We entered the hall through the postern door, and I almost expected Gaston and Lefou to break into song. There were antlers, trophies, and heads all over the place in what looked like a giant tavern. There were also people, armed and armored people, lots of them, of all aspects. From a large woman with tiger stripes wearing little but thin strips of leather pressing down her impressive breasts wearing a pair of sabers, to a thin little ratlike man dressed in a robe in the corner playing dice with two identical-looking rabbit girls with crossbows on their backs and purple spiky hair.


    As usual, the crowd was overwhelmingly female, but there were a LOT more men than I was used to seeing here. It was about two to one female to male, instead of the ten to one that seemed usual around town.


    There was even a guy with gray skin and huge, floppy ears, dressed in heavy plates and leather, with heavy tusks coming up from the sides of his mouth and a short, articulated trunk he was using to lift a tankard to his lips. He was, without a doubt, the least human-looking aspect I had seen so far.


    “Is this like… a guild?” I asked Wandi curiously as we looked around.


    She shook her head, “No, this is an inn, almost like a club. There aren''t any guild dues or taxes or anything, but most hunters and delvers come here to meet, form teams and sometimes sell loot. They don’t need dues, since with the rooms upstairs, the tavern where they serve decent food and drink, and the shop where they trade certain reward items, the place does very well.”


    She pointed at a wall, where two doors said ‘setters’ and ‘pointers’, that was covered with pieces of paper, rags, parchment, and even a wooden plaque, stuck to the wall with everything from daggers to nails to what looked a long decorative hairpin.


    “When the town was founded, forty years ago, there were only two inns at first. There were only five local rifts at the time, and the other inn was sort of elite and catered to the moneyed nobles, merchants, and drovers.”


    “So all the hunters, delvers, and commons came here instead. Someone had a dire wolf that was killing off her flock, and she was desperate, so she stuck a dagger in the wall next to the waste rooms attached to a notice of bounty so people would see it offering a reward to take it out.”


    She shrugged, “After that, a few more people, alchemists that needed ingredients, restaurants that needed regular essence-infused food sources, caravans looking for guards, people hiring peacekeepers and even delve teams looking for a particular path started putting up notices. It kind of became a tradition. So now, delver’s hall is where we tend to congregate and look for delvers, and if you need something done, you pin it to the scat-house wall. Heh, even my dad calls it scat-housing when he needs guards for a particular shipment.”


    She tilted her head and spoke quietly, “The problem is, it’s not all good people here. Plenty of thugs, mercenaries, assassins, and cutthroats use this place for business too, and there are lots of bounties.”


    I nodded and whispered back, “So that will make my early job as a lawkeeper easier. I see an unlawful bounty on the wall, and I just have to find out who stuck it there.”


    She nodded, “But be careful. Bad guys don’t like change, and if you hit too hard too soon, you’ll make even more people than just the bad guys mad at you. The Dance hall used to be the Drover’s Inn, another inn I talked about, and it is a lot like this. The bottom two floors are a social club, only the top floors are used for rooms and hooks, They have a board for traders, social connections, mate requests, and stuff like that. One of the late lawkeepers decided that since some of the boys and girls were forced into it, he would shut down the whole dance hall.”


    I sighed. “how long?”


    “Two days, and then he disappeared. They only found his hat. He hurt a whole lot of normal people just looking for love or decent trade as much as the predators. It’s very complicated, but sometimes you have to look the other way. His deputy killed herself. He was handsome, like you, but wouldn’t recognize a sense of humor if it bit him on the ass.”


    I nodded, “Duly noted.” and was fully aware you couldn’t punish every minor violation or people pushing the edges of acceptable behavior, that was what people did, push boundaries, but I would stop the worst of it.


    There were even a few boundaries, like Kamli, I wouldn’t mind pushing a little myself.


    “What are the rules regarding mates?”


    “What do you mean?”


    “I mean, like when you left Miatt… was there anything you had to do?”


    She looked at me skeptically, “No. Deputies and nobles have special customs if they need to leave because losing those connections can change your traits, but mates? There were no children, I hadn’t slept with him in months, and I kept my property separate. I just let him and Reina know, had a good cry with Kamli, and took off. We weren’t in business together and didn’t owe each other anything. He tried to say I owed him room and board for two years, but I brought food to his table and spread my legs a couple of times, so I got out clean.”


    She sighed, “I am not a hooker, but yeah, I considered it adequate repayment. A few minutes of listening to him grunt every few weeks and wishing I was cleaning my armor instead was the price for a bed. Reina wanted to play too, but we didn’t mesh at all. No attraction, no complementary affinities, and I didn’t like her attitude. Is that… I’m sorry. Does that change things?”


    “Change things how?”


    “That I’m not a virgin? Some men have a thing about it.”


    I shrugged, “You told me you were mated a while back. It’s not like I expected you to suddenly grow a hymen when you left him. Doesn’t change anything. I mean, sure, some guys like the idea, but breaking in a virgin without hurting her so that she begs you to come back to bed is HARD work. Not to mention, Deputy, remember? It would be ridiculous to expect someone with your talents and experience to also be a child.”


    She sniffled and hugged me. A real hug. I very much liked it. She was short, but we fit pretty well, and I happily hugged her back.


    “Get a room!” I heard a female voice cry, and then I heard a smack of skin against flesh.


    She snorted against my chest, and said, “That would be Maniri. She’s the gulan and the real reason for rule three. She likes men. And women. She’s our main anchor and will be the wall between us and death. Next to her should be Takala. She’s our patternist, the tiny one. And I am pretty sure you’ve already noticed Kalamiti. She’s the felisan, the one that doesn’t appreciate clothes, and she doesn’t like men at all, or women either, as far as I know. She insists you call her aspect tigress, not felisan.”


    She took a step back as I observed the three closely, and the big woman with the leather straps and tigerstripes walked past a couple of tables to stand closer. “Huh.” She said. “When she said your name was Tony, I expected a girl. Tigress has GREAT ears. I like males just fine, I just haven’t met any men that I respect enough to… whoah.”


    When she was close enough, I noticed she had a little fur on her shoulders, because it suddenly raised and her long, striped tail stuck almost straight out behind her, twitching slightly. Her eyes widened slightly as I got hit with a wave of… power.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    It was even stronger than Tanley had caused. My vision narrowed. She wasn’t quite as tall as me, but all I could think about was stripping her naked and plowing her until she had me coming out of every pore. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as well, and I had to bite down HARD to keep from charging at her. I wanted to lick every part of her, have sex with every part of her I could see and not see, cut those damned straps off, and bang her until we both went blind. I took several steps backward, letting go of Wandi.


    “What?” Wandi asked, looking oddly between me and Kalamiti.


    Kalamiti shook her head, her long red and black hair swishing. “Scat. I don’t think I can work with him.”


    “Why?”


    She glared at Wandi, “Because I just had the strongest aspect recognition I have ever felt. He... No way. I know he’s your mate, I am not going to take him from you. I think… I need to go back to my room.”


    She turned around and rapidly shot through the tables to a long set of multistory stairs, and pounced up them quickly, three at a time, to vanish behind a door at the back of the balcony that wrapped around the second floor. I knew because I couldn’t unlock my eyes from her. Tail or no tail.


    “What the…” I said, watching her and desperate to follow her.


    I felt a tap on my arm and glanced down to see Wandi looking up at me plaintively. “Was she right?”


    “Right about umm… huh?”


    She smiled a little, “You had an aspect recognition. You without an aspect?”


    “I don’t know. What''s that mean?”


    She sighed and grabbed my hand, leading me towards the table. Both of the other girls were looking at me weirdly, but fortunately, neither of them seemed to evoke a reaction. Not distaste, like Beli had, but just mild interest in the slightly rounder one. The one in the robe I couldn’t even see.


    “What’s up with her?” The powerfully built gulan asked. She had a sort of mask coloring and small rounded ears, and I noticed she had real, actual claws at the tips of her fingers.


    The smaller woman, who was mostly shrouded in a robe, shook her head, “Aspect recognition. Hell, I could feel the essence swap from here. Strongest I have ever felt. Poor girl.”


    “Okay, what exactly is going on?”


    Wandi looked at me, “Remember how I said you’d most likely wind up with more than one woman?”


    I nodded slowly.


    “Do you still want me?”


    I looked at her confused, “Of course I still want you! Why wouldn’t I?”


    She smiled a little more brightly, and said quietly, “Because you just met your second...umm… deputy.”


    The slightly stout woman scooted back in her chair, “What? He’s a….” she scooted forward and leaned over, “He’s one of those?”


    Wandi slowly nodded, “Yes.”


    “That explains why you pulled together a pick-up so quickly. I was just eager because you had a witch. I’m getting a little broke.” she looked me over, “Big fellow. I can’t recognize his aspect, but whatever it is, it’s yummy.” She smiled a little, “Looking for a third deputy? I bet you’re hung like a zebra.”


    “Maniri…” warned Wandi, “Rule three. Besides, I thought you and Takala were a thing.”


    “Not a thing.” Takala said, “We room to keep costs down and to keep from being lonely, but I plan on finding a mate someday, and so does she. If we are lucky, whoever it is will take us both. But Maniri, You have only a little resonance. So do I. Wandi definitely does, and it’s very strong, and Kalamiti, well, if she’s not thrashing around on her bed right this second, I would be surprised. What are your affinities?”


    I looked at Wandi, and she nodded, “Teammates need to know, but they keep it quiet.”


    I shrugged, “Chimera physical, Imagination mental, and uhh… law, spiritual.”


    Takala nodded, “I am not familiar with two of those, but she’s shifter physical, creative mental, and protector spiritual. Her affinity actually allows her to transform into her aspect. She has very powerful affinities, and you clearly do as well, I bet they mesh almost perfectly and are probably complimentary as well.”


    Maniri chuckled, “So instant massive shock. I can mesh with him a little…”


    Takala nodded, “Yes, your defender physical matches, but your earth spiritual seems to damp down the effect. Wandi’s affinities don’t mesh but are highly complimentary. With two affinities that both mesh and are complimentary, I imagine that the moment their auras brushed, she probably had a spontaneous physical reaction.”


    Maniri sputtered a little, “Like, she suddenly had an orgasm?”


    Takala smiled a little, “Quite likely, maybe even stronger. I’ve never seen her back down, or even flee, from a man like that. I don’t think this team will work unless we can suppress or somehow deal with that reaction. Rule three would be impossible if they were nearby. My apologies, Wandi, but we may need to replace either Kalamiti or your friend.”


    Wandi nodded slowly as if making a decision. “Takala, what room’s she in? I need to talk to her.”


    “No delve?”


    Wandi shook her head, “We have some time. We just delve a little later. It’s not like we are bumping a team on the basin. I aim to get this dealt with. You are all my friends, and I am not going to ditch Kalamiti.”


    “Room 316.”


    Wandi nodded and headed toward the stairs.


    Maniri smiled. “Pull up a chair, tall dark, and tasty.”


    I sat down, “Dark?”


    She shrugged, “It sounds better than tall, speckled, and muscled like a prize bull. I bet you carry two heavy pistols on your belt, not just the one we can see.”


    I shrugged, “I am just here to cause trouble, as usual.”


    Takala laughed, “Oh no, it’s not trouble. And Wandi is acting… super amazing about it. I expected her to be jealous, it’s not every day that the man you give yourself to suddenly freaks out over another girl, but she acts almost like she expected it.”


    I sighed, “It happened once already. Not that strong, but we talked about it.”


    “Wait, you didn’t just bang your life mate?”


    I shook my head, “No. I am not an animal. I bought her a courting gift and talked it over with her. Sure, I want Kalamiti now, but Wandi comes first, and she knows it. I am not that weak.”


    Takala sighed dejectedly. “Dammit, I wish I could get a reaction like that too. Even if I was like someone’s eighth mate. But my affinity is primal spiritual. It’s powerful, but most patternists are… very much into themselves. I have a slight complimentary towards most physical and ranged affinities, but… well… I know why Wandi hates using animal names, but I have a pangolin affinity. About as high up the sexy food chain as a porcupine.”


    Maniri shook her head, “I think you are sexy.”


    Takala nodded, “That’s probably because of your claws. You don’t have to worry about hurting me when we play.”


    I shrugged, “Okay, I think I might be getting too much information.”


    Takala shrugged, “Biological imperative. Most women want children. There’s only one way that happens. We are both more attracted to men, but when you are at the bottom of the food chain, all you can really hope for is to find another woman that helps you feel less lonely.”


    I sighed, “Believe me, I understand, but...I can’t really do anything about that.”


    She nodded, and smiled slightly, “I don’t expect you to.”


    Maniri shrugged, “Takala’s like that. She’s usually doom and gloom unless she’s blowing scat up. Someday, when she’s gold core, and there’s an army of hot young men beating down her door, she’s going to be like, “They don’t love me, they just love my power.” she''ll cry to herself while she’s in a nonstop round of mind-blowing orgasms.”


    Takala shrugged, “And Maniri gets like this whenever she feels a little envious of other people’s happiness. She probably needs to head to the dance hall for a while after this delve.”


    Maniri grinned, “You bet your ass I will! When we do our selloff, There’s this incredibly hot ursan boy with giant muscles that would be happy to take us both on. You can get his bottom, and I’ll get his face, and I can get off watching you bounce on…”


    “Tony?” Wandi was suddenly there.


    I glanced, Maniri’s story had been distracting, “Oh, hello gorgeous. Is the run back on? The girls have been giving me ideas to add to my plans.”


    She blushed and shook her head, “I think. Change of plans. I need you to come with me if you are willing.”


    “Willing?”


    She nodded, “To talk to Kalamiti”