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“This won’t be enough. She needs more food,” Alwar quietly says, talking to Gabrio, who’s on the other side of a window in the center of a large stone wall.
“That was all they had in their stores at River Wall,” Gabrio says, “unless you know what to do with pancake mix or sacks of flour.”
“Do not be ridiculous.” Alwar grunts.
“There is a town several miles away. They will have more supplies there. I will return as quickly as possible.”
“You must hurry. The No Ones will be looking for you.”
“I do not need a reminder,” Gabrio says.
“Stop talking and move.”
The dance of defiance. Order. Push back. Acquiesce.
“Yes, sir.” Gabrio steps away, giving me a better view of the other side of the window. There’s a four-poster bed and a familiar gold beveled mirror above it.
“Is he in my grandma’s house?” I mutter.
“Yes.” Alwar comes over and sits next to me on the bed, pushing Master out of the way like a tiny stuffed animal. Master grumbles but doesn’t put up a fuss. He’s too smart for that.
“How’s that even possible?” Gabrio is much too large.
“Never mind that. You must concentrate on eating and resting.” He reaches to his bedside table. “Drink your soup. The metal can says it is chunky and homestyle. I assume that appeals to your weaker lot.” He makes a sour face.
I look down at the contents of the little bowl made from a hollowed gourd. “I wasn’t dreaming. You got me chicken soup.” It has bits of noodles with chunks of carrots and chicken.
“Gabrio got it for you. Now honor him by drinking it all.”
I sit up and take the bowl with my trembling hands. I take a small sip. It’s cold. I don’t care.
I take another sip, and my stomach instantly rejoices. After several minutes, I feel the nutrients absorbing into my body.
I pick out a few pieces of chicken and swallow them. The discomfort is immediate.
“I can’t believe I’m already full.” My stomach has shrunk to nothing. “I’ll finish it later.” I hand the bowl back to Alwar. “Now tell me why Gabrio is in my grandma’s house.”
“You should rest.”
“You should stop being so bossy and answer my question.”
“You are getting quite feisty.” He sounds pleased.
“Did you just compliment me?”
“Yes,” he replies proudly.
“Isn’t kindness against the rules?”
“Not always.” He smiles, and just like last time, it’s not a cruel or sadistic smile. It makes his face, framed by long amber-colored hair, look handsome. Maybe because I see past his scary façade when he does it.
“Well? Are you going to tell me?”
“Long, long ago,” he says, “many of the inhabitants of this world migrated to yours. For centuries, they fed on the animals, including humans. Eventually, a few groups took a liking to your kind and brought them into their homes.”
“I’m sorry, but are you telling me that monsters used to live in my world and had people pets?”
“Perhaps slave is a better term. But they grew a sort of fondness, and instead of treating humans as food, some bred with your kind.”
I have nothing to say. Mostly because I’m in shock. Is he telling the truth? If yes, how is this unknown? Wouldn’t there be fossils or records of monsters back home?
“How long ago are we talking about?” I ask.
“It was well before my great-grandfather’s time. But humans eventually banded together and rose up to expel all monsters. The Norfolks were one of the families. They and their allies immediately went to work, building the wall. They built the bridge, too, so they could return after the work was done. They were also smart enough to ensure us monsters could not follow—not as we are, anyway. Not as long as the wall remains intact.”
“So the wall changed Gabrio into a normal human size?”
“Not the wall, but the bridge between our worlds. Think of it as a filter to remove living foreign materials.”
My head is too foggy to comprehend how that might work or how my ancestors built the wall. That thing is huge. The Great Wall of China has nothing on it.
“So you’re saying that when Gabrio crossed over, the bridge took out his giant genes?”
“Yes.”
“And now he’s human?”
“Humans and War People are closely related. In fact, my ancestors originally came from your world. But over thousands of years, they evolved. Only the strongest, fiercest, and largest survived attacks from the other kingdoms. Those who lived had children. And with each generation, the cycle repeated. We grew larger.”
This is big—no pun intended. But it makes so much sense. “That’s why you’re called the War People. You evolved specifically to win wars.”
“For a human, you are not so stupid.”
Asshole.
He goes on, “Now we are feared by all, but our biggest challenge is food. We must constantly hunt and raid to sustain our kingdom. Our allies also assist us in exchange for protection.”
