Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
TWENTY-FOUR
“You do not need to run,” Dave said. “I will claim responsibility and accept the punishment. You might be exiled in shame, but you will not be killed.”
I held up my finger. “Except…Edgar brought up a good point earlier.” That earned me some looks. “I know. No one was as shocked as I was. Maybe we can just tell them most of the truth? That way, we’ll still have an opportunity to work them around—”
He walked through the spell in determination.
“Crap,” I said, scrambling after him.
“What are you going to do?” Austin asked, catching up.
“Well, go,” I heard Mr. Tom say behind us. “This was originally your plan. You had all that talk about falling on swords and building empires and maneuvering people—where are you now?”
I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but Niamh seemed to know.
“Enjoying me drink, that’s where I am now,” Niamh responded. “This stuff has a punch— Oh, all right, keep yer wig on.”
Dave found the lead basandere sitting beside one of the smaller fires, chatting with two others. They fell silent at our approach, looking between us. Without a word, the two basandere I didn’t know stood and walked away without a backward glance. They must’ve sensed we had something important to talk to their leader about. Or maybe they were reading it in Dave’s body language.
“Yes? What is it?” the basandere asked, looking at Dave.
Niamh joined us, standing a little removed. I doubted she’d be much help here.
“Her,” Dave began. “There is something I need to tell you. May I sit down?”
“Yes.” Her gaze flicked to me.
“I…uh…” I felt like a child going to a parent to confess I’d graffitied the lockers at school. “I’m here to possibly explain or at least support or”—to hear the final verdict and blast you with magic in case you decide to kill us all—“other stuff,” I finished lamely.
“Sit,” she told me. Austin and Niamh remained standing, leaving Dave and me as the focal points in this conversation. They had both just written themselves onto my shit list.
“I have made an error in judgment,” Dave started, and then spun an amazing tale that was all true but with a couple of large omitted details. It was exactly the approach Edgar had been advocating.
He hung the tale on a key point: we were supposed to visit anyway and hadn’t wanted to break our promise despite the danger on our heels.
We hadn’t wanted to break our promise. Genius. Even Niamh was impressed with that one. I could feel it through the bond.
When he was finally done, his eyes downcast, his shoulders hunched, the basandere said, “I see.” She shifted her attention to me and studied me for a long time. The firelight glinted off her dark brown eyes. “Tell me,” she said, “what did you think of Buln’dan when you first met him?”
The sharp left turn had me blinking stupidly. “Um…” Thoughts jumbled in my brain. “I hardly remember. I had been kidnapped and was trapped in a cage suspended over spikes. He just added to the overall impending doom of the moment. But I appreciated his being kind when he spoke to me.”
At least, I thought he’d been kind. That moment had been so packed full of adrenaline that I didn’t remember. I just remembered he’d agreed to go for an impromptu break so that I might try to escape in exchange for magical flowers. I didn’t think he’d want her to know that, though.
“And when you were not suspended above spikes, awaiting your demise?” she asked.
I lifted my eyebrows, thinking. A lot had happened since then. “Nervous, I guess. Or, at least, everyone else was nervous. Or scared. But I didn’t think he’d hurt me. So I was a little taken aback when I witnessed his extreme brutality in battle. I was definitely nervous then, wondering if I’d break some random rule and get Hulk-smashed because of it.”
She blinked a few times. “Hulk-smashed?” She shook her head. “It does not matter. I get the point. And coming here? Were you not worried we would uncover this ruse and seek retribution?”
“We’re still worried about that, yeah.”
“It’s hard to believe,” Niamh said, “that any member of yer family could be vulnerable. Jessie wasn’t worried when confronting a basajaun the first time because she didn’t know what the hell she was doing, like. She didn’t know what he was actually capable of, and once she figured it out, she trusted their rapport.”
“But you knew what he was capable of,” the basandere said to Niamh. Her gaze switched to Austin. “You did. And yet you still went into his territory, uninvited. He has told me the story.”
“We went into his territory the right way,” Austin replied. “We asked for his approval. And we did it because Jess needed his help. I was there in case anything happened. He had the option to say no. He chose to barter.”