CHAPTER
3
It took them five minutes to search the cramped room for any spyholes or
signs of danger; five minutes for them to lift the framed paintings on the woodpaneled walls, tap at the floorboards, seal the gap between the door and the floor,
and cover the window with Sam’s weatherworn black cloak.
When she was certain that no one could either hear or see her, Celaena ripped
off her hood, untied the mask, and whirled to face him.
Sam, seated on his small bed—which seemed more like a cot—raised his
palms to her. “Before you bite my head off,” he said, keeping his voice quiet just
in case, “let me say that I went into that meeting knowing as little as you.”
She glared at him, savoring the fresh air on her sticky, sweaty face. “Oh,
really?”
“You’re not the only one who can improvise.” Sam kicked off his boots and
hoisted himself farther onto the bed. “That man’s as much in love with himself
as you are; the last thing we need is for him to know that he had the upper hand
in there.”
Celaena dug her nails into her palms. “Why would Arobynn send us here
without telling us the true reason? Reprimand Rolfe … for a crime that had
nothing to do with him! Maybe Rolfe was lying about the content of the letter.”
She straightened. “That might very well be—”
“He was not lying about the content of the letter, Celaena,” Sam said. “Why
would he bother? He has more important things to do.”
She grumbled a slew of nasty words and paced, her black boots clunking
against the uneven floorboards. Pirate Lord indeed. This was the best room he
could offer them? She was Adarlan’s Assassin, the right arm of Arobynn Hamel
—not some backstreet harlot!
“Regardless, Arobynn has his reasons.” Sam stretched out on his bed and
closed his eyes.
“Slaves,” she spat, dragging a hand through her braided hair. Her fingers
caught in the plait. “What business does Arobynn have getting involved in the
slave trade? We’re better than that—we don’t need that money!”
Unless Arobynn was lying; unless all of his extravagant spending was done
with nonexistent funds. She’d always assumed that his wealth was bottomless.
He’d spent a king’s fortune on her upbringing—on her wardrobe alone. Fur, silk,
jewels, the weekly cost of just keeping herself looking beautiful … Of course,
he’d always made it clear that she was to pay him back, and she’d been giving
him a cut of her wages to do so, but …
Maybe Arobynn wanted to increase what wealth he already had. If Ben were
alive, he wouldn’t have stood for it. Ben would have been as disgusted as she
was. Being hired to kill corrupt government officials was one thing, but taking
prisoners of war, brutalizing them until they stopped fighting back, and
sentencing them to a lifetime of slavery …
Sam opened an eye. “Are you going to take a bath, or can I go first?”
She hurled her cloak at him. He caught it with a single hand and tossed it to
the ground. She said, “I’m going first.”
“Of course you are.”
She shot him a dirty look and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door
behind her.
Of all the dinners she’d ever attended, this was by far the worst. Not because
of the company—which was, she grudgingly admitted, somewhat interesting—
and not because of the food, which looked and smelled wonderful, but simply
because she couldn’t eat anything, thanks to that confounded mask.
Sam, of course, seemed to take second helpings of everything solely to mock
her. Celaena, seated at Rolfe’s left, half-hoped the food was poisoned. Sam had
only served himself from the array of meats and stews after watching Rolfe eat
some himself, so the likelihood of that wish coming true was rather low.
“Mistress Sardothien,” Rolfe said, his dark brows rising high on his forehead.
“You must be famished. Or is my food not pleasing enough for your refined
palate?”
Beneath the cape and the cloak and the dark tunic, Celaena was not just
famished, but also hot and tired. And thirsty. Which, combined with her temper,
usually turned out to be a lethal combination. Of course, they couldn’t see any of
that.
“I’m quite fine,” she lied, swirling the water in her goblet. It lapped against
the sides, taunting her with each rotation. Celaena stopped.
“Maybe if you took off your mask, you might have an easier time eating,”
Rolfe said, taking a bite of roasted duck. “Unless what lies beneath it will make
us lose our appetites.”
The five other pirates—all captains in Rolfe’s fleet—sniggered.
“Keep talking like that”—Celaena gripped the stem of her goblet—“and I
might give you a reason to wear a mask.” Sam kicked her under the table, and
she kicked him back, a deft blow to his shins—hard enough that he choked on
his water.
Some of the assembled captains stopped laughing, but Rolfe chuckled. She
rested her gloved hand atop the stained dining table. The table was freckled with
burns and deep gouges; it had clearly seen its fair share of brawls. Didn’t Rolfe
have any taste for luxury? Perhaps he wasn’t so well off, if he was resorting to
the slave trade. But Arobynn … Arobynn was as rich as the King of Adarlan
himself.
Rolfe flicked his sea-green eyes to Sam, who was frowning yet again. “Have
you seen her without the mask?”
Sam, to her surprise, grimaced. “Once.” He gave her an all too believably
wary look. “And that was enough.”
Rolfe studied Sam for a heartbeat, then took another bite of his meat. “Well, if
you won’t show me your face, then perhaps you’ll indulge us with the tale of
how, exactly, you became protégée to Arobynn Hamel?”
“I trained,” she said dully. “For years. We aren’t all lucky enough to have a
magic map inked on our hands. Some of us had to climb to the top.”
Rolfe stiffened, and the other pirates halted their eating. He stared at her long
enough for Celaena to want to squirm, and then set down his fork.
Sam leaned a bit closer to her, but, she realized, only to see better as Rolfe
laid both of his hands palm up on the table.
Together, his hands formed a map of their continent—and only that.
“This map hasn’t moved for eight years.” His voice was a low growl. A chill
went down her spine. Eight years. Exactly the time that had passed since the Fae
had been banished and executed, when Adarlan had conquered and enslaved the
rest of the continent and magic had disappeared. “Don’t think,” Rolfe continued,
withdrawing his hands, “that I haven’t had to claw and kill my way as much as
you.”
If he was nearly thirty, then he’d probably done even more killing than she
had. And, from the many scars on his hands and face, it was easy to tell that he’d
done a lot of clawing.
“Good to know we’re kindred spirits,” she said. If Rolfe was already used to
getting his hands dirty, then trading slaves wasn’t a stretch. But he was a filthy
pirate. They were Arobynn Hamel’s assassins—educated, wealthy, refined.
Slavery was beneath them.
Rolfe gave her that crooked smile. “Do you act like this because it’s actually
in your nature, or is it just because you’re afraid of dealing with people?”
“I’m the world’s greatest assassin.” She lifted her chin. “I’m not afraid of
anyone.”
“Really?” Rolfe asked. “Because I’m the world’s greatest pirate, and I’m
afraid of a great number of people. That’s how I’ve managed to stay alive for so
long.”
She didn’t deign to reply. Slave-mongering pig. He shook his head, smiling in
exactly the same way she smirked at Sam when she wanted to piss him off.
“I’m surprised Arobynn hasn’t made you check your arrogance,” Rolfe said.
“Your companion seems to know when to keep his mouth shut.”
Sam coughed loudly and leaned forward. “How did you become Pirate Lord,
then?”
Rolfe ran a finger along a deep groove in the wooden table. “I killed every
pirate who was better than me.” The three other captains—all older, all more
weathered and far less attractive than him—huffed, but didn’t refute it. “Anyone
arrogant enough to think they couldn’t possibly lose to a young man with a
patchwork crew and only one ship to his name. But they all fell, one by one.
When you get a reputation like that, people tend to flock to you.” Rolfe glanced
between Celaena and Sam. “You want my advice?” he asked her.
“No.”
“I’d watch your back around Sam. You might be the best, Sardothien, but
there’s always someone waiting for you to slip.”
Sam, the traitorous bastard, didn’t hide his smirk. The other pirate captains
chuckled.
Celaena stared hard at Rolfe. Her stomach twisted with hunger. She’d eat later
—swipe something from the tavern kitchens. “You want my advice?”
He waved a hand, beckoning her to go on.
“Mind your own business.”
Rolfe gave her a lazy smile.
“I don’t mind Rolfe,” Sam mused later into the pitch darkness of their room.
Celaena, who’d taken first watch, glared toward where his bed lay against the far
wall.
“Of course you don’t,” she grumbled, relishing the free air on her face. Seated
on her bed, she leaned against the wall and picked at the threads on the blanket.
“He told you to assassinate me.”
Sam chuckled. “It is wise advice.”
She rolled up the sleeves of her tunic. Even at night, this rotten place was
scorching hot. “Perhaps it isn’t a wise idea for you to go to sleep, then.”
Sam’s mattress groaned as he turned over. “Come on—you can’t take a bit of
teasing?”
“Where my life is concerned? No.”
Sam snorted. “Believe me, if I came home without you, Arobynn would skin
me alive. Literally. If I’m going to kill you, Celaena, it’ll be when I can actually
get away with it.”
She scowled. “I appreciate that.” She fanned her sweating face with a hand.
She’d sell her soul to a pack of demons for a cool breeze right now, but they had
to keep the window covered—unless she wanted some spying pair of eyes to
discover what she looked like. Though, now that she thought about it, she’d love
to see the look on Rolfe’s face if he found out the truth. Most already knew that
she was a young woman, but if he knew he was dealing with a sixteen-year-old,
his pride might never recover.
They’d only be here for three nights; they could both go without a little sleep
if it meant keeping her identity—and their lives—safe.
“Celaena?” Sam asked into the dark. “Should I worry about going to sleep?”
She blinked, then laughed under her breath. At least Sam took her threats
somewhat seriously. She wished she could say the same for Rolfe. “No,” she
said. “Not tonight.”
“Some other night, then,” he mumbled. Within minutes, he was out.
Celaena rested her head against the wooden wall, listening to the sound of his
breathing as the long hours of the night stretched by
