Divided (Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses Crossover)

Chapter 3

Aidan was only allowed to leave her bed for an hour a day, and she took full advantage of it. Although her body was beginning to fail her as it continued to waste away, her mind and tongue were still sharp as ever. It didn't take much convincing when she ordered her maids to take her into the city. 

"If you do not take me out of this damned castle, I will break this mirror and stab myself to death with the pieces," Aidan threatened as she struggled to sit up. It may not have been the wisest choice, in her condition, to go so far from the castle, but she could no longer stare at the four stone walls of her prison. The city was safe enough. Guards followed her everywhere since she had last escaped on her own six years prior. 

"But Your Highness, you are not at all well enough to travel. Perhaps you would prefer a walk through the castle and then returning here to rest," Anisa replied. Anisa was older than her father and was her nurse when she was young. Her hair was beginning to turn gray and the force of Aidan's strong will seemed to finally be aging her with a few fine lines around her mouth and on her forehead. 

"No. I'm going into Rifthold. I am the only heir to Adarlan. A weak queen is worse than a dead queen. My people need to see me, and I need to see them," Aidan pushed off the bed. Shivers wracked through her body when her feet hit the cold floor. Even with a strong fire going in the middle of summer, Aidan's body refused to let go of the chill. The shivers left her breathless, but she continued into the closet to find a proper dress.

An hour later, Aidan was walking through the better parts of Rifthold with Anisa and a triple of guards. She was safe enough from outside threats as she passed a busy bakery and then a dress shop. The real threat though was herself. Since she had been twelve, Aidan had slowly began to deteriorate. At first, it had been just an ache in her feet and hands. It progressed to not being able keep solid food down, and then to only having enough strength to walk around for an hour at time. 

Aidan had accepted that she was going to die. There was no way around it. Every healer in Erilea and the Southern Continent had been called in, and all of them left without a diagnosis. Even now, after only half an hour of walking, Aidan felt the strength slowing leaving her legs. In a couple more months, she would not be able to walk. 

She was about to tell Anisa to take her back to the stone castle when a commotion ahead of them grabbed her attention. Three riders on horses were making their way down the boulevard. From the distance, Aidan could tell that one was a woman and the other two were men. The guards began to pull her back off the street as the party approached, but Aidan could not take her eyes off of them. There was something eerily familiar about how the lead rider presented herself, almost as if she had seen it in a dream. 

As the party passed, the rider seemed to sense her gaze and under her dark hood, Aidan saw a faint smile. The woman raised a hand towards her and then quickly placed it back on her reins, turning  her attention away. 

It wasn't until Aidan was halfway back to the castle that she realized she wasn't cold. 

Aelin hadn't been back to Rifthold since the death of Dorian's son, six years prior, but nothing had really changed. When the Glass Castle had been destroyed, no one had bothered to rebuild it. The old stone castle had been repaired and expanded. Apparently, the Havilliards had realized just how easy glass was to break. The streets were still bustling, especially the main boulevard up to the castle. With her Fae senses, Aelin could pick up the faint stench of the slums. 

The kings of Adarlan had all been considerably weak since Dorian. As far as Aelin knew, none of them had any ounce of magic, from the Fae or from Clans. She had been excited to see what the fate of the baby of a Cochran and Blackbeak Queen and a man as powerful as Dorian would have. It was utterly disappointing. Dorian's son was a prick and a womanizer, but he did well enough in keeping the country together. The man just rode on the shirttails of Dorian's long reign as all of the Havilliards had done for three generations, and with Aidan being in such a deplorable condition, it looked as if one of Dorian's distant nephews would take over the throne. Aelin rolled her eyes. What a disaster. 

She wondered how the long thought dead Queen of Terrasen would be received by the  current King of Adarlan. She smiled when she thought of the shock. She had kept her presence in Doranelle a secret from many. Only a few rulers and her family in Terrasen knew she had lived through the destruction of Maeve and the gate. It was not to keep her safe as she had once told a dear friend. It was to keep the riffraff out of Doranelle and protect the dwindling Fae population. 

She had convinced Rowan to stay in Doranelle to greet the two Fae they had found along the border as well as keep the more antsy of Fae in line. Unfortunately, she couldn't convince her overprotective mate to allow her to go alone. Two of their sons, Kol and Declan, rode behind her as she approached the stone castle that had briefly been her home. 

When they entered the castle close, stable hands ran forward to take their mounts, and a uniformed guard approached them from the left.

"Ah, Captain Westfall. It is great to see you again. You look just like your great-grandfather," Aelin called with smirk. The man's steps faltered slightly before he stopped in front of her and her sons.

"And who are you?" he asked gruffly. Straight to the point. Just like Chaol. 

"A long lost aunt come to look in on her sickly niece. I would like to talk to the king. Right now," Aelin replied vaguely. Captain Westfall nodded curtly and waved for them to follow him. Something in her voice must have alerted him not to argue with her. Or perhaps it was the two long blades strapped to her back and the smaller blades strapped to her thighs. Aelin shrugged almost to herself before following him into the castle. 

Westfall stopped them before they entered the throne room. He asked again for their names, and Aelin glared at him. The apple in his throat bobbed, and he retreated into the throne room to announce them. When he returned, he motioned them forward.

The King of Adarlan was nowhere near as pretty as his ancestor had been. His face was pinched and tired, and his eyes were beady and brown. Aelin immediately did not like him, and from the expression on his face, he did not like her, or her unannounced visit. 

"Who are you? And why have you come?" he asked. His tone was meant to instill fear in them, but Aelin would not have it. She had dealt with silly little Adarlanian kings before. Her sons stepped up to answer. Aelin smirked as she watched the King's face turn from to shock full out disbelief. Oh, she would get a rise out of him, she thought as she stepped forward.

"I have gone by many names. I have been called Fireheart, Elentiya, Lillian, and Celaena. My titles are many, and I prefer not to list all of them because it would take longer than your little mortal life has left. Today, you may call me Queen Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, but you should keep in mind that I was once Adarlan's Assassin." The King glared at her, but Aelin could smell the fear roll off of him. He gripped the edges of his throne tightly.

"You asked why we are here. I suppose that will depend on your daughter. She does not deserve to die such a slow death." The King's eyes widened once more. 

"You're going to kill my daughter?"

"Hopefully not."