“I know,” Tasha said. “We all know.”
We certainly did all know.
Marry.
Every time Tasha or the warden said the word, my guts tightened, and my heart gave a strangled half-leap. Like an animal caught in a cage. I’d never considered the word much before now. Never taken note of the inherent…softnessof it.
Her name was soft, too.Shiloh.
So soft I actually was not even sure I could make that first sound. Sh. Experimentally, I tried. Air whistled between my fangs and lips. “Zhhhhvvvvv.”
“What the blazes are you doing?” Warden Tenn asked while Tasha wrenched her gaze back to me.
“I am trying to say Thigh-low.”
Oh. No, that was not right at all.
“Clearly,” I added, scratching at my jaw, “I require some practice.”
Tasha smiled at me. She did that a lot. She really was very kind, and I appreciated it.
“I’m sure she won’t mind if your pronunciation is a little off.”
I frowned, my tail tensing on its hook.
“But I mind,” I said at once. “I want to get it right. This is important.”
“You must pucker your lips, like so,” Warden Tenn said, straightening his shoulders and widening his stance as if about to enter into some kind of battle. This serious pose seemed rather at odds with the absurdly scrunchy shape of his mouth. “Ta-ssssshhhhhhhhh-aaaaa.”
“Ta….Ta-jha.”
“No,” Warden Tenn said with a dismissive flick of his tail. “Wrong.”
“But very close!” Tasha said encouragingly, which embarrassed more than comforted me.
“I am sorry,” I gritted out. “I am sure I have said your name out loud before. I did not realize how wrong I’d got it.”
Not until today.
Not until Shiloh.
“It’s really not a problem at all,” she assured me. “We’re dealing with different languages, different anatomy! You have different teeth than we do.”
“I have no problem saying it,” Warden Tenn said. “He will practise. He will learn.”
“I will,” I agreed.
Tasha let out a small breath, as if I’d just silenced her before she could argue with her husband on my behalf.
“I am not from a major city,” I told her, “like the warden and some of the other men. I attended a small, rural satellite schoolinstead of one of the main Academy locations. My Zabrian accent and dialect is different.”
“Oh, interesting,” Tasha said. It really did not seem all that interesting to me, but she had perked up, her eyes sincere on my face. “Behind the translator’s parsing, I couldn’t really tell that you had a different accent.”
“Oh, yes,” Warden Tenn assured her. “He is a country boy, through and through.”
“Well, you’re all country boys, now,” she replied rather tartly, as if annoyed with the warden. None of that annoyance showed in her expression when she turned her attention back to me, however. “Just do your best, Rivven.”
She did not, however, tell me what to do if my best was not enough.
