Page 15 of Queen of Serpents and Shadows

Bahar stopped moving. “She could feel it.” He pointed to Laera. “You did too.”

“He’s right,” Vanth agreed. “Both of them felt like something was wrong right before Ara fell.”

“So?” Laera demanded.

“So, you can help us choose the right tunnel. And if either of you so much as get an inkling that something is off, we flee,” Bahar said.

“Maybe it’s their magic,” Kabir suggested. “Something they can sense.”

“I don’t have any magic,” I blurted automatically.

“Well, you’ve got something. Maybe it’s like the human oracles, or the priests that occasionally see the future,” Kabir replied.

“Ara, you felt something. Whatever it was, it was a warning,” Ryvin said. “You too, Laera.”

“Why is it always up to the princesses to save the day?” Laera rolled her eyes. She grabbed my upper arm. “Come on. Let’s go see if it’s safe for the big warrior men.”

I fell into step beside her and we walked toward the nearest tunnel. We paused in front of it, then waited. After several long moments of awkwardly standing there, I looked at her. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Do you feel anything unusual?” she asked.

“No.”

“Me neither.”

“That must be the correct tunnel, then,” Kabir said.

“Hold on,” Vanth interjected. “Let them try the others.”

It felt ridiculous, but Laera and I went and stood in front of each tunnel, waiting to see if we felt anything. None of the tunnels gave us the same sinister feeling we’d gotten from the first one.

“Maybe they’re all safe,” I suggested, not believing it myself.

“Maybe we need to take a few steps inside,” Laera grumbled.

“No, not happening,” Ryvin said.

“We’ll turn around if we feel anything strange,” I said. “It’ll be easier for the two of us to get out in time. Besides, if something happens, youcan dig us out.”

Ryvin crossed his arms over his chest. It was clear he didn’t like the suggestion, but he didn’t argue when Laera and I took a few steps into the nearest tunnel.

“Anything?” Laera asked.

I shook my head, then left the tunnel. We silently walked to the next one, and with a glance at each other, we knew there was nothing wrong with this one, either.

“I’m not sure this theory works,” I said. “Maybe we felt the immediate danger when we triggered the trap.”

“Probably,” Ryvin agreed.

“Try the last one, and if it’s the same, we’ll just guess,” Bahar said.

Laera and I exchanged skeptical looks before stepping into the final tunnel. We were only a few steps in when the shaking started. Eyes wide, I launched forward, grabbing Laera’s hand and tugging her along with me.

As soon as we were free, she yanked her hand from me. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“Sorry.” I coughed, then brushed off the fresh layer of dirt.

Ryvin was next to me in a second. “No more going in without me.”

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