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With that, he vanished into the crowd Celaena stared after hiirls, and the revelry took hold of her again

The rooftop of her new apartment looked out over the Avery River, and Celaena sat on the walled edge, her legs dangling off the side The stone beneath her was chill and daht, and fierce winds had blown the clouds away as the stars faded and the sky lightened

The sun broke over the horizon, flooding the snaking arold

The capital began to stir, chi up s to each other froh the streets with bundles of wood or the lass castle shimmered in the dawn

She hadn’t been to her new apartment since she’d returned froh the spacious rooms hidden on the upper floor of a fake warehouse It was the last place anyone would expect her to purchase a home, and the warehouse itself was filled with bottles of ink--a supply no one was likely to break in and steal This was a place that was hers and hers alone Or it would be, as soon as she told Arobynn she was leaving Which she’d do as soon as she finished this business with Doneval Or sometime soon after that Maybe

She inhaled the dah her Seated on the roof ledge, she felt wonderfully insignificant--a reat city Yet she also felt as if all of it were hers for the taking

Yes, the party had been delightful, but there was s, s Her future was hers, and she had three trunks of gold hidden in her room that would solidify it She could make of her life what she wanted

Celaena leaned back on her hands, drinking in the awakening city And as she watched the capital, she had the joyous feeling that the capital watched her back

Chapter Six

Since she’d forgotten to do it at the party the night before, shelesson after breakfast But several of the other assassins were also in the training hall, and she had no desire to explain the gift to any of the olderway Not that they particularly cared about what she was up to; they did their best to stay out of her way, and she didn’t bother to get to know the up until dawn and drinking all that sparkling wine, so she couldn’t even think of the right words just now

She went through her training exercises until noon, i their instructor with the neays she’d learned toher from the mats a few feet away She tried not to look at his shirtless chest, glea through the air and landing alround By the Wyrd, he was fast He’d certainly spent the suhed, and she turned to hilare that warned him not to comment She slid into a backbend, then flipped out of it, her legs s over her head and back to the floor

She landed in a kneel, and looked up to see Saave the instructor a sharp jerk of his chin, and the stocky, compactme," Celaena said Her , despite how little sleep she’d gotten--which had nothing to do with the fact that she hadn’t wanted to spend ahall

"He’s here every other day I don’t think you’re aze on his face She’d seen Sam shirtless before--she’d seen all of the assassins in various stages of undress thanks to their training--but this felt different

"So," she said, "are we breaking into Doneval’s house tonight?" She kept her voice down She didn’t particularly like sharing anything with her fellow assassins Ben she’d once told everything to, but he was dead and buried "Now that we know the et a sense of what and how many documents there are before he shares them with his partner" Since the sun had finally decided tonext to ih his hair "I can’t I want to, but I can’t Lysandra has a pre-Bidding rehearsal, and I’uard duty I could meet you after, if you want to wait for o myself It shouldn’t be that hard" She started fro close to her side

"It’s going to be dangerous"

"Sam, I freed two hundred slaves in Skull’s Bay and took down Rolfe I think I can handle this" They reached the main entranceway of the Keep

"And you did that with my help Why don’t I stop by Doneval’s after I finish and see if you need me?"

She patted his shoulder, his bare skin sticky with sweat "Do whatever you want Though I have a feeling I’ll already be done by that point But I’ll tell you all about it torand staircase

He grabbed her hand "Please be careful Just get a look at the docue; if it’s too dangerous, then we can try tomorrow Don’t put yourself at risk"

The doors to the Keep swung open and Sa to see Lysandra and Clarisse co in