Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7)

by Sarah J. Maas

Lysandra had no speech left in her. Could only kneel, clutching the cloak. “We move an hour before dawn,” Aedion said, the order a clear dismissal. Ansel and Galan nodded, peeling out of the tent. Ren only murmured, “I’ll find you some food, Lady,” before he exited the tent. Boots crunched in hay, and then he was knee to knee before her. Aedion. There was nothing kind on his face. No pity or warmth. For a long minute, they only stared at each other. Then the prince growled softly, “Your plan was bullshit.” She said nothing, and couldn’t stop her shoulders from curving inward. “Your plan was bullshit,” he breathed, his eyes sparking. “How could you ever be her, wear her skin, and think to get away with it? How could you ever think you’d get around the fact that our armies are counting on you to burn the enemy to ashes, and all you can do is run away and emerge as some beast instead?” “You don’t get to pin this retreat on me,” she rasped. The first words she’d spoken in days and days. “You agreed to let Aelin go to her death, and leave us here to be slashed to bloody ribbons. You two told no one of this plan, told none of us who might have explained the realities of this war, and that we would need a gods-damned Fire-Bringer and not an untrained, useless shape-shifter against Morath.” Blow after blow, the words landed upon her weary heart. “We—” “If you were so willing to let Aelin die, then you should have let her do it after she incinerated Erawan’s hordes!” “It would not ...