“There is often a sun-spot in the library where she curls up around this time of day, if you come with us, we can introduce you,” Sparrow said.
So, after they’d gone to the kitchens for some food, Silence and I followed Tusk and Sparrow to the library.
And there, curled up in a sunspot, as promised, was a plump, ginger-coated cat.
“Princess!” Sparrow said going to her, then flinching back as Princess twitched awake. Right… birds would be afraid of cats. “We have a new member. This is Legs. She’s a spider.”
Princess rolled onto her back, presenting her belly to me. Odd as it was to think of this as my Housemate, I did as — I hoped — she intended, and went over to rub her belly. She purred.
When I sat back, she veered into her human form, sitting before me with a drowsy smile. “Nice to meet you, Legs.”
“And this is Silence,” Sparrow said. “A mouse.”
Instantly Princess’ attention snapped to Silence, eyes going wide. “Very nice to meet you!” she practically purred the words.
Silence flinched back.
Princess… was odd indeed. Very feline in her demeanor. She had bouncy pale ginger curls, with intent orange eyes. I couldn’t rightly tell, since we were both sitting, but she did not seem tall, and was definitely a bit on the rounder side, reminding me a bit of Blackclaw. She was certainly full-figured through bust and hips, but dressed in loose flowing clothes so it was hard to tell her exact form.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me…” and she was back as a cat again, purring, curling back up in her sunspot.
“She stays like that, in her avatar form, most of the time while here at Hedgewild,” Tusk said, shaking her head.
She was a cat; why wouldn’t she?
I couldn’t help but stroke her fine ginger fur, and she purred louder. Yeah, this was a horrible form to be in.
And that was that. I’d met all of the members of House Maverick, except the ones that weren’t here.
It was a mixed and eclectic lot, but I sensed a bond between them. A bond I could only hope Silence and I would join with eventually. Right now, I still felt like an outsider. But that day Sparrow took the time to make Silence and I feel welcome. We chatted with her in the library for some time, learning all the ins and outs of this strange family, and the estate. By the end of the day, Silence and I were laughing easily with the witty young woman, instant friends. Sparrow even gave Silence the scoop on Amber and how to handle her, since they would be on the same squad together. The young man seemed far more at ease now that he had a friendly face on his team.
And just like that… we felt far more at home.
The next day our training started… and the pain began.
Chapter 18
“Not bad!”Ant said nodding his approval. Meanwhile, I was shaking my aching, tingling fist, knuckles sore. I kept stretching my hand to try to stop the throbbing. Punching Ant was not something I wanted to do again. He was hard as rock!
That was how he’d started our martial training: “Punch me,” he’d said. “Trust me I’ll be well enough.”
And I believed him now.
He was shirtless again and… just wow. All that muscle looked rounded and a bit cushiony, but it wasn’t. It was solid.
“Ants have a shell, remember,” he said by way of explanation. “It takes a lot to hurt me.”
Good to know.
“Your turn,” Ant said turning to Silence, who blanched and shook his head.
Ant laughed. “A shy one, are we? Don’t worry, we’ll train that out of you. Nobles need to be able to face many different situations and protect the nation when called upon. Here, we mostly fight pirates, and that’s not often. But still, you need to be ready. So go ahead, hit me as hard as you can.”
Silence looked at me. I nodded for him to try. He shrugged, balled his fist, thumb tucked inside, and swung.
“Silen—” I tried to stop him. With how he’d made his fist, he’d break his thumb. But I didn’t get there in time. He hit Ant.
Crackwent his thumb and Silence shrieked in pain, retrieving his hand back to hold protectively, tears coming to his eyes.
