Page 6 of Serpents of the Night

“We will all go, Lori,” he rumbled instead, transgressing terribly by his culture’s mores by speaking over and directing his mate in public. “If nothing else, we can testify of his devotion to you, which we witnessed, and precedes this female’s claims.”

His gaze shot to the hashara briefly as the female startled and he quickly looked away, focusing back in on his mate. There were things that he understood about the shinara system that other males did not, not even the royal-blooded Slengral, thanks to having an educator as a mother. He had the benefit of learning to read and write in his youth that had allowed him to educate himself even during the most brutal revolutions of his juvenile years.

“Tell the hashara that you refuse to be separated from your mate. By our law, you are allowed this while he is in the process of being judged.” His eyes lifted, carefully avoiding Slengral’s shocked stare to catch Fashria’s gaze. He had no doubt that he was breaking protocol in the highest sense by speaking to her directly, using the guise of being ill-mannered to instruct his mate. “If this is a ploy to get us to return to the shinara then it is one that will not work the way that they wish. I shall do whatever is necessary to keep this from harming our nest further.”

A flicker of a grateful smile pulled at the corners of Slengral’s mouth and Lori swallowed nervously but nodded before hastily turning toward the hashara and unnecessarily repeating his words. The hashara was pleased with the result, that much was already clear, so he was not surprised when she readily agreed. Of course, she would agree, she had accomplished what she had been sent to Raza colony to do—return with Slengral. In that moment, he loathed the smug smile on her face as much as Slengral clearly did by the expression on his face as she slid past him.

“Very well. I will make use of the nest you have provided until the prime sun descends. At that hour I expect that you will be ready to depart,” Fashria said smoothly as she left, leaving her carefully crafted chaos in her wake.

Daskh looked toward his mate, wanting desperately to curl himself around her, yet she held herself too far away from either him or Slengral to draw her into their embrace. He contented himself with gathering Hashal into his arms as the young male darted rapidly toward him, his eyes longingly following his mate as she paced. His tail twitched uneasily and itched with longing to hold her.

“Are you angry, hithana?” he murmured.

Slengral gave him a disgusted look, but he ignored it. It was perhaps an idiotic thing to say, but he wanted to give their mate an opening to speak whatever she was feeling.

“I’m fucking pissed is what I am,” she growled but then sighed when both he and Slengral winced in reaction. “Not at you guys—though you’re not getting a free pass with the secret keeping stuff, which we will be talking in depth about when Kehtal returns—but this entire situation and the way she even just dares to manipulate—urgh! And to accuse Slengral of just viciously attacking or abandoning anyone... it’s ludicrous. I just want to...” her words dropped as she tipped her head back and screamed her frustration to the ceiling while Eddie made a quick and discreet exit.

Taking several deep, gulping breaths, it took her a moment before she was able to look at them again and he could see the exhaustion plain in her eyes. “Let’s just... go home,” she sighed as she waved Hashal to her side, a smile briefly replacing her exhausted expression as the young male eagerly complied. Daskh and Slengral both mutely inclined their heads, their gavos flicking in affirmation.

Going back to their nest sounded perfect to him. And he expected that his nest brother needed it even more. There was no knowing how many moments they would have together as a family. And that weighed on all of them, especially Slengral.

Chapter 5

How did one day that was supposed to be moderately stressful suddenly become such a nightmare? It was as if everything was falling around her ears before Lori could even grasp what was going on. Hashal was withdrawn and quiet as he picked at the food that she set in front of him. She toyed with the idea of leaving him with Eddie while they were gone but that didn’t seem fair when he was a part of the family and had a vested interest in the outcome. It was clear that he was worried. She could see it in the tension of his developing gavo as it twitched along his back and in the tiny crests upon his head. As much as she wanted to reassure him, she didn’t know what to say to make him feel better.

She wanted to tell him that everything would be okay but couldn’t get the words past her lips—not when she felt so uncertain about their future. She was barely keeping her composure as it was. As much as she wanted to just find a corner to break down and cry in, she had to remain strong. At the same time, she couldn’t bear to make any promises that she wasn’t sure she could keep. Especially not when tearing apart their family had certainly seemed to be the hashara’s intention—a task that she had appeared far too gleeful in undertaking. How much worse would it have been if the female had noticed the nestling in the room? There appeared to be some sort of special offense taken with even the idea of a female of another species birthing Seshanamitesh young that she couldn’t quite grasp. Even so, she had little doubt that it was something rooted in their spiritual and cultural tradition, and it was probably going to be a significant obstacle for them in the shinara.

Lori sat at the end of the table and propped her arms on its smooth surface, battling back the urge to rub her eyes and temples to relieve the pinch of fatigue and stress. There didn’t appear to be any sort of “safe” option for them. The fact that the female Seshanamitesh were quite a bit larger than her and held all the power didn’t help her confidence in their situation. Although she doubted that every female within the shinara was cut from the same cloth any more than humans or any other species were, she had very little doubt that there would be those like the hashara who would be all too happy to weaponize any perceived weaknesses.

“Fuck,” she mumbled, dragging her palm down her face.

“Mother, you said that is a bad word,” Hashal hissed, his bright eyes widening in shock.

She gave him a wan smile despite her chest warming with a growing love for the nestling. That he had taken to calling her “mother” on his own quite recently was something that never failed to leave her just a little bit in awe even as it completely delighted her.

“You are right. Sorry, Hashal.”

He slowly nodded his head, his small, delicate gavo flicking but he paused, his lips parting slightly.

“What is it Hashal?”

He gave her an uncertain look, his gavo flattening completely. “I do not want to say. I do not want you to be angry.”

Reaching across the table, Lori rested her hand over his and gave it a small squeeze. “You can tell me anything. I won’t be mad.”

He ducked lower in his chair, his expression unconvinced, but he twitched his gavo again and nodded for her benefit. “You... you are scared of the shinara,” he whispered.

She blinked, surprised by his astute observation. “Yes. Yes, I am,” she readily agreed. “But you know something—it’s okay to be frightened of places that are new and that you don’t understand. It’s how you deal with that fear that is important.”

He sank even lower but nodded again, his gavo barely trembling. “You are smart to be scared. I do not like the shinara. They would have taken me and forced me to live there like all of the other hatchlings if not for my father. He hid my egg away before I was born and always said that it was a bad place for anyone who did not have the good fortune to be hatched female.”

“Perhaps, in some ways,” she agreed slowly, not wanting to villainize a whole society that she didn’t really know anything of. “But your father was also not very...” her words dropped off as she struggled to find the right adjective.

“Sane,” Hashal filled in glumly, his attention returning to his meal. “That is what father Daskh says. He says that my father had something wrong with his head.”

“Yes, I suspect Daskh is right,” Lori agreed.

“He would not lie about that, would he? Like the way he pretended that he did not know that your nestling was father Slengral’s?” He ducked his head and whispered hurriedly, “He said that he did not wish for you to be sad that everyone knew the truth or believe that anyone would treat them like less for not siring the nestling when they all felt so pleased and happy to greet him. I do not think he lied about this, but now I am not sure.” Hashal gave her an anxious look and she stared at him in shock for a moment before quickly shaking her head.

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