Throne of Glass & A Court of Thorns and Roses: Two Worlds Collide

Chapter 30-Dorian

Once we saw the castle looming in the distance, I discreetly asked Aelin, who had not left my side once after I woke up, "so what exactly happened?"

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, "so you really don't remember?"

"Why would I lie? I remember us being attacked...and that's it" I said as genuinely as I could. What happened that had her acting all strange? I didn't mind her being overprotective, it was rather endearing, but having holes in my memory and no one telling me really made my head start to ache. Why was I always the one left out of the loop?

Sympathy softened her eyes immediately. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound untrustful or anything," she rushed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath for a moment. After a second, she opened her eyes, tears lining them. "Dorian, you were shot. I- I thought you were dead. You were dead. Your heart stopped. It stopped beating, but then... Your magic. Somehow, somehow your magic pushed out the arrow from your ribs. It nicked your heart. I could smell your blood in the air, I could smell the death. The arrow had poison in it, no one else noticed somehow, except me. It's an odorless, colorless poison. It was newly made but it stopped being made immediately in Ardalan. I don't know how the king's men got a hold of it. I only know because it was at the champions test." She smiled wistfully at the memory. It was so long ago. I could picture her perfectly: fierce, stubborn, cold. She was still all those things, but over the years she'd grown, matured. We were both made rulers so fast, so sudden. It took a toll on us. I could see it in the way he carried her shoulders, as if she was carrying the world.

"No one knows how you survived. We've never seen magic like yours in a long time. Raw, pure magic," she gave me a smile that lit up her whole face. A smile that rarely came my way.

"What-what was the last thing I said before I died?" I asked curiously.

"Dorian! Why would you ask something like that?" she yelped incredulously.

"So I can write my last words on my grave, of course. Not everyone can die more than once," I tried to make a joke out of it. She'd almost lost Rowan and now me. I couldn't do that to her. She's lost too many people. The look on her face when she'd almost lost Rowan... I'd never wanted to see that look on her face ever again. I would insure it.

"You said..." suddenly her face got red. "I don't remember," she claimed, too loudly to be true. I could tell she was lying. She always was an open book to read. Suddenly she rushed towards the front where Rowan was. I saw him look at me once with an unidentifiable expression on his face then turn back to Aelin with so much love in his eyes I had to look away.

Deciding to find out what that was all about, I sped up to a brisk walk next to Aedion.

"Want to know your last words as you took your dying breath?" he asked teasingly when I was about to open my mouth and ask.

"How did you-?" I started incredulously, but then remembered that I was one of the only mortals in a pack full of Fae with heightened hearing.

"You said..." he had the opposite reaction to Aelin. He started cackling with laughter, doubling over, earning amused glances from the rest of the group. I saw Aelin glance back and bury her face in Rowan's shoulder, blushing brightly.

"What?! Was it that bad?" I asked, feeling my face heat up. What could I have said that made me receive mixed reactions?

"It wasn't bad," Lysandra added from beside Aedion. "It was rather sweet."

"Yes. It was soo sweet. You brought her hand up to Aelin's face. And you said, so dramatically it was hilarious, but at the time you were dying so it wasn't really."

"Too soon, Aedion," I muttered.

"So beautiful," he finished.

"I beg your pardon?" Had he just called me beautiful? Or was is to Lysandra?

"You brought your hand up to Aelin's face and said 'so beautiful,'" Aedion said, looking into the distance while raising his eyebrows earnestly and bringing his hand up to imitate mine.

"I did not," I replied indignantly. I didn't. I wouldn't do that! Not with Rowan there!"

"Oh, but dear boy, you did," he said as he patted my shoulder. He leaned closer to my ear and whispered, "I'd steer clear of Rowan for a while, if you want to keep your head on your shoulders."

He must have heard my breath hitch because he just laughed and walked away. I was reminded of the time, not long ago, when we were walking in the garden and he tripped me into a thornbush. This situation felt oddly similar.

We kept walking in silence, no noises except for Lysandra's giggles when Aedion teased her. I thought back, trying to remember the few minutes before I... died. We had been riding our horses to the palace to save Amren and Myriam and also to retrieve information for the army when we were ambushed. I remembered looking back at the carriage to see Rowan standing by the door and Rhysand running out of it. Then I felt a sharp stabbing in my ribs and somehow I ended up off of my horse and running toward the others. I faintly recalled someone carrying me and Aelin kneeling over me.

Embarrassment hit me with the memory. So I really had done that in front of Rowan; what had I just gotten myself into?