light-fire-starlight-sunshine:

Thank you to @alongthegates for this prompt! Hope you like it. Any other requests I’m glad to take. Enjoy :) 

“This had better be good or I swear you are sleeping on the floor for the rest of the week.”

It was just as well it was early, Dorian thought. If Aelin’s guards were to see him leading their revealing-nightgown-wearing queen down the hallway, with her eyes shut, at the crack of dawn, they may think his intentions weren’t strictly honorable. Getting arrested might ruin Aelin’s birthday a little bit.

“I can’t believe you got me up at six o'clock on my birthday. Where are we even going? I thought you said you were taking me out later.” Aelin complained, letting Dorian steer her down the passages by her shoulders.

“If you stop whining, maybe we’ll get there faster and you’ll find out where we’re going.”

“How am I meant to go faster? I can’t see a damn thing.”

“Do you always have to be such a pain in the ass?”

“Yes, of course. I have a reputation to maintain.”

Dorian chuckled under his breath. He didn’t have much to worry about as far as keeping this moment private. They hadn’t come across a single soul, not even a servant, which was strange despite the hour. Maybe Chaol had arranged for the Sovereign Wing to be off-limits today. He took his job of being the Hand pretty seriously. Then again, Dorian had been working on this for months. He still couldn’t quite believe he’d managed to keep Aelin from finding out.

“Alright, we’re here. Open your eyes.”

He had stood her in front a door. It was huge, towering a good six metres above her. Made of solid chestnut oak, the front was wrought in solid golden vines that wove down to create handles and a lock. Aelin stared at it quietly for a moment, tracing her footsteps, before she blinked in surprise.

“Dorian, there’s nothing here. This used to be the Library of Orynth. I … I burnt it down when I was a child.”

“Did you?” he replied innocently, pulling a chain from his navy doublet. On the end hung a single key.

Aelin’s heart began to pound in her chest. He couldn’t of. It wasn’t possible. The books that had once sat in Orynth’s library had been some of the rarest in Erilea. How could he have tracked down every single one? Built it without her noticing? Not even he could do that.

But clearly he could, because when Aelin pushed back the double doors, it was her library she saw. Cherry wood bookcases went as far as Aelin’s eyes could see, arrays of  book spines blurring into a kaleidoscope of colour. The walls were decorated in smooth cream wallpaper that rose up high above, dissolving into an almighty glass dome. The diamond glass panes sent spirals of rainbow light to the floor below, flickering in the sunrise. For Aelin, it was difficult to tell that this was not the original library. The floorboards were cool beneath her feet, still creaked as she stepped further in. Antique portraits still decorated the walls. A cluster of worn, multi-coloured leather chairs were lined by the crackling hearth. It was as if her flame had never even touched the place.

“Happy birthday, Aelin.” Dorian murmured in her ear.

She whirled around and grasped his hand. “How?” she whispered. “How did you do this?”

Dorian was still getting used to how fast she moved. He locked his hand in hers. “Not easily. Finding the old stock list was hard. Tracking down every title on it was even more so. But I’d do it ten times over for the look on your face when you opened those doors.”

All resolve, any last dredge of doubt, drained away from her. She threw herself into his arms, clutching tightly to his neck.

“Do you like it?”

Aelin pulled away, tears gathering in her eyes. “I love it.”

“Anyone would think it was your sixth birthday, not your twenty-third.” he laughed, following her as she floated between the shelves.

“Gods, I could marry you, Dorian Havilliard.”

“I wonder.” he smirked.

She frowned at him curiously, her eyes searching around before wandering to the tan leather book placed on the chair opposite her. It was his diary. Everyday since his eighteenth birthday had a page in there.

Aelin looked around at him. “Are you serious?”

He shrugged, give her a wry smile. In that sudden moment, Aelin knew what she was going to find the moment she flipped dustcover open. A ring. It was perfect for her in every way. The band was gold, a date carved on the inside. On top sat a polished ruby, set in a halo of minuscule aquamarine stones. Understated, unique, but remarkably beautiful in its own way. Dorian had put a whole lot of thought into this. Ruby was Aelin’s birthstone, aquamarine was his. The date engraved on the band was the day he’d met her at Endovier. The beginning of their future. The ring was set on the next clean page of his journal.

“Say yes and tomorrow’s page will be a whole lot different.” he says gently. “Say you’ll marry me, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. Be my queen consort and take my name. You already have my heart.”

If Aelin took his hand, she’d go ricochetting down a whole new path. Her line wouldn’t continue as a separate entity. Havilliard and Galathynius would become one family, Adarlan and Terrasen one country. That was only the grand scheme of things. Her life would change forever. It’d be his arms she went to sleep in every night, his sapphire eyes that would greet her in the morning. He’d be her friend, her confidant, her partner, but wasn’t he already that? Hadn’t he always been?

Her voice came out as a mere whisper. “Yes.”