LUCIUS' POV
At the party, I was offered a glass of wine by the ladies, and I accepted it to be polite.
"Your Luna is quite beautiful, I must say," Alpha Stanley commented, and I smiled.
"Thank you," I replied. His Luna smiled and downed her glass of wine.
"But I do wonder why she won't spend time with us. She's always with the kids, relating to them like friends instead of being here with us, discussing lovely things," she said. I smiled and looked at Dusk, who was standing with her back to us.
"She loves children," I said, pouring myself another glass of wine.
"But you guys don't have one yet?" Alpha Daryl asked.
"No, not yet, but very soon," I lied confidently.
"I wonder why that kid over there looks like a vampire," Alpha Marco said. We all turned in the direction he was staring at.
"The blind one?" I asked, and he nodded.
"No. You'd know those vampires by sight. They have pale, white skin. You know they're literally walking corpses, so I doubt they have any blood," Brianna said. "There was one walking in our Kingdom. A female. Very pretty... Everyone could tell she wasn't one of us," she added, and I looked at her.
"Did you capture her? Ask her name?" I inquired, but she shook her head.
"She ran away."
"How does she look? Does she have dark hair?" I asked.
"Most vampires have dark hair, but this one, in particular, has red hair," she said and leaned in. "Are you looking for one?" She asked, giving an uncomfortable chuckle.
"No. I heard from someone else, something unpleasant about them, so I just thought I'd ask," I lied, and she widened her eyes.
"Unpleasant? Those beings harbor evil," she said, and I nodded.
---
**DUSK'S POV**
I stared at Matilda, unable to believe what I had heard. But the evidence was right in front of me. She was staring into my eyes, and she raised a brow before turning away from me.
"Matilda!" I called out as she walked away.
She didn't reply.
"Wait!" I called again.
There were just so many mysterious things about her. She could see. She had tested me. She had been in a pool of white shimmering water for a whole day. What was it with her?
"Matilda!" I called, almost running into her as she turned to me abruptly.
"Is there anything you have to say?" She asked, and I held out my hands in disbelief.
"There's a lot I have to say. Who are you? Since when could you see? Have you been fooling me?" I bombarded her with questions, and she stared at me for a long while.
"Do you want to help me write my story now?" She asked, looking unfazed. I looked at her, even more incredulous than before. I was asking a very important question, and she was talking about writing her story.
"Write your story?" I echoed, puzzled.
"The story I wanted you to write for me," she clarified. Once again, she stared at my chest, resuming the appearance of the blind girl everyone knew her to be.
"I'm asking you about your blindness. Was it all an act or did you get cured by that glowing water I saw you immersed in?" I asked, pressing for an answer. A little smile curved up her lips.
"I'm going to have to inform you that I'm not going to answer any of your questions, so don't waste your time asking me any," she stated calmly.
"Why wouldn't you answer any of my questions? You just shocked me with the news that you can see," I protested, feeling frustrated.
"I'm not going to answer any of your questions. I have a story to write. Are you still helping me out?" She inquired, her demeanor unchanged.
She was unbelievable.
"Will you answer my questions later?" I persisted, hoping for some clarity. Her smile faded.
"When the time is right, I will," she said cryptically, turning away.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
I followed her to her room, where she handed me a book and a pen, still feigning blindness.
"You just told me you can see. So why are you acting blind? It's just the both of us," I pointed out, perplexed.
"Like I said, I'm not answering questions now," she replied, tapping her finger.
"The name. Revelation," she declared, and I wrote down the title of her book.
"Go on," I encouraged.
"Dnalor and Suicul are brothers playing Kingdom. They build sand castles and select girls to act as their wives. The name of Dnalor's wife is Ahtram, and the name of Suicul's less intelligent wife is Ksud," she narrated.
"You're going too fast. Also, shouldn't you use better names?"
"I'm afraid that even I can't change their names," she stated matter-of-factly and continued.
We wrote the story for a long time, and by the time the clock struck twelve, my hands were hurting.
"We'll write the second part tomorrow," she said, standing up. I got up from my seat.
"Really, Matilda. You owe me an explanation," I insisted as I watched her leave.
"Very soon, Dusk. Very soon."
---
**The next night, I had dressed beautifully as usual, and I sat with Lucius and the other Alphas and Lunas.** They seemed pleased that I was sitting with them, but Lucius, of all people, appeared to be the most pleased. We acted like lovebirds, and it wasn't as difficult as I had thought it would be.
The last party was going well until I heard something that led to a revelation. Ari was joking and laughing with her friends when she said, "Dnalor looks quite fat today." They all laughed, and I recalled that Dnalor was the name of the man in Matilda's story.
"True, he looks so huge in that blue silk," Sarah commented, and I looked in their direction. The only person wearing silk was Alpha Roland.
"Why did you call him that?" I questioned her, and she covered her mouth.
"You weren't supposed to hear that. Whenever the kids in the castle want to poke fun at someone, we turn their names backwards. Alpha Roland is Dnalor," she explained, and my smile faded.
Matilda's story about the two brothers, Dnalor and Suicul. Dnalor had tricked Suicul into seeing his palace, but while his back had been turned, Dnalor had gathered stones called Ymra to throw and destroy Suicul's castle.
With a jolt, I connected all the names.
Dnalor was Roland.
Suicul was Lucius.
Ahtram was Martha and Ksud was...
Dusk.