Queen Of Glass

Book 2 Chapter 16 part 1

Celaena Sardothien crossed her right leg over her left and leaned forward, her teeth barred in annoyance. "It's not exactly something I can refuse," she snapped.
"The biggest battle in this war is going on and you're going shopping," the Fae Prince snarled back.
"I'm not going shopping—that wretched woman is. I'm the bag carrier."
"A fine position for Aelin Galathynius." He twirled a strand of his silver hair around one of his fingers.
Celaena rolled her eyes and looked towards Maeve, who had been silent since Celaena's arrival a few minutes earlier. The assassin had meant to stay just long enough to tell the Fae Queen that she'd be gone for a few days, but somehow Prince Raonn had managed to convince Maeve that since Celaena would be gone for a while, she should get some training accomplished.
"I really don't have time to stay here and do whatever activities you had in mind," Celaena began for what felt like the seventh time in ten minutes. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning, and I need a full night's sleep and—"

"Silence."
Both Raonn and Celaena raised their brows at the Fae Queen's sharp injection. They watched as the Fae woman's eyes seemed to fade into the night sky that lay behind her pupils, her ivory skin glowing like a moon nestled between the ebony tendrils of her hair. There was a long moment of silence; and to the assassin, it appeared that Maeve was far away, seeing some scene or event that had yet to be spoken of.
Suddenly, Maeve turned back to Celaena, her eyes coming into focus once more. "When are you expected to return to the chateau?"
Celaena Sardothien shrugged her shoulders at the Queen. "After dinner, I suppose." "Then you've got plenty of time to stay here for a little work."
"But it's practically a half-day's walk! It took me damn long enough to get here, and it's going to take me just as long to get back! If I le—"
"You needn't worry about your return journey." The Queen looked at Raonn. "Bring her to one of the Fae's training rooms—the bronze one at the end of the Left Branch." The Prince raised an eyebrow, and the Queen shook her head. "I don't think that any kind of magickal training will be needed for today. Get her on the bars for a while and then do what you like with her—just make sure to work on her agility and endurance."
Celaena straightened up, her chest puffing out as she prepared to explain that she already possessed an enormous amount of both those qualities, but Maeve silenced her once more with a wave of the hand.
"You must remember that you've only learned from a mortal, Aelin Galathynius. What Raonn and I are going to teach you will make your mortal training seem like child's play."
Before any further words could be spoken, Prince Raonn took the assassin by the arm and led her from Maeve's clearing, past sparkling gardens and singing maidens, and up ancient stone steps into the vast interior of the great tree. Onwards they climbed several spiral staircases lined with lights that glittered like jewels, the haunting choruses of the Fae filling the space between their breathing, until they reached a long corridor that Celaena assumed was the Left Branch. It was only when she looked to either side of the wooden hallway and up at the curved ceiling that Celaena realized they were really in the left branch of the tree.
At the end of the walkway there was a bronze door, which Raonn threw open, and they entered into a chamber unlike any she had ever seen. While it did have a resemblance to the room in which she and Chaol had spent so many hours practicing, the weapons were foreign to her, save for an elegant sword placed here or there along the long rack that lined the far wall. Scattered throughout the room were constructions of metal and wood that Celaena could only guess were there for some kind of training, but what purpose they served she could not figure out.
Raonn pointed to a pair of chest-high bronze parallel bars that sat in the middle of the room. "Get between those."
Celaena raised an eyebrow, but obeyed, placing herself between the two poles.
"Well?" she sneered, and tossed her hair. "Is that it?" She put one hand on either bar and lifted herself up, arrogantly swinging her legs through the air. She smirked in satisfaction as she flipped her legs forward and over the sides of the bars, rising into a seated position on top of the structure. They had sorely underestimated her abilities!
Raonn removed his jerkin and rolled up the white sleeves of his shirt, his eyes filling with a wicked gleam that wiped Celaena's cocky grin off of her face.
O-o-o-O-o-o-O
Dorian DeHavilliard awoke to a heavy pounding at his door. Groaning, he stretched and then rolled over, hoping that the banging was just a headache from the wine he had consumed the night before. When it didn't stop, he emitted another noise of discontent and slithered out of bed, landing with a thud on his cold stone floor. Yawning, he fumbled for his pants and stood up, hopping to the door.
Dorian unlocked it, and found Chaol standing before him, red-faced and looking anxious—as always. "You couldn't have waited until," Dorian yawned again, "lunch?"