“I get it.”
And call me a pervert, but it wasn’t the worst offer I’d ever had. The parts of her that mattered most were human, and cute.
But even though her being part goat wasn’t a turn-off, the master-slave vibe was. I was also pretty sure that a smart guy wouldn’t start humping the hobbits and trolls until he knew a whole lot more about them.
“It’s a nice offer,” I continued, “and who knows, maybe later. But for now, you can get dressed.”
“Yes, sir.” She turned, showing me the fluffy little tail at the base of her spine, and headed for the chair where she’d left her neatly hung and folded tux.
There was a room-service cart loaded with covered dishes parked beside it, and when I spotted that, I suddenly realized I was starving. My mouth watered, and my stomach gurgled. I jumped up and just about ran in that direction.
The girl heard me coming. She gave a soft cry and spun around. Her bright eyes were wide, and she covered herself with the starched white shirt in her hands.
I stopped short. “It’s all right! I promise. I just wanted to grab some breakfast.”
“I’m sorry!” she said. “I just thought… ” She trailed off like she was afraid that explaining would make me angry.
I sighed. “I get it. When you came in, you were ready to do what you thought you had to. But when I let you off the hook, it was a big relief. Then you heard me coming up fast behind you, and you thought I was going to make you go through with it after all. Maybe you even thought I like it rough.”
She nodded.
“I’m not like that.” I pulled the cart toward an antique version of the writing-table-and-chair setup you see in most hotel rooms.
“I should wait on you,” she said.
“You did. You brought the food to the room. I can take it from here.”
It turned out that, among other dishes, I had steak and eggs, eggs Benedict, a Denver omelet, and blueberry pancakes. I attacked the spread like the favorite in a competitive eating contest.
But by the time the horned girl finished dressing, I’d taken the edge off my hunger, and then I felt embarrassed. I wouldn’t blame her if she thought that, while she was part goat, I was mostly pig.
I wiped my mouth on a lacy napkin. “Do you want some of this? I can’t eat it all.”
“That’s kind of you, sir, but it wouldn’t be proper.”
“I won’t tell if you won’t. Come on. It would make me feel better about scaring you before.”
As she hauled another chair up to the table, I realized we didn’t have an extra fork. But I hadn’t gotten the spoon dirty, and she dug into the omelet and pancakes with that.
“I’m Billy,” I said.
“I know, sir. Everybody knows.”
“And you are…?”
“A’marie.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, A’marie. And what are your people called? Your clan or whatever?”
Her face hardened. “Thank you for the food, but I have to get back to work. Please, when you’re finished, just put the cart in the hall.” She pushed back from the table.
“Please, wait. I’m sorry if that question was rude. Apparently I’m related to you ‘Old People,’ but I never knew until last night. I don’t know what’s good manners and what isn’t.”
She hesitated. “Really? You weren’t making fun of me?”
“Really.” I gave her the Cliff’s Notes version of how I’d gotten involved with Timon.
When I finished, she said, “It was fate, the two of you finding one another.”
“I don’t believe in fate. Luck, maybe. But anyway, should I not ask anybody about his race? Is that a big taboo?”
She hesitated. “No. It shows you’re a newcomer, and that might make people try to take advantage of you, but it’s not taboo. It’s just… when a satyr and a nymph have a boy baby, he’s supposed to be a satyr. When they have a girl baby, she’s supposed to be a nymph. And you see how I came out.”
“Seriously? Everybody’s fine with weird, ugly creatures like the Pharaoh, Gimble, and Murk the Talking Squid, but the way you look is a problem?”
“It was for my ‘clan,’ as you called them. I had to leave Tarpon Springs.” Tarpon Springs is a town in Tampa Bay with a big Greek-American population. Apparently it had a big Greek-mythology population, too. “But then I had other issues.” She forced a smile. “But it could be worse. At least I didn’t inherit the little billy-goat beard.”
“For what it’s worth,” I said, “I think you look good.”
A bit of the sadness went out of her smile. “You’re nice.”
“I don’t know about that, but I meant what I said.”
She hesitated. Then: “Do you want some advice?”
“All I can get.”
“Now that you’ve shown you can play, one of the others will probably offer you a bribe to throw the game. Take it. You’ll have the money you need, and once you bust out, nobody will have a reason to hurt you.”
I tried to read what was going on behind those silvery eyes of hers. “Are you telling me this because you’re worried about me, or because all you vassals and whatever want Timon gone?”
She hesitated again. “Both.”
“Is he really that bad?”
“If you’d been rough with me that would have been bad. But you could only have done what you’re
“I guess I understand that. But are you guys sure another lord wouldn’t be even worse?”
“We’re willing to gamble. We think that if you go out, there’s a good chance Wotan will win. He owns so many dominions that he doesn’t spend a lot of time in any one of them. And people say that when he does show up, it’s mostly to hunt. So it’s not all that hard on his servants.”
I remembered Timon telling me that the majority of his kind didn’t
“You have to understand, it’s not evil when one of his kind does it. It’s just a part of Nature.”
“I don’t think you really believe that, or that you want something like that going on where you live.”
“Maybe not, but I have to look after myself. It’s a hard world.”
“I guess so. And I’m sorry, but I’m not going to make it any softer for you. I’m not going in the tank.”
“Not even to save your life?”
“Timon says I’m safe in the hotel.”
“Timon will say whatever he needs to say to get what he wants.”
“I can believe that. Still, I won’t just sell him out.”
A’marie sighed. “I understand. Why would you care about us? You don’t even know us.”
“It’s not-”
“You care about winning, like any lord or champion. But thank you for being kind. Please be kind one more time, and don’t tell Timon what I said.”
“Sure.”
“Thank you. I really should go now.” She stood up.
After the door closed, I just looked at it for a second or two. Then I muttered, “Damn.”
Because I didn’t like the way the conversation had ended. I felt like I’d made a friend, then let her down and lost her, all in the space of a few minutes. But I didn’t feel bad enough to change my mind, and A’marie wasn’t there to hear about it if I did.
So I tried to forget about her and showered. When my various bandages got damp, they started peeling off, so I got rid of them. I’ve never liked leaving a Band-Aid on any longer than necessary anyway.
Afterward, on a hunch, I checked the dresser and closet and found fresh clothes. Someone had done a good job of guessing my sizes. Or maybe leprechauns had measured me in my sleep. Who knew?
I filled my pockets, found a room key on the little table by the door, and headed downstairs. I supposed a good champion would go looking for his patron right away. But I wasn’t in the mood for Timon yet. I figured I could at least let my breakfast settle before I started breathing his funk.
