Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)
Sparrow claps her hands. “Oh, is it ‘Wren’? You seem like such a Wren to me.”
“It’s not ‘Wren,’ and it’s definitely not ‘Chickadee,’ ” I say, naming the two suggestions Sparrow gave me when we’d first arrived in the city. “And I don’t want to put it out in the open until it’s written down and it’s mine. Bad luck and all.”
“If it helps, I’ll tackle anyone who tries to write it down first,” Raptor tells me, leaning in and murmuring against my ear. I just tug on his nose ring. Silly, wonderful male.
Lark snorts. “You make your own luck. ’Sides, I already know what mine is.”
I didn’t realize she was going to switch names. “Um, is it ‘Lark’?”
“ ‘Mudlark,’ ” she says triumphantly.
Mereden just shakes her head, as if this is an argument she’s lost one too many times already.
“What’s wrong with ‘Mudlark’?” Lark asks. “They’re muddy because they get shit done. I want to have a fancy name change, too.”
Mereden switches her daughter from one arm to the other. The little girl is sleeping against her mother’s shoulder, drooling on Mereden’s white medic robe. “And what are you going to do if someone comes along and wants to be ‘Lark’?”
“Then I fight them and tell them not to. And if I lose, I get to be the dirty Lark. It’s a winning situation all around.”
Mereden pretends to frown, but her lips are curving in a smile. “Why do I even bother asking?”
“I have no idea,” Lark agrees, and leans in to give her wife another kiss.
“All this kissing is giving me ideas,” Raptor murmurs, nuzzling against my neck.
“Everything gives you ideas,” I tell him, but I love his ideas. I love that he’s constantly obsessed with touching me. It makes me feel so pretty, so needed. I love that his libido matches mine in every way. I caress his face, running a finger along his nose ring again and thinking about how there’s a matching ring encircling the base of his cock….
“Ugh,” Arrod says loudly, interrupting my sexy fantasies. “Does everyone have a mate here but me?”
“Yes,” I say.
“Yes,” Sparrow and Hawk say.
Mereden just nods, rocking her daughter in her arms, and gives Lark another quick kiss.
Kipp looks at Vik. Vik licks her eyeball, whatever that means. It makes Kipp happy, though. He moves and presses his belly to hers, slithering up and down against her smaller form, and for a moment, the only sign of the two slitherskins is the two shell houses bouncing against each other.
“Should we cover the children’s eyes?” Mereden whispers.
“It’s only a greeting,” Lark says. “But…maybe. And anyway, you’re just jealous, Arrod.”
Arrod’s face is screwed up like he’s a toddler who just found a bug in his soup. “Why would I be jealous? I can kiss as many women—or men!—as I want now. It’s going to be so easy to get laid now that I’m an official artificer.” He smooths a hand down his sash. “Artificer Cardinal, at your service.”
Raptor leans in. “Cardinals are vain and dumb little shits. It fits.”
“Hush.” I giggle. Arrod is all right. I mean, he is vain, and a bit unintellectual, but he’s got a good heart. We can’t all be sharp. Gods know I still struggle with reading, though my lettering is getting better. As for Old Prellian? Forget it. I’m lucky that Raptor recognizes most of the basic symbols, because the glyph language still eludes me.
Master Jay comes over to our celebrating group, his arms spread wide. “My students! My Five! I couldn’t be prouder.”
“Because you get a percentage,” Raptor says, giving our teacher a feral grin.
“Because this year has been hard on all of us,” Jay continues, ignoring Raptor’s teasing. “There are some classes you know will breeze through training, and others you know are doomed to fail.”
Kipp flicks a hand on his shoulder, as if tossing something aside. Then he shakes his head.
“And you thought we were doomed to fail?” Arrod jokes.
“No. I thought I’d never met a messier Five, but I’ve also never met a more stubborn one. I figured that would carry you all through, and I’m glad to see I was right.”
I’m glad there’s no “even the women” comment. I know both Lark and I weren’t expected to pass. The guild is incredibly sexist, and while they might look down on Kipp for being a slitherskin, he’s still more palatable to them because he’s male, whereas Lark and I are considered freaks for daring to step foot where men do. We had to train twice as hard for our solo tests, because we’d be graded more harshly. For the last few months, Lark and I have lived on that obstacle course after hours, practicing everything we could (luckily the kids looked at the obstacle course as a playground, so we were able to run it repeatedly). We studied twice as hard as Arrod. We worked with Sparrow on recognizing Prellian architecture and paint styles and maps of the old city. Even then, it was still too close for my taste. I’d had a judge on my solo test that made me do a second round because he “wasn’t satisfied” with my performance. Luckily for me, my second round was locating an artifact hidden in the training tunnels, and I passed that with flying colors and quelled any arguments the old bird might have had. I could have had the dead just point me to a Greater Artifact and cheated my way through, but it wouldn’t have felt right. I wanted to prove myself worthy.