“Your sister got betrothed? To whom?”
“To another pureling.”
“Which one?” Not that I knoweveryonein Luce, but the pointy-eared people represent twenty percent of our population, and having attended the one and only school in Tarecuori, I’m familiar with most family names.
“Victorius Surro.” Phoebus pronounces the name with such disgust, I cannot help but smile.
Although pointy-eared himself, Phoebus acts as though the appendages framing his face are round. Sometimes, I fear his act will earn him the iron culling my mother underwent, but he’d have to commit a grave sin, and for all his brazenness, Phoebus is pure of heart and spirit.
I nod to the ceiling. “Your future brother-in-law’s currently occupying the room right above us.”
Phoebus tracks my gaze, his green eyes dimming. “Cauldron rust.”
I grin at the tame insult before skirting the bar to carry the wine to the commander’s table. I make sure to stay beside Cato, whom I trust with my body, if not with my secrets. “Will you men be needing anything else?”
The commander slides his amber eyes over me. I itch to jump into the canal to wash his leering gaze away but square my shoulders and plant a smile on my face.
He leans back in his chair, making the wooden rungs creak under his broad, muscled frame. If he weren’t a currish ear-licker, I may admire the lines of his body, but character matters more to me than physique, and the commander’s character is as rotten as the fruit peddled on the wharf. “Are you aware that Justus believes you do more than serve wine around here, Signorina Rossi?”
Cato flinches.
I don’t.
“My grandfather believes many terrible things about me. I think it’s my ears.” I fling a smile Silvius’s way because there’s nothing more disarming than a smile. Males aren’t sure what to do with a smile but have plenty of ideas what to do with a blush. “I hope you’ve set him straight that the only thighs I rub are the boars you so savor, Commander.”
Even though I’m not trying to be funny, amusement touches the corners of Silvius’s mouth. “You must rub them well because they’re incredibly tender.”
I walked right into that one. “If that’ll be all—”
“Does Ceres approve of you working in this establishment?” He cants his head to the side, as though trying to see past me, except his eyes are locked on mine, so perhaps what he’s trying to see, is into me.
“Why wouldn’t she? Marcello and Defne treat me like their own daughter. Besides, my grandmother encourages financial independence.”
One of his tablemates snorts. For all our forward thinkers, females are second-class citizens in Luce.
“And have you achieved it?” Silvius’s lips glisten with swine fat.
I’ve yet to bond with a boar, since they only thrive in the wilds of Tarespagia and the only ones I’ve met were quartered and preserved in salt, but I’m certain I’d enjoy their company more than this male’s.
“So, Signorina Rossi?” Silvius gives his mouth a slow lick. “Are you financially independent?”
Since he knows I’m not, I don’t bother answering.
“Anything else?” My voice is no longer sweet as honey but tart as golden plums.
“No. Thank you, Fallon.” Cato, ever polite, nods to me.
A gust of wind brushes my skin, announcing the arrival of a new customer. The first indication that it must be someone of great import hits me when the doxies, perched on the knees of potential customers, stop whispering sweet nothings into pointed ears.
“Luce’s beloved prince has returned.” Silvius is still leaning back, but his eyes are thankfully no longer on me.
I spin around to find Dante darkening the tavern entrance, the gold embellishments, hooked here and there in the thick mass of his box braids, glimmer as brightly as the studs running up the sides of his long ears.
“Please.” He sweeps a hand through the air. “Don’t stop merrymaking on my account.”
The noise level rises like my pulse when his eyes find mine, and he smiles. I make my way toward him, heart flapping as swiftly as sprite wings. I’m about to say,you found me, but what if his tavern visit has nothing to do with me?
The thought is sobering. “Welcome toBottom of the Jug, Altezza.”
