Page 119 of Embrace the Serpent

I went to bed in a foul mood. Grimney had forsaken me. And my skin was covered in gunk. Was Rane being subjected to this, too?

Eventually, I fell into a surly sort of sleep, and it felt like no time at all had passed before dawn broke.

The door opened—a jolt of hope—but two burly people came in, carrying a copper tub. They filled it with steaming water, and a willowy blue-skinned woman came in, followed by Rane’s mother. They drew a screen for privacy, but the blue-skinned woman stayed. “Happy wedding day, my lady.”

My last one, I hoped. I sighed and let her help me bathe. But I stopped her when she uncapped a bottle of salts. “Not that. No powders, no salts, please.”

She obliged me with the demeanor of someone coddling a toddler.

The oils were washed from my hair, the residue from my face, the paste scraped from my arms. Lines of deep, dark red had soaked into my skin, and I twisted my arms, taking in the design, surprised at how ornamented and beautiful I felt.

I rose from the bath and dried off, feeling soft and tender and new, and a traitorous thought whispered through my mind: maybe there was a thing or two about weddings I didn’t know. She drew an enchanted comb through my hair that dried it instantly, into a glossy mane.

The door opened—I dared not hope—and my mother came in with a bundle of red silk in her arms.

“Come,” she said, smiling, and for a moment Grimney wasn’t forefront in my mind.

My mother draped me in silk, wrapping and pleating around me, pinning it with care. Each touch of her fingers felt like a hug, filling a deep, hungry well within me. I watched her hands work, memorizing the way she held a pin between her lips.

She stepped back, turning away and wiping the corner of her eye.

I blinked hard. I didn’t want to cry.

“My beautiful girl.” She made a gesture to ward away the evil eye, to protect me.

I hesitated for a moment, before wrapping my arms around her.

Over her shoulder, my gaze went to the door. It opened a crack. Grimney snuck through the door on all fours, a note clenched between his teeth. Elation sizzled through me. He pressed himself to the wall and, like a crab, scuttled along it, toward me.

“Let’s finish getting you ready,” my mother said, and guided me back into the seat before the brass mirror. I gestured for Grimney to hide in the folds of my dress, and then I met my gaze in the mirror. My skin was glowing, my hair shone like glass.

My reflection’s lips curved in an impressed expression. They had polished me up the same way I polished up a raw jewel. “I look great,” I said. “Aren’t we done?”

A handful of laughs cut off sharply when they realized I wasn’t joking. Grimney tapped my ankle, and I lowered my hand. A note was pressed into my palm.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of bottles of cosmetics being placed on the vanity. I unfolded the note, concealing it in my palm.

Rane’s sinewy, energetic handwriting, in deep green ink.

Say the word and I’ll climb up the balcony and steal you away. But you’re the girl who faced the Emperor, what could you ever be afraid of?

I hid a smile. The answer was his grandmother.

One more thing, don’t be alarmed, but—

The note was torn out of my hands. Rane’s grandmother tutted. “Don’t you bring fate down on your heads now, when you only have hours left,” she said, tucking the note into her dress.

I scowled, too irritated to hide my feelings like I usually would.

To my surprise, she smiled. “If you’ll fight me for him, then he’s picked well.”

Hesitantly, I smiled back.

“And, if you’re so eager to read,” she said as she pulled out a stack of envelopes, “you had better attend to your wedding correspondence. Some of our neighboring rulers will have written.”

Oh good. Exactly what I wanted to deal with on my wedding day. Letters from strangers, who no doubt expected a response. I made to shove them aside, but the one on top caught my eye: it was addressed to Aria, not Saphira.

As I opened the envelope, a dried weed fell onto my lap. The letter said

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