Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass, #5)

by Sarah J. Maas

He slid the lock shut without looking at it.

😳

The invisible fingers on her wrists vanished. The door unlatched. And that cocky grin returned as Dorian shrugged with one shoulder and said, “Maybe another night, witchling.”

Ooohhh that was COLD

Climbing into bed with a witch. Aelin ground her teeth as she headed for Manon’s room. Dorian had once been notorious when it came to women, but this … Aelin snorted, wishing Chaol were present, if only to see the look on his face.

Lol, that would be hilarious

“You’ve met him before. He’s Fenrys—sworn warrior of Queen Maeve.” It was the narrowing of Manon’s eyes that had some instinct pricking. The flare of the witch’s nostrils as she scented the male, his smell barely detectable in the cramped cabin— “No, he’s not,” Manon said. The witch’s iron nails flashed out a heartbeat before Fenrys struck.

What?!?!

“Your Second screamed when Erawan broke her,” the Bloodhound said. “His Dark Majesty sends this to remember her by.”

Oh no, Asterin

Indeed, pirates were dead on the deck, blood a coppery tang that filled her senses

I have been reading every scene where they are on the boat thinking it was just them because I completely forgot there was other people

But then Fenrys leaped out of a patch of night as if he’d simply run through a doorway, and slammed into the one nearest. He had a score to settle, it seemed.

Lol, I am just imagining that

The key. Erawan knew she had the Wyrdkey.

Crap

concentrating on that bit of water she’d been given, a drop of water in a sea of fire

“She was a bright star in centuries of darkness. I would have followed that star to the ends of the earth, if she had let me.

Eyllwe was burning.

Crap crap crap

Lorcan reached out, grasping her chin and forcing her to look at him. Hopeless, bleak eyes met his. He brushed away a stray tear with his thumb. “I made a promise to protect you. I will not break it, Elide.” She made to pull away, but he gripped her a little harder, keeping her eyes on him. “I will always find you,” he swore to her. Her throat bobbed. Lorcan whispered, “I promise.”

She didn’t know why she said it, why she felt a need or like it was worth anything to him at all, but Elide stood on her toes, kissed his stubble-rough cheek, and said, “I will always find you, too, Lorcan.”

😍😍😭😭

His own shirt, washed and dried overnight—now cut up for her to use as she would.

😭😭

she hadn’t possessed the nerve to explain why she’d hurled her guts up that morning, either.

I still have no idea

“You and me,” she promised him. “From now until the Darkness claims us.”

Technically, this is just Manon talking to Abraxos, but it is still a pretty quote

So they went south, then west, sailing swiftly down the network of waterways through Eyllwe.

GOOD that is where they are

Lorcan gripped her chin, faster than she could detect. He peered into her eyes, scanning them.

Oop 😳

His face grew grave—thoughtful. “I do not mind … being around you.” “Is that a compliment?” A half smile cut across his granite-hewn face. And she wanted … wanted to touch it. That smile, that mouth. With her fingers, her own lips. It made him younger, made him … handsome. So she reached up with trembling fingers and touched his lips. Lorcan froze, still half above her, his eyes solemn and intent. But she traced the contours of his mouth, finding the skin there soft and warm, such a contrast to the harsh words that usually came out of it. She reached the outer corner of his lips, and he turned his face into her hand, resting his rough cheek against her palm. His eyes grew heavy-lidded as she brushed a thumb over the hard plane of his cheekbone.

😍

His throat bobbed. “Elide, you need to—” But she rose up slightly, replacing her mouth where her fingers had been.

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH 😖😖😖☺☺☺

“You don’t need to answer me now. Or ever. You could show up on my doorstep in ten years, and the offer would still stand. But there is a place for you, in Perranth—if you should ever need or wish for it.”

But he leaned forward, and despite the marshes, despite what gathered in the world, for the first time in ten years, Elide found herself not at all afraid as Lorcan caressed her lips with his own. Not afraid of anything as he did it again, kissing one corner of her mouth, then the other.

She lifted her head to kiss him, and as her mouth again met his, she whispered her answer— Lorcan’s head snapped up. He was instantly on his feet, whirling toward the northeast.

UGGGGGGHHHHH WHY

The Queen of Flame and Shadow, the Heir of Fire, Aelin of the Wildfire, Fireheart

Lorcan’s onyx eyes were unreadable as he scanned her face. And then he said quietly, “I wanted to go to Perranth with you.”

Elide had no words to express to Lorcan what she’d felt in that moment he’d let the shield drop. What she’d felt when the silver-haired, tattooed warrior-prince had halted that fatal bloodshed.

LOVE

They both turned, giving Rowan Whitethorn horrifyingly innocent smiles. The Fae Prince, to his credit, only winced after they looked away again.

Aelin and Ansel

Why did SJM start everone's names with a

Even as those phantom hands continued to trail up her hips, over her waist.

Tbh, that is pretty weird

Elide nearly flipped out of her hammock, the sailors rushing past.

Lol

Not as Fenrys breathed, suddenly beside her on the steps. “Maeve.”

CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP MAEVE

into the heart of Maeve’s fleet.

WHY?!

Then Enda said, “I will consider it.”

WHAT IS HE CONSIDERING?!

Tied Lorcan to the posts for two days and let Cairn whip him whenever he wished. Lorcan ordered us not to tell you—for whatever reason.

😬

Had time stopped beyond the mists?

Noooooooo

The court that could change the world,

Lysandra was going to make the bitch regret it.

Darn right

No, as those enemy ships slid into place among their foundering companions, Dorian saw that they each bore the same flag: A silver banner, with a screaming hawk. And where Maeve’s black flag of a perching owl had once flapped beside it … now that black flag lowered. Now the dark queen’s flag vanished entirely, as Fae ships bearing the silver banner of the House of Whitethorn opened fire upon their own armada.

YES YES YES ROWAN YOU ARE A GENIUS

Rowan had not possessed an army of his own to give to Aelin. To give to Terrasen. So he had won an army for her.

Whitethorn had done it. For her. All of it, for Aelin.

Gavriel’s son was bellowing Whitethorn’s name. A gods-damned victory cry. Over and over, the men taking up the call. Then Fenrys’s voice lifted. And Gavriel’s. And that red-haired queen. The Havilliard king. Their armada soared for Maeve’s, sun and sea and sails all around, blades glinting in the morning brightness. Even the rise and fall of the oars seemed to echo the chant. On into battle, on into bloodshed, they called the prince’s name.

No because if this was a movie scene

Maeve was allowing the battle to explode across the water because she had other games afoot. Because she was not on the seas at all. But on the shore. Gavriel had pointed to it. Not to the distant beach, but up the shore—westward. Precisely where he had left Elide hours ago.

Nononononononononono

But it was not Vernon who appeared on the beach, as if walking out of a passing breeze.

Definitely not Vernon

“He was a voice in the void, a secret, silent dreamer.

A wyvern. A wyvern with shimmering wings. And behind it, descending upon the Fae fleet with wicked delight, flew twelve others.

YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS

Aelin had known. That Lorcan had betrayed her and summoned Maeve here. That she had been living on borrowed time. And she had married Whitethorn … so Terrasen could have a king.

I am coming for you. Even if it takes me a thousand years. I will find you, I will find you, I will find you.

I’m going to call in old debts and promises. To raise an army of assassins and thieves and exiles and commoners.

Aelin would never stop fighting.

Unleashing a cry that set the world trembling, Prince Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius, Consort of the Queen of Terrasen, began the hunt to find his wife.