Page 42 of Embrace the Serpent

I got up so fast my chair screeched. “Pardon me. I’m afraid—I’ll turn in early.”

As I left the dining room, I heard Lord Cobalt say, “My, sheis rather an innocent, isn’t she?”

I came out into a hallway and picked a direction at random. The hallways were all darkly illuminated. From behind me came the pitter-patter of small feet, and a boy in a blue vest skidded to a halt before me. He dropped into a bow. “It is my honor to show you to your room, my lady.”

I followed him up a set of stone stairs, past patrolling guards, to a vast room with a balcony that overlooked the sands. Sheer drapes blew in the wind, and I breathed in the fresh air. The boy left me.

Incarnadine’s spies—the handmaidens—had been here. A sheer bit of cloth was laid out on the back of a chair, along with some silken ribbons. Ribbons for what?

A knock came at the door. A girl my age poked her head in. “I’m here to help you dress, my lady.”

“I’ll manage,” I said.

She hesitated. “You don’t want me to dress your hair?”

I eyed the ribbons. “No.”

She winced. “My lady—”

“Many thanks,” I said, smiling vaguely in her direction until she shut the door and left me alone.

A pitcher of warm water sat beside a basin, and I washed some of the sweat from my skin. There was a polished silver mirror, and it showed me a peaky girl with large circles under her eyes and a mass of wavy hair that was escaping its braid. An unreal woman.

I dug through the trunk and unearthed a gray traveling dress. I changed quickly, ignoring the sheer thing laid out for me.

A thump came from another trunk—the Serpent King’s trunk—and I opened it to find Grimney.

“You’d better not have eaten the jewels from his clothes,” I scolded.

Grimney shrugged.

A knock came at the door. A deep voice said, “I am coming in.”

Grimney hid back in the trunk. I shut it and stepped away. I didn’t want to seem like I was waiting for him—my hand found a ribbon, and I gathered my hair to plait it. My heart was beating fast, readying me to run.

The Serpent King entered and shut the door behind him. I was getting used to all the silver, but I was struck by his size. He seemed designed to intimidate, to be the focal point in any room he entered.

Without looking at me, he crossed to the basin, took a washcloth and wetted it with water from the pitcher, and wiped his neck and face. On him, the act seemed strangely human. A drop of water traced his throat.

His silver eyes rested on me. “Are you all right?”

I nodded, which was a lie. The ribbon slipped through my hands.

He came closer. “Are you angry?”

“You asked me not to talk,” I said.

“Forgive me,” he said. “I was not myself.”

He picked the ribbon from where it had fallen beside my feet and handed it to me. Our fingers brushed, and I jerked my hand back.

We lapsed into silence. He moved away, shaking out his jacket and unlacing the sash at his waist that held a dagger and a small sword. He set everything aside.

“I—” I started.

The Serpent King turned to regard me. “Yes?”

I didn’t know what to say. My heart was thudding, and I didn’t know if it wanted me to leap off the balcony or stay where I was.“I just—how are the huntsmen?”

---