#eat the slop my fellow shippers

[elizakai]

uhm idk what happened but apparently harem (reverse harem!????) time-???

[thisxisxali]

Rowaelin: Locked in the Dark  Part I

Hello fellow Rowaelin shippers! I’m sure all of you feel just as shattered as me with the Empire of Storms ending, so here’s a little something to cheer you up, I hope. This is my first fic, so please be gentle!

Also, there is trigger warning for this chapter and mentions in the ones after

<3, Ali

***************

Aelin was locked up in the iron coffin once again after another brutal encounter with Cairn. She only knew how much time had passed because of the meals, if they could be called that. Every day, she was released from her iron cage. For fifteen minutes she would eat whatever slop had been placed before her. And then she would be shoved back into the coffin by another of the queen’s despicable soldiers.

Each week, it was the same. They brought her out on the platform, surrounded by what was left of the cadre. Then, Maeve would ask where the wrydkeys were. And each time, Aelin stayed silent. Each time, they whipped her until her back shone crimson with blood and her throat was hoarse and raw with the effort to keep the screams from escaping between her teeth.

And after each session, Fenrys would come to Aelin to bandage and dress her wounds. She knew it broke something in him every time he saw her, Rowan’s mate, broken and bloody. She knew this just as she knew how much he would give, if not for the blood bond between him and Maeve, to get her out.

But even these sessions of healing were not entirely of his own will. Maeve would always stand and watch in the corner of the room, preventing any attempts at escape, leashing Fenrys’ every thought and action- especially with regard to his brother, who was entirely at the mercy of the queen.

During these sessions, neither of them spoke. Aelin knew he was trapped, not entirely in the same way she was, bound head to feet in iron, but similar enough that she never questioned why he didn't help her. He was doing all he could, bandaging and healing her as much as possible.

So when Fenrys finished his ministrations on her back and said nothing, she was not surprised. But he stood in place for just a little too long, lingering as if there was something he wanted to say, but couldn't find the words to get out. In the end, he left, turning his back without another look in her direction.

She did, however, see the worry in his eyes. That he cared at all was something Aelin didn't entirely understand. But it was a relief, sometimes, knowing people cared. Not so much, she reminded herself, when Connall might be punished for Fenrys’ friendliness.

Then Vaughn walked into the chamber, bowed in the direction of Maeve, “Greetings, your highness.” And just like very other week Aelin had spent in the iron coffin, he roughly picked her up, making no move to be more heedful to her condition. He began the process of binding her once again with the chains of iron, starting at her wrists and ending at her ankles, tightening the rigid chains to the point where she couldn’t move. Aelin grunted in pain when the metal stretched tightly over her back, the bandaging not being anywhere near enough to keep the pain at bay. Vaughn just continued wrapping the iron with his gloved hands, ensuring that he did not feel the pain of touching iron unprotected.

Lastly, Vaughn reached for the iron mask and slipped it over her head. He pushed her into the coffin and locked the door, sealing her in an eternal tomb of confinement and misery.

She thought of her family, then, her court. She hoped they had made the best of her alliances. She hoped they were smart enough to take what she had given, and win the war. For Terrasen. For her - their home.

She knew she would never return. Knew it the moment Maeve had whipped her on the shore that day. She would not see the rise of Terrasen. Wouldn't see the glory of the coming battle. But her family would. And as long as they had a chance, Aelin could rest peacefully- as peacefully as she could in her condition anyway- knowing she had done all she could to bring them victory, a mighty army to raise a fallen kingdom.

But whether by Maeve or the forging of the lock, Aelin’s life force would have been drained for this cause. She was glad to have had this time with them. With Lysandra, her first female friend and someone she trusted to rule her kingdom with fierce love and strength. Aedion, her cousin and general, her twin and her protector. And Rowan…

Each time she thought of Rowan, her mate and her husband, the king of Terrasen, she wanted to weep. For what Maeve had revealed- that Aelin was settling, she would have had more than a thousand years with him-, threatened to tear her apart with ‘what ifs’.

With no food or water and her back screaming in pain any time she made a slight shift, Aelin’s body took rest in the only way it could. The darkness overwhelmed her and Aelin was swept into blissful relief.

***

Rowan had been flying overhead, searching for Maeve’s flagship every waking hour of the last several days. But it seemed the queen had some magical help as he couldn't find the ship, even was he searched with an ever-widening radius around their own.

Every  night he would return, mentally and physically exhausted, brooding at the thought of Aelin, his Fireheart, his wife, his mate at the hands of the evil queen. He would eat and he would rest only as long as needed to get his strength back.

Then he would be up again and repeat his mission, for it would not be over until his queen had returned to his side.