Page 91 of Embrace the Serpent

He drew a cord from around his neck. At its end was a key.

Rane unlocked the door.

There were more stairs beyond. Lower and lower we went, until we reached a pool so still that it could’ve been a mirror. Across its surface were lotuses.

I saw myself reflected in the water. Rane stepped up behind me.

I asked, “Is there any limit to what you can make me look like?”

“What would you like to be?”

My hair turned straight, then it lightened. Brown, pale brown, wheat, like fire, silver like moonlight. His illusion shifted to match.

“Can you make it so I can tell the truth?”

“Yes. The problem with tying an illusion to a person is that. But if I tether it to, say, a locket, or a jacket, then it’s far steadier.”

“Is that how it works for you?”

“Not exactly. I’m constantly feeding the illusion with my power.”

He changed himself into me, and me into the Serpent King.

“Oh,” I said, moving my hand and watching the reflected Serpent King move his. “I see why you like this. I’m so large. I do feel rather strong and intimidating.”

The Saphira reflected in the pool looked offended. The illusions fell away as Rane switched us back. “It’s not about being intimidating.”

“Isn’t it? What about an illusion that no one would pay much attention to?”

His hands stilled. “You’re thinking about your payment, your shop.”

I hadn’t been, but now I was.

Rane went on. “If that’s still what you want, it’s yours. But... you could stay here.”

And hide my jewelsmithing, for as long as I lived.

Oh. Was this the price?

“You don’t want to stay here?” he asked, reading my expression.

“Your people would not be happy if they knew what I am.”

“I very much like what you are, and I am their king,” he said. “Give them time. I will make them see you as I do.”

Maybe. I didn’t want to think about it, not now. “Make me into something else.”

His magic spilled over us, a cascade, and we changed again andagain, becoming anyone and anything. A thousand faces he wore, and in each of them, I found hints of him, like each strange face was a door to his soul and they were all unlocked to me.

His gaze seared into me, the same intense look, unchanging, as the rest changed, and then his eyes were familiar, the dark gray of shadows on a moonlit night, and his lashes were silver, and he wore his true, secret face. The air between us was thick and charged and still.

I drew a ragged breath—and the scent of him, aquatic and the crisp green of ivy and something else, something that was only his. My head tilted back as he drew closer, to keep holding his gaze.

His hand moved to my face and the callused tips of his fingers brushed my cheek. I shivered. My skin tingled where his fingers touched, warmth spreading down my neck.

His breath caressed my lips, a question.

The space between us shrank infinitesimally; this was my answer. My heart pounded, and my eyes fluttered shut.

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