Orfeus made herself take a swallow even though she choked at first. She put the glass down and wiped her mouth and took a bite of jerky, chewing mechanically.

He leaned his chin on his hand. “That bad, huh?”

She had to remember to keep her guard up around all of them, however friendly he seemed. “Nothing I won’t get used to,” she said, and looked around. “Think Boarhound will have any liquor to trade?”

Tai snorted. “The hard stuff goes pretty fast,” he said. “Ve might have some wine?”

Orfeus put the jerky back down. “Not…not after that hunt with Faolan. It—”

A hand on her shoulder, and Orfeus bodily flinched away. Faol removed his hand at once and took a slow step back. “I forgot,” he said. “I won’t touch you again.” He made a stark contrast against Tai, shorter and pale and dressed darkly, face carved in a frown.

“Speak of the wolf and you’ll see his tail,” Orfeus muttered. She threw a handful of raisins into her mouth and chewed.

Faol looked at her plate and nodded, like he was marking off items on a list. “If you’ve eaten, we should train,” he said.

Orfeus paused. She made herself swallow the pulped-up fruit, though it felt sticky and cloying. His claws, slashing away a man’s life.

“Not in the mood,” she said breezily.

Tai darted a look up at Faol. Faol rumbled, “You can’t be alone. After your first hunt.”

“I’ll read a book in the mess hall,” Orfeus tried. His eyes cut into her. She pushed back her chair, frustrated. “Fine. Can I train with someone else? I don’t want to see you right now.” For preference, she didn’t want to see him at all, but she doubted that would happen.

Tai chewed at his lip, glancing between them.

She needed to soften it. “Not when we’ll spend every minute on missions together anyway,” she said, making her tone petulant, like the issue was like spending too long a train ride with someone.

Faolan’s eyes showed he didn’t buy it, which was fine, as long as Tai did. The Wolf grunted. “Fine,” she said. She looked at Tai.

“Yeah,” the Shark said modestly, “I can teach the newbie some things.”

Orfeus laughed. “Who better to learn from than the worst at hand-to-hand!” she said. Tai performed a little bow.

Faolan didn’t put her hand on Orfeus’s shoulder again, but she fancied she could still feel the phantom weight. The trace of claws close to her throat, though Faol didn’t have her claws out. “Good luck,” Faol growled. Orfeus shot her a glare sharp as Snakebite. The Wolf left.

Tai scooped up the last handful of fruit and chewed on it. Orfeus finished her jerky. “Sorry to co-opt you into training,” she said, and he shook his head.