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Beauty reht

It was a constant thruside the power that she shoved down deep and disht--one last tiht do it Would think of all those still defying Morath, defying Maeve, while she trained She wouldn’t hesitate Didn’t dare to pause

She’d make this tie band glistened with its own fire

Selfish of her, to enforce that bond when her very blood destined her for a sacrificial altar, and yet she had gotten out of the boat to find theht But if she was to have no scars on her, no reminder of where she’d been and who she was and what she’d promised, then she’d needed this one scrap of proof

Aelin could have sworn the living stars overhead sang, a celestial choir that floated through the caves

A star-song carried along the river current, running beside them, for the last miles to the sea

CHAPTER 39

The enemy’s ar and a curse, Nesryn decided A blessing, for the tiranted them to prepare, for the ruks to carry some of the most vulnerable of Anielle’s people to a snow-blasted cas

And a curse for the fear it allowed to fester in the keep, now tee with those ould not or could not make the journey By sunset on the fourth day, they could see the black lines h the swaths of Oakwald that they hewed down

By dawn on the fifth day, they were near the outskirts of the lake, the plain

Nesryn sat atop Salkhi on one of the keep’s spires, Borte on Arcas beside her

"For a demon army, they march slower than my ej’s own mother"

Nesryn snorted "Armies have supply trains--and this one had a river to cross and a forest to fell"

Borte sniffed "Seems like an awful lot of trouble for such a small city"

Indeed, the ruk riders had not been i in Antica before their passage to these lands

"Save this city, take the Ferian Gap to the north of it, and we could clear a path northward It ly place, but it’s vital"

"Oh, the land is beautiful," Borte said, gazing toward the lake sparkling under the winter light, stea across its surface "But the buildings …" She ht"

For a few mo in the streets now, rushing up the keep’s endless steps and battlements

"I’ainst theirl had relentlessly teased her these weeks

Nesryn scowled "Where’s Yeran?"

Borte stuck out her tongue, despite the ar in hell, for all I care"

Even away from their respective aeries and ancient rivalries, the betrothed pair had not wara for years now To feign loathing, when it was so clear they’d slaughter anyone who posed a threat to the other

Nesryn lifted her brows, and Borte crossed her ar the last two healers to the keep" Indeed, a near-black ruk flapped up from the plain

"No inclination to finally wed before the battle?"

Borte recoiled "Why would I?"

Nesryn sht?"