CHAPTER THREE #2
I took several steps out of the tent … and came to a sharp halt as a female Phoenixian officiate abruptly appeared in front of me, something not wholly on the side of “sane” working behind her eyes.
My gaze narrowed as recognition stirred in my belly.
“It is you,” she noted with a smile. “Thought so. I heard whispers earlier about a human Sayer. I figured it could only be you.” She slanted her head. “Do you remember me?”
I nodded. “You once lived in my settlement.” She was among the last candidates that were offered to the Sovereigns. “You used to dig shallow graves all the time, and no one really understood why.”
She shrugged. “It gave me something to do. Anyway, my name’s Khalida, in case you didn’t already know.” Her long, red locks dancing with the gentle breeze, she held out her hand.
I shook it. “Anara.”
“I remember. Everyone in our settlement knew your name. For obvious reasons, you stood out like a femur bone in a stew.”
“That’s …” Yeah, I had nothing.
She released my hand. “I take it you’re heading for the food hall.”
I dipped my chin again.
“We’ll go together.”
I glanced back at the tent. “Don’t you want to say hello to the godkin candidates from our settlement?”
“Hmm, not even a little bit. I was never fond of the godkin there, and they didn’t like me much either.” She immediately started walking, only to slow as two Laelaps approached us. “Hello, Chief. Hey, Zinc.”
Both dogs padded over to me. They did a lot of sniffing and circling and rubbing. Not hinting for attention, I sensed. They were investigating.
“It’s best not to stroke them,” she warned me. “They don’t allow many people to touch them.”
“Got it,” I said, remaining still and relaxed as I waited for them to finish. Exchanging some kind of snort, both dogs eventually trotted off.
“On the subject of Laelaps,” began Khalida as we resumed walking, “they don’t only allow few people to pet them, they allow few into their den. It’s a little barn attached to the stables. I recommend you don’t try to enter. Unless you like being bitten. Do you?”
Surprised she’d feel the need to ask—because yes, it was a genuine question—I frowned. “No.”
“Then yeah, avoid the barn.” Reaching the food hall, she heaved open the door and walked inside.
Following her, I was hit immediately by the scents of stew, garlic, fresh bread, roasting meat, and the smoke coming from the crackling fire.
The hall was as large as it was crowded.
There were rows upon rows of long tables, all of which had platters of food in the center.
The sounds of talking, laughter, and the scrape of cutlery on pewters filled the air.
The flames from the wall-mounted torches danced prettily, casting light over the banner that bore the Black Tapestry’s insignia.
With Khalida in front, we began making our way to a table. People idly peered up, and some did a double-take. I let my gaze skim over each person, being sure to make eye-contact. None smiled or nodded or greeted me. They just stared, openly curious.
Khalida settled on the edge of a bench, so I claimed the seat directly across from her. Unused pewters and cutlery waited, along with empty tankards.
As she began piling food from one of the platters onto her pewter, Khalida said, “So, whatever made you decide to enlist in the Tapestry? And why did the Sovereigns allow it?”
“They didn’t allow it, they insisted on it.
” I sniffed the jug I’d picked up. Mead.
“Basically, they’re curious to see how I perform, though they doubt I’ll stick it out.
” I poured the liquid into my tankard. “While I generally wouldn’t choose to enlist in the Order, it beats them using me as a test subject to work out why the primordials chose to anoint me. ” I set down the jug.
She shoved a forkful of roast chicken into her mouth. “It beats basic servitude as well. And being lunch for a minotaur. He was a man until Minos cursed him. If anyone knows who exactly he is, they aren’t saying.”
I did a slow blink. “Huh.” I’d thought that the minotaur was a creation of the gods. “I can’t say it’s at all comforting to know that the half-bloods are capable of inflicting such curses.”
Khalida shot me a look of understanding. “I know, right? A great thing about being part of the Order is that we aren’t under their direct watch the way the other residents are. They trust Talon to oversee us and deal with any in-Order issues.
“Honestly, you’d like being an officiate.
Until I joined, I never felt like my life had any real meaning.
Never felt part of anything. There’s a sense of belonging here.
We take care of our own. We respect, accept, and are loyal to each other.
In that sense, the Order is like one huge family.
It’s such a simple, normal thing to be thankful for, but normal is underrated. ”
“Don’t take this the wrong way. But I watched the officiates who escorted me to Deimos very closely. And I can’t say that I looked at any of them and thought, ‘Hmm, they’re normal.’”
She barked a laugh. “We’re all a little nuts here. Some say it’s a pre-requisite for the job; that only the crazy and the bizarre would join. Others think it’s the stress of it; of being trained to end people in gruesome ways—that can strip you of civilized layers.”
I lifted my tankard. “I guess I can see that.”
She bit into the large piece of meat dangling from her fork.
“You should do fine. Acolytes might be all politeness and serenity, but you honor the teachings of the gods. In their name you hunt, fence, practice their fighting arts, and all that stuff. You’re kind of like those ancient warrior monks I heard stories of. ”
A small group of officiates materialized. One plopped himself on the bench beside her—his amber eyes marking him a Lykaon. A rather gorgeous one, in fact.
He flashed her a lopsided grin that made a dimple pop out. “There you are.” He planted a quick kiss on her mouth, humming as she fisted his walnut-brown hair. When he pulled back, his attention drifted to me. He squinted. “So you’re the human Sayer.”
“She is,” Khalida unnecessarily confirmed before locking her gaze on me. “This mountain of muscle is Quillen. Alongside him we have our cute Nemean couple, Nakoa and Soule. The beautiful Delphiae on your right is Layna, and beside her is—”
“Jelani,” the blond butted in, his eyes on me. “We’ve met already.”
“Everyone, meet Anara, one of our candidates. I’m planning to take her under my wing,” Khalida announced, surprising me.
Quillen’s grin wavered. “Is that a good idea?” he asked her, piling food on his pewter. “You might be a little too, you know, special to make a good mentor.”
Her brow very slowly inched up. “By special, you mean weird?”
“I mean you’re someone who starts fires when they’re upset.”
I paused in transferring vegetables to my pewter. “You still do that?”
“Not as often as I used to,” she replied before turning back to Quillen. “And as it happens, I have faith in Anara’s ability to get through Xalbia.”
“I’m curious, why would you want to try for a place in the Order?” Layna asked me, the cadence of her voice a little sing-songy.
“I don’t,” I told her, stabbing my fork into a carrot. “The Sovereigns want to see how I perform in the try-outs. Honestly, I’d quit if they hadn’t mentioned something about having other ways they could tease out my strengths and weaknesses.”
Layna pulled a face, tucking a chin-length white-blonde lock behind her ear. “That wouldn’t be anything fun.”
Biting into my carrot, I looked from Quillen to Khalida. “Onto a lighter subject, I’m guessing you two are a couple.”
Khalida pulled a face. “We keep things light. Most in the Order see no point in building solid relationships. We’re not allowed to marry, so there aren’t a lot of true couples in the Order.
Which isn’t to say that there’s no exclusivity.
” She gestured from herself to Quillen. “We’re exclusive, for instance. ”
“Soule and I aren’t,” Nakoa interjected as Soule loaded both her pewter and his own with food. “Casual sex is something of the norm around here.”
His lips quirking, Soule scratched his stubbly jaw. “We’re not exclusive? Is that why you whacked a woman over the head with a tankard yesterday for smiling at me?” he asked in a deliciously rumbly voice.
Batting her waterfall of corkscrew curls over her shoulder, Nakoa shot him an arch look. “It wasn’t because she smiled at you. That was over something else.”
“Which is?” he pushed.
The corners of her brown eyes tightened. “Personal,” she responded. “Respect my privacy.”
Grinning, he cut his gaze to mine. “We’re exclusive,” he said quietly. Or aimed to say quietly—his deep voice easily carried.
Her lips flattening, she glared at him. “Remember how we covered that you can’t whisper for shit?”
Fighting a smile, I looked from Layna to Jelani. “Are you two together?”
“What? Ew,” she blurted out as Jelani barked a, “Hell, no.”
I blinked, startled by the rather vehement replies.
“It would be way too weird,” she added with a shudder as the two exchanged an awkward look. “We’re friends.”
“Just friends,” he insisted.
Hmm, I personally thought they protested a little too much. “Right.” Turning back to Khalida, I cut into my meat. “Are the other Phoenixian godkin who were sent here with you nine years ago still around?”
“They’re at Deimos, but they’re not part of the Order,” she replied. “They didn’t make it through Xalbia.”
“Since you’re taking me under your wing and all, maybe you could tell me what Xalbia is.” I bit into the chicken dangling from my fork.
She flashed me a sympathetic smile. “Nothing you’re going to enjoy, which is why many drop out. But if you get through it, you become one of us.”