Land of Kingsflame

A Morning

Aelin let the dagger fly at the exact moment Ren said, "We have a little problem."

The dagger landed a circle away from bullseye. Aelin scowled at the targets lined up on the wall of her private council room. "This better be worth missing a bullseye."

Ren rolled his eyes, but grinned. "Considering how much you miss, I'd say it's not worth a lot."

"I'd like to see you beat me at throwing daggers, Ren Allsbrook, because there are few who can."

Rowan cleared his throat from across the room where he leaned against the wall next to the window, the sun gleaming on his silver hair.

The problem. Right.

Ren nodded. "We're going to need more eyes and ears in Doranelle. And more of a presence in Sellene's court for a while."

Aelin straightened, toying with her second dagger. "Is something wrong?"

"The Asterion people are sending a delegation. To both Fae Queens. It will come in a year's time, from what I understand, but we need to make sure we aren't blindsided. I trust Doranelle, but this is our first show of strength to the rest of the world."

Aelin leaned back in her chair, her fear up on the elegant wood council table. The rest of the world. They had been saved by her, she realized, and all those who helped bring Erawan and Maeve down. Erilea would only have been the beginning.

She turned to Rowan. "What do you know of the Fae of Asteria?"

"Not much," Rowan said. "They closed their borders after the first war with Elena and Gavin, and nothing and no one has gone in or out. That's my technical knowledge, although I'm sure you can find someone in Doranelle who knows of its history.

"They're powerful, though. When their borders were open Asterion goods of any kind were in high demand."

"Nice of them to show their faces after all the dirty work is done," Ren muttered.

Aelin nodded her agreement. She was already inclined to dislike these people, or Fae. They had better have some good excuses for hiding, especially when they bordered Doranelle. "And we need a presence in Sellene's court for what reason?"

"So we can be on the same page when this delegation comes around. We both fought in the war, we're still allies. I don't know how this delegation is going to present themselves, so we need to present a united front nonetheless."

Aelin nodded again, her thoughts reaching the same conclusion. "Well, we'll figure out who can go to Doranelle to discuss this with Sellene." She stood up and stretched, the rising sun shining on her hair and the wedding band around her finger. "Your report's done, then?"

Ren frowned and took a breath, as if bracing himself. He brushed his hair out of his eyes as Aelin and Rowan both turned to look at him. "The demands of running the Allsbrook estate are catching up to me. I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with being your unofficial spymaster as well."

Aelin only paused for a moment and gave him an understanding smile. "Don't worry about it. You've done enough already, focus on Allsbrook for now."

Ren gave her a faint smile back, and they all rose to leave the sunny council room. "You should find someone who's Fae to be spymaster, you know."

Aelin frowned. The only Fae she trusted enough to be her spymaster were bloodsworn to her and had other duties. And they weren't any good at spying either way. They stepped into the wide main hallway on the third floor, now busy with servants and pages getting their morning business done. "Are you going back to Allsbrook today or after Aedion and Lysandra's wedding?"

Ren inclined his head. "I'm leaving now actually, I'll be back in a week for it."

Aelin and Rowan bid their goodbyes, passing on messages for Lysandra, who was in Carravere overseeing the building of her manor, then left Ren and headed to the roof of the castle to train, people bowing as they passed.

"Do we really need a spymaster?" Aelin asked Rowan. "My uncle never had an official one."

"No, but with the rest of the court caught up in their duties, you might need someone to bring you information and not have anything else to worry about," Rowan said. "Either way, I wouldn't say it's a priority for now."

Priorities. They had so much to do and worry about, even if they enjoyed it. She had so many plans for Terrasen's future, so many things to accomplish and yet Aelin felt like they were moving at a snail's pace.

She climbed up the stairs, Rowan directly behind her, his scent filling the space. "Nice view, hmm?"

"I still keep a tally, Your Majesty, of every comment you make," Rowan growled.

Aelin smiled to herself and stepped into the sunlit rooftop. The Staghorns spread before her, the sun shining through the mountains. The back of the palace roof was surrounded by turrets, and the shadow of the Tower if Orynth fell on it. A large weapons rack was standing on the far side of the roof. Fenrys was already sparring with Aedion. Some castle guards sparred alongside them, yet still a healthy distance away.

The two paused their match and Fenrys prowled over to Rowan and Aelin while Aedion addressed the guard next to him.

"Bright and early, I see. It's only four hours after dawn," Fenrys said.

Rowan made his way to the weapons rack, calling over his shoulder, "Don't act all innocent, I know you came up here half an hour ago."

Fenrys grinned and turned to Aelin. "How many meetings do we have today? Please tell me less than five."

"Unfortunately, no." She followed Rowan, stretching her arms and cracking her neck in preparation for the workout to follow. "We have six, although one of them is just us."

Fenrys followed her, spinning his sparring sword in the air casually as he walked. "Us as in me, you, Rowan, and Ren? Because Aedion's leaving tonight to bring Lysandra and Evangeline from Carravere for their wedding."

Aelin arrived at the weapons rack and frowned at the gleam in Rowan's eyes. "Stop looking like that. I'm not doing a full workout, we have a meeting with the owners in an hour.

"And no, it'll just be me, you, and Rowan because Ren just left to Allsbrook. I have to brief you on the situation in Doranelle."

She felt Fenrys tense beside her, and gave him a reassuring glance, "Nothing bad, just some....new developments."

He didn't answer, only turned and walked back to Aedion, who lifted a hand in good morning to Aelin and set to sparring again.

She faced Rowan, taking the sword he handed her, her eyebrows furrowed. "I wish I hadn't mentioned Doranelle until our meeting."

"He was bound to know about it anyway."

That was true. But of all of them, Fenrys had healed the least. The shadows in his eyes never really went away, and Aelin wasn't stupid. She knew he barely slept at night. Though today he looked refreshed.

Rowan met her eyes. Don't worry about it. He had to know and there's only so much we can do to help.

Have we done as much as we can?

"Yes, and we'll still try. But for now, spar."

She scowled. "You're never diverted from your workouts are you."

Rowan grinned, a sight she treasured more than anything else, and only launched into motion.

As they sparred under the bright morning sun, the breeze cooling their sweat, they both had the same thought on their minds.

Would Fenrys heal?

Thank you for 11 reads in a week!!! That's more than I ever hoped for. Again-pls leave feedback :)