He whirls around, sweat glistening on his face and chest. Confusion scrunches his features. “Lark?”
I wave a little awkwardly. “I know I shouldn’t be here, but . . . the monster attacked Deccor housing. I wanted to make sure you’d gotten out.”
His brow relaxes, and I almost think a little pink lights his cheeks, though with their trollis tint, it’s hard to discern. “I . . . did.” He lowers the axe head to the ground. “I’m surprised you remembered where I’d be.”
I shrug. “I asked earlier, because I cared.” After glancing over my shoulder, I take a few steps toward him. “Perg, I know you’re a Nethens and I’m only a human—”
He laughs. “You say Nethens like it’s some great feat.” His humor evaporates, and he knocks the axe handle between his hands. “It’s not.”
“Regardless.” I splay my hands before me as though I have something to offer him. “You’ve been kind to me when others were not. I was hoping we could be friends.”
He raises a brow. “Friends.”
I lower my hands. “I wouldn’t . . . tell anyone.”
“It’s not that.” He shakes his head. “It’s just . . . well, no one’s ever made the offer before. Not so forthrightly, at least. Even the Plebs don’t care for me.”
Feeling bold, I say, “I care for you. Or I will, if you’ll let me.”
The expression on his face, though it lasts only half a breath, is so pained and vulnerable that I feel tears come. Something so childlike swims through it, so innocent.
“I would like that, Lark.”
I smile. “Good. I don’t mean to interrupt you. I should get some rest for tomorrow.”
“Perhaps I’ll see you in the marketplace.”
I nod. “Perhaps.”
Lighter on my feet, I turn back for the doors. I’ve nearly reached them when Perg calls, “Lark.”
I hesitate.
Letting the axe handle fall to the floor, he crosses over to me. He is immensely wide and tall, and yet his size fails in comparison to a full-blooded trollis. He reaches to his belt and pulls a sheathed dagger from it. It’s a reasonable size for human hands.
“Here.” He hands it to me. “I don’t want to worry about you, either.”
Stunned, I take the gift. The craftmanship is unelaborate but solid. I owned a small knife before coming to Cagmar, but the guards who captured me on the bridge must have taken it, for I haven’t seen it since then.
“Humans aren’t allowed to carry these,” I whisper.
“Then don’t let anyone see you with it.”
I clutch the dagger to my chest. I wonder, if Perg knew what I really was, whether he’d be so ready to befriend me. Or arm me. “Thank you.” I pause. “Perg, what’s your birth year?”
He tilts his head. “941, why?”
“Merces, the wren. Adaptable, quick, persistent. It suits you.”
He raises an eyebrow. “What are you jabbering about?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. Good luck.”
He returns to his axe.
I hurry back to my small room, making sure to hide the dagger beneath my skirt before I reach the marketplace.
Chapter 9
Over the next two weeks, I heal and find a comfortable groove among the city. I adjust to an official work schedule and time my errands in the marketplace so I’ll be as out of the way as possible for Unach and Azmar, though I enjoy their company. I run Unach’s errands between shifts and learn several trollis dishes, which I cook to her satisfaction. I watch how Unach sharpens and polishes her weapons, which in turn teaches me to care both for the south-dock weaponry and for the dagger Perg gave me.
I see Perg often, sometimes late at night when he’s training, sometimes when our paths cross in town, though I spend most of my daylight hours at the south dock or crawling the outside of the city. I learn the plumbing and even fix a leak in Unach’s apartment on my own. I’d love to visit one of the waterworks to see how it all functions. There are two of them: the smaller lies near the top of the city and distributes water via gravity through pipes. The larger caps the very base of Cagmar, where water is collected, stored, and purified. According to Azmar, the water fetchers have the most dangerous job in the entire city, for while Unach battles monsters irregularly, they work in fear of them every day. Cagmar is massive, but it comes nowhere close to reaching the river at the bottom of the canyon, so the water fetchers must leave the safety of the city to ensure its survival.