Work Text:
Aelin ran her fingers over the neat line of stitches that graced her cheekbone.
“It’s going to scar, isn’t it,” She groaned, glancing towards Rowan with a mournful look. He didn’t say anything, but flashed a grin at her nonetheless.
“Oh gods, it is .” Aelin threw herself onto the sleeping mat. She huffed a sigh again and shook her head slightly.
“You know what? I think it’ll make me look rugged.”
“Sure will.”
“Oh shut up.” Aelin picked up one of the embroidered cushions from the sand and flung it at his face with surprising accuracy. Plucking it out of the air, Rowan threw it right back before lowering himself down beside her. Smiling slightly, Aelin leaned her head on Rowen’s shoulder, and the pair fell into a comfortable silence.
Moonlit waves crashed on the shore, the rhythmic boom and roar providing accompaniment to the wind that hissed through the marram grass on either side of the dunes. Bright diamond stars hung suspended in the sky, faltering only slightly as grey specters of cloud passed over them. But in their little bubble of calm made by Rowan’s shields, it was a perfect night.
The pair had been meaning to get away from court life for weeks now but had only just found the time to escape to the little cove Aelin had found on her last visit to western Terrasen. And a little - well, a lot - of wind wouldn’t do them any harm was what Rowan had claimed minutes before Aelin had almost quite literally been blown off a cliff face and into a gull’s nest. Which the birds had strongly disagreed with, as evident by the nasty gash on her face.
Rowan absentmindedly brushed his fingers over the cut and Aelin shivered a little under his touch, leaning into it.
“So,” she mumbled, “What about you?”
“Hmm?”
“You never talk about your scars.”
“That’s because I don’t have any stories that even live up to pissing off a seagull.”
Aelin let out a snort. “Nah, you’ve been around for centuries, I’m sure Lorcan’s bitten you or something over the years.” She leaned over, pulling his arm onto her lap and lightly ran her fingers over a jagged line at the crook of his elbow.
“What about this one then.”
“That’s, uh, nothing.” Rowan’s blush was all-too visible in the half-darkness. Aelin raised her eyebrows.
“ Did Lorcan bite you?”
“No! Gods no, this happened about... a century ago,” Rowan’s brow furrowed as if he was thinking hard, “Me and the cadre found a bee’s nest high up in a tree - Lorcan had the brilliant idea to turn it into a competition; who could get the honeycomb the fastest, no magic, no shifting allowed.”
Aelin poked him, “Go on.”
_______________
Rowan stared up at the tree’s canopy, narrowing his eyes at the humming, brown smear high, so high up in the branches. Really, he was a fool for even accepting the challenge, and after watching both Fenrys and Gavriel fail, he really should be reconsidering, but gods dammit he would not look like an idiot.
“Careful.”
Rowan glanced over to where Fenrys was glumly picking bee stingers out of his skin. He just nodded and grabbed the first branch, hauling his way up the tree. Rowan swiftly fell into a rhythm, always keeping three limbs on the branches and feeling the rough bark scrape slightly against his skin. He kept climbing, up and up until he was forced to slow down, the limbs starting to creak dangerously under his weight.
The nest was only a few feet above him now, the humming relentless. Gingerly, he reached up, gently slipping his hand inside and feeling the nest start vibrating violently. A sharp sting pricked his thumb and Rowan winced slightly, before slowly wrapping his fingers around what he hoped was the honeycomb. Another series of pricks pierced his skin, this time painful enough to cause Rowan to hiss and yank back his hand.
The very air seemed to be alive with furious buzzing and Rowan hurriedly backed away before anymore of the creatures could find him. There was a pain in his knee, his neck, his cheek, spurring on the male faster.
Then suddenly - weightlessness.
It took Rowan a good second to realize that he had missed a branch and was now plummeting towards their camp. He twisted in midair, and had just splayed his fingers to release a net of wind to slow his fall when he slammed into the ground. There was a burst of pain, a red haze, and then nothing.
_______________
“And then when I woke, it turned out that I had won, but they’d used the honey to dress my arm, so I never actually got to eat any of it.” Rowan traced a finger across the jagged line. “The bone snapped clean in two. I didn’t live that down for years.”
Aelin snorted again, shaking her head slightly.
“You’re such an idiot,” she laughed softly, the sound only building as Rowan swatted her on the arm.
“Right,” he said, “My turn.”
Aelin raised her eyebrows again, but didn’t shift away as Rowan reached over, brushing her hair aside and touching a thin line on her neck. She screwed her face up and frowned.
“Huh, yeah, that one was wayyyy back when I was still Celaena. Arobynn thought it would make an excellent training exercise if he paid someone to kidnap me. Gods, that was years ago.”
_______________
The hood was ripped off Celaena’s head, taking a good few strands of hair with it. Even though she was still groggy with whatever drug they’d used to bring her here, a bolt of fury raced through her spine. Wherever here was.
Celaena swiftly assessed the situation, dank stone walls lit by a guttering torch - heavy manacles weighing her down to the floor - a large oak door - no other exits. Ah, shit . She managed a smirk at the decidedly rat-like man standing in front of her.
“And who do I have the pleasure of meeting at such a late hour?”
The man studied her for a second, but said nothing. Smart.
“So,” she said, stretching luxuriously in the chains and hearing them rattle, “What do you want with me?”
Her smirk grew at the flat look he threw her way.
“Arobynn Hamel owes me money. A lot. You are here as insurance in case he tries to pull something.”
Celaena mentally cursed Arobynn - why did she always get dragged into his messes? There was an abrupt silence as Celaena subtly tested the chains, feeling for weaknesses. The left manacle felt like it could give a bit of leeway and Celaena bit back a grin as she began to slip her hand free - before freezing. The knife pressed to her neck spoke volumes and this time she didn’t even try to smile, the blood rushing in her ears almost blocking out his next words.
“I know exactly who you are Saedothien, try anything and I’ll cut your throat -”
She never got to hear the end of that sentence, sharply kicking him in the groin and snapping her head back, away from the knife. But not fast enough. The man tripped forward, unbalanced, the metal slipping and biting deep into Celaena’s neck.
“ Shit! ” she snarled, ripping her hand free from the shackles with another groan of pain. Her captor had recovered enough to lunge again with the knife. Firmly shoving back the pain like she’d been trained to, Celaena’s free hand shot out, jabbing him in the throat and sending him spluttering back before grabbing his wrist. She twisted hard until there was a crack and he dropped the blade with a loud clatter and a yell of pain.
Almost automatically, Celaena kicked the knife towards her, scooping it up and jamming it into a keyhole. The heavy silence that coated the room was sudden and abrupt, Celaena picking the lock, always keeping one eye on the man who was crumpled to the floor, moaning slightly.
There was an audible click and Celaena shrugged the manacles off, rolling her soldiers and wincing at the soreness. Gingerly, she touched her neck, fingers coming away red as the pain she had pushed away rushed back. Celaena grimaced, glancing at the hand she’d pulled free of the chains and the twisted thumb that had started to throb. Blood loss and broken bones was not how she’d planned her Saturday night. Cleaning up this mess was going to take longer than she thought.
_______________
“What did you do to Arobynn when you found out he’d set it up?” Rowan asked.
“It involved a lot of screaming, broken objects, and at least one thrown knife. Though that last one was Arobynn, I probably shouldn’t have smashed his favorite two thousand crown sculpture on the floor.”
“He deserved it.”
“Oh definitely, that man had terrible taste in art.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Aelin sighed, “Yeah, he did deserve it, although I had to pay back that two thousand crowns. Too busy being the devoted prodigy, I guess.”
She pressed her lips together, laying back in the sand and staring hard at the stars until their light started to blur. Rowan settled beside her and Aelin shifted to face him. There was another long silence with the wind and water filling the gaps of their conversation.
You okay? He asked in their silent language.
Yeah, just… thinking.
“Right, your turn,” Rowan said out loud and Aelin glanced over appreciatively at the change of subject. She placed a hand on an area of puckered skin on his thigh.
“Tell me about this one then.”
This time it was Rowan’s turn for his expression to falter and a shadow for pain passed over his face. Aelin knew that expression well - an ache bloomed deep in her chest for her mate and his pain.
“Lyria,” he said finally, “I was getting flowers for her - rare ones to impress her. Zantedeschias. But the only place they grow is in Kirfall Forest, which is also where the white bears live.”
_______________
Silver fur, savage claws, and fangs that just screamed ‘do not mess with me’. Incidentally, that was exactly what Rowan planned to do to the hulking creatures that prowled below. And in the middle of that clearing the cobalt and ivory blossoms of the Zantedeschias. Rowan wheeled back around, catching the updraft on his wings and studied the area for one last time before angling his wings and diving, shifting in midair and slashing with blades that were already grasped in white-knuckled fingers.
The roars that rang through the clearing were almost enough to make the male kneel over with shock. Almost. One of the beasts lunged at Rowan, fangs bared, and Rowan rolled away, shooting a blast of ice-kissed wind to send it sprawling back, landing a powerful kick on the head of the second. Rowan leaped high into the air, but before he could land the next blow, he was swatted out of the air, fangs tearing at his thigh. Rowan yelled with a mixture of pain and frustration as he fell hard, suddenly unbalanced.
He rolled, taking the brunt of the fall on his shoulder, and slashing upwards at the belly of the creature. Knocking its hind legs out from under it as he rose, Rowan cast jagged daggers of ice at the beasts, sending gusts of wind to guide their paths.
A series of muffled thuds told him that they’d reached their marks. The petals of the flowers taunted him with their closeness as he cut down three, four, five creatures before some semblance of sense stuck them and the rest of the pack fled into the waiting forest.
The silence that followed was abrupt and absolute, Rowan breathing heavily as the male strode across the clearing, limping on his injured leg and still warily eyeing the treeline. Rowan bent down to retrieve the flowers, but swore viciously as the pain in his thigh doubled at the movement. A growl slipped through his clenched teeth, but he eased the flowers out of the soil as carefully as he could nonetheless.
Even his wound seemed to lessen somewhat as he scrutinized the blossoms, imagining how Lyria’s face would light up as she saw them. That though alone made it all worth it.
_______________
“Did she like the flowers?”
“Only after she finished yelling at me for being so stupid to go to Kirfall Forest. She actually planted them in the garden - turns out they actually spread like weeds. I wonder if they’re still growing there...”
Aelin smiled slightly. “Well, maybe for our next holiday we can go find out.”
He raised his eyebrows at her, “You know that literally the whole court would want to come.”
“Family day out.”
Rowan rolled his eyes to the heavens. “I want to know about… this one next,” He touched an area of crisscrossing lines on Aelin’s upper arm.
“Oh, I fell off a cliff.”
“Of course you did. Why am I even surprised at this point?” He flashed a sharp-toothed grin at her and Aelin jabbed him in return.
“Shut up, do you want to listen to my daring tale or not?”
“Do go on, I’m intrigued at how my ethereal mate can get herself into so many life-or-death situations.”
“ Shush you buzzard, right, me and Aedion were about eight…”
_______________
Aelin grinned wickedly as she stared over the edge of the cliff.
“It’s not even that high Aedion.”
Aedion raised his eyebrows.
“That’s not a good idea.”
“Don’t be a wuss.”
“I’m not - fine.”
By some small miracle, the pair had snuck away from the party of adults that had taken them to the local beach in search of something more entertaining. Or - more accurately - Aelin had dragged Aedion up the nearest cliff in search of an adventure, despite his avid protests.
“Okay, so, on the count of three, we jump.”
Aelin seized Aedion’s hand and squeezed it hard. He squeezed it right back, this time shooting a reassuring grin at her that seemed to be more for himself than her.
“One, two, three-”
They launched themselves off the edge and into nothingness. Aelin dared to glance down, the glorious blue of the water filling her whole world. Beside her, Aedion gave a woop and her face had just begun to split in a smile when they slammed into the ocean.
Aelin went under in an explosion of bubbles, salt filling her mouth as she plummeted down, down, down. Her vision was a blur of brilliant silvers and blues so enchanting that Aelin barely noticed it when she hit the sea bed, rough stones and sand scraping across her exposed arm. She clawed her way to the surface with strong strokes, exploding back into the world and fresh air. Gasping and blinking water out of her eyes, Aelin twisted, eyes searching for Aedion who broke the surface next to her with a loud breath.
They locked eyes and Aelin started laughing, head dipping below the water, and Aedion only stared at her for a second before joining in. The two children clung together in the water, laughing, and shaking with a mixture of nerves, adrenaline, and mirth.
The water below them began to rise, the pair being carried along with the unnatural wave and around in sight of the beach that they’d left behind. Aelin swallowed at the sight of her mother, glaring, tight lipped, and fingers splayed in front of her to control the bulge of water. They were dumped unceremoniously onto the beach, spitting out sand and shivering as the cold began to set in.
Aelin touched her throbbing arm, wincing as her mother strode over, anger lining every inch of her posture. She winced.
Uh oh.
_______________
Aelin touched her arm, running her fingers over the scar as she finished her story. Rowan shook his head.
“So what I’m taking from this is that you were a horrible child. Poor Aedion.”
Aelin gave him a light punch, “I was an excellent child. I just dragged Aedion into my schemes. And to be fair, there were a lot of schemes.”
Rowan snorted, “Remind me never to let you two go off to a cliff side alone.”
“He enjoyed it really. Even if we were both grounded for the better part of three months.”
After a long pause, Aelin spoke again.
“If you could, would you get rid of them?”
Rowan considered this for a long second. “No. No, I wouldn’t. They remind me who I am and who I was. And nothing in the world would make me give up these -”
He shifted to reveal Aelin’s claiming marks. A ball of warmth ignited in her chest as she stroked them, feeling Rowan’s skin heat at the contact.
“I love you so much.”
“I do too, scars, bruises, pain and all. Everything that makes you up is brilliant and beautiful.”
“Now you’re just being sappy,” Aelin laughed.
“I sure am.”