked off the sheets, sitting up straight, scrambling for the memories of the dream. A river, an abandoned building, beasts beasts beasts.
They're coming for me, she'd whispered. The beasts are coming for me. Could she have been talking about Maeve? Or Cairn? For some reason, he doubted it.
Dragging himself out of his bed, he pulled on his tunic, boots, and cloak which he'd stuffed into the cabinet. He needed to think, to find his Fireheart now. Before Maeve tired of what she must have thought was a game and killed Aelin.
Rowan scrawled another cross on one of the rivers on his map in frustration, the bit of charcoal snapping in two in his tense grasp. Since Maeve had taken Aelin eight months ago, he'd searched all the ports and bays for any sign of that ship with no luck at all. Whenever he thought he'd found the smallest puff of Aelin's scent, it'd disappear with the wind, leaving him more desperate than before.
He leaned back in his chair and grabbed the handle of his mug, peering over the edge, only to huff out in disappointment. Empty. He rapped his knuckles on the table and held one finger up, ordering another refill. The barmaid glided across the room to his table, filling his mug with stale beer. The best rutting beer this cramped sweaty inn had to offer. He mumbled his thanks, flipping her a coin, and returned to the map spread out in front of him. There was something going on, some plan Maeve had that was bigger than all of them. They were all only her pawns that she couldn't afford to lose. Not just yet.
If only, if only Aelin had said something, if only she had shared, if only he'd gotten there before Maeve had taken her.
If only, if only, if only.
A puff of the forest's ice-cold wind brushed everyone in the inn's pub, a scent traveling with it that flared Rowan's nostrils. He sensed their steps as they entered, he sensed what they were before he finally dared a glance.
Their clothes stained here and there with black blood, the Valg strolled through the wooden doors, silent as ever.
A/N:
ACHHHH SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE, SORRY SORRY SORRY ITS SO HARD TO BALANCE EVERYTHING, ACHHHH IM SO SORRY FORGIVE ME PLEASEEEE THIS CHAPTER FEELS TERRIBLE AND HORRIBLE, SORRY FOR NOT HAVING A BETTER UPDATE TO MAKE UP FOR IT