Disclaimer: I do not own the Throne of Glass series or any of the wonderful characters and stories told by the lovely Sarah J. Maas.

Summary: "Elide, my darling girl. It's time to come home." (OR what if Vernon doesn't go down without a villainous, manipulative fight). KOA what if scenario.


"ELIDE!"

Her scream is agony. Complete anguish that pummels him as he sprints along the cliff side. Fenrys on his heels.

Where is she? Where is she? Where is she?

His magic pulses and pushes outwards. Wanting to reach her. Find her.

Abruptly, her cry is silenced.

Lorcan stops, while Fenrys blurs past, skidding to a halt to his right. Lorcan lets his gaze climb the cliff side.

"MAEVE WHERE ARE YOU?" Lorcan bellows in response to the unnerving silence. His magic pooling around him.

"Lorcan, we're right here," Maeve's voice whispers in the air, "come find your human pet. She's waiting for you."

The black magic punches away from him. Crawling over the cliffside before clanging against…against something. A different darkness pulses.

There.

Lorcan doesn't know how he had missed it before. The sickly darkness oozing from the cave entrance only sixty yards in front of him. Doesn't even stop to think what it means that he sees it clearly only now.

Elide is inside. He doesn't hesitate.

"Lorcan, wait. LORCAN–" Lorcan ignores Fenrys as he runs straight into the pulsing, writhing darkness.

A suffocating void surrounds Lorcan as he tries to make sense of the space. His gaze is drawn to the far side of the cavern where a faint light glows, revealing some kind of archway. Maeve is standing there. Elide at her feet.

Slumped to the ground unconscious.

Lorcan runs forward, but can't get close. He slams into a barrier.

"MAEVE!" he bellows, raising his fists to the wall separating them, "What have you done to her?! I am going to fucking kill you for this."

Maeve is unmoved, not sparing a glance to the unconscious girl at her feet, and smiles in his direction "Lorcan, hello. Don't worry, Elide will be fine."

Lorcan crouches down, willing his body to break through Maeve's barrier. He presses against the immovable force.

"Elide, Elide tell me you're okay."

Elide doesn't move or acknowledge him. Her back is the only thing he sees with her hair fanned out covering her face and neck.

Lorcan slowly rises from the ground and locks eyes with Maeve, rage radiating in his eyes. He saw the cuts and scrapes and bruises littered across Elide's body.

"What. Have. You. Done." he repeats. Growling, "You will regret this."

Maeve responds to his threat with a laugh. "Lorcan, you can't hide your fear from me. You hold no power here."

"Maeve, tell me what you did to her. I won't ask again." Lorocan's voice was quiet but his magic was thrashing against the barrier, seeking a pressure point to shatter. Elide sighs and shifts on the ground and Lorcan feels a fraction of relief seeing her move. Maeve follows his gaze to the girl at her feet.

"You know what, Lorcan? This is going to be fun so I'm going to let you see a preview on what happens next," Maeve simpers as she steps forward and kicks Elide over onto her stomach, "Time to get up, my pet."

"Keep your fucking hands off her, Maeve," Lorcan rages, his fists pounding once more against the barrier, "Elide, get up. Get up and look at me." This time he can't hide the panic in his voice.

"Oh I'm okay."

Lorcan's stomach drops as Elide's voice lilts in an unfamiliar tone. No. Horror descends as the face of the woman he loves lifts and her curtain of hair slides away. A glittering collar stands starkly against her pale skin.

The 'no' punches out of Lorcan as he stares into Elide's pitch black valg eyes.

"See Lorcan, she's fine now," Maeve laughed. "And she's mine. The things she endured. Endured for you."

"Maeve, what are-"

"If it's any comfort she did love you," Maeve waves her hand, interrupting Lorcan. A sharp thundersnap and abrupt crack severs the connection. Elide and Maeve are gone.

"ELIDE!" Lorcan yells at the now cracked obsidian wall.

The cavern shatters around him.

BREAK

"Something went wrong."

Aelin slammed her fists against the stone wall at Gavriel's voice.

"I know that. Fenrys should have been back with Lorcan by now."

"They can handle themselves, they'll be here."

Aelin didn't bother responding and instead moved with purpose toward Vernon's chamber.

"Aelin, you do not need to go in there," Rowan gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I do. Those disgusting bastards almost got in here. He has to know he's lost, that we are not defeated. That Elide is coming home. Don't follow me."

She stormed into his room.

Rowan and Gavriel don't follow, but take positions outside the door.

"Vernon, you asshole," Aelin spat at the man tied to the chair in front of her. While he looked ragged and unkempt he carried the energy of a man who was not beaten. And knew it.

"You think your insults can bother me, little Queen," Vernon mocked, "I know you're afraid. You fear that I know more than you. That I have beaten you."

"The spiders failed. We defeated them."

Vernon only grinned, asking innocently, "And who has my darling girl, Elide? Hmm?"

Aelin glowered at him, "What do you want with her?"

Vernon's smile dims as he contemplates Aelin, before shrugging and answering, "I need her with me back in Morath. Elide offers me a connection– human, witch, royalty– Erawan has use for that connection."

"It sounds to me that with her, they will have no more need of you," Aelin sneers, "so what continued use do I have for you?"

"Don't threaten me if you don't mean it, my Queen. It's beneath you. You have no additional leverage for Elide without me. None. I know it, and you know it."

Aelin scoffed and gave a feral grin, "You seem to place a mighty high importance on yourself, Vernon."

Vernon's indignation made Aelin only grin wider. The man may bluster, but he was just as afraid that the plan had gone awry.

"Elide is key to Erawan's eternal reign. But only I know how. I'm not a complete idiot. This whole thing was my idea. So no, they will not leave me here to rot and you can't let me die."

"Keep telling yourself that. If it makes you feel better."

Aelin turned and sashayed out of the room.

To her retreating back Vernon only stated, "You should be more afraid, Queen of Terrasen."


"I don't see any others!" Nesryn voice was a sharp shout against the cliffside gusts. As she hovered atop of her Ruk, Salkhi. Sartaq nodded in agreement. There had been only a few straggling spiders scaling the cliffside they had taken care of.

The camp soldiers had done a good job handling the rest at camp below. "Let's check-in with the camp." Sartaq hollered before directing Kadara to the ground, Nesryn followed close behind.

They landed quickly amongst a group of soldiers who looked utterly shaken and spooked.

"What happened? Is everyone okay?" Nesryn directed her question towards Chaol whose face was white.

"You didn't hear her?" Another soldier queried.

"Who?" Sartaq demanded as he swung off his Ruk to stand behind Nesryn.

"It was Elide." Chaol's measured response hid his emotion, "Lorcan and Fenrys ran to go check it." He gestured towards the treeline.

Nesryn and Sartaq spared a glance in unspoken agreement before they too headed off in the direction of Chaol's gesture.

It didn't take them long to find the Fae. The magic roiling was making the hairs on their arms stand up.

"LORCAN!"

They honed in on Fenrys' shouts outside a cave-in. He was working to clear rocks and covered in dust.

"Fenrys, what the hell happened?!"

"I'm not sure, but Lorcan went inside."

"Can you go get him?"

"Not when I'm unsure of exactly what awaits me inside. If the whole place caved-in there's no space for me to go."

Sartaq stepped up to help Fenrys clear the larger rocks.

But it was Nesryn who stepped up and yanked the men away from the opening.

"Um, Nesryn, what are you doing?" Sartaq quipped.

Nesryn only nodded at the loose rubble that was now jumping on the ground.

"Ah, yes good call. Let's move back to the treeline. Lorcan's clearly pissed," Fenrys led the group into the protection of the trees.

They didn't wait long. Lorcan's magic punched forward, shattering the rocks in his way to utter dust.

He emerged from the dust and rubble, covered in blood and dirt, but otherwise seemed unharmed. Except for his strange black power billowing away from him.

"Fenrys, take me to Vernon. Now." Fenrys stepped forward but halted at the look in Lorcan's eyes. Stone-cold fury.

"Lorcan, what happ–"

"To find her again. I fucking need to see Vernon, right now," his voice ached.

Fenrys only nodded and reached out. They were gone.

Sartaq and Nesryn let out a sigh and turned around to head back towards Chaol and their ruks. They'd help get the camp set for the night.


Fenrys dropped them directly in front of Vernon. Lorcan's dark magic makes quick work of creating a barrier around the room. Fenrys hears Aelin pounding on the door, but both he and Lorcan ignore her for the moment.

"Ah Lorcan, I see I was right, then."

"SHUT UP" Lorcan snarled, barely keeping control of his magic and emotions. He feels Whitehorn's icy magic pounding against his barrier. It doesn't matter.

"Where. Is. she." Lorcan growls.

"To see you this worked up, I'd say Maeve did her job then? Erawan will be pleased."

Lorcan's rage is uncontrolled, a frenzy of roiling magic around them, but it's Fenrys who steps up with an uppercut to Vernon's jaw.

As Vernon slumps in shock, Lorcan stares at Fenrys as he takes the moment to rein in his magic. Fenrys only shrugs, "What? I needed a turn with the bastard. And you clearly need a moment. You're not alone in this, Lorcan."

Despite everything Lorcan feels the corners of his mouth tilt up in gratitude.

His magic retreats and Aelin bursts into the room, Rowan and Gavriel close behind.

"What the fuck was that, Lorcan? What happened?"

"Any news on Elide?" Gavriel's quiet timber draws Lorcan's devastated gaze.

"You bastard, I think you broke my jaw," Vernon moans.

The group ignores him.

"Lorcan, what happened?" Rowan intones.

Lorcan only growls with a pointed look at Vernon, "Not here."

They move towards the door.

"You want to find Elide, uncover the damn mirror. That will move this thing along," Vernon's tone is smug despite the bashed in jaw.

"What mirror?" Rowan growls as he turns back toward Vernon.

"What mirror," Vernon mocked, "that giant one in the dining room you had originally gathered everybody."

Nothing else is said as the group files out to the hallway. Gavriel moves to stand guard, while the rest move down the hall towards the dining room.

Lorcan reaches the room first and immediately spots what Vernon was describing, tucked away in the corner of the room. It was covered with a thick wool-like material, but the curling brass feet clearly showed some ornate design-work. It was huge, standing at least 8 feet tall.

"Are we really going to listen to Vernon about this?" Fenrys asks.

Aelin and Rowan move past him and cautiously approach the covering.

"We must. He was right earlier, he holds leverage over us and whether we like it or not he's pulling the strings. He wants this to happen as much as we do. He doesn't want to be left behind."

Lorcan pulls his hatchet and holds it loosely to his side. Staying silent.

As one, Aelin and Rowan yank the material down, uncovering an ornate, gilded mirror. Clearly Fae in origin.

Aelin gasps at the reflection.

Elide is standing serenely inside the mirror. Her eyes closed, head tilted forward, her long hair pooling over her shoulders. She's dressed in a high-collar slate dress that clings to her body like ripples, accentuating her curves. Her feet are bare.

"What the fuck," Fenrys breathes.

Rowan pulls out his sword.

But Lorcan only has eyes for Elide. He walks forward to the mirror slowly, as if afraid she'll disappear. "Elide," Lorcan breathes. Her eyelids flutter.

As he approaches he raises his hands and almost gently touches the surface. It was smooth and cold, but feels just like a regular mirror. Rowan and Aelin close in behind him, hovering over his left shoulder.

"Lorcan, what is going on?" Aelin quietly asks.

Another hand appears on Elide's shoulders, then a face. "Hello my darlings," Maeve coos, "now this is a pleasant surprise. Vernon clearly doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut."

Her magic flares and she pushes Elide forward. The mirror shakes and Elide is suddenly in the room with them.

Eyes dark as pitch snap open and lock on Lorcan.


Let me out.

Let me out.

LET ME OUT.

"Let you out of where, my pet? You do not exist anymore."

Let me out of here. I am Lady Elide Lochan of Perranth

"You're who? Who is that?

Elide felt shadows descend like cobwebs into her mind.

I am Lady Elide Lo-

"That person does not exist, my pet. She never did."

I am-

"No. You're not."

I'm not? Who am I not?

"That's right, my obedient pet. You're not."

Smothering her as she curled up as small as she could. Trying to protect who she was. What she was. Who was she?

Lorcan, help me.

"Who's Lorcan?"

Lorcan. Lorcan is -

"My pet, I'm trying to help you. Lorcan does not exist. He is nobody. Just as you are nobody."

No, I am somebody. Lorcan tells me so.

"Then who are you?"

I- I don't know.

"ELIDE!" The creature cursed in annoyance. Damn Lorcan Salvatarre.

I am Elide.