Sam Cortland Lived

Chapter 3

     Sam slept much longer than he intended to. He missed breakfast completely and was late to lunch.

"Why didn't you wake me?" he whispered harshly to Olly a few minutes later at a small bar near their inn.

"You looked so peaceful and you need to be very rested for your little mission tonight." He smiled with a smile that was a little too bright for the morning Sam was having.

Not only had he slept in but the man from the night before was gone when he had checked earlier. He was sure his attacker was dead. Sam knew how to slit a throat and make sure the victim never drew another breath, but now Sam had to wonder who had moved the body. He was pulled from his thoughts a moment later when a plate full of bread and a meat he couldn't identify were placed in front of him.

"So do you know how your getting in and out?" Olly asked.

"Yea, I'll meet you back at the inn when I am done. Who is the man I'm suppose to be giving these papers to anyways?" Sam asked between bites

"His name is Willy and he's an old retired warrior the Chief knows. He apparently has access to a small group of men quite like yourself who are going to rescue the women and children that are currently being enslaved. We are to meet him tomorrow morning in this very cafe to give him the documents."

Sam nodded and went back to his meal. They spent the remainder of the day resting in their inn. They took their dinner in their rooms and around midnight Sam started to prepare. He wore a black tunic with a matching black coat and pants. The hood hiding his face and any weapons beneath it.

With one last fair well to Olly he headed out towards the manor. He squatted on a different roof from the day before. He had a clearer advantage point from this angle. He waited until the last guard disappeared around the corner then he jumped off the roof. He rolled as he neared the ground and stood up a mere 10 feet from the wall. He'd have to move fast as he scaled it. Sam made it up half way with no problem, then he heard the guards voice in the distance.

"One second I think I dropped my knife back at the last checkpoint."

Sam scanned the area frantically looking for the knife. He eventually saw it... right below him. The guards footsteps were getting closer as Sam started scaling as fast as he could not caring about the blood rushing from his hands. He lost his grip as he swung to the side seeing the shadow of the guard coming around the corner. He threw himself over the wall just in time as he heard the guard.

"Oh there it is!"

Sam had landed in some shrubs with no major injuries other than his cut up hands. He'd need to get the bleeding under control before he started leaving bloody hand prints on every door or window he tried to open. He found a small bucket of water left over from watering the many roses that made up a small portion of the garden. He cleaned off his hands and poured the water out into the grass. Luckily his wounds had already started to clot. He laughed quietly to himself as he thought of how he would tell Celaena, Aelin he supposed now, how he had fallen off a wall.

Sam scanned the manor house in front of him looking for the window Olly had told him about. He found it moments later straight above him. With his hands not actively bleeding anymore he'd figured he could make the climb. A few grueling minutes later he was on Rome Lexington's balcony picking the lock to her glass door. He slipped in without a sound and scanned the room. He spotted the girl in her bed along with a small white dog curled next to her. She looked dead with how still she was sleeping. Still he waited a few minutes just to be sure the opening of her door didn't cause her to stir. When he was satisfied she was completely asleep he stalked towards the bookshelf and desk. He was rummaging through all the papers scattered across the table when he felt the cool metal of a blade against his neck. How had he not heard her get out of bed, or come up behind him for that matter?