Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
I’m not giving up on my dream of finding love, having children, and living a full, happy life. But to have that, this threat has to go away. Otherwise, I’ll never find peace.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I spot the horde of Blood soldiers sitting under the red moonlight, munching on…stuff. From here, it looks like small furry creatures. Poor things, but at least the soldiers aren’t trying to go after one of Alwar’s men. Giants are tasty, so can’t say I’d blame them.
“General Rool,” I call out.
He seems to come from nowhere. “You have returned.”
“Yes.” I step back, startled that he can appear out of thin air. I might need to learn that trick.
“You smell…gods, what is that?” he says.
“Thorn serpent stomach juices,” I reply.
“So it is true. One must ride inside their stomachs to return from the temple.”
“You knew about that?” Why does everyone in this place mention these details after the fact?
“I do not know any Blood People who have made the journey inside. We keep our own records.”
“I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” I say. “You said you’re five hundred years old, right?”
“Approximately.”
“What were you before being turned?” I ask.
“I was one of the First People.”
I’ve never heard of them. “Where did they come from?”
“What do you mean? They have always been here.”
These must be the humans the scholar was talking about. I actually feel excited. I’m finally getting somewhere. “So you were born in Monsterland.”
“Where else?” he asks.
“Are more First People here?”
“I understand there is a handful, leftovers from various tribes. Why do you ask?”
Whoa. “But they’re still here?”
“Did I not just say that?”
Humans are considered a delicacy by many monsters. If any First People are still alive, then they must be exceptionally skilled at avoiding predators. “I’m shocked. No one’s ever mentioned them.”
“Why would they? They are very few in numbers, ruled by no one, and without any land. They are nomads without the protection of a kingdom.”
They’re outsiders. I always wondered how Benicio found a human male to hunt me down. It happened weeks ago when I was Benicio’s prisoner. But Benicio wanted me dead without being directly involved. He found a man to do the job. I escaped death with the help of Uhrn, Benicio’s sister.
“You actually met the very last of the First People who mattered to anyone at the Blood Battle,” he adds.
“You mean the little girl?”
Rool nods. “The last living proxy.”
Holy shit. “You mean the humans, the ones used as proxies, are these First People?” I was made to believe the proxies came from my world, but I could never figure out how the hell all these human families were originally chosen. What were their ties to Monsterland? What made them agree to proxy for a particular kingdom in the Blood Battle?
He nods. “When the Proxy Vow was put into place, there were over sixty First People tribes. The strongest twenty were chosen to proxy. In exchange for agreeing to this, their families were offered shelter and protection by their kingdoms.”
Alwar told me about this. Each kingdom had to select a human bloodline—a family like mine—to represent them in the Blood Battle, which was the only way to challenge the ruler of Monsterland for the throne. Until now, I had no idea how these human families were selected, only that all of the proxy families were gone except two. The Norfolk, me, and the Wesfolk, the little girl who showed up to the Blood Battle the night I was turned into a vampire. I refused to fight her, of course.
“What happened to the other bloodlines?” I ask.
“Their protectors did not do a very good job. Most did not last more than a hundred years. Killing off proxies is a fine way to ensure your enemies never take the throne.”
Killing proxies was prohibited under the Proxy Vow treaty, but there were ways around it. Benicio found one.
“So that little girl is the last of her family’s bloodline,” I conclude.
“Yes. Just as you are the last of yours. Even Alwar could not keep your bloodline safe. He even went as far as to send your family across the bridge.”
My insides twist into a hard knot. “Did you just say that my family is from…here?”
“How did you not know this? Did your elders teach you nothing?” he scoffs.
Oh God. Oh God! “How long ago was this?”
“Two hundred years, give or take. Right about the time Alwar took the throne, which he eventually lost to our glorious Blood King.”
That’s when my family built River Wall Manor. The pieces of all my unanswered questions start falling into place—my family’s connection to Monsterland, the real reason I’m bound to their laws and rules, the reason we Norfolk agreed to proxy for the War People.
“Alwar was trying to protect us,” I mutter. And in return, we vowed to come and fight in the Blood Battles if called.