(Book One in the Celestial series)
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She didn't remember much of her former life---except for perhaps the cool scent of the ocean breeze as it filled her nose, or the hard-set lines of her brother's face, maybe even the tune her mother had used to...
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"Let the games begin."
THE PRINCE'S EYES shone amusement at the blonde's brashness, and a slow, deliberate smile spread across his face.
He crossed his long legs. "Leave us," he ordered the guards. "Chaol, stay where you are." It didn't fail to slip by Esara that he now called the Captain by his first name when he hadn't moments ago. No doubt, he'd only done it as yet another tactic of intimidation.
One he'd dropped when he realized Esara's friend was ready to negotiate.
Typical.
Both of the girl's seemed to straighten at the loss of guards, their eyes flitting to each other as if both could read the other's mind. The guards were gone. If they wished to escape, that foolish, foolish move would aid them.
However, it was a silent curiosity shared between the two that demanded they hear whatever claim the prince was about to spew.
Over the year Esara and Celaena had known each other, after all they'd been through, it was no surprise the girl's had bonded. Their allegiance, their kindness to one another, it was hard earned. And there was not a doubt in either of their minds that their loyalties lay with each other.
The prince chuckled. "Don't you think it's risky to be so bold with me when both of your freedoms are on the line?"
Esara felt her entire body lock up. A single word, yet one that held such power over her mind. A word she had probably thought of a thousand times over these last years, and cursed its impossibility.
Esara had long since dismissed the prospect of her own freedom. She had accepted that she might never leave these mines, but...Esara decided that this was a very cruel prince indeed if he was lying.
"Our freedom?" Celaena whispered.
"Yes, your freedoms. So, I highly suggest, Miss Sardothien, that you get your arrogance in check before you, and Miss Esara, end up back in the mines." The prince uncrossed his legs. "Though perhaps your attitude will be useful. I'm not going to pretend that my father's empire was built on trust and understanding. But you already know that." Esara's fingers curled as she waited for him to continue. "My father has gotten it into his head that he needs a Champion."
It took a delicious moment for Esara to understand.
Then she watched as Celaena tipped back her head and laughed. "Your father wants me to be his Champion? What—don't tell me that he's managed to eliminate every noble soul out there! Surely there's one chivalrous knight, one lord of steadfast heart and courage."
