Embers and Stars

Chapter 4

Who's read the Kingdom of Ash excerpt yet?I don't think I'm going to survive the book if that's just how it begins and Sarah stated that she cried while writing the entire book.
Here's a link to the K̶i̶n̶g̶d̶o̶m̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶A̶s̶h̶  Kingdom of pain and heartbreak's excerpt:
http://www.easonedition.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Kingdom-of-Ash-by-Sarah-J.-Maas-Excerpt.pdf
And now onto the fic. I think you guys are going to really like this one.

Rowan was laying on something soft. His head was buzzing with pain and he couldn't everything was a haze as he opened his eyes. He didn't remember falling.What had happened? It took a few moments for the ache in his head to reduce and he remembered what had happened but not everything. Aelin. He realized. Where was his mate? He turned around frantically looking for her and relaxed just the slightest when he saw she was lying on a bed across the room. Rowan approached the bed carefully making his steps as silent as he could so as to not disturb his sleeping mate.

As he got closer he could see the changes in her: the golden hair he always admired when it caught the light had grown back to the same length as it was when he had first met her, her body was so thin that he was afraid she would shatter on the slightest touch and the scars, there were so many more. New scars that he had not been with to protect her from. But deep down Rowan knew, he knew that they were the least of the damage she had endured. It was the scars on their souls that would hurt far more. The ones that would probably never heal. And he knew this because they both were still suffering from wicked, cold nightmares even before the had been ripped away from the other. He took in the sight with his eyes not quite still believing she was with him.

The warrior prince sat down on the edge of the bed barely shaking it or making any noise. He delicately placed a hand on her forehead as if not quite believing she was here with him.He still remembered the last time he was with her, he had gone out to seek his cousins determined to help his fireheart and had placed a kiss right atop the the place his hand was currently was.Thinking back, he wished he hadn't left that night. At least then they would've perished together. Raw emotion flooded the prince as the memory played in his head. Tears were flowing from his eyes without his consent while his hand tucked away stray strands of golden hair from Aelin's face. He hated that bloody fae queen who had done this. And he would get his revenge as soon as Aelin was healed. Or he would probably leave her to Aelin. She deserved it after all. He would torture both of them, Maeve and Cairn. Then he would let her handle them. Maybe he would give everyone in the cadre a chance if he felt like it. But later it was to come later. Right now he had other stuff to focus on.

He gave Aelin a once over again to inspect any scars or hurts he might've missed and saw that she was in fresh clothes. No tatters, no blood. Then he looked down at himself realizing that he too was in fresh clothes. His weapons gone. He couldn't care less to think about his weapons or wherever the heck they were. All his thoughts narrowed down to one thing. His mate. There was nothing more important to him than protecting her at the moment. He reached into himself pulling out his magic. It was depleted and he knew that before he had even woke up. The power he had used on Maeve was so much, he was thankful that this one bit remained. He dragged the remains of his power up to form a shield around his queen. Queen not princess. To him she was always a queen. His queen. His fire-breathing-bitch-queen.

The queen, stirred a little. Gods. Her body temperature was rising. She was hot. Not enough to burn the sheets or anything but enough that he retreated his hand a bit. He made to put a hand behind her back to get her to water but the heat had winked out. The temperature had gone to normal. He let out a long breath, placing his forehead on hers. She had just given him a mini heart attack without even realizing it. It was so like his Aelin that his heart constricted. Giving him heart attacks at the most unlikely moments. He had always enjoyed it. That feeling when she would just drop her plan on them. He loved the way her brain worked. At the same time he resented her for it. She was so stubborn and wanted to do everything by herself that she wouldn't tell them anything. She didn't realize that they wanted to share her burden. That she wasn't alone.

He removed his forehead from her only start making idle strokes on her cheek. He knew he should be going out and inspecting where they were but he couldn't bare to be an inch away from the woman he had just gotten back. And there was no way in hell he was going to leave her again. And if the gods were so bent on sacrificing her he would kill them with his bare hands. There was no rutting way he would give them what they wanted. Even if it meant defying every single rule and living being on this earth. He would never leave her side he would always find her again. Always.