Page 154 of Talk Nerdy To Me
“What’s happening?” I finally break down and ask the chick who is dancing in place.
“Azraya is about to have two queens, and it’ll be a whole new branch of the game,” she says as she sways again. “The pure Valkyrie princess has been poisoned and consumed in darkness by the forbidden elven tree thought to have been lost with the eradication of Valhalla.”
It’s literally like learning an entire new world, and I have no idea what she just said even in English. This video is all in that language, which just makes me feel all the dumber.
“Everyone wondered how Harley would be able to rebrand herself with a partner, and she’s so creative that we knew it’d be epic. This is everything,” she says like she’s swooning.
I blink a few times when spotlights suddenly blare down from above us, and the entire camp erupts into cheers on both sides of the trees, like there’s a separate section.
A speaker pops above us before a man’s voice comes over it. My phone starts buzzing like it’s possessed. I regret signing up for so many alerts related to Britt, because I can practically feel the battery draining as it continues to vibrate in my hand.
Apparently there’s an English version of that trailer that just went live as well.
“The camp you’re in now is the camp for whose queen you’ll loyally serve for the entirety of this rare retreat,” the soothing, unknown male voice says. “The flags will be raised in times of war, and lowered when it’s time to break character.”
The voice continues to ramble on about rules and such, while I try to catch up to what’s going on. I pull on the black garb someone shoves at me like I’m being babied. Everyone starts grabbing weaponry that has been lined up, but my eyes trail to the girl who has changed and is walking out of the tent.
She’s wearing a black dress meant to bring men to their knees and heavy black eye makeup that really should not be so hot.
The second her gaze lands on mine, she freezes and her eyes widen. I can visibly see her fighting with herself not to dive back in her tent.
Just what the actual hell is going on around here?
“What are you doing here?” she asks in a surprised tone as she blinks rapidly to see if I’ll magically go away.
Her dress looks almost exactly like Harley’s, and it’s really fucking sexy next to her red hair that’s still intricately braided along the sides and woven into some big curls in the back.
I open and close my mouth a few times, eyes dipping to the warrior-queen slits that ride up her thighs. I know it’s meant for practical combat purposes—though there will be no actual physical altercations and it’s all for show—but…fuck me.
My eyes rake up and down her a few more times, trying to remember what the hell I was going to say, as she comes closer so she can talk quieter…presumably.
“This is a really serious event for Harley,” she says as she glances around. “And I have a lot to do.”
“I’m your squire,” I tell her idly as I reach out to feel one of her soft curls, my thumb brushing her neck. “At least I think I am.”
She doesn’t try to pull away, so I step closer.
“I’ll tell you how many hours it took me to get almost to level two whenever you need a laugh,” I add.
She almost smiles, but manages to stop herself.
“I’m going to be the guy giving you your paintball arrows that are so fucking cool—”
“Harley’s idea,” she interrupts. “The arrows, I mean. She does them at a lot of her…”
Her words trail off, and she just stares at me for a second like she’s lost her train of thought when my thumb rubs up the side of her neck, gently stroking there. Subtly pulling her closer, my gaze stays on hers.
“I kept your toothbrush,” she says very randomly, catching me so off guard that I just…don’t know what to say.
“I didn’t do anything unsanitary with it,” she feels the need to add.
I feel my smile spreading before I can stop myself, as she shakes her head and carries on.
“I kept it because you had another one and would just presume I threw that one out. It was the only thing of yours left behind in the house, and I kept it.”
“I never moved yours. It’s still sitting in the holder on the sink,” I tell her as I step closer again.
“That’s unsanitary,” she immediately fires back. “I put yours in a sealed bag.”
