Realm Of Ashes (Throne of Glass #7)

Chapter 3

Fenrys hated doing this, hated the idea of doing this but his queen had ordered it and he could not disobey.
He heard Aelin scream and immediately jumped to his feet.

Maeve laughed.

"Go see our prisoner, my dear. And take what rightfully mine."

His body obeyed.
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Dorian smiled at Manon, his eyes twinkling with delight at catching her off guard.

She was fuming.

In the middle of flight, when Manon was busy giving orders to the rest of the 13, Dorian had leaned over her shoulder and kissed her to shut her up. She had blushed so hard that her face was clearly visible against her milk-white locks.

Now she just sat in front of him, eyes carrying storms, and would not speak to him.

"Manon, witchling, are you just going to ignore me forever?" His tone was light, delicate, but it held an undertone of mischief.

"Yes, yes I am, princeling." She spat back.

"Ah but your forgetting, I'm not a prince anymore." He replied, humor dancing in his eyes

"No your not. Your kingdom was stolen, you're believed to be a traitor and your throne is now the witches. Guess that makes you a nobody, Havilliard." She threw the words at him like daggers and they hit home.

Dorian supposed he was a nobody now, he had no home, no title, no money and a hopelessness that stretched down, down far under the surface of his skin.

She whispered to him, sensing his fall

"I'm sorry OK? But you shouldn't kiss me when I'm talking to my coven We are not even together? What the hell were you thinking. Didn't I say next time it would be on my terms?"

"I should be the one apologizing, I don't know why I did that."

She didn't reply, just turned her head towards the horizon and set Abraxos into a downward dive.

~

Manon sighed to herself. What was this former king doing to her? She felt restlessness course through her bones. She had to do something to get these thoughts out of her head. She decided in that moment that it was time to go hunting.

In the last 8 months, the thirteen had flown 6000 miles. Every night they would set down and rest and every morning they would scan the skies in search for any last trace of the Crochans. So far there was nothing. They had done a full circle of the forest surrounding Adarlan, Fenharrow and Eyllwe They now headed directly to the wastelands. Directly home.

A small part of her dreaded their destination but the rest of her was buzzing with excitement. Was this what it meant to be human? The raging anger had dimmed over the last few months and she often found herself laughing at Asterins terrible jokes. She had become closer to the rest of the thirteen as well. Found out that the shadow twins loved music, that Imogen was a total heartbreaker and Asterin loved camping.

All of these things had made the journey just a slight bit easier for now. She found that she actually enjoyed her Conrad's company. Dorian was a big help as well. He knew how to talk to people and he didn't respond to sharp comments which is what he mostly got in reply as the 13 was also having difficulties adapting to this new way of life.

They landed and immediately set out for shelter. She could feel a storm brewing and they would all be as good as dead if they got caught in it.