Throne of Glass and ACOTAR Crossover (complete)

Chapter 2 - Aelin

The portal opened 3 days ago, so my spies report. One moment there was nothing, then all of a sudden: portal. 

It probably should be someone else going to check it out, by all rights Rowan and I should be at the palace planning the next meeting of the great lords, or rewriting the tax code, or any number of stupid monotonous tasks. But when word came that a portal had opened, I told everyone that I was going to be the one to check it out and Rowan would be with me. A queen's command, no room for arguing or negotiation. 

Besides, I am the resident expert on Wyrdmarks, and what else could have opened a damn portal. 

The capital is about a day's ride out from the reported location of the portal, but running is faster. If fae form running at full tilt, Rowan says we should be there within a few hours. 

It's exhilarating to run again, no guards, no palace walls and courtiers staring at me like I'm either a god send or a reckless hellion. Sometimes I set myself on fire in front of the latter group, just to see them cringe. 

I glance to the side briefly, taking in the glorious sight of Rowan running, his muscular body tense and streamlined. Its almost comical how little time we've had to ourselves lately. There always seems to be another set of royal problems that apparently have to be dealt with right away. People keep telling me that it will get better once the country has settled, but some days I want to burn the whole court to the ground and disappear as Celeana Sardothien once more.

I might do it to, if it weren't for the fact that that would just fulfill everyone's expectations, and I don't want to get predictable. 

Far too soon for my liking I spot the portal up ahead. I signal Rowan with my hand, but he's already slowing. We stop a good 100 yards away, just watching the rippling gateway. There don't seem to be any guards, or any traps that I can sense. A quick look at Rowan confirms that he can't detect anything out of the ordinary either. 

I'm not sure what to do now. It doesn't seem like the portal has been used, if it had it probably would have closed. And there is nothing that would lure someone to go through it, no illusions, no traps. Just a portal sitting in the middle of a clearing for no apparent reason. 

Rowan shoots me a look. "What do you think?"

A slow, wicked smile spreads over my face. 

"Last one in is a rotten egg!"

His moment of confusion after my statement costs him. By the time he understands and is swearing viciously, reaching to grab and hold me back I'm already half way to the portal.

I here his violent curses behind me as he runs to follow. 

"If you go through, I'm not following you! You can deal with what's on the other side yourself!" He warns.

I'm not worried. Whatever threats he makes, Rowan will follow. Beyond the blood oath, beyond the mating bond, he would follow me anywhere, and I him. 

Sure enough when I leap through the portal and land on me feet in a lush, green clearing, Rowan is only a moment behind me. 

As soon as he's through, the portal shuts with a snap.

"Shit." Rowan murmurs under his breath. I almost smirk a bit. I left Aedion in charge, so Terrasen will be alright for a while. And whatever's here, it has got to be better than paperwork and petitioners. 

I looked around me in wonder. The clearing where we were standing was similar to the one we had just left, but somehow the spring air was clearer, brighter than at home. Everything looked the same, but different. The grass was still grass, but it was greener and sweeter smelling than at home. The birds still sang the same tunes, but here they were more melodious, and louder. It was like the image you have in your head of a perfect spring day. 

That is until the knife flew at my head. 

I dodge out of habit, and the blade lodges itself harmlessly in the tree behind me. I take a moment of looking at the ground to compose the face I want my attacker to see, then look up with a smile as sharp as a razor blade on my lips.  

There are two males at the edge of the clearing, both obviously fae. The one, the leader going from his stance and the knife he just launched at my head, was tall, blond, and well muscled. His face was almost too handsome, like the picture of Prince Charming in the story book. His companion is different looking, less classically handsome but more interesting. His hair is red, like the colour of the leaves in autumn, and one of his eyes looks off. I can't tell form this far away, but it almost looks metallic in the spring sunlight. 

"Well," I say, "What do we have here. Two knife happy bastards?"

I feel Rowans's smile, though he doesn't show it. 

The blond male looks down his nose at me. "Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in my court."

I don't know what he's talking about, but I notice the second knife he's palmed. 

"We don't want to fight you," I say, taking a step forward, hips swishing. Sometimes a little feminine charm is all it takes to make a suspicious male back down. 

But apparently not this one. "Stay where you are bitch," he says, raising the knife to point it at my chest. 

The other male, the red haired one, makes a noise in his throat like a warning, but its too late.

"Oh, I would not have done that if I were you" I growl, and suddenly the blond male is flying through the air, Rowan's power having knocked him off his feet. The red haired one turns to me with a snarl, only to come up short at the sight of my hands wreathed in flames. 

My power feels different here, more alive. Like a beast that wants to come out and play. I oblige and the male barely has time to raise a shield around himself before he's surrounded by fire. 

I laugh a little, and glance over to see how Rowan is faring with the blond male. The battle is so fast that to anyone else it might have looked evenly matched. The stranger has loosed his own power, which I have to admit did appear considerable, and is pushing back against the onslaught of Rowan's wind.

But Rowan is stronger, I can tell that from even this far away. The other male is being pushed, slowly but surely, backwards, his shield getting closer and closer to his body. I smirk. The fools had engaged in a battle they had no chance of winning. 

Suddenly a new power slips onto the battle field, a kind of magic I have never seen before. The only way I can describe it is that it is darkness. It moves almost like water, but thicker, rolling and lapping over the ground. And wherever it touches, all it leaves behind is cool and calm, no power, no other magic. The blond male whips his head around, terrified, staring at the mass of black rolling his way. He obviously know what it is, and he's petrified. I think I hear him say something. A name maybe, like "Rhysand".

Then the wave of power rolls over him and Rowan both. I scream a little, unsure as to what the magic will do to them, but when it passes, they are left the same as before, but the power they had been throwing  at each other has dissipated. I see Rowans lips form a word, my name. I look down to see that the darkness has reached me and is swirling around my legs. The cage of fire the red haired male had been locked in is gone, and he is sitting on the ground, a look of pure fear on his face. 

Then the cloud of darkness is gone as suddenly as it arrived, and I reach into my core of my power, only to find it dormant. I can still feel it there, beneath my skin, but I can't use it. 

The blond male is on his feet screaming at the sky. He has obviously forgotten about Rowan, and though my mate is wary, watchful, he does not attack. 

The male looks crazy, shouting things that almost sound like gibberish at nothing and no one. 

"Show yourself damn you Rhysand! You don't even have the guts to face us yourself you bastard, you just send in you lackeys! By way of a damn portal no less!"

A voice, female and almost sweet, sounds from the trees around us. 

"Mother bless me Tamlin, SHUT UP!" 

To my surprise the male, who must be Tamlin, does. He whirls towards the voice. I follow his eyes, and see a female walking out of the woods. 

*Sorry this chapter is so long, it kind of got away from me!

                I hope you like it and don't forget to vote and comment.