Page 15 of By the Horns (Royal Artifactual Guild #2)

Eight

Gwenna

I can’t believe it’s him.

The big white Taurian from the hospital.

The one I rode like a shameless hussy and who gave me one of the best orgasms of my life.

The blinded one who’s apparently healed up enough that he can see, with only some pink scarring around his eyes to show where the bandages had been.

He’s as healthy as ever, and he’s here on recruitment day.

It seems like the most painful of coincidences that I’d run into him again. I clearly did not think things through.

And now we’re here together. On the same fledgling team.

Truly, the gods are laughing at me.

I haven’t been able to stop blushing all day. I thought for certain that he’d recognize me. That I’d say something and realization would dawn on his face. That he’d know I’m the sex worker who accosted him in the hospital and hopped upon his cock without getting paid.

But he seemingly has no idea that it’s me, and I don’t know if I’m glad or irritated. It’s foolish to be disappointed, but how can you fuck someone and then not realize that they’re standing right in front of you?

Even so, this is a good thing. Him not being aware it was me that day makes things easier.

Gods willing, he’ll never know, either. I certainly don’t plan on telling him.

Because he’ll want to know why I was so eager to have sex, and I can’t very well tell him that it was because a nearby dead body was troubling me.

It’s just another secret to pile onto the growing stack. Bad enough that I’m secretly a mancer. Now the guy I fucked (who can’t know we fucked) is going to be around constantly. Ugh.

Once we have our Five—because five is the sacred number designated by the gods, and artificers are a superstitious lot—Master Jay leads us out of the hall and across the plaza.

His nest—the fledgling barracks assigned to a particular teacher—is one of the smaller buildings in the heart of the city.

Hawk’s nest had been a large ramshackle house near the outskirts, but Master Jay is in the midst of all the action.

When I step inside, I can see the archives from one window and the hospital from another.

“My quarters are at the far end of the nest,” Master Jay explains as we head inside with our bags.

To my surprise, there are no stairs leading up.

There’s the main front living area, complete with a desk and fireplace to provide light and warmth, and it leads into a tiny kitchen.

At the back of the house is a garderobe for bodily functions, and across the narrow hall is a set of double doors.

Hemmen opens them to peek inside, and then frowns as he looks in. “We’re bunking together?”

We are?

“It will build teamwork and companionship,” Master Jay says in that sharp voice of his. “I see no need for you to have the luxury of your own quarters. This isn’t a vacation. This is you learning a trade. Are we clear?”

Kipp frowns, his hands on the straps that hold his shell to his back. He glances up at me, a question in his gaze. Am I okay with this?

Truth be told, I’m used to sleeping in shared quarters with other maids.

I had no privacy back at Honori Hold and none when I was a repeater.

But in each case, my roommates were women.

It was nothing to change in front of them, or to bathe near the hearth, because there were only more women with the same bits to see mine.

But I’m to have no privacy at all? Bathing and sleeping around a bunch of strange men?

I don’t mean to be a bother, but I’m also uncertain about bunking with several strange males.

I glance over at Master Jay, and he’s watching me with a hard stare.

This is a test, I realize. The men get no special treatment, and if I demand it, I’ll be a problem.

“Well, I hope you like being around a stinky wench, because my bathing will be nonexistent while you lot are around. So no, I have no problem with the sleeping quarters,” I say. “And I hope no one snores.”

The blond man—our fifth, who goes by the name of Arrod—chuckles at my comment. He gives me a cocky grin. “Nothing could make you unpleasant as far as I’m concerned.”

“No one asked you,” Raptor says in a gruff, annoyed tone. “We’re here to pass the tests, not sniff one another’s mucking armpits.”

I give Arrod a flirty little wink, because I know how to handle men like him.

They’re not serious about a woman, just testing the waters to see if they can get anywhere.

Fending him off with a bit of casual teasing keeps me from making an enemy.

But Raptor scowls deeper at my response, which is baffling.

Maybe he doesn’t want any hookups while we’re fledglings.

I understand it—and I’m of the same mind—but there’s no need to be stodgy.

“Set down your packs and we’ll eat dinner. Tomorrow is enrollment day, and after everyone has been officially recognized as my fledglings, your training will begin.” Master Jay turns on his heel and walks out of the room, and it’s clear he wants us to follow him.

I eye the line of beds, trying to decide the best spot to claim as mine.

Which bunk offers the most privacy? Which bunk is farthest away from the street, just in case a random man dies on our doorstep?

Raptor picks up a bag from the corner of the room and puts it on the bed closest to the double doors, and then Kipp hops over to the bed directly in the middle of the five.

That leaves one bed between them, and Kipp’s expression makes it obvious that I’m to take that one.

Sandwiched between them means I’ll be as safe as possible, considering that Raptor is already fussing at Arrod for flirting with me. It’s very thoughtful of them, and I set my pack at the end of my narrow bed, claiming it. I flash them both grateful looks for thinking of me.

“Come on,” Raptor says, gesturing at the doors through which Master Jay just exited. “Let’s go get our lecture. I’m sure it’s going to be the first of many. Jay loves to hear the sound of his own voice.”

He’s not wrong. I’m seated between Kipp and Raptor again as we have a simple dinner in the kitchen of the dormitory house.

There’s bread and cheese, fruit and nuts, and some roasted partridge meat that Hemmen immediately monopolizes for himself.

As we eat, Master Jay drones on about his expectations for our group as we live in the nest and fledge under his command.

We are to keep ourselves clean and tidy at all times.

No guests for visiting. No overnight guests for certain.

No thieving. No fornicating. We are to eat regular meals to keep up our strength, but not too much food so that we gain weight and are unable to compete physically with other teams. No fights in the dormitory.

We are all to be amicable with one another and not complain.

I listen for a while, but as he continues to drone on with his expectations, I pay less attention.

There’s a nestmaid working behind us—a woman assigned to the house for upkeep by the guild itself—and I know her.

Marta is a young woman who has a bad back due to a mule kick when she was younger, and as a result, she gets tired easily.

It makes me antsy to see the mess that the others are making as we sit in the kitchen.

Arrod picks at his food and spills his water.

Kipp nibbles on fruit and nuts, but it’s Raptor with the best manners.

He’s meticulous as he eats platefuls of fruit.

Even so, the kitchen is quickly getting disordered, and I have to sit on my hands to not help as Marta works silently behind us, cleaning dishes. If I help her out, I’m establishing myself as a maid and not as a student. I can’t help. It pains me to sit back and do nothing, but I’m stuck.

The food is devoured and everyone eventually gets up from the messy table. “I will see you all in uniform in the morning,” Master Jay says. “No deviations from the standard. Be ready at dawn.”

“Yes, Master,” I say, along with Arrod and Hemmen. Kipp nods. Raptor does, too, and I wonder if he’s having a hard time deferring to a master as a fledgling after being a full artificer for so long. He catches me watching him and winks, and I turn away, huffy.

I’m not thinking about me riding him on the hospital bed, with his cock buried deep inside me. I’m not thinking about his big hands squeezing my backside, making me feel dainty. I’m not .

Once dinner is over, I change into a sleep shift for bed while in the garderobe.

It’s the only place I can get a modicum of privacy, but my sleep clothing is intended for coolness and not modesty.

It’s nothing but thin straps and even thinner linen.

After a moment’s hesitation, I toss my chemise over the entire ensemble.

It’s hotter but at least no one’s going to ogle my tits.

As I exit the garderobe, I hear the clank of dishes in the kitchen and fight the urge to help Marta once more. She must be exhausted, but if I get caught…

“Don’t,” says a deep voice from behind me.

I turn, seeing the large form of the Taurian standing in the hall. He’s leaning against the wall, legs crossed, waiting for me to exit the garderobe, I assume. My face grows hot at the sight of him—his guild shirt is open and loose to his waist. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I can read the look on your face. I know you want to assist her, but if you do, those other two nitwits on our team are going to think you’re the hired help and not their equal.

Trust me.” He eyes me with lazy insouciance.

“It won’t kill her to do a few extra dishes on her own, but it’ll absolutely destroy your hopes of a career if your Five thinks of you as a maid. ”

I hate that he’s right. I lift my chin and pluck at my chemise. “I was just changing, thank you very much.”

“Sure you were, sweetheart.” He pushes off the wall and grins. As I move to walk past him, he leans in close to me.

“I’m not your sweetheart,” I reply tartly, and head back to the dormitory.

“Little bantam, then.” He chuckles to himself.

A bantam. I know what those are. Every servant does.

A bantam is a smaller fowl…and they’re usually quite fierce.

I’d think it’s an insult, except he says it in that flirty, coaxing sort of way.

Even so…I don’t like it. I fume at being so obvious—and for all the lusty thoughts I was entertaining—as I climb into bed and settle my pack under my bunk.

When the scratchy, guild-issued blankets are pulled up to my chin, I stare at the ceiling.

This is all so different from how I’d imagined it would go when I thought I’d be a fledgling once more.

I’d tried not to think too much about what it would be like without Aspeth by my side, now that she’s Sparrow and working for the archivists.

I thought Mereden and Lark would be here. Kipp is, but so are two strangers.

And the big Taurian I fucked. He’s here, too, throwing a spanner into the works. Why did I not think things through? He’s a guild artificer, so it stood to reason that I’d run into him again. I didn’t stop to think what it’d mean if I touched him.

Now he’s climbing into the small cot next to mine. The wood creaks and groans as if in pain, and I want to look over and see if he’s as uncomfortable as I imagine. But if I look at him, I feel like he’ll suddenly know all my secrets.

Those secrets seem to be piling up by the damned hour.

There’s a tap on the side of the bed, and I roll over to see Kipp’s face hovering near mine. He wears an expression of concern on his small pointy face, and taps my bed again, then gives me a thumbs-up that also seems to be a question. Are you okay?

“I’m fine,” I whisper. “I just…I don’t know what I expected for this year. What about you?”

He shrugs. Gestures at both Arrod and Hemmen and rolls his eyes. Gestures at Raptor and shrugs, then flexes. I know just what he means. Raptor he might be iffy on, but at least Raptor is strong physically.

I nod. “I feel the same. I just…I wish Mer and Lark were here. And Sparrow. And maybe even Hawk.”

He eyes me with alarm.

“I’m not going to quit, I promise. If anything, it makes me even more determined.” I make a fist and hold it at the edge of the bed, as if I need to show him just how strong I’m going to be. I hate being a bother, but I need to get over it, I suppose.

Kipp bumps my fist with his tiny one and gives a nod.