B+Bs: To Stand In A Beast's World

78. Fool

The ape king hid his nerves as he made his way back to his chambers. He gave Grant standby orders as he made his way into a hidden room. The room was bare, save for a small altar that housed a lone stone box.

Bard cracked the storage box open and gazed at the 10 crystals he acquired from the caravan. He took one out and replaced it with one of the extra hairs he acquired before closing it. One should be enough for him currently.

He swallowed the crystal before focusing on the hair. A quick probe told him that it was indeed Grace's. He delved as far as his power would allow and found incomprehensible images of a place that appeared nothing like the world in which he knew.

Stone buildings of impossible construction in an array of colors were clustered close together. Strange, shiny beasts roared and hummed as they glided on dark stone slabs that traveled further than the eye could see.

Among those who walked and chatted were females, many of them. So many that Bard could not believe his eyes.

An unbearable headache forced him to stop there. His shaky legs gave out and he sunk to the floor. Every breath he took was ragged, but his mind raced. Just what was the human clan exactly?

Bard contemplated looking again over the next few days but determined that would be wasteful until he had his third mark. And once he calmed down after seeing what he saw, he was able to understand that rushing would not necessarily bring him gains.

Say he uncovered the origin of the human clan, what then? If they posed some kind of threat, he could convince the city to chase Grace out. But what if she sought retribution? She had three tetra-marked mates and one tetra-marked feral pursuer. Even if the whole city came to his aid, his chance of survival wasn't guaranteed.

And in the case that the human clan wasn't a threat, he wouldn't do anything about them. Yes, he wanted power. But he wanted guarantees as well. And without those guarantees, Bard didn't want to move forward.

"Ape king, the wolf queen has come."

A guard snapped Bard out of his thoughts with that announcement. Here was another problem. Rosa was picking fights she couldn't win which put Bard in a bind. He planned to keep the wolves as they still had value even with the clan's former king in the state that he was.

But Rosa was going to get Bart killed at this rate, and the wolf throne could land in Shuu's hands. And since Grace had a good relationship with the leopard royal family, she would have her hands in every major power with the exception of his ape clan.

He couldn't let things go that far. As much as Grace's actions have proved to be beneficial for the city, Bard didn't trust her to be able to look after the lives of thousands. And her word would be able to damn as easily as it could save thanks to her mates.

Bard descended the stairs and found a grumpy wolf queen waiting at the bottom. Her king stood behind her looking haggard.

Rosa did not bother with proper greetings. "Ape king, why won't you help me get rid of Bai Qingqing?"

Rosa thought herself smart. Even if she wanted Grace dead, the female wasn't an opponent for her. It made her want to snarl admitting that, but she was able to acknowledge it. But there was no such reason not to go after Bai Qingqing.

Bard felt like sighing a hundred times over but maintained his professional demeanor. "Is there a reason to get rid of that female?" He humored Rosa in the name of keeping good relations. No matter how frustrating and foolish he found her, she was a tool that was easy to use.

Rosa snorted. "I don't like her." For her, that was enough of a reason, but to the ape king, it wasn't. Recalling Bart's words of advice, she tried to appeal to the ape king. "And I heard she doesn't want to take mates or bear cubs. She's a failure of a female."