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mariaofdoranelle · 8 months

Note

I saw these two ex to lovers prompt and I can't choose so if you like them you can pick one or both idk ahaahaha

- sending their ex a book a day, the first word of each title spelling out an apology.

-ten years after their breakup one receives a letter inviting them to their exes wedding with a “help me” written in a tiny font on the bottom.

You Still Would’ve Been Mine

Written for my Drabblefest

I wrote both, but with a twist (not exactly an apology and it’s ten months instead). I hope you like it 😆

PS it’s canonverse

960 words, no warnings

⨯ ⁺ ✦ ･｡ﾟ⨯ ﾟ♡ ✧* ･｡* ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

If Rowan listened to one more word about Terrasen or Adarlan, he was going to lose his mind.

He wasn’t even a useful prince, he had no idea what he was doing in Sellene’s Throne Room.

“The merchants won’t stop complaining ever since Adarlan made these new trade deals,” Uncle Ellys explained, “Terrasen’s goods got into the Adarlanian market like the plague.”

“Enda,” Sellene called from her throne. “send word to our spies.

After every other family member was dismissed with an assignment to do, it was just Rowan and Sellene there.

“C’mere.” She kindly requested him to come closer. “Rowan, we are losing Erliea’s biggest kingdoms. The Fae from Adarlan now have access to Terassen’s Fae liquor, magic hospitals, magic schools, every month is a new thing. And now this.” Sellene took a deep breath and rubbed a hand on her face, letting her shoulders drop for a moment. “I know you don’t talk about Terrasen, but I need you to tell me what you saw.”

“I saw nothing,” he answered with a neutral face, masking his tense body.

It was true. It was supposed to be a trip with Fenrys to visit Galan, and they ended up being guests in the Ashryver party to visit Terrasen.

Rowan’s presence wasn’t political, and the only thing he saw was walls ornate with gold, silk bedsheets and the top of pine trees when he was flying, using his hawk form to sneak in and out of the crown princess’ bedroom.

Rowan’s ground his teeth, his pulse racing. Well, that was before she not only backstabbed him, but his entire country as well.

“Okay, I got it,” Sellene said when she sensed the growing notes of rage in his smell. She bit his lip and fiddled with an envelope in her hand. “This came in for you.”

Rowan snatched it from her hands. “I thought the mail interceptions were over when Maeve died.”

Sel grimaced. “Lorcan gave me this one because he thought it was an exception, sorry. I didn’t open it, though.”

An exception indeed. Rowan opened the seal with one of his blades, wishing he could use it to stab the wedding invitation instead.

The King and Queen of Terrasen request the pleasure of your company—Rowan rolled his eyes—at the marriage of their daughter, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, to Duke Perrington, blah blah blah.

Rowan was once told it would be his name instead, but those promises were long gone.

I’m yours, she said, her smile lit through the darkness. Tell Sellene to request an official political alliance with a marriage proposal, and I’ll be officially yours.

Rowan was on a boat home the next day.

He shook his head, his heart constricting as he tried to shake off the memories too. Especially the ones of him learning, right before leaving Doranelle again, that Aelin’s hand was already promised to another.

Rowan’s eyes skimmed through the wedding invitation, until he found something that made his heart stop, the world world narrowing down to two little words in the bottom of the invitation, in a familiar handwriting.

Help me

“What?” Sellene said while snatching the invite from his hands. “Gods, I’m never talking about Terrasen with you again. Your smell gets weirder and weirder and— oh, shit.” She looked up, eyes widened and personal scent tinged with alarm. “Have you been in touch with her?”

“No.”

Sellene sent him a cut-the-bullshit look.

He crossed his arms. “She’s been sending me books. Just that.”

“Not a word? Just books?” She got up when Rowan nodded in confirmation. “Where do you keep them?”

They both shifted into their bird forms and flew out the window towards Rowan’s bedroom, where he kept a small collection of books he didn’t want to store in the Royal Library.

If Sellene heard how fast Rowan’s heart was beating, she didn’t show. His insides were quivering as he scrambled his mind for answers, but nothing came.

Sellene shifted back and frowned at the bookshelf, both hands on her hips. “Just the books, no letters attached?”

“Yes. These ones.” Rowan pointed at the books with one hand, fingers tangled in his hair with the other. “They’re in the order she sent, it stopped a couple of months ago.”

His cousin barely heard him, completely focused on the books. “Havelok the Dane, Erec and Enide, Laxdæla Saga and Piers Plowman.” Sellene’s index finger ran across these four book’s spines. “Side by side like this, as if they were in a box set, it kinda looks like they spell ‘help’.”

“What?” With his heart beating out of his chest, Rowan grabbed a piece of paper and scrabbled the titles there, in the order Aelin sent him.

Havelok the Dane

Erec and Enide

Laxdæla Saga

Piers Plowman

The Divine Comedy

Amadís de Gaula

The Decameron

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The Owl and the Nightingale

Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart

Doon de Mayence

Le Morte d’Arthur

Egil’s Saga

His entire world halted when he put them all together, four words tearing down his walls of hurt and resentment.

Help, dad sold me.

Rowan felt dizzy, barely breathing as everything clicked together.

All the trade agreements, scholar exchange, diplomatic alliances between Terrasen and Adarlan he heard of. It was all because Rhoe sold his daughter to the highest bidder.

Over his dead body.

He ran to his room, grabbed his sword and a pouch with enough gold for three intercontinental trips—one to go, two to come back—and tucked his wedding invitation into his jacket’s pocket.

Sellene’s eyes were firm as she clutched his forearm, putting all her Fae strength into her crushing grip. “Do not. Cause. An international disaster.”

Rowan just shifted into his hawk form and flew to the nearest port.

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#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #aelin ashryver galathynius #throne of glass #rowaelin fanfiction #rowan x aelin #aelin x rowan #ask #rowaelin fanfic #throne of glass fanfic #drabble #drabblefest

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tomtenadia · 3 months

Text

Detours to You - 18

Hello all,

I have a surprise for you with chapter 18. It has some fluff and Maya has a really great day.

MASTERLIST

The following morning Aelin went to work with the biggest smile on her face. The previous night with Rowan had felt like a massive milestone in their evolving relationship. Nothing had happened yet, although her body screamed for him. The constant ache for him was driving her insane but she knew Rowan was not fully ready yet and even if their kisses had definitely passed the PG stage, Aelin was going to wait for him. They had been apart five years, surely she could tell her hormones to wait a bit longer.

When she walked into the shop Aelin found a cheery Lysandra preparing the bookstore for opening.

“Look at you all happy, miss engaged woman.”

Lysandra walked towards her waving a book “and look at your big smile, were you naughty with Rowan last night? Did you have hot steamy sex with him?”

Aelin paused “No, we had our date in his office. He had to stay behind to deal with the aftermath of the fire at the waterfront.”

Silence.

“I read the news.”

“Yeah, he lost three firefighters and there is a whole massive investigation because the captain messed up.”

Lysandra gave her a hug “How is he?”

“He has Maya for the day and he is taking her to his old firehouse. I think he needs it.”

“Elide said that Lorcan was in a bad mood too.”

As if summoned, Elide arrived a few minutes later and she had the same strained expression that Aelin had.

“Good morning to you too, El.”

The woman dumped the bag on the floor “Good shitty morning to all of you.”

“I know the feeling.”

“Can we have a nice day in the shop and have fun?”

Lysandra hugged them both “we need an event.”

Aelin nodded “I agree, it’s after the holidays and we all need cheering up.”

“Good then, let’s open up and start planning.”

Rowan was in his pickup truck with Maya happily chatting at the back.

She had asked him to see a firehouse and on her last day of winter school holidays he had promised to take her with him. He had to visit station 15 anyway for reports from the day before and it was also a good excuse to have Maya with him for the morning.

“Dad can I sit on the truck?”

Rowan chuckled “we can ask the guys at the station to let you climb on.”

“Yes!”

They arrived ten minutes later and Rowan parked against the wall just outside the apron in a place not in the way of the vehicles. He freed Maya and hand in hand they walked in.

As they walked in the apparatus floor he watched her expression morph in amazement when she noticed engine and truck parked up.

“Dada they are big.” Her voice dreamy.

“Morning chief.” Asterin’s voice, the resident paramedic, reached them “Hi Maya, remember me?” asked the woman as she kneeled.

“Yes you helped me and mama after the fire.”

Rowan chuckled. Ach well, at least it wasn’t a total negative memory.

As if alerted by the voices, the rest of the firehouse filed in and Rowan turned towards the group of people and lifted Maya in his arms while the girl waved happily.

“Station 15, this morning we will have a guest of honour. My daughter Maya goes back to school tomorrow but she asked to visit a real firehouse so she is tagging along.”

Brullo stepped up and went to him “Good morning muffin, do you remember me?”

“Yes.” Rowan happily passed his daughter to the man while he took it as an opportunity to talk to Lorcan“How are you holding up?”

“Besides the fact that I am pissed? That Perrington’s irresponsibility lead to three of us dying? And the man still thinks he was right.” The dark-haired man growled “He punched me when I told him he had fucked up. He benched Borte when she challenged him. I tried to take over before you arrived on the scene but he claimed that his unit had arrived before us so it was his scene.” His hand carded in his long hair “he sent people in without a plan, without knowing where the active fire was, how many people. He just sent them in randomly.”

“I know, Lorcan. I have a pile of reports on my desk and I will have the investigation launched as soon as I can. He will likely be fired from the TFD.”

Lorcan exhaled “The bastard should not have been a firefighter in the first place, you remember him at the academy, right?”

Rowan growled “He was a joke. And the old chief promoting him to captain was a bigger joke.”

The two men remained in silence and Rowan took the opportunity to watch his daughter being passed on from firefighter to the other and having the time of her life.

He looked at his daughter having fun with Fenrys “She is having fun.”

“Elide and I are trying.” Confessed Lorcan almost embarrassed.

Rowan turned at his friend “look at you. Elide really did a job on you.”

Fenrys had taken Maya for her official tour with Brullo and Ansel and Maya had been fascinated at seeing a woman firefighter.

“Do you want to see the truck?”

“Yes!”

Fenrys placed her on his shoulder and they walked around the vehicle, opened all the compartment and showed her all the tools. Brullo then opened the driver’s doors “wanna sit on it?”

The girl smiled and he climbed on the vehicle while Fenrys passed her to him.

She sat happily behind the wheel and pretended to drive “Dada look, I am driving.”

Rowan joined them and took a picture of his daughter, then grabbed a bunker jacket that was hanging on the door and placed on her shoulders, looking gigantic on her.

Soon after Ansel stole the little girl and carried her to the engine “Engine is more fun.” Added the woman while climbing with the little girl on top of the vehicle and sitting on all the hoses.

Ansel placed a plastic helmet on the girl’s head and then passed her the nozzle of a hose and together they pretended to fight a fire “Dad look, I am a firefighter!”

Rowan looked up and saw Maya on top of the engine laughing happily with Ansel. He had no doubts that the two would get along well.

Rowan filled his phone with his daughter’s pictures until Asterin came to claim the girl “My turn,” said Asterin, taking the girl’s hand “want to see the ambulance?”

“Yes!”

Asterin took Maya to her vehicle and opened the back “I am a paramedic, and in the ambulance we treat people.”

“Like you did with mama and me at the fire.”

“Yes, we look after people.”

“I want to be a pamamedic.”

Asterin laughed “I am sure your dad will be happy to hear it.”

However the morning fun got cut short when dispatch alarm went off and they all had to scramble.

Rowan quickly ran to Asterin and picked up Maya and as they stepped aside he explained her what was happening and Maya waved them goodbye.

“Dada that was so cool.”

“It was.”

“I want to be a pamamedic, dad.”

Rowan smiled “Do you?”

“Yes, I want to help people.”

He lifted Maya high up and then kissed her on her cheeks “That is a beautiful idea, my love.”

Rowan collected the reports from Lorcan’s office and then took Maya back to Aelin.

At the shop he found Aelin and the other two ladies busy with customers “Looks like mum is really busy today.”

Maya wiggled free from her dad and ran to the children’s section. Lysandra intercepted the girl and Elide walked to him.

“Having a busy day?”

“Yes, it’s good and we are planning an event too.”

“That is brilliant.”

Elide smiled “Did she have fun at the firehouse?”

“She had a blast and now she wants to be a paramedic.”

“That is great.”

He nodded “yes, I was terrified that she might want to be a firefighter,” he paused “not that I would stop her from doing something she loves but I am relieved. Being a paramedic is at least safer.”

Elide brushed her hand on his arm “I know. Lorcan’s job terrifies me. Yesterday I was watching the news and…” a ragged breath left her lungs “until he answered his phone I felt as if I was suffocating.”

Rowan pulled the woman to his side to offer comfort “Lorcan was amazing last night. He got punched to stop a man who almost risked his entire company.”

“I am proud of him.”

Aelin reached them a moment later “Morning,” Rowan stooped and gave her a gentle kiss “Maya had a great morning.”

“I heard, she was telling Lys that she wants to be a paramedic now.”

Rowan smiled “Yes, Asterin gave her a tour of the ambulance and she loved it.”

In that instant Rowan’s radio became alive “I need to go.”

Aelin kissed him “stay safe, please.”

He waved at Maya and Lysandra and rushed out of the shop.

“So nothing happened last night, eh?”

She smiled “I think we are getting there.”

“You might be the next couple who gets married.”

Aelin smiled “Not yet, El. For now I am taking him not being mad at me anymore. For now I am happy that he allows me in his life and lets me love him back.” A sigh “we are being given a second chance and I am not rushing him.”

“You seem so much happier, though. And Maya…” they both turned to the little girl “she is thriving.”

Aelin nodded. She had been right to fear how Maya would react at having a dad. It could have gone either way and apart from a moment during which she suffered because her and Rowan kept fighting, now she was happy again.

“So? How’s the baby making business going?” She changed the subject quickly.

Elide laughed “Oh it has its perks.”

“Oh I can totally imagine how cumbersome must be to have nightly sex with your hot husband.”

“I had no idea how hard it actually was to try and have a kid. The tracking and planning and all.”

Aelin chuckled “Sometimes all you need to do is to forget the condom and just go for it.”

She remembered the night that lead to Maya’s conception. She and Rowan had gone out to dinner and then a classical concert. She had worn a dress that had been driving Rowan insane the whole night. They had barely kept their cool in the car, and as soon they had crossed the threshold of their flat it had been crazy passion.

“Is that the Whitethorn-Galathynius way?”

“All I am saying, less planning and just have fun?”

Elide nodded “we can surely try.”

“Good.”

They joined Lysandra and Maya and Aelin and her daughter decided to revamp the fantasy section.

Rowan drove back to his work and prepared himself for another day of reports and to work on the investigation. On his floor he entered his office hall and saw Lyria sitting at her desk.

“Morning, Chief.” Her tone cold. She passed him a few folders “you had a few phone calls, I noted down the names.”

“Thank you.”

“So, is the wife coming to disrupt your work today?”

Rowan’s head turned abruptly “excuse me?”

“Chief, she bursts in your office unannounced and never with an appointment. This is a workplace and she has no respect.”

“Aelin can come and visit whenever she wants unless I am in a meeting. She is…” he paused “She is allowed in and I do not want to hear any other complaints.”

“Fine, chief.” His secretary almost growled and slammed some documents on the desk “fine. Be happy with your perfect wife and perfect daughter.”

He stepped closer “Lyria, my personal life is none of your business. We are colleagues. If I ever gave you any indication of anything else, I am sorry, but I am in love with another woman.” He took another step closer “You are a great secretary and I am grateful for all your help, but colleagues is all we are.”

The woman nodded “It’s okay, chief,” a pause “I am sorry how I reacted, I had no place for being jealous.”

“It’s fine, as long as we are clear on this.”

“Copy that, chief.”

He nodded and disappeared in his office where a pile of reports was awaiting him. He dumped the other one he got from Lorcan and started to work on the fire of the previous day. He had also organise the funeral for the three firefighters. It was one of the worst aspects of his job. In his long career he had seen far too many firefighters die in the line of duty but nothing hurt as much as seeing three of them be killed because of incompetence. It was not fair. Any of them knew of the risks when signed up for the job. But not for this. Not that meaningless waste of life. He knew station three was a problem, he had been working on it since day two on the job. The previous chief had ignored all the complaints that had come from the lieutenant because she was a woman. One who had proved herself to be a fantastic firefighter. Perrington had so many complaints against him that he should have been dismissed a very long time ago and not put in a position of harming people. Appointing Borte as captain was one of the first things he was going to do as soon as he had filed all of his reports. Borte was a respected firefighter and had the support of the team.

The TFD needed change and it was his job to push for it.

To make sure that no one else would die because of negligence.

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#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #rowan x aelin #rowaelin fanfiction #rowaelin fanfic #aelin x rowan #throne of glass fanfiction #aelin galathynius

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theladyofbloodshed · 7 months

Note

To put into perspective, the only original thing in TOG are the addition of the fae. 🙂 Remove the fae and you pretty much have the barebones structure of the Tortall series.

For example—Alanna receives a sword from the gods that she names Lightning (which reminds me of the sword Aelin gets). It is a sword she can use to fight The Nameless Ones, immortal beings that feed off the souls of people. Weaker ones can be killed with fire, stronger ones with the combined magic/combat of Alanna and Jonathon, the prince who chooses her to be his squire (later his champion I believe). (So literally the Valg.) For now, the Nameless Ones are trapped in a place called The Black City (highly reminiscent of the black towers in TOG). Duke Roger, Jonathon’s cousin, has a necklace that makes Alanna’s head hurt (or magic that makes her head hurt) (a scene that SJM directly rips for TOG when Celaena gets a headache in presence of the king’s ring(?)) (It’s obvious that Duke Roger was also split into two characters in TOG—The King and Duke Perrington). That’s just a few examples from the first Tortall book. I haven’t even picked up the second one or the spin offs!

Big yikes.

So you're telling me that TOG is a rip-off of Alanna and ACOTAR is a rip-off of Black Jewels. Is CC a rip-off of anything?

#anon asks #ps thank you for the info

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folklorianhaze · 11 months

Text

Monster

Pairing: Manon x Elide

Rating: M

Tags: One Shot, Book 4: Queen of Shadows, Character Study, Tumblr Prompt, Rare Pairings, some canon typical mentions of violence, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Implied/Referenced Sex

Word Count: 3k+

Summary: "She had been born with a heart as dark as the thickets of Oakwald on a moonless night. Born into the world wailing and bloodied, tearing her way out of her mother, a true Blackbeak warrior to the core. She could not love, could not care for others as humans could. So why bother upholding a worthless illusion of it?"

Written for an anonymous tumblr prompt sent to me! They wanted me to write a Manon/Elide piece based on the line "I wish you could see yourself the way I see you," and I came up with this as a result. Thanks so much, anon, and I hope you enjoy your fic! <3

Read it on AO3 here!

Manon Blackbeak, Wing Leader of the Ironteeth aerial legion for the King of Adarlan and heir to the Blackbeak witch clan, felt an exhaustion like nothing she’d known before settling deep into her bones as she slid into her chambers. Ordinarily, the quiet that greeted her beyond the door would have been welcome, comforting, but today the silence rang decidedly hollow.

She was alone. It had never felt like such a weight before.

Iron nails retracting, her hands clenched into fists at her sides, as if to banish the trembling in her cold fingers. Even here, without eyes to observe and pick apart her every movement, she refused to allow herself the privilege of crumbling. She’d never been one for weeping and wallowing in self-pity, and that would not change here. Not even for Asterin’s sake.

As she strode into the room and swept the bloodred cape from her shoulders — the cape she had won when her grandmother had made her kill that self-righteous Crochan in front of the entire Ironteeth host — her body felt particularly heavy. Part of her debated turning around and spending some more time in the aerie with Abraxos instead, but pride would not allow her to be chased from her own bedchambers. If anyone else were to see, to catch on to the fact that she hardly felt like much of a leader at the moment . . .

Unacceptable. To present a unified front right now was her duty above all else. And she certainly wouldn’t pick now as a time to fall apart entirely.

Even if Asterin . . . the burning, condemning look in her eyes today . . .

Manon snarled. It was certainly all well and good for her cousin to judge. She had no idea the pressure Manon was under — that all of them were under — nor did she realize how sticking out their necks any farther could endanger them all. She had seen that little act with the Crochan execution for what it was: a threat from her grandmother, a test to ensure that Manon would remain carefully in line. She knew exactly what she stood to lose if she stepped outside of such a deliberately-laid demarcation, and if Asterin wanted to reproach her for it, if that was how this had to be . . .

A sigh pushed its way out of her. She’d replaced Asterin today as her Second. The ranks of the Thirteen never changed. But the words had been out of her mouth scarcely before she’d even known what she was saying, and now, no matter the way her stomach twisted within her, no matter any misgivings she might have, she could in no way walk back her decision and risk looking weak.

And all the while, the odious Duke Perrington remained on her heels, requesting Blackbeak witches for whatever . . . experiments he and his ilk were carrying out beneath the mountains of Morath. And more and more, she was beginning to feel backed into a corner. The sword hanging over all their heads felt more inevitable than ever. What sort of Wing Leader would she be, to send her Blackbeaks into the arms of that human worm for his petty schemes?

And yet, who would she be if she sacrificed the Thirteen to the whims of her grandmother?

“Oh — W-Wing Leader,” came a low, husky voice from behind her. “I’m sorry, I hope I haven’t interrupted anything.”

Manon turned, silver eyebrows arching as she came face-to-face with exactly whom she’d expected. Elide Lochan’s dark eyes were wide as she lingered in the doorway, one hand braced against the frame, studying Manon with a look that seemed to see not just through her, but directly into her. As instinctual as it was for her to flinch away from such a vulnerability, some strange part of her thrilled at the sight of it, at the utter lack of fear in the human woman’s gaze. Not many had been able to stare down the Blackbeak heir like that, so completely undaunted.

Then again, she supposed Elide hadn’t exactly witnessed her at the height of her glory lately.

With a dry, humorless little puff of a laugh, Manon said, “The only thing you have interrupted, Elide Lochan, is an evening spent wallowing.” She ushered the human in with a graceless wave of her hand. “Come in. And close the door.”

Elide obliged, allowing the door to fall shut behind her as she made her way into the room. Her gait was slow, stilted, and though she tried, she couldn’t quite disguise a tiny wince as she put her weight on her bad foot; Manon could only surmise that the bone-deep pain that often plagued the old, poorly-healed injury was particularly harrowing this evening. For some reason, she found herself wondering if asking Ghislaine for any information on poultices or pain-relieving herbs might be an option worth looking into.

“Sit,” Manon said, though it ended up coming out as more of a command than a direct show of hospitality. She’d never been one for idle niceties or platitudes, and in any case, Elide hardly seemed to mind. She gestured to the edge of the bed, somehow not finding it in herself to subject the girl to sitting on the pallet of hay on the cold ground.

With a grateful, relieved sigh, Elide sank down onto the corner of the mattress, closing her eyes as she leaned back and allowed her bad leg to stretch out. Manon’s stomach twisted at the sight of it — the ruin of her pale ankle, the strange angle at which the girl’s foot now sat. She could skin Vernon Lochan alive with only her iron nails for what he’d put his niece through, and take a good long time doing it. Not for the first time since she’d met the oily weasel of a man, she found herself thinking of how deserving he would be of a matching injury to the one he’d left Elide with.

That anyone should suffer like that was abhorrent, even to someone as ruthless as Manon . . . but the fact that a woman with witch blood flowing through her veins had been shackled like a dog, tied to the earth by some sniveling mortal . . .

Before she realized it, her iron nails punched out, slicing thin lines into her palms. Elide, observant as ever, seemed to make note of it as Manon shook her hands free of their tightly-clenched fists, dark eyes keenly following every movement.

“You seem troubled,” Elide stated, and from anyone else Manon might have bristled at the insolence, the presumption, but the human’s words were frank and undeterred. “Did something happen today with you and the Thirteen?”

Manon looked up from where she’d been examining the small cuts left behind by her own razor-sharp nails. She didn’t dare let the surprise show on her face. “What do you know of it?” she asked, perhaps a shade too sharply.

She told herself she didn’t care if Asterin had been mouthing off to everyone in Morath about it. Didn’t care if the entire Thirteen had been disobedient and disrespectful of her rank. Manon gritted her teeth until her jaw ached. No, that was just fine. Perfectly fine by her if they wanted to risk all their necks. She’d just punish them in kind and it was . . . absolutely fine.

Elide gave a small shrug, reaching to pull her curtain of thick, dark hair over one shoulder as she thoughtfully cocked her head. “Oh — no, I haven’t heard anything specific. It was only . . . I saw your Second walking past the mess hall as I finished up my kitchen duty and she seemed out of sorts as well. I . . . I did not intend to assume . . .”

Manon gave another hollow little chuckle, shaking her head with disbelief. “For a human, you are far too observant for your own good,” she muttered. Perhaps as much of an admission as she would give Elide, for now. “And in any case, Asterin is no longer my Second. What does it matter?” she bit out.

“Your Thirteen are a unit,” was all Elide said in response, as if that explained everything. “It — the way you all are with each other — I have never seen anything quite like it before.” A faint red flush tinted the human’s cheeks. “It only . . . I only brought it up because it seems a shame to let that all crumble apart now.”

Bold. This little mortal was bold indeed, for presuming to instruct Manon on how she was to deal with her own warriors. The Blackbeak heir lifted an eyebrow, folding her arms squarely across her chest. When she met Elide’s gaze, she expected the girl to blink, to blush and stammer and look away out of embarrassment or fear. Humans typically reacted that way, always so full of bluster until it came time to put action behind their meaningless, frilly words. Therefore she couldn’t help the mildest shock — and perhaps amusement — that rang through her as Elide met her gaze, and steadily held it. And those eyes of hers, so strangely wise and perceptive, flashing with what almost looked close to challenge.

“Hmph,” Manon concluded. The faintest smirk played at the corner of her mouth. “And I suppose a human such as yourself knows so much about leading a coven of witches.”

Elide didn’t shrink from the sharpness of her words the way Manon had anticipated. She merely swallowed — perhaps a touch unevenly, but that was the extent of any nervousness that could be found — and said, “Perhaps not. But if there’s one thing I believe I do know quite a bit about, it is survival.”

Manon snorted. “You think us incapable of surviving some errant duke’s idle threats, Elide Lochan?” She didn’t dare give voice to the secret worry she’d been nursing in the pit of her stomach lately — that those threats might very well turn to reality, especially if her grandmother had anything to say about it.

Indeed, Elide seemed to sense the very direction of her thoughts. Something in her gaze softened a bit as she responded, “No — of course not. Anyone would be foolish to think you or the rest of your Thirteen incapable. But . . . but I have to imagine that division amongst you . . . perhaps it creates too great a risk.”

Manon nodded curtly. “Which is precisely why I enforced rank earlier. Why Asterin —” she cut herself off, closing her eyes for a moment. Collected herself with a deep breath. After a moment, she shook her head and began again, more smoothly than before, “She has grown reckless, and poses a danger to us all. It is best to cut out any dissent before it festers.”

Elide seemed to consider this for a moment. Manon wasn’t entirely certain why she was curious to hear the human woman’s response — why there was a strange part of her that hoped she would see Manon’s perspective and understand it. She had never cared to explain herself before, and certainly not to some mortal who would be nothing but dust and food for worms in a hundred years. So why — why now did she feel so oddly laid bare, so on edge at the thought of what this girl might say?

“Could there — could there truly be so much harm in hearing them out?” said Elide at last, sliding her contemplative gaze back to Manon’s. “Perhaps that might prove a more efficient way to quiet any discontent. A just and fair leader might —”

“Just? Fair?” Manon snarled. With a bark of disdainful laughter, she shook her head. Raked her fingers through the moon-white hair threatening to spill loose from its braid. “Those are naive ambitions of mortals. When you have lived as long as one of us, you realize the world rewards such things as fairness and justice with little more than suffering in the end. Kindness is not enough to save anyone.”

And kindness, she knew, would not shield Asterin, or the rest of her Thirteen, or even Elide, from those who would do them harm. Manon Blackbeak knew very well who — what — she was, and pretending otherwise would only be a waste of everyone’s time. She had been born with a heart as dark as the thickets of Oakwald on a moonless night. Born into the world wailing and bloodied, tearing her way out of her mother, a true Blackbeak warrior to the core. She could not love, could not care for others as humans could. So why bother upholding a worthless illusion of it?

They have made you into monsters. Made, Manon. And we feel sorry for you.

“The world is not one of your nursemaid’s pretty stories,” Manon said again, what little heart she’d been born with wreathing itself in ice.

“Are you truly so averse to the idea of trying a new approach?” Elide asked, her voice more filled with honest surprise than any kind of judgment. No, she didn’t appear frightened in the slightest — and Manon wasn’t entirely certain if that unnerved her or not. “You really believe yourself to be that much of a monster?”

Manon stiffened, the words hitting her like a blow to her unguarded stomach. Monster. Once, that word had been all she’d aspired towards. She’d gloried in bloodshed, roared at the skies alongside her grandmother and reveled in the terror and awe her very name inspired. She and her Thirteen had glutted themselves on mortal suffering, gotten drunk on the heat and chaos of battle. Once, to be called a monster would have had Manon glowing with pride; to be her grandmother’s creature was all she’d wanted in the world. All she’d ever been taught to want.

Her voice went low and cold as she declared, the words wooden and rehearsed as if she’d said them a thousand times before, “I am all I was born to be. Discipline, obedience, brutality. That is the mark we Blackbeak witches must leave upon the world. We do not suffer weaklings.”

For some reason she couldn’t quite name, the words rang hollow within her.

Elide shook her head, glancing up at the low stone ceiling. Something in Manon’s chest twisted strangely at the sight of it, the look on the girl’s face — as if it had been faintly tinged with something close to disappointment. She wasn’t sure why the idea rattled her so. Why she wanted to grab the human woman by the shoulders and make that expression go away, why she felt as if she’d missed some unseen expectation.

“What?” Manon demanded, a knife-sharp edge creeping into her voice in spite of her efforts to remain cool and unaffected.

Elide just said, “I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”

The silence hung in the air between them, heavy and thick and suddenly much too hard to breathe. Manon took in a whistling breath, and her lungs seemed strangely constricted, her throat tight. Elide’s eyes met hers, so open and free of restraint, so . . . so trusting that they nearly burned Manon to look at. So full of wretched, foolish belief in her that it felt damning.

She had been told she was beautiful before. Human men had complimented her, lavished her with praise before she used them for pleasure and bled them out for the thrill of it afterwards. None of it had ever made her feel anything. None of their empty platitudes had ever been enough to stir something within the dark pit where her heart should be.

But this — Elide’s words, spoken with such sincerity, focusing not on her physical beauty, but upon her character, her intrinsic self . . . she couldn’t quite explain why it threatened the very foundation upon which she stood. Threatened to bring her to her very knees, like the quaking of some great mountain beneath her feet. Or the swell of an approaching summer storm.

It was all Manon could do to pretend to muster up some pride, to regain her composure and give a soft little laugh. She shook her head as if to dismiss the very notion, the very idea that Elide saw her in such a positive light at all.

“Perhaps you are indeed blind, then,” Manon murmured at last, unsure why the thought filled her with the closest thing to sadness she’d felt in a while. “If you truly think so highly of me. Humans do have the unfortunate tendency to trust far too easily.”

Manon strode across the room to where a small, utilitarian mirror had been bolted onto the wall, allowing herself to see her own pale reflection as she made work of unbraiding her hair. Apart from the Thirteen, only Elide Lochan, as they’d been sharing this room to shield her from her uncle Vernon’s threats, had seen her with her hair down like this. Before now, the vulnerability of it had never truly bothered her before.

“There is good in you, Manon,” Elide said, her resolve unwavering. “I know there is. And it is not how we are born that determines who we are.”

When her hair hung free down past her shoulders, Manon glanced back at Elide, meeting the woman’s gaze through the mirror. And what she saw there . . . in the dim light, the warmth of Elide’s eyes, the smooth sheen of her hair, the delicate curves of her fine-boned body . . . it hit her low in her gut.

She turned back to face Elide. Strode slowly over to the bed, her steps prowling, purposeful. Some part of her remained dimly aware that this was yet another mask, an attempt to chase away how close to striking some painful truth they’d come, but she pushed it away as she sank down onto the bed right at Elide’s side. As she leaned in, and a taunting, smug little smile curved at the edges of her full, red mouth. She savored the flush on Elide’s cheeks as she moved closer, the way her witch’s hearing could pick up on the fluttering pulse in the woman’s neck, the quickening of her breath.

“I don’t want to talk anymore,” Manon said.

And at last, there it was — she got the satisfaction of something finally shattering through Elide’s carefully-maintained composure. Manon watched intently as Elide took a shallow, shuddering little breath,her tongue darting quickly out to lick her lips.

“You’re taunting me,” said Elide, making a valiant effort at refusing to back down from her.

A low chuckle rose from the back of Manon’s throat. “You have absolutely no idea what it would be like for you if I truly wished to taunt you, Elide Lochan.”

The redness on Elide’s face deepened, bringing out the freckles along the bridge of her nose. She leaned in closer, until her nose and Manon’s were nearly touching, until their rasping breaths were nearly one. “Go ahead and tease me, then,” Elide breathed, her words a shaky whisper. “Keep trying to push me away. But you won’t make me believe it, Manon. You won’t change that you’re good inside, and you know it.”

“It’s been a long day,” Manon all but growled, her fingers burying themselves in the fabric of Elide’s rumpled tunic, “and I want a distraction. You can provide it, human,” she said, allowing the implication to sink in as her eyes traveled to Elide’s lips, then back to her eyes again, “or get out.”

And to her surprise, Elide Lochan proved all too eager to rise to the occasion.

Without any further prompting, Elide leaned in and closed the remaining distance between them. The softness of her lips brushed against Manon’s, and a white-hot, urgent need curled tightly within the Blackbeak heir’s stomach. Yes, it had been an age since she’d taken a human woman to her bed, and Elide . . . gods, she just wanted Elide to stop looking at her like that. Wanted nothing but pure pleasure and release to take the edge of their conversation, to make Elide realize that there was nothing more to be had from her.

To make her see that caring . . . it was too much for her to bear right now. The thought of risking Asterin and the Thirteen was hard enough right now without having to make room for anyone else. So right now, it was best to just keep her at an emotional distance.

Elide’s kisses were light, testing the waters. Tentative in a way that came dangerously close to endearing. Featherlight kisses trailed from Manon’s lips to the sharp curve of her jaw, the slope of her neck. Manon’s eyes fluttered and she tipped her head back, gritting her teeth to hold back the moan she felt building in her throat.

Enough of this tenderness. She didn’t need sweetness, didn’t want to be bedded like some blushing virgin — she growled, getting ready to tell Elide just that, and then —

— and then it was Elide pulling back, Elide with the beginnings of a smug, confident smirk on her face. Rising from the bed and moving back from her, an amused glint in her eyes. As if . . . as if she’d been the one to cleverly pull the strings this whole time, to work Manon up into a frenzy and —

“Enough toying around, Elide, and get on with it,” Manon said roughly, her voice betraying her need.

“Perhaps another time,” said Elide Lochan with a chuckle, that beautiful husky voice as smooth and unaffected as Manon had ever heard it.

And before Manon could even protest, before she could bellow and demand that Elide come back here this instant and finish what she started, the human woman had all but breezed out of the room, moving surprisingly quickly even with her bad leg. As if . . . as if this had been a plan she’d formed in that devious little mind.

Perhaps if she weren’t quite so frustrated, she might have found it within herself to be impressed by it. Though Elide was mortal, Manon did have to admit . . . that witches’ blood in the girl’s veins ran true.

Manon sat in bed, staring blankly ahead at the door.

Sat there for what felt like an eternity, cold and empty and aching.

#throne of glass #throne of glass fanfiction #tog fanfic #tog fanfiction #manon/elide #manon/elide fanfic #malide #malide fanfiction #manon blackbeak #elide lochan #sjm fanfic

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nalgenewhore · 2 years

Text

lifesaver

elide x lorcan, modern + firefighter au, rival neighbours 2 luvrs speedrun, word count: 3606

A familiar weight on his chest woke him up.

Lorcan slit his eyes open, then closed them again. Evidently, it was the wrong choice because claw-tipped paws started kneading his throat. He choked and sat up abruptly, making a black-furred creature fall into his lap. “Gods,” he croaked, glaring at his cat.

He picked up Hellas with one hand and held his devil-feline in front of his face. “Not fucking cool,” he said. The cat made a confused meow, his pitch colour eyes round and innocent. Momentarily, Lorcan narrowed his eyes before sighing and kissing Hellas’ forehead. “You’re a menace, dude.”

He got out of bed and gently set Hellas down, who immediately circled behind him and started headbutting his ankles while making an incessant chirping sound. “Alright, alright,” Lorcan said, “I’m going.” He walked into his kitchen. The first thing he did was open the cupboard that held Hellas’ dry food and scoop some into his dish.

The cat just stood there, silently staring up at Lorcan.

Lorcan nudged the bowl closer with his foot. “What’re you waiting for?” Finally, Hellas started on his breakfast. Lorcan leaned down and scratched him behind his ears. “Weirdo.” He got started on his coffee. He wasn’t due at the firehouse for his shift until nine, which was still a few hours away. He would've liked to sleep for longer, but the demands of his gremlin superseded any desires Lorcan had.

While he waited for his coffee to brew, he decided to take care of a few mundane chores. Lorcan took out his trash from under the sink and tied off the bag.

He walked out of his unit and strolled down to the trash chute, tossing it in.

Foolishly, he left the door open and figured that with Hellas occupied by stuffing his maw, the cat wouldn’t attempt escape like he did at every given chance.

Of course, when Lorcan got back, Hellas was nowhere to be found. “Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Lorcan said, turning back towards his door. “Fuck me.” He leaned out into the hallway. Usually, Hellas didn’t get too far, but Lorcan was still worried. One of his neighbours – a woman named Elide Lochan – owned a trained Doberman, and Hellas loved provoking Anneith.

Lorcan heard a deep bark from the end of the hall and went running towards Elide’s unit. “Hellas, you little shit.”

She was already at the door, blocking her guard dog with her body while Hellas tried swiping at Anneith between her legs.

Her dark gaze could’ve set something on fire, and Lorcan had a gut feeling that if they could, he’d be burnt to a crisp as Elide looked at him. “Can you control your damn cat?!”

Lorcan glared at her and scooped Hellas up. “Maybe I could if your hell-hound stopped provoking him.” It was utter bullshit, which they both knew.

Still, Elide took the bait. She gawked, “My what? Annie didn’t do anything, like usual,” Elide all but growled. “He came over and started scratching at my door—”

He shook his head and turned away, walking back to his apartment without caring that he looked like an ass.

“Hey, we’re not done,” she called after him.

“Yeah, we are,” he responded.

“I hope you know I’m telling Mr. Perrington about your devil-cat scratching the shit out of my door!”

“Like I care,” Lorcan snapped before slamming his door shut. He huffed. How dare she call Hellas that? He could call Hellas that, but Elide? It was just plain rude. Lorcan shook his head again and set Hellas down. “Man, you have got to stop doing that.”

Hellas merely flicked his tail and strutted off to finish his breakfast.

✵✵✵✵✵

The next time Lorcan saw Elide, he was heading off to work while she brought Anneith back from a run.

He noticed how the cold made her freckled cheeks rosier than usual and made the smattering of spots stand out more. Lorcan frowned at nothing, reminding himself that he couldn’t stand his haughty neighbour, no matter how pretty she looked. He just nodded at her and passed by, not intent on exchanging a word.

“Have a good shift,” Elide told him.

Lorcan paused and blinked. He looked back at her. “Uh, thanks.” He bobbed his head, making it painfully obvious that he wasn’t comfortable with unprompted social interaction. “Have a good… uh, day. Yeah.”

Elide laughed a bit and quickly pursed her plush lips to stifle the sound, mirth dancing in her eyes. “Thank you.”

Something bumped into his hip. He looked down at Annieth. She tilted her head to the side, her tail wagging a bit. Lorcan’s lips twitched. He gave her a gentle scratch behind her pointed ears. “You too, Anneith.”

They parted ways shortly after. Lorcan turned the interaction over and over in his mind during the drive to the station house.

He would have kept thinking about it, only the moment he got to work, they were sent out on a call, and Lorcan pushed it to the back of his mind.

If he seemed distracted the moment they got back, then none of his crewmates said a word.

After a few more calls and fulfilling some of the house chores, Lorcan settled into one of the bunks for a quick nap. Only, he couldn’t clear his mind to sleep. Every thought kept circling back to Elide. He rubbed his eyes until he saw random bursts of colour. He sighed and stubbornly resolved to banish her from his mind. It was ridiculous – he’d never thought of her outside of his irritation for her. Sure, he’d noticed her beauty, but who wouldn’t? Elide was absolutely stunning, and her biting wit only made her more attractive which was unfair.

Eventually, he managed to drift into a restless sleep, though he couldn’t escape Elide in his dreams either.

✵✵✵✵✵

About an hour or so later, someone shook him awake. The alarm was going, and the others who had been sleeping were now rushing about.

“No fire, just some crazy stuck in a tree,” Fenrys told him. “We still gotta hustle, c’mon, boy.” He hopped down and followed the others while Lorcan quickly got out of bed.

He yanked on his sweater, followed by his boots, and Lorcan ran to the fire engine. Vaughan passed him his pack and helmet before they both hauled themselves into the cab.

Rowan glanced at Lorcan from the driver’s seat as he sat beside him. He drawled through the headset the moment Lorcan pulled it on. “Did ya get enough beauty sleep, Salvaterre?”

“Fuck off,” Lorcan grumbled. “Where’re we going?”

“Right by your place,” Rowan told him. “Which one of your neighbours is stupid enough to get stuck in a tree, huh?”

Lorcan rolled his eyes, and they pulled out onto the street, sirens blaring.

A few minutes later, when they got to his building, they saw a big cluster of people standing at the bottom of the large sycamore tree.

The crew hopped out of the truck to assess the situation and move the crowd back.

Lorcan walked through, gently yet forcefully moving their audience back with Connall’s. Rowan and Vaughan went to the base of the tree. “Alright, everyone, please step back.”

“It’s that cat of yours,” Madam Florine, the woman who lived below him, exclaimed. He internalised his sigh – of course it was Hellas. “He got out, and you know, I’ll be telling Mr. Perrington about his escape, I will! He’s caused such a ruckus!”

“Madam Florine,” he said, herding her back. “I’ll be glad to deal with this after the situation is resolved, alright? Thank you.”

“She just went right up after him,” Madam Florine continued like Lorcan hadn’t said a word. “I told her not to, but, oh, Elide never listens to anyone! And now look where it’s gotten her…”

His breath escaped him in one exhale. Lorcan gaped at her, all professionalism leaving him. “El- it’s Elide? She- she followed Hell?”

Madam Florine frowned. “Now, this is what is wrong with your generation, you never listen! Yes, Elide, she climbed up all the way up there, I just—”

Lorcan turned and ran, ignoring Madam Florine’s shout. He looked up through the branches, catching a glimpse of a small figure who clung to the trunk. It had to be Elide. He couldn’t see Hellas, and his heart dropped to his stomach.

Someone grabbed him by his shoulders and brought him to a quick stop.

“It’s Elide, she followed Hellas,” Lorcan said, looking at Rowan. “That fucking cat, I swear to the gods.”

“Hey, hey,” his friend soothed him. “It’s going to be alright, we’ve got this under control.”

“I have to get up there, I can get them down,” he insisted.

Rowan frowned, looking at Lorcan with pity. “You know I can’t let you do that.”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do then, huh?”

“Sit, and let us do our job.”

✵✵✵✵✵

She had never been so high off the ground. Elide felt dizzy looking down through the branches, so she decided not to. Instead, she looked at Hellas, who she had trapped inside her hoodie. “Hell, it’ll all be ok, alright? Now, don’t you do anything drastic, you sit tight.”

The cat cried at her, the sound high-pitched and worried. He tried to move, his paws batting at his cotton confinement. She tutted her tongue, cooing at him to soothe him.

Elide didn’t know how Hellas got out of Lorcan’s apartment. She’d been downstairs to fetch her mail when she saw him lingering by the lobby doors. Someone else had come in, giving Hellas the opportunity to leap for the door and escape outside. Elide had chased after him, even after he scrambled into the tree. At some point, she was just chasing him further up the tree. Once Hellas couldn’t go any further, Elide had managed to catch him and let him crawl beneath her sweater.

She exhaled shakily. The fire engine was here now, and so was Lorcan. Elide looked at Hellas again, forcing a little smile. “Lorcan’s here now,” she told the cat. “They’ll get us down, and everything will be ok, won’t it?” Elide nodded, then repeated to herself. “Everything will be ok.”

Down below, somebody waved at her to catch her attention. One of the firefighters held a megaphone to his mouth and spoke into it. “Elide? Can you hear me?”

“Y-yes,” she yelled back. “Hi!”

“Hi, I’m Rowan. We’re going to get you down as quickly and safely as we can, and I need you to do what I say, ok?”

Elide nodded, “Yes, ok.”

There was a flurry of movement as the crew got to work extending a ladder from the truck. It made a loud and mechanical noise that had Hellas howling and attempting to free himself with more desperation. His claws got caught in the thick material of her hoodie. “It’s ok, it’s just the ladder,” she said. She smoothed her thumb over his little forehead. “Everything will be ok.”

Hellas actually listened, calming down against her. He headbutted her chin.

“Elide? We’re sending Fenrys up now, he’ll get you and Hellas,” Rowan called to her through the megaphone.

“Hear that?” she told Hellas. “We’ll be down soon.”

Once the ladder was extended, the fireman named Fenrys started climbing up. Elide inched herself closer to the top of the ladder which hung tauntingly just a metre below her.

The dark-skinned blond smiled broadly at her. “Hey, there. You must be Elide. Lorcan’s told us all about his gorgeous neighbour.”

She laughed humorlessly, arching a brow at the comment about Lorcan. Fenrys was talking to her like they’d just bumped into each other in a bar or something. “I guess that’s me.” She didn’t know Lorcan thought she was gorgeous.

“Alright, Elide,” Fenrys said. “I need you to, very carefully, come down to me, alright?”

Elide shook as she tried to climb down. One arm was banded around Hellas. She carefully stretched one of her legs down to a lower branch. Her balance wavered, and she tried to correct it too quickly, but Elide couldn’t find her footing again.

Elide tipped over, and a scream tore from her throat as she fell. Her body crashed through the tree, snapping branches on her way.

Before she knew it, strong, human, arms caught her. Fenrys held her tightly. “Woah, woah, I got you.” Elide clung to him, her heart hammering against her ribcage. “I got you, you’re safe.”

She tried to calm her breathing. Hellas was fighting against her, and his claws scratched at her. Elide ran her hand over his head, scratching his ears just like Anneith liked to be scratched. She didn’t know what she was doing, she’d never owned a cat before.

Fenrys helped her find her footing on the ladder. He shored her up with his arm around her waist, then signalled that they were ready to come down.

Elide held on to him until the other firefighters reached up to help her down to the ground. Someone took Hellas away from her; she didn’t see who or where they took her. She looked around wildly, trying to find her neighbour.

Lorcan pushed his crewmates aside. Elide reached for him, shuddering in relief when he held her. “Lorcan,” she cried.

“You’re safe,” he whispered. He hugged her tightly against him. His own heart thundered, terrified, in his chest, and he was certain she could hear it. “Fuck, ‘lide.” Lorcan felt her against him, felt her body held within the safety of his arms, but the panic was still there.

Elide cried softly against his chest. All the adrenaline had left her, leaving her shaking and scared. She wasn’t even embarrassed that she was breaking down in the arms of the neighbour she couldn’t stand before today. He was so solid, his body strong and warm. Lorcan held her tight enough that she knew he wouldn’t let go easily, but not so tight that she couldn’t push him away if she wanted to.

She didn’t want to.

She turned to the side and sniffled loudly. He started to sway side to side – Elide never pegged him for a very good hugger, but he was.

Lorcan gently pulled back, his thumb under her chin to lift her face. He brushed his thumb over a long scratch on her jaw, frowning. “‘kay, we gotta get you to the rig, ok? Vaughan’s gonna check you out, he’s our medic.”

“I feel fine,” Elide mumbled, but then Lorcan moved a little further, she gripped his arms because she didn’t trust her own legs.

“Humour me, then.” He eyed her legs warily. “Need help?”

Her cheeks flushed. She wanted to keep all the dignity she had left – knowing he’d seen her stuck in a gods-damned tree had, for some reason, been a large blow to her pride. So, Elide certainly did not want him carrying her like an invalid. She cleared her throat primly. “I think I can manage.”

She attempted a step and would’ve gone down had Lorcan not been there to catch her. Her hands clutched at him tightly as she tried to find her footing again.

Without any fuss, Lorcan scooped her up and cradled her against his chest.

Elide gasped through her nose, her arms going tight around his neck. She loosened her hold a bit, blushing again.

He glanced at her. “You good?”

“Yeah. You’re very, um, strong.” Her cheeks, if it was possible, got even more red. Oh gods, Elide was just waiting for the earth to split open and swallow her whole. Her neighbour smirked at her, and Elide looked away. “Oh, shut up.”

He chuckled, “I didn’t say anything.”

“You don’t have to,” she muttered.

Lorcan deposited her on a padded bench by a man who looked similar to him. Elide looked back and forth between them until the medic – Vaughan – explained, “We’re cousins.”

She nodded sagely. “Ah.” Vaughan rolled up her sleeve to take pulse, she presumed, and looked down at his watch. Elide eyed Lorcan as he stood behind his cousin, tracking the medic’s movements like a hawk. He noticed her gaze and looked up, quirking a brow. A cheeky grin curled her lips, and she asked Vaughan, “So, are you as much of an ass as he is?”

The medic laughed, not bothering to look up. “Thankfully, no.”

Lorcan frowned at her, and Elide just gave him an innocent smile. He crossed his thick arms across his chest; she tried not to ogle his tattooed biceps. Elide huffed to herself. It was October, for Annieth’s sake. There was no reason for him to only be wearing a t-shirt.

Vaughan checked her out quickly, including her limbs for any break from her tumble through the branches. He gave her a clean bill of health and packed up his bag while Lorcan took a seat next to Elide.

He pushed his hands down his legs. Elide caught how his fingers shook before he curled them into fists against his thighs. “Don’t do that again,” he told her harshly.

She frowned at him. She couldn’t believe he was starting a fight after all that had happened. “Are you serious? You should be thanking me, I went up there because of your cat, Salvaterre—”

“I know, I’m going to have a talk with him,” Lorcan said. He took her hand, angling his body towards her. His eyes were soft, pleading with her. “Please, don’t do that again, ok?”

Elide swallowed and nodded. “Ok. I won’t.”

They sat together for a little while more until the crew had to return to the firehouse.

Lorcan walked Elide to the door, telling her to keep herself out of trouble, at least until he got back. She told him it was Hellas that needed to keep himself out of trouble, and Lorcan softly laughed in agreement.

They parted ways after Rowan laid on the horn, causing the pair to jump and glare at the silver-haired firefighter. Lorcan looked down at Elide with a furrowed brow. “You’re sure you’re going to be alright?”

“Yes,” she laughed, pushing her hand against his stomach. “You know I can take care of myself. I do live all by myself.”

“I know. Ok, ok, I’ll go. I’ll be back at around nine,” he told her.

“Salvaterre,” Rowan shouted, “say good-bye to your little friend, and let’s go!”

Lorcan cut Rowan a dirty look before he finally said bye to Elide and jogged to the truck.

She lingered by the doors until the truck pulled away. She tried not to seem as flustered as she felt when Lorcan grinned and winked at her from the cab. Elide hurriedly went back inside, pressing the backs of her cold hands to her pink cheeks.

✵✵✵✵✵

Lorcan attempted not to rush as much as he wanted to the minute he got home. Elide had been on his mind all day, and the whole crew, including their captain Malakai once Vaughan and Fenrys had ever-so-helpfully related the story to him, had given him shit for his reaction the rest of his shift.

He dropped his duffel bag down by his door.

A curious meow came from the kitchen before Hellas pranced out. He curled himself around Lorcan’s ankles, rubbing his head on his leg. “Oh, it’s not going to work, man-man,” Lorcan said. He leaned down and picked Hellas up to properly address him, “You’re still in big trouble. No catnip for a week.”

Lorcan carried Hellas with him as he exited his apartment. He walked down to Elide’s place, trying and failing to calm his racing heart before he rapped his knuckles against her door.

From inside, he heard a bark, and then a woman’s voice gently admonishing Anneith.

Moments later, a breathless Elide yanked the door open with a wide-eyed smile. “Hey,” she said. “You’re early.”

He shrugged, still trying to play it cool. “Yeah, my captain let me go home ‘cause my replacement got to work early.” Lorcan looked down at the cat in his arms. “And someone couldn’t wait to apologise for all the trouble he caused.”

Elide laughed, the sound musical and bright. “I’ve forgiven him.”

Lorcan grinned. “Well, I still owe ya one. What’s your price, Lochan?”

She leaned against her door jamb, crossing her arms under her chest. “Mmm, I dunno,” she mused. “How ‘bout a date?”

He nodded, sucking his cheeks in to conceal his full-blown smile. “Y’know, that seems fair. Anything else?”

Elide shook her head and smiled, the tip of her pink tongue poking through her teeth. “Nope. Well, preferably we can go someplace that isn’t twenty metres off the ground.”

Lorcan shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do. Might have to pull a few strings, but I think it’s worth it.”

She beamed at him, her eyes glittering.

Before Lorcan went back to his apartment, she gave him a folded slip of paper. He left with the promise of seeing her again, and soon.

He managed not to make a complete fool of himself until he closed his door behind him. After that, he couldn’t hold his smile back. Lorcan looked at his cat, who was still snugly held against his chest. He kissed Hellas’ head, figuring that he might deserve some catnip and even a little fish for all he’d done. After all, without his antics, Lorcan would probably still be feuding with Elide.

Lorcan set Hellas down before he opened the note Elide had passed him. She’d written down her number in neat writing, but what was written beneath it had been chuckling to himself.

Elide Lochan (AKA Cat Rescuer Extraordinaire – Call for a good time, or feline recovery ;))

✵✵✵✵✵

an: i had SO much fun writing this hehe alsoooo i think i will restart a tag list 🤔🫣🤭(let me know if u want to b added !!)

@sassyhobbits @empress-ofbloodshed @the-regal-warrior @gwynethhberdara

#elorcan #elide x lorcan #elide lochan #lorcan salvaterre #isa writes #nalgenewhore #aint it CUTE !!

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foxybananaaaz · 7 months

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PEOPLE OF EVERYONE (who like the sjmverse) I HAVE A THEORY!!!!

So I was watching different theory videos on TikTok, and came across THIS ONE HERE (press the red bold words).

And it makes sense, except I'd like to tweak it just a little.

For those who did not click the link to go to the TikTok video, or do not want to, let me summarize the theory in the video.

Erewan stole the King of Adarlans name. How? Possibly some Valg King powers. But he did. He also has two brothers.

Maeve had the ability to world walk, you know, before Dorian took it away.

So what if, Erewan, and his two brothers also had the world walking ability, and the two brothers went to different worlds. What if they too also stole names?

Whose nameless, who would they steal names from?

King of Hybern has no name given too him.

But then there's a character in Crescent City, who still has a name, but rarely is it used. Perhaps the Autumn King is in the process of having his name stolen.

I obviously paraphrased, but that basically what the video says.

Now, as I said above, I would like to tweak it a little, because while I can get behind the King of Hybern, it's harder to believe the Autumn King, just because he does still have a name right?

Also because there is another character who has remained nameless, and only referred to by their title, which has endlessly annoyed, to infuriated fans.

Sarah doesn't do coincidences. What if this character is only referred to by her title, because they literally cannot be called by their name anymore?

I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's jump back a little bit and set my theory tweak up some more okay?

In Throne of Glass, we all(or at least I) thought it was the King of Adarlan who was possessed by Erewan. Only to get to the twist later, finding out it was Lord Perrington.

This in itself shows that you do not have to be the one possessed by the Valg King, to have your name stolen.

Back to where I was.

So there is one character, living with someone so cruel. Could this third Valg King prefer to have her suffer? Could he have stolen this characters name, with no ring or collar to plant a lower Valg.

Does he do all he does, to this character, purely to be cruel, because that's how he is?

I should probably mention that the nameless character I am talking about is... actually, let me wait just a little longer, make sure I've really laid the ground work for it to be more believable.

This character possibly possessed by the third Valg King, have we seen how, or who they truly are? Perhaps not.

This character is still needlessly cruel, and not just to the nameless character. But their children as well.

Have you guessed the possessed character, and by extension, the character whose name they stole, yet?

When it came time to bring Feyre back to life.. oh yeah! This character is also in ACOTAR world. But when bringing Feyre, and then Rhys back to life, yes this character possessed by the Valg King did so, perhaps to conceal the possession.

Perrington did well to hide the fact that he was possessed, but still did things to make people actively dislike him at the same time. So would it not make sense for this character to also do the same?

Brutally murdering his one son's first love, forcing him to watch.

Seemingly torturing his other son, for any reason.

Doing who knows what to make his other sons become so needlessly cruel as well.

Doing unthinkable things to his wife, for what reason?

Could Beron be possessed by a Valg King? And if so, did he steal the Lady of Autumns name?

If you think about it, even Helion does not speak her name, when telling the story of his past with her. And a man who loves someone so much? Should that not have been the moment we learned her name if we had not yet?

Perhaps Helion physically could not speak her name.

The question though, would Beron have been possessed Before marrying LoA, or After. My guess is before. The Valg King within, perhaps seeing the dear Lady as his possession, and then learning of this affair of Helion, could this be why he stole her name? So the male who truly loves her cannot even speak her name?

I don't know, I've gotten ahead of myself.

Basically I'm saying, Sarah doesn't do coincidences. If the Lady of Autumn still had a name, we would know it by now. Was her name stolen from her?

#sjmaas #sjm theory #throne of glass spoilers #throne of glass #acotar spoilers #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #king of adarlan #valg kings #a court of thorns and roses theory #a court of mist and fury #a court of wings and ruin #a court of frost and starlight #a court of silver flames #acotar theory

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noemyreads · 8 months

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queen of shadows - sarah j mass

synopsis

everything celaena sardothien has ever loved has been taken from her. but at last the time of retribution has come. vengeance promises to be as harsh as the steel of orynth's sword—her father's sword. finally celaena returned to the empire; for justice, to rescue his kingdom and confront the shadows of the past.

the assassin is dead. she embraced the identity of Aelin galathynius, queen of terrasen. but before claiming the throne, she must fight. and she will fight. for her cousin, the general of the north... a warrior prepared to die for his liege; for his friend dorian, a prince trapped in an unimaginable prison; for her people, enslaved by a cruel king and awaiting the triumphant return of their leader; for your carranam and the release of magic.

in advancing her plan, however, aelin must watch out for old enemies. and open your heart to new and unlikely allies. all while the valg continue to work in the shadows. and manon blackbeak, the winged leader of the thirteen, trains her flying beasts. but it's from morath, the mountain stronghold of the duke of perrington, that a threat like no other promises to tear his band of rebels and his newly formed court apart.

my opinion

i finished this book with a mixture of warm in my heart and genuine dread, i liked that they finished this book relatively well and apparently they are finding each other, but i already imagine that what comes after that is total terror. I liked that the book serves two purposes, ending Celaena's story and starting Aelin's story, I have to admit, I love Celaena, I didn't want to have to say goodbye to her, but that's the way.

so far I don't swallow the fey very well, I find everything about them very strange, the author portrays them as animals, I feel a certain embarrassment when I have to read descriptions of these “male”, “female”, “male-smelling” people , I can't take it seriously. another thing that bothers me is the age of the characters, (this goes for most books of the genre), the characters are very young and have already lived through absurd things, I think it would be more realistic and present characters in their 20s.

“when you break the shackles of this world and forge the next, remember that art is as vital as food to a kingdom. without it, a kingdom is nothing and will be forgotten in time. I've already saved enough money in my crappy life that I don't need more, so you'll understand very well when I say that no matter where you establish your throne or how long it takes, I will come to you, bringing song and dance.”

I'm not a big fan of Rowan and Aelin as a couple, mainly due to their age difference, but I like how they both know their past and respect the history they had before they met, few couples have this maturity.

I was happy that by the end of the book, all the characters showed good development, - even the chaol who was driving me crazy. several things made me scream like a fool, SPOILER to aelin saving manon's life, keltain sacrificing himself and saving elide, manon helping dorian, dorian's friendship with aelin, all of these were parts of the book that definitely they tagged me. SPOILER

finally, aelin ashryver galathynius was home.

title: queen of shadows

author: sarah j mass

rate: 5

#bookblr #livros #resenha #review #book #fantasy #sarah j maas #queen of shadows #rainha das sombras #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #rowan x aelin #manon blackbeak #dorian havilliard

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385bookreviews · 2 months

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1.72.3 Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

SPOILERS

Pages: 418

Time Read: 7 hours and 8 minutes

Overall Rating: ★★★★★ Storyline: ★★★★★ Dialogue: ★★★★★ Characters: ★★★★★

Genre: YA Fantasy

TWs for the book: Death, murder, violence, blood, grief, gore, injury, torture, slavery, kidnapping, death of a parent, assassination, body horror, confinement, war, genocide, colonization, physical abuse, classism, toxic friendship, misogyny/sexism, su*c*dal thoughts/su*c*de attempt, toxic relationship, gaslighting, animal harm, hunting, minor s*xual content, cursing, stalking, abandonment, mentions of r*pe, panic attacks, self harm, mentions of drug abuse

POV: Third person

Time Period/Location: Rifthold, the capital of Adarlan, in the fictional world of Erilea.

First Line: The shutters swinging in the storm wind were the only sign of her entry.

Celaena Sardothien has been the King's Champion for a couple of months at this point, and has already been on five assassination missions for the King. However, she has faked all of their deaths. The King then gives her a mission in Rifthold to kill Archer Finn, a courtesan she knew from growing up at the Assassin's Keep, as he suspects him to be a part of a rebel plot. Her friendship with Chaol has grown during this time, and she takes him with her to "accidentally" bump into Archer. Chaol is jealous by how closely they bond, and starts to realize his feelings for her. Celaena attempts to go to the library and finds what appears to be a cloaked person standing there, and it growls at her. The Eye of Elena begins to glow, and the creature runs off. She goes down into the tomb to seek answers from Elena, only to discover that the bronze skull knocker on the door can talk, and his name is Mort. He tells her that Elena wants her to find the evil in the castle. Dorian's cousin Roland arrives in the castle, wearing a black ring like Perrington and the King, and Celaena immediately dislikes him, even though he is trying desperately hard to gain Dorian's trust. Celaena and Archer go to dinner, and she tells him that she was sent by the King to assassinate him. Archer pleads for his life, saying he has no involvement in the rebel plots, but that some of his clients do, and that he knows that they want to find Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, the heir to the throne of Terrasen, and use her to overthrow the King of Adarlan. Celaena gives him till the end of the month to get his affairs in order and to give her as much information as possible about the conspirators. He begins by taking her to a ball held by one of his clients, Davis, and she sneaks into his office and discovers a book on Wyrdmarks. In the back, she finds written, "It is only with the eye that one can see rightly." Davis catches her snooping and cuts her with a dagger that was covered in gloriella, a paralytic poison. She manages to kill him and make it back to the castle in time to tell Chaol to give her the antidote. Celaena then involves Nehemia, asking her to teach her to read the Wyrdmarks and help her solve the riddle. They go down to Elena's tomb, and discover that when standing on a constellation of the Stag, a hollowed out eye appeared in the wall. They both looked through it, but discovered nothing. Chaol and Celaena grow closer, and Celaena takes him out for a romantic dinner. She confesses that she hasn't actually been killing her targets, and Chaol is angry but ultimately chooses to be with her, saying he'll leave Rifthold with her one day. They have a lot of s*x over the following week.

Celaena and Nehemia get into a heated argument where Nehemia calls her a coward for refusing to help her plan to overthrow the King. Chaol is then kidnapped, and Celaena is left with a ransom note. She goes to a warehouse and kills 15 men before she is stopped by Archer. He tells her that Nehemia founded their rebel group, and that he had heard that she was going to be interrogated by Chaol and the King that day so they kidnapped him in an attempt to stop it and to show Celaena that Chaol had kept secret the fact that Nehemia's life was threatened. Celaena races back to the castle and finds Nehemia tortured to death. She attacks Chaol, blaming him for her death, and Dorian uses magic to stop her from killing him. Chaol puts her in the dungeons for a few days, where Kaltain tells her that Duke Perrington is taking her to Morath to be his wife, and that Roland will be going with them. When Chaol releases her from the dungeons, she sinks into heavy grief and refuses to speak to anyone. She then deduces that Grave, an assassin from the competition to be Champion, must have killed Nehemia, and she uses the tunnels to sneak out and kill him. She brings his head before the King, accuses the lord that was his sponsor in the competition of hiring him to kill Nehemia, and she gives him a list of the 15 men she killed from Archer's group. She solves the riddle talking about the eye and uses the pommel of King Gavin's sword Damaris to see another riddle written on the inside of the hollowed out eye. It is a map to to finding three powerful objects. She goes to a the carnival being held in honor of Prince Hollin, and speaks to an Ironteeth witch named Baba Yellowlegs. The witch reveals that Dorian came asking her questions about magic, and offers to sell his questions to Celaena but she refuses. She asks her about the riddle and the witch tells her that it speaks of Wyrdkeys, three slivers of rock broken off from the Wyrdgate, the portal between worlds. They are immensely powerful individually, but with all three one can open the Wyrdgate to all sorts of different planets and dimensions. She kills the witch for knowing Dorian's secrets, and her and Dorian grow closer again.

She then investigates catacombs she found beneath the library, using Wyrdmarks to unlock the iron doors. She finds an underground prison, and then the entrance to the giant obsidian clock tower built by the King. She is turning back when she is attacked by the creature from before. Dorian, who had followed her down, runs with her, and he tries to use his magic to seal the door. It doesn't work, so he runs to find the spellbook and they use it to trap and kill the creature. Celaena realizes it has a human heart, and that it must have been human at one point. She believes the King used a Wyrdkey to make it into a monster. She discovers the meaning of the first part of the riddle and discovers the key is gone. Distraught, she grabs the spellbook and uses it to open a portal to contact Nehemia. She succeeds, but Nehemia tells her to never do it again. Just as the portal closes, Archer appears, and reveals that Nehemia showed him the tunnels and he's been spying on her for weeks. Celaena realizes on of the coded notes in Nehemia's room was saying not to trust Archer. She acts like she is on his side and is willing to give him the book and work with him, and he confesses he was the one to order Grave to kill Nehemia. She attacks him once he does, and in their fight they accidentally open a portal to another world. Dorian is warned in a dream by King Gavin that Celaena is in trouble, and he runs to get Chaol and they discover the tunnel. They arrive to see a demon attacking Celaena, Fleetfoot (Celaena's dog) hurt, and Archer chanting out of the spell book. Chaol attacks the demon, Archer flees, and Dorian drags Celaena away. Celaena knocks him out, and sees the demon drag Fleetfoot through the portal and Chaol run after her. Celaena runs into the portal and immediately shifts from a human to a Fae, and attacks the demon with fire magic. They all get to safety and Celaena uses Dorian's magic blood to close the portal. Celaena then hunts down Archer in the tunnels and kills him, bringing his head before the King.

Chaol tells his father he wants to send Celaena away to Wendlyn to assassinate the King and his son, and that if he backs him up he will return to be the Lord of Anielle. His father agrees and they propose the idea to the King. He agrees, and tells Celaena to go to Wendlyn. She is panicked, not knowing how to get out of it, but Elena tells her to go. Before she leaves, she says goodbye to Dorian, and then says goodbye to Chaol at the docks. She tells him about the Wyrdkeys and everything she's learned, and then tells him the date of her parents' death and leaves. He is confused, and researches the date, and realizes that Celaena is actually Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, lost queen of Terrasen, and he just sent her away to the land of her distant Fae relatives.

Storyline: The storyline in this book was a little slow for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Representation: Nehemia is the only POC, and she has herself killed in order to motivate and progress Celaena's character, which is a huge issue I have with this book.

#book review #book blog #books #book reviews #fantasy #sarah j maas #sjm #throne of glass #the assassin's blade #crown of midnight #heir of fire #queen of shadows #empire of storms #tower of dawn #kingdom of ash #celaena sardothien #aelin ashryver galathynius #aelin galathynius

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themanilafolders · 2 years

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Not Every Squelching Noise Is A Gelatinous Blob That Is Out To Get You

Sometimes it’s just Stevie Perrington, who had the enormous misfortune of being cursed at birth to always have wet shoes.

#monster #monsters #cryptids #cryptid #cryptozoology #cryptidcore #themanilafolders #unreality

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ae-neon · 1 year

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Reading Throne of Glass (25-30)

Recap

Celaena has undergone a few Tests and while she's been able to maintain a middle place, she is beginning to worry about the difficulty of winning.

Her relationships with both Chaol and Dorian are progressing and Nehemia has insisted that she and Celaena meet up often to teach each other their languages.

She was excluded from the Samhuinn feast but found a secret tunnel in her room and followed it out to an escape route near the ocean. She chooses to stay and finish the competition to guarantee her freedom rather than run and be hated and hunted.

She returns to her room but...

Chapter 25

Celaena dreams she's back in the tunnels and takes a turn she avoided irl. She's lured along by the smell of roses which she's smelt irl in her room before. She's led to the tomb of some old king and queen.

There are wyrdmarks everywhere. Celaena figures out the tombs belong to Gavin and Elena the first king and queen of Ardalan from thousands of years ago. Elena was half Fae? (King Brannon's daughter, who is her mom, why is she half Fae will that matter?)

Elena Galathynius Havilliard. I see.

There's a legendary sword wielded by a human king who married an elf a Fae princess who was the daughter of an elf a Fae king of a forest kingdom.

The sword is called Damaris and hasn't rusted despite sitting there for a thousand years and it was used to slay the Dark Lord Erawan.

I feel some Tolkien inspo. Not a bad thing. Not even really an avoidable thing honestly. Just saying what I'm seeing.

The ghost of Elena tells Celaena that the gargoyles on the clock tower guard the portals between worlds (???)

“Something evil dwells in this castle, something wicked enough to make the stars quake. Its malice echoes into all worlds,” the queen went on. “You must stop it. Forget your friendships, forget your debts and oaths. Destroy it, before it is too late, before a portal is ripped open so wide that there can be no undoing it."

Elena gives Celaena an amulet for protection.

But—if there was a threat like that, then not only her life was at risk. And while she’d be more than happy if some dark force somehow destroyed Cain, Perrington, the king, and Kaltain Rompier, if Nehemia, or even Chaol and Dorian, were somehow harmed . . .

LEAVE KALTAIN ALONE YOU FUCKING PSYCHO??

Chapter 26

Another competitor is found dead. At this rate the competition should last half the time. The body was half eaten and Celaena jokes it was probably Cain.

She made herself grin at him. “Cain is the most likely candidate. You’re from Anielle—you should know more than anyone how they are in the White Fang Mountains.”

I get her not liking the man but her prejudice against these people is so wild???

After hearing the growls and inhuman sounds in her dream that wasn't a dream, she thinks whatever evil Elena was warning her about ate the dead competitor

She passes the body on her way to the library. Most of the organs are gone and someone had written wyrdmarks in blood on the wall.

Dorian and Chaol are sparring, they go back and forth about finding each other visiting Celaena's room in the middle of the night.

“Any word from your father?” Chaol asked in a voice that indicated he knew something was amiss. “I wonder where he went off to.”

Seeing as how Chaol supposedly sent word to the king, you'd think he knew 😑

Dorian’s blood went a bit cold. “You think they’ll try to kill Celaena?”

“I added some extra guards around her rooms.” “To protect her, or to keep her in?” (...) “What difference does it make?” Chaol said quietly. “You don’t seem to care either way. You’ll visit her no matter what I say, and the guards won’t stop you because you’re the prince.” There was something so defeated, so bitter, underlying the captain’s words that Dorian, for a heartbeat, felt badly.

Ouch. Poor Chaol.

Chapter 27

Late that afternoon, Celaena stared at the ebony clock tower. It grew darker and darker, as if it somehow absorbed the sun’s dying rays. On top of it, the gargoyles remained stationary. They hadn’t moved. Not even a finger. The Guardians, Elena had called them. But Guardians to what?

To the portals??

Nehemia warns Celaena to leave the wyrdmarks alone

Yulemas and the final duel are two months away

Does that mean Eyllwe is near the equator? If there's not snow in Eyllwe why is there snow in Ardalan? That the very least it should be quite hot in Ardalan most of the time, they literally border each other.

“Smeared?” Nehemia said, her voice dropping into a hush. “Not splattered?” SJM makes a point that Celaena isn't fluent in Eyllwe but this level of word use is expert??

Celaena and Nehemia get confronted by Cain, he reveals he knows everything about who Celaena is though Nehemia doesn't understand because it's in the common tongue. Nehemia looks out for Celaena and they walk away without making a scene.

Later, Chaol and Dorian are watching Celaena train. Dorian gets jealous of Celaena being close with Nox Owen.

Days later Celaena and Chaol are in the library and she's looking for information on the wyrdmarks

“No. Yes. It’s interesting: some theories suggest the Mother Goddess is just a spirit from one of these other worlds, and that she strayed through something called a Wyrdgate and found Erilea in need of form and life.”

(...)

“There’s an idea that before the Goddess arrived, there was life—an ancient civilization, but somehow, they disappeared. Perhaps through that Wyrdgate thing. Ruins exist—ruins too old to be of Fae making.”

Is this the same Mother of the acotar universe? Did she just go around creating worlds and starting religions?

Shouldn't Chaol be investigating the gruesome serial murders happening in the castle rather than guarding Celaena in the library?? Almost like he's the Captain of the Royal Guard or something

[wyrdgates] were both real and invisible things. Humans could not see them, but they could be summoned and accessed using the Wyrdmarks. They opened into other realms, some of them good, some of them bad. Things could come through from the other side and slither into Erilea.

Maybe the clock tower is a marker for a gate or something

It was a large black volume entitled The Walking Dead in tarnished silver letters. Lolol what the heck is this

Celaena reads from the black book that smells like soil and is giving her chills and spooky stuff starts to happen. She's hearing things. I like these horror elements and I wish sjm would lean into it

There was a scraping noise somewhere beneath her feet—close, as if someone were running a fingernail along the ceiling below. Celaena slammed the book shut and stepped away from the table. The hair on her arms rose, and she almost stumbled into the nearest table as she waited for something—a hand; a wing; a gaping, fanged mouth—to appear and grab her.

It was ...Chaol trying to ...scare her? Um what??

Chapter 28

Celaena is trying to play pool and failing and Dorian manages to sneak up on her again. One might think he was the world's greatest assassin.

Dorian is great at pool and Celaena isn't, I see where this is going.

Though it was the oldest and most shameless trick in the book, he reached over her and put his hand on top of the one that gripped the cue. He then positioned the fingers of her other hand on the wood before lightly gripping her wrist. To Dorian’s dismay, his face became warm. His eyes shifted to her, and, to his relief, he found that she was as red as he, if not more so.

After that we get a montage of them playing pool, eating cake and chatting the night away.

I get what sjm is doing, page time is limited - or at least it once was before everyone and their mom started publishing 800 page tomes of fantasy romance - but this isn't actually showing, it's telling.

We see Celaena's connection to Chaol, we can track the changes and levels of intimacy in their conversations from one to the next but again with Dorian it's a lot of "trust me" writing.

It's better from Dorian's pov because he notes things about her and genuinely wants to know more. But Celaena's pov is just "wow, Dorian is hot, wanna kiss him"

Chapter 29

Another Test, essentially just duels.

Context; Some random makes a remark about Celaena and Nox Owen defends her and it starts a little scuffle

Pelor, who had been lingering nearby, retreated a few steps. Smart move.

Added this just to highlight my fave. Pelor for the win.

Celaena loses her temper and absolutely owns the random dude in a spar without unsheathing her sword.

Kaltain Rompier POV

Across the castle, Kaltain Rompier clapped lightly as a troupe of acrobats finished their tumbling. The performance had stopped at last. She didn’t feel inclined to watch peasants bouncing about in bright colors for hours, but Queen Georgina enjoyed it, and had invited her to sit beside the throne today.

What if I told you Kaltain was against the exploitation of the working class lol

Kaltain is being bewitched. She suffers insane nightmares and migraines and swears she hears a voice in her head.

Kaltain and Georgina gossiping, I love them

“What a pity. I had hoped that you of all people would know. You’re such a clever girl, Kaltain.” “Thank you, Your Majesty. You are too kind.” “Nonsense. I’m an excellent judge of character; I knew how extraordinary you were the moment you entered the court.

Exactlyyy

Kaltain manages to get it out of Georgina that the Queen thinks Kaltain's beauty and wealth more than make up her lack in status - enough to even earn her approval to aim for Dorian.

Chapter 30

“You’re not focusing.” “Yes, I am!” Celaena said through her teeth, pulling the bowstring back even farther. “Then go ahead,” Chaol said, pointing to a distant target along the far wall of the abandoned hallway. An outrageous distance for anyone—except her. “Let’s see you make that.” She rolled her eyes and straightened her spine a bit. The bowstring quivered in her hand, and she lifted the tip of her arrow slightly. “You’re going to hit the left wall,” he said, crossing his arms. “I’m going to hit you in the head if you don’t shut up.” She turned her head to meet his gaze. His brows rose, and, still staring at him, she smiled wickedly as she blindly fired the arrow. The whiz of the arrow’s flight filled the stone hallway before the faint, dull thud of impact. But they remained gazing at each other.

See how different the Chaol x Celaena moments are? The reader is allowed to feel the chemistry for themselves.

It's suddenly 3 weeks since the last competitor's murder so a little over one month left until Yulemas and the final duel

Celaena tells Chaol that Cain knows who she is but they are interrupted to be told another body has been found. It's the random guy that she beat in the sparring Test.

At the crime scene Celaena turns into Sherlock Holmes despite her job not requiring this level of skill and Chaol turns into someone born yesterday with no deductive reasoning despite having been the lead investigator for all murders up until now.

we love breaking the worldbuilding to make our self-insert character look cool

Later, Dorian catches her unaware for the third time. He might as well be his dad's Champion

"(...) But what a miserable day it was! The pups are mutts, and—” He put his head in his hands. “Pups?” “One of my bitches gave birth to a litter of mongrels. Before, they were too young to tell. But now . . . Well, I’d hoped for purebreds.” “Are we speaking of dogs or of women?” “Which would you prefer?” He gave her an impish grin.

...

Celaena's connection to music is further reinforcing the idea that Rhysand is the main character in acotar. SJM cannot help her self-centred writing and I think that slipped from one favourite to the next.

Also makes me think about Dorian as her endgame the way Feyre is Rhysand's.

This is one of the best Dorian and Celaena moments so far. He genuinely wants to know more about her but Celaena has so many secrets she's keeping not from him but from herself - she's locked her past away and she's terrified of opening that box.

He looked at the window and the snow that swirled beyond. “I’m not married,” he said softly, “because I can’t stomach the idea of marrying a woman inferior to me in mind and spirit. It would mean the death of my soul.”

Dorian, you're pretty and I like you but you're on thin fucking ice. Again, Rhysand is just Dorian in a black tunic. The whole "my equal thing" is exhibit E

Celaena drags him for it as she should but not for viewing other women as inferior to him obviously because she's sjm...

You deserve to be laughed at for such foolish thoughts! I spoke from my soul; you speak only from selfishness.” (Celaena) “You’re remarkably judgmental.” (Dorian) “What’s the point in having a mind if you don’t use it to make judgments?” (Celaena) “What’s the point in having a heart if you don’t use it to spare others from the harsh judgments of your mind?” (Dorian) “Oh, well said, Your Highness!” He stared at her sullenly. “Come now. I didn’t wound you that severely.” (Celaena) “You’ve attempted to ruin my dreams and ideals. I get enough from my mother as it is. You’re just being cruel.” (Dorian) “I’m being practical. There’s a difference. And you’re the Crown Prince of Adarlan. You’re in a position where it’s possible for you to change Erilea for the better. You could help create a world where true love isn’t needed to secure a happy ending.” (Celaena)

Nice exchange, good dialogue.

He looked at his hand, still touching hers. “Where did you get that ring?” She contracted her hand into a fist as she pulled it away from him. The amethyst in her ring glowed in the firelight. “It was a gift.” “From whom?” “That’s none of your concern.” He shrugged, though she knew better than to tell him who’d really given it to her—rather, she knew Chaol wouldn’t want Dorian to know. “I’d like to know who’s been giving rings to my Champion.” The way the collar of his black jacket lay across his neck made her unable to sit still. She wanted to touch him, to trace the line between his tan skin and the golden lining of the fabric.

Hahaha, why did we ever get rid of love triangles? I'm kinda enjoying this

Skip to another day and Chaol is watching Duke Perrington and noting the weird expressions that pass over his face every now and then.

Perrington’s eyes fell upon the black ring on his left hand and darkened, as if his pupils had expanded to encompass all of each eye. Then it was gone—his eyes returned to normal. Chaol looked to Kaltain. Had she noticed the odd change?

He later thinks Perrington was watching him right back.

----

Overall still okay with little peaks and dips here and there.

Already rewrite ideas begin to fill my mind about how the core 4 could have been better set up but I'll leave stuff like that for after I've finished this first book at least.

#throne of glass #sjm critical #celaena sardothien #dorian havilliard #chaol westfall #nehemia ytger #tog #ae read throne of glass

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