Chapter 65

Rowan slowly healed the gash he had received on his upper arm, then turned to his Aelin who was grinning like fiend at the thrill of the fight. She was strikingly beautiful, even with dark blood splattered all over her body. «Seems like His Dark Majesty wasn't all too pleased with our recent visit.» she said, looking very pleased with herself. Rowan huffed a laugh.

«You've always known how to step on everyone's toes.» he said jokingly, and she flashed him a grin. Her face struck him stupid, and he could not look away from her. He hadn't been able to look away the entire fight really. Before she had been a whirlwind of death, but now... She had killed more than double the amount of Ilken than he had, and still she wasn't even winded. 

Her grin turned into a frown however, as she looked at something behind him. 

«What is it?» he asked, then turned to see what she was looking at. He saw nothing except for a pile of dead Ilken. Aelin said nothing, but jogged over to the pile, and picked up a sword.

«Aelin uses Goldryn, correct?» she said, still frowning. He nodded. «Then where is Aelin?» she asked and held up the ancient sword. 

«She was here a moment ago, I saw her fighting...» he said, worry starting to work its way through him. He glanced around the decimated camp, but no golden hair was to be seen anywhere. 

«Rowan, what if she's been... taken?» Aelin said, voice coated with fear and worry. He opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment Aedion came running towards them. 

«We need healers to Aelin's tent, Sam took her there.» he said when he reached them.

«What happened?» Aelin asked, frowning with worry.

«One of the Ilken picked her up, but she killed it and fell into a tent. She got some broken ribs, but the healers will have to check her for anything internal.» he explained. 

«I'll send some healers there immediately.» Rowan said. Guilt began to creep at he edges of his mind. If he hadn't been so busy marveling at his Aelin's fighting, then he could have stopped Aelin's fall with his magic. 

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Sam put her gently down on her cot, careful not to jostle her too much. Since she was still unconscious, Sam began to examine her, slowly checking each rib for fractures. He counted at least five, lucky for her that they have magic healers to heal the fractures at a faster pace than if they were to heal on their own. He brushed her hair aside as he stroked her cheek, and her eyes once again fluttered open. 

«Aedion went to fetch some healers, they should be here shortly.» he said as he looked into pained blue eyes. She was very pale, even her freckles were gone.

«Like music to my ears.» she said with a wince.«It hurts more than earlier.» she gave him an attempt at a smile, but it looked more like a grimace.

The tent flap was pushed aside and a group of people walked. Rowan and Old Aelin came in first, with two healers following close behind. Of course Rowan was with Old Aelin, Sam thought. Which was probably why he hadn't noticed that his fiancee was almost kidnapped by the enemy. Sam tried to reign in his anger for the Fae king, but it was not easy, not when it was about the woman he loved. I f he was being honest with himself, he was kind of hoping that Rowan would mess up their relationship even more, to the point where Aelin would choose to leave the male. A man can hope.

The healers sat down by her cot, beginning their work on her, and Old Aelin went to sit by her head. The two women began speaking quietly, and since the tent was now cramped with people Sam ended up standing beside Rowan.

Sam and Rowan said nothing, and instead watched as the healers worked and Old Aelin laughed at something Aelin had wheezed out. Sam glanced at the male beside him. Stiff and no emotion on his face, the male just kept his eyes on the women.

His eyes shot back to Aelin as she gasped out in pain. One of the healers were pressing on her side, for what purpose he had no idea, and Aelin grabbed Old Aelin's hand while she clenched her teeth to keep from screaming.

«Healing broken bones, especially the ribs, is never a pleasant experience.» Rowan said tightly next to him.

«I can see that.» Sam said curtly. 

He felt Rowan's eyes turn to him, but he ignored him and instead kept watching Aelin who seemed more relaxed now. The healers stood and turned to him and Rowan.

«She will be sleeping for at least one day, maybe two, but other than that she will be alright.» one of the healers said before leaving the cramped tent. 

Sam went over to the cot, and sat down next to her. Rowan left to organize his men, and to learn how many had died in the skirmish. Sam stayed through the night and the next day, watching over her in case something were to happen. Rowan came and went from time to time, since he had kingly duties to see to. Old Aelin, however kept him company the whole time, only leaving to get them something to eat. 

Watching her sleep turned out to actually be very entertaining, because she spoke whenever she dreamed. Sometimes she would just smile, or even laugh a little, other times she would speak in clear sentences, almost sounding like she was awake. 

«I really hope I'm not like this when I sleep.» Old Aelin said, clamping down a laugh, after Aelin proclaimed that she had ten knives in her suitcase. Sam chuckled quietly.

«Makes me wonder what's going on in her head.» he said, and shook his head.«Or maybe it's from something the healers gave her. Other than today, I've only heard her talk in her sleep once.»

Old Aelin shrugged. «Maybe.» she raised her mug and drank deeply.

«You said you wouldn't take me against a tree the first time, how about a chimney?» Aelin mumbled into her pillow, and Old Aelin spurted out the contents from her mouth, spraying water at the wall of the tent. Sam raised his eyebrows, looking back and forth between the women.

«I'm guessing that's from your timeline.» he said slowly, watching Old Aelin clamp a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing out loud. Sam looked down at Aelin's resting face, her freckles were finally visible once more. «It's safe to say that none of your secrets are safe anymore.» he grinned at Old Aelin, who had composed herself but was still smiling.

«What secrets?» Aelin mumbled from the cot, then she yawned and blinked up at him. He and Old Aelin shared a glance, silently agreeing not to mention the chimney, then he grinned down at Aelin.

«How are you feeling?» he asked her.

«Just hungry.» she sat up and rubbed her eyes. «How long was I out?»

«A full night and day» Old Aelin said, then rose to her feet. «I'll get you something to eat.» then she ducked out of the tent, leaving Sam alone with Aelin. Aelin stretched and tested her ribs, then smiled at him.

«A bit sore, but otherwise healed, gotta love magic.» she said with a grin, and Sam chuckled. He stroked a strand of her hair away from her face. 

«You're lucky you didn't break anything else, they wouldn't have been able to heal you if you had snapped your neck.» he said with a stern look. «Don't do that again, you scared the life out of me.»

«I'll just politely ask it not to fly away with me next time.» she said, and scowled at him. He sighed and pulled her into a hug.

«You know what I meant, silly.» he said into her hair, and her arms wrapped around him.

«I honestly didn't know how high up I was until after I started falling.» she pulled away, and cupped his face with her hand. «I'll be more careful next time, if possible. But this is a war, Sam, none of us will be safe until it is over.»

«I know. I just... I can't loose you, Aelin. I don't know what I would do if you died.» he released a heavy breath, and stared into her bright eyes.  Letting Rowan have her without fighting for her was becoming one of his biggest regrets with every passing moment.

«Sam--» she said, but stopped when someone entered the tent and she removed her hand from his face. Rowan stepped in, and barely glanced his way before locking his eyes on Aelin.

«The rest of the troops have arrived from the south, and your presence is required for the meeting. If you're feeling well enough, of course.» he said. 

«Oh, well, I haven't eaten yet. How urgent is it?» she said, fiddling with her blanket.

«I bit, but you'll have time to get ready before it begins.» 

«Alright, I'll be there.» she said, giving him a curt nod, dismissing him. 

Rowan hesitated for a second, seeming to want to say something more, but then thought better of it and left. Aelin climbed out of the cot, standing there in only a loose shirt, and began to search for something to wear.

«I should probably go, so that you can change in private.» he said, when she made to pull of her shirt.

«Why? It's not like you haven't seen me before.» she said, and cocked her head to the side.«You could just turn around you know.» she winked at him, the turned to pull of her shirt. He quickly spun around to look a the tent wall, even though every fiber of his being wanted to watch her.

«Any ideas to why the meeting is so urgent?» he asked to drown out the sounds of her clothes sliding over her bare skin.

«Some news about the enemy, no doubt.» she said. «You can turn around now.» 

He did, and looked her up and down as he did. She had pulled on some simple black pants, but the tunic was of a rich blue color with gold embroideries. «Only you would bring beautiful clothes to a battlefield.» he said, chuckling. She grinned widely at him.

«I never leave home without them.» she said, grinning. 

Once again the tent flap was pushed aside, but his time it was Old Aelin, carrying the food she had left earlier to get.«Did you hear about the meeting?» she asked as she breezed in and placed the plate on the small table. 

«Yes, Rowan came and told us.» Aelin replied.«Thank you for bringing the food.» 

«No problem. I'll see you at the meeting.» she simply said, before leaving again. 

Sam waited for her to sit and begin eating, but she didn't. Instead she stepped closer to him, so close that his heart began speeding up. Sam tried to read her eyes, to find out what she was thinking, but there were a lot of conflicting emotions that he was unable to read her thoughts. For a second he thought she was about to kiss him, instead she lay her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. He closed his eyes and leaned his head on hers, whatever her emotions were she needed, or wanted, a hug. And he was more than willing to give that to her, for as long as she needed, hopefully longer.