Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7)

by Sarah J. Maas

And tell him thank you—for walking that dark path with me back to the light. It had been his honor. From the very beginning, it had been his honor, the greatest of his immortal life. An immortal life they would share together—somehow. He’d allow no other alternative. Rowan silently swore it to the stars. He could have sworn the Lord of the North flickered in response.

“I need to bathe,” she said, her voice low and raw. Even if there wasn’t a mark on her beyond dirty feet. “I need to wash it away,” she tried again.

“No, Fireheart,” he breathed, shaking his head, horror creeping over him. “There … there was no collar.” She blinked, head angling. “That was a dream, too?” His heart cracked as he struggled for the words. Made himself voice them. “No—it was real.

She couldn’t stop it—that need to do something. To be in motion. No matter how many times she swung her blade, she could feel them. The shackles.

He took it back; he hadn’t meant a word of it, not really. Lysandra tried to rise on her injured leg. The ilken laughed. “Please,” Aedion bellowed. The word was devoured by the screams of the dying. “Please!” He’d make any bargain, he’d sell his soul to the dark god, if they spared her. He hadn’t meant it. He took it back, all those words. Useless. He’d called her useless. Had thrown her into the snow naked. He took it back.

Aelin whispered, “I wanted to die by the end, before she ever threatened me with the collar. And even now, I feel like someone has ripped me from myself. Like I’m at the bottom of the sea, and who I am, who I was, is far up at the surface, and I will never get back there again.” He didn’t know what to say, what to do other than to gently pull her fingers from her palms. “Did you buy the swagger, the arrogance?” she demanded, voice breaking. “Did the others? Because I’ve been trying to. I’ve been trying like hell to convince myself that it’s real, reminding myself I only need to pretend to be how I was just long enough.”

My name is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, and I will not be afraid. I will not be afraid. I will not be afraid.

She passed through a world of snowcapped mountains under shining stars. Passed over one of those mountains, where a winged male stood beside a heavily pregnant female, gazing at those very stars. Fae.