Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
“Gods, no you don’t,” Lark says with a chuckle.
“So does your family have a lot of books?” Mereden asks politely before I can inquire what Lark means. Immediately, I know it’s the wrong thing to say. Books are a rich person’s possession, much like spectacles. I might as well confess that we’re wealthy or powerful if I admit that I have a great many books—or that I used to before my father sold off my library. “We had a fair amount at one time,” I say, hesitating. “But they were too expensive to keep. I borrowed whenever I could from the nearest monastery, or from my tutors.”
“Oooh, tutors. Fancy.” Lark makes a flourish with her hand. “We’ve got ourselves a rich woman. What about you, Gwenna? You a big reader?”
“No,” Gwenna says in a flat voice. “My ma worked for Aspeth’s father. That’s how we know each other. I’m here because I don’t want to work in a kitchen all my life.”
I tense, worried they’re going to ask where we’re from.
Instead, Lark rolls onto her back, nodding. “I understand that very well. My family never had two pennies to rub together, and as for myself, you can only juggle blades for so long before you have to seek out other careers. My aunt said she’d train me if I ever wanted to join, and so that’s why I’m here. Figure it’s time to learn a new skill before I lose a finger or six.”
Wincing, I keep petting Squeaker’s ears and scratch her chin. “Fingers are important.”
“And what about you, Mereden?” Gwenna asks. “A convent novice doesn’t strike me as the type to join the guild, no offense.”
Mereden’s smile is tremulous. “I was sent to the convent because I didn’t want to marry. After being there for a while, I realized I didn’t want to devote my life to the gods. This seemed as good an option as any.”
“Sounds like we’re all desperate,” Lark says. “Except for Aspeth. She’s just a nerd.”
“What about Kipp?” I ask, looking at the slitherskin. “What’s your story?”
He blinks at me, then licks his eyeball with his long tongue.
Is…that a response? Helpless, I look over at the others.
“Slitherskins don’t talk aloud,” Lark says helpfully. “They gesture if it’s important, but otherwise they only talk to their own.”
“I see,” I say, though I’m not sure I see at all.
“I worked with a slitherskin in the troupe. Nice guy. Good with coin. Better at keeping secrets.” She winks at Kipp. “He’ll talk to us if he feels like it, but it’ll be with hands and not lips.”
I’m not even certain Kipp has lips.
The slitherskin rolls his eyes at Lark and then looks at our group. He lifts his hands, and then starts to gesture. It takes a little time for me to understand what he’s trying to say without words, but I think we get the gist. He and his family are wanderers. Everything he owns is in his house, which he pats affectionately. His parents have left—or died—and he’s alone in the world now. He wants to join the guild because it’s exciting to him. He wants to be a hero, judging from the straight-backed, arrogant pose he sets.
Strangely enough, I relate to Kipp more than anything after that. He wants to be more than he is. He has a dream of becoming someone great. He’s not escaping his life, he’s improving it. I love that. “Can I hug you?” I ask him, full of emotion.
Kipp recoils, an offended look on his face.
“You don’t ask a slitherskin that,” Lark protests. “It’s rude. You don’t touch them without invitation.”
“I asked.” My face is hot. “And I didn’t mean to offend. My family doesn’t hug and I’ve decided that now that I’m going to be my own person, I’m going to ask for hugs. I love hugs. I want hugs every day. It’s just the warmest, best feeling…but I seem to be surrounded by non-huggers.”
“I’ll hug you,” Mereden says in a soft voice.
“You will?” I look at her in surprise.
She nods, getting to her feet as I do. “It’s a new start for all of us, isn’t it? I might as well be a hugger.”
Squeaker mrowrs a protest at being set on the floor, but I dust cat hair off my robe and hug Mereden. She’s shorter than me, and soft, but she smells sweet and lovely, and her embrace is warm. It’s a good hug.
Tight arms lock around my waist. “Come here, you,” Lark grumbles. “I can be a hugger, too.”
I chuckle, and then Gwenna sighs and gets to her feet, adding herself to our group hug. “Fine,” she says, “but I’m doing this for you lot, not for myself.”
Kipp pats my leg, the closest he’ll get to the group hug.
It’ll do.
TEN
HAWK
24 Days Before the Conquest Moon
Magpie’s new fledgling team is arguably the worst team I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some dreadful ones in the past few years. I’ve worked with fledglings who didn’t want to take direction from a Taurian. I’ve worked with fledglings who were cowards, or too spoiled to get their clothes dirty. There was one year where they all wanted to just get drunk with Magpie in taverns and none of them showed up on testing day.