Page 79 of Embrace the Serpent

I slapped my cheeks. I needed to stop.

In a wooden trunk, I found several of my father’s clothes. It seemed he had been rather taken with the billowy tunics preferred by the kingdoms of the northwest, because that was all he had. I picked the first that didn’t fall to pieces when I shook it out.

I rose and stopped in my tracks.

Rane had followed me. He was bare-chested but for his bandages, but it didn’t seem to bother him, despite the chill of the ocean air.

He moved to the balcony. “I hadn’t realized we were in Marehold. I wonder why the water horse brought us here.”

I thrust the tunic at him, and he took it gingerly, careful not to brush my fingers.

“You know this place?” I asked in my most nonchalant voice.

“It’s not far from the border,” he said. “The people here were great allies to us, once.”

“Did you know them?”

He inclined his head. “Some of the survivors took refuge in my kingdom.”

It was on the tip of my tongue.I think this was my home.But I didn’t think I could talk about it without crying, and I couldn’t bear to cry in front of him.

“We should go,” I said instead.

“Yes. Before that girl with the horrible necklace shows up.”

I left without looking back.

Grimney was waiting for us in the courtyard, already mounted on the displeased-looking water horse. I was glad it hadn’t melted away into mist, or returned to the ocean, or whatever its kind did. But as Rane helped me up and then mounted behind me, my back tingling with the heat of him, I wished that it had gone. If we were on foot, we wouldn’t have to touch at all.

But then again, if we were on foot, that would make it easier for Mirandel or anyone tracking us to catch up.

We were at the forest’s edge when I glanced back.

The green-blanketed village was bathed in silver moonlight. I tried to picture what my homeland must’ve once looked like. I had the faintest memory of walking down a busy sunlit street, dodging skirts and robed legs, a large hand gripping mine tight. There was something sweet on the air, a sugared treat, and I wanted it. A soft voice came from above—

I couldn’t remember.

There was nothing of that left. No people, no busy street. Just vines and ruins and a sadness that was so palpable I could imagine it taking form, a hulking shadow that crept through the palace andthe plant-eaten streets, mourning and mourning forevermore.

But my homeland hadn’t just withered away. It had been put to death. And maybe I could keep running from Incarnadine for the rest of my life, but I could never run back home.

“Saphira?”

I jolted out of my thoughts and twisted to glance at him.

Rane’s expression was inscrutable. “That day... You said you were an Imperial Ward. I never asked where you came from.”

Was I that transparent? All I could manage was a tight shrug.

His breath puffed against my ear. “I’m sorry.”

I cleared my throat and changed the subject. “What should I call you?”

“Rane is my name, or at least the part of it I like best. I was born Adamant Temerane of the House of Naga.”

It was easier, somehow, to talk to him like this, where he couldn’t see my expression and I didn’t have to meet his eyes. Something about his confession had been bothering me.

“There were times when you and the Serpent King were in the same place.”

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