The Assassin and the Pirate Lord Read Online Free

said, “Arobynn is a shrewd businessman. Whatever you can supply, he’ll make the most of it.”
    â€œFor his sake, I hope that’s true. I don’t want to risk my name and reputation for nothing.” Rolfe stood, and Celaena and Sam rose with him. “I’ll have the documents signed and returned to you tomorrow. For now …” He pointed toward the door. “I have two rooms prepared for you.”
    â€œWe only need one,” she interrupted.
    Rolfe’s eyebrows rose suggestively.
    Beneath her mask, her face burned, and Sam choked on a laugh. “One room,
two
beds.”
    Rolfe chuckled, striding to the door and opening it for them. “As you wish. I’ll have baths drawn for you as well.” Celaena and Sam followed him out into the narrow, dark hallway. “You could both use one,” he added with a wink.
    It took all of her self-restraint to keep from punching him below the belt.

Chapter Three
    It took them five minutes to search the cramped room for any spy-holes or signs of danger; five minutes for them to lift the framed paintings on the wood-paneled walls, tap at the floorboards, seal the gap between the door and the floor, and cover the window with Sam’s weatherworn black cloak.
    When she was certain that no one could either hear or see her, Celaena ripped off her hood, untied the mask from her face, and whirled to face him.
    Sam, seated on his small bed—which seemed more like a cot—raised his palms to her. “Before you bite my head off,” he said, keeping his voice quiet just in case, “let me say that I went into that meeting knowing as little as you.”
    She glared at him, savoring the fresh air on her sticky, sweaty face. “Oh, really?”
    â€œYou’re not the only one who can improvise.” Sam kicked off his boots and hoisted himself farther onto the bed. “That man’s as much in love with himself as you are; the last thing we need is for him to know that he had the upper hand in there.”
    Celaena dug her nails into her palms. “Why would Arobynn send us here without telling us the true reason? Reprimand Rolfe … for a crime that had nothing to do with him! Maybe Rolfe was lying about the content of the letter.” She straightened. “
That
might very well be—”
    â€œHe was
not
lying about the content of the letter, Celaena,” Sam said. “Why would he bother? He has more important things to do.”
    She grumbled a slew of nasty words and paced, her black boots clunking against the uneven floorboards. Pirate Lord indeed.
This
was the best room he could offer them? She was Adarlan’s Assassin, the right arm of Arobynn Hamel—not some backstreet harlot!
    â€œRegardless, Arobynn has his reasons.” Sam stretched out on his bed and closed his eyes.
    â€œSlaves,” she spat, dragging a hand through her braided hair. Her fingers caught in the plait. “What business does Arobynn have getting involved in the slave trade? We’re better than that—we don’t
need
that money!”
    Unless Arobynn was lying; unless all of his extravagant spending was done with nonexistent funds. She’d always assumed that his wealth was bottomless. He’d spent a king’s fortune on her upbringing—on her wardrobe alone. Fur, silk, jewels, the weekly cost of just keeping herself
looking
beautiful … Of course, he’d always made it clear that she was to pay him back, and she’d been giving him a cut of her wages to do so, but …
    Maybe Arobynn just wanted to increase what wealth he already had. If Ben were alive, he wouldn’t have stood for it. Ben would have been just as disgusted as she was. Being hired to kill corrupt government officials was one thing, but taking prisoners of war, brutalizing them until they stopped fighting back, and sentencing them to a lifetime of slavery …
    Sam opened an eye. “Are you going to