Glass of Revenge

~4~

Up north in Terrasen they found the autumn months to be little more than a waiting game. After learning that the threats had been made, they had all expected one of the perpetrators to have made their first move by then. But instead, nothing.

There were several members of the royal court who believed the silence was a good thing. That no news was good news. That it likely meant that whoever it was behind the threats – if they were even who they said they were – had decided to back off and do nothing. That they were all hot air, and that no matter how much they threatened, they wouldn't actually carry through on their threats.

Both Aedion and Ren were quietly hopeful that the threat would eventually pass – and perhaps sooner than they all thought. It had already been a number of months since the news of the threats had come to light, after all, and absolutely nothing had happened since. And since the autumn snows were about to hit them, they thought it was highly unlikely that anything would happen at all. After all, if whoever was behind the threat was already in Terrasen, they would have surely made their presence known by now, and if they weren't, it would be almost impossible to reach Orynth, by land or by sea, for several months. Not until the mountain passes cleared in early spring, at the very least. And the seas were nearly impassable from late November to the middle of May.

So no, Aedion and Ren were not as worried as some of the others. They were confident that the threat would not come to pass. And if it did, they would be more than able to handle it.

Lysandra, on the other hand, was almost paralysed with fear about her best friend's safety, and in fact was having immense difficulty in concealing her fears and worries from her young ward. Evangeline was a perceptive child, and reacted to the stress and tension in the adults around her. But despite Evangeline's reaction to their unease and anxiety, Lysandra consistently refused to tell Evangeline what was going on, claiming that she did not want to worry the girl. But at the same time, she was unable to see how her refusal to speak about what was going on was affecting the child.

Darrow's reaction to the news, however, had been one of the most surprising. Ever since Aelin had terrified the wits out of him for bringing the news of the threat against her and Rowan, Darrow had almost turned into a downright sycophant. Almost being the imperative word. Especially considering that he was completely and utterly terrified of her.

Every day since then Darrow did whatever Aelin told him to. No matter if it was a serious matter, or just a completely stupid old order that she made up just to get him off her back, he did it without a single complaint. Whatever orders Aelin gave him, he just did it with a smile on his face while leaking terror and fear all the time.

Despite his wife's anger at Darrow, Rowan knew deep down that they would have to do something about Darrow's behaviour sooner or later. While he knew that Aelin had not intended to frighten Darrow so badly, it was not such a good idea leave his fears unassuaged. No matter how dedicated and dependable Darrow was, a man as frightened as he was would easily roll over and play both sides of the fence. A man as frightened as he was would easily betray his rightful queen without so much as blinking.

And considering the current death threats against them, that was not a good idea. Considering the current political climate, it was not a good idea for any of Aelin's nobles to deceive and betray their queen.

This last Valg war might have been over, but that didn't mean that there weren't still a lot of anger and bitterness out there. The bitterness of those who had lost loved ones towards those who had survived. The bitterness of the ordinary people who had lost everything they cared about towards the kings and queens who had sent them to war, to their deaths. There were plenty of people who held grudges, plenty of people who wanted someone to pay for what they had lost. Who wanted some justice to prevail. Who wanted revenge, and would do anything in order to bring it to pass. Including kill their queen and her consort.