Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7)

by Sarah J. Maas

She just dropped the cloak onto the black stones and stepped into the water. Steam hissed, wafting around her in billowing clouds. She kept going, embracing the water’s bite with each step, even if it failed to pierce the heat of her. The water was clear, though the gloom veiled the bottom that sloped away as she dove under the frigid surface. The water was silent. Cool, and welcome, and calm. So Aelin loosened the leash—only a fraction. Flame leapt out, devoured by the frigid water. Consumed by it. It pulled away that pressure, that endless fog of heat. Soothed and chilled until thoughts took form. With each stroke beneath the surface, out into the darkness, she could feel it again. Herself. Or whatever was left of it. Aelin. She was Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, and she was Queen of Terrasen. More magic rippled out, but she held her grip. Not all—not yet. She had been captured by Maeve, tortured by her. Tortured by Cairn, her sentinel. But she had escaped, and her mate had come for her. Had found her, just as they had found each other despite centuries of bloodshed and loss and war. Aelin. She was Aelin, and this was not some illusion, but the real world. Aelin. She swam out into the lake, and Rowan followed the jutting lip of stone along the shore’s edge. She dropped beneath the surface, letting herself sink and sink and sink, toes grasping only open, cool water, straining for a bottom that did not arrive. Down into the dark, the cold. The ancient, icy water pu...