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“Do you retain your mind when you change? Do you see and understand everything that’s going on?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Then you’re not a lowly common animal. You’re a spy, Nitsa. You’re the best sentry in the land,” I said. “Demigods can’t get close to a herd of minotaurs because they can smell them coming from miles away. They’re the hardest monsters to track, but you. They’ll just dismiss you as a lowly cow, and it’ll be the last mistake they make. Sounds pretty fucking useful to me.”
“I... I never thought of it that way. A spy,” she whispered, rolling it around on her tongue. “A tracker. No one would see me coming.” Nitsa bumped my shoulder. “Thank you.”
“I’ve got to go back,” Ionna announced. “If he’s hit theGs, he’ll be calling my name soon. You guys are done. Get us a good dorm room before they’re all snatched up.”
“She’s right,” Nitsa said. “No point sitting around here when we could be scoping out the place. Three brothers and I’ve never been inside. Can’t wait to see what’s real and what’s one of their silly tricks.”
Her good mood was back in full force. Nitsa took off, hurrying to grab her bags and begin her first day in the academy that labeled her useless. I followed at a slower pace. Daciana fell in step with me.
“Thank you for that. We’d been trying to cheer her up for half an hour. You did it instantly.”
“I meant everything I said. I can think of a great way to utilize every person who was shoved in the Sisyphean class. For one thing, the guy who can grow wheat from stone is a marvel. He can keep an entire battalion fed, and they wouldn’t need to rely on the locals—taking food out of the mouths of poor villagers.”
“Wise thinking.”
“What do you think?”
She shrugged lightly—pretty face serene. “It’s not for me to have an opinion. It wouldn’t hold any weight if I did. I am a stranger to this land. One that was plotting her escape home until you.”
I looked around. “What? Me?”
“Yes, you,” Daciana said with a laugh. “Demigods don’t know much about werewolves. Or they do and they don’t care that my heightened hearing heard everything they said about me when I shifted. From the graphically lewd remarks to the comments that I was a disgusting beast, should be put down like the other monsters, or be captured like a wild animal and forced to serve the army.”
“They said what? They’re the fucking beasts!”
She didn’t lose her amused smile. “My father did the interdominion program when he was young. He told me what to expect. He also told me that when someone shows you who they are, believe them.
“Out of everything said about me, you were the only one to appreciate my form for the beautiful gift from the goddess that it is. Also, you defended me when you believed I was being treated unfairly. You’ve shown me you’re kind and without prejudice, so I’ll believe it. You and I will be friends.”
I shared her smile. “And you just spent half an hour trying to cheer up a girl you didn’t even know. I believe that’s who you are too.” I held up my arm. “Friends.”
Head cocking, Daciana looked at the appendage in confusion. I giggled as she grabbed my wrist and gave it a little shake.
“No, like this.” I tipped her elbow and bumped our forearms. “It’s an army thing. Can’t shake hands when you’re holding swords, shields, and lances. So we bump arms.”
“Fascinating. I’m learning from you already.”
