I slept, and slept, and slept, falling deeper into the darkness. It whispered to me, calling my name. Aiyana. Aiyana. Aiyana. My soul felt light, empty. Foreign.
A small ball of light formed in the darkness. The light grew, chasing away the darkness that called to me. The light rushed faster and faster towards me, to the point where that was all there was: light. Light to put out the darkness. Light that made me feel heavier. Light that put a weight on my shoulders. Light that shone like a thousand suns.
Darkness, different than the one that wrapped around me earlier, replaced the light. The night sky appeared, stars twinkling in the distance. Light purple, black, dark blue, and dark purple colored the sky. It was the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen.
I started to shoot up through the night sky, stars whizzing past me. The crashing of the waves got louder. I started to feel heavy. I could feel a light breeze passing over my face. I could feel my fingers, toes, and body -- each twitching and thrashing. I kept soaring through the night sky. A blinding white light then replaced the night sky. The light roared at me, demanding I hold on. I held.
I started feeling my chest rise and fall, could feel the crisp air entering my lungs, then being expelled out. I could feel my heartbeat, a thunderous beat blocking out the roaring of the waves. I felt my soul enter into my body again with a click.
I gasped with the impact. My eyes fluttered open. My hands were sweaty, bunched up into fists as I grasped the wet sheets I was lying on.
The first thing my eyes registered was the brown, wooden ceiling of my bedroom. Then the bed I was lying on. Then the door that was across from me, open. Then my wings, spread open beside me, wrapped in a white healing cloth. Then the open window to my left. Then the man sleeping in the chair beside my bed. Rowan.
Rowan was slumped in the dark-blue comfy chair beside my bed, sleeping. He had purple crescents under his eyes. His hair was disheveled, sticking up in different directions. He wore the same clothes that he had worn when the ilken attacked. There were dried blood splotches that covered his black fighting leathers, and crusted blood was on the rims of his fingernails.
As I slowly started to sit up, he jolted awake. He stared at me, his face paler than it had been when the ilken had attacked. His face showed such emotion that I blushed. He blinked. Once. Twice. Then, his face crumpled as tears started streaming down his face. He knelt down beside the bed, taking my hand. He placed his forehead on it. He shuddered as he continued to cry. Tears started rolling down my face, too.
“Rowan,” I whispered, looking down at him. “What’s wrong?”
He looked up at me, his face shining with tears. “You’re my --” he said as someone flew into my bedroom with such great force, the walls seemed to groan. I looked at the open doorway, finding Aelin there, her eyes red, breathing hard. Rowan looked up from my hand, and stood up. He was looking at me with sadness in his eyes. He was still holding my hand. I squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.
“Aelin --” I said.
She had already bolted to my side -- opposite the one where Rowan was standing beside me. She sat down onto the bed, careful not to touch my wings, and leaned down towards me. She caressed my cheek. “I thought you were dead,” she cried. “I thought you were dead.” Aelin put her head onto the bed, right beside my wrapped torso.
“It’s okay, Aelin. I’m here -- I’m fine,” I whispered, patting her head. “Rowan, did you have to tell me something?” I turned my head to look at him.
He shook his head. “We can talk later,” was his only reply.
I then faced Aelin. “What about you? Are you okay?” I asked her.
She lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. She pulled up her loose white shirt to show me the scar that was left. The scar was deep; it was still red. It took up a third of her torso, and was about a couple of centimeters wide. I gaped at it. “How long did it take for you to heal?”
“Rowan helped with the major healing,” Aelin glanced at Rowan. “I slept for a couple of days. Since I am demi-Fae, I can heal fast, but not as fast as regular Fae.”
“You said you slept for a couple of days,” I slowly said, “so I must have slept . . .” I looked at Rowan for an answer.
“You slept for four days.”
How much did I miss? “Rayen. Is she alright?” I asked, quickly lifting my head off the pillow.
“She’s fine,” Aelin said, putting a hand on my head to put it back on the pillow.
“Azriel?” I asked.
“He’s fine, too,” Rowan responded.
“I need to thank him --”
“Sit down Aiyana,” Aelin said as she put my head back on the pillow -- again.
“Am I allowed to get out of bed?”
“You may, but you just have to be careful,” Rowan answered. He was still holding my hand.
I slowly sat up into a sitting position on my bed. “How far away from Terrassen are we?” I asked while trying to stand up. I failed.
“Let me help you,” Aelin softly said, rising from the bed. I let go of Rowan’s hand. Aelin grabbed both my arms, and helped me climb off the bed. All of my muscles barked with the movement. I felt extremely stiff; I was barely able to walk.
“We will probably arrive there this afternoon,” Rowan said from behind me.
I was able to face him, Aelin helping me move. My wings were extremely heavy; it felt like big, heavy rocks were dangling from them. “Good,” I said as I slowly -- step by step -- walked towards my closet, Aelin holding my arms to help guide me. She opened my closet door, and took out a pair of blue, loose pants and a white shirt.
“Out,” she told Rowan. He was gone in a flash, closing the door.
Aelin helped me undress, and put on the clothes she had picked for me. She put my hair back in a ponytail. She cursed.
“What?” I asked, turning to face her.
“You’re Fae,” she whispered.
“So?”
“So?” she demanded.
I raised my eyebrows in question. “With all my powers and abilities, you didn’t think I was Fae?”
She looked at me for a minute. Then she spoke. “No.”
I laughed. “Wow, Aelin. I thought at least you would be able to tell.”
She stuck her tongue out at me. I returned the gesture.
We both walked through the hallway, and up the stairs that led to the deck of the ship. Aelin helped me the whole way.
Sunlight warmed my wings and body as I walked onto the deck of the ship. Rhysand and his court members were talking to some of my friends. Good, I thought, at least they are talking. The people on the deck turned to face me as they heard Aelin and my footsteps.
Rhysand, his court, and all of my friends looked at me, worried. “I’m okay,” I told them. They all seemed to relax after hearing the words. I scanned the group for Azriel, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Where is Azriel?” I asked Rhysand.
“He went out for a while,” he responded.
“Will he be back soon?”
“Yes, he will.” As I opened my mouth to ask another question, Rhysand added, “You can thank him when he gets back.”
I nodded my thanks. “What did you guys do while I was sleeping?”
“We just got to talk -- nothing special,” Feyre said.
“That sounds nice,” I said. “Did you all get to know each other better?”
My friends and Rhysand’s court each looked at one another.
“Sure,” Cassian replied, shrugging.
I laughed. “Thanks for being sincere, Cassian. We all may need to work on getting to know each other better.” I smiled as everyone grunted in annoyance.
This was going to be a long day.
By Alexa Gantt
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