Aery gasped at the sound, dropped to her knees, clutching at her ears. Just for a second, she'd heard a woman's voice. HEARD a voice. Telling her she was to be a queen; No, she'd probably just gone insane. The only group she'd ever been queen of was the urchins, and that was only because she'd done her best to protect them. And look at where that had gotten her--No, no, don't think about it.
Trembling, she raced over to the dazed Rowan, hefting most of his weight over her shoulders, trying to coax him to walk. "Freaking hell, Rowan, don't do that. You're scaring the living daylights out of me." She staggered under his weight but half-carried him inside the inn, where she set him in front of the fire on a soft couch. Hoping he'd be alright, she brought a flask of water from the kitchen and set it beside him.
Then she raced out, drew her dagger (which was faintly sparkling) and set to work. She raced up next to one of the soldiers. He was confused by this little girl so badly hurt, and he paused, and Aery drove her dagger through his side. He fell down dead, of course, but, as Aery pulled her knife out, she saw the gush of blood, and the darkness took her mind.
[i]Blood. Blood from a knife, blood from a cut. Pain. Dark. Pressing suffocating dark agony can't breath dark celaena where's celaena. Sobbing. Fear. No breath to scream with. Must...not...scream.
The darkness ate at her even as the pain did. Her hold on her mind was slipping, slipping, falling darkness no can't breathe mustn't tell mustn't cry for celaena, for celaena.
But then there was light, light and warm and celaena was missing and where was celaena and she couldn't hear and couldn't see and she must have been dying. Dying. And without Celaena.[/i]
She clawed herself out of the flashback with a scream, to find herself kneeling just outside the door of the in, sobbing, trembling, blood all over her hands and arms, blood that wasn't even mostly her own.