Throne of Glass One Shots

Dead is the New Alive

~Trigger Warning (I guess I mean she's sad... idk just in case I guess???)~

Lysandra came to the castle because she thought it would help her but it didn't. In the fantastical world in her head, this place, this people, all the distractions would have helped but it didn't. She couldn't help herself from the despair she felt, but it only happened every now and again, so she felt no need to bother others with herself to fix it.

A few days ago she had been in town, wandering the streets in search of her red haired lady but instead stumbled upon a girl working the night. She hadn't cried then, but she had tried to talk to the girl. She wasn't able to exchange more than a few words with her without buying her for the hour. She has thought about it ever since, fighting the ever strong urge to purchase her if only to find a way to help. She couldn't do it though, didn't know how to trust herself.

Since then she gambled, only with herself. She persuaded herself little things, serving only small punishments when she failed.

Opium, but only for the price of a bath.

Wine, but only for the price of clean clothes.

Tears, but only for the price of staying awake.

All of those things helped, not well but they did in the sense of keeping her alive. They make her feel awake. She wasn't staring into a pointless, endless void that was Madam Clarisse's home. She did what she could in these times but all these times gave her was the chance to bury both life and death in the same coffin.

She was fine, this hardly ever happened anymore. It's not as though these girls were common enough to see on the streets just lazing about with their owners and buyers. It was long and far in between sights and words and conversations and... this.

She clutched the satin pillow close to her body, she remembered wine and the opium was still a haze from the bathroom but she didn't know when they were. This pillow was her anchor. There was so much pain and hurt, her brain screamed with the idea of it.

She squeezed her eyes shut and suddenly a whore was whispering sweet nothings in her ear as practice.

Eyes snapped open and if only she wasn't here, wasn't anywhere she wouldn't have to be clutching a pillow like this.

She sat up, debating a bribery but she couldn't think of anything.

Words began muttering off her tongue, ones that she didn't hear at first but they only repeated, becoming unintentionally audible only when the door creaked open and a gasped sounded.

It didn't register, nothing registered.

Aelin's PoV

"Taste the poison or twist knife, obsessed with death, becomes new life."

A dagger was poised dangerously close to her friends pale skin, daringly close to the marred skin of her wrist. She didn't look up the door, only muttered the words with increasing volume.

She didn't know how to react, only stood in the half opened door of her private rooms.

When a bead of red emerged from her skin, she was flying through the opium stained air. The dagger clattered on the floor, tears stained the queens face.

She caressed her friend. "I thought you were doing so well." It was a choked, broken statement. A weak on at that.

"There is no peace without a fight."

Anger bubbled up inside her. "We did fight! We fought for so long!"

"Your fight." She breathed.

"I'm fighting for you now!"

Lysandra blinked. She reached for her pillow but instead found Aelin blocking her way. "Please Lysandra, this is a fight we can have together. It helps, trust me. It helped me to have you. I don't know why I expected you to leave the brothel so easily, I didn't leave the war near as simple. It was so hard. I'm so sorry."

"I've been fighting it so long. Every time is see one of those girls..."

"Gods." The blonde's breathe was barely heard and wouldn't have been if it weren't for the eerie silence.

"You said your country would house no slavery."

Not being about her help herself, her arms wrapped around the sad girls body. "I didn't realize..."

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

"You need a bath."

"With Opium?"

"With opium."

---

Authors Note

So I decided to do the thing where I write chapters based of the first song that comes on when my music is put on shuffle.

This chapter is based off of the song 'Dead Is The New Alive' by Emilie Autumn.

(Header is Katie McGrath who is my dream cast character for Lysandra, if you didn't know)

Much Love,

Z