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pvrkacciosan · 2 years

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The Heart of the Lioness: ☽⋆7⋆☾

Race to the Line

The Heart of the Lioness Masterlist

Previous Part

Brielle was in front of him now, after having had spent hour chancing her through thick woodlands, as they stay away from the castle for as long as they possibly could.

She arched into a fit of laughter when Fenrys curled his fingers into her side, tickling the skin there that became exposed as he lifted the hem of her shirt up only to gain a little bit of access to her, his whole body was thrumming with the feeling of righteous when she pushed her hands into his chest, walking him back into a tree, Brielle leaned up and Fenrys let out a guttural groan when she pushed her lips fully onto his,

Hands ravaging through her hair, which had fallen from her braid, Fenrys used his grip to pull her closer to him, the urge to just be with her forcing every part of him to cling to every part of her, Pulling her closer by the waist Fenrys gripped the bottom of her shirt and Brielle didn't fight as she helped him tug it up and over her head.

Spinning her around, Brielle biting into his lower lip to keep in contact with his mouth she moaned when he pushed his body against hers, trapping her between him and the tree.

Fenrys depend the kiss, running a hand along the warmth of her toned stomach, curling a finger into the valley between her breast, breaking the kiss to incline down and kissing the skin where his hand had been, sucking the warming flesh before biting it with his canines, The sound of Brielle's panting had Fenrys rubbing against her harder,

He growled in frustration at his lack of access to the part of her he wanted— needed. Bringing a knee up to rest between her legs, against her pubic bone, Fenrys ground at the warmth he met there, his voice was low when he spoke into her skin, "Bree, Jump" the command was direct enough for her to obey instantly, She obliged and Fenrys pushed against her harder, wrapping hands around to keep her in place,

Her fingertips burned his scalp in the places where they dug into his hair, she met his lips against, before allowing him to break it, having gained clear access to the exposed parts of her neck, he pressed feathered kissed around the column of her throat, she shifted and groan against him, if he could only want for this for the rest of his immortal life, He would be more then happy. She was with him and against him right now, skin to skin, and connected on such a level Fenrys could and would do anything she asked of him. Without Question.

Fenrys was shaken awake by a hand on his shoulder, jolting him up from the depths of his sleep. The memory of her leaving him utterly breathless. Gavriel leaned over him, eyes pinched slightly in a questioning glance.

"We're here" was the older males only response, Pulling his body up with a grunt of effort, Fenrys leaned forwards elbow onto his knees as the boat around them rocked with the waves that beat against the vessels sides. Rubbing the heels of his palms into his eyes, the image of her burned into the backs of his eyelids, every time he blinked he could see her, smell her on his cloths, and saw her eyes when Gavriel looked at him.

With his mate still a heavy thought in his mind Fenrys pushed to his feet and moved to follow Gavriel out. His body ached, but not from any amount of training but from being at a distance to Brielle, his chest felt like someone had shot straight through it and left behind a gaping hole, he knew only Brielle could fill. Because while he slept everything had been whole again when she visited in his dreams.

The air outside the ships cabin was cooler on this continent then on Doranelle, Fenrys cupped a hand around the top of the hatchet at his side. Gavriel was walking down to the deck, towards the dock in Skulls bay. Their search would start here, asking the Pirate Lord —Rolfe if he had heard anything of Lorcan, if not, they would both head south.

Fenrys caught up the few paces to be at Gavriel's side when a message runner ran up to them, a worn brown cap on his head and a bag slung across his shoulder, Gavriel looked down at the human boy expectantly, waiting for the young lad who must have been around thirteen, to speak, the boy stopped and his jaw dropped open slightly, with a shaky hand he extended a letter. Gavriel took it with a nod, and the stunned boy was off once more. Running back along the wooden dock way.

Fenrys watched the boy disappear as Gavriel broke the wax seal and read the message scribbled down on the piece of parchment.

Gavriel swore, causing Fenrys to finally look at him and the letter in his hand, looking over the other males shoulder, Fenrys heart stopped in his chest at the word written in a familiar handwriting, the words were etched in the old Fae language, Gavriel read the words to him,

"Maeve's Armada going to Eyllwe, and Brielle is coming to Erilea" he breathes, his eyes traced down the rest of the page to the words written in the common tongue,

Maeve knows.

Fenrys wasn't sure he nor Gavriel were breathing properly, this changes things.

"It doesn't make any sense why Maeve would let her go," Gavriel's features were pinched in confusion,

"The sooner she's here with us the better" Fenrys couldn't bare the thought of Brielle, his mate being stuck in Doranelle with Maeve, now the Queen had made it known she knew about them

"Yes but why?" Gavriel asked again, folding the piece of paper and shoving it into a pocket inside his cloak,

Fenrys didn't know, or care particularly why his mate was coming across to Erilea, but he knew she would end up seeing them sooner or later,

"That is something we can deal with later right now lets just go find this self proclaimed pirate lord, we may be able to use the information of Maeve's Armada to persuade him into giving up Lorcan's whereabouts"

The streets of skulls bay were quiet as night drew closer, people snuggled up inside the warmth of their shacked homes, so none looked on as the two Fae males moved through their streets, invisible to those who didn't so much as look their way.

Finding lodgings was easy, everything was pretty well signposted, Fenrys had to hand it to this Rolfe guy, he had efficiently run this place. The last he had heard of this man, was a few years ago from Brielle one of her spies had caught wind of Rolfe losing out on a huge amount of profit of a couple ships full with slaves, Brielle had ranted to him about it for weeks, because if she had known she would have got the slaves out, but a couple Assassins from Adarlan had beaten her to it. Brielle had managed to get the name of the male Assassin, Fenrys wracked his brain for a name but none came to mind, but Brielle had tried tracking the pair down, but the Assassins guild had been pretty tight lipped about their employees from what he could remember.

He wondered what Rolfe would do now if he knew word of his humiliation was known all the way to Doranelle, Fenrys doubted he would care all to much, but still the thought crossed his mind and with a smirk he continued to follow Gavriel.

Meeting with the Pirate Lord of Skulls bay was much easier then trying to convince him to talk, Fenrys was grinding down his teeth by the time the conversations was coming to an end,

"I have not heard anything about who you're looking for" Rolfe had spoken to them, leaning back into his chair and clasping together his two gloved hands, sending a relaxed stare to each of them

Gavriel and Fenrys shared a identical look.

"I will thank you for the warning, and for that I can offer you a couple days stay in your lodging free of charge until you are ready to depart"

Oh how Fenrys would love to leave Brielle in a room with this man, by the look of Gavriel's face, he was thinking the same thing, but atlas their meeting did not amount to much as they left to venture back to their lodgings.

"That man will get himself backed into a corner in this war if he continues on like that" Gavriel said while they began to settle down for the night.

Stripped of weapons for the night to two Fae male warriors lay awake, as the darkness of the night consumed the room they slept in, Fenrys couldn't help but think of his other half, who was almost half a world away, but she was coming for them and that was all that mattered to him while he close his eyes and let darkness take over him, welcoming the memories of her that visited him when he slept.

☽⋆❈⋆☾

Brielle lowered herself down into the cave hidden by the darkness of night, the dwindling light not helping in any way as she tried to navigate herself through the caverns, knowing fully well where to go she let memory guide her, a hand pressed to the moss coated wall as she ventured in. The little she could see was all down to her Fae sight, not much had changed and soon she was coming across a chest sat in the middle, a pool of moonlight shining through a hole in the caves roof.

Stalking across Brielle crouched down next to the wooden and brass chest, blowing away the dust layer on it lids, she pried her fingers into the grooves, pulling on the lid, it didn't budge at first but giving it a heave, she grunted in effort, but the lid gave a resounding crack as it snapped open.

Throwing the lid back until it hung on its own, Brielle brushed her dust covered hands off on her trouser leg, narrowed eyes scanning the contents, it was jus as it had been left, huge amounts of paper, scrolls and books laid around the bottom pit of the chest, leaning over the edge and into it Brielle grabbed for a couple of the books, heaving them up and over the edge she dumped them before turning back into the contents, grabbing for a folder of pages all thrown together, most of the pages over hundreds of years old.

Brielle rested it in her lap, rubbing a thumb over the familiar symbol of the lions paw print. Shoving that quickly into her bag as well, Brielle sat back up and pulled the lid across the chest once more, holding a hand across a lock of magic began to form as she willed it too, weaving like the stems of a rose bush around the chest.

Once it was encased enough for her to being wholly satisfied, Brielle gathered her things and began to venture to the entrance of the caverns once more. Isaiah waited for her, seeing her emerge he rose from his place sat on a rock, a small smile on his lips.

Swinging the pack from her shoulder, Brielle reached inside for the folder with the Lion's paw printed on the front, she didn't want to hand this over, but it was a necessary sacrifice for what she fear may be inevitable now.

Isaiah knew what this folder meant, and what she wanted him to do, Teyra was doing her part and the letter she sent out would be arriving soon. It was time for him to do the same. His part in this, Brielle trusted to him the most, no other Fae male she had met could do this, she was trusting him with and she knew him too well to know he would get this done by any means necessary.

They all had a part to play in this fight, Brielle had known how that was to be the moment one of the mightiest Kingdoms fell and Maeve refused to do anything. Brielle was not like the women she served, she couldn't sit back and let others fight her battles for her. If her brother, Mate and friends were fighting then so was she, and if that meant getting her hands a little dirty in the process then so be it.

Isaiah wrapped his arms around her as a goodbye, squeezing her tight against him,

"This will work, Boss" he muttered to her,

"I god damn hope so" she didn't mean for her voice to sound so broken

Pulling from him Brielle wiped away a quick tear and gestured for him to go, he obliged the order quickly, hoping onto the back of the horse which had brought them both this far, Turning towards the coastline that lay between her and her mate Brielle looked outwards to the setting sun,

So be it all, if this was what she had to do for that world with Fenrys, where they could raise their kids in the house he could build for them, then she would do anything, no amount of water will keep her from him. She had to see him before it all clashed at once, seeing the faint edged of Erilea Brielle sucked in a breath at the reminder of her task.

Her spies had heard word of what it was exactly Aelin of the Wildfire was offering everybody. A free world.

Brielle was going to help her get that, no matter the cost.

. . .

Taglist: @dreamiezpsycho @lunaralaraspace

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#throne of glass #fenrys moonbeam #fenrys x o.c #empire of storms #tower of dawn #kingdom of ash #aelin #gavriel #rowan #sarah j mass #throne of glass fanfic #throne of glass fanfiction

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385bookreviews · 2 months

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1.72.1 The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas

SPOILERS (for The Assassin's Blade and also some minor plot spoilers for the rest of the series)

Pages Total: 435 The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: 75 The Assassin and the Healer: 37 The Assassin and the Desert: 106 The Assassin and the Underworld: 104 The Assassin and the Empire: 98

Time Read: 7 hours and 5 minutes

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

Genre: YA Fantasy

TWs for the book: Death, violence, murder, torture, blood, slavery, physical abuse, grief, gore, injury, emotional abuse, vomit, confinement, gaslighting, body horror, kidnapping, toxic relationship, child abuse, trafficking, domestic abuse, fire, toxic friendship, stalking, discussion of death of a parent, war, alcohol, s*xual harassment, adult/minor relationship, sexism/misogyny, s*xual content, cursing, colonization, abandonment, classism, alcoholism, discussions or r*pe, prostitution

POV: Third person

Time Period/Location: The Capital of Adarlan, Rifthold; The Red Desert, Innish, Skull's Bay, Xandria, Endovier. This book contains five novellas set over a year before Throne of Glass takes place.

First Line: Seated in the council room of the Assassins' Keep, Celaena Sardothien leaned back in her chair.

The book starts out with The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. Celaena Sardothien and her rival, Sam Cortland, are sent to see Rolfe, the Pirate Lord of Skull's Bay. Arobynn Hamel, their master and the King of the Assassin's tells them that he wants them to demand payment for Rolfe killing some of his assassin's. When they arrive, however, they discover they are meant to be brokering a slave trade between Rolfe and Arobynn. Celaena and Sam are both appalled and set aside their rivalry in order to take down Rolfe and free 200 slaves. They succeed, and Celaena forces Rolfe to sign a document saying that he will never again participate in the slave trade, or she will hunt him down and kill him.

In the next story, The Assassin and the Healer, Celaena is in the town of Innish, on her way to the Red Desert to train with the Silent Assassins as punishment from Arobynn for having destroyed his deal with Rolfe. He beat her unconscious and then sent her on her way giving her two months to travel to and fro, and a month to be with the Silent Assassins. In Innish, she comes across a girl named Yrene, a former healer who lost her magic and her mother to Adarlan's empire. She had been working at the White Pig Inn for a year, hoping to save up enough money to travel to the southern continent and learn to become a healer at the Torre Cesme. While taking out the trash that night, Yrene is mugged by mercenaries, but Celaena fortunately comes to her rescue and kills the men. After Yrene wraps Celaena's wounds, Celaena teaches her how to defend herself. Just when they're about to be done, more mercenaries attack, and Celaena, with the help of Yrene, are able to fend them off. Celaena leaves Yrene a considerable sum of money and a large ruby to pay for her passage to the southern continent. Yrene leaves for the Torre Cesme immediately, and Celaena leaves for the Red Desert.

The Assassin and the Desert begins with Celaena trudging through the desert to reach the keep of the Silent Assassins. When she arrives, she is tested by the Mute Master by having four of his men attack her, all of which she easily fends off. He then passes her off to Ansel, a swaggering red head in full armor, and they share a room. Celaena is eager to begin training with the Mute Master, since Arobynn will not let her back until she returns with a sealed letter of approval. But she is told she must wait and spends her days running through the desert to the oasis and training with Ansel. The Silent Assassins are regularly antagonized by Lord Berick, the leader of Xandria, the port city to the south. Ansel is sent to Xandria to try and treaty with him after an attack, and Celaena goes with her. The girls become fast friends, especially after Ansel shares the true story of how she was a lady at Briarcliff, in the Flatlands of the abandoned Witch Kingdom, and a greedy lord killed her father and sister and burned her home to the ground. After the meeting with Lord Berick, Ansel and Celaena steal two of his Asterion horses, incredibly fast horses that were bred by the Fae. When they return, the Mute Master makes them take care of the animals every morning as punishment, but he does finally agree to train Celaena. He makes her study snakes, rabbits, bats, and other desert creatures to learn their movements so she can become a better fighter. Five days before Celaena is supposed to leave she and Ansel fight. As an apology, Ansel brings her some wine, but it was poisoned. She wakes up in the middle of the desert with her Asterion horse, a sealed letter of approval from the Mute Master, and a note from Ansel saying that she is doing this to protect her. Celaena begins to head towards Xandria to catch a ship, but sees Lord Berick's forces, marching towards the Keep. She races back, but they are already under attack. She runs to the Mute Master, and finds Ansel's lover dead, the Mute Master's son Ilias wounded, and the Mute Master paralyzed. Ansel stands over him about to behead him, but Celaena attacks. They fight, and Ansel reveals she killed her own lover, and made a deal with Lord Berick: the Mute Master's head and the assassins dead, and he will give her forces to go and reclaim Briarcliff. Celaena defeats her, and even though she is hurt by her betrayal, she gives her 20 minutes to get out of the Keep before she shoots her with an arrow. Celaena ends up giving her 21 minutes and purposefully misses, even though Ansel wasn't out of range. The Mute Master gives Celaena her sealed letter of approval, and also enough gold to free herself of her debt to Arobynn Hamel.

Celaena arrives back in Rifthold in The Assassin and the Underworld, planning to free herself from Arobynn once and for all and move into her own apartment. However, she returns to find Arobynn deeply remorseful of his actions, and he showers her with gifts and assigns her an assassination of an important Melisande man named Doneval. He tells her that Doneval is planning on exposing everyone in the nobility that doesn't support the slave trade, safe houses, and rebels. She says she'll think about it, and runs into Sam. She is relieved to see him in one piece, and begins to have a lot of feelings about him come forward as she remembers he promised to kill Arobynn while he was beating her. Just then, Lysandra, one of the courtesans owned by Arobynn's friend Clarisse, appears and begins flirting with Sam. Celaena agrees to kill Doneval, and attends the theatre, a ball held by his ex wife (the person who hired Celaena to kill him), and spies outside of his house in preparation. She attempts to break into his house to scope out where he will be meeting his contact and exchanging paperwork the day she is going to kill him, but is caught by his guards and tied to a chair in the sewers right before they're flooded. She manages to escape the chair, but almost drowns. Sam rescues her, and the next day he professes his love for her. They manage to assassinate Doneval, but Sam blows up his house and the documents Celaena was supposed to retrieve were lost. She chases after Doneval's contact, but he kills himself and sets the papers on fire before Celaena can retrieve them or interrogate him. From the remains of the papers, Celaena begins to piece together that she might have been lied to. She goes before Arobynn, who is angry at her for not retrieving the documents. He then reveals that Doneval's ex wife actually deals in the slave trade and wanted to be rich, and that is why she wanted her husband assassinated, as he was a rebel and planning on freeing the slaves. Arobynn tells her this was punishment for Skull's Bay, and Celaena pays her debt and Sam's with the gold she was given by the Mute Master and leaves.

In the final novella, The Assassin and the Empire, Sam and Celaena are living in their own apartment across the city. Sam is cage fighting in an underground tavern called the Vaults in order to make ends meet, and they can't find anyone to hire them. Sam and Celaena agree to move away from Rifthold, and they pay Arobynn the parting cost for breaking away from the Assassin's Guild, which takes away all of Celaena's savings. They agree to find one more contract before they go. Sam takes a contract from a mysterious man who wants Ioan Jayne and Roarke Farran, the leader and second of the criminal underworld of Rifthold, dead. Arobynn warns them against this, but Sam insists he takes out Farran on his own and then letting Celaena kill Jayne. Sam goes to kill Farran, and after hours of waiting, Arobynn arrives to tell Celaena that he is dead, his body tortured and ripped apart and left on the door step of the Assassin's Keep. Celaena goes to see his body and falls asleep next to it, and wakes up in her old room. She hears Arobynn and the other assassins conversing outside her door about going to kill Jayne and Farran, and then Arobynn locks her door. She escapes out the window, and breaks into Jayne's house, managing to kill him and several guards before they release poisonous gas. Farran hands her over to the Royal Guard, and she is sentenced to 9 lifetimes in Endovier. In the end, it is revealed that Arobynn was the one who betrayed them.

Celaena Sardothien (Dianna Brackyn, Adarlan's Assassin): Celaena definitely doesn't start off as the most likeable protagonist, both in this book as well as in Throne of Glass. She can be quite childish and selfish, and is easily manipulated. You see her start to grow through the book, however, and I think her character development is shown a lot better in this book than in Throne of Glass.

Sam Cortland: Sam and Celaena's romance felt like it came out of nowhere for me, since it was established multiple times how much they previously hated each other.

Arobynn Hamel (The King of the Assassins): Arobynn is definitely an awesome antagonist. You can get really confused and feel for him, as he seems genuine in his emotions, but deep down he is selfish and it always hurts just as bad every time his true colors and intentions show.

Storyline: All of the novellas are well written, cohesive, and don't drag on for too long, while still not feeling rushed. As you get later into the series you realize that SJM brings back a lot of these characters and connects them to the larger plot (Yrene, Ansel, and Rolfe to name a few). While I did feel like Sam and Celaena's relationship was a little forced, it didn't overtake the plot in any way, and it helped Celaena's character growth.

Representation: There is not a lot of good representation in this book unfortunately, Yrene being the only person of color I can think of.

Summary: While Throne of Glass is a little bit of a rocky start, I think The Assassin's Blade comes in to perfectly tie everything together and give a lot of insight on Celaena's past.

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

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teenageread · 2 months

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Review: Assassin's Blade

Synopsis:

Contains all five novellas.

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.

Plot:

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord

16-year-old Celaena is Adarlan’s Assassin, and the one Arobynn chose to be the heir of the Assassin's Guild. Therefore, there was no way she was going to say no when instructed with this important task, even though Arobynn chose her partner to be her constant competition, aka the number two to her number one: Sam Cortland. Together they were to travel to Skull’s Bay and make the deal, as planned, with Captain Rolfe. Only once they got there, Celaena had different plans and had to rely on Sam for help.

The Assassin and the Healer

On her way to the Red Desert to train with the Silent Assassins, Celaena cannot help but get into a fight and save a Healer whose life was not going as planned.

The Assassin and the Desert

At the Red Desert, Celena has a month to gain the Mute Master respect, his training, and a letter of approval for her to give to Arobynn. But gaining the Mute Master permission for training was not as easy as Celena thought. Becoming friends with her roommate Ansel, Cleena begins to see the Silent Assassins, where killers just like her, relied on each other for help and guidance, and not like Arobynn who constantly pinned them against each other.

The Assassin and the Underworld

Returning home with her letter of approval, Arobynn tries to buy back her love with presents, jewelry, and a mission that was suited just for her. With Sam being very friendly with Lysandra, Celena cannot help but return her old feelings of rivalry with Sam. But needing his help on this mission, Sam and Celena work as a team in order to complete Celena’s “gift” of a mission.

The Assassin and the Empire

Sam and Celaena were free. They had their own house, and where they were a part of the Guild, Arobynn was not giving them any missions to work with. Needing a clean break, Celaena approached Arobynn for his blessing to let them leave the Guild, where Sam got them a one-way ticket out of Adarlan. With a final mission that could lead them a life outside of crime out of Adarlan, the clock is ticking down on the mission, and on the time Sam and Celaena have left together.

Thoughts:

If you wanted more Celena, then Sarah Maas brought it to you with these five novellas. These stories tell the events leading up to the first novel “Throne of Glass”that tells us about Celena’s adventures, and how she meets the people that are brought to life in the fifth book “Empire of Storm”. This is where I suggest reading these novellas, after five and before six, as five gives you an introduction to the, hinting about the past Celena has with them, that you can explore before going deeper into their story. Maas' writing was short and sweet, really getting to the heart of these novellas within a short time frame and had them line up so they flowed into one big story well. The only part that sort of ruined the series for me was the realistic short timing of Sam and Celena’s relationship. Starting from The Throne of Glass, Celena weaves the story that Sam was the love of her life, and his death destroyed her, but in these five novellas, well actually only three, you got to see their entire relationship. Making their great love, that from the regular series seems like a long-term commitment, to only a month-long at best. And before that, they hated each other, so emotions really took a turn from enemies to lovers within that Skull’s Bay trip. Or maybe that is just how real love works, and it is more of a shame that their relationship ended so soon. Are they necessary to read for the series? No, after all these novellas take place before her time in Endovier, so their content only matters in learning the truth behind her and Sam’s relationship, how she met the people in the five novels (who I am assuming are going to make an appearance in the sixth and final novel), and give you background story. Overall, these novellas helped expand the universe, you get to learn in present tense Celena’s time within the Assassin Guild, when she was still its prime member, and get more Celena action that helps you learn about her past which affects her choices throughout the series.

Read more reviews: Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon

#The Assassin's Blade #Throne of Glass #Sarah J Maas #book review

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hopeless-crisp · 1 year

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The Assassin’s Blade First Read Thread

This will not be a spoiler-free thread -- you’ve been warned.

Just reached ch. 5.

Having also read the ACOTAR series, I’m beginning to think Miss Mass has a mask kink. No shame. I’m into it.

Also, I would read the smuttiest fanfiction about Captain Rolfe, Lord of the Pirates. Unfortunately, I’ve already checked fanfiction.net and could not find any. So, if anyone has any recs... Now that I’m thinking about it, there might not be any fanfic for a reason... p.s. my vision of Rolfe is much different than the fanart I’ve found and it will not be changed.

The banter between Sam x Cel... Calen... Fuck sake. Celaena -- the banter between Sam x Celaena is delicious.

I was really ready to back Celaena up at the beginning when Sam was being an a-hole, but it’s pretty obvious he’s like secretly in love with her, right? You don’t passive-aggressively flirt with someone that hard unless you’re deeply and madly in love. I might be wrong though, and then I’ll be terribly embarrassed when I read this back.

Right. After reading ch. 5, I’ve decided to retract my comment about reading smutty fanfiction about Rolfe. There are hotter men out there who aren’t slaver-traders, so. That’s all.

OKAY. Just finished The Assassin and the Pirate Lord. Shouldn’t have taken me that long, but it did. 5 out of 5 pirates. Little adventure, little heroics, little bit of blossoming romance.

I do want to know what Abor... Aro... Arobynn! I want to know what Arobynn (literally don’t even know how to pronounce that) thinks about their deviation from his plan... But it also kind of feels like he set them up to do what they did, rather than just blindly accept the slaves? Could be wrong though. Hopefully I find out.

#assassin's blade #sarah j maas #review #book review #fantasy #spoilers

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evolving-dreamer · 3 years

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Aelin @ Pirate Lord Rolfe whenever he complains about her destroying his town and ships at age 16:

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witchofhewaterfall · 4 years

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Rereading ToG is so amusing because constantly after HoF, Aelin is put down and judged for her life as an assassin by nearly everyone, yet most of their allies in the war came from her contacts she made as Celaena.

#suck it #she put down so many people with her amazingness #like darrow #aelin galathynius #aelin ashryver #love her #celaena sardothien #aedion ashryver #ansel of briarcliff #silent assassins #pirate lord rolfe #yrene towers #to name a few #rowan whitethorn #technically #she met him as celaena and because she was on a contract #then his cadre #she was still amazing as celaena

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pocthroneofglass · 5 years

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poc throne of glass: aelin & rolfe

“Oh, don’t look so put out, Captain. You hate me, I hate you, we both hate being told what to do by busybody, overlording empires--it’s a perfect pairing.”

requests

#requests #wow sorry this took forever #poctog edit #aelin ashryver galathynius #pirate lord rolfe #rolfe of skull's bay #does he even have a tag #throne of glass #tog #the assassin and the pirate lord #eos #empire of storms

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lysandra-emerald · 3 years

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Archipelago - the pirate city...

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leiawritesstories · 1 year

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: DEFINITELY NOT THE TIME

Word count: 5.7k

Warnings: language, storms, battle, guns, weapons, blood, screaming, death, a few degrading words, more killing, general pirate chaos

A/N: most of this chapter is stolen from based off the maelstrom scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. you do not need to have seen the movie, of course, I just have to cite my sources 🤣 Also, to anyone who may potentially be offended: yes, I satirized the English national anthem in this chapter. I couldn't resist.

Enjoy!!!

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“TRIM SAIL!” Aelin hollered, waving broadly at her crew as theys crambled about the ship’s deck, preparing the cannons and other various weapons and ran up into the rigging to cut back the amount of canvas. As the wind picked up, the Terrasen took mere scraps of canvas, just enough sail to keep ahead of the winds without risking teetering and capsizing. Aelin paced back and forth across her deck, checking the Orynth and the Doranelle to her flanks almost every minute.

Across the churning sea, she caught sight of Rowan signaling her from his quarterdeck.

He was ready.

She spared him a tight nod in return, wishing with all her heart that she could be next to him, that she could speak her reassurance touch his tattooed skin and whisper one more “I love you” into his ear. But she was on her ship and he on his and the Orynth floating between them, all the pirates ready to face this squadron of Navy.

And ideally blast the little shits into hell.

The wind curled around the tops of the masts, whistling and wailing like so many voices, plantive cries to the heavens or perhaps the faint echoes of the gods whipping up a storm in their fury. Aelin glanced up at the pirates in the rigging, waving her hat in a broad loop.

The man up on the mainmast waved his knife back at her, signaling that they were all prepared.

Good.

Let the Navy come, then.

Captain Abraham Graves, Commander of HMS Champion, had been out on a mundane patrol, every day just like the one before it, with hope only for next month’s refreshment of the squadron so he could go home to his mistress and his bed. Every morning, he woke up grumpier and grumpier, grouching at his men to do their goddamned duty so they could all go home faster. But could you blame him? Six months on patrol was a damn while, especially for a man as accustomed to worldly pleasures as Captain Graves.

So when the lookout brought him an intercepted message of some sort, he was very, very interested.

Even more so when it turned out that message was from Rolfe himself, the notorious pirate king’s own hand signing the bottom of the page. The message wasn’t addressed to anyone--damn shame, he would’ve liked to know which of Rolfe’s filthy horde of scoundrels was coming their way--but it was very clear. The pirate was calling an assembly.

Which meant that Captain Abraham Graves himself had a very fucking good chance of intercepting whichever fool pirate came his way.

Now that, he called good business.

Of course, he’d nearly had a heart attack when, a couple of weeks later, his First Lieutenant informed him that the pirates they’d sighted were a certain green-painted ship sailing in tandem with a certain black-trimmed one, the pair of pirate captains two of the names one never, ever wanted to hear while at sea.

Captain Ash Galathynius of the Terrasen, and Captain Rowan Whitethorn of the Doranelle. And their crews of highly trained and even more bloodthirsty pirate scoundrels.

He’d been hoping the squadron could snag a random pirate or two, or if they were lucky, maybe even a ship and a batch of captives to haul into the city and present to the Queen, but this? Finding two of the ocean’s most infamous pirate lords? Together?

As the wind picked up and the rain beat steadily down, Captain Graves strolled across his quarterdeck nodding and grinning in anticipation, readying himself to meet the two pirate bastards and kick the shit out of them.

He was going to be promoted to admiral for damn sure.

“Guess the rat bastard’s sending out the big guns,” Elide snickered, joining Aelin on the quarterdeck. “Too bad it won’t do him any good.”

Aelin snorted. “Thinks he’s so smart, sending in gun shallop, hmm?” She threw her second a lewd wink. “Such a man thing, overcompensation.”

Elide wheezed. “Fuckin’ gods, Cap!”

“I’m not wrong!”

“Hell no.” Elide snickered. “I could tell you all about overcompensation, I could…”

“Fuck, no!” Aelin yelped, smacking Elide’s shoulder. “No!”

“Serves ya right,” Elide giggled. “You and Whitethorn keepin’ us up all night.”

“Oh, Ells,” Aelin smirked, regaining her swagger. “I do believe you and Salvaterre do a plenty fine job keepin’ yourselves up all night, yes I do.”

Elide grumbled something crass that Aelin chose not to hear and whipped one of her pistols out of its holster. “Let’s go obliterate some Navy, eh?”

“Cheers to that!” Drawing her own pistol, Aelin knocked it into Elide’s in a darkly piratical imitation of a toast. “Take what you can!”

“Leave nothing behind!”

Elide swung herself over the quarterdeck railing and dropped down to the main deck, careful not to slip on the rain-slick planks, hollering at the gun crews to get their bloodthirsty asses off the ground. “We’ve got ships to blow up!” she yelled, waving her pistol.

As the gun shallop approached, the voices of the small crew rowing it rose into the air in chorus.

Gods save the glooooooorious Queeeeeen!

“Fuck me,” Elide snorted. “They singin’ their goddamn anthem?”

“Gotta give themselves something to look forward to,” Manon snorted, the taller pirate appearing from the lower gun deck. “Too bad they can’t sing for shit.”

Elide scoffed. “I’ll make ‘em sing.”

“Mhmm,” Manon agreed, grinning viciously. “Sing themselves down to hell.”

Smirking, Elide knocked the butt of her pistol into Manon’s fist. “Don’t get shot, Blackbeak.”

Manon winked. “Don’t get knifed, Lochan.” And she headed back down to her station, yelling at the lower-deck pirates to move, godsdammit, and make it today!

The shallop drew closer and closer to the Terrasen, the figures of the Royal Navy men in the small boat becoming clearer. And their damned song becoming louder, unfortunately.

Send her victooooooooorious! Her reign be gloooooooorious!

Gods saaaaaaaaaaaaave the Queeeeeeeen!

“OR,” Aelin bellowed, waving her sword in a broad circle, “YOU COULD SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

CRASH!

The Terrasen’s guns roared out a blaze of fire and cannonballs, most of them only skimming the sides of the small gun shallop and crashing into the waves, but one or two took out pieces of the boat.

That got the bastards’ fucking attention.

“FIRE!” came the cry from the small boat, and the massive gun fixed into the sturdy hull belched out a great boom and a thirty-two-pound cannonball, which whistled through the air and arced over the Terrasen’s deck, slicing a few ropes but otherwise not doing much damage.

“Came to play, did you?” Aelin called. “Fine. We’ll play.” Sheathing her sword in one smooth motion, she drew one of her pistols and leveled it down towards the Navy boat.

Crack!

“AHHH!” A wordless shriek sounded from one of the Navy men, who windmilled his arms and topped over the side, blood blooming on his previously fine jacket.

“PIRATE BITCH!” another of the Navy men hollered, aiming his gun at her and taking the shot. She ducked, letting the bullet whizz harmlessly over her head, and took the opportunity to fling a throwing knife down at the idiot who’d taken a shot at her. He yelped in fear and pain as the blade sliced across his upper arm. “I’ll fucking kill you!”

“You can try!” Aelin cackled, stomping her booted foot against her deck.

“FIRE!” roared the Navy man.

“FIRE!” Manon yelled from the lower deck.

Both the huge Navy gun and the full broadside of the Terrasen roared out fire and fury, smoke billowing out into the stormy winds. The massive cannonball from the Navy gunboat tore a neat hole in the Terrasen’s sails as it passed, but once again, it splashed into the ocean without doing any grand damage to the ship.

The shallop, though, was not so lucky.

Nearly all of the Terrasen’s cannon hit home, tearing through the shallop’s wood with the vengeance of every blood-hungry pirate on the ship. The Navy men screamed as their little boat rapidly filled with water, the churning ocean opening up her jaws and sucking them eagerly down.

“One down,” Aelin yelled, flourishing her sword. “Only a few more to go!”

The gleeful howls of her crew nearly drowned out the rapidly increasing howling of the wind.

As the pirates turned towards the Navy squadron now charging towards them as fast as the stormy seas would allow, the heavens opened up, and the torrential rain came pouring down.

Rowan trained his gaze on the approaching Navy squadron, plotting how best to take them down. There were five of them, now that the gun shallop rested at the bottom of the sea, two of them twenty-four-gun frigates, two more with forty-four cannon, and the last one clearly the captain’s man-o’-war, with fifty-two cannon total.

“Awful lot o’ firepower for a bunch of dead men,” Lorcan smirked, wiping his soaking-wet hair from his face. “Shit, this rain!”

“Aye,” Rowan agreed, tapping the handles of the pair of axes dangling from his belt. “See how well they do in a storm, eh?”

“Little fuckers prob’ly haven’t been in a storm like this one,” Lorcan grunted. “All the better for us, yeah, Cap?”

“Hell yeah.” Rowan grinned like the completely mad pirate lord he was. “Let’s go make the storm a little more fun for them.” He fired one pistol out over the ocean, his signal to his crew.

Fire at will.

Boom!

Half the Doranelle’s guns spat fire at the approaching Navy, who rather abruptly drew back into something resembling a proper Royal Navy battle formation--or as proper as they could get against the howling winds and the pounding rain and the seething waves. Across the writhing storm, Rowan heard the Navy comamnders yelling orders at their men. Seconds later, the squadron’s guns boomed out, sending fire and smoke and charges.

“DUCK!” Rowan hollered, him and a few others hitting the deck as a rogue cannonball whistled by just above their heads. “Fuckin’ bastards,” he snarled, leaping back up and stomping, calling for another round.

BOOM!

The Doranelle’s guns roared again, this time joined by the smaller but no less deadly firepower of the Orynth to his left flank. He spared a brief glance down to find Aedion Ashryver and--

What the fuck?

Aedion Ashryver and Fenrys Moonbeam led the Orynth, the two blondes running around with the small handful of others on the deck, firing shots at random towards the Navy and generally wreaking havoc in the minds of the overly orderly Royal Navy men who thought that all battles should be a politely ordered exchange of fire.

“Evening, Cap!” Fen hollered, grinning like a fiend as he pulled the firing cord. Crack! The cannon launched a shot out across the churning ocean, landing a hit on one of the smaller Navy frigates.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Rowan chuckled, shaking his head at the antics.

The two wildest men, let loose on their own. Gods.

“Who the fuck thought that was a good idea?” Rowan yelled.

Aedion smirked. “Ask your lady love, Whitethorn.”

“Fuck off,” Rowan grumbled, laughing. Of course, of course Aelin would pull some shit like that.

CRASH!

Speaking of Aelin, that was her yelp that rose, followed rather quickly by her scream of vengeance. Seconds later, the Terrasen’s guns spat out a bright blaze of fire, the shots whirling through the pouring rain to crash into the frigate that had hit her deck.

“Move in!” Rowan called, blood singing in anticipation.

It had been far too long since they got into a nice close, hot, dirty battle.

Three of the five Navy ships were down, the fourth locked far too close to the Doranelle for comfort, the fifth--the Captain’s, of course, that dirty bugger--hanging back from the action but still firing into the fray. Damn bastard probably hoped to wait until the pirates were exhausted and then swoop in and take them.

Too bad he didn’t realize which pirates he was dealing with.

Sword in one hand and pistol in the other, Aelin battled her way through the tangled mess of fights on her deck and the Navy ship’s deck. With all of them so close together, they had, of course, leapt from deck to deck to engage each other, the pirates whooping and hollering and generally doing their very best to strike terror into as many Navy pansies as possible.

“Pirate whore!” yelled a Navy man, charging at Aelin with his sword raised and murder in his eyes.

“That’s a rather mean word,” she said lightly, casually firing her pistol into his chest.

He gurgled blood and slumped to the deck. Sneering, she kicked his body as she passed, swiping the sword from his hand and promptly hurling it like a javelin straight through the shoulder of the next man foolish enough to rush her.

“Nobody speaks to my Cap that way,” Elide growled, steel singing as she cut through the chaos.

Aelin wasn’t the only one who noticed Lorcan Salvaterre blatantly staring at Elide as both of them dispatched the Navy men like a training exercise.

“Quit that--oof!” Her teasing yell cut off into a grunt as someone thwacked the butt of their gun into her ribs. She whirled around, whipping her sword sideways, to find--

“Hullo, Galathynius.”

“Well hello there, Farran,” she returned, sneaking low with her dagger to slice across Rourke Farran’s thigh. The Navy officer grunted, crashing his sword into hers hard enough to send sparks flaring.

Aelin had had the absolutely joy of meeting Rourke Farran, a Royal Navy lieutenant with a particular thirst for pirate blood, when she was sixteen and newly off on her own. He’d gotten into a skirmish with the ship she was on and had taken the pirates prisoner.

Her, being a woman, he’d originally left lightly bound, something he regretted within seconds as she sprang free and shoved the point of her hidden knife up against his throat.

Guess he still carried a grudge for that.

“You’re even fuckin’ uglier than before, and I didn’t think that was possible,” she goaded him, using her lithe grace and lightness to keep Farran constantly moving, chasing her and her rapid-fire blows.

“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” he snarled, lunging for her, the point of his sword just barely scraping her left bicep, enough to draw blood but not to wound.

“Eight years and you still haven’t learned better vocabulary,” she sighed. “Pity.” Steel crashed as the two crossed swords, Aelin moving low with her dagger and Farran nudging the blow aside so it glanced across his knife.

“Eight years an’ you’re still a snarky little slut,” he growled, panting as she increased the speed of her attack. “Fuck!”

Aelin grinned viciously, kicking him in the thigh, right where she’d cut him earlier. “Getting a little tired, old man?”

“Bitch,” Farran hissed, lunging low and thrusting both sword and knife at her.

She dodged, narrowly scraping his knife, and almost before he could blink, she’d swapped her dagger for a pistol. “Pity that was your last word.”

Crack.

The shot went clean through Rourke Farran’s throat.

His sword clanged against the slick, rain-and-worse-soaked deck as he collapsed, hands pressed to his throat as if he could stop the flow of his lifeblood pouring out of him.

“Burn in hell,” Aelin hissed, ripping a strip from the bottom of her shirt and tying it around the cut on her upper arm. It would do until she was done kicking the shit out of the Navy and could get to Lys.

Seeing their lieutenant dead, a group of battered Navy shrieked in fury and charged Aelin, yelling incoherently about damned pirate bitches!

“You men and your pathetic vocabularies,” she sighed, firing three quick shots to dispatch most of them. The fourth kept charging, sword and gun up.

Unfortunately for his gun, he failed to remember that raising a gun up into pouring rain rendered the gunpowder sopping wet and therefore useless.

Dropping the pistol, he picked up a random sword off the deck and stormed toward Aelin with a blade in each hand and rage in his eyes.

“Come and get me,” she taunted, swapping her pistol for the long knife strapped to her thigh.

One of Rowan’s favorite knives, coincidentally, but that wasn’t particularly important at the moment.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you,” the Navy man growled, rushing at her with all the brute force in his somewhat bruised and beat-up self. Aelin dodged his clumsy strike and clashed her sword into his, slamming her knife into the blade in his left hand--his weaker hand--and knocking it to the deck. He grunted in pain and refocused his efforts on his sword and his fists and feet, managing to land a few punches.

Aelin grunted as he managed to somehow land a hit to her ribs, swung back her knife hand, and backhanded him in the face. Hard. Blood and a tooth or three sprayed from his mouth, his head turning sideways with the force of the blow. “Slimy bastard,” she growled, rooting her feet to the slippery planks of the deck to brace herself against his sloppy, rage-fuelled lunge.

Which opened his entire left side to her attack.

“Still haven’t got any brains,” Aelin sighed. Quick and harsh as the maelstrom winds whipping around them, she slid her blade into the gap in his defenses, piercing cloth and flesh and sinew.

The navy man gasped as she withdrew her blade, crumpling to the deck.

“Don’t taint my deck,” she hummed, noting that he was close enough to the gap blown in the railing for her to kick neatly off the side of the ship.

Easy cleanup.

Sword lifted, she turned in a slow pivot, taking in the chaos of the battle raging across her and the Doranelle’s decks. Since her crew was doing such a fine job on their own, she decided to go over and join Rowan for a little bit of…fun. Of course, he’d probably say something very different, but Captain Aelin Galathynius loved herself a good raging battle.

Nothing like killing Navy attackers in a howling storm next to the one you loved, no there was not.

Another blue-jacketed man ran towards her, loosing a high-pitched yowl. Pathetic. She left him for her crew and leapt up into the rigging, grasping a loose line and glancing across the gap between the Terrasen and the Doranelle. Hmm…oh, fuck it, she could make it work.

So Captain Aelin Galathynius took a firm hold of the line and leapt off the rigging of the Terrasen, swinging through the air with her sword in her free hand and a blood-chilling cry on her lips, descending to the Doranelle like every nightmare of the angels of hell.

Her boots struck the deck with a wet thud, sliding a little bit on the soaking wet wood. She whipped her sopping braid out of her face, shaking the water from her jacket, cracked her neck, rolled her shoulders, and raised her sword to the iron-gray, stormy skies. “Come get me, fuckers!” she crowed, grinning madly as a handful of Navy men whirled around and charged the pirate captain.

Towards the other end of the deck, Rowan half-turned at the sound of her yell, laughing as he watched her take on the group of Navy. That’s my fucking Captain, he thought, internally incredibly proud of her.

Aelin’s pistol cracked out a series of shots in rapid succession, sending several more Navy howling to the deck. “So a woman can’t fight, can she?” she smirked, swiping forwards with her long knife and backwards with her sword, dispatching two at once.

Rowan unabashedly goggled at her, captivated. Fucking hell, he wanted to marry her.

What better time than now?

“GALATHYNIUS!” he yelled, battling his way across the deck.

She half turned, striding towards him, steel flashing, pistol blazing, and fists flying as she fought towards him, meeting him in the middle. “What?”

Back to back in front of the mainmast, Rowan and Aelin struck in tandem, swords cutting through the chaos of the battle, the thuds of cannon fire echoing around them, mingling with the crashing waves and pounding rain and howling wind, the battle symphony so glorious to their pirate ears. As one, they pivoted around, finding none but each other.

Rowan clasped Aelin’s hand, fire blazing in those dark pine eyes she loved so much. “Will you marry me?” he shouted over the clamor of the storm, grinning.

Her jaw dropped open. “I don’t think now’s the best time for that!” she yelled.

His sword whistled over her shoulder, batting off a Navy officer. “Now may be the only time!” There was a certain edge of grimness in his tone, amplified by the surging storm and the slow, slow approach of the captain’s ship, which until now had seemed content to stick to the edge of the fray and fire an occasional shot in.

She swore viciously, whipping a throwing knife off her belt and launching it at another Navy behind Rowan. “Still--” she broke away, turning to kick an approaching seaman in the stomach so hard he tumbled off the edge of the ship. “Definitely not the time, Ro!”

His sword bloodied, his face and body sporting more bruises than Aelin cared to count, he grasped her hand again, wildness and passion gleaming in his gaze. “Now may be the only time!” Briefly as he dared, he stole a kiss, both tasting each other’s sweat and blood. “Marry me, Fireheart.”

Aelin looked from the face of the pirate she loved to the raging storm and battle and back, catching a brief glimpse of Elide up on the Doranelle’s quarterdeck, the petite woman dispatching Navy men with alarming speed and grace. “LOCHAN!” she bellowed, flashing a bright, wicked grin at Rowan.

Elide turned and glanced down, finding the couple standing in the middle of the chaos, their sword arms moving in tandem as they battled off attackers. “The fuck d’you need?”

“MARRY US!” Aelin shouted, beaming like an absolute madwoman.

“All the fucking gods above,” Elide yelled, kicking a seaman off her deck. “I’M A LITTLE FUCKIN’ BUSY AT THE MOMENT!”

Aelin’s laugh crackled like lightning as she turned, ducking under Rowan’s arm to slip her knife across the stomach of a naval man, who gurgled as he collapsed. She flashed Rowan a bright, wicked smile, one that he matched in fervor as they whirled back around to find only each other, no enemies separating them.

“Lochan, NOW!” Rowan cried, spotting the brief reprieve of battle.

“FINE, THEN!” Elide cleared her throat and struck a grand pose. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the midst of this massive godsdamned storm to knock your goddamn carcass off my deck!” she howled, breaking from her dramatic wedding performance to kick an approaching seaman off the quarterdeck.

Rowan released a great bellow of laughter, clasping Aelin’s forearm, her soaked shirt clinging to her skin, strands of wet hair whipping in the gale. “Aelin Galathynius!” Not releasing her, he clashed swords with a man behind him, the engagement over in a moment. “Do you take me to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

The smile on her face could have lit up the whole damn world. “I do!” she crowed, punctuating her words with a ferocious sideways lunge to take out another attacker.

“Great!” Rowan had no fucking idea where that came from. Blame his damn overwhelmed brain.

She beamed. “Rowan Whitethorn! Do you take me--” a brief pause to skewer one particularly unfortunate blue-coated lieutenant-- “to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“Hell yeah I do!” His broad grin split his face with joy.

“I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU--” Once again, Elide’s officiating was cut off by an attack. She grunted, leaning sideways and whipping her foot up in a roundhouse kick. Even Aelin, down on the main deck, heard the seaman’s jaw crack.

“Gods,” Rowan panted, wiping his sword off on a random blue jacket. “I see what Lorcan loves.”

Aelin grinned. “A woman and her knives, what’s not to love?”

“YOU MAY KISS THE--” Elide whirled around. “Motherfucker, I’m trying to marry my best friend, get the fuck off my damn deck!” She cleared her throat. “YOU MAY KISS--” Her voice dropped into wicked laughter as she ducked down and whipped her knee up into the attacker’s crotch, sending him collapsing into a pile of howling man. She rolled her eyes, waving her sword at Aelin and Rowan. “JUST KISS!”

Grinning, Rowan pulled Aelin close, his free arm slipping from her forearm to her waist, and pressed his rain-slick lips to hers, kissing her deeply. She wound her free hand into his ruined ponytail, tilting his head down to her, opening her lips up to his kiss.

When they broke apart, the rain had finally begun to lessen.

But the battle definitely had not.

“FUCKIN’ FIRE!” Aelin yelled, waving her sword at the Terrasen. “He’s right there for the takin’!”

Indeed, the Navy ship they’d been battering listed close to her ship, close enough that the boom of the Terrasen’s broadside struck the lethal blow.

The Doranelle’s guns cracked out seconds later, blasting through the already-sinking Navy ship. Drawing upon all the reserves of strength he had left, Rowan let his hand slip from Aelin’s as he lunged back into combat, cutting through the last Navy men still on his deck. She yelled out her battle cry as she turned the opposite way, fighting through the last vestiges of the chaos.

As the clamor faded, Aelin and Rowan turned back towards each other, both of them bruised and a little battered and bloody, locking eyes across the carnage that lay across their ships.

It only took a few strides before she was back in his arms, their swords abandoned on the deck as he claimed her with his kiss, fisting her braid in one hand and pulling her into his chest with the other. She responded just as eagerly, throwing his hat off to the side and burying one hand in his hair and the other in his sopping wet jacket. She kissed him--her pirate, her Rowan, her husband--fiercely, the chaos of battle forgotten in his arms.

“Good gods above!” Fenrys howled, dramatically covering his eyes as he stepped onto the Doranelle’s deck. “Get a fuckin’ room!”

Aelin tipped her head back and cackled. Of course it would be Fenrys who interrupted them.

“Piss off,” Rowan shot back, grinning at Fen.

“CAPTAIN!” Elide and Lorcan and Aedion’s voices all together.

“What?” Rowan and Aelin turned sharply, facing the direction their close lieutenants were pointing.

Where the man-o’-war that had lingered back from the battle now loomed on the horizon, drawing closer with every passing second.

Fuck.

Captain Abraham Graves could barely refrain from clapping his hands in glee as he watched his brilliant plan unfold without a hitch. The ships--the rest of his squadron--that he’d sent into battle with the pirates had been, well, a necessary sacrifice.

He had to admit he hadn’t expected the pirate scum to dispatch of his entire squadron.

But once again, he reminded himself that he wasn’t dealing with any petty little pirate underlings here. Those were two of the pirate lords, and oh, how great his reward was going to be!

He took a solid stance on his quarterdeck, beaming as his ship sailed forwards. Thankfully, the storm had begin to abate, the violent winds and lashing rain calming and giving way to smoother seas and a sky that, although still gray, had lightened and promised sunshine soon. The closer he drew to the pirates, the more his smile grew, all of his life plans coming together before his very eyes. Everything he’d ever wanted, he was so so close to having. With his certainly impending victory over the pirates, he’d be heralded has a hero, no doubt, and he’d finally be granted the title of admiral he’d been striving for all his life.

As he drew close enough to clearly see the pirates aboard the ships, though, his brow furrowed. There were two of them, which he’d expected, but…they were a short distance apart, sitting parallel to each other, sails limp as if they were…surrendering?

Impossible.

Graves sailed onward, pressing forth through the waves until he was a bare breath away from the pirates, until he was so close to the ships and the capture of the pirates and the great grand reward he could practically taste.

And then his dream exploded.

“FIRE!”

In a maneuver he would never have been able to anticipate, the two pirates flanked him, forcing him to pass between the two ferocious bloodthirsty machines, and just as he was about to give the order to open fire, the pirates’ broadsides crashed into his ship in a raging roaring storm of fire and fury. Screams arose from all four decks of his ship as it exploded into fire and splinters, the second broadsides from the pirates ripping down the masts and breaking massive holes in the ship.

Oddly serene despite the certainty of his death, Captain Abraham Graves delicately rested his hand on the polished rail of the quarterdeck stairs and descended slowly, as if in a trance, unbothered by the cloud of flying splinters that surrounded him.

He did not even feel the one that speared through his heart.

Hand in hand with her pirate husband, Aelin watched the last ship descend into the depths in a blaze of fire and shattered splinters, forever silenced by the ocean.

“Not bad for a day,” Rowan murmured, winking slyly at her.

She snorted, then winced, the motion causing her ribs to ache sharply. “Shit!”

“Ae!” His eyes widened with concern. “You’re hurt!”

“No shit,” she deadpanned. “We’ve just been in a battle, love, of course I’m a little banged up.”

He huffed a dry laugh. “All right, fine. Still.” He tilted up her chin with his fingertips. “Please go see Lys and get properly bandaged.”

“Only if you do,” she returned, eyeing the slashes in his jacket sleeves and pants and the bruising on his face knowingly.

“Fine.”

Back on the Terrasen, Lys had set up multiple quick healing stations, with the surgery being where any seriously injured person was taken. With the five or six other pirates who knew medicine well enough to serve as battlefield healers, she worked through the injured pirates, performing operations on anyone who seriously needed it, calming the ones in their last moments, and binding up the smaller wounds.

By the time Aelin and Rowan came to her, she was exhausted, her already-wet clothing sweaty, sorrow in her gaze. The surgery was clean and empty, though, the words already said over the bodies of those lost in battle.

“How many?” Aelin asked gently, seating herself by her friend’s side.

Lys sighed heavily. “Twenty or so in total. As many more wounded, a few lost limbs.” She swallowed. “Gods, I hate amputations.”

Aelin squeezed the brunette’s hand. “I’m sorry, Lys.”

Lysandra leaned into the captain’s comfort. “Right, enough of that. What brings you here?”

A little sheepishly, Aelin displayed the blood-stained strip of cloth tied around her bicep.

Lys sighed, rolling her eyes playfully, and grabbed her medical bag. “Can’t you ever stay out of harm’s way?” she teased. “Let’s hope whoever got you didn’t have a dirty blade, Cap.” She untied the crude bandage and cleaned Aelin’s wound with a warm cloth, humming in satisfaction. “Looks clean to me, but you can’t be too certain.” She dipped a fresh cloth in her pan of alcohol solution. “Brace, Cap.”

Aelin hissed through her teeth at the sting, relieved when Lys told her she didn’t need it stitched up and simply applied a smear of healing salve and bandaged her up. “Thanks, Lys.” She flashed Rowan a little grin. “Your turn, love.”

He grumbled a protest but complied, especially when she whispered into his ear.

Lys blinked. “Should I--no, hell no, I’m not even going to ask.”

Aelin smirked. “It is our wedding night…”

“You two horny idiots better take it to the Orynth,” Lys threatened teasingly as she bandaged Rowan up, “or we’ll dump you on some island.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Aelin crooned. “We don’t want anyone interrupting us, of course we’re going to the Orynth. Besides,” she winked wickedly, “you and Aeds and Elide and Lorcan will make enough noise as it is.”

“Shut it, you,” Lys laughed. “Right, don’t injure yourselves.” She blew them a kiss as they left and sat back down, exhaling slowly.

A moment later, there was another knock on the doorframe.

She looked up to see Aedion’s familiar face watching her with a measure of worry. He’d already been taken care of, patched and bandaged up. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she murmured.

He walked in, closing the door behind him, and sat down atop the clean table, pulling his wife into his lap, stroking his hands up and down her back. “I’m here, Lys.”

She sniffled quietly. “I hate everything that happens after a battle,” she whispered, grief clouding her lovely face. “It’s--gods, Aeds, it’s so fucking hard to watch the light leave.”

Aedion said nothing, he just held Lysandra close and let her grieve the lost, offering as much comfort as he possibly could.

Finally dressed in dry clothes, Aelin and Rowan steered the Orynth a short distance away from the Terrasen and the Doranelle, needing the bit of privacy for the night. They’d agreed to set anchor alongside a nearby island, the land providing harbor and cover for the pirates for the night.

With the small ship settled, Aelin released the helm, strolling down to meet Rowan on the main deck. He smiled at her, folding her into his arms, both of them looking out over the smooth sea, the clear, star-filled night.

She winked up at him. “So we’re back, aren’t we, Captain?”

“Right back where we started,” he agreed, winking back at her. “This time, let’s not get interrupted, hmm?”

Aelin snickered. “Oh, love, I don’t intend to be interrupted for at least a week.” Hands in his long, loose hair, she pulled his lips down to hers, claiming him with her kiss.

And they stumbled down to the cabin in a hazy, panting blur of limbs and discarded clothes, barely even making it into the cozy bedroom before Rowan was down on his knees and Aelin was gasping in pure pleasure.

“Only the best for my wife,” he rumbled, eyes glinting darkly up at her.

Only the best indeed.

~~~

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#my writing #fly the black flag #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #rowaelin #pirates au #pirate au #ftbf #tw: guns #tw: blood #tw: death #battle scene

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