Just as Rahul had predicted, by the time Wandi and the rest of the team went after Citar and the other two boys at Razvan's command, the Bolacsuk boy seemed to be fine. In fact, as if his earlier anger was non-existent, he even started asking questions, but such obvious things that even Rahul felt embarrassed.
However, at least this way, the mood between the team members improved again and they went to the room where the boys were accommodated for the night, laughing again. After the long all-day walk, it was not at all strange that everyone stretched out on the beds enthusiastically.
"That's it, I won't get up until morning." Suk sighed contentedly and closed his eyes.
"We don't have to go anywhere." Benkó laughed as he turned onto his stomach on his own bed. "For the spirits' sake, if you can't shut up and interrogate Wandi anymore, you could at least ask him something sensible." He growled at Citar, who was on the verge of asking another idiotic question. At the scolding, however, he bit his lips and blushed up to the tips of his ears.
"All right, I have a good question." Rahul spoke, but before he could ask the question, Razvan appeared at the door of the room.
"Your father wishes us good night." He said calmly, looking at Wandi. "Did I interupted something?" He finally asked with his head tilted to the side, when the silence began to be too long.
"We just wanted to ask Wandi about the more interesting customs of the danovuses." Achilleus answered the question, giving Citar an unmistakable grumpy look. "Rahul wanted to ask something just when you came in, boss." The Motumisz boy waved and spread out on his bed with his arms folded under his head.
"In that case, just keep going Rahul." Razvan smiled and took the last free bed, but he just sat on it.
"So. Now that my dinner won't turn back." Rahul raised his index finger, then turned to his side and looked directly at Wandi. "How is this blood drinking thing works?"
"A wild danovus must drink blood every week. We are not wild danovuses, with us even the children only have to drink once a month. Then as time goes by and we get the nails, we need less and less. In the end, it is enough to drink only when we want it on special occasions." Wandi explained, staring at his hand.
"Heh wild maidens's bubbling, someone became talkative." Suk suddenly sat up.
"As the boss said, I pledged my loyalty to him, so if he allows me, I have to tell him everything he wants to know." The danovus boy answered seriously.
"Am I the only one who got stuck on the nails?" Teveli interrupted with a curious look.
"Right, what nails?" Suk leaned on his feet and a curious fire shone in his eyes.
"The legacy of my tribe. The Five Shackles. The nails are hammered into the main points of kí flow to block bloodlust. We don't even let a child out of the tribe's territory without that." Wandi snarled.
"Damn, that can hurt a fuck." Achilleus shivered.
"What points?" Rahul blinked.
"Oh, your two shoulders, on both sides above the last rib, and directly below the navel. These are the main points, there are eighteen secondary points, I won't list them all." Suk waved.
"I always forget that this is a must know for you." Teveli sighed.
"Back to the nails!" Achilleus interupted. "You said that not all children have such nails yet. How do they get it?" He asked.
"A danovus receives the first one at the age of twenty-five, it is simply nailed into the shoulder. After that, they get the next three one by one every twenty-five years, and the fifth when they want it." Wandi answered.
"Wait, then you... then you..." Citar tried to ask the question, but he could only stutter.
"I already have four nails." The boy smiled faintly.
"Are you a hundred years old?!" Benkó opened his mouth and this was the only thing that stopped Rahul from a similar outburst.
"One hundred and seventeen to be exact." Wandi scratched his neck.
"Good fathers, then how old is that danovus who looks like he's in his fifties, whom we saw at dinner? Ten thousand?" Achilleus snapped.
"Only one hundred and fifty-two." Wandi waved.
"And your parents?" Citar chimed in.
"Mother is two hundred and sixty, and father is two hundred and sixty-three." The danovus boy shrugged.
"Well, I lost the thread. How's this aging stuff going?" Rahul scratched his head.
"After we are born, we only age until we are twelve years old, after that we do not grow anything for a hundred years. After one hundred and twelve, we start to age again. Then, when we get the fifth nail, aging stops." Wandi explained. "Most often, we stop aging when we find our mate, but this is not bound by a rule."
"Have you found your mate yet?" Citar nodded his head to the side.
"I..." The boy swallowed, but in the end Citar didn't let him finish.
"Just because, if you ask me, stop your aging some time now. If you stay like this, the girls will be after you." He said, with which he made three quarters of the team be snap at him at the same time.
"Citar!" They shouted.
"What now? I'm right." The boy mumbled.
"Well. Let's get back to the interrogation. Tell me, Wandi, why didn't you tell us you were a danovus?" Suk asked the question from the boy.
"Because our rules forbid us to tell outsiders." Wandi replyed to him without batting an eye.
"What are these rules?" Rahul asked curiously. "I couldn't figure it out until now."
"The rules that ensure the safety of our tribe, which Athira himself gave to the first danovuses who arrived in Madüjawr, so that they could live in peace with the people who settled here under Athira's leadership." Wandi said as if he had read something out loud.
"Do you live according to rules that were made in Athira's time?" Teveli asked.
"We've always lived like this, I don't think it will ever change." Wandi shrugged.
"Well, I think that from now on I will never look at the Vojks the same way when I run into you." Suk stretched out on the bed again.
"As long as my father allows you to leave." Wandi whispered in front of him, but he still managed to make the team look at him with wide eyes and agape mouths.
"Sorry, what did you say?" Benkó asked back.
"I don't know of any person who knew about us and freely left the territory of our tribe." Wandi said with a sad look.
"We'll be the first. What concerns the Athamana remains within the Athamana. One of our members is a danovus, which means that we will keep his secret and as long as I am your leader, I will ensure that no one but us knows about it." Razvan said seriously, then raised his hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. "But now we're better off if we all put the talk away for tomorrow. We deserve to rest."