Page 16 of By the Horns (Royal Artifactual Guild #2)

Nine

Gwenna

Dere Ma,

I’m a student again—a flegling. Say a prayer to the goddess that I’ll pass this time.

I am with the slitherskin Kipp again, as well as two human men and a Taurian.

We are a strange group for sure, but I’m happy just to be a flegling.

I would be evin happier with another woman on my team, but my friends were not able to participate this year.

It feels strange to look at the windows in the nest (that’s the dorm) and realize it’s someone else’s job to clean them. Hope you aren’t working two hard.

Love, Gwenna

The first couple of weeks of classes pass quickly.

There was enrollment day, when we signed the Book of Names and pledged ourselves to Master Jay.

It was almost a full repeat of last year’s ceremony, right down to Head Guild Master Rooster making a pompous speech about how much our lives will change and the esteemed history of the guild.

I spent my time people-watching instead, eyeing Master Hawk’s fledglings with envy.

After that, we exchanged the black sash of a repeater for the pristine white sash of a fledgling.

Then the real work began.

Each day, Master Jay had us perform a variety of tasks all related to one particular skill.

The first day was all about testing our physical endurance.

He made notes in a tiny book with a charcoal pen and frowned a lot, especially when I brought up the rear of every single jog.

Then he tested us on our fighting and bladework.

Another day was navigating and our direction sense, along with our general knowledge of the city’s layout.

Finally, he tested us on our knowledge of Old Prell.

It’s safe to say that I performed terribly at the lot, especially compared to the others.

Hemmen was awful at everything except his knowledge of Old Prell.

Given that he always has his nose stuck in one book or another, I wasn’t surprised to learn that.

Arrod was excellent at physical things like fighting, and he knows the city well.

He’s an idiot at bookwork, though. Kipp was great at everything, but I expected that.

Raptor put us all to shame, though.

He flies through every test with ease. In physical endurance he outstrips all of us by far, and he knows the layout of Vastwarren blindfolded (which is another test that Master Jay gives us).

He also knows just about everyone in the city, and rarely do we take a few steps without someone pausing to say hello to him and give us curious looks.

Raptor’s fighting style is less sword work and more smashing heads due to his immense strength.

When I fall behind on every single course that Master Jay designs for us, Raptor slows down to jog at my side.

“We’re only as fast as our slowest member” is all he says, shrugging.

Each day, I wait for him to point out that he knows me, that he recognizes my scent from that afternoon in the hospital.

That he knows we’ve slept together. He never says anything, though, and then I wonder: How can he not know?

Sure, he was blindfolded, but Taurians are so prized for all their senses.

What about touch? My voice? Anything? Is nothing about me special or notable?

The more I think about it, the more it irks me, so I try not to think about it at all.

The one bright spot in all of this? No murdered men, no prickling that tells me the dead are nearby and want to speak to me. All is quiet.

By the time the first humiliating week of tests comes to an end on a sunny Fifthday afternoon, Master Jay releases us all.

“I’ll return on Firstday, bright and early.

I expect you all to comport yourselves properly while I’m gone.

” With a crisp nod, he picks up his pack and heads out of the nest without a backward glance.

“He’s leaving for the weekend?” I ask Raptor, stunned at this turn of events as our teacher heads across the plaza and down the street away from our dorm. “Can he do that?”

I don’t recall Hawk ever taking a day off while we were students, but then again, he was an assistant and Magpie was the one in charge, and Magpie had been a mess. Perhaps they were not the greatest standard to measure by.

Raptor just gives me one of those lazy grins that makes me both irritated and flustered. “It’s one reason why I picked him. We work hard during the week so we can have our own time on the weekends.”

“Doesn’t that seem a little…lax?”

“He’s got spies everywhere ready to tattle on us. If he hears anything amiss, I’m sure he’ll be quick to get us into shape on weekdays.” He rubs his muzzle. “You sound very disapproving.”

“I don’t mean to be a bother, of course,” I say automatically. “I just don’t understand what’s so important that he’d leave his students.”

“Not what, but who .”

Ah. It becomes clear now. He’s got a piece on the side. I’m the fool who took too long to put things together. Both Hemmen and Arrod smirk, nudging each other. To his credit, Kipp looks as annoyed as I feel. “What are we supposed to do all weekend?”

“Have a good time,” Arrod says, moving to my side and looping his arm over my shoulders.

I neatly slide out of his grasp. Just because I’m short, men think they can tuck me against them. “Surely there’s a lesson plan of some kind we can do over the weekend.”

“I had no idea you’d be such a stickler,” Raptor says to me, amused. He eyes me down his long nose.

“I’m not a stickler,” I protest, because the way he says it makes it sound like it’s a terrible thing. “But I don’t want to repeat again, either. I’ve had my fill of tossing chamber pots and washing windows, thank you.”

And then I freeze, because those were the very chores I was performing on the day that I felt the dead man in the alley…and then had sex with a stranger.

If Raptor notices my hesitation, he doesn’t say anything. He just grins widely. “If it’ll make you feel better, we can pick up odd jobs at the main guild hall for coin. Lots of fledglings do that when their masters are unavailable.”

I can’t decide if I like the idea or hate it.

While I’m always in need of coin, I’m also wary of taking on jobs.

It’ll likely mean nestmaid work, and it’s hard enough keeping the lines clear with my group as it is.

I slapped Arrod’s hand away a dozen times this week already simply because he was trying to help me up instead of letting me manage on my own. I can’t be seen as weak.

I also can’t be seen as a maid. Frowning, I eye Raptor. “Does everyone do this?”

He leans in close. “Some of us just get drunk in taverns.”

There’s a cozy tone to his voice, as if he’s sharing a secret with me, and it makes my body react. My nipples prick and heat pulses between my thighs. “I don’t have any coin.”

“If you want to go drinking, I’m happy to buy your way.”

“I can’t pay you back.”

Raptor just shoots me another flirty look. “I can think of ways you can thank me. Maybe a nice hug or—”

Kipp steps in front of him with a frown, putting a hand out.

He shakes his head at Raptor, disapproving, and then holds a coin up to me.

The message is clear—I don’t have to sell myself to Raptor just to hang out with the group.

“Why, thank you, Kipp. Glad to see someone in the group is a gentleman.”

“I never said I was,” Raptor drawls, and I’m reminded of that day in the hospital. He was anything but gentlemanly when I rode him.

I push ahead of him, fighting the blush rising on my cheeks. “What tavern are we going to if we’re so determined to do this?”

Raptor looks around our group, eyeing both Arrod and Hemmen for suggestions. When they shrug and look back to him, he says, “How do you all feel about onions?”

The King’s Onion is bustling for a Fifthday night. Most of the masters don’t go out of town like Master Jay, Raptor tells me as we sit at the bar and wait for drinks, but even the strictest of masters will allow his students a little downtime on a weekend.

“They want us to bond,” he tells me and Kipp, leaning back against the bar as if he owns the place. Arrod and Hemmen are off finding a table for us. “What better way than to become drinking buddies?”

“I can think of a few ways,” I mutter.

“Like what?”

“Saving one another’s lives. Working together toward a common goal. Passing the test. Being study partners. And Master Hawk says fledglings don’t drink.”

Raptor waves a hand at my answers, dismissing them. “You’re no fun. Just like Master Hawk.”

Kipp huffs, crawling up onto the barstool on my opposite side.

Is Raptor serious? He expects me to be fun ? To entertain him? “I’m a maid. We’re not allowed to have fun. We’re expected to blend in with the walls and do the dirty work without question.”

Instead of silencing Raptor, this appears to intrigue him. “You’re good at observing people?”

I’m not the type to talk myself up. “Decent. Just like any other maid.”

He gestures at the entrance. “There’s a slitherskin over there, Kipp. You know him?”

Now I’m just irritated. “Not all slitherskins know one another—”

Before I can finish my sentence, Kipp scrambles away, racing for the entrance. The moment he sees the other slitherskin, he starts wriggling, and they fall atop each other in a squirming embrace. Humph. I guess they do know each other.

I turn back to the bar and notice Raptor looking at me with a smug smile on his face. “Oh, shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything. I’m just questioning your powers of observation.” He nods at the barmaid and puts up two fingers. “Drinks are on me tonight.”

If he’s trying to soften me up after insulting me, it’s not going to work. “Great. You call me a liar and then buy me a drink. Wonderful start to the evening.”

He grins at me, leaning an elbow on the bar as he studies my face rather intently. “I’m just trying to get to know you, Gwenna.”

He knows me very well, he just doesn’t realize it. I grab at the mug slid my way, pull the wedge of onion off the side, and take a sip.

“I’m good at figuring out most people,” Raptor continues, plucking my onion wedge off the bar and eating it in one bite. “But you? I can’t decipher. You’ve got secrets, and you won’t let anyone underneath that shell of yours.”

My skin prickles at the accuracy of his words. Raptor is dangerous to get to know, and yet I can’t resist a tart response. “I told you. I was a maid before coming here. What secrets do you think I’m carrying? Who’s got the dirtiest knickers in the land?”

He laughs, the sound deep and baying, but it’s a full belly laugh and it makes me smile in response. Raptor doesn’t do anything halfway, I’m realizing. When he laughs, it’s with his entire body. When he smiles, it’s with pure, unfettered delight. And when he touches you…

I take a larger gulp of my beer to drown such thoughts.