To the Stars | Throne of Glass

8

Sunlight filtered in through the cracks where the curtain hadn't covered, bathing Celaena in a warm orange glow. She groaned and rolled out of bed.

Crawling to the wardrobe, she donned a plain set of clothes, grabbing her weapons - you could never be too careful living in a mansion of assassins - before heading to the bathing room. The door was locked, and Celaena rattled the door in frustration. 'Hurry up in there already!'

The door swung open, and Celaena just managed to step back in time before it caught her in the face. A young boy who looked slightly older than Sam walked out. His eyes widened. 'You're a girl.' It was a statement.

'No, I'm just a boy with long hair and feminine features, gods, of course not! Get out of the way.'

She sidestepped him, but he thrust out a hand. 'Hunter. Hope I'll see you for breakfast.' He grinned sheepishly before jogging off. Celaena rolled her eyes, and locked the door behind her.

Same as yesterday, everyone was already sitting at the table for breakfast. Sam deliberately turned his head away from her prying eyes, but not before she saw the purple ring circling his left eye. She grinned. A hand yanked her, and Celaena stumbled into a chair. 'Sit here,' Hunter said, patting the seat beside him. 'So. You're a newbie?'

Celaena nodded, though she didn't like the sound of newbie. 'You look, what? Twelve?'

Hunter offered a half smile. 'Damn right. Hey, you see Sam over there? What the hell happened to him?'

A fiendish grin. 'No idea, but whoever did, I praise them.' She plucked a grape from a bunch and threw it in the air. She caught it in her mouth, and chewed. Beside her, Hunter did the same.

'How long have you been here for?' she asked.

'Dunno. Three years, maybe. I was an orphan.'

'Guess we both got that in common,' she murmured.

Hunter added, 'Most children here were recruited because of either an unfortunate or problematic childhood.'

A nod. Then she stood up, grabbing a final grape as she did so. 'See you at lunch. Or training.'

Hunter threw her a lazy smile. 'Bye.'

Celaena went to the training room and lugged a dummy into the centre of the hall. She stood, feet parallel, a sword courtesy of Arobynn gripped in both hands. She'd done some training beforehand, but that was with a wooden training sword, not a real one. Still, she had been told that she would train with another apprentice today, one who was slightly more advanced than her, so the beforehand knowledge would be useful.

As she swung the blade experimentally,getting a feel of its weight and how her balance shifted, she spotted someone approaching out of the corner of her eye. She turned around to face friendly light brown eyes. Ben. Celaena sagged in relief. But then he simply just patted her on the back before turning away and walking out of the room. She deflated even further.

Ben bowed his head as Sam entered the room - the King of the Assassins stalking in behind him. Arobynn approached, steps graceful yet potent, coming to a halt before her, and snapped his fingers.

Celaena gripped the hilt of the blade tightly, willing it to not slip from her clammy fingers. Beside her, Sam copied her stance. Arobynn assessed their posture closely - telling Sam to relax his wrist - and nodded. 'Simple techniques first.'

~

They spent the rest of the day feinting and attacking and parrying with their blades. The room was empty now, and their breaths echoed round the room, sweat dripping down Celaena's brow as she thrust the blade forwards, slicing the air. Gods. Her arm ached so badly that she could've dropped the sword. But Arobynn finally clapped his hands, signalling for them to stop. 'Good.'