Page 94 of King of Serpents

“But you will be putting yourself immediately at risk,” Therxian protested, and Zathexa laughed weakly as she clung to Jathella and Kitanara.

“Do not waste your breath, Therxian. They are too stubborn to listen to reason. And yet they insist that I must scurry off to safety,” she grumbled.

“Because you are the high queen, Zathexa,” Elder Goyu chided with a fond smile. “This is about your legacy, so you must continue on for a while yet to serve your own purpose as we will serve ours.”

“I do not think anyone should be welcoming their demise so recklessly,” Therxian muttered as he shouldered the bag. “There is no need for anyone to remain.”

Waena looked over at him and laughed. “To be young and invigorated by ideals,” he observed. “You will understand when you reach our age. We are old and have lived long, satisfying lives during which time we have been the ones to lead the battle charge on more than one occasion during the volatile revolutions of Yilada’s campaign.”

“And lost many friends who sacrificed themselves to rise up against her,” Elder Goyu solemnly agreed. “Now it is our turn,” she added, shoving another pack into his arms. “Here, I prepared this for your mother.”

He mumbled his thanks as he accepted it and looked over at Waena as the male hissed sharply between his teeth.

“Time to go. Just got the sign from our daughter’s mate. The way is clear. She’s got the guards distracted, so if we are going to do this, it must be now.”

Therxian inclined his head in acknowledgement, his gaze shifting to his mother with concern as the guards hoisted her higher between them. Jathella gave him a faint smile of encouragement as Healer Zhia took her place by her side.

“We have her. Lead the way, Therxian.”

Lead the way. His alliance with Jathella had always been one based on mutual benefit rather than explicit trust. Somehow it had grown since those early days following his arrival in the shinara. He cleared his throat and turned toward Waena. The elderly male straightened with pride as he drew back, his eyes glittering fiercely with unchecked emotion.

“Keep your guard up,” the male hissed. “You are being trusted with the welfare of your mother and the entire shinara. Do not disappoint your father.”

Therxian held his gaze and allowed himself to linger for a moment before gravely snapping his gavo and turning to the entrance. A feeling rose inside him in that moment, and it was momentous, not unlike arriving at the edge of the sheer cliff-side of the Vir, preparing to plunge in pursuit of the hunt. This was it.

“Stay close,” he hissed over his shoulder as he entered the corridor.

His tail whipped as he moved forward quickly, his wings flattened to his sides and his eyes moving alertly, searching for any signs of danger. A quick glance behind him confirmed that Jathella and Kitanara trailed closely with his mother, their free hands holding their velkats at ready, and just beyond them the elders of the Goyu family guarded their exit, their movement through the corridor betrayed by nothing except the quiet rasps of their tails moving across the stone floor. His mother was pale and clenching her jaw with the effort to keep up, even with the assistance, but she did not make a sound. Even the elders moved with quick, certain movements rather than shambling along with twisting tails as was common among the elder nobles accustomed to a lifetime of ease.

Although the tunnel to the lower passage was close, Therxian’s nerves prickled as they made their way through the great corridor. Though they moved deftly together as one, as they slipped silently along, every moment felt like a pinched breath waiting to exhale. There was no certainty. There was only waiting as they moved forward past the abandoned guard post.

His gavo lifted slightly as a small wave of relief hit him. They got past the hardest point... and now—

“Going somewhere?”

Whirling around high on his tail, Therxian brandished the velkat as he faced the threat coming from a side passage just behind them. Snapping his gavo high, he drew forward, gathering his mother and the guards behind him as he hissed menacingly. Elder Goyu and Waena flanked him, their wings spreading protectively.

Ferinia drew from the shadows, her eyes touching each of them briefly with amusement before landing on him. She smiled as several guards slipped around her out into the corridor.

“So very predictable,” she hummed as her eyes skated over him. “You had the opportunity to escape—and I nearly believed that you had—but you would never leave without your mother.” She smirked, her gaze sliding to Zathexa mockingly. “The noble high queen has emerged. You are looking... like death,” she hissed with laughter. “Risking everything to run away. My mother would be so pleased if she could have seen how far you have fallen.”

“There is no shame in retreating, something your mother should have taken note of rather than plotting her vengeance,” Zathexa replied, her voice broken as she struggled for breath.

“Retreating is for the weak, and it gets females killed,” she added succulently. Her eyes flicked casually to Elder Goyu and Waena, a sly smile spreading across her face. “It is a pity that your companions did not choose their alliance more carefully. They did not consider what might happen to their traitorous daughter and their entire mother-line.”

Elder Goyu straightened indignantly, her body trembling with fury. “Ferinia! What have you done with my daughter? I demand that you produce her at once!”

“Vekatha,” Ferinia called out. “Elder Goyu wants us to produce her daughter.” She smiled cruelly. “Oblige her.”

Therxian stiffened as a female emerged from amongst the guards, a broad, merciless smile on her face. Her eyes slid over them before settling on the elders. In her hand, she carried a large, weighted sack.

“Of course, cousin,” she replied giddily.

Gripping the bottom of the sack, she released the top as she swung it forward. The fabric parted as the head rolled out from its depths and across the floor, coming to a stop just a short distance away. The female’s dead eyes stared sightlessly at her mother, her mouth parted as if caught by surprise.

Elder Goyu’s gavo flattened, her mouth moving with disbelief. She recoiled with a shriek of rage. “What have you done?”

“What have I done?” Ferinia smirked as she watched Waena collect their daughter’s head and wrap his wings around it with a grief-stricken expression. “I have dispatched a segment of my guards, and as we speak, they are terminating this line to keep it from being a thorn in my side. All of them,” she hissed, “down to the smallest hatchling.