Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7)

by Sarah J. Maas

It told her enough about how long she had been here. How long she had not been able to properly move, even with the healers’ ministrations to keep her muscles from wasting away. Cairn led her up a winding staircase that had her rasping for breath, the mist fading away to cool night air. Sweet smells. Flowers. Flowers still existed. In this world, this hell, flowers bloomed somewhere. The water’s bellow faded behind them to a blessedly dull rushing, soon replaced by merry trickling ahead. Fountains. Cold, smooth tiles bit into her feet, and through the hood flickering fire cast golden ripples. Lanterns. The air tightened, grew still. A courtyard, perhaps. Lightning pulsed down her thighs, her calves, warning her to slow, to rest. Then open air yawned again wide around her, the water once more roaring. Cairn halted, yanking her against his towering body, his various weapons digging into her chains, her skin. The other guards’ clothes rustled as they stopped, too. Fenrys’s claws clicked on stone, the sound no doubt meant to signal her that he remained nearby. She realized why he’d feel the need to do so as a female voice that was both young and old, amused and soulless, purred, “Remove the hood, Cairn.” It vanished, and Aelin needed only a few blinks to take everything in. She had been here before. Had been on this broad veranda overlooking a mighty river and waterfalls, had walked through the ancient stone city she knew loomed at her back. Had stood in this very spot, facing...

So elide was right, and she’s at doranelle