But death was her curse and her gift, and death had been her good friend these long, long years.

He'd known, since the moment he figured out who she was, that while Celaena would always pick him, Aelin would not.

The tears so unending that I now wondered if it was some sign of her heart bleeding out.

She had awoken this morning and slipped the amethyst ring off her finger. It had felt liked a blessed release, a final shadow lifted from her heart.

He wouldn't let his servants change the sheets on his bed because they still smelled like her, because he went to sleep dreaming that she was still lying beside him.