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

Chapter 5

Aelin stalked through the halls of the stone castle, Declan and Kol following behind at a distance. Their mother was not one to walk beside when she was in a mood. She didn't stop as she walked through the hallways, but every turn brought back a new memory. Halls that she had walked through with Dorian or Chaol, windows and rooms that she herself had destroyed, bridges that had once been wrecked by the Ironteeth over a century ago. 

Although most of the memories that the castle brought up were not pleasant in themselves, the people she had loved and lost made them worth revisiting.  The face of Nehemia, who had never made it past that horrible first year as King's Champion, swam before her eyes as it had for many, many years. 

The face of Chaol also came to the forefront as she passed his old quarters. She hadn't been there when he arrived from the the Southern Continent, fully healed and commanding an army of thousands, but she had heard the story. He and Nesryn survived the War, only for Aelin to watch as they grew old together. Her old friend and lover had been a fat and happy old man surrounded by his children when he died, but Aelin still missed him dearly.

Dorian, with the blood of Fae that ran through him, lived an abnormally long life for a mortal man, but he too had died. Manon returned to the Cochrans when he left. She had only seen her old friend twice since then, but she looked as though she had another few centuries left to go before she was ready to give up even a fraction of her power. 

Aedion lived through Erawan's final battle, but Lysandra had not, and he mourned her death harder than anyone, even Aelin. Even over a hundred years later, Aelin lifted up a prayer for her fallen friend. Lysandra had given her life to protect the rest of them, and Aelin had never forgotten that sacrifice. 

Aelin stopped walking and touched the stone wall beside her. Immediately, Declan and Kol were behind her. 

"Are you okay, Mother?" Kol prompted, his face full of concern. Fae children were rare, but the gods had granted Aelin with several of them. Apparently, they were still trying to make up for the fact that she had to die over a century ago and save the whole-damned world. 

"I'm fine. The faces of my friends pierce my soul even through the walls of this stone castle. Rowan and I, Manon, Gavriel, and Lorcan are the only ones among my friends that still live, and it takes its toll sometimes. If I do not remember them, who will?" Aelin asked her son, the spitting image of his father. 

"History remembers them well, Mother," Declan murmured from behind Kol. "Although a hundred years can alter the facts. The story of the War has become legend now, but you and your friends will be remembered until everything is once again returned to the dust from which we were made." 

"Always so poetic. I wonder where you got that from. It wasn't me, and it certainly wasn't your father. It's hard to get a series of snarls to sound so beautiful." 

"Father has said the same about you," Declan laughed and smiled at his mother. She smiled back and resumed walking. 

The trio was almost to the throne room when an older woman hurtled towards them. Kol and Declan tensed, but Aelin remained at ease. 

"Please, your Majesty. Come quickly! Aidan has taken a turn for the worse. Her nose and ears are bleeding, and I can't get them to stop. Please hurry!" the woman wailed. Aelin recognized her as Aidan's nurse and maid. 

Fear clenched Aelin's stomach as she hurried after the woman, back to the rooms that had once been hers so many years ago to a girl that Aelin had no idea how to heal. The four of them banged through the large oak door, and Aelin winced when her eyes fell on the girl. 

Red and black blood trickled out of the young girl's ears and nose, clotting in her hair and running down her cheeks. Her eyes were open and staring at nothing, but the uneven rise and fall of her chest gave Aelin hope. At least she wasn't dead yet. She ran for the bed and jumped up beside Aidan just as the girl began to twitch erratically. 

Aelin had only ever saw the magic destroy someone so thoroughly once and only from afar. She cursed herself for not bringing Rowan along. Surely, he had much more experience with this than she did. 

"Aidan! If you can hear me, I need you to do something for me. You have to start letting go of the magic, or it's going to destroy you," the girl continued to twitch, making no sign that she had even heard Aelin. 

"Aidan! Focus on me. Focus it all on me. Feel the electricity of it under your skin. Think about shaping it into a ball, the biggest ball you've ever seen." The twitching subsided, but the girl's eyes still didn't see. 

In a hushed tone, Aelin told the others in the room, "Please get out of this room. She's about to release years worth of stored magic. You cannot be within range. Get off this floor if you have to. Take anybody you see with you. Go now." Almost everyone made for the door immediately, save for the nurse, who had to be pulled along by Kol.

Aelin's attention turned back to Aidan. "Good girl! You're doing so good. Keep focusing on me. The ball is getting bigger and bigger because you're putting more and more of your power into it. Good, Aidan!" Aelin slowly lifted herself off of the bed and moved across the room towards the fireplace, digging deep into her own well of power, building layer upon layer of shielding for herself, Aidan, and hopefully some of the room around them. 

"Okay, Aidan. On the count of three, I want you to throw that ball at me as hard as you can. Can you do that for me? On the count of three."

Aelin continued building wall after wall to shield them from the destruction that she knew was about to unfold. 

"1..." Aelin backed as far into the corner of the room as she could.

"2..." She hoped that she hadn't just signed a death warrant for the both of them. Oh, Rowan would be so pissed when he learned she went and got herself blown up. 

"3..." The world exploded into light and darkness, good and evil, past and present. Aelin, who had never once felt the bite of flame, felt the warmth of it as it licked lazily at her shield. Explosions rocked around the room and bits of stone began to fall from the ceiling. She prayed that her shields were enough to save them. The world began and ended with fire and ice, where one finished the other began, and Aelin, for the first time in over one hundred years, was afraid. 

Hi guys! Thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote or comment. I hope to have another update or two done before I go back to school next week!