A Perfect World

Chapter 22

AELIN POV

"Why'd you do it?"  Aelin asked Rowan. 

They were both in the kitchen, eating their lunch in silence. Elide, Fenrys and Lorcan had left for Doranelle that morning and their absence had made it very clear, very fast that the three of them had been a sort of buffer between she and Rowan. 

His hot-and-cold behavior had been grinding on her last nerves. Whatever his problem was, if she didn't get to the bottom of it soon, training with him would be torture. 

"Why'd I do what?" he asked in return. 

She simply stared at him meaningfully. 

He sighed, leaning back. He was so big he completely dwarfed the chair he was sitting in. 

"You didn't want to go. And you need to train. There's no way we could hide you and train you at Doranelle." 

She rammed a piece of bread in her mouth. "Thank you," she mumbled around it. 

He nodded, rocking back and forth in his chair. Aelin was surprised that the chair could withstand the motion, flimsy as it seemed in comparison to his size. The look on his face made it obvious that he was debating something. Just as she was about to tell him to spit it out, he did—saying the one thing she didn't expect. 

"I'm sorry," he said. 

Aelin paused mid-chew. 

"I know that I've maybe come across as a jackass. I've been dealing with some things and I'm sorry if it ever seemed like I was taking it out on you." 

Aelin resumed chewing. Swallowed. 

"So... you deciding to let me stay here and trade with you is your way of making it up to me then?"

He nodded again. 

"Not one for words, huh?"

He shrugged. "Actions speak louder than words."

That they did. 

AEDION POV

"We are so fucked," Aedion whispered to the black cat sprawled at his foot. 

The cat paused its lazy licking of its own coat to stare him down. Its green eyes were very much human and not at all impressed with him. The cat resumed its licking. 

"Don't you think this plan is crazy?" he pushed. 

The cat sprung to its feet and padded toward the large armoire on the other side of the room. It slipped inside and, a flash of light later, a clothed Lysandra slipped out. 

"Stop panicking," she said, moving to sit opposite him.

"How can you be so calm?" he asked, "If the Ashryvers are actually the bunch of scheming low-lives that Ansel painted them out to be, then we're all in danger. You, me and Evangeline." 

"I'll admit that I'm worried for Evangeline," she relented, "but I'm always worried about her. Besides, this is just an intel job. I'm a shape-shifter. It won't be that hard. Hopefully, we only have to be here for a week tops." 

Aedion sighed. Perhaps he was overreacting. When Aelin had explained her plan, it had seemed plausible but then again, Aelin had a way of making everything seem like sunshine and rainbows. This situation was definitely not. If the Ashryvers were trying to take control of Terrasen, they were all in deep shit. 

"You're a general, right?" she asked. 

"Not yet," he said. 

He would be, eventually. Rhoe's Captain of the Guard, Quinn, had been training him since he could walk. His father certainly hadn't minded—even when Aedion had chosen Terrasen over Doranelle. Just as Aedion's mother was fiercely loyal to the North, so was Aedion.