A Court of Scars and Steel (Completed)

Chapter 6 - Aelin

Neither the female nor the male Fae reacted, which just proved to Aelin that this was indeed another world.  Everyone in hers had heard of Ardarlan's Assassin.

    "Another world," the male mused, glancing at the female, "like Amren?"

    Aelin opened her mouth to reply she had no idea who Amren was, but the female replied first, "Maybe.."

    Aelin shifted, getting the feeling that once the two of them started discussing it they would never stop. "What are your names?" She burst out.

    The two Fae paused and both glanced at her. "I'm Feyre," said the female, "and this prick is Rhysand."

    Rhysand gave Feyre a glare that looked more to Aelin like lust. He turned back to her and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything she felt something poke her mind. Like Maeve.

    Aelin screamed, her body and mind flaming as she reacted blindly to the presence in her mind.  If Maeve was here...

    She was on fire, burning, screaming.  She hadn't escaped after all.  This was one of Maeve's visions, she had lost, she had lost...

    The room was washed in darkness as a calming power spread over her, pulling her power away in a calming tide.

    No! No! She'd seen this darkness before.  It was Maeve's!! The darkness brought back those memories, the ones she hid behind mountains of swagger.

    That night in bed with her parents, Sam's body curled in Arobynn's dungeons, Endovier, the Valg prince's... the list went on.

    For comfort, she reached for the remainder of her power but that blackness had taken it away, just like Maeve had taken everything from her.  Her mate, her future...

    Aelin lunged off the bed, using her training as an assassin to take down her heavier opponent.  She tackled Rhysand to the ground, determined to try to find wherever Maeve was in this vision and hurt her.

    Even though Aelin couldn't see anything, she could still feel her vision going in circles, this explosion of power and physical combat were soon going to be too much for her weak and malnourished body.

    She summoned a dreg of power, it's familiarity starting to creep back to her from wherever it had gone, and held a flame dagger to the Fae male's throat.

    Rhysand squirmed under her, and he grabbed her waist, flipping her over and causing her to lose control off her flame dagger.

    Aelin tried one of Rowan's techniques, bucking her hips up to throw her assailant off, but her body has too weak.

    She collapsed, Rhysand's weight on top of her.  The darkness disappeared, now that she had been subdued.

    Tears started to run silently down Aelin's face.  She had had a chance.  A chance to escape, to maybe find a way to her kingdom, and now it was destroyed.  Maeve would come now, gloat, and her life as the Fae Queen's pet would return as normal.

    Rhysand started down at her, and Aelin could've sworn he looked confused at the tears running down her face.  But that was probably the wooziness, headache, and slight dizziness combining.

    Aelin felt the talon enter her mind again.  As darkness started to crumble at the edges of her vision, Aelin couldn't help picture what Maeve would do to her again now that she had betrayed her.

    Just as Aelin thought she'd pass out, a gasp echoed through the room, and the Fae female, who Aelin had almost forgotten about, rushed to her side, hands glowing with healing power.

    Rhysand rolled off her, and suddenly she could breathe again.  Aelin's first thought was to fight, to try again, but Feyre interrupted her before she could.

    "I saw your memory of that woman," Feyre gasped, and Aelin mulled over the fact that Feyre had been the one to try to break into her mind, "and I'm sorry.  I didn't think that some things trigger bad memories." "I didn't see anything else," she added as an afterthought, "I pulled out."

    Feyre's voice sounded strained, and Aelin wondered if the young Fae before her had ever been in her position, broken and breaking.

    Rhysand picked Aelin's limp form off the floor, and placed her gently back on the bed. To her personal horror Aelin didn't even try to struggle.

    She waited limply for the questioning to begin.  Sure enough, even Fae from another world didn't disappoint.

A/N Finally a decent sized chapter. Still only 732 words though. I hope you like it.