Chapter Six
SIX
ASPETH
My defiant saunter into the sitting room is going perfectly well until I run into the corner of a bed.
I’m not in a sitting room at all, but in the Taurian’s bedroom. Oh. Well, this is embarrassing . This is also what I get for not wearing my spectacles, but I didn’t want him to turn us away on the off chance that he thinks my vision is going to be a liability. Plus, he’d see me as a rich lady, and I can’t have that.
I’m far more talented than just a pair of blurry eyes would attest anyhow. I just need to have time for the guild to realize that.
So I act as if nothing is wrong. I pat the edge of the bed frame and confidently turn in the shadowy room. As if I always planned on confronting a half-naked Taurian right next to his bed…in private. Naturally. I clear my throat as he stalks toward me, a reddish-brown blur with a glint of gold at the nose. I wish I had my spectacles on, because I’m dying to see just what he looks like. If his chest is as hard and muscled as it seems, and if his nose truly looks like a bull’s nose or if it’s exaggerated by stories. His face is long and he’s got horns, but the shadows and my poor vision hide the rest from me.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asks in a low, deadly voice, moving to stand right in front of me, a handspan away.
And then I can see everything with clarity, because our noses are practically touching. I can see the golden, strangely human eyes. The long, blunted nose that ends in a golden ring. The horns that sweep up from a proud forehead. The sheer height of him as he towers over me. He is completely and utterly alien-looking, and I want to just stare and stare like the sheltered holder’s daughter I am.
I swallow hard. “I wished to speak to you in private.”
He quirks an eyebrow, and it is astonishing to me to realize that he in fact does have eyebrows. They’re slightly darker than the rest of his face…fur, but the expression is the same. He thinks I’m ridiculous.
It puts me on familiar territory. I square my shoulders and give him a challenging look. “I want us to come to some sort of agreement, you and I. You help Magpie teach her fledglings, yes? I wish to become one of those fledglings. I’m certain we can agree on terms. Just name them. Tell me your price.”
He eyes me up and down, his lower lip curling slightly. It somehow looks even more insulting on a Taurian, that expression. “You don’t have any coin.”
“You don’t know that.”
“If you did, you wouldn’t have walked here in the rain. You’d have taken a coach.” He reaches out and flicks one of my dripping, deflated puffed sleeves.
Oh. Well, he’s correct, but I don’t intend on letting that stop me. “I can find the funds—”
An angry howl erupts from the hallway. The Taurian immediately turns, pushing me behind him. “What in the gods’ name is that?”
I grimace. “That’s my cat. I’m afraid it’s past her feeding time and she’s quite angry about it.” Count on Squeaker to have terrible timing. “I have food for her, though. It shouldn’t be a problem and she won’t wake the other residents.”
He turns to give me an incredulous look. “You brought a cat…?”
“Well, yes. The pamphlets I read stated that students of the guild stay in their mentor’s nest—that’s their lodgings—for the duration of training. This is Magpie’s nest, is it not? It looks like guild housing—”
“I know what a nest is,” he interrupts, waving a hand at me. “You’re not going to be a student here.”
“Why not? Magpie is the greatest of her generation and a woman. Of course I want to learn from her.”
The Taurian stares at me. Hard. “Look. You seem determined, and while you’re getting on my last nerve, I am going to offer you a word of advice. You don’t want this nest. We’re a mess. Magpie’s not the right teacher, and that means everything falls to me. Taurians aren’t respected by the rest of the guild, and so if you’re looking to prove yourself, I’m not the right teacher for you. In addition, the class is going to fall to pieces in the next month. You’re better off looking elsewhere.”
His words make me flinch, because they have the ring of truth to them. It would be better for me all around if I was accepted by the most venerable teacher the guild has, and it sounds like Magpie isn’t that teacher. It’s incredibly disappointing, and yet…now I’m curious. “Why is the class going to fall apart in the next month?”
He gives me a hard-eyed stare. “Because I’ll be teaching.”
I wait for clarification.
When none is forthcoming, I prompt him again. “Why are you falling apart in the next month?”
He shifts his feet, and I hear the creak of the floorboards under his hooves. His hands go to his hips and he leans in closer, and I catch the faint scent of…leather? Surely not. But whatever it is, it’s a good, earthy smell. I’m so distracted by the pleasant scent of him and his nearness that I almost miss his words.
“Don’t you know anything about Taurians?”
I blink, meeting his gaze. “Should I?”
“You’re the one who touts her guild knowledge all the time. You tell me.” He gestures at me with one impatient hand.
“To be honest, Taurians aren’t mentioned much in the books and pamphlets I’ve read.”
He snorts with annoyance. “Of course not.”
“So why is it you’re falling apart in the next month again?” I prompt. My thoughts are racing. Maybe that month will buy me time. Maybe I can convince another teacher to take me on if this one doesn’t plan on instructing for the full year. Maybe—
“I can’t speak of it,” he says, voice gruff. “You’re obviously educated, which means your family is wealthy. I don’t want some merchant coming to turn me into a saddle because I told his innocent daughter filthy things.”
My face grows hot and a forbidden little thrill zings through me at the thought of learning filthy things. The more he dances around this subject, the more I want to know what it is that happens in the next month. “I will have you know I am not a merchant’s daughter nor am I innocent. I am thirty and a spinster. You can tell me everything.”
Please, do tell me everything.
He runs a hand down his long muzzle and then tugs at the ring at his nostrils in a gesture that has to be pure annoyance. His hooves shift again, the floorboards creaking once more under his agitation. “I am a Taurian about to be surrounded by women on the eve of the Conquest Moon.”
“And…?”
I could swear his eyes grow wider. “Woman, how do you think Taurians procreate?”
My face feels scorchingly hot. Truth be told, what I know of procreation was learned from lurid novels that use words like waves of ecstasy and spellbinding pleasure and not much else. I bluster my way through it with confidence, as I do with everything in life. “I expect Taurians procreate about the same as everyone else, ahem, procreates.”
“We go into heat.” His voice is flat. “We rut .”
Oh my goodness. My tongue feels glued to the roof of my mouth and I stare up at him in fascinated horror.
“Every five years, all Taurians go into season at the Conquest Moon. Our lives become about sex. About fucking. About taking a mate. About holding her down and pushing—” He lifts his hands as if grabbing some unseen female and then just as quickly stops himself, recovering. “You get the idea.”
I’m still lost in the word rut . I stare up at him, imagining him looming over me and holding me down and then just…waves of ecstasy, I suppose. Heat is curling through my body in the most delicious way, though, and I feel I’m missing a key component as to why this is so very terrible. “And your wife, she won’t like that you have a class full of women when you’re in this moon rut?”
He paces away, and I catch a glimpse of a lashing tail before he stomps back to me, all frustration and intense eyes. “I don’t have a wife. That’s the problem. I don’t have an outlet for…that time . Now do you understand why this won’t work? You need a teacher and I’m going to be absolutely useless.”
“And Magpie—?”
The Taurian shakes his head. “Won’t be available to teach. Unless you’re asking if I’d rut with her and…no. Just no.” He shudders. “Now do you understand?”
“So…you need a wife,” I repeat slowly. “Because of this unfortunately timed moon.”
He huffs a frustrated laugh. “Sure, aye, a wife. I just need a willing woman, but a wife would be ideal.”
“This is perfect,” I tell him, thoughts racing with excitement. “You said I needed a chaperone, right? What better chaperone than my own husband? We can marry and solve both of our problems!”
The look on his face becomes utterly aghast, as if I’ve stepped into a pile of excrement. “You can’t be serious.”
I’m a little stung at his reaction. “I happen to be very serious. I need a husband and you need a bed partner. We can fulfill both of our needs.” I pause, raising a finger. “Does there have to be a baby? I’m afraid that would curtail my career as a guild artificer.”
“No baby. Just rutting.” He runs a big hand down his snout again and then meets my gaze. “You’re not seriously offering to have sex with me just to get into the guild school?”
Why is he so shocked? I’m a holder’s daughter. I’ve grown up with the realization that sex and marriage would be transactional for me regardless. That I wouldn’t be able to marry whom I chose, and it certainly wouldn’t be for love. That’s why Barnabus’s betrayal was so devastating. I thought I’d truly lucked out and fallen in love.
The esteemed Barnabus Chatworth would be appalled that I’d gone and married a Taurian, which truly makes the idea all the sweeter. That I’ve married a common guild employee and not some titled holder or even wealthy man.
But this Taurian doesn’t know that I’m a holder’s daughter. He probably thinks I’ve been dreaming of love all this time. “If having sex with you gets me into the guild apprenticing halls, I am all for it, sir.”
That strange shaggy eyebrow of his goes up again, and then he looms over me once more. Perhaps it’s a Taurian thing to try to use height to intimidate, but I refuse to back down. We stare at each other, practically nose to nose, and I keep my gaze steady despite the flutter of my heart.
“What if I told you to get into my bed right now?” he asks in a low, deadly voice.
“I’d tell you to get me a marriage certificate first,” I retort.
He rears back and barks a laugh, shaking his head at me. “I don’t understand you. Aren’t you afraid?”
“Afraid of what?”
“Marrying a stranger. Marrying a Taurian. Tying yourself to someone you just met.”
“I am thirty,” I point out. “I am also, as you guessed, poor. I am not a particular beauty. What options do you think I have in this world?” I don’t mention the whole holder’s-daughter thing because I suspect he would simply try to ransom me back to my father—or send me back to the hold immediately—and neither suits my purposes. I shake my head at him, doing my best to seem like the embittered spinster I’m trying to be. “This is my one chance to make something of myself. I’m not going to let anything stand in my way. If it means a sham marriage, then that’s what it means. People have gotten married for less practical reasons.” I give him a bright smile. “And if we don’t find ourselves compatible, we can always divorce.”
“Not until after the Conquest Moon we can’t.”
“Not until after that, no.”
“Divorce is also a stain on a woman’s reputation.”
“So is being penniless, old, and ugly. I’ll take my chances.”
He huffs again. “You’re not ugly. You are insane. And no, this isn’t going to work.”
I fight the urge to preen at the haphazard compliment. “You said yourself you don’t have a wife. You said the class is going to fall apart without you. I need a chaperone and to enter the guild as an apprentice. Why can’t we help each other? I’m not going to be emotional about my virtue, and you shouldn’t be. You have something I need. I have something you need.” I try not to blush and fail. “Let us be sensible about this.”
“You’re telling me to be sensible?”
“I am. Do you find me repugnant? Is that the problem? I realize I’m no great beauty.” Am I fishing for another compliment from a half-naked Taurian in the middle of the night when I should be focusing on my plan? Absolutely.
The Taurian gives me a narrow-eyed stare. “What’s your name again?”
“Sparrow. What’s yours?”
“Hawk. A name I’ve earned. You haven’t earned yours yet. What’s your real name?”
Hawk. Of course it’s Hawk. It’s a strong, respectable, dangerous guild name. I should have guessed. I keep my chin lifted despite his dismissive tone. “Why do you need my real name?”
A hint of a smile graces his strange mouth. “If we’re marrying, I need to know what to call you.”
My heart flutters in my chest. Oh. I mentally race, trying to think of a good fake name and come up blank. “Aspeth,” I blurt out, and then because it’s not common and he might have heard of me, I add, “Like the holder’s daughter. No relation, though! And everyone shortens the name. You can, too.”
Oh, by the goddess, now I’m babbling to cover up my lie.
He gives me a strange look. “What am I supposed to shorten Aspeth to? Ass?”
“ Rude. You can call me…Peth.” Gods, even that sounds ridiculous. I tense, waiting for him to call me out. Waiting for him to point out that I also happen to be thirty and unmarried, just like the holder’s daughter.
But all he says is “You’re sure?” When I nod, he leans in. “If you leave me high and dry on the Conquest Moon after all of this maneuvering, I’m going to hunt you down, Aspeth .”
“No one is going to be dry at all on the Conquest Moon,” I say merrily. “No dryness. Just conquesting! Or whatever it is you’d like to do.”
Strangely enough, his nostrils flare and he gives me another long, searching look. “Gods help us both. I think I’m an idiot for saying yes.”
I smile, pleased that I’ve gotten my way. I’m sure the moon-induced rut will be distracting, but easily handled. What’s important is that I now have a teacher and a place as an apprentice. Nothing’s going to stop me now.