Page 112 of City of Snakes
“Trust you?” I asked with a smirk.
Elsedora huffed a laugh. “You don’t?”
“I would have trusted you more had you told me your King wanted me to bear his heir and then leave me for dead.”
I did trust Elsedora—Luz was in good hands. I even trusted her not to kill me when she threw daggers in my direction. But she was biased when it came to her King.
“That isn’t what he wants, you know,” Elsie said. “He is a broken man, but he needs you just as much as you need him. The fact that you two haven’t figured that out yet is painful to watch.”
What an amusing point of view.
I snorted as we passed a bustle of people decorating doorways with colorful fabric banners and setting out large barrels.
“I need no one. But speaking of needing things, it’s grown so dry. One of the maids told me this morning that it looks like the first summer rain is on the horizon. Is that what these preparations are for?”
“Oh, yes!” Elsie took my hand and bounced over to the bridge’s railing to look out at the main canal outside of Umber House. We had a good view of the sprawling city of Sahlmsara, and it was lined with colorful banners and people setting up tents all the way down to what I assumed was the riverbed area Krait had led me to that first night in the city.
“We celebrate by the river and collect as much rainwater as possible,” she continued. “Hopefully the rain will fall soon. The first storm marks the beginning of monsoon season. There’s a festival—it’s a good time. Lots of wine. Fun clothing withlotsof fun ties.” She winked.
I rolled my eyes. “Your mind only thinks in terms of its next romp, doesn’t it?”
“When you’ve lived as long as I have, you have to work really hard to entertain yourself.” Elsedora pulled me along to show me the other side of the canal, where tealight candles lined the edge.
Despite the growing threats, the buzz of eagerness for something to celebrate filled me.
I knew Krait would be inhis hole—likely there to brood.
There would be no apologies because El was right. Hewascoddling me. It didn’t matter if I wobbled; it didn’t matter if I was tired. I needed to be pushed to my limits.
The Death Origin would not go easy on me, and someday, I would go up against him.
Approaching the small door beneath the eastern stairwell, I whispered, “In the Shadows we trust.”
Met with dim light and cool air wafting from the underground room, I let out a sigh. I pulled the silk scarf off and tossed it over a coat hook at the top of the steps.
“What are we reading today?” I called down before descending into the book-lined room. Our first day back to “normal” and he was already annoyed with me, but I hoped that he would still read to me from the texts. With the full prophecy revealed to me, there was more I longed to know.
“I thought you might like to skip reading today.” Krait was stretched out on the chaise. I crossed the room and sat beside him at his hip. Pulling one leg beneath me, I faced him. His personal reading choice caught my eye, and I plucked it from his hands, turning over the leather-bound book.
“Are you reading…The Great Romances of the Old World?”
He met my question with a scowl and a grunt as he quickly snatched the book back. “Love is often used against rulers in war. Why not study it?”
Which story was it?I peeked over the spine.
Ah,the one about a princess in endless sleep and the knight whose true love’s kiss woke her.
I’d read those stories as a girl. They were nothing to study—pure unabashed and unrealistic tales of love at first sight. Who was I to judge him?
“Of course,” I mused, too politely it seemed because it earned me another scowl. “We need to discuss my training—”
“Sybilla,” he warned as he ran one hand down his face and sat up on his other elbow.
“I’ll be hunted...” I said, and his hand dropped to his side, inches from my fingertips. “Caym knows I am a threat to him, that ourfuture childwill be a threat to him. So I will be hunted for the rest of his days. He’s already gotten to me once here. What happens when he grows stronger, when we come face-to-face? It is bound to happen.”
He shifted to give me more space, and a crease formed in his brow. He cleared his throat. “That’s fair. But you were bedridden a week ago.”
“It doesn’t matter. I am fine now, and you need to push me harder.”
