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Gerlinda gaped with her eyes, frozen to her seat as the Dukes let out an uproar of laughter

"Go on, salad dodger!" yelled a Fabio-looking Duke with an English accent That had to be Astaroth, the twins’ father How gross

The next few hter from the rowdier Dukes

"Perhaps we need to roll her onto the stage"

"I’ve got soht"

On and on it went

I ran through a series of e those moments Pure joy that I was saved Revulsion at the treath whatever they had planned for her

One of the Dukes threw so at Gerlinda, and suddenly there was a shower of junk food raining down Baked goods, candies, cheese puffs They had planned for this I looked at my father’s table He sat with Jezebet, Melchom, and Alocer, the fathers of Blake and Kope The four of them watched with boredom, as if they were too cool to partake in the spectacle, but the vicious Dukes around them didn’t care

Food continued to hit Gerlinda, and tears slid down her rosy cheeks She didn’t try to move or shield herself from it My heart broke for her I wondered if this poor woht’s summit, or if she was just a prelude to the ht hair stood up, pointing to the wo in German, "Gerlinda! Erhalten Sie auf der B&uue It had to be her father, Kobal His cheeks were red with anger Gerlinda shook her head, and when she didn’tit over, and rabbed her hard by the ar and shoving her toward the stage The Dukes cheered hiht, hard ball and everything good inside ainst the injustice How many times in history had innocent people been brutalized while bystanders stood by and did nothing? Could I be one of those bystanders? I wanted to slam my eyes shut and cover my ears, but even if I couldn’t see or hear, I would know a terrible atrocity was being done

I doubted Gerlinda had a single person in her life who loved and encouraged her Unlike drugs, food couldn’t be avoided We all had to eat Would I have done as ith ine doing s overboard It was all or nothing

When Kobal got his daughter on the stage, he sto slaps on the backs fro abilities

Gerlinda stood next to Rahab on the stage, sluh with this sniveling Your father was good enough to warn you years ago He even went so far as to seek ical procedure?"

Gerlinda nodded and let out a heart-wrenching cry, as if she were trying her best to hold it in but no longer had the strength I cla away the burn in my eyes

"So what is the problem then?" Rahab’s French drawl became harder to decipher as he shouted, and drops of spittle flew from his lips "You allow your appetite to ence is for humans Not for Neph Your kind need not seek enjoy!"

Rahab inclined his head to Pharzuph, who picked up a se There were three plates on it, each with a different food iteue pie Pharzuph set the table in front of Gerlinda, and stepped down fro the disorderly table of Dukes

"Since you have spent your life shoving food into your face, we are doing you the kindness of letting you eat your way out of this life You get a choice, Neph girl Aren’t you so lucky? Two of these delicacies contain poisons that will bring your death One poison kills quickly The other prouts are eaten away" Rahab paused, allowing his malicious information to set in "The third plate contains no poison at all If you choose the food with no poison, you will be given one more year to prove yourself to us"

No They couldn’t do this My father and the other three at his table watched with polite disinterest, not sharing in the hter I wanted my dad to stop this; he must have felt my eyes, because he tilted his head towas issued toa word

My jaw quivered and I bitthe show

"Which will it be, big Gerlinda?" Rahab waved a hand over the three plates "Will your death be fast, or will you writhe in pain as the poison eats away your storinned at the cake "Death by chocolate I bet you never dreaood"

"Take the chocolate!" one of the Dukes yelled And then that whole rowdy table was calling out their choices, as if it were a ga severely queasy, I scooted to the end of my chair, entranced There was hope--she could choose the one without poison I wanted to look at e My father angled hi the side of his face with two fingers He shot lance and continued to ers up and down his face in an unnatural ain, and then to the table with the food