Glass of Revenge

~14~

Terrasen was very different from what Sam Cortland had expected. He wasn't sure what he had expected from the northern kingdom, but it sure as hell wasn't this. The towering mountain peaks dominated the landscape, able to be observed from miles away. The grassy, forested lowlands were the only part of Terrasen's countryside that reminded him of Adarlan, of home.

Yes, Sam was forced to admit that there were mountains in Adarlan, but at least those gentle grassy slopes were what mountains were meant to be. Not these frozen monstrosities.

Sam was brought out of his reverie by the gentle murmur of nearby voices. "I can't believe that we're almost at Orynth already. The flight north normally takes longer than this," Sam heard someone say.

"I certainly wish that we had longer to enjoy ourselves before continuing on to Orynth," he heard a man's voice say. Definitely Athril. "I had forgotten just how beautiful Terrasen is. Now I remember just why Brannon and his descendants have always loved it so much."

The first voice laughed at that. Definitely a female laugh. Low and sexy. "Say that in front of Aelin and it'll sound like you're sucking up to her. She thinks that Terrasen is the most beautiful kingdom in the world and that the rest of the kingdoms on the continent are terribly inferior."

"But Adarlan is terribly inferior to Terrasen," Athril sassed back. He couldn't resist the teasing. Back in the country that his dear friend had loved so fiercely, the woman he loved in his arms... It almost felt as though there was no shadow ready to overtake the world, no eternal darkness ready to devour all that was good and kind and right in the world.

"I wonder how Sam is going to cope when we reach Orynth," the female voice said worriedly, ignoring Athril's teasing.

"You're worried about the boy, aren't you Manon?" Athril said almost tiredly.

"And you aren't?" Manon replied, the stress in her voice now obvious. "You can't deny that you aren't worried, I've seen how stressed you are when you so much as look at him."

"Yes, I'm worried about Sam as well," Athril admitted. "I'm starting to worry that I did the wrong thing when I saved him from Lyria. If I'd left him there, I could gone back regularly to check on him, to keep an easy eye on Lyria, find out what more of her plans are. Now we're left out in the cold."

"You did the right thing Athril," Manon said gently. "Yes, things are harder now that we don't have easy access to Lyria and her plans, but you did the right thing for Sam. He didn't deserve to be treated the way she treated him. No one does. And besides, if you left him, who knows what would have happened to his mental health?"

"I'm also worried about what Sam will go through when we reach Orynth," Athril continued flatly, as though Manon hadn't spoken at all. "He'll have to face Aelin again – who he knew as Celaena – for the first time in four years. I know he's said that he understands and accepts why Aelin moved on with her life, but no young man is ever that accepting. I'm worried that he'll blow up when he sees her with Rowan, sees how far her pregnancy has progressed."

"I hadn't thought about it that way," Manon said quietly, frowning. "Now that I stop and think about it, we never actually told Sam that he would have to see her again when we fled Adarlan. Maybe we should have told him. It would have given him some time to prepare himself mentally, at least."

"We should have," Athril admitted. "None of us were thinking very clearly that day. I know I wasn't – I was far too panicked about what I saw and what it could mean."

"You are not the only person to blame, Athril," Manon insisted. "I blamed myself for not moving the camp earlier. I blamed myself for jeopardising the Sam's safety and the safety of the Thirteen, for waiting until I knew you were safe as well."