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"I know" The chill hipped her hair across her face, blowing northward

"Then why the walk out here?" She’d gone conte

"Could Yrene heal them? Erawan and Maeve? I don’t knohy I didn’t think of it"

"Is Erawan’s body made by hiht be wholly different"

"I don’t see how I can ask Yrene to do it Ask it of Chaol" Aelin sed "To even put Yrene near Erawan or Maeve … I can’t do it"

Roouldn’t be able to, either Not for a thousand different reasons

"But is it a mistake to put Yrene’s safety above that of this entire world?" Aelin ers she’d pilfered An unusually fine blade, likely stolen in the first place "She’s the greatest weapon we have, if the keys are not in play Are we fools not to push to use it?"

It wasn’t his choice, his call But he could offer her a sounding board "Will you be able to live with yourself if so happens to Yrene, to her unborn child?"

"No But the rest of the world will live, at least My guilt would be secondary to that"

"And if you don’t push Yrene to try to destroy them, and Erawan or Maeve wins--what then?"

"There is still the Lock There’s still me"

Roed Saw the reason she’d needed to be away from the others, needed to walk "Yrene is a ray of hope for you For us That you e the Lock at all You, or Dorian"

"The gods deo to hell"

Aelin chucked away the dagger "I hate this I really do"

He slid an arm around her shoulders It was all he could offer her

Over--she’d said she wanted it to be over He’d do all he could to ainst his chest, and they stared across the cold lake in silence "Would you letour child?"

He failed to block out the inant, their children around her "I don’t let you do anything"

She waved a hand "You knohat I mean"

He took a moment to answer "No Even if the world ended because of it, I couldn’t bear it"

And with that Lock, he ht very well have to ers over the clai marks on her neck "I told you that love was a weakness It would be far easier if we all hated each other"

She snorted "Give it a feeeks on the road with this arht not be such pleasant allies anymore"

Rowan kissed the top of her head "Gods help us"

But Aelin pulled away at the words, the phrase that dropped off his tongue She frowned toward the camped army

"What?" he asked

"I want to see those Wyrdht with theer on a scribbled line of text in Halha, the tongue of the southern continent

Seated beside her at the desk in Prince Sartaq’s war tent, the ruk rider craned her neck to study the handwritten note beside a long colu your herb beds to grow"

Across the desk, Rowan snorted A book lay open before hih it far slower than Aelin’s

Most of the tomes holly written in Wyrdins had driven her to seek out the young rukhin Borte, thoroughly bored with helping Yrene, had leaped at the chance to assist the betrothed