A Blade from the Wastes - Throne of Glass

After

Aelia barely slept that night. She laid in Celaena's bed next to the assassin and kept checking her forehead for the first sign of infection. Aelia had finally closed her eyes when dawn crested over the horizon. But her rest seemed short-lived. The sound of Celaena's rapid heart rate made Aelia flick her eyes open. When she sat up, she felt Celaena stir. A moment later she fully woke with a groan. No doubt in a great amount of pain.

"Do I look as bad as I feel?" Celaena said by way of greeting.
Aelia gave a tired smile. "You look better than you did when you let your target from Fenharrow beat you because you were having a bad day. Or when you thought it was a good idea to challenge the biggest brute in the vaults." Aelia let out a short laugh. "You took those punches just to get more money."

Celaena snorted. "Had to make sure the audience thought I was going to lose." Her face quickly fell. "How's Chaol?"
Aelia nodded. "I eavesdropped on Dorian and his father. He won't receive any punishment. I haven't seen him since yesterday, but I can feel how terrible he feels. Cain was his first."

Celaena let out a breath.

"If I can, I'm going to talk to him. Convince him that I was faster. That I was the one to strike first."
Celaena shook her head. "I doubt it would help."
Aelia shrugged. "Worth a shot." Aelia shifted her head to the bedroom door.

A few moments later, Nehemia opened the door. She smiled as she closed the door. The golden pup that had cuddled between Aelia and Celaena, perked up and her tail slapped against the bed.

Celaena swallowed. "Hello." She said the word in Eyllwe.
"How are you feeling?" Nehemia spoke in the common tongue without a hit of her foreign accent.

Fleetfoot crawled over Celaena's legs and greeted the princess.
"Exactly how I look."

Aelia helped Celaena sit up. Fleetfoot was done greeting the princess and curled up by Aelia and went back to sleep. Nehemia glanced to Aelia for a moment before she looked to Celaena.
"I won't waste time dancing around the truth. I saved your life at the duel."

Celaena blinked. "I didn't hallucinate all of that? And-And you saw everything, too?" She looked to Aelia. "Did you see too?"

Nehemia answered for Aelia. "No, you didn't. Aelia couldn't see everything you saw; my gifts enable me to see what others normally cannot. Yesterday, the bloodbane Kaltain put in your wine made you see it too. What lurks beyond the veil of this world; I don't think Kaltain intended that effect, but it reacted to your blood the way magic calls to magic."

Aelia let out a breath. She hadn't thought about the dormmate magic in Celaena's blood.
"Why did you pretend to not understand our language all these months?"
Aelia knew the princess's tactic; to gain information from unsuspecting ears.
"It was originally a defense. You'd be surprised how much people are willing to reveal when they think you cannot understand them. But with each day I pretended to not know anything, being around the two of you became harder and harder."

"But why make me give you lessons?"
Nehemia avoided their eyes. "Because I wanted a friend. Because I came to like you."
"So, you were truly reading that book when I came across you in the library?"
Nehemia nodded, looking back down at them. "I...I was doing research on the Wyrdmarks, as you call them in your language. I lied to you when I said I didn't know anything about them." She eyed Aelia. "You were right. I know how to read them; and how to use them. My entire family does, but we kept it a secret; passed down from generation to generation. They are only to be used as a last defense against evil. Or in the gravest of illnesses. And here, with magic banned...Well, even though the Wyrdmarks are a different kind of power, I'm sure that if people discovered I was using them, I'd be imprisoned for it."

Celaena adjusted with a slight wince. "You were using them?"
A grave nod. "We keep them secret because of the terrible power that they wield. Terrible in that it can be used for good or evil. Though, most have used their power for wicked deeds. Since the moment I arrived here, I was aware that someone was using the Wyrdmarks to call forth demons from the Otherworlds. Realms beyond ours. That fool Cain knew enough about the Wyrdmarks to summon the creatures but didn't know how to control them and send them back. I've spent months banishing and destroying the creatures he summoned. That's why I've sometimes been so absent."

Celaena lifted her right hand; letting the daylight catch on the bite scars on her thumb.
"That's why you didn't ask questions the night we were attacked. You-You used the Wyrdmarks to heal me." Celaena looked to Aelia's exposed scarred arm. "You healed both of us."

Nehemia clicked her tongue. "I still don't know how or where you came across the ridderak, but I think that's a tale for another time." She paused and glanced to the ground. 'The marks you found under your bed were drawn by me."

Celaena jerked forward, but at the cost of flaring up her pain.
"Those symbols are for protection. You have no idea what a nuisance it was to have to keep redrawing them every time you washed them away." Nehemia let a smile tug on her lips. "Without them, I think the ridderak would have been drawn to you far sooner."
"Why?"

"Because Cain hated you, of course, and wanted to eliminate you from the competition. I wish he weren't dead, so I might ask him where he learned to rip open portals like that. When the poison made you hover between worlds, his very presence somehow brought those creatures to the in-between to shred you apart. Though after all he's done, I think he deserved what Chaol and Aelia did in that ring."

Aelia let out a breath. She should really speak with Chaol. Celaena looked over to her and the assassin could see how tired Aelia was.
"Did you sleep last night?"
The question was so off-topic, that it took Aelia a moment to realize Celaena was talking to her.
Aelia shifted her eyes. "I think I finally fell asleep a bit after dawn. I had to make sure you didn't get an infection."

Celaena nearly rolled her eyes. "Need I remind you about the obvious?"
Aelia shook her head. "She's fine. I'm fine. I'll sleep when I know you're okay."
Nehemia reached over and placed a hand on Aelia's knee. "Go rest. I'll make sure Celaena is taken care of."

Aelia slowly closed her eyes for a moment before she nodded. "If either of you need anything, let me know."

Celaena nodded and Nehemia smiled. Aelia scratched Fleetfoot's head before she slowly climbed off the bed. She grabbed her shoes and long-sleeved shawl. When she walked into the hall, she glanced down at the floor. Not a drop of her blood. She started down the corridor, but instead of going in the direction of the tower, she turned. When she came up to a familiar door, she didn't knock right away. Instead, she listened.

She could hear Chaol's heartbeat and the crackling of his fire. He seemed to be just sitting. After another moment, Aelia knocked. Chaol didn't move to answer, so Aelia slowly opened the door. When she looked in, Chaol was sitting in the chair in front of the fireplace. He barely glanced her way as she closed the door. She slowly walked towards him. She fully sat in the chair beside him before he finally spoke.

"Will this feeling ever go away?" His voice was so soft.
Aelia let out a breath, knowing what he was referring to.
"It's not going to be easy. It will take years, but eventually, it will fade. Not all the way, but enough that when you think about it, it is just a passing thought. You might have a day where you will need to take a moment to reflect on how you felt in the moment, but it will get easier, Chaol. It might not feel like it now, but it will."

Chaol quietly looked into the flames. "Has it for you?"
Aelia shook her head. "My situation in the moment was different from yours, but every once in a while, I will see her face and hear her name. See the relief on her face when she knew she was free. But, yes, the memory still haunts me."

Chaol finally turned to her. "You never did tell me that story."
Aelia shrugged. "I don't think story time will be helpful."
Chaol licked his lips. "It would be a good distraction." Then he quickly added. "Only if you want to share."

Aelia pulled in and let out a deep breath. She thought about how the story started. "It happened here in Rifthold. Celaena and I had been with Arobynn for four, nearly five years." She paused, remembering the girl with the bright red hair.