Connall pursed his lips. 'Just as I thought. All bark, no bite: Time to quit bitching, girl.' And perhaps this male did have some sort of manners, for he said barely a heartbeat later, 'You fought well for your kind.' There was no stiffness in the praise.
Enya's breathing was slightly laboured, her ears pink from exertion (and possibly humiliation, to which Celaena secretly felt happy about). It was futile, Celaena knew, to challenge a Fae warrior and expect to win. They were seasoned beyond imagination.
She glanced at Rowan. Whatever he made of the scene before him, he made no comment, expression revealing nothing, either.
'I expect we'll be fighting, too?'
Rowan raised a stony half-smile. 'No.'
Her heart plummeted.
'You have magic. So you're going to learn how to use it.'
~
Rowan dragged the girl away further from the fortress into a clearing littered with pine needles and crisp-mud debris. She hesitated, but he growled at her, and she followed, mustering the audacity to roll her eyes.
A silence settled like a blanket as he walked - and the girl struggled to catch up. When she had, she asked, 'So - princeling, huh?'
Rowan ignored her. But the princess wasn't easily put off, and she persisted again, cocking her head, eyes half-curious and half-taunting, 'You must be very important to Maeve if she's put you on nurse duty.'
'Watch your tongue.' His nostrils flared and the girl grinned smugly. He said nothing else as she continued to watch him closely, then he finally let out an exasperated breath. 'Princess, considering your history, one would make sure you'd have the best to keep you in order.'
Her reply came, swift and rude. 'Someone should put you in line.'
He'd been aware of her mannerisms long before he'd met her, but hadn't expected such bluntness from the timid way she'd been conducting herself since her arrival in Wendlyn
A laugh almost slipped from his lips. Who was she to threaten him? His control was slowly being torn apart, but he forced himself to give a bland smile. 'If you mastered your magic, Aelin, you could try to do that yourself.'
Aelin huffed, eyes gleaming with annoyance. So, she didn't like that name.
Foolish, stupid girl. She was the princess whom everyone was counting on to lead this upcoming war against the king - yet her current behaviour portrayed her as nothing more than a brat.
'Well, the best, are you? Parading round the woods doesn't seem to show much talent. The only thing I've seen is your arrogance.'
Have you seen yourself? He bit down hard on the reply. There was no need to respond to her jibes with the same childish attitude. 'I've fought on killing fields before your parents were even born.'
'What is there to fight besides the birds and beasts?'
A pause. He swung his head to stare at her, eyes boring into hers for so long Aelin began to fidget uncomfortably. 'The world is big and dangerous, girl. Don't think you've faced it all yet. Be grateful you even have a chance to train; to prove yourself.' His face was expressionless, but his eyes were hard, and she bristled, just like he'd wanted her to.
Her mouth tightened. There was a second of silence, then, with malice glittering in every word, she spat, 'Fae like you make me understand the King of Adarlan's actions a bit more, I think.'
He struck her.
One moment she was facing him, teeth bared. He watched her collide cheek-first into a tree trunk, noting that last-second manoeuvre of twisting her torso to avoid the worst of the blow. But she still turned back to Rowan, forcing her groaning jaw to form a simpering smile.
He almost admired her persistence. But fury was all that pounded through his head. How dare she say that.
He drew his fist back and slammed it towards her - only to stop it with that same unnerving swiftness by her jaw. He could have shattered it if he wanted to. He actually very much wanted to - but he knew it was wrong to hurt the girl to such an extent.
'Do it,' she purred, breathing ragged and uneven.
But Rowan took a step back, face like stone, eyes colder than ice. 'Why should I give you what you want?'
'Useless brute,' she muttered.
He laughed, the sound soft and deadly. 'If you're so desperate to eat bark and splinters, princess, then I'll let you land the next blow.'
Foolish humans.
It was a rash and stupid decision on her part, but she took the bait and swung.
He stepped away and he saw her eyes widen in shock as her fist connected with pure air.
And then he hooked a foot round hers, sending her staggering into the tree once more - as if she were no more than a fledgling.
He returned her smirk - and saw the rage boil in her eyes. Spitting blood, she lunged for him again, only to meet nothing as he dodged, swifter than the wind, and she sprawled to the ground.
'As I said, princess, you have a lot to learn,' he said, curling his lip in scorn.
Humiliation and loathing singed her cheeks as she struggled to rise. He crouched before Aelin, nothing but pure hostility in his piercing eyes. Then he proceeded to remove the two daggers from her waist.
'What are you doing?' she barked, trying to hold onto them.
Without much effort on his part, he tugged them from her grip. 'You don't need weapons. You don't need to be armed to train. You get them back once you've earned it.'
At his demanding low growl, she reluctantly removed the hidden blades from her tunic, her boots, her hair. And he counted them - each and every weapon that came from her tunic, her boots, her hair. 'Starting from tomorrow morning, you'll be working in the stables.'
Aelin snorted. 'The stables?'
He was surprised by her reaction. 'Everyone needs to do hard labour - especially princesses like you.'
Something flickered in her eyes, something indefinable, but then it was gone and she only glared at him.
All he said before sauntering away was, 'Be ready at dawn tomorrow.'
~
Celaena lay sprawled on the couch in the main chamber before the fire, a cold, damp cloth pressed to her lip. Sam sat beside her; Enya perched on the arm of the couch.
Sam was glad that some of her usual colour had began to return to her. He'd noticed it after they returned from the training session, and was inwardly beyond overjoyed about it.
'I'm on rutting stable duty,' Celaena muttered.
'I'll go instead,' he said immediately. 'What was Rowan thinking, assigning you such hard labour already?'
'I didn't tell him,' Celaena said somewhat defiantly.
'Why not?' Enya asked.
'Why should I?' she retorted. 'Tell him and give him another reason to mock and ogle at me?'
Another thing Sam noticed was that she hadn't taken a liking to Enya's presence, and found every opportunity to berate her when possible. He tried to consider the motives for it, but understandably found too many.
Enya sighed. 'It's not about pride here, Celaena, it's your healt-'
'Shit to my health,' she snapped. 'I was whipped, starved, and worked to near-death in Endovier. I can handle cleaning a rutting stable.'
Sam was silent.
Then Celaena sagged, tiredness seeming to seep into every pore of her. 'I'm sorry,' she said.
'Don't be,' Enya said.
'Let's all get some sleep now,' Sam suggested.
Celaena couldn't nod her thanks. 'Goodnight,' she said.
'Sleep well,' Enya said.
After a while, Sam stood wordlessly and followed Celaena into their bedroom.
[2012XX]
good morning or afternoon or evening or night to y'all :))
nothing interesting to say
just wattpad, youtube, food and sleep
and so far all my christmas presents have been books lmao
um
. . . i want to be kidnapped by an assassin and learn their ways
um
idk what to say
how are your lives?
meh i'm in a dead bug position on my bed i just woke up and cba to move
welp hope you enjoyed reading
stay safe !