To the Stars | Throne of Glass

12

'Celaena. Celaena!'

The voice became a roar, and Celaena snapped back into reality. The hazy face of Arobynn swam into her mind. 'You're distracted,' he said. 'Go to your room, and don't bother returning till you're focused.'

Blindly, Celaena stumbled from the training hall to her room. She shut the door, and flopped onto the bed. Her mind swam with nauseatingly vivid memories.

~

'Your first mission is tomorrow.'

Sam froze. Celaena blinked. 'What?'

Sam stuttered. 'But-but she's only nine! Nine!'

Arobynn merely answered, 'She is my protégéé. And I say she's ready.' Then he turned to face Celaena, staring at her with a cool gaze. 'Meet me in my office at six o'clock sharp.' He smiled, and turned on his heel.

Sam turned to her, shock and envy shining in his eyes. Celaena gulped. But he only swore under his breath before walking out of the training room.

~

Her first mission. And not only was she the only female assassin in the Guild, she was the first to be chosen for a mission at such a young age. Celaena closed her eyes, and let the memory drown her.

~

A faint click sounded as the window swung open. Tucking the pin back into her hair, she slipped through, the carpeted floor muffling any trace of noise. Arobynn followed smoothly, no more than her shadow.

She walked towards the slumbering figure of her target. 'At this point, names aren't necessary,' Arobynn had said.

His plump body rolled, and his snores filled the room, drowning out any noise of the pad of her gentle steps. Her dagger slipped from its sheath with an inaudible whine, and she held the blade in her hands. Just a small, simple slit would do. She lowered the blade.

The dagger met skin, and Celaena gripped the hilt tighter. She didn't dare look at Arobynn.

A deafening silence filled the room.

She had hesitated too long. His eyes sprung open, wide with fear. A panicked gaze met her own steady one and gurgled cry escaped his throat.

Celaena silenced him.

She finally looked at Arobynn. He merely jerked his chin at the window, silver eyes burning in the moonlight. Celaena slunk out the window, hauled herself onto the roof, and raced across the tiles, not stopping, not slipping. But her palms felt clammy and slick with sweat. The knives strapped to her back suddenly felt like weights, dragging her down as she leapt over the gaps between the houses, each abyss yawning deeper than the first.

When she finally arrived at the Keep, she kicked open a window with a leg, and crawled inside. Celaena barely made it to the bathing room as she collapsed to her knees, placing her hands either side of the toilet bowl, and vomited. The vile, bitter taste brought tears to her eyes as she heaved, again and again.

Arobynn watched the whole time.

When she was done, she flushed, and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her night-black tunic. Then she shoved past Arobynn, and stalked to her bedroom. She could feel his penetrating stare on her the whole walk back.

~

It was just a distraction. Celaena squeezed her eyes shut, opened them, and punched the wall. The flaring pain in her knuckles brought her back to reality, and the memory slid from her mind like water.

She frowned. Two years. It had been two years since Arobynn had recruited her, two years at the Guild. Two years that had flown by. She'd been on four successful missions in total. Sam, currently eleven, hadn't been ordered to go on a single one. She smiled. Then Celaena ran a hand through her hair, and strode back to the training room.

'Glad to see you've finally joined us again,' Sam called. Celaena delivered a swift kick to his shin, and the smirk instantly disappeared from his face.

Arobynn maintained his expressionless composure, and said, 'Celaena. Sam. I want you to meet someone.'

Celaena didn't bother looking at Sam before she strode out of the room after Arobynn.

They were led to the sitting room, where two guests sat. A woman stood up, and smiled at Arobynn. He lowered his lips in a gracious gesture to her outstretched hand in return. The young girl seated beside the woman stood up, and bobbed a small, neat curtesy. 'Madame Clarisse. Lysandra. Celaena. Sam.' Arobynn acknowledged each one of them in return.

Clarisse seemed to be a good friend of Arobynn's, by the look of it. And Lysandra, the fair, forest-green eyed girl, was doing a pretty-damn-good job of keeping a bored, uninterested expression on her face. Or maybe she wasn't pretending. Now seated on the burgundy sofa, she picked at the hem of the velvet sleeves of her dress, frowning.

Celaena dropped into the seat opposite her. Lysandra didn't even glance up. 'Hello there,' Celaena purred. The girl looked up. A sweet smile played on her lips, but the eyes remained dull. Celaena slung her legs over the arm of the chair, and placed her hands behind her head. 'So. Have you bedded anyone yet?'

Sharp green eyes snapped to meet her turquoise ones. 'I'm a courtesan,' she replied in a soft, honey voice. 'Not a whore.'

Celaena shrugged, and ran a lazy hand through her hair. The golden strands flickered with gold like the firelight itself. 'Same thing to me.'

Lysandra's eyes blazed, and her posture tensed. Oh, this was fun, winding her up. Sam coughed pointedly behind her. Spoilsport. Lysandra cast her gaze over Sam. Over his handsome face. And the evident muscles visible beneath the tunic. 'Oh, please.' Celaena rolled her eyes. She was ignored.

'You must be Sam,' Lysandra cooed. He nodded stiffly. Some part of Celaena was glad for that. She knew Sam would choke at just the thought of love. But Lysandra was now batting her long, full eyelashes at Sam. Celaena was tempted to throw one of the daggers hidden beneath her cloak at the ridiculous hairstyle perched atop Lysandra's head. Or maybe a bit lower than that. With the sharpest blade. She turned her head away from the girl and focused on Arobynn's ever-so-interesting conversation.

'Archer has his Bidding coming up. Will you be there?' Clarisse was saying. Did all courtesans have those absurd eyelashes?

'Who's Archer?' Celaena asked.

'Archer Finn. Oh, he's gorgeous!' Lysandra clapped her hands together daintily. Celaena considered mimicking her, but ruled out the idea. Arobynn would not be happy.

Arobynn looked at Clarisse. 'It would be an honour to meet Archer in person. Perhaps we could arrange something?' Oh, Celaena shouldn't have been surprised, but this Arobynn was so different from her cold, brutal master during training.

Clarisse beamed. 'Of course. It was my pleasure meeting you again, dear Arobynn. Come, Lysandra.' As the girl rose from the sofa, Arobynn and, to her surprise, Sam sketched a bow and the ladies whisked through the grand door.

Celaena remained lounging in her seat.