Page 45 of The Anointed's Paladin

I shook my head. “I think you’re abit…misinformed?”

“What do you mean? I’ve read all about sexual reproduction. Although you called it ‘fox’?”

“Fuck,” Kaine wheezed.

I shot him a glare. Of all the things he could contribute to this conversation,thatwas what he added? He took a couple of deep breaths, hopefully moving toward the end of his laughing fit.

“You may have missed a bit,” I said to Nidori, who frowned. “First of all, you don’t grow a baby in nine days. It takes ninemonths. And second, two, um, ‘boys’ can’t make a baby. We don’t have the right…parts.”

“Huh,” she said, crossing her arms and pondering this new information. “So…whatwereyou two doing last night, then?”

Kaine finally stopped laughing long enough to step in. “It’s something we do for fun. For pleasure,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes.

“It’sfun…?” she asked. “It looked very aggressive.”

Dear gods. How much had she seen? Fuck. How humiliating.Notsomething that should be making me aroused again. But I couldn’t help picture how I must have looked last night. Primal. Desperate.

“It’s a base instinct,” I insisted. “Our bodies are made to want it as much as food or water.”

“So…it’s like a really good meal? Or a drink when you’re thirsty?” she asked.

“Hang on—how do sprites have babies without sex?” I asked, desperate to change the subject. “I mean, your body has…” I gestured to her breasts.

She giggled, patting her chest. “We use cross pollination,” she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “We were made to look like mini mammals, but we’re not. Each of us, when we reach maturity, puts part of ourselves into the Asimir tree. Every cycle, its flowers bloom, are pollinated, and grow into podlings. No one knowswhich flower was made from their body print, or what other flower pollinated it, so you see, we don’t know who our parents are. The bodyweaver lives in the tree, nurturing the podlings until they hatch.” She paused, a faraway expression on her face. “That was my job, actually.”

“You were in charge of growing all the babies?” I asked.

“Yes. It was reallyboring. They take alotlonger than nine months to grow. And it was hard, but not in a fun way.”

“Sounds like you didn’t like it,” Kaine frowned.

“The first few cycles were fine. But when my time was done, they said I was too good to leave. So, they kept me up there. And the same thing happened the next time, and the next time.” She picked at her dress, ripping off a leaf and starting to shred it.

I could understand. Thinking you were free after working so hard, only to find another task shoved in front of you. And now Kaine had caught her in new shackles.

“How long did they keep you there?” I asked.

She sniffed. “Hmm. It’s hard to say. We don’t keep time meticulously like you do… Oh. This might help. Before I was picked, there was a big comet that crashed down from the sky. It burned a hole the size of a city. You must have records of that?”

I glanced at Kaine. It didn’t ring a bell.

“Poinder’s Desolation,” Kaine said slowly. “It was the year before I was born. Nidori, that was almost three hundred and fifty years ago.”

“Oh.”

Three hundred and fifty years ago? Both of them were over three centuries old? My brain struggled to process that news.

“So, they finally released you when you were chosen by Leihandra?” asked Kaine.

Nidori picked another leaf off her dress and started shredding it, not meeting our eyes. When she spoke, it was in a whisper. “Actually, they didn’t technically release me. I’m still supposed to be there. But Lei Lei came and chose me for this.” She did look up then, her face breaking into a grin. “I’m glad she did. I’ve had the most fun I’ve had inforeverwith you boys.”

“I can agree with you there,” said Kaine.

“It’s a dream come true, finding you both.” She leaned up on her tiptoes and spread her arms wide. “I always thought I’d have to become big before I found a family. But you took me in, even as I am now. And when I complete this quest and Lei Lei gives me a form like yours, I’ll really, truly have people I belong to.”

She sighed. “Anyway, I’m glad to hear there’s no plan for a baby yet. Just a ‘base instinct.’ Do you two need to…fox? Before we go?”

Kaine raised an eyebrow at me. “Well, Talon? Want to fox?”

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