Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
“I’m not sure this step is really necessary,” Nathanial said. “She doesn’t know one cairn from the other. She won’t be swayed by names.”
Patty hesitated. “This is true. Well…we might as well tell her anyway. These cairns are mostly well established, though still low status. They haven’t been able to rise in the ranks. If you were a betting woman, you’d bet they’d remain as they are: unworthy of a second glance.”
“Harsh,” Jasper said with a grin as I lifted the lid and peered inside.
“Oh.” Trying not to show my disappointment, I pulled out a chipped beige pot containing a couple of succulents. The rocks and much of the dirt had escaped the pot in transit and ended up at the bottom. “That’s…nice. Edgar will be able to do something with that.”
Nathanial frowned at it. “Like throw it away.”
“Yes, well…” Patty walked over and took the box, checking the label at the bottom. “Ah. Them. I’ve heard that the leader has been through three mates so far. All of them have packed up and left the cairn, seemingly without notice. He has no stability. Definitely not someone to waste our time with.” She handed the box off to Nessa, presumably so she could write down the name. “What’s next?”
Nathanial handed over another box, this one a bit larger. Maybe one foot high and two feet wide. White Styrofoam sat snugly within it.
I worked my fingers in the sides only to have Nathanial put down the box Jasper had just handed him and reach for the one I held.
“Allow me, alpha,” he murmured, taking the box and working out the contents. That done, he handed it back for me to do the final reveal.
“Okay, here we go, Austin Steele.” Mr. Tom bustled in with a large plate piled high with two cheeseburgers with all the fixings and homemade fries. “I felt this might go over a bit better than a sandwich. Also, I ran out of lunchmeat— Good gracious, what is that ghastly thing?”
I held a little metal gargoyle with large, outstretched wings made in purple and blue stained glass.
“This is nice,” I said, turning it to inspect the back. “The body isn’t very detailed, but the wings are pretty. Look! It has little claws. How cute.”
“Pretty? No. Reject that cairn immediately,” Mr. Tom said with distaste. “What a horrid caricature of our great species. Have they no class?”
“It seems Mr. Tom feels strongly about this one, Captain,” Sebastian told Nessa. “I think the alliance potential has been significantly lowered.”
“Yes, indeed,” she responded, typing the gift into the spreadsheet as Patty handed them the box with the name on the bottom. “A mockery of the great gargoyle. Such things cannot be tolerated.”
“Here we go, miss.” Nathanial took the gargoyle and handed me the next box, saying the name for Nessa as he did so.
“Give that statue thing here, Nathanial,” Niamh called with outstretched hands. “I’ll take it. It reminds me of Mr. Tom.”
“How dare you!” Mr. Tom braced his fists on his hips before shaking his head as he left the room.
“We have a lot to get through,” Patty said, taking a seat. “We might want to expedite the process of opening these smaller packages.”
“Oh!” Sebastian held out his hands. “I’ll open some. I never get presents.”
“How dare you!” Nessa mimicked Mr. Tom. “I get you presents twice a year.”
“You’re too lazy to wrap them, though,” he returned as Jasper handed him a couple of boxes.
“And now we know how fussy you are,” Nessa responded, her eyes glued to the box I’d positioned on my lap. This one was smaller than the last, only about a hand length wide and not much taller. “All this time you’ve gushed and swooned, and really you were just wishing for a little wrapping paper.”
“Yes, well…” Sebastian ripped into the paper covering the long and shallow box he held. “The truth eventually finds us all.”
I opened the dull brown shipping box I held and peered inside at a collection of T-shirts.
“Huh.” Sebastian lifted out a knitted sweater with large wooden toggles for buttons. “Who do they actually want an alliance with? Jessie or Edgar?”
“Edgar, obviously,” Nessa said as she entered the newest present.
“Yes, that is…disappointing.” Patty pursed her lips. “And Jessie, what is that? Oh…no.” The first shirt read Reras in large letters with some sort of twisted rope for an insignia. “I’d heard that they’d gone and branded themselves, but I had no idea they’d done such a terrible job at it.”
“Should we have expected better from these cairns?” Sebastian asked, ripping into the next box. A silver bow went flying.
“Not…really,” Patty said, watching him dig through packing paper.
The next I opened held an assortment of bath bombs with the best smells.
Patty gasped, her face closing down in rage. “Strike them off the list,” she yelled at Nessa.