To the Stars | Throne of Glass

55

Archer Finn hadn't seen Celaena for a whole day. He saw her whisper something to Sam before she'd slipped from the dining room. And hadn't returned since. He knew he needn't be worried- she was Adarlan's Assassin, by the Wyrd- and yet he was still overwrought with nerves. Pacing up and down his room, he constantly stared out of the window. Honestly, though he knew what she'd think if she ever found out, he missed her. Even if they only saw a brief glimpse of each other during the day, that fiery spark in her eyes was what drove him to keep going.

He'd joined the Assassin's Guild because Clarisse, a close friend of Arobynn Hamel, had said to do so. Frankly, in his opinion, it wasn't a bad experience.

Archer paused his pacing as he heard the gallop of hooves. He peered through the window as best as he could, and saw a green-clad figure flying into the drive, golden hair streaming out behind her in the morning sun. She was back.

~

Celaena Sardothien rode into the stable and dismounted swiftly. After patting the mare gently, she'd left the horse in her pen and walked into the Keep.

She didn't wash off the dirt coating her arms and legs, nor the specks of blood littered across her chest and face. Her gore-covered sword hung neatly across her back. She would clean that, though.

Walking at a brisk pace, she went to her room. No one acknowledged her, though those who hurried past her made sure to give a wide berth - keeping their distance, just as they always did (unless it was Archer, who seemed to entirely ignore the concept of personal space). Her door squeaked loudly as she pushed it open - since none of the rooms had locks, the best thing she could do was to create an alarm.

Celaena went straight to her bathing room. She scrubbed at the sword till the metal gleamed like quicksilver as she held it up to the light. Hanging the blade on the wall, she weighed two hunting knives in her palms. The door squealed.

'Laena!' Archer walked into the room, smiling- smiling, not grinning- at Celaena. 'Archer.' She placed the knives onto the bed safely as she noticed his rather wide-eyed stare when she had flipped them to face the intruder. Sitting beside the blades, she looked up at him. 'Why were you so desperate to see me?'

Archer's cheeks deepened to a dark pink. 'I wasn't desperate,' he scoffed.

She grinned at him. 'Liar.'

'Fine. Fine. Don't- don't laugh. But I missed you,' he sighed.

For a moment it was silent as Celaena stared. Then she she burst into fits of laughter. 'You missed me!'

Archer feigned hurt. 'And I was worried for you.'

'And you were worried for me!'

She didn't know why he was saying this. But it was immensely funny, for some reason. Archer flicked her nose. She leaned into his shoulder playfully, careful not to rest on the knives that lay between them. 'You're sweet,' She said.

He gazed down at her. His face looked exceptionally beautiful in the soft morning light. Even Sam's face couldn't compare to the loveliness of these emerald eyes and wonderfully pink lips. 'Is there anything wrong with me missing you?' He asked, raising a brow.

She sank her head into his lap, and his fingers unconsciously wandered to her hair, and began twirling the strands. Celaena felt a purr building in her throat. 'No- no- nothing wrong with that. But Archer, you don't need to be worried.' But it was nice to know that someone cared for her. That she wasn't entirely insignificant to the world.

Archer's fingers stilled by her ear. Then they began tracing her cheekbone. up and down. 'Next time you leave, I'm coming with you,' He said. It was all a bit much for Celaena; the protectiveness and light-hearted love. She supposed that they were acting like a pair of lovebirds at the moment, and for now, she didn't mind it. 'We can't sit here like this for the whole day,' she said eventually.

Archer placed his hands behind him on her mattress as she sat upright again. 'Okay. First thing you could do is take a bath.' Celaena didn't waste time shooing Archer our of the room before gathering a clean set of clothes and running the hot water.

~

Dirt-and-blood free, Celaena went to find Archer again. He wasn't outside, as far as she could tell, so she went to the training room. Arobynn looked up from where he was training Sam. 'Celaena,' he said, by way of greeting. He walked over to her. 'My dear,' he murmured into her ear, 'however brilliant your skills are, please do not wander off armed with only a sword. It's extremely vain to think you can handle the world like that.' She bristled, but Arobynn wasn't finished yet. 'Do not do something so reckless again. My dear, I was worried for you.'

Celaena's neck warmed at that, but she replied, 'If you were, it didn't seem like it. You didn't send anyone out to fetch me.'

Arobynn cupped her cheek. 'You must understand that you could've been anywhere by then. Tracking would've been almost impossible.'

She didn't try to protest any further. Arguing with Arobynn was one of the hardest things one could do. So she removed his hand firmly, but gently, and stepped back. Arobynn turned to Sam. Then he paused. 'Remind me to have a look at your swordplay some time in the future.'

Celaena sucked on a tooth. Losing milk teeth and growing the adult ones were possibly the most mortifying months at the Keep. Everyone, even Ben, had teased her mercilessly about the large square gap when she bared her teeth. There were still two she hadn't lost yet. A bottom canine and the one furthest back on the left. They made decent ammunition when spitting at someone, though. Gregori didn't tease her again when she'd spat a tooth at him, the jagged side leaving a long, red mark from his nose to his ear. She was still sucking on the tooth, lost in thought as she walked out of the training room.