Page 35 of By the Horns
“I have three younger sisters, and they liked ribbons braided into their manes,” I tell her, my fingers brushing against her scalp. Her hair is softer and silkier than that of my sisters, but it also has a lot less body to it. It’s fine and clings to my calluses like cobwebs. “And occasionally there’s a tunnel rope that has to be braided to reinforce it.”
“Well, thank you.” She sits tall and straight. “Where are your sisters now? And your parents?”
“Living in a farming village over in the Southwind Plains. It’s called Clover Hollow.”
“It sounds very pastoral.”
“It is, and that’s why I couldn’t wait to leave when I was younger.” I twine her hair around my fingers as I braid, easily working her smooth locks into a crown once more. “I wasn’t cut out to be a farmer. I wanted adventure, so I left for here as soon as one of my sisters mated and her mate took over the farm. My parents live there with them, but they’re both older and don’t quite get the need for adventure.”
“It’s hard when you don’t want the same thing as your parents,” she agrees.
“Is that your story?” I ask. “Why you’re here?”
“I’m here since someone needed to follow Aspeth—sorry, Sparrow—because I didn’t want her going to Vastwarren alone. She’s very trusting, and I worried someone would take advantage of her.” Her hands are clasped calmly in her lap. “It didn’t occur to me until we stepped foot in the city that I could become an artificer, too. I thought I’d spend my entire life working at Honori Hold. The highest I’d be able to reach would be that I might end up as a chambermaid to whatever lady Lord Honori remarried.”
“Sounds…dull.”
“Oh, it is.” She chuckles, the sound soft and rueful. “In a way, coming here has ruined me. Now that I see I can be something other than a maid, it’ll break me if I have to go back to it. I’ll do anything to stay.”
Gwenna says it so casually, so cheerfully, that I pause to absorb what she’s said. Anything, huh? Said like a true thief. The part of me that’s supposed to be looking for clues about the culprit knows that this is vital information I should pass on. That this makes her suspicious.
But the young Taurian male who left his family behind because they didn’t understand why he felt the need to do something other than farming? He knows just what she means.
“I’m going to help you pass,” I tell her. “You don’t have to worry about that. We’ll make it happen.”
“I would appreciate it.” Her voice is soft again. “My mother’s stillworking in the kitchens, and it’s getting harder and harder on her. I’d love for her to come here and join me, but I can’t afford it. Not yet.”
“And your father?”
“Never met him. Just a visiting lord who thought he could do whatever he wanted with a servant.”
I digest that, and decide it makes me angry. “If you ever find out who it is, let me know and I’ll cram my big Taurian fist down his throat.”
She laughs. “You’re eager to punch some throats.”
“I really am.” But more than that, I like her laughter. I like making her smile, because it feels like I’ve done something important to earn that instead of her tartness. I finish her braid, and when she hands me a pin, I tuck it into the end to anchor the tail of her hair underneath the plait so it doesn’t show. “All done.”
Gwenna touches it carefully and then tilts her head back to smile at me. “You did an excellent job.”
“Like I said, three sisters.” I offer her a hand to stand up, and she takes it. I study her expression carefully. “You don’t have to go to the wedding with me if you don’t feel up to it. I noticed you cried yesterday.”
“Oh.” She manages a fainter smile and pulls her hand from mine, crossing the room. “Those were just…emotional tears. A lot has been on my mind lately, and one worry was taken off my plate, so to speak.”
A worry off her plate? That’s suspicious. I keep my voice casual, even though my senses are on alert. “And do you have a lot of worries?”
“You have no idea.” She says the words cheerfully, but it feels forced. It also mucking pisses me off, because the more she says shit like that, the more I worry she’s the thief after all. She’s too likeable to be the piece of shit that the guild’s been trying to catch, but she’s also making me wonder what’s going on.
“You wanna try me?” I give her a teasing smile. “I can be a really good listener.”
“They’re not your problems.” She smooths a hand down the front of her dress. “And this is all I have to wear that’s suitable for a wedding. I don’t have to go if I’ll embarrass you. I really do understand.”
I eye her, with her round, pink cheeks and her black, glossy hair pulled into an unadorned braid-crown. Her clothing is plain and clearly mended more than once if you look closely. Her skirt is a dark shade ofblue with no adornment, and her bodice is a deep brown with only a frayed ribbon sewn along the scooped neck as a nod to fanciness. She wears no jewelry, but to me, she’s stunningly beautiful. Her magnificent cleavage is shown off by the bodice that plumps her breasts and reveals a nipped waist. She’s short and curvy, but it’s the sparkle in her eye that I can’t look away from.
If she’s the thief, it’s smart for me to get in close and learn all her secrets. Seduce her to find out information. Become her confidant. But if she is the thief, it’ll absolutely gut me.
I hold my hand out to her. “I would be honored to have such a lovely date for the wedding.”
Gwenna puts her hand in mine with a smile.
