#I will be making another post mid-week n_n | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

knittingdreams · 3 years

Text

Fireheart - Chapter 6

Short and sweet update today! The rest of the chapters are easy to find on my blog, there’s not many posts up yet n_n And remember, you can read more on Ao3, I uploaded a new chapter there today too! :D

CHAPTER 6

Reminiscing

The days turned into a week, and Celaena wasn’t any closer to finding out anything about what had happened with her family. She had managed to settle into a good routine, her body was almost used to daytime, and a little golden glow was starting to show on her cheeks and hands as well as her legs, the only parts of her body that were seeing the light of day.

She was making up a plan to sneak into the top floor, where Dorian’s father's penthouse was, when she heard the front door of her suite creaking open. She stood up slowly and moved over to the wall, pressing her body behind her bedroom door, waiting. She listened to the light steps on the hallway getting closer, and her legs flexed a bit without even thinking about it. She had no weapons in hand, but she didn’t need any. She waited, crouching, listening.

As soon as the steps were on the threshold, they stopped, and Celaena could see the shadow of a man lurking, looking around the room, probably surprised to see it empty. Had Arobynn sent someone to check on her? Or had anybody found out about her? She didn’t have time to think about it because the figure jumped into the room, closing the door behind him in a quick motion and leaving her without cover.

“Gotcha!” A known voice yelled, and Celaena’s fist stopped mid-air as a palm collided against it.

“For fuck sake, Cortland!” she screamed. “What the fuck are you doing here? And why would you sneak up on me like that?” She took a step back, looking at Sam up and down and frowning as he let go of her fist.

“For fun?”

Celaena pressed her palms against her face, not able to believe this intrusion to her privacy. Once the shock was gone, she walked over to her bed and dropped into it again, resuming her relaxed position from only a minute ago.

"So, are you going to explain what brings you here?" She asked, nonchalant, as Sam still stood by the door.

"Thought I'd check on you. We've been in school for two weeks already, you made it into the cheer squad and you start training on Monday, I'm just wondering what you're going to do about…" Sam looked lost for words and looked down, red colouring his cheeks.

"Are you worrying about me wearing the uniform? Why don't you mind your own fucking business, Cortland?!" She said outraged, standing up and walking right past him and out of the room. Sam trailed behind her, and she could almost feel the apology stuck in his throat.

"Sorry," he said once Celaena reached the minibar and pulled out a can of cream soda.

"Why are you even here? What if anybody saw you coming in? Dorian could be around-"

"Do you think I'm that stupid?" Sam cut in. "No one saw me, I can get in and out of this building without a single pair of eyes catching sight of me, and you more than anyone should know that!" He almost growled at her.

They were standing right in front of each other now, anger burning their skins and flushing their cheeks. It was a stand-off, one that Celaena didn't plan on losing.

"I don't need your help," she said for what felt like the millionth time.

"You can't always do everything on your own, Celaena," Sam said, his voice turning softer as he said her name and took a step back. He turned his back on her, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry for what happened that day, I could never apologize, you keep shutting me out, and I… I was only trying to help-"

"Out!" Celaena growled. "Get out of here before I rip your throat out." Tears were threatening to come out, burning behind her eyes.

Sam turned around slowly and looked at her with such sadness in his eyes, that she almost broke.

"Now," she said, a bit softer. It was a plea, and she could tell Sam knew how she felt. After all, they had been close enough to know each other as no one else did.

Sam nodded once, slowly, and made his way to the same door through which he had entered merely minutes ago. Before closing the door behind him, he peered in and looked at her turquoise eyes.

"I really am sorry, I will forever feel guilty for what involvement I had in what happened, and I know I could never make it up to you, but I wish I could." And then he was gone, the door now closed between them.

Celaena breathed in deeply, trying to avoid the memories from that night from catching up with her. She had been so close to getting out, so close to success before Arobynn's men had found her. She had been stupid, and reckless, and she had been fully aware of the consequences her actions could have brought. But no, it had been so much more, it had been torture, humiliation, and so much pain.

Her hand mindlessly moved to her lower back, rubbing the harsh skin close to her tailbone. The worst of the scarring was low enough to be hidden by high-waisted pants, and she thought, hopeful, that she could adapt the uniform to hide them too. She went back to her bedroom, grabbed the cheerleader uniform off the dresser, and tried it on.

"I can work with this," she told her reflection. She could raise the waistline without any problem.

She dropped back on the bed and opened up her computer, thinking about checking up the blueprint of the hotel again. She wanted to work out the best way to get to the penthouse on the floor above so she could set up some hidden cameras. To her surprise, she found a bunch of messages on the screen instead.

Nehemia: Are you going to the party? I would love to see you there my dear friend!

Dorian: I'll have a cocktail made in your name if you delight me with your presence tonight.

Lysandra: Party at Dorian's tonight, it's Friday, and you're part of the hive now, so I expect to see you there.

Celaena wondered if that was the real reason Cortland had shown up at the hotel. Maybe he wanted to see if she was going to Dorian's party. She was absolutely sure the guy would have gotten an invite too. He had become a pretty popular kid, even if he didn't mingle with the same crowd she did. Sam had befriended almost everybody at Adarlan Elite High in as little as two weeks. He was the one every single girl was dreaming about, like a new toy that they wanted to possess. She could see the appeal, there was no denying that Sam was really good looking.

There was a rough history between them, one that was a bit like a broken rollercoaster ride.

Celaena still remembered the day she had arrived at Arobynn's mansion. He had carried her broken and tired body up the stairs, and had nested her in a bed with warm blankets. A doctor had come over to check on her, and multiple people had tried to ask what was wrong with her, what had happened. She couldn't talk about it, she couldn't get herself to express out loud what she thought had happened.

In the middle of that first night, she had woken up screaming, terrified. She had had a nightmare about the plane crash, she had felt the collision against the water again, she had seen her parents disappear under a mass of water as her mother had pulled on the tag of her safety vest. The young version of herself had held her breath as soon as the water had filled the plane’s cabin, and her body had shot up through the surface, her shoulder bumping against the wreckage as she soared up. In reality, she had made it out, but she had dreamed of water filling up her lungs and flames engulfing her world instead.

She had woken up sweaty, screaming, and had found a pair of small hands steading her, a little voice telling her everything was going to be alright. For a moment, she had thought it was Aedion by her side, but this kid hadn't had blond curls, but short light brown hair instead; and his eyes weren't bright turquoise as hers, they were the color of honey.

"It's okay, you're okay, it was just a nightmare," the kid had said.

"Who are you?" She had asked, feeling lost and confused.

"I'm Sam, I live here, with Arobynn... The man who found you," he explained as the girl Celaena had been back then, had looked at him wide-eyed.

She had remembered then that a man had found her on the shore after who knew how long. She had expected him to take her to the police as they did in the movies, but there had been no patrols, no lights, no ambulances. Just a black car with tinted windows taking her into a big house.

"Where are my parents? Where's mum?" She had asked the boy when the memories had hit her all over again, her eyes still soaked with tears.

"Girl," he had said softly. "Your parents are dead."

She had cursed and screamed and yelled, and through it all, Sam had sat there patiently, waiting for the tantrum to be over while he tried to comfort her with soft words.

"It will be okay, you get used to it after some time.” He had said after she calmed down. “My parents died years ago, and I don't even remember them much." The young blond girl had thought he didn't sound as sad as he should have been about their deaths.

"You know nothing!" She had spat on his face. "I'm not like you, and I will never forget my parents!"

That had been the start or the turmoil. The first few weeks at Arobynn's place she had been so angry with the brown haired boy for implying such horrible things that she had stayed away from him, or insulted him whenever they crossed paths. Eventually, young Sam had stopped trying to befriend her.

When they started training in combat by the age of 12, they automatically became rivals, like it was meant to be. There were other kids around, others that came and went, but the two of them were the best ones, the ones that were constantly in the spotlight of Arobynn’s attention. They pushed themselves to beat one another, and that’s why they had become the best. That was the same reason why they had come to know each other so well.

Celaena laughed at the memories, lying back on her bed.

Their relationship had gotten better by the time they became teens as they had no other option but to work together. They had to learn how to fight side by side instead of always against each other when they had joined a few illegal tournaments as partners. It had helped them learn about teamwork and tolerance, but Celaena had still kept her distance.

Teen fighting was something they had endured for the past three years. Arobynn was one of the biggest gamblers in the scene, and he had made a lot of money out of the pair.

The rules were few, but they were inflexible:

-No punching on the face, as no one wants to bring the authorities’ attention to a heap of kids with black eyes and broken jaws.

-Last kid standing, wins.

-Only kids under 17 years of age allowed.

Simple and efficient. The fights always took place in underground basements that looked more like dungeons in the middle of the night, and that had been most of Sam and Celaena’s lives for the past years. The fighting had only been interrupted by break and entry, and a few espionage missions. Just your typical teen life, Celaena thought and laughed to herself.

The guild though, was at another level. They were Arobynn’s most trained and elite fighters, the ones that formed his inner circle.

Celaena thought about the tournament Arobynn had talked about. She knew good money would be involved, and she couldn’t lie to herself, she enjoyed the fighting. She wondered why she hadn’t been selected for it. Truth was that there had never been any females in the guild, but Celaena had always been hopeful that she could be the first one, that she was strong enough to make it into Arobynn’s team of most skilled and profitable fighters. But that had been all before the incident.

Suddenly pissed off, Celaena closed the computer and stood up from the bed, walking over to her dresser.

“Fucking Sam Cortland,” she muttered as she ruffled through her clothes.

Not only had he taken her place on the guild, but he had gone and fucked everything up a few months back. He had betrayed her, and it had cost her greatly. Not only physically, but her relationship with Arobynn was now strained, and she couldn’t help but blame her lack of involvement with the guild for what had happened back then. Arobynn didn't fully trust her anymore but she needed as much money as she could, she needed to solve her parents’ murder to make sure she could pay him back what she owed him, and move along.

She was ready to buy her freedom. But Arobynn’s fees were high.

She put on her black leather leggings, the ones that had net cut outs and transparencies on the upper tights, and then laced up her black high heel boots. She found a V neck dark purple top with long sleeves, and then rolled them halfway up to her elbows. She stood in front of the mirror for a moment, putting on her contacts back, touching up her makeup and adding some deep purple lipstick.

There was a party she needed to attend, and an office she wanted to break into.

#throne of glass fanfiction #tog fanfic #fireheart #sam cortland #celaena sardothien #arobynn hamel #dorian havilliard #chapter six

7 notes · View notes