Rising Flames | Throne of Glass

27

It was still a shock to think that Connall and Enya were mates. Those bonds were rare, especially amongst the Demi-Fae.

Celaena also couldn't fathom why Connall and Fenrys had been sent to their chambers. It had been barely a week, and Enya had almost had her throat slit.

Celaena realised that there was no point making Enya her enemy. She owed her with her own life, and there were far too many outside matters that posed much larger threats. She supposed having a sister could be fun, once all this was over.

Anyway, Connall she could forgive. He'd honestly looked uncomfortable - and she hadn't missed his intertwined fingers with her sister's.

Fenrys, on the other hand...

He was no better than Rowan. Worse, even. Rowan was cold, but Fenrys was cruel. She shuddered as she remembered his sneering face and onyx eyes, void of emotion yet gleaming as if an endless darkness swirled within...

Celaena slapped herself mentally for getting distracted. She had been walking past Enya's closed bedroom door, and would have carried on - if it weren't for the additional voice of a male.

Celaena bit a lip. The sun was rising now - meaning her shadow would fall behind her. She crept up to Enya's room, pressing an ear to the door.

'-how's the wound?'

'I've had worse.'

'You idiot - I can tell it hurts. Can you swallow your pride and dignity for once-'

Connall's playful laugh sounded from the other side of the door. Dissatisfied, Celaena began to draw back.

'It's not nice to eavesdrop,' a voice purred in her ear.

And Celaena whirled, fists raised - only to find Fenrys smirking at her from a few sword lengths' away. 'It is a habit of yours to enter another's chambers as you please?' she asked, fighting the heat the crept up her neck. Oh how she loathed that irksome grin. Rowan's stoniness really did seem rather pleasant, now.

Jerking a chin at the closed door, he said, 'My brother doesn't seem give a shit - so why should I?' He raised a small crooked, taunting smile.

Celaena hissed, 'Get out. Just get out.'

He pouted, the beautiful features of his face crumpling. 'Very well... Aelin.'

A taunt. And she let it hit harder than Rowan's jibes. 'Get. Out.'

He vanished - reappearing mere inches from her face. One hand reached for her cheek to cup it - and she couldn't move. 'You know,' Fenrys purred, velvet voice raking talons down her spine, 'I rather like you, princess.'

Then he smiled again - and disappeared.

'Bastard,' she muttered. 'Absolute rutting bastard.'

Not even another heartbeat passed before she felt a solid presence beside her - then darkness.

~

'I don't take nicely to being called names,' Fenrys said, picking at his nails with the tip of a dagger.

She sat up, taking in her surroundings - the flat bed of worn, battered stone overlooking Wendlyn to the left, and the Cambrian Mountains on the right - before looking back at him. 'That's your problem.'

He looked up, flipping the dagger into a new position - one that looked all too unpleasant. 'Look here, princess. Shift now, or defeat me - and I'll forgive you.'

Celaena wouldn't. 'Take me back. Now.'

'Shift and run back yourself.'

'Are all males as horrible as you? And I thought Rowan was bad.' She let out a short laugh.

Fenrys smiled back, eyes cold. 'I want no more of this bullshit. Shift.'

She didn't.

And he sprang forwards.

She managed to avoid his first blow. But when she threw a fist, he disappeared, and then her feet were knocked from under her - and she fell to the ground, rolling. Her forehead struck loose debris and she clenched her teeth to avoid hissing. Fenrys flickered into view.

Slowly, he sauntered up to her, and placed a boot on her chest. 'Pretty pathetic, princess. Considering your abilities, I'm rather disappointed.'

It would have been better if he was ugly. But his beautiful face formed a leer, pointed canines in full view as he sneered down at her, making his appearance all the more colder.

'No control, no discipline, not the real kind, at that,' he said. His breath caressed her cheek, as soft and deadly as midnight, and Celaena felt her heart thrashing rapidly. 'You're a child. Spoiled and rotten and narcissistic. And a coward.'

She screamed.

Screamed till her voice was hoarse, till she could do nothing but slump to the ground.

'Don't like that word?' Fenrys asked. 'Coward. You're nothing more than a coward who has run for ten years while innocent people were burned and butchered-'

Everything went silent.

She stopped hearing him, stopped hearing anything.

Coward.

A coward at heart.

That's what she was, who she was, and what she would remain as forever.

She pushed her lips together, fighting away the trembling. 'Get off me. Get the hell off me.'

'I don't think so, princess.'

Rage, churning, crashing fury thrashed within her.

And she knew it was pathetic when the first tear slipped from her eye.

And then another.

And another, till she had curled into a ball, sobs racking her body. 'You think I asked for this?' she whispered in between the whimpers. 'You think I asked for this life? I know I'm a coward, you bastard. I know. You don't have to tell me again. If you want to hurt me, then well done, you've succeeded. I suppose you must be delighted now.'

She finally craned her neck to look up at the Fae male, silver streaks blurring her vision.

But nothing in his expression shifted as he snarled, 'I don't care. I don't give a single shit about how oh-so-poor you are. You're just a petty coward. I shouldn't have wasted my time with you.'

And with that, he was gone.

[2112XX]

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