A Court of Fire and Ash

Rowan

It had been four weeks.
Four weeks since I lost everything that was important to me.

The only thing that kept me going was my promise to Aelin.
That I would take care of our subjects.
Our people.
Our kingdom.

Wherever I went I could still feel her.
I could still see her when I looked certain places.
Like the roofs of Terrasen.

And her scent.
It was everywhere.
And it didn't leave me alone.
Our room smelled like her, our bed smelled like her and my clothes smelled like her.

And then I needed to see her every day.
Walking around like she was Aelin, pretending to be someone so unique that no one could ever be like her.

We hadn't told the people of Terassen yet.
We didn't dare.
We didn't know what would happen.

She was the long lost queen.
Everything Terassen had dreamed of and had hoped for.
The people loved her.
Loved her for what she had done for them.

I thought Lyria's death had been the worst thing that ever happened to me but it was nothing compared to Aelin's.

Nothing.

And pretending that Lysandra was Aelin and pretending to be happy wasn't easy.
Because it wasn't Aelin and it would never be her.
But with her powers gone no one would ever notice.

Could I live with it though?
Even if I couldn't, I had to.

And I felt alone.
I had enough people around me but without her they didn't matter.
Nothing else mattered.

I laid on our bed just breathing in her scent because even though it hurt it made me feel better.

Suddenly there was power.
Pure power.
It filled the room but it felt strange.
Wrong.
Like it didn't belong here.
Like it belonged nowhere.

But I didn't care about that because I felt something inside of me rise like it was being brought back to life.

The mating bond.

And I felt her on the other end of it.
Alive.
Breathing.

Tears started rolling down my face.

And when the power transformed into light and a figure stepped out of it I didn't even look her.
I closed my eyes and turned away.

Because I knew it wasn't her.
I had probably fallen asleep on our bed surrounded by her smell and my subconscious just made me think of her.

This wasn't my first dream about her. And every time I woke up it just hurt more than it did before.
I couldn't take that.

But when I heard her voice I couldn't ignore my dream any longer.

„Rowan?”
Silence.
„Rowan, what's wrong?”
She looked like she had when she had left me.
She wore the same clothes.
And it was her voice.
Her face.
But it wasn't her.

„Rowan, are you hurt?”
„No, Love.”
„Aren't you happy to see me?”
„Of course I am, I just know that you are not real. And it will only hurt worse.”
„Come here.”

I obeyed.
My body moved in her direction and I knew this dream would end as soon as I would touch her.
It had always been like this.
Every single dream.
But still I couldn't stop moving.
I wanted this to last I really did but I couldn't resist.

I moved until I reached her and stopped in front of her.
Then I laid my hands and her cheeks and kissed her slowly.
I needed this.

I closed my eyes as my lips met hers and kept them closed until the kiss was over.

„Why would you say I'm not real?”
She would be gone soon.
I would wake up, without her.
„You aren't here. You died. Our mating bond...it...it snapped.”
„Rowan, open your eyes. I'm here. I'm real.”

I opened them this time there was no light surrounding her.
No magic.
No illusion.
It was only her reaching out to me.

And as I took her hand and she pulled me closer there was no doubt.
„Aelin? Is that you?”
She just nodded and I knew that she was real.
I leaped forward and pulled her into my arms then I kissed her as tears started rolling down my face.

„How's this possible? You were dead, I felt the mating bond snap. I felt it. And you were gone. You weren't here anymore and I couldn't do anything about that. And now you're here. After four weeks. What happened? Are you hurt?”

„Rowan, I'm fine. I promise I'll explain everything to you.”

So she did.
She told me about that different world and the people she met and how she tried getting back to me. About the dangers that she encountered and the difference in time.

It had only been less than a week for her.

Suddenly my gaze wandered to her hand and the scar that shouldn't be there.

„Why do you have that scar on your hand?”
„Time. It worked different there and somehow all my scars came back to me.”

I just hugged her and when she was finished telling me everything she showed me a necklace that I had never seen before.

„What's that?”
„To travel to a different world you need something from that world. So they gave me this. If I ever need to come back to them I can just use it.”
„Do you want to go back there one day?”
„Yes. I have only been there for a week but they've become friends to me. I know that if we ever need help they will be there for us.

I loved her so much.
It was so typical of her to visit a whole different world and make allies right away.
But there was something important we needed to do now.

„Come with me. Everybody thinks you're dead.”
„I'm so sorry, Rowan. For worrying you and for not being able to tell you that I was fine. It must've been the worst thing to feel when our bond broke. I'm really sorry.”
„Fire heart, you got nothing to be sorry about. It wasn't your fault. I love you.”
„I love you too. Come on we have a kingdom to rule.”

This is the end of this story. I hope you liked it. It would make me happy if you could comment your opinion in the comments. I hope you have a nice day.
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