Kingdom of Ash

gaze unwavering, “Maeve knows Doranelle
would be the obvious choice—the choice we’d
likely reject because it’s too simple. She
anticipated that we’d believe she’d haul Aelin
to the farthest reaches of Erilea, rather than
right back home.”
“Maeve would have the advantage of an
easily summoned army,” Gavriel added, his
tattooed throat bobbing. “Which would make
rescue difficult.”
Lorcan refrained from telling Gavriel to
shut his mouth. He hadn’t failed to notice how
often Gavriel went out of his way to help
Elide, to talk to her. And yes, some small part
of him was grateful for it, since the gods knew
she wouldn’t accept any sort of help from him.
Hellas damn him, he’d had to resort to
giving his cut-up shirt to Whitethorn and
Gavriel to hand to her for her cycle. He’d
threatened to skin them alive if they’d said it