But then there was Nestrix.
"Did you play this game?" she asked Nestrix.
"It is not to my taste," Nestrix said, dropping her eyes to the book again. "But my dam's sire, Chendarixanath, was quite the taaldarax. Very good at what he did. He wanted to bring me under his wing, but I wasn't interested. If I want something, I'd rather take it than have a minion's minion trick some idiot's idiot."
Tennora started to ask what exactly Nestrix's grandfather had been so good at and what xorvintaal had to do with minions and idiots, but Nestrix had sunk back into the book and was no longer listening. Tennora rolled her eyes and hurried back downstairs to collect the water.
Tennora hadn't realized how successfully Nestrix's presence had put her lost studies out of her mind, until Cassian came up, as she was paying her little water leaders their copper nibs, and hailed her.
"Coins bright," he said cheerfully. "How are you this fine morning?"
"Cassian!" Tennora said. "Good morning. Well met."
He regarded the four buckets with a smile. "Thirsty?"
Tennora laughed because he had meant it as a joke, but not because it was funny. "Oh. No, no. I have… a guest. She's been traveling a bit, and now she's in desperate need of a soak."
"Ah. Do you want a hand with these? You can't possibly carry all four yourself." "Yes! That would be wonderful. Thank you." She bent, picked up two buckets, and nudged the door open with her foot. "I was a little worried someone might take them," she lied.
"Always a concern," he said with a pleasant smile. "I didn't see you last night. Did you go home early?"
Tennora's heart sank like a bag of sand. "Yes. That is… Master Halnian decided to discontinue my arrangement."
She heard Cassian come to a stop on the stairs behind her. "Oh," he said. "Oh Tennora, I'm so sorry. Permanently?"
Tennora felt a lump form in her throat. She took a deep breath, but it wouldn't fade. "Unless something changes," she managed, and continued up the stairs.
Nestrix didn't look up as they entered. Tennora set her buckets down in the kitchen and Cassian did the same.
"Nestrix?" Tennora said. "This is a"-she caught herself before she said classmate-"friend of mine,
Cassiari Lafornari. Cassian, this is Nestrix."
Nestrix looked up and speared Cassian with her sapphire gaze. Cassian hesitated, then held out a hand. Nestrix recoiled slightly at the proffered greeting.
Tennora cleared her throat. "She's just settling in. The, um, trip here was rather trying."
"Oh," Cassian said. "Well met. Where have you come to us from?"
Nestrix frowned. "The Calim."
"Almraiven," Tennora added hastily, naming the only human bastion in the Calim. "She came from Almraiven. With a caravan." For a moment Tennora was afraid Nestrix would disagree, but the confusion in the glance she gave Tennora fled. A slow smile curved over her lips.
"Yes," she said, looking back up at Cassian. "A very long, dusty trip. You'll excuse me. I'm tired." "Of course," Cassian said, sounding confused himself. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance." He turned to Tennora. "Do take care of yourself."
"Certainly," she said. She thanked Cassian again and managed to handle herself a little more graciously than usual when he suggested she come along with some of the other apprentices for evenfeast.
"It sounds most entertaining," she said, escorting him out the door. "I'll consider it." He smiled at her, and she melted a little.
When she turned back to the room, Nestrix was smirking at her.
"You lied much better that time," she said. "Is that one your mate?"
"No," Tennora snapped. She heaved one of the buckets over to the iron pot that hung over the fire. "He's just a friend."
"Your smell says otherwise. You may be a dokaal, but the smell of a creature interested in-" "You know, I don't believe that is any of your concern," Tennora said, continuing to pour the water in.
Nestrix stood and crossed over to the table. "Ah! I see. He doesn't want to mate with you."
"That isn't-"
"It's for the best, you know," Nestrix continued. "You could do far better. He's a poor specimen. You could beat him to a bloody pulp if you weren't careful." She looked back at the door. "And he probably wouldn't even notice."
Tennora slammed the bucket down on the table. "Shut up."
Nestrix looked startled. "What?"
"You are not going to sit here and insult my friends, my romantic life, or the way I lie, you understand?" Tennora added the last of the buckets. "And if you don't like it, you can find someone else to put up with you."
She expected to be hit with another tantrum of dragonfear, but instead she found Nestrix regarding her curiously.
"You're very strange, dokaal," Nestrix said. "Everything I said was true-and a compliment besides-and yet you act angry. Except you clearly mean none of what you say. You won't turn me out. You like me."
"Where the Hells do you get that impression?" Tennora fumed.
Nestrix smiled, again with that peculiar fragility. "I've been hated by plenty. You don't hate me. And-lucky you-I'm growing rather fond of you. If I did play xorvintaal like that book says I must, you could be my lovac, that's how well I like you."
Tennora found herself too annoyed to leap on the information, and she folded her arms across her chest and looked away, shaking her head at the fireplace. "Bring those buckets back down to the door and have the water leaders fill them up again."
When the water started to boil, Tennora enlisted Nestrix's help in lifting the heavy cauldron and dumping it into the copper bath along with the cooler water from the children's second delivery.
"What are you making?" Nestrix asked. "Soup?"
"You're going to have a bath," Tennora said.
"In hot water?" Nestrix said dubiously. "I don't think so."
"You'll like it more than you expect, I promise. Get in."
Nestrix shook her head. "Why should I?"
"Because you smell terrible and these are small quarters," Tennora said. "Get out of that shift and get in the tub. We'll all be happier for it."
Nestrix glowered at her for a moment, as if she were daring Tennora to force her. Then she sighed and rolled her eyes. She stripped off the shift with hardly a moment's modesty. Tennora averted her eyes, but couldn't help but notice a scar wide as her thumb that wrapped around her rib cage from the middle of her back to the top of her hip bone.
"Oh my," she said. "What happened to you?"
Nestrix looked down at the scar. "The shell is what I have left of my clutch. That is what I have left of my mate."
"He cut you? With what?"
Nestrix rolled her eyes. "It's a mating scar, dokaal. His claws."
Tennora blushed. "Oh. I… How very interesting. Different customs… so often are."
"If he didn't prove he was strong," Nestrix said, "I would have had no interest in him. You should have seen the scars I left on him. How long do you expect me to sit in this stewpot?"
"Until you're clean." Tennora held out a cake of rose-scented soap and a rag. "Skin, hair, face."
Nestrix looked at the proffered items. "With that?"
"Yes." Tennora rubbed the soap into the rag and shoved it into Nestrix's hands. "When is the last time you bathed?"
Nestrix made a face at her. "It rained yesterday." She rubbed the rag gingerly against her arm. Tennora took it from her and dunked it into the water.
"Look, I understand you're"- new wasn't the right word" unaccustomed to being a human, but for Sune's bright face, you have got to put a little effort into your hygiene. You're going to have to bathe. You're certainly going to have to replace your clothes and wash what you get. And comb your hair. And get some shoes."