It had been 5 weeks since Erawan and Maeve had been defeated, and the gods destroyed. Everyone was starting to rebuild the city and the lost fae were returning from the mountains to help.
Aelin was relaxing in a comfy armchair next to the fire, a glass of wine dangling from her hand, when Lysandra came soaring through the open window in the form of a small bird. She shifted when she was still a foot above the ground, landing silently, and sauntered over to where Aelin was sitting by the fire. Lysandra's expression showed that she had something to tell Aelin that would either excite her or fill her with dread. She motioned for Lysandra to take the seat beside her while she poured another glass and offered it to her.
"Did you see anything interesting during your flight?" Lysandra's eyes sparkled as she accepted the proffered glass and started recounting what she had seen while scouting.
"And then as I was about the head back, guess what I saw!"
"What, pray tell, did you see?" Aelin drawled as she lounged back in her seat, sipping from the glass of wine in her hand. Lysandra was quiet for a moment, debating how to tell Aelin what she had seen. "Well, I had one last look at the mountain pass on my way back and caught a glimpse of what look like three people and… three giant bats."
"What?! That has to be a joke?" Aelin nearly spit out the wine she was sipping. Lysandra laughed at her attempts of cleaning up the drops she had spilled. "That's what I thought as well! Luckily, they only looked like that from a distance. Once I got closer, I realised that they were all fae. Three females and three males. The males had the giant bat wings."
"Hmm interesting, I've never heard of fae having wings in their human forms." Aelin mused to herself, watching the wine swirl in her glass. Looking up, she addressed Lysandra once more. "Which way are they heading?"
"Towards Orynth." Was the answer. "How long do you think it will take them to get here?" Lysandra ran through some calculations in her head. "Judging by the speed they were moving; I'd say roughly three days."
Aelin leant forward and stared into the crackling fire. After what felt like an age, she looked back at her best friend and a slow, wicked, smirk spread across her face. "Find the others and tell them that we need to start preparing a feast for our intriguing new visitors."
The shifter's slashing smile was all Aelin needed in response. The next couple of weeks are going to be entertaining.