DISCONTINUED A Court of Blood and Night Rewritten

17

In the next few days, Rowan and Aedion often found themselves going back to the study, quietly planning, both for Aelin's rescue and comvincing Lysandra to talk to everyone. Often, Rowan wondered if Aelin had done something similar when making one of her crazy plans. Thinking that Aelin used to do similar things gave him strength, somehow, and it made him feel closer to her.

Finally, Aedion managed to drag Lysandra into a meeting with both of them, where they carefully indulged what they'd discussed a few days prior. One wrong word probably would have her shapeshifting into some horrifying creature that could rip them apart.

Rowan didn't need that right now.

They were tense through the whole conversation, ready to fight-- or fleee-- at a moment's notice. If she noticed that, she didn't say anything.

Lysandra pressed her lips into a thin line. "Is this some sort of intervention?" She asked finally.

"You're taking on burdens you don't need," Rowan replied quietly. "We need everyone to get along, and we can't have everyone hating a member of our Queen's court just because she did what she was told. Lysandra, why not just tell them that Aelin asked you to impersonate her?"

"Because that breaks whatever trust they had in her. If she's willing to lie to them about something as big as this, what does that tell them?"

"That she was thinking ahead," Aedion said. "That she was being smart and prepared. And that she was willing to do anything to protect Terrasen. Can they honestly be angry at her for that?"

Lysandra glared. "No, Aedion, that's not what they'll see. What it shows them is that she doesn't trust them. And it therefore makes her untrustworthy, too."

"You're both right," Rowan said before Aedion could snap a reply. "Some will see it as her lacking to trust them, but others will see it as her thinking ahead. It's up to them to decide which. But keeping more secrets from them is going to make things fall apart."

Lysandra shook her head. "And what do we do when we lose all of our alliances, Rowan? What happens when they all turn their backs?"

"Some might, but not all," Aedion answered for him. "Nobody will like what she did, but some will still stand with us. Remember when you revealed what was going on after Maeve took Aelin? Everyone was pissed, but they also stayed, out of loyalty. Sure, these armies might not be loyal to Aelin, but they know better than to turn their backs while indebted to her."

Rowan nodded, but Lysandra didn't look convinced. "Give me a few days to think about it," she finally said.

Aedion and Rowan reluctantly agreed. While a few days could sometimes be detrimental, neither of the males could see a reason to not give her the time she needed.

When the sun was high in the sky, Rowan, Aedion, Ansel, Galan, and Ilias were all in the training grounds. It had rained earlier that morning, so the grass was muddy, but the polished weapons had been carefully dried afterward. At least the rain would add to the challenge.

Manon and Dorian lingered in the shadows out of earshot, talking quietly as they watched the others.

At the same time, Lysandra was just finishing up her talk with the surviving Lords of Terrasen on their behalf. Evangeline, as far as Rowan knew, had gone with her. Perhaps one day the young girl could be a foreign diplomat. The gods knew they'd need it.

Rhysand and his lot came alone, dressed in clothes provided by Lysandra. If there was one thing she excelled at, it was shopping. Clad in dark clothes to help protect against burning in the sun's heat, the whole Court seeming to embody what it was named for.

Tamlin had stayed behind, furious that he was being ordered around by soldiers. Lucien and Feyre, however, had quietly showed up sometime later, and Rowan didn't fail to notice the red-haired male's gaze on Elain. The shy female hadn't seemed to notice as she quietly took everything in.

It honestly shocked him that Elain had come at all. She didn't seem like the fighting type. In fact, violence and the brown-eyed female didn't seem to be a good mix in general. But maybe she would surprise him.

"Right now," Aedion said to the fae, "we just want to know where you're at. If you've never fought before, let me know, and I can start you off on basic training. Everyone else, you'll go one at a time so we can all see where we'll put you."

The Night Court, Feyre, and Lucien were silent. They had gone from a confused, kind group of Fae to something colder. Azriel's shadows seemed darker and thicker, Rowan noted. And Rhysand's expression had none of that kindness, or arrogance. Either something had happened in the past few nights between them all, or it had finally sunk in that they couldn't go home.

"Who has never fought before?" Aedion asked when nobody moved or spoke.

Elain and Nesta separated themselves from the group, but that was it. Rowan felt pretty impressed. It was rare to find so many fighters in a large group like this. Of course, the group hadn't been a bunch of Fae picked at random, either.

"Okay, those who haven't fought before will go meet Lysandra in the gardens in a few minutes." He jerked his head toward the distant gates. "You will be escorted." A few of Galan's men, who had followed them out to the training ground, took up places by their sides.

"The rest of you will be coming with me." He turned and began walking further into the grounds, toward the large selection of weapons carefully splayed out. They'd all thought long and hard over whether or not having them out was a good idea, but there were enough guards to stop them from killing anyone, and Aedion had insisted on weapons; he needed to know their full range of capabilities. While Rowan hadn't voiced his opinion, he'd privately agreed.

And so, there were weapons, albeit dulled down so those in training wouldn't get severely hurt. Swords and daggers, bows and arrows, staffs and everything else Terrasen had to offer. "Take your pick," Aedion said to Lucien. Rowan knew why he wasn't starting with Cassian, Azriel, or even Rhys. If he did, he'd be exhausting himself within minutes. There was no point to that.

The redhead frowned at the weapons speculatively for a long time, his metal eye whrring softly. Finally, he reached out and grabbed one of the swords, checking it for balance. "This'll do," he said finally.

Aedion grabbed his own sword and beckoned Lucien away from the group. "Then let's begin."