Glass of Revenge

~28~

For many of them, it was an almost silent journey back to Orynth. The riverside confrontation, though it had luckily not come to physical blows, had taken an awful lot out of them emotionally and mentally. Despite their mental exhaustion, the delighted pleasure in having Lyria as a prisoner was rampart.

Having the woman who had been threatening their queen all year in their custody provided an almost buoyant atmosphere. Soon, when the trial for the woman and her conspirators was over, life in Terrasen would be able to go back to normal. No more threats of war... No more threats against the royal family... The thought of a job well done... Terrasen now to be forever free...

The one thing that bothered Aelin on the journey was that no matter how bright and undimmed the future of Terrasen now seemed, the future of Adarlan now seemed that bleak. After the atrocities that Adarlan committed during the war, what the southern kingdom had put her homeland through, Aelin couldn't exactly bring herself to be merciful. But at the same time, she was still concerned about the fate of that kingdom.

Even though Dorian had only been supporting Lyria due to the compulsion of her magical influence on him, he had still turned his back on her, his fellow monarch, and that was something that she could not bring herself to forgive. Even before Lyria had gotten her hands on him, Dorian had still abandoned her and Rowan, ignoring the death threats that were being made against his friends. And because of his actions, Dorian was in a pickle of his own making. As much as Aelin hated to admit it, Dorian was likely going to spend the rest of his life in prison, or be executed for his actions these last few months, and in spite of their broken friendship, a part of Aelin sorrowed for the young man she had once called friend.

Despite her rather negative view of Adarlan, Aelin was still very much aware that the kingdom would still need to have a future – even if that future meant that Adarlanian territory would be cut up and split between the neighbouring kingdoms.

"What are you thinking about, Aelin?" Aelin jumped in her saddle at the sound of Aedion's voice. "Now, I don't want you to go round thinking about Dorian and Lyria until the trial starts. I know the aftershocks of this will ripple around the world for years after this, but we can worry about it after the trial, not before. Right now, I want you focusing on your relationship Rowan and the child you're having. After everything that has happened over the last few weeks, I'm honestly surprised that the child hasn't decided to arrive early."

"If I'm telling the truth, Aedion," Aelin replied, "I don't think there will be much longer to wait."

"All the more reason to get back to Orynth soon," Aedion said firmly.

Aelin simply nodded in agreement, for Aedion was right, in more ways than one. Whatever was going to happen in the future was going to happen, and no amount of worrying about the future would make it come any faster. Despite her concerns about what was going to happen in Lyria and Dorian's trial and what may happen afterwards, it was time for her to relax and enjoy her life, for the first time since she was eight years old. Now, at nearly twenty one years old, she felt that she was finally able to understand what true happiness was.

Aelin smiled to herself as she spurred her horse forward to ride at Rowan's side. Life was starting to look good for once, after a lifetime of chaos and uncertainty. It was time for her to face the last of her demons and forge her own future.

As Rowan turned in his saddle to smile a happy smile at her, Aelin knew in that moment that her future was destined to be at his side for eternity. She could hardly wait to finally hold her child in her arms at last.

***

Trapped in the heavily guarded prison wagon at the back of the caravan, Lyria was completely and absolutely livid. Standing on her toes to see out of the tiny window, she could just barely see the bitch riding beside Rowan, saw him reach out between their horses to take her hand. It seemed that the bitch hadn't understood anything from their confrontation earlier, if she hadn't yet lifted the spell she had woven over Rowan. Hadn't understood that Rowan did not belong to her.