Page 61 of King of Serpents

“Fight against them?” Dehv echoed with a touch of horror. “A male does not fight against the shinara.”

“A male has the right to protect his own rights and interests in the shinara,” Therxian corrected.”

“And I am helping you accomplish this?”

A faint smile pulled at Therxian’s mouth as he looked over at the younger male. “Yes,” he hissed. “And you will help me even further by taking me to her so that I may deal with her. I only ask that you do not interfere.”

The younger male studied him for a long moment. “You are not a male who yields to fate and the rule of the noble matriarchs.”

“I may have been born of the shinara, but I am Vehal in my heart. I will never yield unless I choose to.”

Trap or not, he would deal with Gareiia directly. If she knew of this daughter of Yilada, he would draw it out of her. In the end, she had no hope of accomplishing what she intended. He had already found the only female he would yield to.

A smile pulled at Dehv’s mouth and he snapped his gavo. “Very well. You are very admirable. But I worry that the other families—”

“I will deal with them as well.”

Dehv’s smile widened in response. “I believe you will. Then come with me.”

Therxian inclined his head and waited patiently for the male to pass by him and take the lead. If he could turn this in his favor, it would be well worth meeting head on.

Chapter 43

After a brief stop to leave the scrolls with a message in the guards’ quarters for Jathella, passing heavily veiled instructions to her, Therxian followed Dehv. They followed the winding corridors of the palace until they led to the outer parapets overlooking the shinara.

It was quiet, the glow of the crystal-lights filling the market that stretched beyond the majesty of the palace. From his vantage point, he could see the activity below as Seshanamitesh wound amongst the stalls or sat together in designated social areas, often enjoying food with their nestlings or between young mates. It was a quiet, simple atmosphere that he soaked in. Outside of the intrigues of the court and palace, and beyond the discipline of the haga and the mating protocols that ruled every young male’s life, it was this part of the shinara that he had almost forgotten about. He had forgotten about the magic of the market, and beyond that, where the galthie-illuminated nests created a softer welcome. It was this part of the shinara that he had loved as a young male flying overhead while attending his duties for the haga.

“How long has it been since you last saw it?” Dehv asked.

Therxian could no longer accurately remember. Even in returning, he had been escorted through the back hunter’s gate and led directly into the palace once his identity had been made known.

“Longer than I can recall,” he admitted.

“I wish you could have seen it under better circumstances. Gareiia awaits. This way.”

Therxian inclined his head as he followed the male to a narrow, secluded area beyond view of the palace watchtowers. The shadows were deeper there, as it was outside the illumination of the small luminary crystals set strategically around the palace’s parapets to create a welcoming visage for those who took some air out there. He focused on Dehv, watching the male’s body language. Now that they were away from the main part of the palace, the male was moving more smoothly and with more confidence. He almost seemed like a completely different male.

Scales prickling, Therxian slowed, his gaze cautiously raking over his surroundings. In the course of his research, he had recently come across detailed plans of the palace, informing him that the parapet would soon end ahead. From there would be nothing more than a series of rocky outcroppings along the side of the cavern wall that the palace was carved into that made up the forbidden zone that was off-limits to those who occupied the shinara. While he had expected to be lured outside of the palace, this was beginning to strike him as foolhardy.

“How much further, Dehv?” he inquired.

The male paced slowed but did not look back in his direction. “We are nearly there. Just a little further.”

Therxian glanced suspiciously around as the darkness enclosed him, his senses adjusting accordingly. The short wall on his side had vanished, leaving only the stark wall of stone on his left and empty air on his right where the shinara rested silently far below. They were no longer on the proper parapet and had moved onto a rocky ledge leading up to the cavern wall. He peered past Dehv’s shoulder suspiciously. The way ahead curved inward into a dark crevice. Suddenly the other male stopped and turned toward Therxian expectantly as he flattened himself against the wall to make room for him to pass.

“Just keep straight ahead. Gareiia is waiting.”

Therxian remained in place as he stared into the darkness and laughed quietly to himself. In hindsight, his plan now seemed incredibly foolish. If Alex were there, she would murder him if he even visibly appeared to contemplate entering. This was wrong. Even if he had been caught unaware and lured out by Dehv, they could not expect this to work.

“Do not tell me that you are afraid, Therxian,” a familiar but unexpected female voice echoed from the crevice. Behind him, Dehv made a sound of surprise before diving from the ledge, leaving Therxian alone with her. When he made no move to enter, she sighed heavily. “Very well, if you will not come to me, then I will go to you.”

Her bio-luminescence shimmered with the dark veil of the crevice as it wound seductively forward, but it was not Gareiia who emerged. Ferinia’s pale glowing eyes focused on him as she slid out and cast a long glance around him.

“It seems that your companion has disappeared,” she murmured. “He seems to be as easily frightened away as the female who holds his leash.”

“Gareiia fled?”

Ferinia’s gaze slid back to him at his question, and she studied him, her gaze sharp and calculating. “I had come to investigate what the malicious little female was up to,” she replied. “I saw that her pet was sneaking around, following you.”