Page 17 of Carnal: The Beast Who Loved Me

“Okay.”

Rosie ate in silence sitting at the bar near Dandy, who never looked up from her food until the door opened. A group of Exiled filed in bringing a wedge of sunlight and rowdy conversation. Her lunch was half eaten when Dandy swept it away and into the galley hallway sink.

After dumping dishes, Dandy grabbed two black aprons. She shoved one at Rosie and began hurriedly pulling the other over her head. “Put that on.”

Rosie had never worn an apron until Serene had put one on her the night before at dinner, but the concept was simple enough.

“Stand over there and watch unless I ask you to do something,” Dandy told her.

One of the kitchen staff, a girl who appeared to be in her late teens, ducked into the bar and began helping Dandy fill containers, some with water, some with cider.

Rosie obediently stood out of the way. She was as curious about the Exiled as they were about her. They stared openly, but said nothing.

As quickly as the kitchen staff set plates on the counter, they were claimed by happy, and apparently, hungry diners. Plate in hand, they turned to Dandy for drinks, which she was setting on the counter as fast as she could fill containers. Within a few minutes the Commons was crowded and loud with conversation.

Free didn’t come in until about half the diners had eaten and left. He nodded to Rosie, and sat down with another man who was near his own age.

Dandy picked up a plate and a glass of cider then held them out to Rosie. “Here,” she said, “take these to the Extant.”

Rosie was grateful for something to do other than watch. When she’d said she knew how to do nothing, that wasn’t entirely true. Shedidarrive knowing how to fill containers with liquid.

With plate and mug in hand, she started toward Free’s table where he was laughing at something his companions had said. She could feel all eyes on her as she made her way across the room.

When she set Free’s lunch before him, he said, “Thank you.” Then added, “They’ll get used to you after a couple days.”

Rosie nodded, thinking that she hadn’t hid her self-consciousness as well as she thought. By the time she was back at the bar, the serving line had dwindled to nothing. Twenty minutes later the only two people in the Commons rooms were Rosie and Dandy.

“Whew,” Rosie said. “That was like a whirlwind.”

“Same thing every day,” Dandy deadpanned.

“Well, I think I can help you with drinks tomorrow.”

“We’ll see.”

“Where are the women?”

“They usually eat in their own houses or at the Weavers’ Barn. They’re welcome to come. They just prefer to keep female company at lunch. The choice is theirs.” She eyed Rosie like she was trying to decide whether or not to say more. “Men and women were kept separated before we came here.”

“Oh.” Rosie didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Except for breeding, which was usually forced.”

Rosie was horrified by that insight and didn’t like the images it conjured. Dandy waited as if she expected Rosie to respond, but the best she could come up with was to whisper another, “Oh.”

“Look. I know you weren’t one of the humans that did that to us. But hard feelings live a long life.”

Rosie nodded in understanding. “I hope when you get to know me, you’ll come to believe that I don’t have it in me to treat others that way.”

Dandy suppressed a sneer. “I’m sure you believe that. But I think all humans ‘have it in them’.”

Rosie soon fell into a routine. She had a breakfast snack standing in the kitchen, sometimes alone, sometimes with Charming. She went to the Commons to sweep, mop, and right chairs from the activities the night before. She drew water and cider from tap for the midday meal, carried the Extant’s lunch to him, and cleaned up after to be ready for the nighttime crowd.

The cat made intermittent appearances at the bar. The thing seemed to be extraordinarily affectionate with the hybrids. All of them. But so far as Rosie was concerned, she and the cat were at a standoff. Catty Kay could sit around and glare at her all day for all Rosie cared. And frequently that’s exactly what the cat did to pass the time between scraps and pets from Newland residents.

In the evening Rosie had dinner with Free and Serene. Sometimes Charming was there. Sometimes he wasn’t.

Free would talk about the politics of dealing with human representatives from the city, the challenges of managing the common funds of the Exiled along with food supplies, structure maintenance, and scheduling crews for patrol. She learned that all of the able-bodied adult Exiled were marshalled to defend the humans in the event of an attack by Rautt, but at any given time only fifteen percent of their population served a singular purpose of full-time warrior. Most were young males in their prime. Some were female. She gathered that Carnal was one of those, but didn’t ask.

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