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The beast nods.
“Awesome. Well, I guess I’ll answer your questions about Alwar, then.”
“Very good. Oh, and I also understand you would like to review the addresses given by prior rulers?”
“Yes,” I reply, “but what interests me more is the history of that wall.”
He looks shocked or nervous suddenly. “Why would you want to know that?”
“As ruler, it’s important to understand all vulnerabilities. Especially anything that might threaten our water supply.” Sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation to me.
He stares hesitantly.
“Fine. What’s it going to cost me?” I say.
He smiles. “I want to hear what just happened in that room. I want to know everything.”
I avoid looking down at his crotch, because I would bet my left fang that he has a boner right now. The Scholar People apparently like dirty history.
CHAPTER NINE
Redheaded beast takes me to a big room with stadium seating that reminds me of an old, indoor colosseum, with stone benches that encircle the floor in the middle. Torches on the walls illuminate the space with an intimate vibe. Completely out of place.
“I was expecting us to be alone for this,” I say, watching a crowd of beasts file in. “Why such a big audience?”
“History is subjective, so in order to gain an accurate picture of key events, several will listen to your story. We will each make our own record.”
“Each guy is going to write down what I say?” It’s a damned history cult.
“They are not guys. They are scholars. And yes.”
I look around at all the furry wolf faces. It’s standing room only. This is more than a few.
He points to a spot on the floor at the center. “Please stand there and begin.”
I’m supposed to tell this room of naked men with wolf heads about the sex I just had with Gabrio and Bard? I feel sick to my stomach.
I sigh in surrender because, honestly, I’ve been through worse. “Sure. Why not?”Anything to save my world.
The painful process is over in an hour, including their Q and A at the very end. They really went into detail, too, wanting to know approximately how much blood I drank from Gabrio and how long his “ejaculatory efforts” lasted.
The only thing I kept thinking was that these are the weirdest, most perverted “scholars” I’ve ever met. I expect some serious detail when my turn comes to interview their oldest scholar who, according to the redhead, knows the most about the wall and the bridges.
As for my other two topics—the addresses and my fake pregnancy—the redhead tells me along the way that there are zero records of a Blood woman giving birth.
“It has never happened once in our history,” he says.
The pregnancy was only a red herring, but hearing that is still a relief. As for the speeches, there were only three rulers since the Proxy Vow. Alwar’s father, Alwar, and Benicio. He read off all three speeches for me, and guess what? No help at all. They basically said they would kill anyone who defies them. Coming here just for that was a complete waste of time, so let’s hope my other reason for being here isn’t.
“Here we are,” says the redhead. “Wait for the Wall Scholar. Do not touch anything.”
I nod and enter the small room with shelved walls stuffed with yellowing scrolls. There are two stuffed armchairs and a table with a candle in the middle.
I take a seat, and my mind drifts back to seeing Grandma Rain in the tunnel. What did my hallucination mean? Gabrio said the poison in the thorns makes you see your worst nightmare. I suppose her telling me that I was worthless qualifies as a nightmare.
As a child, I remember always worrying about her turning on me. She was quick to hate anyone who crossed her because she didn’t need them. She only needed her hate to survive. It wasn’tthe same for me. She was the only family I had left. Bard was always just some adult in the background I didn’t know or pay attention to.
When I got older, that changed. For me. Not for him. He always did the honorable thing and ignored the fuck out of me—the needy girl who had so many holes in her heart she would do anything to fill them.
