Page 37 of Serpents of the Night

“If it was planned, then it has put her in a position to harm our mate.” Kehtal sighed as he rubbed along the edges of the gavo on his neck where stress gathered among the collection of small muscles and nerves. “But I do not think she would have volunteered to assist our mate if she was attempting to assist Vekatha. It would be far easier to remain silent and allow Lori to either be forced out of the shinara alone or attempt to weaponize it as an excuse to invalidate our mating.”

Slengral’s gavo snapped in agreement. “This is the only reason that I allow Lori to go through with this as she insists. I do not trust Payeri but I have no solid reason to object and disrupt Lori’s plan to maintain peace between our species. I just do not like it. This trial risks the lives of both our mate and our offspring.”

Kehtal’s gaze narrowed shrewdly on his nest brother. “You have a plan?”

The male met his eyes and slowly lifted and snapped his gavo back again. “We cannot move Daskh and are limited as to what we can do while he is unconscious. The healer is confident that he will awaken soon, so we will give him as much time as possible while also ensuring that the shinara guards who are keeping an eye on the proceedings have relaxed their watch on us. To accomplish this, I will trust Lori’s judgment and wait until just before the first light of the small sun rises with the morning star. Just as we dare not do anything while the guard is keeping a close watch, nor is there likely to be any immediate danger to our mate from Payeri if she proves to be deceitful.”

He inclined his head. Even though he disliked the wait, that was logical. The beginning of the maiden trial was kept under close watch. While guards were selected to escort the blinded female to the chosen trial grounds, and a secondary set of guards made sure there was no interference or meddling that might come from the shinara, by the end of the first night, all was left to the skills of the maiden. At least it was a favorable time of the year. Although the nights were longer during the wet season, the smaller sun rose first so that it inhabited the sky with the morning star and set at midday during the wet season thanks to its own rotation around the primary sun, which provided an extended period of relief from the killing heat of the day. They would be able to set out earlier and their mate would not be subjected to such torturous temperatures during the day.

“We will all go,” he agreed as he grabbed the cloth and began to wipe Daskh’s scales again. His nest brother needed to get better and awaken quickly.

Slengral gave the unconscious male a skeptical look. “He may not awaken on time. If he does not, I will go ahead and mark a trail for you to follow.”

Kehtal’s gavo snapped reluctantly. He did not like that idea. Their family being separated brought an uncomfortable reminder of when he was separated from Slengral and Daskh, caught in the human lab with Lori. They protected and cared for their human mate better when they were all together.

“He will be,” he assured the male at his side, his throat tight with emotion.

Slengral glanced at him soberly but did not protest. There were no words that needed to be said. They would all do what needed to be done when the ganda indicated the rising of the small sun.

Chapter 31

Lori squinted, tears streaming from her eyes as she looked out across the red sand below her from Jathella’s arms. She was more than a little envious of the Seshanamitesh at that moment. While she was uncomfortable, the other females barely looked bothered as they streaked up from the cavern into the evening sky, their eyes apparently adjusting far more quickly to evening sunlight despite living underground. The only sign that they experienced a moment of disorientation was a slight wobble in their flight as they sailed up from the upper mouth of the cave.

Their company was a small one. Aside from Jathella, they only had Buosoa acting as their guard and guide as they winged their way over the endless expanse of red sand beneath them. Their shadows painted deep maroon rolling patterns over the ground as their wings beat a steady rhythm and stretched wide to glide. Lori entertained herself for a time watching the three shadows move, their owners being nearly indistinguishable from each other except for Payeri’s slightly smaller size trailing a short distance close behind them.

Lori craned her neck to peek around Jathella’s arm and squinted back at her maiden at hand. Although the blue webbing of Jathella’s wing obscured much of her vision, she still caught glimpses of the violet female flying with a tranquil steadiness just beyond the reach of the commander’s tail. The spacing was so perfect that she wondered if the flying pattern was one established by not only rank but also social norms that established respectful distances. Now that she really thought about it, she had not seen Seshanamitesh casually touch unless they were mated or of close relation. A careful distance was always maintained which likewise seemed to extend to their habit when flying together that seemed to go beyond the normal “just barely far enough so to not crash into each other” distance in some of the more frightening flying habits of her mates.

If Payeri struggled at all to keep up with their more powerful escort, she wasn’t showing it. She returned Lori’s gaze with a bored expression, and her mouth gaped widely in a yawn before her head turned away to look at something she apparently found more interesting below them.

Well, okay then.

Lori settled back against Jathella with a mental shrug and tried not to dwell on how suffocatingly hot the air was. Even though the smaller sun had already long sunk into the horizon and the larger sun was slowly making its way down beyond the western mountains, the heat was miserable without even a cool breeze to offer relief. Even Jathella’s wings failed to do much beyond simply stirring the hot air around them.

Sighing, she fanned herself with one hand and pulled at her thermal regulatory suit even though it was the only thing really helping her keep relatively cool. It was the wet season, but it looked like they had missed the rain and were left to deal with the remaining heat. She half hoped that it would rain a little at some point during the night just to cool things down a bit more. Although the caverns were uncomfortably cool, she didn’t relish sweltering on the surface either.

At least she didn’t have to start making her way across the desert on foot yet. Jathella had clearly explained the rules to her that morning. Payeri was there as emergency assistance only. She would help only so much as absolute survival demanded but Lori would be responsible for making her way to the Aglatha cave system. Thank the gods that the female had the forethought to pick up the pack that she’d brought from the colony. The emergency provisions, including the light tent, would make surviving a little more humane.

For now, however, she had nothing that was required but to rest and conserve her energy.

“You will need to put on your blinder now,” Jathella murmured. “We did not demand it right away since flying is likely disorientating to someone without wings, but part of the trial demands that the way of return to obscure to you.”

Lori nodded. That made sense. Without complaint, she drew the knotted band up from around her neck and over her eyes before tightening it in place as Jathella’s soft hum of approval settled comfortably within her.

“Is it going to be far?” she whispered.

“Yes.” Jathella was certainly not once to mince words. “It will take you several days to make your way across the sand. You have a quarter turn of the moon to return to the cavern. This gives you an excess of days allowing for more time if needed.”

If she got lost. It did not need to be said but the unspoken words fell between like enormous shards of ice, chilling her.

Lori shivered. She couldn’t get lost in the desert. But she had to ask the thing she dreaded most.

“What if I can’t find my way back?”

Jathella grunted softly. “Among the Seshanamitesh, if a female cannot find her way back, then her maiden hand is commanded to abandon her to her fate at her weakest moment—usually when she is asleep—and will relay the message to her mother nest. Her mother line may choose to find her and return home with her to care for her. For a human...” Her head dropped so that her mouth brushed Lori’s ear, her voice lowering. “Payeri will leave you, and the queen matriarch in turn will see to it that your mates are fed a forbidden drug that can break the pheromone bond as abandoned males, as would be the consequence of any female who mated in defiance outside of her obligations to complete the trial. The queen matriarch gave us this order personally that none among the guard are to look for you. I will not lie. What you are facing is difficult even for Seshanamitesh, but at least being on the surface gives you a chance, whereas completing the trial in the caverns would mean death for you. The queen is merciful in this and giving you a strong chance to complete the trial.”

But if she was to succeed, she would have to do it against all obstacles by herself or die out there. She didn’t even have the option to comm for help from the colony since the comm was taken from her before she left the palace. They had said it was so that she could not comm her mates so that they could find and assist her unlawfully, but it would also ensure that she remained stranded in the desert.

She fidgeted in the commander’s arms. “What is to prevent Payeri from just up and abandoning me at whim?”

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