Page 39 of Embrace the Serpent

“Don’t talk.”

“I just was going to ask about—”

“I said, do not speak.”

I stared at him.

He glanced in my direction. “Don’t look at me, either.” He shifted, so his hair shielded his face.

Somehow marriage had worsened his disposition. I’d heard women at the market bemoaning that their husbands changed after their weddings, but I hadn’t realized the change happened so quickly.

Grimney put his hand in mine. He sat at my side, kicking his tiny legs in the air. I squeezed his hand. Somehow, it wasn’t comforting. Maybe because his hand was a rock.

The Serpent King opened the door connecting the driver. They had a conversation that the wind stole, but I made out the wordsCobalt Town.

That was perhaps a day’s ride from the Imperial City, thanks to the Emperor’s pet project, the Imperial Road. He’d proclaimed that all roads across the six kingdoms of the Empire would now lead to the Imperial City.

It was a matter of perspective. It was equally accurate to say that all roads led away from the city, but when I said that to Galen, he’d laughed and laughed and then told me not to be too clever. I was nine, and it was the summer of the big celebration when the last of the great stone markers was set along the main road.

I didn’t want to think about Galen. I didn’t care that he would have to find a way to keep the shop going without me. I didn’t care that Lady Incarnadine would have his head if she found out the truth. There was a part of me that wondered if I’d made the right choice. I’d still ended up married.

But when I thought of Galen andwedding night,my mouth filled with bile.

I tried to picture the Serpent King. Instead, I remembered Mirandel dancing for him.

Unbidden, my mind conjured an image of Rane’s face. My face heated.

Truth was, I only had the vaguest idea of the mechanics of the act. With my mother’s ring, I’d avoided being the target of most of the catcalls and crude words that were thrown around markets and drinking holes. Those folks made it sound decidedly unpleasant.

But Galen spent a lot of time with his lady friends, and he brought back constant bits of gossip of folks who were caught with the wrong person or in the wrong place. It seemed that there must be something they liked about it if people were going through all that trouble.

I busied myself with squinting out the window at a tall shape shimmering in the heat haze and praying it was a stone marker and not another mirage.

Each stone marker along the Imperial Road was a half day’s ride apart, and nearby would be little villages and roadside inns that had sprouted to serve travelers.

The shape solidified into a dark stone monolith. A marker. And rising out of the sands, a collection of buildings around a well. “Let’s stop here, please,” I said. “I’ll just be a moment.”

“Of course,” the Serpent King said. “Well, we were stopping anyway.”

The carriage had barely come to a halt when I jumped out the door and ran to the nearest privy. When I came out, well relieved,it was to near a dozen pairs of eyes on me, from Imperial Guards to my so-called handmaidens.

A voice spoke. “How are you holding up?” Rane leaned on a wall, entirely at ease. He was in his huntsman’s uniform, his helm tucked under his arm, upside down, so it could hold a small collection of stuff. His skin glistened with a hint of sweat, and strands of his hair stuck to his neck in waves.

I shrugged.

“He’s not being rude, is he? I’ll give him a talking-to.”

“It’s all right. I can bear it.”

Something delicious-smelling was passed under my nose, wrapped in coconut-leaf. “Want lunch?”

I took it. A flatbread, still steaming, with sweet bean paste inside. “Thank you.”

“They’re famous for that here. At least that’s what the fellow at the inn told me. I also got these for you.”

He dropped a bag into my palm. Inside were squares of sugared ginger. “What are these for?”

“I noticed you looking a little green. They’ll help.”

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