A World Without You Chapter 14
Author's note: Here is the next chapter. It's probably not that good because I haven't had as long to edit it as usual. I may be able to write another chapter late on Sunday and so you may (no promises!) get another chapter on Monday. There's also a bit of cute Dorian and Chaol ness in this (I'm putting them together, but it will be a longer POV)
I'm also no expert on biology and sword fighting, so stuff may be wrong.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you guys like it!
Celaena's POV
"You have two minutes. Go."
Celaena tried to remember how Arobynn had guided her limbs the day before. Pushing her shoulder back, she knew she'd got it right when she felt excruciating pain spread across her shoulder. Her now limp limb could easily be manoeuvred out of the chains. Biting her lip to prevent a scream, she moved her arm back so it felt as normal as possible. Moving her other arm, she repeated it to free her other arm.
"Time's up. You've freed your arms well, but your ankles are still chained up. You've not done too badly for a first time, though. You do have more to learn." Arobynn unlocked her ankles and helped Celaena to a standing position. Checking her shoulders, he smirked. "At least you've managed to relocate your limbs properly. We won't do much more today; I don't want to render your limbs completely useless for a while."
Arobynn stalked away as Ben came up to her. Sam was training his staff skill in the room, ignoring her, Arobynn and Ben completely.
Ben handed her a glass of water "You look like you need this. It looks like Arobynn has been training you quite hard today." He paused as Celaena drank the water quickly. As he took the glass back from her, his face turned grave. "Sam, could you come here?"
When Sam had walked over to them, Ben continued. "Arobynn and I have a job to do. We'll be gone for a few days, so listen to your superiors, train hard, and we'll be back soon."
"Where are you going?" Sam questioned.
"We're just doing a job Sam. You'll understand when you're older."
Sam's eyes narrowed slightly. He nodded and walked back and began training.
Ben turned back to Celaena and raised an eyebrow. "How about we have a fight? I've heard your weapon skills have improved dramatically. You can choose the weapon."
Looking at the weapons in the cabinet, Celaena pulled a sleek rapier from the rack. Seeing her selection, Ben chose a simple iron broadsword (I got these from Dragon Quest IX, don't judge me). Ben studied Celaena's stance carefully, noting a slight weakness in the defence on her left.
Celaena studied Ben's stance. As she expected, Ben had no obvious weaknesses in his stance. Celaena's eyes narrowed. She'd have to force him to let his guard down to beat him, but that would use most of her stamina and skill. Not to mention the fact that Ben would know most of her moves, having taught her some himself.
Seeing Celaena was distracted, Ben moved in with a swift lung towards her left side. Celaena noticed and brought her sword up to defend her left. Noting this, Ben moved towards her right, playing offensively towards her open side. Celaena was forced to remain defensive, her plans of wearing him down not looking very successful.
Ben performed a feint, however Celaena noticed. Seizing the opportunity, she thrust towards his left hand, cutting the cuff of the sleeve slightly as he moved. Celaena was then forced back onto the defensive side by Ben. He moved much faster than she did, and it was all she could do to defend herself against his blows.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Sam leaning against a pillar, as Arobynn did, watching the fight. His eyebrows were raised in interest and surprise. Celaena was momentarily distracted by this, giving Ben an opportunity. He knocked the sword from her hand and knocked her down.
"Your skills have improved. It used to take me about a third of the time it did now to knock you down." Ben extended a hand to her and helped her up as he replaced the broadsword and rapier in the cabinet before leaving.
Celaena turned to go when she saw Sam again.
"What's that look for?" she asked coldly.
Sasm's face dropped to neutral again. "I've never seen you fight like that before. It's very unique and elegant, yet somehow violent."
Celaena looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I bet I could beat you in a sword fight, Courtland."
Sam smirked. "You're on, Sardothien."
Aedion's POV
Aedion rode back through Meah towards Orynth. It had been over 3 months since the fateful night in Terrasen and life in Meah seemed to be returning to normal. People milled around the streets, buying wares from the markets. Down the alleyways, courtesans and assassins looking for extra money waited for victims. Thieves lurked near the markets, looking for an opportunity.
"Are you lost, sir?" a small boy came up to Aedion. He knew this trick: one person distracted the victim while the others robbed them.
"I'm fine thanks," Aedion said passively, checking behind him. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw two more young boys behind him. One glare sent them running. Turning back to the other boy, he handed him some silver coins. "If you need money, you should've asked."
Mounting his horse again, Aedion set off through the streets alone. Heading to the edge of the city, he dismounted and entered an inn. (Sorry this is so short again; I'm struggling to come up with ideas for Aedion at the moment)
Dorian's and Chaol's POV (it starts Dorian's and then it's both)
"Only one week left before your birthday celebrations, Dorian," his mother said, smiling. "Aren't you excited?"
Dorian plastered his fake smile across his face as he nodded. His mother didn't notice the difference and she turned away from him, cooing over Hollin. Taking that as his cue to leave, Dorian rushed from the hall towards the library again. Being careful so as to not be noticed as he entered, Dorian selected a few books from the shelves, having memorised the locations of his favourite genres. He then found a remote section of the library and sat comfortably with his books. Dorian relaxed as he allowed himself to, once again, be engulfed in the world of fantasy and adventure. Where there was no fighting, no death, no stupid birthday celebrations in the middle of a mass murder scheme. Dorian soon lost himself in the book and he didn't notice the presence next to him.
Chaol sat down next to his friend silently, atlases and books about the history of Erilea stacked high in his arms. He placed them on the table and began to study one. Both boys enjoyed the comfortable silence between them. There was no politics, no duties, no pressures about their futures, and no pretences. All that existed was the two of them and the different worlds their minds occupied: Chaol's occupying the past and Erilea, and Dorian's stuck in a fantasy land.
At some point, with time being ignored and lost by the boys, Dorian shuffled in his seat and leaned his head on Chaol's left shoulder for comfort. Chaol smiled and pulled his friend into a hug. The map before him showed the king's current empire: Adarlan, Eyllwe, Terrasen, and Melisande to name the main ones. (I don't want to be completely wrong, so I'm sticking with those) The other side of the page showed Terrasen in much more detail, including all the castles.
Dorian turned the pages of his own book slowly, often rereading sentences to be sure he didn't miss anything important or plot related. Chaol's hand rested just above the edge of the pages, so whenever Dorian turned the page, he tickled Chaol's fingers lightly with it.
"Do you two need anything, Your Highness and Master Westfall?" Dorian nearly fell on top of Chaol with the shock of being brutally pulled from the world of fantasy to the real world with all his problems and duties. The monk who had interrupted them was oblivious to the fact that he had pissed the two boys off. His grin was plastered across his face still, and Chaol narrowed his eyes slightly.
"We're fine, thank you." Dorian said, coolly, in a polished and polite tone.
As the monk scurried off, Dorian looked at Chaol before he picked his book up again. "You didn't need anything, did you?" he asked casually over his shoulder.
Chaol smiled at him. "Only for him to get lost, but you took care of that." Dorian looked back at him and smiled his true smile before he leaned back and became fully engrossed in his book again. Chaol's arm was still over his shoulder and Dorian subconsciously leaned into Chaol.
Looking back at the atlas he was studying, Chaol pushed it away and opened a new book on the family trees and bloodlines in Adarlan nobility. The Havilliard line was the first in the book, and Chaol traced the line from Gavin and Elena down to Dorian and Hollin. Chaol frowned as he tried to remember the bloodline. House Galathynius was linked into House Havilliard through Elena and Brannon, which Chaol chose to ignore at that point. Sighing, he shifted in his seat to reach for another book.
"Are you alright?" Dorian asked as Chaol's movements distracted him again.
"I'm fine. You can go back to reading."
"What are you reading? Is that the House Havilliard bloodline?"
Dorian leaned over Chaol to see the bloodline. "I didn't know how far back this went. Does this mean that I'm related to Gavin Havilliard?"
Chaol grinned. "I guess that explains where your blue eyes come from. It's said that Gavin had striking, sapphire blue eyes too."
Dorian looked up at him, the smile on his face causing the corners of his eyes to crinkle slightly. "I always thought it was something random."
Chaol smiled a little as Dorian leaned back against his arm again. Both settled back into their comfortable silence and continued to escape the real world for a while.
That's it, I hope you guys like it, and I'll hopefully have another chapter uploaded on Monday for you.
I have been trying to upload every week, as it's the holidays at the moment, but, in September, I am going to be starting studying for my A-levels, so I'll most likely update every 2 weeks or every month at least. I'll still be writing, unless I say otherwise, but it'll be less often.
If you guys have any requests for other fanfictions, please send me them on here or via my fanfiction oriented blog empire-of-stories on tumblr.
See y'all soon and thanks for reading x