Adventures In Oakwald: A Throne of Glass Modern AU

Chapter 5

~A few days later~

There were few things she liked more than a good bath and one of those things just happened to be Emrys's, the camp cook's, food. Describing his cooking as anything other than glorious was a terrible understatement. She had had plenty of fine food before in her lifetime being America's Assassin, but somehow none of it could beat Emrys's food. Her mouth watered at the thought of the melt in your mouth brownies and the heavenly homemade whipped cream she ate last weekend.

Unfortunately for Celaena's appetite, everyone had chores before dinner. She got stuck on kitchen duty, the smell of Emrys's divine bread wafting through the air. Wyrd knows she has done lots of work, but she couldn't say that she had ever done anything in a kitchen before.

Emrys glanced over his shoulder as the kitchen door creaked open and Celaena entered. "I'm Emrys, and that's Luca, who you'll be sharing much of the scullery work with, I'm afraid."

"Don't worry," Luca sarcastically laughed "it's great." Eyes squinted and face grimaced due to slicing onions.

The corners of her lips turned up slightly at Luca's remark.

She lost herself in the monotonous work. She thought of what her life could have been if things had been different. If she had been normal. If Sam hadn't been taken from her.

Her dull kitchen knife pounded on the counter. She had tried to not think about Sam too often since she had arrived in Oakwald. Thinking about him just hurt so much. A part of her was filled with anger and violence, knowing that whoever hurt Sam was still out there, free.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to erase the hurt. Sam would want her to remember him by the happy moments they shared and the sweet memories, not by the anger that was caused by his death.

When she finally opened her lids, she met Emrys's chesnut brown eyes, filled with sadness. He gave her what she assumed was supposed to be a comforting nod.

Celaena once again lost herself in mindless kitchen chores, but this time she didn't try to stop herself from thinking about her beloved Sam.

Finally dinner was done. Luca had a broad smile as he rang the old metal bell that told the entire camp it was time to eat.

__________

"I'm famished." Celaena announced as she found Dorian, Chaol, and Nox already seated.

"You're always hungry."

She just shrugged nonchalantly and sat down with the guys.

All eyes turned towards a smiling Luca as he rang the triangle to get everyone's attention for dinner announcements. "Welcome back to Camp Doranelle! I hope you all had a great first week on the job. Before you get in line, I have a special order from Maeve." The laid back dining room ever so slightly tensed. Luca cleared his throat before continuing. "If what I say applies to you, then move seats." Chaol and Dorian shared a confused look at that. Celaena wasn't quite expecting Maeve's order to be changing seats, either. "If you were born in the spring, move 2 tables to the left."

"Well I guess that's my cue." Celaena strolled over 2 tables and plopped down next to some chick who she could barely remember the name of.

"If you have brown eyes, move 3 tables forward." More people, including Chaol, shuffled around to find their new seats.

"If you have a brother, move to a different table." The girl next to Celaena left and was quickly replaced by Fenrys.

"Good to see I got blessed with such darling company." Fenrys flashed a bright smile at her.

"Well not all of us got so lucky." Mischievousness danced in her eyes while her teeth tugged at her full, bottom lip.

Fenrys roared with laughter and slung his arm around her shoulders. "Ouch, Dianna. You've wounded my soul!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." She punched him in the side but they both knew there was no real aggression in it. She and Fenrys had instantly become friends earlier in the week. They had a rare friendship that mainly consisted of teasing and flirting.

"And finally, if you ate chocolate today, move 2 tables forward and 1 to the left. After you find your seats, you can get in line for dinner." Celaena slid out of Fenrys's hold.

"Seriously? We've been working all day. How did you even find chocolate?"

"I have my ways of finding sweets." She smiled as she walked away towards her new table. The table appeared to only have one spot open. Celaena hastily set down her water bottle there before joining the dinner line.

Her stomach growled as the line inched forward to the Greek food Emrys had made.

She gladly heaped big portions of everything onto her plate. Well, everything but salad. Because let's be honest, leaves are for goats, not people.

She turned to head back to her table, and for the first time ever, she regretted eating chocolate. There was Rowan Whitethorn sitting right next to the last empty seat, her seat. Great, just great.

She calmly set her plate down and sat. Rowan glanced her way, nothing but disdain in his deep, green eyes. It made her blood boil. If only he knew who he was looking at, what she was capable of. That unbearable expression would be wiped clean off his equally unbearable face.

Celaena gritted her teeth in an effort to keep her mouth shut for once. She would not let this arrogant brute ruin her brief opportunity to have a happy, normal life.

She was silent for the rest of dinner. The others at her table dared a little chatter here and there but it was mostly silent. She didn't fail to notice how the girls cast longing looks at Rowan, or how the guys seemed intimidated by him. It was repulsive how Rowan could dictate these people's actions without even lifting a finger. She vowed to herself that she would never let her actions be determined by his daunting presence.

Author's Note

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