To the Stars | Throne of Glass

72

The gods must have found it funny to suddenly have Arobynn appear in the doorway. 'What is this?' he asked, eyes straying over the sight of them. 'I thought I told you not to come here,' Arobynn murmured to Ben.

With a surprisingly large amount of childish insolence, Ben shrugged. 'I had to see her.' Celaena was thankful he had. If he hadn't come, she may have still been blaming and hating him - and still basking in her hurt. So, it wasn't a bad thing at all.

However, it seemed Arobynn thought otherwise. 'I said to wait.'

'Arobynn.' Celaena's voice pierced through the atmosphere. Not in the childlike way from years ago. But with a hard, confident tone. 'Leave it.'

Arobynn sighed. 'You two may as well marry yourselves. Ben seems to disobey all orders I give him as long as they concern you. And Celaena, you never listen anyway.'

She didn't know if that was a joke or a taunt. At least Arobynn wasn't threatening to lower Ben's rank. 'Friends,' she said firmly, slipping out of the bed and padding towards Arobynn. She stopped a little way before him, and smiled. 'Thank you. I- Thank you. Don't be angry.'

Arobynn returned the look, though with a slightly bemused expression in his eyes. 'I'm not angry. Now, Celaena, if you feel better, then how about you do some training. And Ben, you'll find some way to have yourself free to keep an eye on her.'

He stepped back, making to turn away, but then faced Celaena again. And stroked her hair.

She didn't know why it suddenly hurt when he disappeared from view.

~

Celaena gritted her teeth as she dug her nails hard into the crevices between the bricks. Her arms were already aching from training in knives with Sam. The lip of the roof loomed closer with every pain-filled movement, and she gripped the bricks tighter. One wrong move, one slip, and she'd be dead. Even the rope Ben had looped round her waist would likely do nothing to help the plummet. With a shake of her head, she banished the paranoia and raised her knee, placing the toe of her boot onto the drainpipe.

Ben peered over the edge - to her annoyance - having reached the top several minutes ago, despite his starting the same time as her. It was almost mortifying when he passed her, entirely at ease, using only his bare hands. Definitely humiliating. But this was the South wall of the Keep, not the East, which was the easiest route she used to get to the roof. 'Are you good?' he called. She raised her head to wrinkle her nose at him. 'You're almost there.'

'Stop the shit. I'm only past halfway.'

'Still good.' But it was Ben's chuckle that spurred her to climb faster, ignoring the bark of pain from her nails as the stone cut into them.

And then Celaena found herself standing upon the shingle, brushing the specks of dust and dirt from her tunic, littered with the latter.

'That was quick,' Ben praised. 'Now we know that all I need to do to get you hauling ass is to laugh at you.'

Celaena butted an elbow into his stomach. They were precariously near the roof edge, and if it wasn't for Ben's flawless balance, he would've tumbled right off.

Instead, he sidestepped slightly, and grabbed her elbow to soften the blow. Eyes wide, he looked at her. 'Celaena, we're on the edge of a roof.'

She grinned at him and strolled to the chimney. 'Come here, then.' He sat beside her. Celaena jabbed his bicep with a finger. It was so dense with muscle that it almost rebounded off. 

Ben huffed. 'What?'

Celaena shook her hair, which she hadn't bothered to bind, and placed her palms behind her, leaning on her arms. 'Nothing.'

After a while, after some thought, she asked, 'How is Gregori?'

Surprise flickered in his eyes. She rolled her eyes. 'I don't give a damn if he died.'

'No,' Ben laughed. 'No, he's very much alive. But he lost quite a lot of blood. There was no infection, and the wound in the thigh was still deep, but better healed than the ones in his abdomen. And his neck.' Ben suddenly looked at her, shifting on the tiles so abruptly. 'Celaena, what did you do to him?'

She sucked in a breath through her teeth. 'I wanted to strangle him to death. But I didn't, because it was fun to watch him struggle. And I stabbed him. Slowly.' Celaena smiled at the memory. 'Then I did it again, put a knife in his thigh, broke his nose, and crushed a few fingers.'

Ben didn't appear to be breathing beside her, and even though he'd seen and treated the injuries himself, he was still frozen with shock. 'By the end, he was still in good enough condition to crawl,' she added.

He swallowed hard. 'Don't- don't do that again, Celaena. You can be really scary sometimes,' he said, drawing in a shaky breath that wobbled ever so slightly with fear. Fear for her, and of her.

She snarled. 'He called me a monster.'

At the cold fury in her tone, Ben asked quietly, 'That's not the first time, is it?'

She shook her head. 'No, it's not.'

Ben reached for her, and she curled into his arms. 'Monster or no, I don't care. You're Celaena, and I love you for who you are,' Ben said firmly.

Celaena smiled, her heart seeming to pulse faster with warmth. 'Thank you,' she whispered.

Everyone needs some love.

'Thank you.'