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“Yes,” I said. “It’ll take a while.”
“More than a while,” Cobra said. “But I agree.”
I placed my palm against the stone and felt its smoothness, free of dust and elemental stains. “Let’s grab the shovels and get to work.”
* * *
We worked all night and parts of the day when the sun was minimal. Days passed, and once Clara’s wound had healed enough, she joined us. Larisa helped as well, while Fang napped on and off the entire time.
After a week, we’d successfully dug around the stones and toppled a few of them. The others were buried too deep into the bedrock, and we would need explosives for those. When darkness returned, we would finish the project and walk back.
I waited for Queen Clara to get cold feet, but she never did.
Larisa and I sat in the shade in a clump of trees, both of us leaning against trunks as we drank from our water canteens. The work was exhausting, so we were both tired. We hadn’t spoken about what had happened, but it was coming.
“I appreciate your valor, but you need to understand—”
“A king can serve his people, but a queen can’t?” Her response fired off quickly, so she’d clearly practiced this in her head.
“You didn’t choose to be a queen. You became one by default. The responsibilities aren’t equal.”
“But I’ve chosen to marry you—and accept all the responsibilities that come with it.”
“Larisa, I don’t need to remind you what’s at risk here. Before, you had a soul, but now you have nothing.”
“The same is true for you.”
“But I chose that.” I stared at her, seeing the pushback in her eyes. “You didn’t.”
She stared back. “I’m an Original. When I sliced that blade through his neck, it was like a hot knife through butter. I feel the difference in strength now, feel the change in my body from a single feeding. Those powers should be put to use.”
“Power will never triumph over experience.”
“But you give me no experience, Kingsnake. You tell me to run and hide. You’ve known me long enough to know I don’t like to turn my back on a fight. If we’re to be king and queen, then we fight together. I should fight for our people as much as you do.”
Her dedication to our kingdom brought a warmth to my body. She no longer identified with humankind, with her old village of Raventower. She’d fully embraced this new life, even before she was turned into a vampire. “I could train you every day myself, but your skills would never compare to mine, to another vampire, to the Ethereal. Your life is too important to risk. That’s final.”
“That’s final?” Her voice was quiet, but her eyebrows narrowed sharply.
“In times of war, you’ll lead our people while I’m on the battlefield. You have a lot to offer beyond your blade.”
“I’m tired of you ordering me to run like I’m some helpless animal. You don’t order Fang to run—”
“Did you see what he did to his enemies?” I snapped. “He killed more of them than the rest of us—combined. You’re not a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound snake, Larisa. You’re barely a hundred pounds.”
She looked away, her mood palpable.
“I need to keep you safe. I need you alive for a very long time.”
“I understand that, but I’m not helpless.”
“I never said you were. But you’ll never possess my abilities. Or Viper’s. Or Cobra’s. Or Clara’s.”
“If we start now, in fifteen hundred years, I will.” She looked at me again.
“I’ve already trained you—”
“But not as a vampire. Not as an Original.”
