The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass, #0.1-0.5)

by Sarah J. Maas

But that was a lifetime ago. A different person ago.

“Where do men find it in themselves to do such monstrous things? How do they find it acceptable?” “We’ll make them pay for it in the end.”

He brushed his lips against hers. “I love you,” he breathed against her mouth. “And from today onward, I want to never be separated from you. Wherever you go, I go. Even if that means going to Hell itself, wherever you are, that’s where I want to be. Forever.”

This was some dream, or she had gone to Hell after all, because she couldn’t exist in the world where this had been done to him,

There was something missing in the world, something vital.

She didn’t want to go out into a world where he didn’t exist. So she watched the light shift and change, and let the world pass by without her.

She was fire, she was darkness, she was dust and blood and shadow.

She would tuck Sam into her heart, a bright light for her to take out whenever things were darkest. And then she would remember how it had felt to be loved, when the world had held nothing but possibility.

“My name is Celaena Sardothien,” she whispered, “and I will not be afraid.”