Holly yawned as Fenrys inspected the stab wound, for the fiftieth time. He sighed and said, "You're good to go, Holly." Holly immediately swung her legs out of bed and shoved Fenrys out the door. She dressed in a plain tunic and pants and quickly went outside where Rowan walked in the garden, hands fidgeting. Holly went right over to Rowan and folded her arms.
"I believe you owe me an apology, Rowan Whitethorn," she said. He finally noticed her and stepped back. "The now-King of Terrasen yielding to someone who he hasn't seen in two hundred years."
"Holly," he said softly. "Holly Whitethorn."
"Yes, you idiot." Rowan didn't respond but instead pulled her into his arms.
"I missed you. By all the gods, I missed you every gods-damned day of my life." Holly pushed him away, then punched him in the shoulder.
"That's for not recognising me the first time you caught me in Rifthold, princeling."
"Oh, am I interrupting something?" Aelin said, stepping in between the two Whitethorns. Aelin and Rowan seemed to have a silent conversation until Aelin huffed and turned on her heel.
"Don't leave us alone!" Rowan exclaimed. Holly turned around and walked away with Aelin.
"You should really talk to him," she said.
"He doesn't want to and it's obvious. He probably hates me and I don't blame him," Holly replied.
"He does want to talk to you. He's just uncomfortable."
"Yeah, because he thought I was dead." Holly made her way to the city and breathed in the fresh bread from the market. They all whispered, death comes. She comes upon us all. Holly walked right in anyway, smiling and laughing quietly as the snow touched her face gently. She went right to the outskirts of Orynth, where the blood still stained the ground. She took careful steps over the battlefield, but then remembered Connall. Maeve was dead so why wasn't Connall here? Or Gavriel or Vaughan, for that matter?
"Hey," a voice said from behind her. Rowan.
"What happened to Connall, Gavriel and Vaughan?" she asked. Rowan's heart seemed to sink at that.
"Connall and Gavriel are dead. We don't know where Vaughan is." Holly stopped breathing. Dead. The words kept echoing in her head. Connall and Gavriel are dead. We don't know where Vaughan is. Holly straightened and forced herself to look him dead in the eye.
"I am going to find Vaughan," she said simply, sharply, coldly. With that, she turned on her heel and walked into the comforting embrace of the blizzard that was forming around them. She wasn't aware of the man beside her, too dissolved in figuring out where Vaughan might be.
"Are you Holly Whitethorn?" he asked.
"No I'm gods-damned Mora. Of course I'm Holly Whitethorn," she snapped.
"Well, my name's Aedion Ashryver, and Rowan's friend."
"Sorry, kid. But I ain't dealing with any of your shit right now."
"Are you really that vain as to not speak to your own brother?"
"He didn't talk to me for two hundred years. He never even bothered to try and look for me."
"Holly-" She cut him off with a song, a song so ancient even Maeve stopped breathing when Holly sang it.
"Now I see fire, inside the mountain I see fire, burning the trees. And I see fire, hollowing souls. And I see fire, blood in the breeze and I hope that you'll remember me." Aedion was silent, and Holly took the opportunity to run.
"Aedion, what happened?" she heard Aelin ask Aedion. He grumbled something and she laughed. "Let me handle it." Light footsteps, and then Aelin walking beside Holly. "How're you doing?"
"Awful." Aelin huffed a laugh.
"Aren't we all? I was just wondering, can you tell me about Connall?"
"Why?"
"Fenrys was there. I was too when he died. Maeve forced him into his Fae form and told him to stab himself with a knife. I want to hold a burial for him, but I don't know what to say to Fenrys about it."
"I can't right now."
"I won't push just… if you feel like it, talk to me. Or anyone else here. They'd all understand what it's like to lose a friend."
"Thanks… Aelin." Aelin smiled, even as Holly stalked into the woods.