Two weeks had passed at the assassins keep, and although he would never have admitted it, Arobynn Hamel was secretly impressed at the speed in which his new protegée was learning his trade. Celaena herself was enjoying the challenge that the hard training and vigourous routine of an assassin brought. It was a break from her relatively relaxed life at the palace, and whilst she still had to continue her studies in various royal disciplines, the exercise was a welcome distraction to her usual routine. In addition, she relished the opportunity to just be normal, to just be a girl and not a princess. It was liberating to be able to mess around with her new friends, Sam and Lysandra, without people raising an eyebrow at her, or reprimanding her for acting in "a very un-princess-like manner". All in all, Celaena had taken to her new home like a duck to water, a fact that was proved two weeks to the day of her arrival when she bested Sam in every sparring contest during training with only a few bruises.

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"Since when did you get so good?!" Sam had an incredulous look on his face as once again he found himself pinned down by Celeana, arm twisted behind his back.

Celeana merely pushed her fringe back from her sweaty forehead and grinned slyly before standing up to go and get a glass of water. As she walked away, she couldnt help but feel rather pleased with herself. She had improved a lot recently, and she couldnt wait to learn more. Little did she know that she wouldn't have to wait very long…..

Celeana was standing at the drinks table, sipping at a glass of lemon water when an older assassin she recognised as Ben (In her first week he had supervised her initial training and taught her the basic movements for hand to hand combat) came up beside her. He was smiling as he helped himself to a glass and poured himself some water. After taking a couple of dips, he turned to Celeana.

"Ive been watching you and sam- and you have improved very well. I think you may be ready to learn some more disciplines. From now on you will be training in all the different weapons we have here in the keep in the mornings and continuing with fitness, gymnastics and stealth in the afternoons."

Celeana could barely contain her excitement at the prospect of learning how to not only handle but wield with skill the numerous weapons she had been eyeing up over the past fortnight.

Putting her glass down, she eagerly followed Ben to the armoury where he quizzed her on what she remembered from his initial introduction. He was surprised to hear she remembered it all. And more. It would seem that the girl had found the Keep's library and had been reading up on the finer points of weaponry in her spare time. It would have been an understatement to say that Ben was impressed but he kept his expression neutral as Celeana rattled off an explanation behind the weighting of knives. After all, it wouldn't do for the girl to become cocky.

Ten minutes later, Celeana found herself armed with a belt of knives and facing a target. Beside her, Sam had armed himself with a now and was firing off arrows with unnerving accuracy. Turning her attention away from her friend and back to her Tutor, Celeana focused on her grip of the knife in her hand. She would learn how to throw and shoot and stab just as well as Ben, she promised herself. Ahe would catch up with Sam so that they could train together, and maybe she would even be able to beat him. Celeana smirked at the prospect as she squinted at the target. She allowe her wrist to go slack, just as Ben had told her, and took a deep breath, picturing the trajectory of the knife. She took anpther breath and let the knife fly…….

Celeana cursed as it struck the target by the handle and bounced off to the side. She was rubbish! Muttering under her breath she reached for another knife but stopped when she felt Ben's hand upon her shoulder. She turned around to face him and was surprised to see an impressed look on his face.

"what?" she asked, frowning.

"That was great- you're a natural!"

"But I didn't even manage to hit the target!"

Ben chuckled as he shook his head.

"Yes you did. And you didn't realise but you struck almost a perfect bulls eye. You just need to work on your throw so that the blade makes contact and embeds but your accuracy is exceptional. Usually trainees dont even got the target with their first throw."

Celeana thought about this statement and felt herself begin to smile. Maybe she wasnt so rubbish afyer all! She would learn and she would be the best assassin the keep had ever seen. Grinning at Ben, she pulled a knife from her belt and held it out to him.

"Show me."

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Celeana grinned at her relfelection that evening as she splashed her face in cooling water, removing every last trace of sweat and grime. After only an hour of practicing, she had has impressed Ben by throwing a perfect bullseye. What's more, the knife had embedded up to its hilt in the target, a feat that had left Sam speechless and even had Ben looking a little awed. Having sussed how to throw the knife, Celeana had promptly followed the first throw with five more knives, four of them landing in the inner circle of the target, the fifth striking the handle of the first and rebounding. All in all, it has been a good day's training thought Celeana.

After she had brushed her hair and changed into a clean tunic of a deep maroon colour, laced with a gold thread that brought out her eyes, she slipped her tired feet into a pair of soft pumps and padded across her chamber to the door. With just over an hour until dinner, and nothing to fill her time in her rooms, Celeana thought it was high time she investigated the grand piano she had spied in the drawing room. Having been tutored in singing and piano from the age of five, music was one of the things Celaena loved most. It was her escape from the expectations of court life, and a road into a world that was entirely her own. Her love for music had only increased when at the age of six, her parents had decided it was high time for her to learn to dance, and Celeana had discovered how to really feel the music, to experience it with every cell of her being, to embrace it. And now her fingers were itching to pry open the lid of the huge, black pianoforte that sat downstairs, and to play the music she had been missing so much recently.

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As she sat down at the magnificent instrument, Celeana felt a shiver of excitement dart up her spine. She carefully lifted the heavy lid and smiled as she was greeted by a shining board of ivory and ebony keys. Closing her eyes, she layed her fingers carefully on the polished surface and traced out the notes of a song, unable to bring herself to disturb the peaceful silence surrounding her. She slowly pressed down a key and sighed with delight as the rich tone resonated through her very soul. With gathering pace, Celeana began to press the keys, a haunting melody forming beneath her fingers. She allowed herself to be swept away by the piece that was, whilst not extremely complex, one of her favourite tunes to play. As she reached the end, she allowed her hands to lift from the keys more softly, the sound dying to nearly nothing as she reached the final chord. With a sigh, she let her hands slip from the instrument and the last resounding harmony faded completely. Unable to bring herself to move, Celeana sat for several moments, only moving when the sound of soft footsteps cut into her consciousness. Whipping around, a faint tinge of red graced her cheeks as she realised that Sam Courtland had heard her entire recital. For her, music was so raw, so personal, that even someone she considerred her friend hearing her play made her feel uncomfortable. But she needn't have worried. The look on Sam's face was the same he had worn earlier that day when she had scored five successive bullseyes.

"When did you learn to play like that?" Sam breathed, his eyes never leaving Celeana's as he sat down beside her. Celeana blushed even more as she simply shrugged. Sam didnt seem to mind her vague response as he said nothing, only continued continues to stare at her so intently, Celeana would have sworn he could see right through her. He frowned a little, then stood briskly, shaking his head. Before Celeana could question his unusual expression, it was gone, replaced by a smile as he beckoned for her to follow him.

"C'mon, let's go and get some dinner," he grinned, and together they exited the room as delightful smells of roast beef and potatoes signalled to them that supper was ready.