Page 38 of King of Serpents

Buosoa’s smile widened, the sharpness shifting into something friendlier. “You speak of Ehsash. The offspring of a forbidden union. His father hid his mother away to keep her from being slain for unlawful breeding, and he has done the same in his father’s stead since his return to Shangla. Since he is a male, and one of unusual and highly desirable coloring, the council was willing to overlook it. Sadly, he is elusive and infertile, from what rumor tells.”

Alex stared at her, her stomach twisting. She honestly felt a little sick. Hunting rival females wasn’t just a sport of the ancestors of the Seshanamitesh matriarchs; it had merely faded with the lack of opportunity.

“So, when Kitanara rescued me—"

“She has a soft heart. She risked her own skin for you,” Buosoa filled in. “The matriarchs would retaliate if they knew what she had done. To rescue a lone female instead of terminating the threat would have seen our entire family banished from service, and my sister’s life forfeit.”

“Then why bring me here? She could have carried me closer to the shinara and sought out a hunter.”

Buosoa regarded her mirthfully. “Do you imagine that a wily hunter who has intentionally left the authority of the shinara would let a female close to him? For that matter, do you imagine that every hunter on the surface is friendly toward your Raza?”

Alex felt heat rise into her cheeks, suddenly feeling very foolish. “I never thought about it,” she admitted.

“Of course you did not. You are not from this world, but you treat it as if it is an environment that you are familiar with and in which you do not need to take extra precautions to navigate,” Buosoa pointed out. Her words were a harsh pill to swallow, but her tone was even rather than scornful, which did much to remove some of the sting from her words.

“You are right,” Alex quietly replied. “If I had been lost on the desert sands, I would have gone to the first hunter I saw without thought.”

The female flicked her gavo, her expression shifting to something akin to sympathy. “Too trusting by far. Naïve. Maybe you can trust the males who allied themselves with your colony, but you have limited experience. Many hunters are brutish and would capture you merely for their own pleasure to claim as mate for their nest, if they did not decide to just eat you instead. I don’t think you would have enjoyed either possibility. And among them are many who are loyal to the shinara. It is how they were reared and molded in the haga. They would have executed you on sight in the most painful ways possible to please the Matriarchs. Trusting you to a hunter would have been impossible for Kitanara.”

Alex’s stomach sank, the reality hitting her hard. She was in more danger than she ever could have imagined, just because she was female. Life was hard as a non-gratas but never had she imagined a scenario where she would be hunted and destroyed for her sex. It wasn’t fair that she had escaped one oppressive system to land on a world where another terrible system was determined to destroy her completely rather than just use her. She wanted to curl into a blanket and hide away from the entire terrible planet and cry.

Buosoa’s head tipped as she studied her, the expression softening. “Now you see. The truth is not easy. It is ugly. This is why we need Therxian to help us change things.”

“And I am a danger to him,” Alex whispered.

“Yes.” The female didn’t mince words. “Your presence here disrupts everything he has intended to do and will threaten what he seeks to accomplish.

Alex hugged herself, suddenly uncertain of what she should do. “What now? I don’t know what to do other than be a good little captive down here and pray I am not discovered. I don’t want anyone hurt when I am sick and tired of being someone’s target.” She exhaled heavily, a feeling of hopelessness crushing her. The more Therxian came to her, the more he would potentially endanger himself and everything he was working so hard for. “I suppose that is why you were sent here. To make sure I remain where I was put and not cause any trouble. On that count, you don’t have anything to worry about. I would not do anything to jeopardize anyone needlessly. But you are also here because you think that he should stay away.”

Buosoa’s tail shifted, uncurling as she adjusted her weight. “Jathella is of this opinion. Kitanara disagrees, and so our sister does not permit her to come here because she does not believe that our youngest sister will act rationally in the shinara’s best interest. I, however, was undecided. But now?” Her gavo lifted slightly as she studied Alex. Her mouth suddenly twisted into a smile. “I think you may be exactly what Therxian needs. And what our shinara needs is to topple the power of the Council. The system of mother’s right by Shangla was useful for a time, but that time ended long ago when it began to harm us.”

Alex met the female’s gaze, a spark of hope warming her chest and easing the ache that settled within her. “What do you suggest?”

“We wait, but change nothing. If you care about his well-being, then be Therxian’s strength and the center of peace for him. He will need it,” the female muttered.

Therxian. Right now, he was being paraded before the council to be forcibly paired yet again. It made her angry, angrier than she had felt before when she had contemplated the council’s plan. She was angry for everything. For him, for herself, for the lives of the Seshanamitesh manipulated by the power of the Matriarchs.

“Ok,” she muttered. “But I look forward to burning it all to the ground.”

Buosoa’s face lightened with mirth, and she hissed with laughter. “As do I, Alex. As do I.”

Chapter 28

The females watching him within the chamber unsettled him, but even more so as he felt his distress slowly increasing. The longer he was separated from Alex, the more his anxiety grew. The absence of her scent or having her safely within his nest was wreaking havoc with his instincts. It was like a restless itch burrowing beneath his scales, demanding that he hunt her and reassure himself by basking in her scent. He debated making an escape and hiding from his mother’s wrath until he had the opportunity to descend into the elder palace below. It would certainly be preferable to enduring the cluster of females he was once again being subjected to.

The tip of his tail twitched, and he glanced over at Jathella, weighing his odds of getting by her. As if anticipating the direction of his thoughts, her head turned, and she met his gaze, her eyes narrowing as she returned his regard. The message was clear. She did not care much about his personal motivation or even his choices, but she would not allow him to bring shame on her and her station. He would most certainly not get past her.

His gavo flicked with barely suppressed frustration. It appeared that he was stuck for the time being. Part of him wished he had taken the opportunity Jathella had previously given him. But no, that was his anxiety speaking. He just hated being caught there amid so many females fanning their pheromones at him in hope of enticing him to act despite the high queen’s tight control of the proposed breeding. It was uncomfortable, but at least he was not being accosted by females in the corridors of the palace. After what happened, Zathexa had already pre-emptively forbade further private escorts to his nest until a new, unknown location could be decided upon. It was also why she was insisting on holding court again for the pairing.

He smothered an aggrieved sigh as he watched and waited. The way she was scrutinizing the gathered females told him all that he needed to know—she was going to use the incident to keep the matter of breeding more directly under her control. There would be no more private escorts. Not when the entire palace was gossiping about the matriarchs intentionally attempting to sabotage each other. It did not take long to reach his mother’s ear and, uncomfortable current situation aside, Therxian had no intention of informing her otherwise. She was displeased now, but she would be furious to learn that her eldest offspring was intentionally sabotaging the council’s plans.

Probably less because he escaped and more because it led to the chaos he was currently witnessing.

Whereas previously there was a constrained edge of competitiveness between the noble families that had kept them tightly reined and under control, now every female of age and her mother line was bristling with hostility. And this time, not even his mother could control it. They still deferred to her in her presence to a certain extent, but the hum of angrily vibrating gavos filled the royal court was a loud demonstration of how little control she truly had. Zathexa demanded order and peaceful assembly within the palace, and yet the females whipped aggressively in response to those nearest to them fanning their pheromones. It was ridiculous and utterly ineffectual as the scent rolled off him without any obvious effect—and yet still they tried to lure him for capture. It was pitiful, and it represented everything that those of the shinara had shunned the territorial and aggressive males among their species for. The difference was that such tendencies that resulted in the males being ejected from the colony into the upper caverns were glossed over and deemed acceptable among the females while they collectively pretended that it did not exist. The reality was laughable. If he were not at the center of it all, he might have found it amusing to witness the entire court coming down on itself in a shocking display of its true nature—a nest of violence.

A female to his left proved his point as she started and spat with an angry hiss at the female passing close by her. The female was posturing territorially, her gavo sharply raised as she rounded on the smaller, younger female approaching him. Ferinia. Again. Therxian swallowed back a groan and almost felt pity for the younger female who immediately rolled out of Ferinia’s immediate reach, her gavo shooting upward aggressively. She looked back toward her matriarch, and the elder female gave her a stern look, her gavo inching upward in silent encouragement. It seemed that even the elder of her family was in support of this bestial behavior. He was not surprised. This was certainly not new behavior among females in the shinara, though he was unclear as to how deeply the poison ran. He watched expressionlessly as the small female inclined her head in silent agreement before whipping around with a venomous hiss.

Ferinia did not wait for the other female to initiate an attack. She launched herself forward, the superior mass and length of her tail colliding with the younger, more delicate female in a crushing blow. Her tail wrapped tightly around her, her claws stabbing deep into the smaller frame of her torso. The smaller female shrieked in pain, drawing the attention of every other female to the conflict at hand. A volley of shrill snarls and shrieks began as females launched themselves into the midst of it, each suddenly very determined to be the victor as they fought whole-heartedly, clawing and whipping at each other. Therxian retreated into a sheltered corner, his eyes following the chaos.