The Assassin and the Empire

The fifth and final novella in Celaena Sardothien's pre-Throne of Glass story ends where Throne of Glass begins: in betrayal and darkness. With their freedom finally within reach, Sam and Celaena take one last job — but Sam walks into a trap laid by Rourke Farran, a crime lord with a vendetta against Arobynn. What Farran does to Sam is not shown in full, but its weight is unmistakable. When Celaena moves to take revenge, she too is captured, and it becomes clear that Arobynn — the man who trained them, who was supposed to protect them — knew. He sold them out. She is not killed. Instead she is beaten, stripped of everything, and sold to the salt mines of Endovier. This is the story of how Adarlan's most famous assassin became its most famous prisoner. It is a tragedy, and it is not softened.