We sat on a public bench not far from the town centre and I just stared at her. I stared at her for quite some time. To be blunt… the woman is insane… she is absolutely… unequivocally… insane.

  Smutisha: “Well? What do you think, darling?”

  Dwynfel: “Please do not take offense at this, Lady Smythe. But I think you’re insane.”

  She laughed in a playful manner and smiled at me. She mustn’t think that I’m serious.

  Smutisha: “That has certainly been said before, darling.”

  Dwynfel: “Because some things just aren’t going to happen, Lady Smythe. There are some things that you just can’t do.”

  Smutisha: “People always say that, darling. Until somebody manages to do it. Then suddenly everybody changes their tune. Need I remind you of the Bracken.”

  Dwynfel: “The Bracken are different. I know I was against the alliance with them initially, but that was because my knowledge of them was based on books and stories… not genuine experience. But the Grim… the Grim are not the Bracken. I have actual experience with them… I was born in one of those nests. You are not going to be able to form an alliance with them… ever.”

  Why can’t she just be pleased with the success she has already had? The alliance with the Bracken has been an amazing and unexpected success.

  Smutisha: “You grew up in one nest, darling. Who is to say that other nests don’t operate differently. Maybe some nests are different. Maybe some are capable of diplomacy.”

  Dwynfel: “They rely on the rape of other species for propagation. That does not lend itself to diplomacy.”

  Smutisha: “Ah… but with an alliance they wouldn’t need to have such high numbers in order to abduct women or defend their nests. Their numbers serve a strategic purpose. If they no longer needed the numbers for those purposes then they would be more free. They could learn new skills. Become more independent. I can even organise for volunteers to be impregnated, so that their race may continue.”

  She is trying to make this sound logical, but it isn’t!

  Dwynfel: “Who on earth is going to volunteer for that?”

  Smutisha: “If there is a monetary incentive, you would be surprised what people will volunteer for.”

  Dwynfel: “If they are paid then they aren’t volunteers. It is prostitution with extra steps.”

  Smutisha: “Nothing wrong with that. Selling your body is a perfectly legitimate way to generate income.”

  Dwynfel: “But childbirth isn’t exactly easy on the body… or at least that’s what Phoenix told me.”

  Smutisha: “That’s the good thing about Grim gestation. It is relatively quick and the babies are very small. Compared to regular human births they have relatively little impact on the body… or so I have been told.”

  I don’t like this. I don’t like this. I should have seen this coming. She has been researching the Grim for years. It was foolish of me to think she would be happy to stop after allying with the Bracken.

  She’s going to keep going after the Grim until either she succeeds or it goes catastrophically wrong. Frankly, I’m surprised she hasn’t brought the Rakk into the conversation yet.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  Dwynfel: “Lady Smythe… I love how accepting you are of other species and cultures. I really do. But there are some alliances that will never work.”

  Smutisha: “We will never know unless we try, darling. Everyone, including you, thought that the Bracken Alliance would fail. But it has thrived. The Bracken have truly embraced their new lives at that fort. They get on famously with the farmers that I moved there. The kids play together and everything. When all that business with the crocodile happened, they didn’t run away. Sure, they suspected humans initially, but they stayed, they even helped to investigate what was going on. They stayed, they are still there, protecting those farmers, and enjoying having safe and stable lives.”

  Unfortunately, the deal with the Bracken did not work to placate her… it has simply emboldened her… shit.

  Dwynfel: “I know all of that, Lady Smythe. Believe me, I do. I get on with the Bracken… what they have done up there is wonderful… and I am still incredibly grateful to Sonya for trying to help me locate the boys when they were missing… what happened to her still haunts me. But as I have said many times before… the Grim are not the Bracken. If you pursue this… it will not end well.”

  Smutisha: “Dwynfel, darling. You know me well enough at this point to know that I have no intention of stopping. I’m going to travel to this nest and attempt to form this alliance. Your assistance will be appreciated, but I will not force you to come with me. I understand how you feel about the Grim. After what they did to your mother, I can imagine it is incredibly difficult to move past such an event.”

  She thinks my objections are purely due to my mother… I know that I haven’t given her a full account of what went on in that nest… but come on. This is about more than my mother.

  Dwynfel: “My mother is not the only person to have suffered in such a way by their hands. Lady Katheryn cannot be okay with this.”

  Smutisha: “Katheryn may hate the Grim, but she admires you. Your existence proves to everyone, with the exception of that imbecile Asmodeus, that all Grim are not the same. They are a product of their upbringing. If we can show them that there is another way, then maybe, just maybe, we can prevent such atrocities from happening to others in the future.”

  I hate this… I hate how fucking good she is at arguing her point. I just… I can’t talk honestly of the devastation that I saw in that nest… I spent so long trying to put it out of my mind… I can’t go back into those memories… I feel sick just thinking about it. I can’t find a way to put it into words. But… urgh… fuck… she’s in my head now… what if she can pull this off… what if all Grim nests aren’t the same as mine… what if I can help her here and we can put an end to the terrible atrocities that the Grim commit. Gods… I hate this… so very much.

  Smutisha put her arm around me. She must be able to tell that this is stressing me out.

  Smutisha: “Darling, we set off at dawn tomorrow. Take the day to think about it. If you don’t show up at the northern gate in the morning, then I shall assume that this is too much for you. I would love to see you there. I always consider you to be a great asset. But, as your friend, I would never force you into this.”

  She stood up and started to walk away.

  Smutisha: “Do what you feel is best for you, darling.”