Page 43 of King of Serpents

Therxian.

She didn’t know how exactly she knew it was him when the meat offering proved that another knew she was there. Logically, it could have been anyone. Yet, somehow, she just knew. Therxian was coming for her.

Buosoa’s head swung in the direction of the sound, her body turning slightly as her gavo rose warily. A tiny huff of laughter escaped the female and her gavo lowered as she bobbed her head humorously.

“I think that is my cue to leave,” she murmured, thrusting the meat at Alex.

Alex blinked, startled and turned toward the other female in disbelief. “Wait. What? You aren’t seriously going to abandon me now.”

Buosoa responded with another soft hiss of laughter and tipped her head toward the dark, broken tunnel as another shriek echoed off the stones. “Do you not hear that? Does that sound like a rational male to you?” She thumped Alex on the shoulder companionably with one wing. “Do not look so worried. This is a very encouraging sign.”

“Encouraging? Encouraging for whom?” Alex yelped, despite the hot, liquid well of need rising rapidly within her belly. “That doesn’t sound... safe,” she finished lamely.

The other female grinned for the first time, displaying her perfectly sharp teeth. “If you wanted safe, then you should never have left the soft confines of your colony, little human. Nothing is ever safe when it comes to Seshanamitesh and mating.”

Alex squinted at her suspiciously. “Easy for you to say when females typically outweigh your males. How is it unsafe for you?”

Buosoa’s grin widened impossibly. “Do you think it is an accident that we have selectively bred our males small and colorful? We can see them easily and are capable of restraining them, and even then, a male in the height of his lust can be unpredictable. But Therxian is a male of royal blood, which makes him larger as males were in the old days, and he has lived among the Vehal... no female would have an easy time with him, and yet many are eager to try all the same for what he represents. But they do not get this,” she hissed.

Alex’s eyes flicked nervously back to the dark tunnel that seemed to echo the stir of air and the distant sound of wings snapping. “What is this?” she whispered in reply.

“That would be the sound of a very lustful male prepared to protect his ashlava,” Buosoa replied so sweetly and so matter-of-factly that it made Alex pause.

The queen of his nest. His mate. Alex had heard this word whispered endearingly among the males in intimate little corners as they wrapped the coils of their tails or wings around their chosen mate. The utter devotion in that one little word had touched her heart, but she had never imagined the other side of their intense bond with their mate: the fierce need to protect it.

She blinked, her eyes dropping suddenly to the meat that was thrust into her hands and widening. “Oh no, no, no. I am not going to be holding this when he gets here. Are you insane? You just said it would drive him mad,” she snapped as she attempted to thrust the meat back at the female.

Buosoa glided out of the way, her chin dipping cheerfully in the negative. “I cannot return to the palace with that. Too many would question it. It serves a better purpose with you.”

Alex narrowed her eyes at the other female. “How?”

The guard’s ears flicked casually—too casually. “Some males require a bigger push than others. Seeing that another male is willing to provide for you will be just the incentive he needs to secure what he needs so he can refocus on what the shinara needs. I have said before that my primary interest is in the shinara’s well-being. Naturally, this serves my purposes perfectly.”

Alex’s jaw dropped. “You actually want him to be provoked?”

“Of course. As you should as well, if you would stop ignoring what your instincts are telling you,” she said pointedly. “You want him to choose you, even if you believe it is impossible. He also wants you, despite the pressure that is being put on him by everyone around him. I must admit—from Jathella as well, as she sees it as the necessary vehicle of change within the shinara.”

“And how does that make this a good idea?” Alex demanded as she lifted the meat demonstratively. “How is this not going to make everyone pissed off at me?”

“Worry less,” Buosoa advised with an additional flick of her ears, and another shriek carried up the tunnel—closer.

Worry less? Alex snorted in disbelief. That was like asking for the moon at the current juncture. “And what will keep Jathella from just taking my ass out?”

“My sister would not do that,” the guard replied confidently. “Though she has always been a little too singularly focused, she is not heartless. Like myself, her only true interest is the shinara. We wish to see change so that we can thrive in the future, but Jathella believes that it can only come by working within the established system and dismantling it from within. She is correct to a point, which is why we threw our support behind Therxian. However, I do not agree that it requires him to sacrifice himself and take a mate deemed ‘acceptable’ to satisfy the populace. We are not blind. She sees his feelings for you as clearly as I do, but she is afraid that he will do as Slengral did. Unfortunately, the way things currently are, you are also a distraction. She intends to reduce the distraction by separating you, but you can hear for yourself that this is useless. The more she tries to separate you, the more he will close the distance, one way or another. It is his instinct to do so.”

Alex frowned. “So, you want to throw accelerant onto a fire instead.”

A sly smile spread across the female’s face. “Yes. If Therxian will not break himself free from the constraints placed on him by his mother, the council, and my sister, then I will make certain that his instinct to be close to his ashlava to provoked to the point of breaking down the last of the barriers. Jathella will blame me, but if it accomplishes the same result—removing a source of distraction by settling his instincts—then she has no reason to object.”

Alex looked doubtfully at the meat. It still sounded like they were preparing to play with fire from more than one front. And that Alex was the one taking the most risk. It was unlikely that Jathella would retaliate against her own sister, but if Alex was the source of the problem, she would be the most likely target.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled. She shivered as another shriek blasted through the air, the sound strong and clear now that he was closing in on her. “Buosoa,” she began, her gaze lifting from her burden, “perhaps we should rethink—-”

She blinked at the empty corridor. The guard had taken the opportunity to make her getaway.

“Well... fuck me.”

Which seemed to be exactly the point that Buosoa was aiming for. Traitor.