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It had been a long, cold ride to the city and all Rajani wanted was a hot meal and a warm bed for herself and her companions...not necessarily in that order. Most sane people stayed home in the depths of winter - and thanks to her disreputable friends, she now had a flat to call her own. Even most who traveled in the course of earning their livelihood chose one town to hunker down in for the winter, especially one as cruel as this had been, and even more so with all the disappearances in the north and the whispers of wolves that could be heard late at night.

Unfortunately, Rajani was not most people. She was not even like most gypsies. Her own flourishing career as a singer could guarantee her a permanent position at any establishment, if she so desired, but there were other factors to consider. Beyond her own wanderlust, there was the fact that she was Chosen. What duties may come with that, she was not yet entirely certain, but she somehow doubted that they would lend themselves to a sedentary lifestyle. Oh, and there was the minor detail of her second occupation.

It seemed that the skills she had acquired in her early career as a thief lent themselves well to a career as a spy for the Crown. Oh, it had started simple enough. Gather rumors of Guardians and hedge witches and wolves. Try to sort fact from fiction. Nothing dangerous, and nothing that she had not been doing anyway, but her curiosity and that blasted nobleman's little queries were dangerously close to nudging her just a little further. And of course, a little further was all the more it would take to cross that ephemeral line that she had been avoiding so skillfully. The twins were not helping in the least, either, but she supposed that they never did.

Oberon's quiet mental nudge roused her from her thoughts. It seemed that they had arrived at last. She dismounted with the ease of much practice and headed toward one of her favorite taverns - a relatively quiet place that welcomed guardians within its premises. In exchange for her performances in the evenings, she would receive free food and lodging and Oberon would have more attention than he would know what to do with - especially now that he had Awakened. It was a little disturbing, really, how people fawned over him now that he looked a little more flamboyant.

The gypsy opened the door and stepped into the welcome warmth, guardian and rook close behind.

It might be difficult bordering on impossible to remember the face of every person she had ever met, but Rajani never forgot a Guardian. Of course, given the particular nature of her first meeting with the pair in question, the gypsy would not have had any trouble remembering Marco even if he were not Chosen. Doctors had that effect. So, when Somnium approached her ever so politely, she knew exactly who she would find waiting at a corner table.

Despite the fact that she would love very much to claim her room and get some sleep, the gypsy supposed that she could eat first. She met the barkeep's eyes and took the chair opposite Marco.

"If it isn't the good doctor," she said as she sat. "For your patients' sake, I hope your bedside manner has improved."

The gypsy simply shook her head and sighed as though to say that there really was no hope for him. Bedside or roadside, it made little difference. His disposition simply did not lend itself to a pleasant image of a doctor. Surly and blunt, that's what he was.

Oberon swiveled an ear back, then forward again. He was used to the attention by now, and his disposition had matured to the point that he did not guard Rajani quite so jealously as he had in his youth. Of course, he was still very protective, and he did not appreciate any male attention that was directed her way, but his Chosen could take care of herself. Besides, he could always intervene if the need arose. For now, he tolerated Somnium's examination, and attempted to convey to the buck that not only had his body changed, but his mind had advanced as well. He could even speak as well as any human, if he so chose.

Rajani arched a brow. "Don't get superior with me, doctor. That was the first time I had been ill in years, and I have been quite healthy since."

A serving-woman arrived with a steaming bowl of stew and a large tankard of hot cider and set them in front of the gypsy. She wrapped her hands around the mug and inhaled the spicy-sweet aroma before taking a sip. A moment later, the woman returned with greens for Oberon and meat scraps for Hawthorn.

There were so many problems with what he was saying, that the gypsy did not even know where to begin. Any idle hope she may have been harboring that Marco would be easier to get along with outside of a patient-doctor relationship was dashed. No more than a minute or two had passed since she had been in his presence and already a headache was trying to form. Clearly, fate had decided that a civil, stress-free conversation was out of the question. As though the other men in her life did not give her headaches enough.

Rajani's lips twitched at the barmaid's comment. Dee's off-colored humor always had amused her. "I don't know," she drawled. "I seem to recall you making certain insinuations about your skills in the bed, and not just beside it last we met."

The stew was pleasantly hot and liberally seasoned with herbs. It was exactly what she needed after her long, cold ride and she relished it for a long minute before speaking again. "A doctor will also be better-received and better-paid, and infinitely more in demand if he has decent manners. Present a patient with two doctors of equal skill, and she will invariably choose the one who won't make her feel worse than she already does with his sharp tongue. I doubt it would kill you to be mildly pleasant from time to time." She quirked a faintly mocking brow at him. "They say cheerful people are healthier. Or are you content to pass your life in misery?"

"Perhaps you need to get your memory checked," she drawled, not for a moment believing that his memory had failed him. Of course, that would not stop her teasing him. It was far too entertaining. "As a former patient, I'm concerned."

At his mulish question, she offered him a little smile. The sort that said she had secrets and was not going to share. Thieves - even retired ones - were experts on everyone's finances. Instead, she focused on his next statement. "You admit that there is something you can improve upon. Shocking. I did not think you had it in you."

"Although," she mused, then paused to take another bite of her stew. "If you can admit that much, I am surprised that you cannot admit that you might not know everything about health." She jabbed her spoon in his direction. "It is old gypsy wisdom."

Noticing that he was being rather rudely referred to, Oberon pinned Parco with a less than appreciative glare and snorted at him disdainfully. "Nor will you often," Rajani agreed. "I believe the old stories call it Awakening." She paused to enjoy a bit more of her meal. She was famished.

"You should be ashamed of the things that come out of your mouth, you insensitive b*****d," she snapped, seriously considering flinging her stew into his face. Dead babies, indeed. Lana might not have been a babe when she died, but Rajani was still touchy about the deaths of young ones. It was all too easy to see her little sister's sweet face in each and every one of them.

Oberon sent the doctor a wicked glare and gently nudged his Chosen's arm, offering soothing feelings and suggesting painful ways to inflict vengeance on Marco. He was pleased to catch a flicker of amusement directed at some of his suggestions.

Loosening her grip on her spoon, the gypsy reluctantly decided that her meal was too valuable to waste on an ornery, jumped-up arse of a doctor.

"And you can bloody well awaken your own Guardian and study him," she added for good measure. Oberon was not some experiment for cold, scientific-minded men and she would be damned if she let him get treated like one.

Rajani had been accused of a lot of things in her time. Some of them were even true. But never in her life had she been accused of being sensitive. Her skin was thicker than most, and she was more liable to lose her temper than cry if the right buttons were pushed. Sensitive? There was only one thing in the world that she might consider herself to be sensitive about. Naturally, the oblivious doctor had found it and was determined to trample all over it.

Blind to Somnium's pleading gaze, and thoroughly incensed by Marco's stare, the drink was out of Rajani's cup and all over the doctor's face almost before she realized what she was doing.

"You are a sad, pathetic man and you are sorely mistaken if you think you will find any contentment in life if you keep up this self-righteous, I'm a doctor, so I need not act human act."