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Maman cackled from her seat and clapped. When I shot her an incredulous look, she grinned at me. “You deserved that. You could have just said you knew he understood you.”

“Did you know?” I demanded.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I did. He is not clever. And he is terrible at hiding his reactions. You are just blind. I should have fed you more vegetables as a child.”

Simon snorted, stalking past me to join her again. He used a bucket of water to wash his hands and plopped back onto his seat, giving me a dirty look when I came to join them. I washed what I could from my face, but I knew I’d need to visit the river again to get it fully out of my beard. Clay was not easy to remove.

“How do you know our tongue?” Uttin asked as he joined us. He dodged around me when it looked like Simon would pick up more clay, but Simon just put it on his table and began to mold it, his eyes focused on his work.

“The bastard from last night didn’t lie. I worked in a brothel before being forced to come here. I learned to speak to my clients so I could better service them. There is a clan that settles on the outskirts of our town every winter. The town doesn’t care who comes to the poor districts, as long as they don’t cause trouble for the rich.”

Eleven

SIMON

Iwaited for them to comment on my career and try to shame me. I was nice before their stupid prank. A face full of clay was nothing compared to what I normally did to those who insulted me, but I wouldn’t take shaming me lightly.

Feigrind only nodded. And the other one, who I recognized as one of the barbarians who brought me to the village, looked curious, not disgusted.

“How many languages, exactly? Later in the season, we send a small party to trade with other clans. They deal more with outsiders than we do. You might find someone to your liking there who would be happy to have a translator present.”

I wasn’t interested in finding someone else in the clans, but I didn’t point that out. I was getting tired of repeating myself.

Feigrind stiffened and his brow furrowed, like he didn't like Uttin’s idea. I narrowed my eyes. I’d assume jealousy if I thought he was interested in males, but so far, he’d shown no signs of that.

“Simon, what in the world are you making?” Maman demanded.

I looked down at the clay I was working with. I wasn’t actually paying attention to it. The movement of the table was an afterthought. I was just playing with it. But the lumpy bowl got squished a bit with my lack of focus, making it too oddly shaped to be used to eat.

“Something decorative, maybe?” Uttin suggested innocently.

I snorted. “No. I wasn’t paying attention. I’ll just start again.”

Instead of leaving like he did the day before, Feigrind sat in front of me, his legs crossed as he watched me work. It confused me, and I made a face at him.

“What? I’m not going to run. I don’t have a death wish.”

“That is good to know,” he replied easily. He still didn’t get up. Even after Uttin wandered away, he did not move. I shot a frown at Maman, but she just shrugged.

“He is overprotective. It is his way. It makes him a good warrior and a good protector.”

“I don’t need his protection,” I growled, giving him a pointed look. “I need a way home. Will you give me that?”

When he looked up at me, that blank look was back, showing he wouldn’t take the bait of arguing with me. A part of me liked that I could say what I wanted without pissing him off. But it also made me want to poke at him until he finally broke.

No one ever called me nice.

Maman got up, puttering away to check on the pots she had in the nearby fire. I took the opportunity to push a little. “What happens when I get bored here? I’m used to daily sex. You’re my protector. Are you going to take care of me?”

I was taunting him, but also trying to get an answer to a question. I needed to know if I had a shot because if I was going to be stuck here until they finally let me go home, I was not going that long without sex.

It would be worse than torture.

“Do you want me to?” he asked casually.

The nonanswer annoyed me, and I glared at him. “Don’t answer the question with a question. Are you attracted to men or not?”

“No.”