Aelin let out a quick laugh, a melodic sound that ricocheted off the house facades. Rowan sighed, and pulled out some rope from his pocket. He dragged the Havilliard boy and the girl to a flimsy wood door that lead to an alleyway. He unlocked the door and tossed them in, then tied them to some plumbing tubes sticking out of the wall.
Rowan stepped out of the door and slammed it shut, the lock buckling.
Aelin was waiting at the door. She seemed nervous.
When he got near, she smiled, huffed, and pushed a key into the Harksword lock. She turned it and the door gave way as she shoved in with her shoulder. Rowan stepped in after her, closing the door.
"No lights," she hissed as he reached for the switch.
They stood for a moment, letting their eyes adjust.
"Keller and Jayce were supposed to stand guard tonight." Aelin whispered. "They should be sitting over there…" she pointed to two empty chairs, which she could not tell were empty.
"Oh my gods," Aelin gasped. "He's here. He's in. We need to wake everyone up…" she said, and opened her mouth to start screaming, but Rowan clamped a hand over it.
"Shh. Don't yell, this needs to be discreet. If he finds out we're here to save the day he'll just kill everyone." She nodded, and he dropped his hand.
She may be a traveler, but Harksword had been her favorite Keep for a long time. She kept coming back and staying for a few days or weeks whenever she was in the vicinity. She was close friends with the Guardian, Finnegan Creel, but the real reason she loved it so much was Sam. Sam Cortland, the beautiful and intriguing assassin from Adarlan. They'd been together for months before, and he'd occasionally travel around with her. He was in the house that very moment, probably sleeping or waiting for her to return from the rendezvous.
Just thinking of Sam brought a small smile that tugged at the corners of her lips.
She motioned to Rowan, now she was in charge. She was the Harksword representative in the rendezvous, ranks don't matter once the other rendezvous member is in the Keep of the other.
They began creeping silently up the stairs. Aelin knew the staircase and their loose floorboards like the back of her hand. Rowan just had to step where she did. He got the memo, at least.
Once they reached the top, the pair flattened themselves against the wall, listening for any sign of the insane Havilliard. Maybe it had been the boy Rowan had tied outside, and that's why he wasn't there.
But the somewhat-serene though was cut short by a soft clang of metal against metal. Daggers against daggers. She could tell he heard it too, since his muscles tensed up next to her. She nodded at him, and they crept down the narrow hallway to where the sound came from, the weapons room at the end of the hall.
"Are you sure?" Rowan whispered, almost inaudibly. "It could be some other assassin getting ready to go out…"
"In the middle of the night? With weapons? No, and if there was another rendezvous right now, I would know." Aelin replied.
"What if they're going out to save you? People don't exactly trust Finner; we're known to be the most unpredictable and lethal Keep." Rowan whispered, in a somewhat boasting tone.
"Ah yes, because I have never spent a few days there to know they are probably the nicest, warmest, fluffiest Keep that bakes pumpkin pies in its free time to give to other assassin's at rendezvous. Did I mention, they cut the pies with swords?" Aelin snorted.
Rowan's paleness faded, replaced with a light shade of pink. "W-well…" he stammered.
Just then, there was a footstep heard from inside the room they stood in front of.
They shut up and melted to the wall on either side of the door as the knob turned, slowly and impossibly quiet.
Miliseconds before the door opened, Rowan made a sign to Aelin. She nodded, and then the door slid open, almost crushing Rowan.
Then he slid out of his hiding spot as the figure emerged out of the door. And like clockwork, Rowan and Aelin stuck out their longswords, Rowan pressing his thicker and stronger one against the man's chest, and Aelin's against his back, locking him.
A/N: SURPRISE SURPRISE! SAMAELIN! I sobbed my eyes out while writing chapter six though. Bring the tissues when I publish it.
As usual, leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter or if you have any suggestions, feedback, all very appreciated! Sorry if this one is a bit short.. The next (and last) will be pretty long, so stay tuned.
Thanks soso much for reading!
Also, I know if you check on my reviews tab you'll see one from myself. THAT was my friend, when she came over she stole the computer while I was doing something else, read my first chapter and reviewed. Also the one before it with a bunch of random letters was her experimenting with the reviews. Thanks, friend.
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Again, thanks so much for reading!
-Reya