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

Chapter 19

Briarcliff was only a couple hours' ride from the Witch Kingdom, and the group made it quickly. As the four of them rode to the top of a grassy knoll, Aidan gasped. 

The Witch Kingdom was nothing like she expected it to be. The walls that surrounded the city were a warm eggshell white. There were many cottages outside of the city limits with smoke rising out of their chimneys. 

As they rode on, children began to wave and smile at them as they passed. Aidan was hesitant at first but saw out of the corner of her eye that her aunt was blowing kisses at some of the children. Seeing all of them happy made Aidan smile as well. 

A couple of the children ran towards the road to watch the strangers' approach, and Aidan was startled to see that while most of the children had normal teeth, a few of them had the razor sharp teeth of their ancestors. 

"Manon has made it possible not only for all of the Ironteeth Clans to live cooperatively, but also for Ironteeth and Cochran to live side by side. Some of the older witches are suspicious still, but many of the younger witches either do not remember the time before the War or were born after it. This city is all that they have ever known," Aelin said from her own black mare. 

When the group finally reached the courtyard of the beautiful castle, also set in the same stone as the city walls, Aidan's heart clenched with nerves. Standing at the door, surrounded by an array of women, was her great grandmother. Her long hair shined in the sun, and Aidan could swear she could see the burnt gold eyes staring at her as she dismounted her horse.

"MANON!" Aelin yelled as she ran forward. The two ancient females embraced one another warmly.

"Manon, how glad I am to see you. You have no idea how bored I have been lately," Aelin smiled.

Manon laughed, "How could you be bored with such a beautiful male waiting for you at home?"

Manon peered around her friend at her companions.

"Let me introduce you to my sons, Declan and Kol," Aelin said.

"Hmm, they are most certainly their father's sons," Manon replied and winked at the two Fae males as they squirmed.

"Manon, don't get any ideas. They're my sons for gods' sake."

"I know. I know. I was only kidding. They look too much like you anyway," Manon rolled her eyes.

"Also, let me introduce Aidan Meara Ashryver Havilliard, Princess of Adarlan," Aelin eyed her friend carefully as she stiffened and looked her granddaughter over. 

And though she might have been the cruelest Blackbeak to have walked the Earth a hundred years ago, like a true grandmother, she said, "Well, come in then. Let's get you some food."

Manon set them up in a study piled with books and papers . There was a pianoforte in the corner, but Aelin knew Manon did not play. She wondered why it was there. They sat around a small coffee table, sipping on tea and eating cookies. Manon only watched Aidan, not speaking to her. 

Unable to keep still, Aelin wandered over to the piano and asked, "May I?"

Aelin sat and marveled at the beauty of it, running her fingers lightly over the ivory keys before moving them into place. She churned out a happy melody and let her fingers go still. Aidan and Manon were watching her closely.

"The one you played at Dorian's funeral. Play it now," Manon ordered from her embroidered seat. And so Aelin did.

Aelin had played the piece for Dorian's funeral at his request. Damn it. He had written it in his stupid will and everything. It was the same piece that he had once walked in on her playing when she had been competing to be the King's Champion. To her, the music was not a melody, but a string of names that washed over her. The piece was a tribute to her dead and now to her living. 

The melody came to its peak and crescendoed down until it split into a million pieces, and Aelin found that a small tear had leaked from her eye at the end of it. She wiped it quickly aside before Manon or Aidan could see it. 

"That was very beautiful, Aunt Aelin," Aidan said. Her voice sounded choked up. That's what Aelin's playing could do. She moved from pianoforte back to the couch.

"Manon, we came here for your help, as you probably already knew," Aelin said, on the edge of her seat.

Manon nodded at the bag at Aidan's feet, "It doesn't happen to do with the witch magic that's permeating from your travel bag, does it?"

Aidan pulled the mirror out of the bag and handed it to her grandmother, explaining how she had gotten it and word for word what the ethereal figure had said to her. 

"This is definitely a Witch Mirror. It's very, very old. Probably as old as Rhiannon Cochran herself, seeing as it looks almost exactly the same as the Witch Mirror that had shown us Elena's memories. There's something odd about it though. The magic feels like the magic between a Fae and their mate, connected eternally."

Manon balanced it in her hand and stared at it for a few minutes. She didn't blink once. Aelin was about to say something when Manon spoke.

"I tried to follow the link that it has, but the further I went, the murkier it got. It was like I was watching through water or glass. Everything was muffled. I think," Manon examined the mirror again.

"Yes, Manon? You think?" Aelin prompted.

"I think this mirror has a mate. A twin, connected with the Old Magic," Manon whispered.

"Well, where is the other mirror, Manon?" Aelin asked.

"Not here."

"What do you mean 'Not here'?" Aelin asked again.

"I mean it's not here. I think it's in another realm. I think the murkiness in the bond is because of it," Manon replied.

Aelin groaned and pushed off the couch, looking out the window with her back towards the two of them.

"There's one more thing," Mannon said, eerily. Aelin didn't answer.

"What is it, Manon?" Aidan asked, speaking to her grandmother for the first time.

Manon looked at her granddaughter and said, "You can communicate through the mirrors."