Serpents of the Night (The Darvel Exploratory Systems #5)

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.”

His mother peered at her for a long moment but inclined her head in turn. “You may leave. Someone will be sent for you during the meal hour. I suggest that you be ready so that we are not left waiting for you.” Her eyes lifted to him. “The return of my son is worth celebrating.”

“For the time being,” Slengral countered, and his mother’s gavo flicked dismissively in acknowledgment.

“As you say... for now. Regardless, you shall be the guest of honor, Slengral, so remember that when you arrive for the feast.”

“I will,” he replied, a clicking growl grating at the back of his throat as he gently ushered his mate from the room while making every effort to appear that he was not doing exactly that.

His mate just gained a small foothold of respect; he would not compromise that promising start, even if he felt like he was about to crawl out of his own skin at having his mate surrounded on all sides by potential threats outside of their nest. Their assigned nest was a poor substitute. It was not theirs. It did not possess their mingled scents and he found that he missed the human technology that effectively shut everyone and everything else out that did not belong there. He had ignored it and found it inconvenient for many cycles of the moon, but now that it was absent, he discovered how much he appreciated and missed it.

“I will be pleased to return home as soon as possible,” Kehtal grumbled once they were back in their cave. He shifted several of the pillows and woven blankets in their nest, creating a small bed for Hashal with some of the excess bedding before drawing the nestling from beneath his wings and tucking him into it. Kehtal cast an unhappy look in the direction of the curtained off entrance. “I feel exposed.”

“As do I,” Slengral agreed with a growling hum of displeasure.

Daskh peered over at him as he helped Lori back into the nest. Their mate was already stripping off her coverings and yawned as she settled into the pillows. Daskh had been the first to insist that their mate return to her interrupted rest upon their arrival, and it seemed that he was right to do so. “Do you wish for me to guard the entrance?”

Slengral thought about it and dipped his chin in the negative. “I do not think anyone will try to do anything just yet. Right now, we are negotiating and should be safe enough. She will likely feel more secure among our coils anyway.” He regarded his nest brother worriedly. “You appear tired. The flight was long, especially carrying our mate. Rest with her for now while I see what has been provided for us.”

“I will help,” Kehtal offered, his wings snapping open as he lifted up from among the cushions. “It would be good to know what we need for our comfort, especially that of our mate, while we are here.”

Slengral inclined his head in agreement, his gavo snapping. Even though he was forced to be there to answer the absurd charges and fight his mother and the council for his freedom to be left in peace with his mate and nest brothers, he would make sure that his mate had every comfort possible. And if his mother believed supplying them with an ill-equipped nest would change anything, then she was going to be unpleasantly surprised.