Court of Shadows (Indefinite Hiatus)

PART 2: AELIN

Aelin was suddenly jerked awake from a less than pleasant slumber.

Had she imagined the loud thud and brief sensation of falling?

Her question was answered when the dark void suddenly filled with a bright white and blinded her eyes.

A second later, she was lifted up and out of her iron box and onto a cold stone floor. She tried to crane her neck upward, but the weight of the chains and mask were too much for her without the use of her arms, so she was limited to the view of an arched ceiling made of pale stone and the colorful glass lights that hung from it.

Another second later, she was lifted vertically into as much of a standing position that she could manage in chains. The first thing she noticed was that the floor was not stone, but made of many delicate tiles, forming into a mosaic that spread across the room. The second was the roaring waterfall in the distance, reaching past the marble palace walls and overlooking the colorful city below. The third was the many sentries stationed around the perimeter of the room, weaving in and out of the massive stone columns; all with arrows trained on her back. And the fourth was her Aunt Maeve—once again sitting across the dais on her throne of stone.

Aelin continued examining the room, straining against the grips of two fae males she didn't recognize. She was swept with the memory of the last time she'd been in this throne room. She was currently standing in the exact spot that Fenrys and Connall had held Rowan while he was whipped. She shuddered involuntarily, and shoved the thought of Rowan--her mate--away.

She went back to examining the room. Nothing had changed in Doranelle since the day she and Rowan walked away. 

Nothing, except for the triumphant grin currently spread across her aunt's lips.

A Sentry walked forward and began to unwind the chains, starting with the mask. "Doranelle welcomes you back, Fire-Bringer. How was your trip?" the Queen asked without ever breaking her smile. Aelin remembered the fear she felt upon her arrival with Rowan, and she mentally scolded her younger self for being so intimidated.

The mask hit the floor and Aelin held back a snarl. "Well, it was no first class, but I guess not all kingdoms can accommodate my usual standards."She then made a show of turning her head and examining the room once again.

"—especially ones in such financial distress. I apologize for whatever strain my visit has put on your books. It's clear the money could have gone elsewhere." As the chains were removed, the guards' hold tightened

The queen proceeded to cross her legs and lean her head on a hand against her throne, as if she were already bored. "I look forward to the day when I finally break the heir of Brannon in such a way, that she no longer has the willpower to make such childish remarks."

This time Aelin did snarl, jerking against her captors; towards her aunt as the final chains were removed.

Maeve uncrossed her legs and pushed up off the throne, gracefully descending the dais and approaching Aelin, who continued to struggle. She pointed to the ground, and Aelin was pushed forward onto her knees, her arms twisted behind her. Her back screamed in pain and she gasped with the shock of hitting the stone. Before she could lift her head to look at Maeve, the queen grabbed her chin with her hand and lifted it for her. Aelin tried to twist away, but the tension on her arms increased and Maeve forced their eyes to meet.

"Until then," she purred, "I will take great pleasure in watching you tortured. I will break you down again, and again; as many times as it takes—every day and every night, until the great fire-bringer's flame is not only extinguished, but nonexistent. By time I'm done with you, the infamous fire-breathing bitch queen won't even remember her own name. I will turn you into nothing, and then remake you into what you could have been—what you would have been had it not for your pathetic excuse for a mother—"

Suddenly, Aelin sent a huge mouthful of saliva into Maeve's face, causing the queen to drop her chin and stumble back.

The sentries pulled her arms back even more, to the point of dislocation, but Aelin continued to bare her teeth at her aunt, who was now wiping her face with the back of her sleeve. The queen examined her sleeve and let out a low chuckle before turning back to Aelin.

"We'll see if you still have the breath to spit after another session with Cairn." Aelin's back seared again, and something deep inside of her stomach twisted

The Queen straightend. "But first, I have some things to attend to." She looked to Aelin. "—believe it or not, the world does not revolve around you."

With that, the queen turned back to her throne with a swish of her dark skirts, and Aelin was dragged away through a set of large wooden doors, stumbling to get her feet underneath her-- the power of a thousand fires burning in her eyes.

...

Aelin was thrown onto the floor of a cell, the impact so jolting that she felt it rattle her teeth. The iron cell door slammed shut with a harsh clang that resonated off the stone walls for a few seconds before fading away. The noise was resounding. Standing up, she listened to her captors take a few steps before stopping. Normally, she would take this time to walk around the cell to examine her surroundings and start developing a plan, but she didn't need to walk around her tiny cell to know that there was an entire cadre of fae males waiting outside the door, and that the stone walls were full of iron.

Besides... she already had a plan.

Aelin quickly rushed to the wall adjacent with the door. She began running her hands across the stone, feeling for the smoothest portion of the wall. There could be no flaws.

Then, before she could convince herself otherwise, she reached behind her back and dug her fingers into her wounds, clenching her teeth and fighting back a scream with her tears. Her fingers pulled away covered in blood, and lifting her hand to the wall, she began to write...