A Court in Flames

Chapter 27

Galan's POV

Rowan Whitethorn was now the sworn enemy of Eyllwe, Briarcliff and Wendlyn. I almost felt bad for him until it was announced that we would be going to war for the murder of Aelin Ashryver Galathynius.

My cousin was dead. Again. And at the hands of the one, she trusted the most.

Right now we were halfway to Terrasen and ready to unite with the Khaganate's armada and aerial support while Melisande, Fenharrow, Eyllwe and Briarcliff pushed from the land.

Many had hired trained assassins to kill Rowan Whitethorn, but with his magic and a shape-shifter at his side there was no possible way that we could attack him.

I could hardly stand the sight of Aedion. He was supposedly 'loyal' to Aelin, yet here he was trying to save Rowan Whitethorn's life.

"He killed her, Aedion! How could you let that stand?" I demanded.

Aedion just glared at me, "My King would rather die than harm a single hair on her head."

"Then where is she?" I wanted to kill the bastard then and there.

"She's dead! She's been dead for almost six years!" He shouted back. "And this time she won't be making any grand entrances or returns because she's dead!"

"Because Rowan Whitethorn, your so-called 'King', killed her!" I was enraged.

"No. Would he have gone looking for her for six months if he didn't love her? Would he have used most of the money he received after Maeve died to build a theatre for her? Would he have bought her chocolates every God's forsaken day? Would he have done any of that if he didn't love her?" The rage on Aedion's face made me almost believe him.

"If this is all this meeting is about, you can leave, now. Because I am going to avenge my cousin even if you won't."

Aedion stormed off to the wyvern that was waiting for him and they left without another word.

No. We would not forget Aelin. Because she is family.

Aelin's POV

"So Wendlyn is coming to unite with the Khaganate and attack along our western front while Fenharrow, Melisande, Eyllwe, and Briarcliff attack from the East. Then the witches are going to attack from the backs of the eastern attack while half of Terrasen's army attacks from their front," I said. Manon nodded. We had limited knowledge of the attacks, but with the spies we had we would be fine.

"Then from the backs of the western attack comes Doranelle and the rest of Terrasen's army attacks from the front. Adarlan is going to be split between the two as well," Manon finished.

"Okay." I went into deep thought. "Wendlyn won't arrive for another week or so and that means that we have plenty of time before that battle happens. Is the other army already past the Anascaul Mountains?"

"They are. They've been lying in wait in Oakwald forest," Manon replied.

"Good. That's good. We can't deal with two armies together and I want to see the look on Galan's face when he sees that I'm alive. I'm surprised Rowan hasn't already started an attack on that fleet while they wait for the other two," I wondered out loud. "So we go to Oakwald forest. We'll disassemble that army. Then... we lie in wait."

"Nice to see you sharing your plans with us this time," Lorcan said with a smile.

"Don't get used to it," I said with a smile. "Feyre? Mor? What do you think?"

Feyre shrugged, "I haven't been to, too many wars. Mor would have a better idea."

"We need a better location if we're going to winnow to Oakwald. It's not exactly tiny. But we don't have much of a plan otherwise. It seems pretty solid," Mor responded.

"Aelin's 'death' is the only reason why Eyllwe, Briarcliff and Wendlyn are joining this war. They want revenge on Rowan for apparently killing their friend," Manon told me.

"Precisely. They'll disband when I prove it's me and it will only be the Khaganate, Fenharrow and Melisande. Plus we'll have allies because they'll realize Melisande lied to them. I'm pretty sure Melisande and Fenaharrow are looking for more territory and once they gain control of Terrasen's army they'll crush Adarlan, then Briarcliff and maybe even Eyllwe," I said while sketching out the entire thing.

"When they realize what happened the other countries will turn on them and Melisande and Fenharrow will be crushed. Then the eight of us will go to Suria where we'll intercept Wendlyn's and the Khaganate's armies," I explained Mor and Feyre stared in shock. Lorcan and Manon didn't even blink.

"How long have you had this planned out?" Feyre asked.

I counted back to the day I had spoken to those women and then again to the day I had found out where all of the armies were stationed. "Three weeks." I smiled.

"As long as you have no more self-sacrificial plans I'm good because I do not want to be killed by Whitethorn," Lorcan grumbled.

"I don't have any... At the moment, but thank you for the idea," I said with an innocent smile. Lorcan groaned in response. "Don't worry no self-sacrificial plans today." I patted his shoulder before walking away.

Elentiya came running up to me, "Can I help? Please?" Her eyes were as wide as Fleetfoot's at dinner time.

Fleetfoot. I wonder how she's doing. I shook my head. "Of course! I'll explain when we get to Oakwald forest."

"Yay! Let's go!" She shouted.

"You heard the girl!" I held Feyre's hand alongside Manon who had a hand on Abraxos. Petrah, Bronwen and Lorcan grabbed Mor's hands and we were gone. A second later we were in front of Oakwald.

"So here's what's going to happen-" I was interrupted as a volley of arrows came at us. Lorcan's shield held them back. "New plan. Elentiya, stay back with Lorcan. The rest of us are going to have a chat with whoever's trying to kill us." 

Rowan's POV

The fact that Lorcan hadn't come back, yet, worried me. He was one of the most powerful fighters we had.

"I'm sure he'll turn up, Rowan," Aedion said, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself, not me.

"He better." Without Lorcan we didn't stand a chance and Aedion knew it, too.

Lysandra walked up to us, "He made it to Rifthold. This makes no sense. He seems to have vanished. What do we tell Cal? What do we tell Elide?" 

What will we tell Elide? As if Lysandra's words had summoned her. Elide walked through the doors. She took one look around the room before asking the dreaded question.

"Where's my husband?"