Chapter Twenty-Eight
TWENTY-EIGHT
HAWK
Earlier
5 Days Before the Conquest Moon
There’s nothing quite like having a new wife to make you question your sanity.
I should be upset over the stranger she met at the inn. I should be furious. I should march down there and question every person who’s ever gone in and out those doors and not let up until I get an answer. But the Conquest Moon is coming closer and closer, that annoying circle in the sky shining brighter with every day, and it’s making me irrational.
I’m upset over Aspeth meeting a stranger, true, but when I try to think about that night, all I can think of are the soft cries she made as I ground my cock against her skirts. The way her slick cunt felt under my fingers. The way she watched the others with such avid interest. It’s the rut that won’t let me focus on anything but her, and I don’t trust myself to climb into bed next to her that night, or any of the next several. Last night, I stayed in the kitchen, drinking an herbal tea that’s supposed to deaden the hunger that the Conquest Moon brings on.
Magpie’s up early, and when she sees me, she pounces. “Good. You’re here.”
“Where else would I be?”
“There’s a quick job the guild needs done today,” she says. “A retrieval. Some idiot left his sword in Drop Seven’s tunnels and it’s got sentimental value to him. He can’t get it because he broke his foot. I told Rooster you’d do it.”
I get to my feet, my thoughts flooding with Aspeth in bed, Aspeth pinned to the alley wall, Aspeth squinting at my cock…the last thing I want to do is leave her side, which is exactly why I should. “Fine.”
It’s a job. It’s a distraction, and I can put everything off for a few more hours.
But…“You’re taking them into the tunnels for a practice run today, aren’t you? I should be there.”
“That got delayed,” Magpie reassures me. “I had to file for an additional permit so we could have an extra teacher. It’s going to take another day before we’re able to head down. You have time to do this.”
I don’t think anything of it. The guild is constantly asking for more permits, as people like Rooster—who loves bureaucracy—take charge. I head off and retrieve the sword, and it’s exactly where it was supposed to be. Foolish to waste manpower picking up someone else’s discards, but if they want to pay for this, I’ll take the coins.
But when I return, the nest is empty. All is quiet, the lights out. Aspeth isn’t in bed, and the only person at home is her fat cat, his face planted in his overflowing food dish. I reach down and give him a pet, only to huff with annoyance when a fistful of loose cat hair comes up. Has any creature ever shed as much as this one? “Where’s your mistress?”
“Mrowr?” is all Squeaker says.
Fucking Magpie. I know what’s happened here. I bet if I went to the guild, there’d be no permit for a second teacher on the excursion. She just wanted me out of her hair so she could be in charge of the team. But I’ve taken the last few down without her putting up a single word of protest. I don’t understand why she’d maneuver around me now.
Unless…
I cross the house, looking for the place I stashed her liquor. I’d pried up a floorboard when she’d told me to hide it all from her, and when I get to the place in the cellar where it’s hidden, the bottles are still there. That doesn’t tell me much—she can just buy more if she’s determined. But I’m suspicious of her actions.
She doesn’t want me around for a reason. Until I figure out what that reason is, I’m not going to rest easy.
I pet the cat for a moment more, thinking about his mistress. Even though Magpie can’t be trusted, Aspeth should be safe enough with her…I think. I’m reminded of how cagey Aspeth looked when I dragged her from the bar and think about Gwenna’s words. She knew who Aspeth was meeting, I’d wager. Went on and on about how people in Aspeth’s life didn’t give her the love she needed. People in Aspeth’s past.
So it’s someone from her past that she met at the bar.
The next morning, I decide to find out what I can about my bride. I have connections with other Taurians in the city—we all look out for one another. Most are employed by the guild in some manner, but there are some who choose to work alongside humans in a variety of jobs. I know one old Taurian who used to work security for a network of merchants along the coast. Now that he’s older, he organizes security for those same merchants, and he knows everyone. It’s a good place to start.
I bring him a gift—a box of vegetable buns from a popular Taurian baker in Vastwarren—and drop by his house in the merchants’ quarter. We catch up for a while, eating sticky buns covered in carrot shreds and dried fruit, and talk about the upcoming Conquest Moon. Hadder has a wife—an older human woman—and so he’s not troubled by it, even though I’m surprised he’s still in the city.
He chuckles. “The god’s hand is a problem only for males younger than me. I’m too old for his grip to hold me strongly. All it does is give my wife a few exciting nights in bed and then we go back to our normal lives.” His eyes twinkle and he tosses his white-streaked mane. “But it’s good to know the equipment remains functional.”
“Do you still work with merchants?” I ask, even though I already know the answer. “I’m looking for one—or his daughter, specifically. We have a merchant’s daughter in the guild apprentices this year. Her name’s Aspeth. Older daughter. Very bookish.”
“Pretty?”
I can feel my face heat and resist the urge to tug on my nose ring. “Yes. Dark hair. About thirty, I think? Nice figure. Won’t tell anyone where she’s from but I get the impression that it was money. Lots of money. Know of any merchants who fit that profile?”
He rubs the tuft of goatee under his chin, considering. “A merchant with a pretty daughter that’s unmarried? Very unlikely. Most marry them off as soon as they get tits, looking to make another connection. Is it possible he’s not very wealthy? A niche market of some kind?”
I think of Aspeth and her knowledge of Old Prell. It would be someone who could get his hands on obscure tomes, someone with a lot of clout. Someone who wouldn’t need the money marrying off his only daughter would bring in. “No, I think wealthy. Exceedingly so. And someone in the household has more than a passing interest with Old Prell.”
“Who doesn’t? It’s a land of riches.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “No one comes to mind on my end, but I know another Taurian who works with holders.”
I turn my head and spit. “Bah. No holders. Spoiled lordlings.”
He raises a hand in the air. “I know. A necessary evil. Trust me, I’m not thrilled to work with them, either. But I know Sterian and he works with a lot of holders. If you have a rich merchant, he’ll work with holders, too.”
I grunt, because he has a point. “Give me this Sterian’s address and I’ll pay him a visit tonight.”
“Is your mission this urgent?”
“It might be.” I think of Aspeth and wonder what secrets she’s holding.
A short time later, I’m in another part of the merchants’ quarter in Vastwarren, in the section that passes as a mercantile district here. Vastwarren’s only export is artifacts. As those are typically handled by the guild, the mercantile district is more of a black market than anything else.
I don’t judge, though. I just want answers.
The big Taurian—big even by my people’s standards—is as genial as he is loud. He shakes my hand, his laughter booming and overly boisterous. “Rooster sent you? An honor indeed! What can I help the guild with this fair day?”
“I’m not here on guild business. I’m here on personal business. I’m looking for information on a merchant.”
The moment I say I’m not on guild business, he relaxes. He knocks on the table and a woman steps out of the cabinet, exhaling with relief. She flashes me a smile and hurries on to the back of the shop.
“What kind of merchant are you looking for?” The look he gives me is sharp. “Are we talking legal goods?”
“I’m not wanting to buy something. I’m looking for the name of a merchant who might have a daughter, about age thirty. Bookish. Loves anything Old Prell. Goes by the name of Aspeth.”
“You mean Lady Aspeth Honori? She’s a holder’s daughter, not a merchant’s.”
I shake my head. “No, this is a merchant’s daughter.”
“Mmm.” He doesn’t look convinced. I tell him the criteria and his expression doesn’t change. “I’ve sold a great deal of books on Old Prell to Lord Corin Honori up in the mountains. His heir is his daughter, Aspeth. Pretty girl? Tall with nice tits? Spectacles?”
Spectacles? I shake my head. “That’s not her.”
“Probably not. That one’s fond of cats, too. Has this great orange beast she carries everywhere with her.” He chuckles. “You haven’t seen a creature shed until you’ve seen that one. I swear it has a new coat every week.”
I grin, but inside, I’m ice. Nothing but ice. We converse for a bit longer and I leave my contact information, telling him to send a runner if he gets the information I’m seeking. I know he won’t, of course. Because I know now that my wife, my Aspeth, was lying to me.
She’s not a merchant’s daughter looking for adventure.
She’s a holder’s daughter. And that means trouble.
And so I storm the tunnels to retrieve my lying wife. The fledglings have found a body, which makes it easy to pull them out of the Everbelow. It takes everything I have to keep calm when all I really want to do is grab Aspeth and hold her close until the truth falls out. Or just hold her close.
It’s impossible to think straight with the rut almost upon me.
Aspeth does her best to seem composed as we return to Magpie’s nest, but she won’t speak to me for most of the day. I can tell she’s nervous. It’s in the little twitches she makes, the constant adjusting of her sleeves and fussing with her cloak. The way she bites her cuticles.
She’s right to be nervous. I’m furious with her for her lies, and for putting everyone in this dorm at risk. Holder business is bad business. Holders trample over everyone to get their way, and people let them. Holders live in a different reality than the rest of us—we’re all underlings to them. We’re nothing to them.
Maybe that’s what pisses me off the most—that Aspeth as my wife felt attainable. Real. And now I’m realizing it was all a lie. That she never intended to be my partner. That she’s using me for her own ends, because holders always use and don’t give a second thought to the discarded pieces.
Aspeth doesn’t respond to my accusations immediately. Instead, she charges into our quarters, and when I follow her, she’s on the floor with her cat, stroking the fat beast. Tufts of fur float in the air as she affectionately snuggles the animal, oblivious to the shedding. “I missed you, Squeaker,” she tells it, pressing a kiss on the orange head. “Maybe we can get you a leash and you can come with us in the future.”
“The Everbelow is barely safe for humans. You don’t want a cat down there,” I tell her, voice gruff.
“No?” She looks wistful, rubbing the cat’s ears. “I just hate to leave her side. She misses me when I’m gone.”
“Then perhaps this isn’t the job for you.”
She winces at my harsh tone, burying her face against the cat’s fur once more.
Her reaction makes me feel like an unreasonable bully. Like I’m the one at fault here. I need to remember that she’s lied to me constantly every step of the way, putting my livelihood—and Magpie’s—in danger. Aspeth’s actions are selfish, which is to be expected from a holder’s daughter. So I move to one of the dressers and open it, pulling out the spectacles I found after retrieving her from the inn. I thought they belonged to a former lover, but now I know the truth. “You might as well put these on. No sense in pretending any longer.”
Aspeth hesitates, and then takes them from me. She laces the ear hooks in place with practiced motions, and then blinks up at me with eyes made owlish by the lenses. “I didn’t want anyone to realize who I was because I had expensive spectacles.”
“No, far better to just fumble around half-blind,” I say caustically. I think of all the times she’s squinted at me and I mistook it for concentration. How have I been unable to see this for so long? It’s downright insulting. “Is this all a joke to you?”
Aspeth straightens, frowning up at me as she continues to pet her cat. “Why would it be a joke?”
I gesture at her, at a loss for words. When she tilts her head at me, I realize she truly has no idea of the magnitude of this. “You’re a holder’s daughter. A holder’s heir. And you’re pretending to be a guild fledgling?” My magical hand clenches into a fist. “You’re sabotaging the chances of the others with your lies. You fucking married me, Aspeth.”
“So what if I did?” Her chin goes into the air. “You said I needed a chaperone, and you said you needed a wife. Our marriage suits both of our needs.”
“You’re a holder’s daughter! A virgin! I’m pretty sure they’ll hang me just for dirtying your sheets—”
Aspeth rolls her eyes. “They will not. I meant it when I said I have no personal attachment to my virginity.”
“You might not, but your father, the lord holder, might have other ideas. Tell me, do you think he’d approve of you marrying a Taurian?”
Some of her bravado disappears. “He wouldn’t approve of any of this,” she admits, adjusting the heavy cat in her arms. “Not the guild, not me leaving, none of it. But he’s why I left in the first place, so…” Aspeth shrugs. “He can just deal with it.”
Just deal with it. Words that a holder has never, ever lived by. I’m imagining an army descending upon Vastwarren, looking to liberate Aspeth from her drudgery. I’m imagining myself drawn and quartered in the guild square for daring to touch her. Gods. And she truly thinks this isn’t a problem. I tug on my nose ring. “Who here knows that you’re Lord Honori’s daughter?”
“Just Gwenna. When I told her I was leaving, she offered to come with me. Said I shouldn’t be alone.” Aspeth meets my gaze and her chin lifts again. “We tried to go by guild names, you know. Had them all picked out and everything. I was going to be Sparrow and she was going to be Wren. Nice, anonymous names. But you wouldn’t let us.”
“That’s because you haven’t earned them, which you would know if you knew anything about the guild.”
“Oh, I knew. I was just hoping if we showed up with our own names, we’d get to keep them, provided they weren’t already in use. I thought it would show initiative.”
“You mean you thought you could have the rules bent to accommodate you,” I correct. “Typical holder thinking.” I shake my head, disgusted. “Pack your things. I’m sending you both home. You’re dangerous to everyone here.”
It’ll mean dissolving the Five for this season. It’ll mean no funds coming into Magpie’s coffers once more. She’ll lose her teaching job and I will, too, but at least we’ll be alive. We’ll regroup. Figure out how to recover.
Aspeth jerks to her feet, spilling her cat onto the floor. More cat hair tufts float in the air, surrounding her like a cloud even as she shakes out her skirts. “You can’t send me back. You’ll get me killed. You’ll get my entire family killed.”
That makes me pause, as does the very real fear on her face. “What do you mean?”
She gestures at me. “You think I came here on some sort of…frivolous fancy. That I have no idea what I’m getting myself into.” Aspeth points at the floor, emphasizing her words. “But I came here because this was my only chance. My father might be a holder, true. But if you send me back, he’ll be a dead man, and I’ll be killed right alongside him.”