Celaena smiled as she watched the Crown Prince of Adarlan lead the Princess of Eyllwe through the basic steps of fencing. He was charming, she supposed. In an arrogant sort of way. But someone with his title could have been far, far worse. It made her uneasy how heâd made her blush. In fact, he was so attractive that she had difficulty not thinking about how attractive he was, and again wondered why he wasnât married.
She sort of wanted to kiss him.
She swallowed. Sheâd been kissed before, of course. By Sam, and often enough that she was no stranger to it. But itâd been over a year since sheâd lost the assassin sheâd grown up with. And even though the thought of kissing anyone else had once made her sick, when she saw Dorian â¦
Princess Nehemia lunged, slapping Dorian on the wrist with her sword. Celaena bit down her laughter. He grimaced and rubbed the sore joint, but then smiled as the princess began gloating.
Damn him for being so handsome!
She leaned against the wall and would have enjoyed the lesson had someone not grabbed her arm hard enough to hurt.
âWhat is this?â Dragged from the wall, she found herself facing Chaol.
âWhat is what?â
âWhat is Dorian doing with her?â
She shrugged. âSparring?â
âAnd why are they sparring?â
âBecause he volunteered to teach her how to fight?â
Chaol practically shoved her from him as he approached the pair. They stopped, and Dorian followed Chaol to a corner. They spoke quicklyâangrilyâbefore Chaol came back to Celaena. âThe guards will take you to your chambers.â
âWhat?â She remembered their conversation on the balcony and frowned. So much for swapping stories. âThe Test is tomorrow, and I need to train!â
âI think youâve had enough training for todayâitâs almost dinner. Your lesson with Brullo ended two hours ago. Get some rest, or youâll be useless tomorrow. And no, I donât know what the Test will be, so donât bother asking.â
âThatâs absurd!â she cried, and a pinch from Chaol kept her voice down. Princess Nehemia cast a worried glance in Celaenaâs direction, but the assassin waved at her to resume her lesson with the Crown Prince. âIâm not going to do anything, you insufferable moron.â
âAre you honestly so blind that you canât see why we canât allow this?â
â âCanât allowââyouâre just afraid of me!â
âDonât flatter yourself.â
âYou think I want to go back to Endovier?â she hissed. âYou think Iâm not aware of the fact that if I flee, Iâll be hunted down for the rest of my life? You think I donât know why I vomit when you and I run in the morning? My body is a wreck. I need to spend these extra hours here, and you shouldnât punish me for it!â
âIâm not going to pretend to know how a criminal mind works.â
She threw her hands in the air. âYou know, I actually felt guilty. Just a little guilty. And now I remember why I shouldnât have. I hate sitting around, locked in my room, bored out of my senses. I hate all these guards and nonsense; I hate you telling me to hold back when Brullo sings Cainâs praises and Iâm just there, boring and unnoticed in the middle. I hate being told what I canât do. And I hate you most of all!â
He tapped his foot on the ground. âAre you finished?â
There was no kindness in Chaolâs face, and she clicked her tongue as she left, her fists aching to bash his teeth down his throat.