Page 2 (1/2)
Celaena sed hard Was this a peace offering, then? Soed his iven her for Skull’s Bay?
But to get tangled up in this sort of thing again … "What’s Bardingale’s stake in this?" she asked carefully "Why hire us to kill hihfer doesn’t believe in slavery, and she wants to protect the people on that list--people who are preparing to take the necessary steps to soften the blow of slavery in Melisande And possibly even sle captured slaves to safety" Arobynn spoke like he knew Bardingale personally--like they were more than business partners
"And Doneval’s partner in Rifthold? Who is it?" She had to consider all the angles before she accepted, had to think it through
"Leighfer doesn’t know; her sources haven’t been able to find a name in Doneval’s coded correspondences with his partner All she’s gleaned is that Doneval will exchange the documents with his new business partner six days from now at his rented house, at some point in the day She’s uncertain what docu that it’s a list of ihfer says Doneval will probably have a private room in his house to do the swap--perhaps an upstairs study or souarantee that"
She was beginning to see where this was going Doneval was practically wrapped in a ribbon for her All she had to do was find out what tiure out a way around them "So I’m not only to take out Doneval, but also to wait until he’s done the exchange so I can get his docus to the table?" Arobynn shtly "What about his partner? Am I to dispatch this person as well?"
Arobynn’s smile beca with, you haven’t been contracted to elihfer and her allies want the contact dead as well They ive you a bonus for it"
She studied the emerald brooch in her lap "And hoill this pay?"
"Extraordinarily well" She heard the sreen jewel "And I won’t take a cut of it It’s all yours"
She raised her head at that There was a gli in his eyes Perhaps he truly was sorry for what he’d done And perhaps he’d picked this mission just for her--to prove, in his way, that he understood why she’d freed those slaves in Skull’s Bay "I can assuuarded?"
"Very," Arobynn said, fishing a letter fro to do the deal until after the citywide celebrations, so he can run holanced toward the ceiling, as if she could see through the wood beaold now sat She didn’t need theto pay off her debt to Arobynn, her funds would be severely depleted And to take this --it would be about helping others, too How many lives would be destroyed if she didn’t dispatch Doneval and his partner and retrieve those sensitive docuain, and she rose from her chair He brushed her hair back from her face "I missed you," he said
He opened his arms to her, but didn’t make a further move to embrace her She studied his face The Mute Master had told her that people dealt with their pain in different ways--that some chose to drown it, soe While she had no regrets about freeing those two hundred slaves fro it Perhaps hurting her had been his way of coping with the pain of that
And even though there was no excuse in this world for what he had done, Arobynn was all she had The history that lay between theed by old And if she left hiain …
She took a step back, and Arobynn casually lowered his arms, not at all fazed by her rejection "I’ll think about taking on Doneval" It wasn’t a lie She always took tied that
"I’ave hi look before she left
Her exhaustion hit her thethe polished rand staircase Aand heartache Every time she saw the scar on her neck, or touched it, or felt her clothes brush against it, a treh her as she remembered the betrayal that had caused it She’d believed Ansel was her friend--a life-friend, a friend of the heart But Ansel’s need for revenge had been greater than anything else Still, wherever Ansel noas, Celaena hoped that she was finally facing what had haunted her for so long
A passing servant saw her and bowed his head, eyes averted Everyone orked here knew more or less who she was, and would keep her identity secret on pain of death Not that there was le one of the Silent Assassins could identify her
Celaena took a ragged breath, running a hand through her hair Before entering the city this , she’d stopped at a tavern just outside Rifthold to bathe, to wash her filthy clothes, to put on some cos like a gutter rat But she still felt dirty
She passed one of the upstairs drawing roo people inside If Arobynn had company, then why had he been in his study, ever so busy, when she arrived?
Celaena ground her teeth So that nonsense where he’d made her hile he finished his work …
She clenched her hands into fists and was about to whirl and sto and that he no longer owned her, when soantly appointed hall