Page 25 of By the Horns (Royal Artifactual Guild #2)

Sixteen

Gwenna

I’m a conflicting mix of emotions. I’d been having a wonderful time with Raptor, and loved chatting and sassing and even flirting with him.

It had all been terribly romantic, but then my heart hurt at hearing that Raptor is obsessed with some other woman.

I don’t know why it bothers me, given that we can’t exactly be together.

We’re in a Five, and we’re supposed to be business companions only.

I should just be thrilled that I’m not pregnant and call it a day.

And while I am incredibly, happily relieved that I’m not carrying his child, I worry I’m becoming far too obsessed.

I cannot afford to fall in love with anyone before I’ve established myself with the guild.

It’d be smartest to put some distance between the two of us.

Starting tomorrow, I decide. I’ll thank Raptor for the lovely day, and then find ways to stay busy when I have the opportunity to be alone with him. It’s the right call.

Even if I do feel a little lonely. That’s just the wedding mood calling to the romantic side of me.

I push aside those thoughts and focus on my friends.

It seems that Mereden is friends with Siskin, who has a brother who works in the healer’s guild.

Mereden and Lark are both beside themselves with excitement because they’ve been visiting the orphanage and have fallen in love with a pair of children.

“There’s an older brother who’s five,” Lark gushes as Mereden clutches her hand tightly.

They sit on the far side of the dancing, with Lark’s foot propped up on a nearby chair and a cane under her arm.

“And a little girl who’s two. They’re just the smartest kids, and we love them both. ”

“As soon as we get permanent housing, we’re applying to adopt both of them,” Mereden says, her voice soft and shy. “Which means as soon as I’m accepted to the healers, things will really move forward.”

“You’re not going to work at being an artificer at all?

” I don’t know if it’s disappointment I feel or happiness for her.

In my head, I was still mentally placing Mereden and Lark into our Five, along with me and Kipp and…

well, Raptor. I blush just thinking about how presumptuous and awful I am for swapping out my best friend, Sparrow, for the man I have a crush on, but Sparrow’s happy in her job.

“I’m still doing it,” Lark says, gesturing at her foot.

“Soon as this starts behaving. And Mereden will fledge, too, but we want to have a family. If one of us must stay with the kids while the other fledges, that’s just how it goes.

She’s going to work at the healer’s guild for a while until I can bring in coin.

We’ve talked about it, and when she’s working, we’ll have a nanny until I finish being a fledgling. ”

They share a giddy smile.

I want to be excited for them. I do. But everything is changing so fast. I don’t know what to make of it all. “I can’t believe you’ve already picked out children. I thought it’d take a while for some reason.”

“We visited the orphanage and just fell in love,” Mereden says, leaning her head on Lark’s shoulder. Their hands remain intertwined, as if they’ll never let go of each other. “It was impossible to say no to those sweet faces. Every day we have to wait to get them home feels like torture.”

“And your father? What does he think of all this?” I ask, because I know Mereden’s father is noble. Not the heir, but one of the spares. I’m guessing they were expecting her to make an advantageous marriage.

Her expression tightens. “We, ah, haven’t told my family yet.”

“We might have to if we can’t get income soon,” Lark says, glancing over at Mer. “We’re still figuring things out, obviously.”

“I’ll be on the lookout for odd jobs,” I tell them. “Seems we’re all in need of a bit of coin these days.”

Lark lifts her chin, glancing up at Raptor, who’s still across the room. “What’s the story with you and him?”

“Other than us being fledglings together? There is no story.”

“I don’t know.” Mereden sits up, craning her neck to get a glimpse. “He does keep looking over here a lot for someone who’s just a friend.”

“It’s complicated,” I tell them. I don’t know what else to say.

I’m not sure I want to tell them that it’s complicated because I was feeling sick from sensing a dead body so I fucked him to distract myself and it turns out he doesn’t know it was me and he’s also pining over some other woman.

That seems like far too much. I just smile brightly and gesture at the food spread.

“Have you tried the rolls? They’re amazing. ”

A short time later, Raptor and I head out from the tavern.

Our easy mood from earlier is gone, and our conversation as we head back to the dormitory is sparse.

I’m thinking about how happy Mereden and Lark are, and Sparrow and Hawk, and the newly married couple of Siskin and Tern.

I didn’t come to Vastwarren to seek out a relationship.

I came here for a job. But seeing so many people so happy and paired up makes me feel lonely.

Hormones, I suspect, and I want to squeeze my crampy abdomen with relief and delight.

Raptor holds the door to the nest open for me, and I step inside, then wait politely for him. We stare at each other in the doorway, and then he gives me his best smile and cocks a thumb to the kitchen. “I’m going to grab a drink of water to wash the onion out of my mouth. Want anything?”

“No, I’m going to change and write a letter to my mother.” I want to carefully fold my dress and bodice so they don’t wrinkle, and I’ll need to change if I plan on lounging on my bunk and writing.

He nods and retreats, and I head for the dorm sleeping quarters.

I’m not surprised to see they’re empty. The sun hasn’t even set yet, so there’s plenty of day left.

Hemmen’s probably at the library, and Arrod is, well, doing whatever it is Arrod does on weekends.

Kipp’s bed is made but his shell is gone, and I suspect he’s in the kitchen if he’s in the house at all.

Privacy is hard to find, and I decide not to waste it.

With quick motions, I flick open the laces at the front of my bodice and give myself room to breathe deep.

My breasts bounce as they’re freed from their cage, and I scratch at the skin underneath the thick material.

I sling my pack from its spot on the bedpost to the center of my bed.

I have two changes of uniform, my traveling dress, and a nightgown, and I’m not sure what’s best to wear at the end of the day.

It feels silly to wear a uniform, but my traveling dress is equally uncomfortable, and yet I don’t want to get into my nightgown so early.

It feels like it’d be an invitation, and one I’m not inclined to extend if Raptor already has a woman.

I ponder for a moment longer, and then pull open my bag to get a uniform after all. It’s not as if I have a ton of choices. Perhaps when I start making artificer money, I can afford a lounging sort of dress. Until then—

I stare down at the strange item in my bag. What the mucking hell is that? It looks like…a tube of some kind but decorated with what look like Prellian glyphs. As I stare down at it, uncomprehending, the glyphs begin to glow and shimmer golden.

Quickly, I shut my bag again and take a step backward. Then another. I run into the side of Raptor’s bed, and it hits the backs of my knees. I flop onto it, staring at my bag in horror.

How do I have a working artifact? How is that possible?

It’s in my bag, so someone clearly placed it there while I was gone. They wanted me to have it…or they want me to get into trouble. Do they know I’m a mancer and they’re going to blackmail me in some way?

I…don’t know what to do.

Do I hide it and pretend like it’s been mine all along?

Any artifact is worth a small fortune, even one that doesn’t work.

I’m penniless, but I can’t sell something like this.

I don’t have the right contacts, and I don’t want to anyhow.

I want to be in the guild. I don’t understand why this artifact is here.

Is someone trying to get me kicked out for stealing?

Do they know that I was flunked last year because of stealing?

Aspeth tried to take the blame for it, but I know my name was tossed around as well.

Or is that what whoever put it in my bag expects me to do? Do they want me to hold on to it, and the guild enforcers will search the dorm tomorrow and find me guilty? Is this a setup?

Where do I hide it? Who do I turn it in to?

Before I can figure out what to do, the doors to the dorm room open and Raptor steps inside. His gaze drops to my cleavage, spilling out of my loosened bodice. “If that isn’t the prettiest sight I’ve seen all day. I’m flattered, but I’m also taken.”