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

Chapter 27

Lori covertly peered around the room from beneath her lashes. There were far more females present than there had even been the day they had arrived. They filled the room, the quiet hiss of their voices collectively loud as they stared at them while offering the occasional glance at the female staring challengingly across the room—Vekatha.

Although she had caught a glimpse of the female briefly before, this was the first good look Lori had of her. Slightly smaller than some of the larger females crowded into the central great hall. Queen Zathexa dominated over all of them from her risen throne, her shrewd gaze moving with a deceptive casualness over everyone. Lori stiffened as the queen’s gaze settled on her for a moment. She couldn’t tell if Zathexa was pleased or annoyed with all the attention and activity surrounding the matter.

Vekatha certainly looked pleased with herself, however. It was also evident that word had indeed spread quickly regarding the earlier incident as searching glances stole around the room as if trying to determine whether Lori’s other two mates were actually absent or not due to it.

Lori’s jaw tightened in irritation despite her best efforts to ignore it. She knew she was being weighed in judged in that moment as much as she ever was, but she was finding it increasingly difficult to hold onto the aloof mask she wore when among the noble matriarchs. The injustice of the situation bothered her. That Vekatha was allowed to proceed forward and take advantage of their nest’s upset with Daskh’s injury was unfair. She just wasn’t certain whether this was solely due to Vekatha’s own strategy beyond the control of the queen matriarch or if Zathexa was responsible for pushing it through in an effort to find a legal reason to separate Lori from Slengral.

She glanced at the queen matriarch from beneath her lashes. Zathexa gave nothing away. The queen’s stony gaze settled at last on Vekatha and the tip of her tail curled tightly around the base of the throne with a hint of impatience.

Perhaps the suddenness of everything was all due to the other female as the plaintiff after all. Lori knew nothing of how Seshanamitesh laws worked regarding how proceedings were carried out. And unfortunately, the one most knowledgeable on the subject was currently back at their nest and injured. She looked up at Slengral, her eyebrow arching in silent inquiry. His gaze dropped to meet hers and he slowly shook his head. A faint expression of wariness crept into his eyes as his gaze shifted back to Vekatha. It appeared that he didn’t know either but, like her, he was opting to be cautious.

Zathexa’s claws drummed on the armrest of her throne, the clicking sound loud enough to effectively silence the murmur of the crowd. Her eyes narrowed on Vekatha.

“Vekatha of Aglatha shinara, we have assembled here now that you have finally surfaced and responded to my summons to address your complaint,” the queen matriarch hissed. The annoyance in that single drawn out word was not lost upon Lori. Zathexa was definitely displeased. “Although your claim of assault is a serious charge, the one of abandonment takes precedence in this instance as my son claims that any injury was, in fact, due to his effort to escape you. I hope that you have some evidence to support your claim.”

A look of surprise crossed Vekatha’s face for only a moment before being masked with one of polite deference as her wings folded in front of her as she inclined her head to the queen. “Forgive my ignorance, Queen Matriarch, but I was not aware that females in our shinara were treated as criminals who have to prove their matings.”

“To suggest it is an outrage,” a larger, older female at her side hissed in agreement. Her mother, Lori surmised and was immediately affirmed at the female’s next words. “Never before has a female had to prove that they were mated to their males. To demand this is an injustice against my daughter.”

“And what would you have me do, Shalyia?” Zathexa asked. “We are not to challenge mating and yet here is a female who is clearly one my son is mated to.”

Shalyia hissed lower in her throat in obvious distaste. “A true mating should only be recognized between Seshanamitesh. She is not of Seshana, and we do not know what strange ways her kind has to enslave our males. She is even breeding which is against Seshana and mother Shangla. It is clear it is a species that lures in available males to breed with against our natural order.” She gave a decisive nod, her gavo snapping emphatically. “Yes, he must be enslaved by her alien pheromones and tricked into believing that he is mated to her and ignoring his actual mate—my daughter Vekatha. This human should be removed so that the matter of the mating between our offspring can be appropriately resolved so that we may move forward in preserving my daughter’s honor.”

Lori stared at the female, her mouth dropping open at the outright lies. “You can’t be serious?” she barked before she could think better of it.

Shalyia’s wings shuddered with distaste even has the multiple crests of her gavo lifted in unmistakable disdain. “I am. Shangla made males for her daughters, giving us a unique compatibility. A female reaching adulthood is even marked by a rite of passage that proves that she is fit to be a productive member of the shinara and proven capable enough to be allowed to mate as an adult.” Her gaze slitted as it bore into Lori. “The females of your species have not gone through a maiden trial and have not proven themselves to be capable adults to mate and breed. There is only nefarious and unlawful breeding going on outside of the shinara’s sight.”

“You are correct that this human’s status as an adult and her rights to breed should indeed be called into question,” Zathexa agreed serenely. “However, right now, we are speaking only of your daughter’s claim for which she has brought charges against Slengral and nothing more. Once this matter is resolved I will be addressing the human Lori’s mating personally. Do you disagree with this Shalyia?”

The note of challenge in the queen’s voice was clear. For a moment it appeared that Shalyia was still prepared to object but seemed to think better of it in the next moment as she lowered her head submissively, her gavo flattening in response.

“As you deem best, queen matriarch.”

Zathexa nodded and reclined back on her throne. “Very good. Vekatha may now present her evidence.”

Lori’s gaze shot to the female in question. Vekatha fidgeted, her wings fluttering anxiously upon losing the higher ground.

“I do not have evidence. The breeding did not take and so I have no nestlings to offer.”

Zathexa made an impatient sound in her throat as a flutter of speculation rose among those attending. “Nestlings are not the sole product of mating. Can you not do something so simple as to call your mate to you? Sing to him and he will respond as he should if he is yours and not mated to this human.”

Vekatha’s gavo quivered, her wings parting slightly with alarm. “I...”

“Are unable,” the queen matriarch finished, her wings puffing up with her annoyance. “There is certainly no acceptable excuse that you can offer. Either you can or you cannot.”

“What of the human?” the other female shrilly demanded. “She cannot sing to him and prove her true mated status.”

“Once again, these proceedings are currently not in regard to her mating,” Zathexa replied drily. “Are you able to present any evidence at all for your case or not?”

Vekatha’s mouth silently worked as she noticeably grappled with some sort of explanation. Lori’s lips thinned as she resisted the urge to smile. The female had pinned everything on the hope of deflecting away from her own questionable mating by trying to invalidate the one Lori had with her mates. Now that her main objective failed, she had nothing to support her case at all.

“If she has nothing... I have evidence,” Slengral rumbled. He glided forward, holding a carefully wrapped package in his hand that he lifted high as he turned slowly to show to the court of noble matriarchs. “This contains material heavily coated with Vekatha’s scent pheromone that was brought to my nest by her sister’s mate Mareesh, whom my nest brother, Daskh, caught attempting to trap me. If I had the misfortune of leaving my nest at all without the trap noticed, they would have used the coincidence to claim a mating reaction in response to it.”

“Daskh is not even present to testify,” Vekatha loudly objected. “This male could claim anything to escape justice.”

“But those of your maternal nest are present, including your sisters,” Slengral countered, his head tipping toward a female reclined a short distance behind Shalyia. “I am certain that Mareesh, who is seldom far from his mate so that he can best serve her, is here as well.”

Zathexa frowned but nodded. “Mareesh.”

There was a quick frenzy of movement before a small male emerged from among the pillows and his mate’s coils. He was exactly as Daskh described him, pale blue coloring, stunted wings, oversized gavo, and a clearly nervous disposition. Mareesh’s gaze flicked in their direction only briefly as he hurried forward closer to the throne before collapsing in front of it in a quivering heap.

The queen matriarch’s face hardened further as she regarded the male. “Did Slengral speak truthfully? Was that what happened?”

The male shaking increased but his gavo flared widely and snapped in affirmation. “I dare not speak falsely.”

“You dare speak at all?” The reclining female bellowed as she rose angrily upon her coils.

The queen matriarch motioned with one hand and Jathella straightened at her side before moving with the speed of a striking viper as she arrived at the offending female’s side. Without a word, she lifted her velkat and scowled so fiercely at Mareesh’s mate that the female fell silent and dropped petulantly back to her cushion. Mareesh trembled as he watched but a warning rattling series of short clicks from Zathexa drew his attention promptly back to her as he shrank deferentially.

“Continue,” she commanded.

He jumped at the sharp note in her voice and rapidly bobbed his head, his gavo snapping repeatedly with his nerves. “I am not an intelligent male, queen matriarch, so my mate kept the instructions simple as to what Vekatha required of me. To speak plainly, I was to do whatever it took to make it appear as if he was drawn by her pheromones. It was my bad fortune that Daskh saw me before I located the nest and found a suitable place to hide it. Even the smallest action of investigating the source of the pheromones so close to his nest would have supported her claim.”

“Jathella, bring the evidence to me,” the queen instructed. “I wish to see if this is exactly what they claim it is.”

“Queen Matriarch, allow me to expl...” Vekatha shrieked as she whipped her tail out in attempt to block Jathella.

“Silence!” Zathexa hissed, cutting her off. “Jathella!”

The commander inclined her head and slid to Slengral’s side to retrieve the package. With the sealed pouch in hand, she hurried over to the queen matriarch. Zathexa flicked her claws at the pouch in a wordless gesture and Jathella’s gavo popped lightly as she unlaced the binding and pulled it open. The female’s blunted nose wrinkled, and she gagged faintly at the strong smell that had to be coming from it before holding it out. A look of disgust crossed Zathexa’s face and she waved it away, to which Jathella responded by handing it off to another with a distinct look of relief on her face.

Zathexa drummed her claws on her throne as she pinned Vekatha with an unforgiving stare. “I must marvel at a female nested by one of the noble matriarchs who would debase themselves to attempt such a desperate, if stupid, trick. It truly demonstrates your deceptive character. I have little doubt that Slengral would have fought off any attempt to entrap him before this incident as well. This casts significant enough doubt on your claims of harm if he was attempting to avoid a forced mating. The right of mating is a consolation to the hunters who protect and feed us that a willing female who ventures into the upper caverns may be received by them that they can prove themselves worthy of mating, not to be weaponized against them. Vekatha, I have little doubt that this was your intention and is not only against our laws regarding the males of the upper caverns but unworthy of your station.”

It didn’t escape Lori’s attention that while there were supposedly laws that protected the males of the upper caverns in exchange for their service, the males selected from the haga had fewer protections; otherwise, what happened to Kehtal would never have happened. It was no wonder that Daskh escaped with him into the upper caverns as soon as possible. He was safer there not only logistically but legally. It made her feel bad for Mareesh, and other males like him, who were unable to escape the selection. They had protections but nothing protected them from being chosen as mates within the shinara. She wanted to say something on all of their behalf, but Slengral’s tail tightened around her waist in warning.

Do not draw attention to yourself.

Lori swallowed and gave a small nod of her head. As much as the grievances needed to be addressed, this was definitely not a good time to do it.

Eyes brittle with anger, Zathexa turned toward Jathella. “You know your duty and our laws. Seal Vekatha with her mother and sister in the lower palace tunnel for bringing forth false accusations and attempts to unjustly entrap a hunter of the upper caverns.”

The commander tipped her head again and gestured to her sisters under her command with her velkat, summoning them to assist her. The females closed in quickly around their quarry and removed them amid the many cries and enraged shrieks from their captives. Lori winced at the sound and wiggled an ear. She didn’t envy them being subjected to all of that noise all the way down to the lower palace tunnel... wherever that was. She certainly didn’t have the luxury to dwell on it or even enjoy the moment of victory. The queen matriarch’s eyes fell on her with a chilling intensity that she was only just barely able to summon the fortification and courage to meet.

“Despite Vekatha’s many false words, there is one thing she spoke of truthfully that I had not considered,” she pronounced. “By our laws you are not considered an adult. You have not undergone trial, nor have you earned the right to mate. This causes a legal discrepancy in your mating that any female within the shinara would have right to question.”

“Queen matriarch, this is not so insurmountable,” Payeri offered as she pushed way out from among the audience. “Completion of a maiden trial should be acceptable among our females. If she succeeds, she will have proved her worthiness by our laws to have a mate. If she fails—then neither she nor Slengral have reason to complain that we offer only equal opportunity and not special treatment.”

A trial?

“What does this trial normally consist of among Seshanamitesh?” Lori cautiously queried.

Payeri’s wings fluttered excitedly as she turned and faced her. “It is not so terrible. We all secretly look forward to it when we come of age. It is treated as an adventure for most of us. The female is carried out to an isolated cavern system and must find her way back, evading predators, hunters who have free reign in the caverns, and other obstacles. It shows her strength, cunning, and determination.”

“I see,” Lori replied. “There is just one problem with this: I cannot fly or navigate in the dark on my own. My biology is not suited to such a test.”

“The maiden trial can be altered to suit your biology as a wingless species while maintaining the spirit of it. Navigating your way across the surface back to the Aglatha should be good enough,” Zathexa grudgingly offered. “It is not a bad idea, but a female always has a maiden at hand to assist her so that unnecessary danger does not befall her. Failing or succeeding should not be a matter of life and death.”

“Allow me and my brothers to go,” Slengral insisted but the queen matriarch dipped her chin toward her chest in the negative.

“Males are not permitted within the maiden trial,” she rebutted.

“Permit me to serve as maiden at hand,” Payeri offered, surprising Lori at the sincerity in her voice.

Zathexa’s eyes narrowed on her suspiciously. “Why would you offer? Are you not related by blood to Vekatha? I will have no more chaos from that maternal nest.”

Payeri lowered her head submissively, her gavo flattening. “Vekatha’s actions brought shame to our maternal nest and mother-line. It is a small thing to offer in the hope of redemption for our line. And to make amends for my own mistake in accidentally injuring her mate, Daskh. It would be appropriate for me to be of service.” She glanced over at Lori hopefully. “If you would permit me?”

They were really expecting her to walk across the desert with no one but a female she didn’t know for company. This mating business in the shinara was getting more complicated by the moment. Worse, there was no way to get out of it without verbally revoking her mated status in the shinara and thereby losing every privilege she enjoyed with her mates there.

Damn it all to hell.