Page 128 of Tamiko and the Two Janitors
Recognition dawned. “His name iscricket?”
“Yes. Kourogi is cricket.” Aunt Hiro nodded approvingly.“Not uncommon. Very cute.”
Cricket. As in Jiminy.
FORTY-TWO
We Interrupt this Broadcast
Melissa didn’t remember most of her walk back to thehouse. Only that she had kept herself calm, smiled at the right moments, and avoidedany further greetings. This was not the time for prying eyes and sharp noses.She wanted no audience when she read the contents of this packet.
In truth, it was not her first offer. They’d been arrivingsince she was twelve, mostly blind applications based entirely on her pedigreeand ranking. But itwasthe first time she was interested in what thesender might have to say.
She’d been avoiding Jiminy since his little experiment. Sinceshe’d let him past her wards. Since he’d called her beautiful.
Avoiding someone wasn’t hard when they were never around.
Jiminy’s shifts ceased to overlap hers, and Melissasuspected Doon-wen’s interference. All week, one of them was at the coffee shopwhile the other was at the farm. He had wards to construct and lessons with hismentor. She had boundaries to patrol and Amaranthine to escort. And threelittermates to adore.
On her afternoons in town, she had Lace, Gate, and High allto herself. It was more than she’d ever dreamed of. All she’d ever wanted. Insteadof being one reaver among sixteen others, all hoping for a partner, she was onereaver with three cubs all vying for her attention.
But even more than that, she had True.
Once the cubs were a little older, Doon-wen would establisha secondary den at the farm. They would run together, and he had relayed True’sinsistence that Melissa run with them—astride True.
She made it to her room and slouched to the floor in themost defensible corner. Safely away from prying eyes, Melissa slid a fat sheafof papers from the packet.
The cover letter was hand-written, the wording excessivelyformal. She was being approached in an official capacity by the wolves of theNightspangle pack, founding members of the Bellwether Enclave, situated for twoscore and four decades in the human city known as Fletching. Lookha-soh andRoonta-kiv Nightspangle offered greetings and good wishes before expressing theirdesire to put forward their fostered son Kourogi, whose name was sung as“cricket moon,” presenting him as a potential bondmate in the Amaranthinetradition or, should she prefer a more human assignation, as a husband.
Melissa recognized the standard language of a reavercontract. Jiminy’s parents had correctly included all the usualdocumentation—pedigree, hereditary traits, academic standing, and progenyprojections. But there were hand-written addendums.
One bore the seal of Doon-wen Nightspangle, documentingJiminy’s unique status as a wolf of his pack. Another also included thesignatures of Cyril Sunfletch and Linden Woodacre, making it clear that Jiminywas Bellwether’s anchor. Contractually, the urban enclave would remain his homefor as long as he lived.
Nothing new. He’d told her as much.
Next came documentation of Jiminy’s rank, which had beensuppressed in order to protect Jiminy’s interests. Although officially a wolf, he’dbeen privately assessed and personally granted an unofficial ranking by GlintStarmark, whose copper seal gleamed upon the page. Reaver Kourogi FosterNightspangle ranked twenty-ninth on the worldwide registry and, based on hisyouth and vigor, was expected to rise over the course of his lifetime.
Double digits. That was … unexpected.
Melissa gently set that paper aside.
On the next page, Jiminy’s mentor had included a note,certifying that his apprentice currently ranked fourth among reavers with award classification. Melissa groaned. She hadn’t realized thatFirst-senseiwas Jiminy’s nickname for Michael Ward of Stately House, world-renowned Firstof Wards. It was that man’s opinion that Kourogi would likely be acknowledgedas First of Wards one day.
Someone tapped on her door. “Melissa, it’s me. Is everythingall right?”
“No,” she said dully.
“May I come in?”
Melissa crawled to the door and turned the key to let inTami.
Her cousin took in the array of documents and perched on theend of the bed. “Is this what the herald brought?”
Waving a hand, Melissa stiffly said, “Behold, the romance ofreaver courtship.”
Tami slid to the floor, already reaching. “May I?”
Melissa gave Tami the short version, but her questions ledto a much longer version. By the end, they’d gone through every page inJiminy’s offer twice, and Tami’s understanding increased alongside herincredulity.
