Page 10 of Serpents of the Night

Lori inclined her head to the right and raised her hands above her head, simulating the agreeable snapping of gavo. They watched her curiously but with clarity that came from understanding her intended gesture.

“I thank you and happily accept your invitation. I am eager to retire with my mates. It has been a long journey.”

“Yes... your mates.” Jathella glanced at the males. “We have been told of your mating practices above ground, but seeing your diminutive size, the reason has become clearer to us, which we shall share with the queen matriarch. It is not the way of the shinara, but it is also not the way of the Vehal, and so this satisfies us that we should not expect any safety concerns.” She hesitated, her gavo fluttering very slightly. “Queen Zathexa had hoped that your mates might proceed on without you while you get settled. The queen matriarch is anxious to see her offspring again—as you may understand, as a nesting female, yourself.”

Nice try.

Lori gave her a small, flat smile. “I do understand, and I assure you that we will make every effort to meet with the queen matriarch as soon as we have a moment to rest from our long flight. I am certain that you understand that I do not feel comfortable without my mates and understand my right to have them with me to service and protect me at all times.”

As much as she hated the words, they seemed to have the right effect because Commander Jathella glanced at the females to either side of her and swallowed as her gaze turned back to Lori once more.

“Yes, of course. Queen Zathexa will be... disappointed, but I shall convey your regrets. Please follow us,” she said as the gates behind them slowly swung open, “and welcome to Aglatha.”

Chapter 8

Slengral eyed his mother as she regarded them sternly from where she was coiled on the graceful, sculpted lines of her throne. Though they had been given a comfortable nest well-stocked with plenty of galthie for their mate’s benefit, he had a difficult time reconciling the stern figure in front of him—an aged version of the once golden female, who had heartlessly ejected him from the nest when he was young—with the female that had lovingly raised him as a nestling with the help of her nest attendants. That they barely had time to adequately rest, much of the nest going unseen by their mate, before the queen matriarch demanded their presence, did not soften his disposition any.

The queen’s vividly pale green eyes focused on him, and her head tipped in greeting. “Slengral, you look well. I am glad that you have returned—though it I did not expect it to be with others,” she said pointedly as she cast a disapproving look toward Lori and his nest brothers before settling fully on his mate. “I also did not expect this,” she hissed. “Breeding with alien females when the right of bringing forth Seshanamitesh young belongs to our females alone by Shangla’s design. Your seed was not meant to create life with an offworld female when you have denied it so often to worthy females of the shinara.” She peered at Lori, her eyes narrowing. “I have also been informed that you refuse to release your claim upon my son?”

Lori inched closer to him so that he could more easily sweep his coil around her but inclined her head respectfully, her hands coming up to simulate the snapping gesture of the gavo. That accomplished, she straightened and smiled politely. Slengral recognized that expression. It was one that was particularly unique to humans. And one his mate adopted when she was forced to deal with people or situations that she did not care for but was obligated to try and manipulate or control in her favor through diplomacy. The latter he understood since such diplomacy was normal among the shinaras and the courts did not lack their intrigues because of it. But his mother had a reputation for being difficult—which earned her much respect among those of the shinara, but would not help his mate any.

“You are correct, Queen Zathexa, I will not,” Lori replied smoothly. “Slengral is my mate. He pursued me and did receive the right of capture. By your law, he is my mate.”

His mother’s eyes narrowed further. “Are you aware that another female in the shinara makes the same claim? It is unusual for a male to be able to mate with more than one female as the pheromones of his mate protect him from being influenced by the song of another, but it is possible when the encounter is brief or following a lapse of time. Vekatha swears that he was unmated and responded to her song, which gives her a pre-existing claim and makes his right of capture with you illegal by the laws of Shangla since Vekatha did not release him of his claim. That does not even take into consideration the additional harm he has been charged with—charges that Vekatha is happy to waive if he returns to her nest.”

Lori stiffened slightly and Slengral could feel the tension in his mate’s small body against his tail even as his gavo rippled unhappily.

“I am aware of what this female claims, but I am also far more likely to believe Slengral, my own mate, when he swears that he never mated with her,” Lori countered. “He has been with me and only me since we met, leaving for only brief amounts of time to provide food for me. This is not the action of a male looking to mate with another female. Not when he had been courting me for days. In fact, from what I recall of that day, he had left to get food when she accosted him.”

His mother frowned and slowly settled back into her throne, her claw tapping irritably on its armrest. “I see.” She looked over at him. “You will swear an oath to this before me?”

He flicked his gavo and lowered his head. “I would, mother queen. I never mated with Vekatha. I have done nothing but avoid her whenever she sought me out in the upper caverns.”

“I can attest to this as well,” Kehtal volunteered as he shifted forward on his coils and promptly shrank back from the sharp look the queen gave him.

“You were not given permission to speak, male,” she hissed.

“My mates always have permission to speak freely,” Lori countered.

She tried to step closer to protect the smaller male, but Kehtal dipped his chin nervously and Slengral tightened his coils around her, keeping her in place beside him. His mate turned her head and peered up at him with an expression of disgust, but he pointedly ignored it. He had become accustomed to her unpleasant glowers early in their relationship. Her safety was important, and none of them would tolerate their mate putting herself between them and an angry Seshanamitesh female.

He recognized the expression of exasperation as she rolled her eyes—even if he found the gesture mildly repulsive—but continued to hold her tenderly within his coils as she huffed and lifted her chin defiantly and faced the queen matriarch once more.

“From what I understand, my authority with my mates supersedes that of anyone in the shinara. Is that correct?”

“It is,” his mother unhappily acknowledged, her gavo rippling dangerously with her mounting ire. “Very well. Continue.”

Kehtal’s gavo fluttered uneasily but rather than back down as Slengral was certain that his nest brother wished to do, the male tipped his head respectfully. With a covert glance of appreciation toward their mate, Kehtal rose a little higher on his tail and met the queen’s gaze. “I have witnessed him evading her many times, and I was there when Vekatha had him cornered. His sole interest has only been in the human since he brought her to his nest,” he added in a rush.

“I see.” His mother hissed in a long, angry sound that made even Slengral’s own gavo twitch with unease.

Her mouth tightened, and her gaze shifted away from them as she looked over at the females reclined comfortably around the edges of the room. Although the females appeared to be sedate and focused on their own luxury, he knew that they were attentively listening and watching. Silently judging. Although the females of the matriarch’s council deferred to his mother’s rule, he knew they could make the entire Aglatha court and his mother’s ability to rule effectively very difficult. His mother was being cautious and weighing her choices.

Her attention eventually snapped back to Lori and him, and she made a shrill sound of impatience in her throat.

“You are very bold, human queen Lori,” she said at length. “Very bold for one that any female in this room could kill with little effort. We could break your bones and cause your delicate blood vessels to pop, your skin to split, and eyes explode with just one of our sonic shrieks. We do not even have to touch you. And yet you do not back down. I admire that even though I do not agree with your insistence on keeping your claim on my son. And it greatly displeases me that you carry his offspring. It is offensive to me and to every female in the shinara, even more than the nestling you have adopted and are keeping hidden from me.” She flicked her tail toward Kehtal knowingly. “But I am also disturbed by what your males have said of Vekatha. Vekatha will be summoned to answer these claims. We will address this again in two days before my court so that it is properly witnessed by the council. In the meantime, you shall remain as my guests. You are free to move around the public parts of the shinara. Slengral can direct you to what places are available and what is off limits, as I am certain he remembers—but I warn you that not all may be as welcoming as me. So a modicum of caution is warranted if you choose to go outside the walls of the palace.”

Lori inclined her head again, her smile once more in place and perhaps a little less biting than it was before. “Of course, queen matriarch. I most graciously accept your generous invitation and thank you for your kindness and advice.”

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