Page 41 of Embrace the Serpent

I smiled. He could be counted on to suggest running. Maybe it was something in his nature, maybe all rocks dreamed of rolling and tumbling. “Wearerunning.” From Galen, from Incarnadine. The only way we could stop running was if Rane came through on the deal.

Before he could answer, the carriage door opened, and the Serpent King got in.

He shut his eyes, leaned back, and the carriage rumbled to a roll. We were off.

From atop a steep hill, Cobalt Town jutted toward the sky. It was a fortress town, with thick walls that made it look like the hill was wearing a crown.

The gates creaked open as we neared. Heavy stone gates, emblazoned with a seal painted cobalt blue.

“Welcome,” said a barrel-chested man, striding toward us. “I am Selmy, Lord of Cobalt Town. Forgive us the weakness of our number—I’m afraid Lady Cobalt and our son are in the city for the Season.”

Lord Cobalt had unlined skin, but gray in his hair and beard. He wore loose silken pants and an embroidered jacket that was open to his chest, so all could see the crown and fire brand on his chest. He puffed up his chest when he saw me looking at his brand. Great. This town might as well be an extension of the Rose Palace.

He talked as we walked. Our guards would stay with the town’s soldiers in the barracks, but we were welcome to his humble home. The humble home turned out to be a grand manor with diamond-paned windows, all of which were a deep blue.

“Cobalt glass,” he said, catching me looking. “Keeps us nice and cool, and of course, it kills insects that try to fly in on the wind.”

Cobalt was a silvery metal that needed careful refinement to turn it into pigment. The tricky thing about mining it was that the ore always contained arsenic. As we entered the manor, the air feltvery still, as if it too had been killed.

I grew more careful about what I let my gaze linger on. Lord Cobalt was paying very close attention, though he acted the part of a rich buffoon well. He showed us into a grand room with a cobalt window that was twice the height of a man, where a table was set for three.

The minute we took our seats, servants appeared and filled our goblets with wine.

The Serpent King was reserved but chattier than he had been in the carriage. He neatly parried questions about our destination, our travel plans, and our presumed love story.

Upon my plate were piled saffron rice and spiced potatoes and pumpkin dal. I ate it all, with bites of herbs and yogurt that cooled me down from the inside. The wine went down sweet and easy, until I realized it had gone straight to my head.

Lord Cobalt was laughing. “...and so I told him to make nice with the Basalts because I knew Sandhya when she was twelve and cut off the nose of that pretty girl—oh, I’ve forgotten her name—she came from some insignificant holding—and anyway, I told him he’d better give up that land and thank the gods she didn’t take his nose as well.”

“The Basalts sent ten thousand men to the Emperor’s armies, did they not?” the Serpent King asked, smiling in a way that showed his fangs.

“Oh, I wouldn’t know,” Lord Cobalt said. “I hear you were wed at the White Temple. That’s where Lady Cobalt and I were wed. Charming little temple, isn’t it? Though we stayed in the Rose Palace for our wedding night—well, it took us a few days to emerge from our bedchamber!”

I nearly spat out my wine, and he noticed. “You must be very happy,” I said.

He laughed and laughed, and then leaned in with a wry look in his eyes. “She is very happy with me, and that is what matters, isn’t it?”

My heart hurt. Pity for him, maybe.

He laughed again at whatever he saw in my face. “I have prepared our finest suite for you both. One’s wedding night should be special, should it not? After all, you can’t say you are properly married till the deed is done.”

The Serpent King cut in. “Is Lady Incarnadine so interested?”

“Ah,” said Lord Cobalt, for the first time at a loss for words. “How direct.”

The Serpent King raised a brow.

Lord Cobalt conceded. “She does like to know what is happening.”

“She will have no reason to doubt us,” the Serpent King said, and I wondered exactly what he meant.

“That certainly makes my life easier. You’ll stay for a few days, won’t you?”

“We will leave at dawn,” the Serpent King said. “We will not impose on your hospitality.”

“Oh, what a pity,” Lord Cobalt said brightly. “Well, let’s have dessert.”

Pistachio cakes and dates with honey. I nibbled at them, but my stomach was turning. The minute dinner was over, there would be nothing but the night. I could almost hear Mirandel laughing at me.

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