Page 73 of Sonnets and Serpents
Kerem laughed. He set aside his book and folded his arms on his desk.
“If you tiptoe any more than that,” he said, “I’ll think you’re black-market dealing. What dangerous net are you entangled in? Say it plainly.”
Silas sighed. “If a kuveti guard were bitten by a snake, how likely do you think it is they’d send for you to administer an antivenom?”
“Plainer than that.”
In the end, Silas had to explain it all—the prison infiltration, the tunnels, Eliza’s missing knight, and the magic stealer. Kerem listened with rapt attention.
“You’recertain?” he asked regarding the magic stealing. “There have been countless experiments—”
“I’m certain,” Silas said. “I’ve never felt anything like it. And if I can prove it, then I can stay here permanently.”
Kerem nodded, leaning forward slightly, his expression showing the same eager grimness as when he sensed an upcoming breakthrough in an experiment. “Then let’s prove it. I’ll prep my antivenom kit.”
A heavy weight vanished from Silas’s mind. He had his contingency plan.
“Thank you,” he said.
Standing, Kerem waved a hand. “Don’t thank me. This is entirely selfish. I want to keep my research assistant.” He gave a sly smile. “And I’d very much like to see that Artifact.”
You and me both, Silas thought.
Eliza had been so impatient to put the plan into action, butwhen the day finally came, she had the unfair feeling it had ambushed her. Was she ready? Or was she going to make a mistake like she’d made the last time at the prison house?
Silas arranged for someone to tip off the kuveti, and then he waited with Eliza on a busy street between the prison and the market. He looked as calm as a breeze while Eliza couldn’t stop fidgeting.
“You know, you could at least protest the idea of me being bait,” she said, picking at a loop of embroidery on her shirt.
“Why? It was a clever idea.” Silas kept his eyes on the street. They stood in the shadow of a wall, waiting for a signal from a pointy-nosed snake.
Eliza smiled to herself at being called clever. All the same, she said, “It would be the chivalric thing to do, not to let a lady endanger herself.”
Silas snorted. “My other option was to get you involved in a fight. How is that more chivalric? Besides, I’m not a knight, and I’m not a lord. I’m just an academic.”
For a moment, Eliza was struck by that statement and all its implications—I’m not a knight. Henry and Silas could not be more different.
She slid her hand into her pocket, finding it unnervingly empty. If she hadn’t left them at the university, there should have been two items. One, the sonnet book with a pressed snowdrop flower inside. The essence of romance. The other, a square of leather-backed snakeskin that made her squirm to touch but protected her from sunburns. Silas had seen a need and addressed it. It was compassionate and thoughtful, just not in a romantic way.
Henry never would have allowed her to be arrested. Silas was going to prison right next to her. Which did she prefer, the romantic protector or the companion in adventure?
She shook her head fiercely, banishing the comparison,because it had no business existing in the first place. Henry was the clear champion in all things. She’d crossed an ocean for him.
And today, she was going to find him.
“Kuveti coming,” said Silas.
Eliza tensed. She shouldn’t have to do much of anything, really, except not run. A harder impulse to resist than she’d imagined.
Even in the shade, she was sweating. The humid air weighed on her skin, and the chaotic noise of the city buzzed in her ears. She strained to see the veiled guards on the street but couldn’t spot them yet.
Silas stepped closer, and his hand brushed her shoulder lightly, spreading a shiver down her arm beneath the fabric. “Drop the wide-eyed stare, Highness. Pretend you don’t notice them coming.”
“How exactly am I supposed to do that? It’s all I can think about.” Nevertheless, she fixed her gaze on his, trying to ignore the pounding anticipation of her heart.
“I’d recommend a distraction. What’s your favorite topic to discuss?”
“Music.”
