𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬

Ch 21: The call

Rowan POV

The smell of dried blood was very strong, and if I smelt it means Maeve smelt it. I walked back to the city and went to Maeve's quarters in the castle that stood tall, towering over everything as if a metaphor for everything dark and cruel inside the reigning Queen's heart. I stood in the doorway and looked towards the sleeping figure of Cairn in the bed, Maeve's new toy since Fenrys was gone.

"The queen has asked her armada to assemble, she needs them in the woods." my mouth spoke, no emotion, just the demon in my voice. Cairn didn't lift his head and continued sleeping, but I stood there, like a slave waiting for the master to respond in their own time. He looked up after a minute, with a irritated expression but when he saw me he slowly got up, put on his shirt and stepped out of the room, hitting my shoulder with his on the way out but my body didn't react, just followed him towards the barracks.

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Aelin POV

The nothingness was starting to worry me. I should be able to feel something, anything - love, his life force, or even his pain, but nothing. It was like the hole in my heart that Rowan had healed had come back again. "Lillian!" someone shouted and I looked up to find the entire table staring at me, my food untouched sitting in front of me. "What?" I asked, coming back to me senses. "We said you need to tell us the truth. You're not human, but your ears were round until Yesterday. What are you?" asked Feyre, looking at me expectantly. Fenrys was sitting at my feet, and he instantly looked at me with worry after hearing the question. I could see the silent question in his eyes when I looked at him,'What truth will you tell them?'

I didn't answer Feyre, just kept looking into Fenrys's eyes, the ones that had reminded me everyday that I had to stay strong for Rowan, for my kingdom. My thoughts started circling back to the lack of Rowan in my heart, as if he was dead, but I didn't feel the pain of dying. I picked up my fork and started eating, my ears going deaf once again and my eyes staring into the wineglass.

Everything changed suddenly, a tune started playing in the background, the same symphony Arobynn took me to see every year, my eyes seeing a beautiful theatre instead of the inside of a wineglass. I shook my head, clearing my mind of the weird hallucinations. Someone shook my shoulder and I looked again to find everyone staring at me expectantly. "I need to go to a theatre." I said, the words leaving my mouth before I could even make sense of them. Feyre was looking at me weird, "What's wrong with you? What are you?" she said, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion and slight irritation. The piano started playing in the background again, the choir appearing in front of my eyes, Arobynn's smile penetrating my vision from the side. I shook my head again, the hallucination leaving me. "Take me to a theatre. I won't answer anything till then." I said, my head resting in my hands now, my eyes closed, trying to stop whatever was going on. "No one is performing right now." Mor said, looking at me wearily, but I just shook my head, I needed to get the song out of my head, I needed the emptiness to stop.

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Rowan POV

I was following Maeve, standing on her right, walking straight into the jungle with about a 100 of strong fae warriors, under Maeve's command. She had been looking into the trees when I had arrived with the soldiers, staring at got knows where with darkness seeping out of her hands, still resting by her side. She turned towards me the second I took me position beside her. Without a word, she had started walking, the command to follow her clear in her stance. We had ended up in the middle of nowhere, some while later, when Maeve suddenly stopped.

She opened her palms and faced them towards the ground as if her magic would thrust her up into flight. Black tendrils shot out of her palms and straight into the ground, the soil turning a faint glowing blue, in a small spot a little ahead from where Maeve was standing. Two other blue spots slowly started glowing a little farther from the first one.

A grunt escaped Maeve's lip and I turned towards her to see her lips in a dangerous grin and her eyes closed, squeezed together like she was straining herself. "Rowan come here." she said, only her lips moving and nothing else. My body stepped closer and Maeve moved one hand towards my legs, my body not moving an inch despite my mental flinch. Her hands unsheathed my dagger from my belt and cut my hand. The pain didn't even register, the blood flowing with nothing to stop it. She dropped the knife and took her finger to the blood and dipped it, her eyes not opening the whole while.

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Aelin POV

Either Maeve's mental illusions had somehow remained, or pregnancy was the worst thing on the planet. My mind was stuck into a spiral, circling back to the emptiness in my chest again and again, the symphony playing in the background all the while. Why Arobynn Hamel was also coming in the visions was beyond me but I knew it wasn't pleasant.

Someone shook my shoulder again, and I looked up to realise that we had already winnowed out and in front of the theatre, Fenrys rubbing his fur against my feet. Feyre opened the huge doors and I followed everyone inside, and for a second all my worries went away, looking at the familiar set up of a pianoforte and seats for the violinists on stage, the seating cushioned with velvet, and the VIP boxes on the sides for special guests. "What did you want from this place?" someone asked, and my eyes snapped back to the people beside me. "You sure you're okay?" asked Elide, a worried expression gracing her face. I didn't answer her, the words escaping me too quickly. I just turned towards the stage and strode towards it, my feet moving on their own as if they felt the strange call too.