Page 25 of Serpents of the Night

“It is not that I wish for you to remain in the nest. I did say that I would locate pools for you to visit and enjoy—somewhere peaceful and private,” Kehtal added, briefly shooting Daskh an annoyed look before gazing beseechingly at their mate. “The Blooming is just... a lot. It would not be unreasonable to decline.”

“I agree,” Slengral muttered darkly. His expression softened, however, when Lori whirled toward him combatively. A fond smile curled the corners of his mouth as his hand raised to silence her protest before it even left her lips. “But I yield to our ashlava’s desire. If it makes her happy, then I shall willingly tolerate being so exposed around so many potential enemies.”

Lori’s eyes rolled upward, drawing another laugh from Daskh as he recognized the look of pure exasperation from their mate. His gavo flicked with his amusement and the tip of his tail curled around her left leg and tapped on her thigh playfully as he worked on weaving more flowers into the braids that Kehtal had previously finished.

“Do not be too cross with your mates, hithana,” he chided softly, giving a gentle tug on one of her braids to draw her close so that he could bend down and nuzzle her ear. He smiled privately at the small gasp that escaped her with the briefest hint of her desire. “We are simple males who only wish to protect our mate. But we want you to be happy, too, even if it means that we must go against our instinctive impulses. You cannot blame us too much when we have a precious mate who is so small and vulnerable. Then there is Hashal as well to consider.”

Her gaze lifted to meet his before sliding over toward their son. The male was so devotedly occupied with sorting through the basket of flowers and laying out the best of them one by one for Lori’s hair that he did not even seem to notice the attention focused on them. Her mouth tipped in a wry smile, the pink of her lips appearing darker and more vivid against the green of her skin.

“Point taken. But come on,” she groaned softly as she turned toward him once more, “this is a party. It will be fun, especially for Hashal. Unlike all of you, I’m sure that he hasn’t even seen The Blooming before. Besides, the Seshanamitesh are going to have more important things on their mind than a small human they likely won’t even notice is there. I am sure that there will be a lot of things much more worth their attention during an obviously important festival.”

Daskh glanced over at Kehtal, but the male did not reply right away as he focused on braiding another segment of her hair. Finally, he gave a reluctant sigh.

“They will likely have golden agar,” he muttered.

That seemed to get the young male’s attention. Hashal’s ears fanned with interest and a small gasp escaped him as he whirled toward them, displacing several flowers with the excited flutter of his wings. “Golden agar? I have always wished to taste golden agar!”

Kehtal clicked softly and nudged Hashal with his wing, sending the young male toppling over. “What do you know of it? Perhaps I will allow you to have a taste to give you something to look forward to when you are older.”

“Is that some kind of drink?” A note of curiosity filled Lori’s voice and Daskh grinned down at her.

“Agar is bulbous root that grows off its desert-dwelling mother plant,” he explained. “The plant is hardy and stores pockets of moisture in its roots. Many hunters rely on them if they are stranded in the desert away from the caverns for any length of time. Gathering it during the height of the rains, however, provides large quantities of refreshing juices that can be sweetened with the nectar collected from barlisk hives.”

“So... sugar water?” Lori’s lips twisted with disappointment.

Kehtal’s wings flared, and Daskh watched in amusement as the male gripped their mate’s hand. “It is more than sweet water! The juice from the plant during the rains is like nothing other and can only be experienced at this time from the agar in the low deserts where the water pools and floods. It has a flavor unlike anything you have tasted before containing within it the spirit of Seshana itself, which is enhanced greatly by the barlisk nectar.” A shiver stole over him. “It is pure pleasure to drink, unlike that foul liquid you humans poison yourselves with.”

Lori squinted at him, and the corners of her lips curled. “Ah. It is obviously something of an intoxicant for you then.”

“It is not intoxicating. It is merely pleasant. For adults,” Kehtal amended with a quick glance in Hashal’s direction.

Their mate gave him a skeptical look, but Daskh did not miss the slight curl at the corner of her mouth hitch higher. “It doesn’t seem very likely that a root plant would beat out a really quality gin or whisky.”

Kehtal puffed out his wings and gavo in affront. From his perch on the carved-out rock ledge beside them, Hashal mimicked the male and Daskh swallowed back his laughter, his chest tightening with affection. They had come a long way from their uncertain relationship in the beginning. Hashal had bonded with his fathers sufficiently enough that he now instinctively trusted their lead and reflecting back to them.

“See if it does not!” Kehtal boasted. “I will give you your first taste of golden agar myself and you will give me your apology for insulting it the moment after it touches your tongue. It will sing to your soul.”

“Now you are promising me soul singing, Kehtal? I don’t think so. There’s no way I could believe that.” Lori squinted at him and shook her head.

Hashal’s little face wrinkled in confusion and once more Daskh was forced to restrain his laughter as Kehtal huffed with exasperation, his wings delivering an annoyed slap at the air.

“Now you are mistaking me on purpose,” he grumbled.

Hashal giggled as Slengral turned toward them, his attention drawn away from their nest’s entrance. The male’s eyes skimmed over their nestling, lingering for only a moment with amusement before narrowing on their mate thoughtfully. Despite the severity of his expression, the corners of his mouth hitched as he too caught onto their mate’s goading as she began to laugh. Kehtal’s mock scowl deepened in turn as rose up on his coils in response until he towered over their mate. His wings fanned wide, a look of determination stamped across his face, and Daskh drew back with a grin to give his nest brother some room as the younger male dragged Lori into his arms. Their mate barely had time for a screech of laughter before they launched forward, Kehtal’s wings carrying them out of the nest and down the tunnel leading to the entrance.

Hashal screeched, his little body shooting up as his wings beat rapidly, carrying him through the air after them. Daskh let him chase after them without complaint. The male would not be able to fly far, but his endurance was improving as he grew so he could be trusted to fly out a short distance by himself. They would not get far before he and Slengral caught up, and by then he could carry the nestling if he grew too tired.

Slengral watched them go, his gavo raising. “That was... surprising.”

Daskh chuffed softly as he rose up on his own coils, his wings stretching leisurely. “Kehtal is cautious when it comes to anything about the shinara. He has always done what is expected and put on a pretense of desiring to attract a mate like any other male just to guarantee that he drew no unwanted attention to himself. If Lori had not goaded him into taking her to The Blooming, then he would have done nothing more than hover anxiously the entire time and whisk her back to the nest as soon as he felt he could get away with it without overly disappointing her.” He drew in a deep breath and smiled in approval. “Now, at least, our mate may enjoy the festival.”

Slengral’s head tipped, his gaze sharpening. “Unless Vekatha uses it as an opportunity to attack.” He scowled and gave his head a rough shake, his gavo flaring wide. “No. I will not allow that to happen.”

“None of us will,” Daskh growled, his tail whipping over the smoothed rock beneath them.

Slengral inclined his head. Stretching his wings wide, he launched himself into the air with enough violence that he sailed swiftly through the air toward the tunnel. Daskh beat his wings, following after him, his speed picking up as they shot down the tunnel and broke from the entrance, their wings pushing them rapidly through the air. Kehtal did not have much gain on them as it seemed that the male was flying at a more leisurely pace, giving them the opportunity to effortlessly catch up as the shinara below was lit up with more flowers than Daskh recalled seeing at any one time. Not since his mother delivered him to the haga and his eventual escape with Kehtal.

It had been The Blooming then, too, when they had made their escape and they had stolen as much golden agar as they could carry before soaring up beyond the reaches of the shinara to the upper caverns. That taste of golden agar was the last that either of them had enjoyed since, and Daskh wondered if that bittersweet memory would return to Kehtal when he shared the first drink with their hithana—and if it did, if it would bring the male sorrow or make the moment even sweeter knowing that the moment had brought him full circle, and that he had another joy to keep close to his heart forever.

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