Ashetta
burning glances turning heads
I let my brow climb higher as the understanding clicks into place—the scandalous cut of clothing, the unflinching eye contact, the god he favors. Of course.Inwardly, there’s a flicker of old familiarity. I’d known plenty of courtesans in another life—not because I’d ever hired them, but because I’d been the one in the shadows watching the door, intercepting the drunk or the violent before they made it through. A few of them had even become friends. There’s a kind of respect in surviving that line of work that I can’t help but acknowledge.
“Respectable work,” I say after setting my mug down, the corner of my mouth ticking upward. “Far more respectable than what I used to do.”
I lean in then, letting the faintest curl of static slip down my arm again before I can stop it, voice lowering for him alone. “Retired assassin.” My eyes catch the lantern light in a way that makes the mischief in them unmistakable. There’s no apology in the admission—if anything, a quiet, dangerous pride. Then I straighten again, cider glass turning idly between my fingers. “I took up being a messenger after that. Did it for a long time. I’m thinking of going back to it.”
When his question shifts to my origins, the smile I give him softens, but there’s a thread of regret stitched through it. “Technically, I was Abandoned,” I say, tone already carrying the apology. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m an outlander—back when there was still a barrier around the Hollowed Grounds.”
My gaze dips, caught for a moment by the whorls of gold thread across my skirt before I look back up. “In my old world, it was much the same—a shapechanger couldn’t also be a mage. But I achieved it. Practically right before I was pulled here.” I huff a quiet laugh, more air than sound. “And then I landed here, with all the rules rewritten.”
I soften further when Mort comes to mind, the warmth of the cider paling beside the warmth in my voice. “I went through a sort of… rebirth with him. It was the beginning of my journey toward forgiveness.” My eyes drift past him for a heartbeat, unfocused, before I return to the present with a faint smile. “I’m still on that journey. But I’m figuring it out.”
stop and stare at the sea of smiles around you
