Son of Night and Daughter of Stars

Chapter 9: The Secrets Within

"Nothing?" Aelin asked, her hands clutched into fists. Lorcan shook his head. 

"Nothing. No whisper of the assassin anywhere in Terrasen." He said. Aelin turned to Manon, her features desperate. 

"Manon?" She asked. The Queen of the Western Wastes shook her head. Aelin growled and turned away, crossing her arms over her stomach and beginning to pace across the floor. Estelle watched from where she sat, Reave next to her. She glanced at him and saw he had a book resting on his legs underneath the table. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at him. Bookworm.

Aelin snatched up the assassin's shirt from where it rested on the table and stopped to examine it, although Estelle thought she'd looked at it so long these past days she must have the stitching memorized. 

"What do you want to do, Aelin?" Estelle's father asked. Aelin glanced up, crushing the shirt in her hands. The room was silent for a moment. Then, out of nowhere, Fenrys appeared in the doorway. Aelin turned to him, eyebrows raised. 

"Did you find anything?" She asked. Fenrys nodded and opened his mouth, but Aelin threw up a hand to stop him. After a moment, she beckoned him closer, gesturing for him to whisper in her ear. Fenrys did so, and Estelle leaned forward, straining to hear. Whatever Fenrys said, Aelin didn't seem to like it one bit. She pulled away, meeting his gaze. After a moment, Fenrys blinked at her three times, whatever that meant. Aelin's gaze softened. She blinked once, then straightened her spine, meeting her court's gazes.

"We'll do nothing," Aelin finally said, her voice cold and calm. She tossed the shirt down on the table again. 

"Nothing?" Lorcan repeated incredulously. Aelin shot a glare at him. 

"Nothing. For now," Aelin elaborated. "We can't waste resources tearing apart Terrasen for one person. If they show up again, fine. But until they do, we can't simply stop living." She walked toward the door, having said her piece. She stopped and turned back to her daughter, her gaze imperious. "Come with me, Estelle." 

Estelle stood swiftly, pushing back her chair loud enough to make Reave jump, glancing up from his book. Rowan looked at his son and smiled wryly as he turned red and shut his book. 

Estelle didn't stick around to see what excuse Reave gave. She followed her mother out of the room, the sky blue skirts of her dress swishing around her ankles. Her mother walked quickly and with purpose, veering down hallways Estelle hadn't been down in years. But she knew where they were going. 

"Mother?" She dared to ask, but Aelin shushed her. 

"Not yet, darling," She muttered, the frosty tone in her voice long gone. "One more moment." 

Finally, Aelin stopped in front of a dusty wooden door with a rusted old lock. She easily tore the lock off the door, casting it aside and shoving open the door, beckoning her daughter inside. Estelle followed, coughing at the dust swarming her face. 

The moment they were inside the door, Aelin shoved it closed behind her and flicked her wrist, calling flames to her hand. Estelle did the same, though hers weren't as bright as her mother's. 

"Mother, what's going on?" Estelle asked, her voice echoing through the room. Aelin didn't answer. Instead, she summoned more fire to her other hand, filling the room with golden light and revealing the blood-stained floor. 

According to Elide's stories, this was the room they'd used to return to Prythian all those years ago. She'd taken Odette and Estelle here as children, though she'd been as shocked as them to see the Wyrdmarks still painted on the floor. 

Estelle didn't know why the marks were still there. She'd never had the courage to ask her mother. 

"Mother, why are we here?" She asked, stepping closer to the queen. Aelin turned to meet her eyes. 

"Estelle, darling, what are those?" She pointed to the bloody markings on the floor. 

"Wyrdmarks," Estelle replied, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "But-" 

"Darling, what I'm about to tell you, you can't breathe a word to anyone outside this court," Aelin interrupted, stepping forward and leaning down a bit to be at Estelle's level. She was only a few inches taller than her, but it made Estelle feel like a child again. 

"I won't," She promised. "Now what-" 

"Fenrys found more Wyrdmarks on the borders of Allsbrook," Aelin said, interrupting her again. Estelle closed her mouth, mildly annoyed. 

"Why is that important?" She asked. 

"Estelle, the Wyrdmarks were these ones," Aelin said, gesturing to the ground. "Someone was trying to open a portal. To Prythian."