"Wait," Esma sneered, staring at her hands.
Bile burned in her throat as she froze in her place, eyes straining as she forced herself to turn around.
Everyone had frozen, looking at themselves tentatively. Her heart pounded so loudly in the bustling street Aelin wondered if the people could hear it. "Not now," she answered in a grave voice.
She knew she had been warming towards the Faeries but Aelin understood that now they were in Findara, and such frankness could get her killed, even divert her from her aim, which after all was her amulet.
That was rather hard to muse onto these days.
That she was only with them for it, that after she retrieved it she would go far away from here and live out the rest of her days in peace, where no such things as wars and magic and kings and queens existed.
They all merely nodded, easing as they peered around. "Where to?" she questioned quietly, keeping an eye out for any listeners. It was Fennis who walked further into the awaiting city.
The whole path, for as far as she could see, was made of stone. Dull, worn stone on which dozens of strangers were sauntering. The place was crammed with shops and apartments and houses. Even though she kept her gaze low most of the time, she would sometimes look up at the rich, vibrant shops, filled with a variety of clothes, shoes, baked sweets. But it was when she gawked at the marvelous instruments and books that had been set in one of the shops that she was left awe-struck. Piles and piles of stocked books waiting to be read. The covers stood out from the thick glass, the name "Fancy Delights" sketched in a beautiful golden color. The books' allure called her towards them. She forcefully kept moving averting her gaze.
Rick had hired personal tutors to teach her to write and read. She wouldn't really bother with it until one day she came across a rather unusual book in some stall in Tropilus and bought it just for the beautiful colors painted on its cover. When Rick found out she didn't go out on the usual killing spree that he had assigned her, he ripped that book and forbade her to read.
She'd still sneak a new book now and then but he would always catch her reading, or the beautiful story hidden somewhere would be left torn. The after beating would be brutal.
Aelin retracted from her thoughts as she bumped against Lucien. He hardly moved but Aelin could see his grin as she shook her head, barking curses at him. She met his side glance, which made her bark more curses but once he didn't answer she looked up.
In front of them stood a neutral building. It looked like an apartment long and weary. Walls a dull grey color, door a bright emerald green as they slowly walked inside. It was followed by a flight of stairs, rugged as they stormed up, footsteps heavy against the creaking wood. After a click of keys, the door was opened to a rather luxurious looking place.
Three doors stood to their front, each an emerald green color wall the same as outside. On the right side stood an open kitchen counter covered with a white sheet. The couches were the same color as the doors, brown tables and shelves placed to contrast them. The place was filled with tiny ornament decoration, shimmering with light from the window to the left. She stepped to the sofa and plumped onto it, dust crawling around her.
"Whose apartment is this?" she asked voice bland as she let out a yawn. "It belongs to Fennis," Atarah replied, squirming her head around to adore the place.
"Well let's get to work, shall we? We don't have all day to waste," Aelin suggested stretching her stiff body as she did. Exhaustion had welcomed her soon after she got off the boat, it's rocking and swaying aching her back each time she slept. Her limbs ached, eyes straining further as she faced the window. The sun had almost set now, considering their day had been spent walking through the teeming streets.
She still thought they should do something. Make the day useful. She had to spend each day, each second working towards her Amulet. That was her main task.
"No," Jude deadpanned, sitting on the couch in front of her. Tiredness shone in his eyes, as he flexed his muscles. "All of us are tired and that journey wrecked our strength for the day. Besides, the walk here was rather snoozy," he said, eyeing Fennis who only shrugged in response.
"Saving the world can wait another day."
"He's right," Cassian hummed from the corner. Aelin shot him an annoyed look.
"No, he's not we go right now. The day isn't worth wasting. Each minute counts." Aelin beamed.
"He's right, we'll start tomorrow," Lucien regarded bringing the discussion to an end.
It was times like these when she wished to smash something and break his head open. That frowning bastard would only die by her hands. She stuck out her tongue to him which was returned by a hand blazing towards her. But nothing happened.
Lucien stared at his hand confused, furrowing his eyebrows as his lips formed a thin line. Something was wrong. Very very wrong.
He'd done this now and then, all of them had. Teased her and Ailani and mocked them using their powers.
She could feel it as he looked around the room to all of them who stared at their hands the same as him.
"Are you all going crazy or is this what hypnotism looks like?" she questioned, her voice raw with confusion. There was no doubt something had already been screwed as worry shot through her. A chill spider-like crawling down her spine.
"Our powers," Esma started, even her face slender in disbelief and worry, "they're gone."
She didn't know if it was a joke or if this was real. But witnessing their pale, trembling faces, she knew even as it crushed her to admit, they had lost the advantage of the Faes' powers.
Doomed. They were all doomed.
~
"He has to be using some kind of. . . thing to block them," Esma peered, her tanned skin faded. Her voice sounded troubled, eyes flickering around the room as if someone had blocked the air around them. "The king is smarter than we thought. Maybe he's using the same Amulet to stop magic in this city, as he is to control those mortals," Atarah suggested.
Out of all of them, she remained calm. Though panic shone in her eyes, she kept her expressions calm, trembling hands clenched in the pockets of her cloak.
"But we can't do anything then. We're practically useless. We can't defeat the king without them," Cassian retorted. Any signs of the funny, charming man he was had disappeared from his face.
Aelin thought. "Think," she said to herself again and again biting her fingernails, stomping her feet again and again as she stared blankly at the table before which they had gathered. The air reeked of panic and terror.
"It doesn't mean we're useless," she started, " well all of you. You can still fight. We'll figure out what the king is doing along the way. For tomorrow we need to get into those tunnels and find a way into the castle. If we can do that we can get you all's powers back."
Well calming them wasn't hard. Or maybe they were clinging on to the shredded, wretched thing called hope. Something she hated with all her heart.
They only faintly nodded as they stumbled to the rooms. "Wait a second," she emphasized, twitching her nose as she stared at the half turned faces, "I'm not sharing a room with any of you."
~
Aelin stared through the open window, towards the shining moon that twinkled in the abyss of blackness. The light to the night's darkness. After an hour of screaming and arguing and stubbornness, it had been decided that Lucien and Atarah could share the first room, Aelin the next, while Ailani, Esma, Zavia, and Atlas could take the third. The rest of them slept outside.
It was just as beautiful as the rest of the apartment. The bed had been made, silk sheets leathering it, the furniture polished and dusted. Small pieces of decoration gleaming from their places as the moonlight fluttered onto them. Aelin had wanted to ask about Fennis and his mother. But the sorrow in the warrior's eyes had said enough to let her know this wasn't the right time.
So there she stood staring at the sky, no stars shining in the gloominess, as sleep denied her requests. So much had happened. But she didn't let herself stumble deep into her thoughts as she strolled on her cloak, quietly exiting the apartment. It was rather hard to press from between the snoring males so but she'd done it. And with that she was outside, flowing with the winds in the darkness of the night.
The solitude was peaceful. The quiet streets and streaming breezes gave her time to think in peace this one time. Nothing except her soft footsteps made a sound, the howling of her ragged breaths comforting. Aelin walked and walked until she got lost in her thoughts that had been caging her mind.
What she was doing was beyond stupid. It was a death game. A game that she had walked into once she sauntered into those forests and made a deal with Riona. But that was what seemed most ludicrous to her. Why had the queen not sent someone to look for her, punish her for betraying, and breaking the deal? She didn't let herself stagger far in that direction. Didn't let herself think of how damned she would be once the queen sent someone to fetch her and penalized her for it.
Then came the fact that she had grown so fond of these Fae bastards. At least that's how it had been for now. She knew, by instinct, that Atarah was hiding something. She didn't trust them but getting on their good side was rather important if she wanted this plan to work. She'd agreed with herself in the last hours on the boat that she would help them until she retrieved her Amulet and then, then she would run away. Far, far away from this place, leave out her last days reading her favorite books and listening to fancy music. Maybe adopting a dog.
Her life had been filled with torment, killing, blood, sorrow. She didn't want any of this. Escaping Rick had taken brutal years from her. She hardly believed it was possible. But this would be the last of it. Last of the bloodshed and torture.
Aelin walked and walked into the streets memorizing each even as she thought about everything. She would have taken a few more turns and returned if it weren't for another pair of feet sounding from a little distance. Her heart pounded loudly, senses fanning as she looked for a place to conceal herself. She had noticed how no guards had been here, keeping a watch but let it pass thinking the people were under the king's control enough that he didn't need to station them here.
The steps grew louder, heavier as she concealed herself within the shadows, holding her breath as she waited with a dagger etched in her hand. Once she could hear breathing she pounced. It wasn't a guard or a villager. . .
Aelin froze at the sight of the male.
~
Adrian had been staring at the blank walls of his room for hours, it felt like. His father had dismissed him from yet another council meeting, one that had become his regular habit to do. It frustrated him that he couldn't do anything. All he was supposed to do, per se his father, was be fancied by women and find himself a bride fit for ruling.
He hated it.
He had hated how childishly he was treated, not allowed to leave the castle walls, not to train, stay inside his rooms when officials visited.
The truth was he had started growing suspicious of his father. He would call people to his meetings, killers, assassins, thieves. But it was the dead-looking royals that concerned him. They seemed so. . . inhuman, numb, dead.
The way they carried out orders, no questions, no emotions, pale skin, and those eyes. Those dreadful eyes that looked nothing like humans.
He knew something was wrong.
The room had felt so confined, so airless. He had to get out. The same dull walls of the castle would do no justice so he'd quietly snuck out the back door that was made in case of emergencies. His heart had thundered, sweat pouring over him but he knew father would be busy in his meetings and the quiet city with no people would have given him tranquility.
And so Adrian took a chance that could get him killed, that could get him in trouble he wouldn't dare imagine. But the still night had seemed so beautiful, so. . . him.
He'd hardly thought about anything when he crossed the first street and it pounced on him.
Not it.
Her.
Adrian froze, his heart on the verge of exploding. Color left his skin, breaths stopped as he stilled. The female, she'd leaped on him like a lion, pinning him on the ground, dagger on his throat. He told himself to breathe. Breath.
He only stared at her eyes as she scanned his face. Lips quivering he peeled his eyes away and looked at her. That was when he realized she was beautiful.
Her slightly round cheeks were flushed with color, nose twitched, eyebrows furrowed, and lips pressed into a thin line as she looked at him. Her hair fell gracefully, strands brushing his face as she examined him for threats.
"Who are you?" she said in her graceful feline voice watching his every move counting his breaths it seemed.
The dagger remained positioned on his throat, tightening every second. He knew she was skilled because even as the dagger hurt his skin blood did not slide down. Or maybe he was too numb to feel it.
A million answers came to his mind. Lie. Truth. Seconds passed as he thought. Heart racing faster with each second his nerves shot.
"Just a villager out for a stroll," he lied. His own voice seemed unfamiliar, deep and hoarse.
She slowly moved the dagger away. Loosening his tense body, Adrian watched as she gracefully stood, cloak trailing behind her. His own cloak had stifled behind him. She looked at him over once and started laughing. Laughing.
Her head tilted to the back, she relaxed as she laughed. He noticed how beautiful it was. So different. This female, whoever she was, seemed so unusual to him. It may have been because he was used to the same court ladies that she seemed so unique. Her laugh was the only around them.
"You know prince," she started, a smirk painted on her face, "you're gonna have to do a lot better than that to hide your identity."
Adrian's heart stopped. "What do you mean? I'm just a-"
He tried to keep up the act though he knew she had realized.
"You don't think I know what the heir of Belarus looks like? I'm not a fool and besides, the badge gives it away." She sounded so casual, relax.
He realized what she meant. The badge. It was the kingdom's emblem. His father had forced every member attending to have it clipped. Though Adrian doubted he needed it. He was hardly taken into consideration.
"Well you caught me," he replied, lifting his hands.
"Though I should ask what's a woman like you doing out at a time like this? With a dagger." if he was talking to someone, might as well. . . talk. She seemed so casual with him. Like he was just another human.
"Oh you know, a late-night stroll. And this," she replied staring at the dagger clutched in her right hand, "is for safety purposes. For all, I know you could have been a thief." He couldn't help as his lips curved into a smile.
"Why yes, that could be true, though I wonder what thoughts would keep up such a beauty like you," an attempted flattering comment. He didn't remember the last time he'd tried flirting with a woman. But the way she played, he'd show her how to play.
"Ah, I'm flattered prince, but I don't think you'd understand what keeps me up. This beauty holds the keys to demons that roar to be let out. Sometimes they scream a little too loud. So she has to get out and send them back into their slumber."
She said it with such casualty. But he knew that it was true. Her eyes said enough.
"Though what's a handsome prince like you doing here at such a time?" she smirked at him, "Without guards? Besides, where are they? Aren't you supposed to be under protection at all times?"
He glared at her for a second. Clearing his throat at her remark he started, "Well you know I like to be alone sometimes as well. You're not the only one with demons, they haunt me too. And as for guards, my father- the king, he's been sending troops over to Ethopia for business purposes, he said they'll return in a few weeks, with more trained warriors for here. So that proved to be an advantage as well."
He realized as soon as those words left his mouth that he'd said too much. A pout met his face as he stared at her.
"Oh prince, you should control that little mouth of yours. Too much information," she chuckled grinning at him.
But he relaxed. He was okay with this. Didn't really care for sharing that information. So he took another step. Towards her.
"Well this mouth is good at doing a lot of other things as well. . . What's your name?" he realized he knew nothing about her. Stupid fool.
"Took you long enough to realize," her grin widened, "It's Aelin."
Aelin. Such a beautiful name.
She stared at his tunic interestingly enough that it made him tense, intrigued. "And you should keep a guard or two with you. Next time I see you, I may accidentally cut your throat, maybe stab you. Who knows?" She chuckled.
Her stare made him look down at his tunic, searching for whatever had caught her attention. When he found nothing he looked back up.
Aelin was no longer there.
He knew better than to call out her name in the silent street and something told him he wouldn't be able to find her. Thus, Adrian strolled back to the gate and into the castle he went. The same boring, bland castle.
During his bath and getting undressed, he only thought about Aelin. The intriguing, beautiful female he met coincidentally. He hoped he would see her again. At least once more.
But something about her seemed so familiar. He may have known her. Maybe he had seen her before. But he was sure he had seen her. Just where he didn't know.
Sleep tucked him peacefully that night. When he woke, he found himself smiling. A genuine, content smile.