Page 10 of Sonnets and Serpents
I just want to know she’s safe—that had been Aria’s exact request when they’d made their deal. But she’d also said,I want you to ensure my father’s soldiers don’t drag her back. She deserves to make her own choices.
The crown princess didn’t know the contradiction of her own request. There was only one safe haven in Izili, and that was theuniversity. Since Eliza wasn’t here to enroll, her quickest path to safety was across the ocean, back to Loegria. For all that Silas hated the place, it was at least a safe country for thosewithoutmagic.
“Aren’t you coming?” Eliza asked impatiently.
Had she brought a royal wardrobe she couldn’t carry by herself? Silas rolled his eyes, but he followed her into the bustling inn. Rather than making for the stairs to the upper floor, she marched straight to the innkeeper, who was distributing drinks from behind the bar.
She turned back to Silas. “Ask him what the Sarazan is,” she ordered.
Silas narrowed his eyes, glancing between the girl and the innkeeper.
The dark-skinned innkeeper lifted a mug in his direction, asking if they wanted ale or fish.
“No, thank you,” said Silas in Pravish.
Eliza folded her arms. “When I asked him about shipwrecks, he kept repeating the wordSarazan. I know it has something to do with Henry, so I need you to tell me what it is.”
Sarazan tabernacles were houses of refuge and healing, scattered throughout the desert. There was one on the other side of the cliffs, directly on the beach, that took in shipwrecked sailors if they washed up outside of the Izili harbor.
“Did you really think you could trick me into this?” Silas asked coldly.
“You’re here already! Just ask him.”
He turned and strode from the inn. Eliza darted after him, blocking his path forward on the street. Despite her small size—she was a full head shorter than he was—she was as quick as a scurrying mouse.
“Wait! You can’t just leave!”
“I offered to get you home,” he shot back. “Nothing more.” It was already more gracious than he wanted to be.
Eliza glared at him. “Of course it’s fine foryouto be here but not me. I’m a fragile princess. I shouldn’t do things myself. I should cower at home and order guards around instead.”
“You orderedme.”
“I’m sorry I ordered!” She seized his arm again; he’d never met anyone so touchy. “My sister paid you to get me home, didn’t she? Please. Just do thisone thingfor me, and you can consider your service finished. I’ll write and tell Aria it’s all my doing!”
“I’m an academic, not a servant.” He shifted his arm, sliding it free of her grasp.
Eliza frowned. “Why did Aria chooseyou?” she finally asked.
He bristled at the implication—thathewas somehow the one falling short in this encounter.
“An alliance of necessity,apta,” he said.
Her linguistic failings had provided the perfect moniker for her.Foolish girl.That translation wasn’t totally satisfactory; in Loegrian, the etymology offoolhad to do with being useless, or, more literally, a bellows emptied of air. The Pravish counterpart ofaptaandaptalhad a spontaneous connotation. A person charging forward without thought.
Silas couldn’t afford to be that way. He had a plan, and he would be living off papayas until he could accomplish it—assuming Baris hadn’t already resold his basket because he’d taken too long to collect it. Silas had paid for a full basket in exchange for Baris throwing fruit at the kuveti.
“Youhaveto help me,” Eliza insisted, the desperation clear in her voice.
Ironically, he was trying to do just that. He sighed.
“Oh, I see.” Her desperation transformed to derision. “You were happy to take the first command and the money that came with it because it didn’t require any real work on your part. Justa quick, ‘Go home, princess.’ A messenger bird could do the same and be half as annoying about it.”
Silas clenched his teeth, a surge of irritation bringing out a faint pattern of snake scales across his arms, thankfully hidden beneath his sleeves. He drew in a deep breath, eyes focused on the overhead clouds until the itch on his skin retreated. In Loegria, a surprise transformation would have condemned him as a shapeshifter and cost him his life, but in Pravusat, anyone passing on the street would have given him a respectful bow and a whispered, “Iyanal.”Snake-blessed. There was no better home for a Snake Affiliate than Pravusat, where they revered snakes as symbols of good fortune and rebirth.
Respectfor being an Animal Affiliate. The concept felt like an impossibility, even though he’d transformed repeatedly in Izili. Yet, when his magic rose within, his instinct was still to resist. To fear the repercussions.
The girl before him was responsible for that. Her family had created the laws of Loegria that inspired the fear that divided him inside and had driven him from home. He’d already saved her from the kuveti, which was more than she deserved.
