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)
“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.