Page 35 of Bull Moon Rising
ELEVEN
ASPETH
23 Days Before the Conquest Moon
“You fell asleeplast night,” Hawk hisses at me as I trudge up one of Vastwarren’s sloping streets. Truly, are there no level places in this blasted city? Not a single gently meandering road? Does everything have to be an uphill climb?
At my side, the Taurian practically stomps his hooves as we straggle up the street. He’s sulking, I suspect, because I fell asleep while he was nattering on about gods and how Taurians are sacred. “You mean I fell asleep after a hard day of training when you decided you needed to lecture me? Like I’m some idiot girl who’s never seen a cock before?”
I mean, I haven’t, but he doesn’t need to know that.
His nostrils flare and the ring in his septum jumps. He glances up thestreet, where Kipp the slitherskin is bounding away happily, carrying both house and backpack as if he was born without fatigue. Behind him, Gwenna is doing a good job of carrying her pack, and both Lark and Mereden are lagging behind both of them. I’m at the rear, limping along in my boots and wondering what ever possessed me to try to become a guild artificer.
Oh, right. Because the enemies of Honori Hold will execute us to steal our lands. Can’t forget that.
And now I’ve got to deal with a pouty bull-man who tried to lecture me when I wanted nothing more than to sleep.
“Have you seen a Taurian cock? With the sacred knot engorged?”
Oh my, the wordengorgedjust makes me all kinds of flustered. “I…well, no.”
“Then save some energy for tonight, because you’re going to see one.” Hawk leans in. “You need a lesson because I don’t plan on being the villain in this. It was your idea to marry.”
“So it was.” I can handle a cock showing. Truth be told, I find the entire idea a little fascinating. “But if you want me to stay awake, you’ll have to stop lecturing me and actually let me catch my breath today.” Already the backpack straps are burning two strips of pain on my shoulders.
“This is for your own good,” he reiterates, and casts a stern look in my direction. “Don’t think you can get away with anything simply because we’re married.”
I gasp in outrage. “I wouldn’t! And I’m offended you think I would use our connection like that.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“No!” I sputter. “You’re the one who brought up your cock, not me.”
He arches a brow at me. “Don’t pretend like it’s never crossed your mind to milk your advantage here by milking my cock.”
I sputter again. “Rude!”
He snorts.
“Let it be said that I wish to learn everything there is to be taught here,” I tell him indignantly. “I didn’t come here to be coddled. I came here to be part of the guild. Anything extracurricular is going to have to wait until I’m rested so I can be a beneficial part of the team, and that means bed sport.”
My teacher grunts. Is Hawk relenting? Have I convinced him that carrying rocks isn’t the way to teach us? “We still need to train with Magpie, too.”
I have to admit, I am more than eager to meet her. I want to hear all her stories. I want to learn what she knows. I want to absorb everything there is she can teach.
“Soon.” Hawk’s voice is terse. He jogs ahead, agile on those enormous hooves, and moves to Kipp’s side. “I thought we talked about the house?”
The slitherskin ignores him.
Up and downwe go, marching all over Vastwarren’s streets until I’m heartily sick of backpacks and guilds and, most of all, Taurians. Sweat drips down my face, and I’m relieved when Hawk calls for lunch and a rest break. We eat and drink water while sitting on the curb of a busy lane, watching donkeys pull carts up to the apex of the city, where the ruins are walled off.
“When do we get to go up there?” I call out. “To the tunnels?”
“You’re not ready yet.”
Humph. Of course he thinks that. “Yes, butwhenwill we be ready?”
Hawk crosses his arms over his chest. “How long do you plan on keeping your arse on the curb and resting, fledgling?”