Kingdom of Ash

“There will be a monument,” she said to
Abraxos, to Manon. “Should you wish it, I
will build a monument right there. So no one
shall ever forget what was given. Who we
have to thank.”
Wind sang through the tower, hollow and
brisk. But then footsteps crunched in hay, and
Manon sat down beside her.
Yet Aelin did not speak again, and asked
no more questions. And Manon, realizing it,
let her shoulders curve inward, let her head
bow. As she might never do with anyone else.
As no one else might understand—the weight
they both bore.
In silence, the two queens stared toward the
decimated field. Toward the future beyond it.