Anarchy scoops up her bowl and then we follow the keeper down the steps and to the right, heading around the back of the training hall. Along the way, I scoop up my dropped clothing from last night—the blood-stained jeans, bra, and underpants—and chuck them onto the porch.
When we reach the back of the building, I’m pleased to find a shaded clearing with a large, paved courtyard surrounded by trees. Their inner branches stretch across the air above us all the way toward the middle, where the boughs seem to have knitted together. The canopy they form allows only the softest sunlight to filter through, reducing the glare and making it possible for me to lift the edge of the blindfold.
Hmm. A gentle stab of pain tells me I’m not quite ready for this level of light yet. But hopefully soon.
Stone tables and stools are situated around the clearing, forming a neat, circular pattern. Moss extends from the base of the trees around the edge and meanders toward the tables, along with a few vines.
The entire area is simple, but everything is in balance. It seems to have been meticulously designed. Even a dark creature like me can appreciate the sense of peace it invokes.
It’s also nowhere near overgrown. Which makes me wonder if whatever beings lived here might have died not so long ago.
I’m not sure if I should be worried about that, but my hunger is too demanding right now to focus on much else.
Anarchy and Lucian deposit the bowls onto the nearest stone table and I’m quick to lift off the lids.
Each bowl is filled with noodles immersed in cloudy-looking broth and I’m instantly salivating.
“We ate already,” Anarchy explains when she and Lucian sit down but don’t touch either of the bowls.
The panthers position themselves like guards around the perimeter of the clearing, but the keeper sits closest to me on my left, wraps his fingertips around the edge of the other bowl, and watches me carefully as he pulls it toward himself.
Well, I guess I did imagine myself devouring both of them, but I can share. Especially given that he must be as hungry as I am.
But… “How do I eat this?”
“Oh!” Anarchy reaches into the deep pocket at the front of her tunic. She produces two ivory-colored sticks with gently tapered ends and hands them to me, then another two to the keeper. “Here.”
I grip them in my fist. “Huh?”
“Chopsticks,” she says.
Have I seen these in a book?While I rack my memory, Lucian rounds the table.
“Let me show you.”
I hand over the sticks and he gives a demonstration, deftly holding the sticks in one hand and using them to lift several noodles at once.
“Don’t be afraid to slurp,” he says with a grin.
The keeper is studying the demonstration too but scowls back at Lucian when my brother notices.
Lucian hands the chopsticks back to me. “Try it.”
I mimic the finger position and before I know it, I’m slurping noodles like I’ve been eating them my whole life.
Every mouthful brings a groan of happiness to my lips. “This is delicious.”
Different to hamburgers and pizza, but so incredibly tasty despite how simple it looks.
Lucian’s smile broadens and it makes me wonder if he was the one who did the cooking. As if he reads my mind, he murmurs, “A small atonement.”
I give him a nod, acknowledging his effort.
Within minutes, I’m halfway through the bowl and about to start on the other half when, opposite me, Anarchy and Lucian start exchanging glances.
It makes me nervous.
I pause with a noodle half out of my mouth, biting it off to ask, “What’s going on?”
