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“Why?” Viper asked, leaning against another tree.
“Well…” Cobra paused as he considered his next words. “I didn’t keep my word.”
“Father’s actions are his actions,” I said. “Not yours.”
“But I didn’t stop it,” he said. “Her people must have told her the news once they retreated to their realm. So I doubt she’ll be thrilled to see me.” He took another drink from his canteen. “Ironic, isn’t it? The one woman I’m even remotely interested in…and she’s my lifelong enemy, and I killed her father.”
“Youdidn’t do anything,” Viper said. “It’s a consequence of battle.”
“A battle we only won because of the information she gave us,” Cobra said. “Her father would still be alive right now—”
“Her father is evil, remember?” I said. “I’m eager to hear exactly what she discovered.”
“I think Father is just as evil.” He twisted the cap back onto his canteen.
I couldn’t disagree with that.
Viper glanced at Larisa. “You should try talking to her.”
That would be pointless.
“Tell her something she doesn’t know about you.”
I’d shared everything.
“Give her something interesting so she’ll listen.”
“I’m not that interesting,” I said.
“You’re fifteen hundred years old,” Viper said. “I’m sure you can find something.”
“Go,” Viper said.
I released an annoyed sigh and rose.
Tell her about usss. She doesssn’t know.
I considered the idea for a moment before I moved to where she lay in her bedroll, on the other side of camp with her back to us.
Based on her breathing, I knew she was wide awake, just ignoring me.
I sat beside her, arms on my knees, looking between the trunks to the forest beyond.
She continued to ignore me.
“It was Fang’s venom that turned me. My father captured him and forced the venom from his fangs. Now that you know who my father is, you understand how barbaric he can be. And you know Fang well…and know that Fang isn’t the obedient type. My father enslaved him, and when Fang refused, my father hurt him…” It was hard to revisit this story, to think of my companion’s treatment. It was so long ago, Fang had forgiven me for all of it, but it had still left an invisible scar. “So I released him. Let him go in broad daylight so no one would chase him.”
She seemed to be intrigued by the story, because she sat up beside me. Her arms were on her knees like mine. She used to smell like flowers and springtime, but now she smelled like a misty forest.
Before the battle, we were so deeply connected. Even now, I loved her more at our worst than I had ever loved Ellasara at our best. But now, there was this barrier between us—and I had no idea how to fix it. “He was touched by my gesture…and came back. We’ve been inseparable ever since.”
“Fang called him a snake-killer…”
“Because he is.” My father and I had a million miles of distance between us. Every time I disobeyed him, I pushed myself into darker light, but I wouldn’t make a different decision to stay in his good graces. My relationship with Fang meant far more to me.
“Has Fang turned anyone else?”
“Yes. But by choice, not servitude. Snakes are very proud creatures. They recognize no crown and no power.”
