Page 23 of Vicious Princess
Her eyes flick up to meet mine. “Mm-hmm. Have you changed your mind?”
“Not exactly. But I need a way to pay you for food and shelter while I’m staying here. I have some savings, but they won’t last forever. So I thought maybe I could do some work around the inn in exchange for a room and food.”
“I don’t need help around the inn.”
My stomach drops. “Okay, I understand. Well, then, I’ll find a job somewhere else so I can pay you. Maybe you know someone who’s hiring for an odd job here and there? Something with a flexible schedule?”
She arches a silver eyebrow. “You’re an odd feral child. That’s why you came here all the way from Wetra? To work odd jobs?”
I glare at her in silence. She returns her attention to the bundle of threads in her lap.
“So, how’s the process of signing up for Ezkai Academy going?” I don’t miss the wicked amusement in her tone.
“Great. I’m officially starting the training on Monday.”
Kazh’s still as a statue. Slowly, she lifts her head. The bundle of threads is completely forgotten. I have her full attention. “You’re out of your damn mind,” she manages to say. “You actually signed up for the training?”
I shrug. “Well, yeah. I told you that’s why I’m here. I want to join the Order of Ezkai.”
She releases a string of curses in more than one language. I even catch one of the most common Wetran curse words in there.
Why is she so angry about this?
“You’re the most reckless, stupid child I’ve ever met in my life. More so than Vasquez, and I thought that fucker was the dumbest bitch alive.”
She shakes her head when I don’t say anything. “You’re going to get yourself killed. Do you even know what you just got yourself into?”
“Yes.” Actually, I have no idea.
It’s as if she can read my mind. She arches her eyebrow. I roll my eyes.
“Fine. I don’t know much. I know I’ll have to train hard to prove myself so I can even get a chance to join the Order. I’ll figure it out. I’ve went through the Decarios training back in Wetra.”
“You understand nothing,” she spits. “You arrived here like a spoiled princess and strode into the Ezkai Castle like you own the place to sign up for something you have no understanding about. You don’t know Ekiosh ways, nor what being an Ezkai stands for. What it means to become one and who you fight against. You just throw yourself at it like you have shit for brains in that skull of yours. Pack your stuff and get out.”
“Wait—what? Why?”
“Ah, now you want to understand how things work, huh? This training is all-consuming. By living here, at my place, you bring Order business to me. And I want none of it. I want you out tonight.”
“But I don’t have anywhere to go! And you said that any friend of Vasquez is welcome at your place!”
“That was before you started messing with things you shouldn’t have,” she says darkly. “I gave you a chance to do something good and useful with your time and abilities. You chose another path. Well, good luck. You walk out by yourself, or I’ll get my folks to carry you out. The choice is yours.”
Still stunned, I stand up.
She glowers at me, her face hard. I open my mouth to say something, but then close it. I whirl on my heel and storm off, slamming every door behind me as I leave.
CHAPTER NINE
Ihave no place to stay the night.
After I leave Kazh’s place, I try to find a room at one of the other inns in the neighborhood. All three inns I try turn me away. No rooms are available.
The hosts tell me it’s because of the time of year; too many visitors flood the city when the weather gets colder. But something in the way they eye me warily tells me it’s something else.
Even though I speak Ekiosh and carry a bag full of their currency, I’m an outsider. A human. Ekios is really unfriendly to foreigners. Even those willing to pay.
After my third rejection, I aimlessly wander the streets. I clutch the map V gave me and make sure to reference it once in a while so I don’t accidentally end up in the district where I was attacked on my first day here.
