A few days had passed.
Celaena began waking up earlier every morning, using whatever she could find to train and help her get ahead. She used anything she could find; billiard cues, hair pins she had stolen from Philippa, even heavy books she had managed to compile.
Every morning, she would get up, despite the aches in her muscles and her intense desire to stay in bed, and train, building up her strength that she had lost.
Chaol came in just after Celaena had finished her exercises. Somehow, they had begun to enjoy each others company. It was a small change at first, then their relationship slowly moved from pure frustration to easy banter and mockery.
That be said, it didn't stop Chaol from being a grumpy guard, or at least in Celaena's opinion.
He looked at Celaena when he walked in. She was resting against the archway, her forehead beaded with sweat, slightly red from exertion.
"You ready?"
Celaena grabbed a damp towel from the nightstand, dabbing at her flushed cheeks. "Where are we going?"
Chaol turned away and walked into Celaena's bathroom, fetching a clean towel and passing it to her, which she gratefully accepted. "Around the castle. I was thinking of taking you to the gardens at the back of the Glass Castle."
Celaena made a face. "The gardens?"
"Would you rather I take you out for a run all the way around the castle?"
Celaena considered this. "I mean, do I-"
"Don't answer that. Come on, change and I'll meet you outside once you have finished."
The blonde grinned. "I thought I didn't have a choice."
Chaol rolled his eyes, a now regular occurrence in their conversations, and headed out of the room, Philippa entering the room as he exited.
****
They were just coming back from the gardens when they bumped into two figures that Celeana didn't know, but she could see the tension knotting in Chaol's posture when he laid eyes on them. He swapped between a friendly, slightly irritable captain, to a demanding, severe man in the space of mere seconds. His duality continued to shock Celaena.
The two women were walking towards them. One had pale, milky skin with deep red lips and dark tresses, while the other had darker skin, a shade of creamy brown. She was dressed in a white gown embroidered with golden fabric, and her hair was ebony, braided with shining beads and twine.
Celaena greeted the woman with a nod. She looked like a queen. Strong, beautiful, and independent.
Chaol cleared his throat. "Lillian, this is Lady Kaltain Rompier," he gestured to the woman with the deep red lips. She seemed to be a little distracted. "And this is Nehemia Ytger, daughter of the King of Eyllwe. She has come here to learn the ways of Adarlan." He pointed to Celaena. "Nehemia, Kaltain, this is Lady Lillian Gordaina."
Celaena wasn't listening.
The Nehemia Ytger? Nehemia Ytger, the hope and faith of Eyllwe? Rumoured to have started multiple uprisings to do with the freedom of the slaves in Calaculla? Possibly the only person in all of Erilea who could stand a chance against the King?
Hundreds of memories flooded back into Celaena's mind like soldiers returning to battle; grim and ordered, built to destroy and hurt.
She saw Endovier, saw the woman who sacrificed her life to save her the first night there, the smell of iron and blood.
YOU ARE READING
After Everything
Fantasía"it was like a dance. a dance of silver and blades and speed. they danced around one another, moving in time, as if it had been rehearsed a hundred times before. they fought like old lovers, as if they knew the others next moves like it was written...
