To the Stars | Throne of Glass

16

Celaena woke up before the sun had even filtered over the rooftops. She wriggled out of bed and put on the usual black attire before finally grabbing her weapons and sheathing them into the belt wrapped around her waist. She left the cloak on the bed.

Swiftly plaiting her hair, she strolled outside, footsteps soft and silent as Arobynn had taught her. Celaena's bedroom was located on the east-facing side of the Keep, so if she was spotted scaling the wall there...

She went to the training room and eased open the door. Some people were already sparring, some just practicing skills. Celaena waved to Ben, who was currently instructing a young boy how to wield a sword. The former waved back. Celaena pushed open the window, and slipped out quickly - but no one stopped her; there was no need.

She easily scaled the wall, gripping the windowsill with her hands before swinging her legs up to level beside her waist. She grabbed a groove in the wall, and threw up a hand to grab the horizontal drainpipe. From there, she shuffled along, and continued her ascent with the red bricks jutting out from beside her head. She never looked down.

Gripping the edge of the roof, she jerked her waist, and hauled herself over the top. Not the smoothest, but she would improve. Eventually.

The roof was slanted, the peak like a rolling dune itself. She crawled to the the ridge, and leaned against the stone chimney, the furthest from the edge she could get.

Though she wasn't particularly petrified of heights, that gave her no reason to get close to the ledge. One exception was when Arobynn had dragged her here about a month ago and forced her to stand on the edge to help her 'become accustomed to heights.' She spent the whole day there, legs numb, ears red, fingers frozen, and swaying with the breeze. It wasn't pleasant in the slightest.

Celaena sat on her haunches, and gazed at the Avery River meander lazily towards the open sea. It was still blue, dyed with the colour of the fading night.

Celaena sat and watched.

Watched as the sun slowly rose, and bled its red over the town, then a soft pink. The Avery glimmered with the myriad rays, shimmering purple after blue after pink. Celaena didn't move, didn't speak. She never looked away.

Not when the sun blinded her, and Celaena had to blink furiously at the starbursts, not when the birds awoke all around her, and pecked at the glinting blades strapped at her waist. She sat there until the the sun was big and swollen above Rifthold. Only then did she climb back down and slip inside.

'Where have you been?' Sam demanded, as she slipped into the training hall.

She fixed him with a stare, and jerked her chin towards the window. 'What do you think?'

He blinked.

'So... you're back to being...' she waved her hand in a vague gesture at him, 'that.'

'Being what?' he snapped.

'That.'

He growled. Celaena chuckled. She didn't learn a dainty laugh at the Guild. No, Celaena laughed with a low sound, with a hint of feminine softness that just made it a tad more menacing. She suddenly cut off her humourless laugh and gave him a bored look as she sauntered past him. She made sure to nudge him in the shoulder. And give him the look which was sure to piss him off. Sam growled, again, and tackled her.

But she anticipated his move, and grabbed his outstretched arm before whirling under it so it became locked behind him. She frowned. 'You have a very short temper,' she remarked. Sam wriggled harder but she caught his other arm with ease as he made to punch her. She leaned in towards his ear and purred, 'You're going to have to try harder than that.'

So he brought up his knee sharply towards her stomach, and she parried with her own, before winding her foot around his, and stamping down hard enough to make him release a short breath. She relaxed her hands, and he instantly yanked his own out of her grip.

His elbow rammed into her, but she didn't stumble. Celaena threw a jab as bait and Sam's hand instantly gripped her wrist like a vice. But in a single, swift movement, she twirled, and swung her other arm at his face. His head snapped back, releasing his hold, and with the the speed and sureness of a cobra, Celaena struck his neck. Not too hard, but Sam staggered back choking, and gasped for air.

There were other people in the room, but none payed attention. Brawls were perhaps the most common sight within the Keep.

Celaena grabbed the front of his tunic before he fell over. Sam's lip was split, but she had made sure she didn't beat him up horribly. 'I'll see you later,' she grinned. He snarled, more animal than human. She snarled back, twice as ferocious, almost savagely. Sam's pretty face contorted into fury and rage. Celaena growled again. She let go of his tunic, and he dropped to the ground. She spat onto his shoes, turned on her heel, and marched away.

Celaena barely made it out of the door before Sam was upon her again. She felt the blow aiming towards the back of her head before it hit. She wheeled round and ducked low, throwing an uppercut to Sam's chin before slamming her elbow into his stomach. As he fell, she followed, pouncing onto his limbs and digging her fingernails into his wrists.

'Really?' she barked. 'You're going to stoop that disgustingly low just to win? Let me tell you something. You'll never win. Not in a million years. Because I. Always. Win.'

Sam glared at her, and she tightened her grip on his wrists, drawing blood. She stepped off him. 'Get up. Get up, you bastard,' she hissed. 'And don't attack me again unless you want a broken neck.'

Arobynn was standing behind her. She knew he saw the whole skirmish. She bobbed her head quickly. But his eyes were cold. 'Follow me,' he ordered. Sam winced silently and got to his feet. Arobynn strode to an empty room. Then he said looked at Sam. 'Come here.' Sam trudged to his master. From the deadly glint in his eye, Celaena knew what was going to happen next.

Had it done to her once when she swore at Arobynn. But it was his taunting that led to it. She'd walked round the Keep with two splotchy yellow and purple cheekbones for days until they healed. Sam had, undoubtedly, mocked her. Ben just ruffled her hair. So Celaena learnt never to curse at Arobynn the hard way. No matter how much it hurt.

Sam closed his eyes. Arobynn tilted his chin up with a finger, and said in a dangerously soft voice, 'Eyes open.' Sam opened his eyes.

And Arobynn struck him.

***

"pitting the assassins against each other, the guild encourages cutthroat behavior. while fellow assassins are allies, they are first and foremost enemies to be watched. weakness is never to be shown at any cost. brutality is rewarded. as words are just as deadly as steel, education and culture are equally important."

- from some wikifandom throne of glass page