Kingdom of Ash

For a moment, Aedion was on a spit of
blood-soaked sand.
An iron box. Maeve had whipped her and
put her in a veritable coffin. And sailed off to
Mala-knew-where, an immortal sadist with
them.
“Aelin,” said Aedion, dredging up a drawl
as best he could, even as the lie choked him,
“has her own plans that she’ll only tell us
about when the time is right.”
Ren said nothing. And though the queen
Ren believed had returned was an illusion,
Aedion added, “Everything she does is for
Terrasen.”
He’d said such horrible things to her that
day she’d taken down the ilken. Where are
our allies? he’d demanded. He was still trying
to forgive himself for it. For any of it. All that
he had was this one chance to make it right, to
do as she’d asked and save their kingdom.