A Court in Flames

Chapter 29

Aelin's POV

I was shaking as I stared down the king of Melisande. The one who had gotten me torn away from my family and tortured.

"Aelin. It's okay. We're here." I felt Feyre's hand on my shoulder and Mor's on my other and Manon stepped beside me. My shaking eased as I stared down my tormentor. One day. One day very soon he is going to die.

Yes, he will. Feyre's voice was in my head and I knew I wasn't alone. I never would be again.

"My name is Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius. This is my kingdom. And you are not welcome here." I pointed at the king of Melisande.

"Please. You are no more Aelin than I am," Ansel replied.

I let fire build in my eyes and opened my palm to reveal a red flame. 

"Who says you don't have raw magic? Tell me something only Aelin would know." I smirked at her request. There were so many things.

"I said twenty minutes, I gave you twenty-one." Ansel opened her mouth to speak, but I raised a hand. "And I used your name and dyed my hair red when I brawled in The Pits in Rifthold after I had reclaimed my name in Wendlyn." She closed her mouth and opened it a couple of times. I smirked at her.

The ruckus must have alerted the rest of the camp because the Queen of Eyllwe and the Lords of Fenharrow showed up.

"Good. Now that you're all here. Can someone explain why you've all decided to attack my kingdom?" I demanded.

"Don't listen to her. She's a fake. Aelin's dead," the king of Melisande said. I rolled my eyes.

"And could someone get this useless piece of space out of my sights?" I asked while pointing to him.

"How do we know if you're even really Aelin? Aelin's been supposedly dead for the last six years." The Queen of Eyllwe asked.

"Ansel can verify. So can Manon, Petrah and Bronwen," I responded with a shrug. 

Ansel then hugged me. Tightly. "I thought you were dead, Aelin. I came to avenge you because I was told that Rowan had killed you. It's good to see you alive."

"It's good to see you, too, Ansel. So can I ask if your army is planning to march on my kingdom?" I replied as I hugged her back.

"We aren't. No way would I ever attack your kingdom if it wasn't in revenge." She said with a wild smile.

"So it's really Aelin?" The Queen of Eyllwe asked and Ansel nodded. "Then we're heading back home, too." The king of Melisande gaped and so did the lords of Fenharrow.

"We're still marching on Terrasen." The king of Melisande said with his arms crossed and the lords of Fenharrow nodded.

"Can I kill him?" I asked Manon. "Please?" She waved a hand at me.

"We all know you'll do it anyway. Plus... this is war. So by all means. Go ahead." A huge smile broke on my face. And the king of Melisande gulped.

Five guards in full-scale iron armour blocked my way to him. Feyre? I asked.

A whip of ice shot out of Feyre's hands and killed them all. The king was not in any iron. And I smiled cruelly at him. I melted all of the armour on him in a single thought and had fire shackles grip pin him against the trees.

I paced towards him with my insufferable swagger. "Care to tell them what you did?" I asked sweetly.

When he refused to answer I snapped a bone. Then another. 

I kept going until he screamed. "It was me! I sent Hades to capture her! He was supposed to torture her and kill her and her child! So I could come in and steal Terrasen! Then I blamed it on Rowan Whitethorn so you would help me! And I made a deal with Fenharrow that we would split Terrasen and then take over the rest of Erilea!" I smirked as I melted his bones for what he did to me and then burned him until there was nothing left.

"You are making my kingdom hurt. You made my daughter hurt. And you hurt me. I hope you burn in hell for all of eternity," I said with a fire in my eyes as I stared at the spot he had been.

When I had turned back around my eyes had returned to normal.

I walked out of the camp. I couldn't deal with this right now. Not after what he had admitted. Not after what I had done to him. I walked straight past where Lorcan, Elentiya and Abraxos stood. I walked past the two new people standing as embers flew off of me.

No. Not embers. Full-on flames and the burned away my clothes as I walked into the middle of a field of Kingsflame. The flowers welcomed my flames as I stormed past. I fell to my knees in the flowers and let my flames rage.

Lysandra's POV

When I had seen Lorcan I had landed. I was absolutely baffled why he was here of all places.

"Elide." He fell to his knees as Elide ran to him. She sobbed into his shoulder.

"What happened? Why didn't you come home? Why are you here?" She asked as she cried into his shoulder. Abraxos was greeting me and then there was a sky-blue and silver dragon beside him. The same one that had stolen Goldryn from Rowan.

"It's a long story." Was all Lorcan said in response.

I looked the dragon over and shifted. "Can I see your fae form?" I asked it.

The dragon shifted and there stood a young girl. She blinked at me. "You must be my Aunt. My mom told me you were a shifter. I'm Elentiya." She reached out a hand towards me. I blinked once before shaking her hand.

"Lady Lysandra of Caraverre." She giggled.

"I know. And you must be my other Aunt." She said as she turned towards Elide. "My name's Elentiya." Elide shook her hand.

And a woman burst through the trees in a full out sprint. I didn't catch any details of what she looked like. Just that she seemed to glow.