Moving on, moving forward.

The Father of a Brother.

They were silent as they listened to the sound of Aedion's feet on the stairs.
Aelin stared at Gavriel.
Gavriel stared back, slightly unsure as to why she was staring so intently at him.

He cleared his throat, "You and Aedion huh?"
She continued to stare, her head tilting slightly and her eyes squinting as she studied him.
"Yes, we have known each other for a while," she finally said, sitting back.
"Yeah. Aedion said, since birth?"
"Just about. At least since I can remember."
Gavriel nodded slowly.
"You gave him your sword," Gavriel looked at the sword and then at Aelin.
"Yeah, I did."
"Why?"
"Because he deserved it. And no one else did," Aelin looked away from Gavriel then, her throat bobbed.
"He seems to cherish it quite a lot," Gavriel rubbed his hands together.
"He was close to my father," she said quietly, almost a whisper.

Envy seeped into Gavriel. Of course Aedion had seen someone as a father figure, it's ridiculous to think that he wouldn't. Considering he didn't have one, he'd probably make one.

"Oh," was all Gavriel could say.

Fenrys cleared his throat, sensing the shift in the air, "Well I'm going to go, ah, get some food for dinner... yeah. Hey, Rowan, you wanna come?"

Rowan looked at Aelin, asking her with his eyes if she was alright with having this conversation alone.
Aelin nodded slightly.
"Yes," was all he said before they moved towards the door.

Aelin turned back to Gavriel as the door swung shut and the bolt clicked into place.

"What do you want from Aedion?" Aelin asked in a wary tone.
"I just want to know him, Aelin. He is my son, I need to be there for him," he replied in earnest, "I couldn't before."

He looked down at his hands, guilt harbouring in his heart.
Aelin chewed on her lip.
"It's his choice, primarily, if he wants to know you," she ran her hand through her unbound golden hair.

"I know, and I'll wait for as long as he needs. Even if it's forever, I'll still be waiting," he said with so much conviction that it shocked Aelin.
Aelin looked away, seeming to be battling with something.

"He seems very adverse to getting to know me, to even talking to me," Gavriel shook his head.
"That's because..." she slammed her mouth shut and looked down, "Don't worry."
"What?" Gavriel sat forward in his chair, "You know why? Tell me, please."
Aelin sighed, "Why do you think Gavriel? You worked for Meave."
"But I don't anymore."
"I know but you did, you did when he met you. When he heard about you, you worked for her. He hates her, loathes her," Aelin shook her head, scowling, "and for good reason."
"I understand that," he sighed, and leaned back, "Is that the only reason?"
"Maybe, I don't know. He hasn't told me anything different."
They were silent for a bit.
"Could you, ah, could you talk to him or..." Gavriel asked, moving forward on his seat.
"I'll talk to him, but it's his choice," she reminded him.

He paused.

When he had first demanded to see Aedion, back in Skull's Bay, she had claimed that she had not cared. It seems that had been a lie.
A big lie.

"What was he like? As a child?" Gavriel asked leaning back.
Aelin laughed and Gavriel look at her in surprise.

"What was he like?" She laughed again, "He was a damn trouble maker."
Gavriel smiled a bit, seeing the look on Aelin's face, "You must have had some pretty great adventures together as children."

"Oh, we did. I was younger of course so we didn't do anything too crazy. But he did teach me to climb trees, to my mother's dismay."

Her face was lit up in the kind of way that can only come from nostalgia. It made her look younger, made her look as if she hadn't seen as many horrors.
But there, deep in her eyes, was a tinge of sadness.

"It wasn't all happy and sunshine," she said quietly, "he always had a hard life."
"How?" He asked, eager, wanting to know every last thing about his son.
She opened her mouth but paused, unsure if Aedion would be okay with her telling him.

She decided he wouldn't, "Gavriel, I thi..."

She was interrupted with the sound of the door banging open.

They both sprung up from their seats simultaneously.

Men dressed head to toe in full black came storming in.

No.

Not men.

These creatures had wings.