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“A what?!” I shrieked, touching my fingers to my nose.
Radulf grinned, “Why is it soeasy?”
I slapped him against the arm. “Because you say things so seriously!”
He looked across my shoulder at the still frightened Tallin. “Who’s your friend?”
I glanced back. “This is Tallin… you know Tallin, right?”
“I cannot say that I do.” He paused. “You don’t have to be frightened.”
“I’m not,” Tallin said, after a slight pause.
“You’re shaking… and I can smell your fear from here.”
“Well… in my defense, I’m in a village of people who have a bit of a history of killing and eating things.”
Radulf’s grin turned to a warm smile. “Not little Sprites,” he said, adding, “Too gamey.”
I shoved my brother again. “That’s enough of that. You’ll scare him into having a heart attack.”
“I would very much not like that,” Tallin said, gulping.
“You can rest easy, my friend. You are both under my protection… but I have to ask.” Radulf turned his blue eyes on me. “What are you doing here, Amara? Where are mother and father? I wasn’t told of your visit.”
“That’s because it was kind of, sort of, totally unplanned and I may have run away.”
“Run away?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’m sure it isn’t.”
“It’s long to me.” I paused. “I didn’t know where else to go. You’re the only one I thought who could help me.”
His expression turned grave, now. He approached, took hold of my shoulders. “Who is after you?” he asked. “What’s happened?”
“No, no, it’s nothing like that. No one is after me. Except for maybe one of your friends whose leg I bit.”
He pointed at my bloody chin. “Hence all the, uh—”
“—yep—”
“—blood, right,” he continued, nodding. He shook his head. “Well, what is it, then?”
“Promise not to send me away if I tell you.”
Radulf frowned. “You’re starting to worry me.”
“You don’t have anything to be worried about. I didn’t do anything bad.”
“And yet you’ve fled to my village in the dead of night asking for sanctuary and a promise that I won’t send you away? It seems to me like you’ve done something bad.”
“Promise.”
My big brother took a deep breath in, then exhaled. “I feel like I’m going to regret this… but you have my word.”
I swallowed. “I don’t want to finish the Royal Selection.”
