A Court of Ash and Fire

Chapter Twenty-Five

Aelin smirked at the gobsmacked expressions on the Night Court's faces. "You're a queen from another world," Feyre breathed, her eyes wide.

Aelin jutted out her hip, placing her hand on it. "You better believe it, sweetheart."

"Hold on," the Cassian said. "Can you repeat all your titles again? You lost me at the first word."

The other blonde woman elbowed in the gut, and he moaned in a whiny voice, "Mor." Mor rolled her eyes.

"This is so weird," Feyre murmured, massaging her temples. "So these Valg, they've been in your world before?"

Aelin inspected her nails, picking dried black blood out from under them. "Sure have. Major pain in the ass, I might add."

"Aelin, we need to go back," Rowan said, grabbing her elbow.

Aelin studied his pine green eyes. "I can't."

Rowan looked baffled. "Why not?"

Aelin sighed, running a hand through her ruffled hair. "When Feyre and I first touched, our souls seemed to... connect. We're bound to one another. There was a prophecy as well, and it says I have to help them rid the Valg of this world."

Rowan shook his head, his face hard. "We need to go back. We can't stay here."

Aelin winced. "I can't. You can go back, but I'm staying."

He took her hand. "Where you go, I go."

Aelin gave him a small smile.

"Sorry to break up this precious moment," Rhysand interrupted. "But we need to get on with defeating the Valg."

"Oh, I am so sorry Your High Lordness," Aelin drawled, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she turned to face him. "Are we behind on schedule?"

"Actually, yes."

Aelin rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let's get on with it then."

~

An hour later, Aelin munched on some chocolate cake, her feet up on the table as she leant back in her chair. They had relocated back to another Night Court house using the shadow transportation that she learnt was called winnowing. The Night Court had been grilling Rowan and Aelin on all their knowledge about the Valg in a luxurious meeting room.

"I just still don't understand how the Valg got into your lands," Rowan said, running a hand through his hair.

The legs of Aelin's chair hit the floor with a bang a something hit her. How hadn't she thought of it before?. "Erawan had two brothers," Aelin breathed. "Orcus and Mantyx. Maeve sent them back to their home world. But what if... What if she accidentally sent them to other worlds? So..."

"So one of the Valg kings could be here," Rowan finished, slumping back in his chair.

Rhysand shook his head. "This isn't possible. I'm over 500 years old, and I haven't once seen anything like the Valg."

Mor snapped her fingers. "The Cauldron! The Cauldron could have been a blocker of some kind. Both two powerful magical items... The Cauldron could have locked one of the brother's power's away, and when Feyre destroyed it, his power could have been unlocked. And when Rhys fixed it, maybe his powers weren't locked again."

"It could be possible," Feyre mused. "If one of the kings landed in Prythian, then the Cauldron could have been threatened by its power. It could have blocked it somehow. It was certainly powerful enough to do so."

Aelin could barely hear any of this over the same sentence repeating itself in her head, over and over.

You have to kill another Valg king.