Celaena Sardothien has been sent by the Assassin's Guild to collect a debt owed by the Pirate Lord. She is accompanied by her friendly rival Sam Cortland. Both have been with the Assassin's Guild since they were young children. Celaena is cocky, arrogant, a girly-girl who likes fancy clothes and manicures. She is also the best assassin in Erilea and only sixteen years old. When she and Sam arrive to collect their debt they find that they have been mislead. Instead of coin, they find that the leader of the Assassin's Guild is going into the slave trade. She and Sam are expected to bring about 100 slaves back home to me be sold. Celaena may be a killer but she can't stand slavery and determines to outwit the Pirate Lord and set the slaves free. The plan involves getting all the pirates drunk, starting fights, disabling the catapults aimed at the harbor, and lowering the chain that keeps the ships in. Two assassins against an island full of pirates. No problem...as long as one of them is Celaena Sardothien.
