Page 43 of Embrace the Serpent

His brows pinched together.

“I mean—did they eat? I just wondered. I was just—well, Rane...” I trailed off. My face was radiating heat.

“I’m sure they ate,” the Serpent King said. “You needn’t take particular interest in Rane.”

“He’s been nice to me,” I said.

The Serpent King’s lips pulled into a sardonic smile. His voice was low. “Should I be jealous that you show such interest in another man on our wedding night?”

I was suddenly certain that the Serpent King knew every detail of what happens on a wedding night. I dropped my gaze to the collar of his shirt. “But this isn’t a marriage. It’s just a business proposition.”

He crossed to me in a single stride, and his hand covered my mouth. He breathed, “Do not speak of that here.”

He stopped a hairsbreadth from me, but I felt his body as if the space between us was charged with lightning. If I moved at all, I would touch him. I stood very, very still.

My lips tingled as he pulled his hand away. I glanced at the door. Was someone listening?

He met my gaze and gave a single nod.

I wrapped my arms around me.

The Serpent King moved slowly, like he was afraid I would shout something incriminating, and he made a circuit of the room, blowing out candles and oil lanterns.

The last candle went out, and he was painted by the light of the low, flickering fire in the grate. A shaft of silver moonlight cut through the sheer drapes and lent the room a soft glow.

He stood by the bed. “Come here,” he said.

I took a step, and then he pulled back the coverlet. I stopped, a strange fluttery terror building within me.

“Come,” he said.

I took another step. He reached out and took my hand. He tugged me close, standing by my side.

“This will hurt a little,” he said. Something silver flashed in his hand.

A tiny pinprick of pain blossomed at the tip of my pointer finger. A single drop of blood rose. He turned my hand, and the drop fell onto the white sheets.

“There,” he said. “Was that so bad?” There was a glint of humor in his eyes, like he knew I’d been terrified.

“No.” I licked the blood from my finger. “I hardly felt anything.”

He dragged his gaze from my finger and blinked. A wry twist came to his lips. “Another thing no man wishes to hear on his wedding night.” He turned his back to me. “Take the bed,” he said. “I don’t intend to sleep.”

Only when he had moved far enough away, slinkily settling into a chair by the fire, did I dare sit on the bed. I watched him, sitting still, a severe look on his face as he gazed into the fire. I didn’t know whether I felt relieved or not. I fell asleep while I was deciding. The first time I woke, a blanket was covering me, and the Serpent King was out on the balcony, bathed in silver moonlight. I woke again and again, but the Serpent King kept his word. He never slept and never once looked in my direction.

9

Soft gold morning light filtered in through the sheer drapes. Grimney was curled up on top of the coverlet, and there was a suspicious patch devoid of glass beads just about within gnawing distance.

The Serpent King was gone. All that remained of last night was a small scab on my fingertip and the drop of blood on the sheets. I couldn’t stop looking at it, but I didn’t know why.

I curled up, resting my chin on my knees. The blood told a lie; I wondered what else about the Serpent King was a lie. Like the rumor that he sucked virgins dry of their blood. But maybe that was true; maybe he was just on a diet.

After a furtive wash—sure someone would barge in at any moment—I dressed, pocketed a sleeping Grimney, and slung my bag over my shoulder. I packed my tools more carefully and drew out the bag of tracker stones.

A pair of Imperial Guards were in the hallway. One elbowed the other as he noticed me, but they didn’t follow. I made my way out of the manor without seeing the Serpent King or his huntsmen. There were Imperial Guards stationed everywhere; I felt their eyes on me, but they kept their distance.

I supposed Cobalt Town was small enough, and walled enough,that they figured there was nowhere I could run. The familiar hubbub of a market tempted me, and I followed the sound to the main square.

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