Page 75 of Brambles and Bellflowers
“Oh, were we still talking about witchcraft?” Damen intoned.
Miles hissed something in French as he glared at Damen and not so gently shoved a makeshift bowl in his direction. The liquid sloshed over the edge, spilling over the leg of Damen’s jeans. “Sorry, my bad,” he continued in English, not seemingly apologetic at all. “Now eat your food.”
I sat back and crossed my legs. It wasn’t until Miles returned from giving Titus his portion and had scooped some out for himself that I spoke. “What are the ginger and basil for?” I asked.
“Flavor,” Miles answered, drinking his soup and refocusing on me. His eyebrow had risen in question, but he lowered themug a second later. “And they have properties that could be helpful around this time, if necessary.”
“Really?” I’d studied plants—how they grew, their meanings, and how to care for them. But shamefully, my knowledge of ways to use them medicinally was lacking.
“Basil can be used as a natural stress reliever,” Miles answered, resuming his meal as he observed me over his mug. “And ginger can be used to treat muscle pain. You’ve all been walking to find me, so you’re probably tired.”
Interesting.
“I wonder if it’d be good for cramps?” I mused.
Miles’s eyes shifted from mine, and the others, too, looked uncomfortable.
Men were such babies.
“Don’t worry,” I reassured them and returned to my meal. “It won’t be another couple of weeks until I have to hide away, maybe.”
The lapse in the conversation became too profound to ignore. I glanced up and saw that the men were looking at me in a most disturbing manner.
“Y-yes?” I asked, suddenly uncertain.
“Bianca.” Julian got to his feet and, with a dramatically heavy expression, as if he’d been assigned a great burden, knelt before me. He took my food, placed it to the side, and grasped my hands. “When do you get your period?”
My throat closed. Bringing up such topics discreetly was one thing, but I never expected him to askoutright.
“It’s been over a month since we met,” Julian unashamedly continued. “There was nothing about it in your records at the hospital, and Titus couldn’t smell—”
“Stop.” I slapped my hand over his mouth, unable to meet his eyes. I looked at Titus. “You cansmellthese things?”
This was possibly one of the top ten worst moments of my life.
Titus shrugged. ‘It’s just a normal part of nature,’ his posture seemed to say, and once, I’d thought so too, thirty seconds in the past, longbeforethis development.
“Wait, are you tracking myperiods?” How incredibly intrusive!
“You mentioned it before,” Julian interrupted, returning my attention to him. “You told Titus you’d lied during your physicals.”
“Why are we talking about menstruation?” I buried my face in my hands—this was all my fault. “Forget it. Keep your ginger. I’d rather suffer. I don’t care.”
“Are they that bad?” Julian asked, and I peeked at him. He seemed genuinely curious. “I always wondered.”
“This is so weird,” Miles said. “I never thought about it before, but Bianca’s a girl! We can know stuff now!”
I wasn’t sure if I should be offended or not…
“It took you that long to realize?” Damen asked. “We have insider information.”
Oh my God.
“Why do you care?” I lowered my hands to my mouth. “Do guys talk about stuff like this?”
I could picture it so clearly. Five equally regal men in ancient garb—all of whom happened to look precisely like Mu—as they sat around in their luxury as they came up with idiotic theories about women.
“What else do guys talk about?” I lamented.
