Maeve's Daughter ~ Throne of Glass

Chapter 6- Cadre

Rowan had been watching Aelin ever since the rescue, not venturing too close or even touching her, it had been torture but he'd sat apart since the night they'd  first spoken at the lake.

Aelin was a shell, empty of her burning fire and warmth. She flinched when anyone but Fenrys came close too her. They sat in the small boat, provided by the Little Folk for safer passage, moving along an underground river.

Fenrys had remained in his wolf form ever since he swore the blood oath to Aelin, saving his life after he'd nearly killed himself breaking from Maeve to defend Aelin from Cairn. He hadn't made a sound- Aelin had informed them of Connall's death.

Rowan watched her stare at her palms, at the lack of scars that lay there, studying her new pale skin. His stomach twisted at the thought of Cairn ripping her apart so badly they'd had to rebuild her body from scratch, over and over again. She couldn't quite seem to believe it.

As she sat, she sifted through her memories, distinguishing truth from false lies planted in her mind.

"You do not yield"

Her mother's voice she remembered, that had been real.

But she fought against memories of her and Rowan, meeting in Doranelle, loving her good Aunt Maeve, having her first child. No, Rowan was here, her warrior prince, he'd come for her.

There was another memory though, hidden in the depths of her consciousness.

Flashes of white, wings beating.
A dark soothing presence.
A beautiful ancient voice, comforting her, urging her.

Maeve had never put anything like that into her mind...

Aelins head snapped up. Eyes open.

Elide and the cadre tensed, Rowan fixed his eyes on her, she breathed slowly, tentatively, "The owl"

She turned her head to them, Rowan stilled, "Who is the owl?"

Silence. Then Gavriel spoke, softly "What do you mean Aelin?"

Her face became determined, her voice clearer, "Who is the Fae owl she keeps with her all the time?"

Rowan opened his mouth to reply, but found himself without words, he noticed Gavriel and Lorcan did the same, confusion written across their faces.
"I'm sorry Fireheart, I-I don't know."

"Please, Rowan .... I remember them, her"

"From the throne room?" Lorcan questioned at the same moment Gavriel repeated,
"Her?"

They'd all seen the regal animal a thousand times, perched at Maeve's side, for centuries, silent, still. Had it never not been there ? Dark eyes trained on them, watching, until whenever it left with Maeve, disappearing into the night. Had they ever seen it's true Fae form? No.

"No," she continued, "I think she, I think ... she helped me. I don't know how but, I felt her and, then I saw her once .. when I fought back, when I called.. to you."

Rowan's face washed with understanding, the night when the wave of Aelin's power had called to him in a fierce cry to Doranelle.

"She felt, different, other. Like Maeve but not, different.." she trailed off defeatedly.

"I suppose we never would've sensed that, what with it being so close to Maeve's power all the time." Gavriel encouraged.

Rowan could've kissed the lion, for the utter trust his words conveyed, for not dismissing her words as just ramblings of a broken mind -the exact thoughts he could see swirling in Lorcan's skeptical eyes.

All at once, Fenrys shifted the golden haired Fae stayed sat at Aelin's feet.

His voice hoarse, he croaked, "The owl was there. Every now and then I would see it, watching over us. Not spying I don't think, just there..." His eyes filled with painful memory of all that he'd seen in those chambers.

He felt an odd twinge in his gut when his mind pictured that owl, shining pale in the moonlight, dark eyes peering into his soul.... like it saw something he didn't.

Elide spoke then, "Could it have been one of Maeve's pawns, a trick?"

"No." Aelin's eyes were clear, a hint of flame flickered in the gold of her eyes, her voice strong, "No, somewhere....out there, I have an ally, a friend even....at Maeve's side."

As they travelled further north, paying their way with stolen gold from the caves onto a ship from Wendlyn, bound towards Terrasen, the golden-haired warrior sat alone.

Watching his Queen; begin to smile and laugh as she trained; by day and turning his attention to the stars at night. Every so often he'd hear a flap or a hoot, but it was just the waves slapping against the boat or the wind whistling in his ears.

***
I promise it gets better 😂