The Assassin's Blade

Yrene feels the mood shift toward violence in the tavern. She contemplates warning Celaena about the presence of mercenaries, as her mother, a healer from Fenharrow who died defending Yrene from Adarlanian soldiers, would have done. Yrene struggles against the mercenaries’ groping, reminding them of final call and lying that she will later go home to her husband. Celaena is upset that no one tried to rob her of her money or the large ruby brooch that Arobynn gave her for her 16th birthday. She worries about Sam, wondering if he’s still alive after being beaten by Arobynn for helping her in Skull’s Bay. She pushes a dresser against her door and goes to sleep.

Yrene cleans up after last call, thinking back to her mother and her healing magic that she passed down to Yrene, magic that has since disappeared after the King of Adarlan destroyed magic in Erilea. She came to Innish almost a year ago with the goal of traveling south to the continent Antica, which houses the famed Torre Cesme, a healing institute where she could hone her skills, but she ran out of money and got stuck working at the White Pig. While she’s cleaning, mercenaries attack Yrene in the alley, but Celaena appears to defend her.

Celaena kills some of the mercenaries and knocks out their leader. Yrene thinks she will attack her next, but Celaena tells her that she saved her and to be less careless with her safety at night. Yrene offers to bind the cut on Celaena’s arm, invoking the healing goddess Silba’s name to show Celaena she is a healer. Celaena agrees, and they go back inside the tavern.

Yrene brings Celaena to the tiny closet under the stairs that serves as her bedroom. She cleans and binds Celaena’s arm and is horrified by the bruises on her face. Celaena tells Yrene she’s seen worse, which Yrene believes, given the scars on Celaena’s arms. Yrene asks Celaena her name, but she refuses to give it. Celaena asks Yrene how she ended up in Innish, and she tells her the story of losing her mother and then trying to reach Antica before running out of money. Celaena tells her to steal from her boss and leave, but Yrene refuses to sacrifice her morals. Celaena asks where she’d go after she finished training at the Torre Cesme, and Yrene says back to Fenharrow to help her people. Celaena is surprised she’d return to the continent after everything Adarlan has done to her and offers to show her some self-defense moves. Celaena once dreamed of going to the Torre Cesme and learning to be a healer when she was a child, and seeing Yrene’s earnest desire to help others inspires her to teach Yrene to protect herself. They go through a number of defensive movements in case Yrene is attacked again, then the head mercenary reappears with a number of men.

As Celaena fights the men outside, another man sneaks through the inn and grabs Yrene. He holds a knife to Yrene’s neck and tells Celaena to stop fighting or he’ll kill Yrene. Thinking of how her mother fought to protect her, Yrene uses what Celaena taught her to knock the man off of her. Celaena then kills him. Yrene is angry at Celaena for letting the man grab her, but Celaena tells her she wanted her to practice self-defense in a controlled environment. Yrene argues that it was not a controlled environment, but Celaena tells her that the men were not a serious threat, because of her skills. She tells Yrene to go inside and wash the blood off her clothes in case anyone comes looking for the mercenaries.

Yrene changes her clothes and washes her bloody dress. She watches as the sun rises, upset that she now must work another day with no sleep. When she returns to her room, she sees a pouch with a note that says, “For wherever you need to go—and then some. The world needs more healers” (113). Inside the pouch are a number of gold coins and Celaena’s ruby brooch, enough money to get Yrene to Antica and the Torre Cesme. Yrene takes the money and leaves the White Pig for the final time, wondering if Celaena was a god. 

Aboard the ship toward the Deserted Lands, Celaena reflects on the money she left Yrene. She felt a magic in Yrene and wanted to cultivate it, even though magic is gone. She hopes that the money she earned being an assassin can help Yrene become a healer. Celaena wonders if her giving the money is the gods at work, or fate, or simply her seeking to help someone have the life she could not. She falls asleep happily.