Fireheart: A "Throne of Glass" Fanfiction

Chapter 4

Aelin looked at her Royal Guard, two thousand strong.

After Terrasen's fall, Rowan pushed her to create it. An entire legion dedicated to the protection of the royal family, the way the Bane is dedicated to the defense of Terrasen. Rowan wanted a force ten thousand strong, which had given Darrow at the time one hell of a shock. Aelin agreed with the old lord, that ten thousand is too much for any single life, and it gives her more power over the people than necessary. But Rowan kept pushing, so they finally gave in on the condition that the Royal Guard never exceeds two thousand soldiers.

Its basically the Queensguard with far more soliders trained for open combat instead of in-city skirmishes.

"Hello, my faithful soldiers. Firstly, thank you for your service to the crown and to Terrasen. You all know what has happened. Melisande has declared war on your nation. Their queen has promised the death of your queen. She means to conquer Erilea. She means to take after Erawan. Let us give her Erawan's fate." The Royal Guard raised their weapons and roared a cheer. "Prepare yourselves. Say your farewells. We march in three hours. Most of you will live, but I would be a terrible queen if I told you your survival was guaranteed."

She turned and walked back into the tower, her mate and her cousin following. Celaena, who had been looking over the ledge to Rowan's utter panic, hopped off and followed. Aelin kneeled in front of her.

"You will stay here, Celaena. Fenrys will watch after you." Fenrys, stationed by the door, nodded and smiled at the girl. "I will return. Aya will not be the one to defeat me." She hugged the girl, whi hugged her back fiercely. "I love you, darling. I'll be back before you know it." Aelin rose and walked down the tower.

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The journey to Fenharrow was a long one. They positioned themselves across the river from Aya's army. Soliders from both sides began trading insults, yelling across the river.

Aelin and the group watched as the massive mechanism was rolled into place.

They had picked up Dorian along the way, with a portion of his army joining the Bane and the Guard.

"A mobile bridge. Quite the idea." Rowan said.

The bridge itself was small. Thick and strong, but small. It would be a terrible choke point. But we have time on our side, as our allies in Morath are already building up an army. If Melisande waits too long, it will be crushed between the two armies. The freed Adarlanian and Terrasen fleets were already moving into the Avery, allowing Rolfe to go to the Gulf of Oro to attack Innish.

The bridge had a massive counterweight to prevent it from falling into the river. The entire thing requried two wyverns to move, which had been provided by Dorian. The wyverns now had the handles of the bridge in their claws, awaiting to order to bridge the gap. The riders looked at Dorian.

"Extend the bridge." He commanded. The three armies had already formed ranks: Royal Guard followed by the Bane with Adarlan's forces in the back.

"Hold the line!" Aelin commanded as the Wyverns lifted.

"Aelin! AELIN!" Elide shouted, her and Lorcan on horseback, panicked.

"The hell are you doing here?" Aelin asked.

"Fenharrow has allied with Melisande! Their army is marching here, not even an hour away! We must retreat, or we will be crushed between them!" Aelin turned to the wyverns.

"Riders, pull back, NOW!" She shouted over the air. Too late. Melisande archers hit their marks, and the bridge fell with the wyverns. The bridge slammed down and their army charged.