One Shots for My FAVORITE Ships

AsterinxVesta (Throne of Glass)

So I know they weren't officially together, main characters, or a real ship, but I always felt they could be, and I wanted them to be so yeah. This is during Heir of Fire, training for the War Games, Manon has not flown the Gap with Abraxos yet. Like after chapter 27, which I will include here. It's a little long, so if you don't want to read all of it, it ends at the second * * * page break, and the last line is "it was a lie but they believed her anyway" and the first word of my writing is "Asterin." Oh and spoilers for Queen of Shadows. Also slight sex scene, but um it's awkward don't judge I'm bad at writing them, so I ended it earlyish because it was awkward. If you don't want to read it, though, then when it gets to be, like, you know, then skip to the next * * * page break. Hope you enjoy!!!

Standing atop a viewing platform on the side of the Omega, Manon watched the first Yellowlegs coven of the day take the Crossing. The plunge down followed by the violent sweep up was stunning, even when it was the Yellowlegs riders astride the wind.

Leading them along the sheer face of the Northern Fang was Iskra. Her bull, a massive beast named Fendir, was a force of nature in himself. Though smaller than Titus, he was twice as nasty.

"They suit each other," Asterin said from beside Manon. The rest of the Thirteen were in the sparring room, instructing the other covens in hand-to-hand combat. Faline and Fallon, the green-eyed demon-twins, were undoubtedly taking some pleasure from torturing the newest sentinels. They thrived on that sort of thing.

Iskra and Fendir swept over the uppermost peak of the Northern Fang and vanished into the clouds, the other twelve riders trailing in tight formation. The cold wind whipped at Manon's face, beckoning to her. She was on her way to the caverns to see Abraxos, but she'd wanted to monitor the Yellowlegs Crossing first. Just to make sure they were truly gone for the next three hours.

She looked across the span of the bridge to the Fang and its giant entryway. Screeching and roaring echoed from it, reverberating across the mountains. "I want you to keep the Thirteen occupied for the rest of the day," Manon said.

As Second, Asterin was the only one of the Thirteen with any sort of right to question her, and even then, it was only in very limited circumstances. "You're going to train with him?" Manon nodded. "Your grandmother said she'd gut me if I let you out of my sight again." Golden hair twining about her in the wind, Asterin's face, with its now-crooked nose, was wary.

"You're going to have to decide," Manon said, not bothering to bare her iron teeth. "Are you her spy or my Second?"

No hint of pain or fear or betrayal. Just a slight narrowing of her eyes. "I serve you." 

"She's your Matron."

"I serve you."

For a heartbeat, Manon wondered when she'd ever earned that kind of loyalty. They weren't friends—at least, not in the way that humans seemed to be friends. Every Blackbeak already owed her their loyalty and obedience as the heir. But this ...

Manon had never explained herself, her plans, or her intentions to anyone except her grandmother. But she found herself saying to her Second, "I'm still going to be Wing Leader."