Sarah J. Maas - The Assassin and the Underworld: A Throne of Glass Novella

Copyright 2012 by Sarah Maas

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First published in the United States of America in May 2012

by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers

www.bloomsburyteens.com

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to

Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

ISBN 978-1-59990-986-8 (e-book)

The cavernous entrance hall of the Assassins Keep was silent as Celaena Sardothien stalked across the marble floor, a letter clutched between her fingers. No one had greeted her at the towering oak doors save the housekeeper, whod taken her rain-sodden cloakand, after getting a look at the wicked grin on Celaenas face, opted not to say anything.

The doors to Arobynn Hamels study lay at the other end of the hall, and were currently shut. But she knew he was in there. Wesley, his manservant, stood guard outside, dark eyes unreadable as Celaena strode toward him. Though Wesley wasnt an assassin, she had no doubt that he could wield the blades and daggers strapped to his massive body with deadly skill.

She also had no doubt that Arobynn had eyes at every gate in this city. The moment shed stepped into Rifthold, hed been alerted that shed at last returned. She trailed mud from her wet, filthy boots as she made her way toward the study doorsand Wesley.

It had been three months since the night Arobynn had beaten her unconsciouspunishment for ruining his slave-trade agreement with the Pirate Lord, Captain Rolfe. It had been three months since hed shipped her off to the Red Desert to learn obedience and discipline and to earn the approval of the Mute Master of the Silent Assassins.

The letter clutched in her hand was proof that she had done it. Proof that Arobynn hadnt broken her that night.

And she couldnt wait to see the look on his face when she gave him the letter.

Not to mention when she told him about the three trunks of gold shed brought with her, which were on their way up to her room at this moment. With a few words, shed explain that her debt to him was now repaid, that she was going to walk out of the Keep and move into the new apartment shed purchased. That she was free of him.

Celaena reached the other end of the hall, and Wesley stepped in front of the study doors. He looked about Arobynns age, and the slender scars on his face and hands suggested that the life hed spent serving the King of the Assassins hadnt been easy. She suspected there were more scars beneath his dark clothingperhaps more brutal ones.

Hes busy, said Wesley, his hands hanging loosely at his sides, ready to reach for any of his weapons. She might be Arobynns protge, but Wesley had always made it clear that if she became a threat to his master, he wouldnt hesitate to end her. She didnt need to see him in action to know hed be an interesting opponent. She supposed that was why he did his training in privateand kept his personal history a secret, too. The less she knew about him, the more advantage Wesley would have if that fight ever came. Clever, and flattering, she supposed.

Nice to see you, too, Wesley, she said, flashing him a smile. He tensed, but didnt stop her as she strode past him and flung open the doors of Arobynns study.

The King of the Assassins was seated at his ornate desk, poring over the stack of papers before him. Without so much as a hello, Celaena strode right up to the desk and tossed the letter onto the shining wooden surface.

She opened her mouth, the words near-bursting out of her. But Arobynn merely lifted a finger, smiling faintly, and returned to his papers. Wesley shut the doors behind her.

Celaena froze. Arobynn flipped the page, eyes rapidly scanning whatever document was in front of him, and made a vague wave with his hand. Sit.

With his attention still on the document he was reading, Arobynn picked up the Mute Masters letter of approval and set it atop a nearby stack of papers. Celaena blinked. Once. Twice. He didnt look up at her. He just kept reading. The message was clear enough: she was to wait until he was ready. And until then, even if she screamed until her lungs burst, he wouldnt acknowledge her existence.

So Celaena sat down.

Rain plinked against the windows of the study. Seconds passed, then minutes. Her plans for a grand speech with sweeping gestures faded into silence. Arobynn read three other documents before he even picked up the Mute Masters letter.

And as he read it, she could only think of the last time shed sat in this chair.

She looked at the exquisite red carpet beneath her feet. Someone had done a splendid job of getting all the blood out. How much of the blood on the carpet had been hersand how much of it had belonged to Sam Cortland, her rival and coconspirator in the destruction of Arobynns slave agreement? She still didnt know what Arobynn had done to him that night. When shed arrived just now, she hadnt seen Sam in the entrance hall. But then again, she hadnt seen any of the other assassins that lived here. So maybe Sam was busy. She hoped he was busy, because that would mean he was alive.

Arobynn finally looked at her, setting aside the Mute Masters letter as if it were nothing more than a scrap of paper. She kept her back straight and her chin upheld, even as Arobynns silver eyes scanned every inch of her. They lingered the longest on the narrow pink scar across the side of her neck, inches away from her jaw and ear. Well, Arobynn said at last, I thought youd be tanner.

She almost laughed, but she kept a tight rein on her features. Head-to-toe clothes to avoid the sun, she explained. Her words were quieterweakerthan she wanted. The first words shed spoken to him since hed beaten her into oblivion. They werent exactly satisfying.

Ah, he said, his long, elegant fingers twisting a golden ring around his forefinger.

She sucked in a breath through her nose, remembering all that shed been burning to say to him these past few months and during the journey back to Rifthold. A few sentences, and it would be over. More than eight years with him, finished with a string of words and a mountain of gold.

She braced herself to begin, but Arobynn spoke first.

Im sorry, he said.

Yet again, the words vanished from her lips.

His eyes were intent on hers, and he stopped toying with his ring. If I could take back that night, Celaena, I would. He leaned over the edge of the desk, his hands now forming fists. The last time shed seen those hands, theyd been smeared with her blood.

Im sorry, Arobynn repeated. He was nearly twenty years her senior, and though his red hair had a few strands of silver, his face remained young. Elegant, sharp features, blazingly clear gray eyes He might not have been the handsomest man shed ever seen, but he was one of the most alluring.

Every day, he went on. Every day since you left, Ive gone to the temple of Kiva to pray for forgiveness. She might have snorted at the idea of the King of the Assassins kneeling before a statue of the God of Atonement, but his words were so raw. Was it possible that he actually regretted what he had done?

I shouldnt have let my temper get the better of me. I shouldnt have sent you away.