Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses crossover.

Aelin

I could feel Rowan glaring at me from across the clearing, dripping wet and climbing up the bank of the gully nearby. A growl reverberated through the meadow. I smiled and closed my eyes as a wet, well toned body stood over me, his hands went underneath my arms and he lifted me up on my feet.

'Aelin' Rowan growled.

'Yes, my love?' I said sweetly, Rowan squeezed my arms until it hurt 'tsk, tsk, tsk, you should be protecting your queen, we don't to see you hurt now do we?' I smiled with the challenge.

In a moment I had shifted into my fae form, pulled away from Rowan's grip and was sprinting through the thick trees and brush. Rowan was not a metre behind, our eyes met and I sprinted faster and harder, leaping and bounding over fallen trees and holes. I had Orynth in my sites. The trees cleared onto cleared land 100 feet from the wall. I pushed myself harder, Rowan kept up still. 50 feet. 20. 10. 5 feet left as a body came from the right and rammed into me with brute force. On my back I opened my eyes to see Rowan on top of me with his hands on either side of my head. I hissed at him and pushed with all my might to get him off me, he was an immovable force.

He smirked, ' Something wrong, my love?' I struggled beneath him, he pinned my arms above my head with one hand as the other made lazy and taunting strokes down my ribs across my stomach. I arched my back, pushing myself against him. His hand moved lower.

'My Queen' a soldier called from the top of the wall. Rowan and I were up and fixing ourselves in a moment.

'Yes' I replied.

'The Prince asked the guard to find the King and Queen and show them to the library' He called.

Rowan's gaze was downcast at the mention of him being King, it was a subject we were yet to discuss as neither of us had felt like sharing our thoughts or feelings about it after he had rescued me from Maeve... from whippings.... from the beatings.... from the brutality.... from the darkness....

I nodded and walked to the wall tugging Rowan by the hand pulling him forwards and went home to the Palace of Orynth. The Wolf of the North was pacing up and down in the library, worry written clearly on his face. He looked up as we entered and stilled.

'Aelin a portal has opened near the border, I have ordered guards to watch but no one is to go in and anything that comes out must captured and bought here, either I can go or you can go but either someone has to go and see where it leads. We have to find out who created it.' Aedion's words flowed out of him. I knew I Aedion would go alone through the portal but if I went Rowan would insist on coming with me and I would have someone to help and protect me.

'Rowan and I will go. You and Lysandra will stay and rule in absence. We will leave tomorrow at dawn, arrange our supplies for a quick leave. Goodnight Aedion.' I turned on my heel and left the library Rowan not a step behind as I ascended the staircase to our room.

I walked into the room and headed straight the bathroom as Rowan shut the door to the bedroom behind us. I was covered in dirt and grime, as started to peel of my shirt I felt rough, callused come around my hands and helped me undress. First my shirt fell to the floor, then my pants and then my undergarments. Rowan lifted me gently and laid me in the bath, he gently washed me clean as I dozed off.I dreamt of the horrors of what I experienced in the time I spent with Maeve and Cairn, and began stir as I relived each memory as I did every time I closed my eyes. Suddenly I came to, choking struggling to breath air into my chest.

Rowan had cut off my oxygen. As I looked at him now, fully awake, I see the scorch marks on the wall, the bath water boiling, Rowan burned on his hands and arms and me laying on the tile floor. I had set fire to the bathroom and Rowan had burned himself when he had pulled me out of the bath of boiling water. Wyrd help me, what have I done? I did something I so rarely do, I began crying.