A Perfect World

Chapter 4

AELIN POV

Aelin was not simply encouraged to go by her parents, she was practically forced. By the next morning, she was already on her way to Doranelle guarded by a pair of Fae warriors and with only Elide and Aedion for decent company. For the hours they had been travelling—on foot so as to not draw too much attention to themselves—Lorcan had remained near silent and broody, speaking only when he felt like it which, for some unknown reason that mildly amused Aelin, was only to respond to Elide. Fenrys, on the other hand, just wouldn't shut up. If Aelin hadn't been worrying about finally leaving Terrasen, she honestly wouldn't have minded Fenrys' banter but it had begun to grate on her nerves just a pinch. Aedion's nerves had been practically flayed. Her cousin could barely conceal his annoyance. He was disappointed that Gavriel had to stay back with Essar to attend to some Terrasen-Doranelle affairs though Aelin suspected that he wasn't too fond of Fenrys' obvious attempts to steal all of her attention. Territorial fae male nonsense is what it was. Elide was managing pretty well considering that she was never that big a fan of the outdoors. Between she and Aelin, Elide was softer though as strong as any female of her court and far more cunning than Aelin could ever dream of being. Sometimes Aelin envied her softness. Elide was like glowing ember, patient and powerful, while she was all fierce fire, wild and unpredictable—figuratively and now literally too, apparently. 

Aelin still wasn't quite sure what to make of her supposedly destructive fire magic. She knew she had fire magic but hadn't had access to them in so long that she kind of just forget they were there. She had such a hard time controlling it when she was younger that the blessed day she woke up and, for once,  did not feel that crackle in her veins, she just thanked the Gods and moved on with her life. She didn't know what would happen when she crossed Terrasen's borders and stepped outside of the towers' range for the first time in her entire life. It made her anxious and Fenrys' cackling was not helping ease that anxiety at all. If anything, it made it worse. She decided to make another attempt to seize control of the one-sided conversation—at least for Aedion's sake if not for hers. 

"There is a more direct path to Adarlan, you know. Which is where I assume we're headed since it's ports have best access to Wendlyn," Aelin commented for what felt like the billionth time.

"For the billionth time, Your Highness" confirmed Lorcan, "we are taking this route. Deal with it." 

"For the billionth time, I kindly request that you tell me why you are ignoring my suggestion," she said.

Oh she was so beyond playing nice princess at this point, but the male was the highest ranked Doranelle representative in their party and it would be unbecoming of Terrasen's future Queen to be anything less than polite, even if that politeness was so clearly faked. Plus, she suspected that Lorcan could easily make her life a living hell once they got to Doranelle which was something she didn't particularly care to risk. 

"Are we meeting up with someone?" asked Elide.

Lorcan shot her a glance that would have sent most men running. Elide, to her credit, didn't even acknowledge it and continued, "You don't seem like the type to take the scenic route, Lorcan, and this way only leads to Suria. The only plausible reason we'd be headed that way is if we're meeting up with someone before heading to Adarlan, which is the safest point between here and Wendlyn. And if that is the case then I personally think Her Highness deserves to know who else will be in her esteemed company for the duration of our travels together."

Fenrys whistled appreciatively at her deduction. Lorcan only glared at him and bared his teeth. He ignored Elide and walked faster in irritated silence. The dark haired girl was not having an overgrown Fae tantrum today. She sped up, clearly hell-bent on getting an answer for him even if she had to physically squeeze one out of him. Such a feat would have been realistically impossible but Aelin knew better than to underestimate Elide. Elide was about a step behind Lorcan when she made to lunge at him. Actually lunge. Man, this girl gave no fucks and Aelin loved her for it. Aedion went wide-eyed at the scene that unfolded. 

As Elide made to tackle the 6ft Warrior, he sped up just a fraction more. It was enough for her to miss him and she tried and failed to regain her balance. One second Fenrys was walking beside Aelin and the other he was somehow beside Elide, though not before she went down in a tangle of legs. Lorcan stopped dead up ahead. Aelin and Aedion rushed to her side. 

"Are you okay?" Fenrys asked her, serious for once in his life as he reached down to help her up. 

Elide was not okay. As Fenrys inspected the girl's ankle, he was quick to announce that she had sprained her ankle. 

Aelin was going to murder Lorcan, consequences be damned. It was her turn to lunge at him and, this time,  he wouldn't be able to dodge.

 And she would have. Gods knew she was a fraction of a second away from doing it but just then, a figure in the sky dove right down towards them. It was a white-tailed hawk. 

The bird was about  10 feet off the ground when a flash of light had revealed a tall figure, landing gracefully as if his feet were cushioned by the wind. He had the same physique as Lorcan, a warrior no doubt. His silver-white hair was long and framed a beautiful, savage face, marred only  by thin, faded scars. His presence didn't alert Fenrys or Lorcan, so Aelin figured this was who they were on their way to meet. She plastered on her wickedest grin. 

"And you are?" Aelin asked.

It was Aedion who answered, almost reverently, "Rowan." 

Something in Aelin's veins crackled to life.