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 am glad you are, Lake. You have proven to be good luck for the War People. Their spirits remain high.”
“Where do things stand now?” I have to be, well, fuck, pretty far along. Seven or eight months. How should I know? I’ve never had a baby. The point is, Monsterland is still here all these months later. It’s not exactly a good sign. It means there’s still an invasion coming back home.
“The vampires retreated to the Blood Lands, but we know there is an even larger army coming for us.” Alwar stands and grabs a very long poker next to the fireplace. He prods the log, causing it to crackle.
“When are they coming?”
“We do not know.”
“But it’s been months. Have you really been sitting here all this time, waiting for them?”
“Months?”
“Um, yeah.” I point to my stomach.
His expression turns stark. He takes a long breath and turns away from me, staring into the fire. “This is where we part ways, Lake.”
“Huh?”
“You have only been asleep for seven days. You cannot stay here any longer.”
I jump from the bed, instantly regretting it. My chest hurts like a sonofabitch. I clutch the fabric over my heart. Underneath are bandages. I’m still healing from my wounds.
It takes a moment for my distracted mind to fill in the blanks. “This isn’t seven or eight months later.” I sink onto the bed. “Oh, God. It’s a giant.”
Alwar sits next to me and places a warm hand on my back. “Yes. Which is why you must cross the bridge and return home. The child must become your size. Soon.”
I snap my head up and look at his beautiful face, searching for answers. If I return home, will he keep fighting? Or does he have some other plan? If he doesn’t stop the invasion, I’ll be living in a world that’s about to be violently attacked. I’m almost safer staying here. Except, I can’t. My hand floats to this foreign object attached to my body. A baby. There’s a giant baby inside me.
“What happens next, Alwar?”
“I do not know, Lake. But if you stay, you will die. That baby will die with you, and I cannot live with that.”
“How do I know I can trust you? That you won’t try to save this world, and we’ll all just end up repeating history?” My home is invaded; people fight back and trash the planet; Monsterland is born. It’s one big horrific time loop that keeps feeding itself.
“Have I ever told you the story of Mahra Norfolk?”
My heart almost stops.
“The first time I met your great-great-great-grandmother, she was about your age, Lake. My father, the king of Monsterland, had just been challenged by Benicio for a second time. The Blood King saw that my father was aging and his health was suffering, so Benicio used that to gain the support of several kingdoms.
“So, under the rules of the Proxy Vow, a date for the Blood Battle was set, and Mahra Norfolk was summoned.”
“From River Wall?”
“This was before I sent the Norfolk away. She lived in a small encampment not too far from here on the War People’s land. I was charged with preparing her for the battle—slowing her breathing and heartrate, using her mind to block out fear, making sure she ate well and drank plenty of teas. I had it all planned out. If she did exactly as I said, the War People would remain on the great throne.” He pauses, and a hint of a smile dances on his lips. “But Mahra had other plans.”
“Such as?”
“To stay as far away as possible. She wanted nothing to do with me.”
I try not to laugh. “Sounds like she was smart.”
“She was, though I did not see it at first. She was just another human, a lowly First People, without means or land. The epitome of weakness. But I soon learned she was anything but weak. The woman was as stubborn as any War woman I had encountered. A will of iron, too.”
“So what was her plan to win the Blood Battle?” It’s literally a last-man-standing contest. Each proxy is bled out a liter—or whatever measurement they use—at a time. The one who doesn’t die wins.
“That was what angered me. She had no plan. She said that if she lived, it would have nothing to do with remaining calm. Her body would either have more blood than the other proxy or it wouldn’t.”
“So was she right?” Because clearly she won. Alwar would succeed his father and rule until Benicio came into power.
“No, actually. She and I spent several weeks together—me on her heels every morning, trying to convince her that her thinking was flawed. She would not hear me out.
“Then one day, her younger brother, your great-great-great-uncle, fell ill. He was bitten by a venomous cricket.”
I try not to let that distract me because, fuck, a venomous cricket? Chirp, chirp, sting. You’re dead.