Chapter 3: His Return
>>Aelin
Two years passed like that. I had spent the time mostly with myself and the books in the attached library next to my room. My room wasn't furnished and had old rough stone walls and floor. The metal door led to the small library first and then to the small bedroom with a single window with a monotonous view of the forest and an abandoned tower somewhere in it.
In those two years all I knew about the war was how a demon village suddenly vanished, all the people in it went missing and a black gate in the form of an eye opened, from where monsters spilled out. Monsters that no one had ever seen before, creatures that used strange magic.
The war was brutal, people all around the world were scared that no one could win.
But Draegon won.
The echoes of celebration reached my room. Cheers, the clatter of hooves, the sound of music drifting through the streets. It was like something had changed in the air—a spark of excitement, of triumph.
Draegon. He had to be back.
No one had come to tell me, of course. My presence in this corner of the abandoned castle was ignored at best, scorned at worst. But I didn't need anyone to confirm it; I could feel it in the atmosphere. The war was over, and Draegon had returned victorious.
My information was very limited, I got it from the servants who came to deliver the food. There were those who would tell me right away what had happened and those who wouldn't even look at me and would leave.
I stood before the small mirror in my room, smoothing my dress with trembling hands. It wasn't one of the fine gowns that ladies wore, but it was the best I had—dark blue fabric cinched at the waist, simple but clean. I braided my hair carefully, pinning it back to keep the strands from falling into my face.
A war hero.