I step aside, giving them only enough room to enter one at a time, and I make sure my arms are crossed and flexed as the orange idiots enter last, forcing them to step sideways in order to fit around me. It’s a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
“Hi,” June greets with a timid wave. “How do we begin?”
They separate us. The person taking the test is to be led outside, some distance away from the house, so the other cannot hear what’s being said. The other will wait inside with Akkal, wearing a pair of industrial ear cups to ensure the inability to hear the testee’s answers. As they put the ear cups on June, Akkal, thinking this is a family activity, grabs his music ear cups from his room and puts them on. June goes along with it, turning up the volume enough that he remains blissfully ignorant to what’s happening.
One of the orange idiots remains in the family room with June and Akkal, and the rest take me outside for my part of the test.
My palms dampen once we reach our place on the shore. June and I have spent an entire moon cycle together pretending to be mates, and I’d like to think I’ve learned enough about her to pass this test in my sleep. But did we ask each other the right questions? Do we trust each other enough by now to have revealed the difficult truths they might inquire about? The only guidance we were given was to get to know each other. Did we do enough?
She’s too far away for me to hear her thoughts even if I wanted to, and even if she was closer, she’d have to be thinking about her answers at precisely the right moment for me to hear them. If this were a test on which I could cheat, I would do so in a heartbeat.
“What is your mate’s complete name?” Lord Forchan asks, already sounding bored.
I know for him this is simply a hurdle in his plan to execute June the moment he has her in custody, but I intend to snuff that fantasy out at every available opportunity. “Juniper Meredith Townsend.”
He gives me no indication if my answer was correct. “Her length of existence?”
“Forty-three Earth turns and ninety-seven days.”
So far, so good. I know those two answers were the right ones.
“What are the names of her vatra andtetra?”
Ficq. She doesn’t talk about them often because they died in a vehicle accident when she was twelve, leaving her orphaned, after which she spent the rest of her minor turns in various foster homes. “Alice and…” She doesn’t have many fond memories of her vatra, but what was that asshole’s name? I can see Lord Forchan’s eyes growing brighter the longer I remain silent. Then it comes to me. “Steven. Alice and Steven Townsend.”
“At how many turns did your mate learn to tell time?”
What kind of question is this? How would I have known to ask it? “Six turns?”
“Has she ever broken a bone?”
This, I know. “Yes, three. Her pinky toe, wrist, and one rib.”
“How is her blood classified?”
Because of my job, I can make an educated guess, but I’m not confident it’s correct. “HX927B3.”
“Her most embarrassing moment?”
My mind drifts back to the table of females calling her a murderer behind her back. I could see it hurt her, but it didn’t appear to be a new kind of pain. I go with something universal, yet likely for June. “She tripped in school and her classmates mocked her.”
“Does your mate wish to make additional offspring?”
I know this one! “No, because her body has entered perimenopause and it’s unlikely she can.”
“Perry-what?” Lord Forchan asks with a sneer.
I don’t bother explaining. “It’s a phase of life for human females and it’s very uncomfortable. Look it up.”
“What’s a choice your mate wishes she could take back?”
Could the answer to this be related to the murder accusations? I’m not sure what the actual answer is, and I don’t want to guess if it could incriminate her, so I tell them, “I don’t know.”
There are at least a dozen more questions about June, and then the same ones for me before my part of the test is complete. June and I switch places, and I wait on the edge of my seat for her to return. Lord Forchan and Chancellor Uzellarin say nothing about our score once we’re done. Just that they’ll return two moon cycles from now for the second part of the test, and the orange idiots will remain on the island for further observation of our mate bond.
As soon as the door closes behind them, we compare notes.
“What was your most embarrassing moment?” I ask her. “I don’t think I guessed correctly.”
