The Princess of Terrasen

Ch. 14

Aella was sitting on the floor with Salkhi and Aecis in one of the aeries a few hours later when Kamien appeared dragging two children, a boy and a girl behind her. Aella crossed her legs as she studied them, the up tilted eyes, the onyx hair, the brown skin as she scented them. Scented Nesryn and Sartaq on them. Their children. Aella blinked at them as Kamien asked,

"What do we do with them?"

Aella stared at them a little while longer, looking them both in the eye, weighing the risks and the benefits.

"Keep them alive."

"Where's-where's my mother?" the girl asked. Aella said nothing for a minute 

"She's dead. So is your father."

"Did you kill them?" the boy asked, trembling with anger even as he cried.

With a twitch of a finger, Salkhi wound round and round her neck, hissing softly as he flared his wings. Aecis growled in warning and the girl tugged the boy's arm insistently, giving him wide eyed looks and he sighed as he backed away and let Kamien lead them back down.

Aella exhaled through her nose and rested her head against the wall. Her fire crackled on her skin and she willed ice to cover her instead. She didn't want to feel anything right now, she wanted to be numb.

The thrill of her magic relaxing it's grip on her was long gone and she felt heavy again. So heavy she wondered how her wings held her up. 

She wondered why her mind and her magic were in constant battle. She wondered if Aelin could have taught her how to make them work in harmony. It didn't matter. It never did, not really. Aelin was not here, she would not be and it was no use thinking of her.

She forced herself to put back the mask, to smirk in triumph as she stood.

Then she leaned against the wall, picking at her nails, readying herself for her meeting with her spies. They usually only met after battles or if there were some rumours swirling around she might not have heard of- there weren't many, which was why they rarely met.

She sent a probing tendril of magic through the stairwell, sensed Kamien and Sebastian coming up, saw Jaena and Waylay prowling the streets to check for any people causing problems through the window. Kamien entered first, clapping Aella's shoulder as she took her place a step behind her, ready to attack and to defend. Aecis at her heels, Salkhi at her shoulders and Sebastian hid himself in one of the shadows, ready to block the exits should something go wrong and her spy entered.

It was Alyssa this time, her face grim, mud splattered all over her leather clothes. She bowed quickly,

"Terrasen is debating whether to take back the city for the Khaganate." she said, mouth pressed into a thin line and Aella breathed in slowly, giving herself time to process this.

"Why? News has surely reached that the Khagan and Empress are dead. There is no one to leave the city to, should they take it back."

"They know that their heirs are still alive, they will leave the city to them once they are old enough."

"How do they know? I just gave the order to spare them."

Alyssa shook her head and Aella tried not to bristle. Someone had been spying on them. And she hadn't noticed. That alone was enough to make her want to shred the nearest thing to pieces But Kamien, Aecis and Salkhi had been in the room. How had four cold blooded killers not realised there was someone else present? During the battle, she had seen, vaguely, Salkhi flying, sinking his talons and needlelike teeth into the soldiers, occasionally using bursts of her magic. Aecis had stayed close, but his fur was caked with dried blood, his maw dripping with gore.

"Is that it?"

"Yes. I'll keep you updated."

Aella nodded and waved a hand in her direction in dismissal and waited until she left to turn to Kamien.

"Bring them back up."

Kamien stared at her for a split second before she left again.

Are you killing them? Sebastian asked in her head so no one had a chance to hear

I have to.

Why.

Because I can't lead a war against them. They won't back down, not after the Khaganate helped Aelin win Terrasen back. It'll be a political scandal and it'll be a message that Aelin won't help her allies. If we kill the heirs, there will be no one to return the city to and she'll just look like a conqueror if she tries to fight.

Sebastian moved closer, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. The heirs walked in again, nervously glancing first at her, then at Sebastian.

Aella's daggers were flying for them in the next instant, one going straight into the girl's heart, the other right into the boy's throat. Killing them instantly.

Kamien grimaced at the smatterings of blood on her face and shot Aella a glare. Aella didn't care. She had thought her stomach would twist, but it didn't. Her heart didn't beat faster either. Then she walked out of the aerie, as though she hadn't just killed just two children and not batted an eye. She knew Aelin would get the message.

But a useless, soft part of her asked  'You are not disgusted, you don't bat an eye. What kind of person are you?' 

'A monster,' she reminded herself, reminded that soft, questioning voice, 'I am Aella Astern, the General of the Northern Continent, I am a monster, I kill people for fun, I cannot live without the hunt, I cannot live without the thrill of battle, I cannot live without my magic destroying everything in my path. I am not a person, I will never pretend to be.'

That voice shut up. 

As if realising, yes. She was all that and more, she was the nightmare that corrupted golden dreams. 

But then it reminded her of the boy she had saved, the boy with the curious brown eyes.

That was a long time ago, she shot back, it was stupid, pointless and made no real difference in the long run. She wondered why she had done it in the first place.

When she got back to her chambers, there was someone waiting for her.

Helios Galathynius, the third born, the Prince of Terrasen sat lazily in a chair next to her bed. 

Aella's heart jumped in surprise but she let nothing show on her face. It was impressive, she thought, that this fifteen year old had snuck into the palace, past four of the deadliest fae in the world.

"Prince Helios." she cocked a brow, her hand within easy reach of her sword even though she didn't so much as touch it.

"General Astern."