Page 26 of Sonnets and Serpents
“Erkekis a drippingly affectionate term for males,” he said. “Either you’re hopelessly in love with me, or I’m your darling little son you never want to leave home.”
Yvette gave a conspiratorial grin, releasing Eliza’s arm. “I don’t think your Stone Caster interpreted it as the second.”
“If you’d just helped me!” Eliza exploded. “None of this—”
“Don’t you dare blame me! Entitled royal—meddling with magic you don’t understand. Did you even consider if we’re bound for life?”
“We’re not!”
“You were so certain of the terms before you purchased? You didn’t even know the right words to use!”
He pried at the bracelet again, but it did not release. He let out a string of curses revolving around people who never deserved to see a snake in their lives.
“Well, I ... We can’t be.” Eliza swallowed. “That’s not the way it should work.”
“You seem to have this belief that you can warp reality to suit your own wants. I have news for you,apta—truth is objective. And reality does not care what you want it to be.”
“Don’t call me that,” she growled.
“I’ll call you whatever I please, considering what you called me—and where we stand as a result.”
“Enough,” said Yvette, cutting her hand through the air as if she could sever the conversation. Her expression still held enough enjoyment to make Silas’s skin bristle with gray scales.
“Jawbone,” she said, gesturing to her own. “Symbolic of language, among other things. My best guess is that you found this Stone Caster in the market, you told her something about a darling boy and Pravish, and she took that to mean you’d fallen in love with some Pravish boy but couldn’t tell him because of a language barrier. As long as you’re both wearing the bands, you’ll understand any language the other can speak, and it should assist with learning it as well.”
“Why limit how far we can go?” Silas asked, glaring at the princess. “Did you throw that detail in too?”
“I didn’t say anything about distance!” Eliza protested.
“A side effect only,” said Yvette. “A language Cast like this needs stability, which can be offered through proximity. Since she assumed you wanted an intimate conversation anyway, why not have it in the same room? Not a problem.”
Silas could have given a few choice thoughts about problems and the princess causing them.
“How do we break it?” he asked. Unless it was a curse, the Cast would come with an inherent unraveling feature.
“Ah ...” Yvette pressed her lips together, separating them with a smallpop. “Well, presumably, after your romantic intentionscould be made clear and understood, this Stone Caster had faith you’d be a love story for the ages.”
Silas tasted something sour. “How do we break it, Yvette?”
“You kiss, Silas. And don’t look at me like that—I didn’t Cast it.”
Kiss?” cried Eliza.
Silas would rather be skinned in snake form. He’d rather be milked for venom. He’d rather be shipped back home to the mercy of his father.
Perhaps not that one. But the list ofratherswas still nearly infinite.
Especially when Yvette said, “Nothing quick, either. You’d have to mean it.”
Silas turned away from the princess, banishing her from even the corner of his eye because if he looked at her, he’d suffer another rage transformation. Instead, he breathed steadily and counted Yvette’s books by multiples of three.
For a moment, he wished he’d never agreed to Aria’s deal, but he couldn’t make that resentment last. He’d been the one to request her help first, and she’d saved Maggie from a miserable future. He’d pay any price to save his sister. Even this one.
“Can you break it?” Eliza asked before Silas could, and he angled to see her clutching Yvette’s hands, pleading. “You’re a Stone Caster!”
Yvette squeezed the princess’s hands and dropped them,stepping back. “Breaking a Cast I didn’t lay comes at high cost. But more than that, I’m not sure it’s for the best in this case.”
Silas stiffened. “What do you mean ‘not for the best’?”
