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

Chapter 28

Slengral’s wings and gavo puffed out angrily. They dared? His mother truly wished to send his mate onto the surface of Seshana without any protection other than that provided by a female unknown to him. It was beyond consideration. He would take Lori and his nest brothers and return to the surface immediately. Let them come after him. He already proved himself against Vekatha’s accusation. He no longer cared about the fate of the shinara beyond that or its relationship with the colony.

A warm hand settled on his forearm, the slender fingers curling over it. He glanced down at it and then over at his mate who gave a faint shake of her head as she drew in closer to his side.

“We don’t have any choice,” she whispered. “We are going to have to follow the customs of the shinara to get anywhere.”

“To the depths of the Aglatha with customs,” he hissed in return. “I will not accept this. I am a hunter of the upper caverns. You are human. No one chooses for me nor for my mate who is not bound by our customs.”

She shook her head in frustration. “We are responsible, however, for not disrupting the peace between the shinara and the colony. It is the whole reason we came. If we refuse, then we will be not only insulting the queen matriarch and noble matriarchs governing the shinara but disregarding their laws entirely. Humans also have laws regarding mating, but nothing that I was prepared to demonstrate in a way that would satisfy them. And we can’t give up now and just run away or else we will not only be guilty of all of the above, but it will make our time here meaningless.” Her lips tightened at the corners for a moment before she sighed. “Besides, even if we wanted to leave, we couldn’t. Not with Daskh unconscious. It would take both of you to carry him any distance.”

She was correct, and that fact sat bitterly within his stomach. Slengral scowled, his eyes raking over the crowd speculatively watching them before settling on the female pushing her influence on his nest. She had not only harmed Daskh but was now putting herself in the position of being alone with his mate in a dangerous environment without his protection or that of either of his nest brothers.

“You are asking too much of me to trust this Payeri,” he spat as a stream of venom arced to the floor in the female’s approximate direction.

His mate snorted quietly as her gaze flicked toward her. “I do not trust her either, but what choice do I have? It is not like there is an abundance of volunteers coming forward. The fact of the matter is this all proceeded a lot easier than it should have. Even with the evidence, Queen Zathexa could have drawn this out a lot longer if she chose to investigate further into Vekatha’s claim. She clearly doesn’t approve of me, but I don’t think she believes I will succeed in this trial before giving up. In this case, even without considering Payeri, we can’t ignore that all matings between hunters and humans will be judged based off what we do here and now.”

His nostrils flared as he regarded his mate. “You are not concerned about Payeri at all?”

Her small flat teeth tugged at her bottom lip, darkening it around the pale indentures of where they pressed. “It’s more that I think she is the least we have to worry about. Vekatha has already been seized by the queen matriarch, so there is little Payeri can do that would directly benefit her. And if it’s revenge that she has in mind, there are a lot easier ways to get that without putting herself on the surface. Especially considering that females rarely venture there, and never alone.”

His gavo twitched with displeasure, the movement causing the webbing to softly rattle. He stiffened, his gavo stilling even as it lifted further when his mother’s gaze finally swung to him and fastened upon him.

“I assume from your expression that you have finished discussing the matter,” she queried in a flat, emotionless voice. Despite that, he knew his mother well enough to sense the impatience stirring under the surface. The signs were evident in the way she held herself and the abruptness of the question directed at him.

He inclined his head respectfully in agreement. It was due to his gaze not shifting away from her that he caught the faint curl at the corner of her mouth in satisfaction. He did not know whether to be concerned or not at the small display of emotion. Could he dare hope that it was a sign of her beneficence rather than a sign of something that they ought to be wary of? Lori was correct in pointing out that Zathexa could have made the proceedings more difficult for them. And his mother had been more gracious of his mate’s presence during the Blooming. How much of her hostility was for show among the noble matriarchs who held their ruler to a higher standard? Although he had deep grievances with the way his mother cast him away to the haga, he had long suspected that part of it was due to pressure from her court.

That did not make it correct, but it did give him some perspective on how she could be trying to help him within the confines of what is expected of her position. She had dismissed Vekatha’s claims quickly, but she could not make it too easy on Lori. And she likely would not regardless due to whatever lingering resentment she felt over his choice of mate. His ashlava would have to prove herself to gain the queen matriarch’s full support. He understood it even if he disliked it.

“We have,” Lori agreed at his side. “Although by human law I have fulfilled the requirements that would allow me to select a male, I recognize the fact that I am unprepared to prove it at this time, but would like this to be noted by the queen matriarch and the noble matriarchs for future purposes in recognizing matings between our species.”

Slengral’s ear fanned slightly at her carefully chosen words. Chosen male. Living in the colony he already knew that the humans there were flouting the laws of their homeworld in mating with species outside of their own. Lori’s phrasing was a clever way of concealing this but also providing an opening of escape should the court ever become aware of the law.

Queen Zathexa leaned forward as she regarded his mate. Tension rose in the room, but it quickly broke as the queen matriarch finally snapped her gavo and inclined her head in agreement.

“So noted. We will expect a copy of your law provided for us by one who will work with the shinara in providing a translation into our language so that we may scrutinize it.” She tapped her claws loudly against her throne. “But that will come later. At this time, we will recognize that you are a female eligible for the maiden trial of adulthood. As of now you will be sequestered in a room here in the palace in consideration of the fact that you do not have a maternal nest.”

Gavo flaring upright in alarm, Slengral rolled forward on his coiled tail to protest only for his mother’s hand to snap up, halting his forward movement.

“As your mated status has been brought into question, the human Lori cannot nest with you and your nest brothers. I will not yield on this, Slengral,” she added, her eyes narrowing in steely emphasis. “She will be returned to your nest when and if she completes the trial successfully.”

He swallowed back his protest and lowered his head submissively even as he darted a worried glance covertly toward his mate. Lori smoothed her hand down the scales of his side in reassurance. He turned toward her, clasping her hand beneath his to hold it against his body as he savored the moment of connection and the warmth of her body’s heat and her pheromones sinking into his scales. It lasted for only a clawful of heartbeats before Jathella nudged him in a gentle reminder that brought back memories from youth of playing with his siblings in the company of Jathella and her sisters. Although his brothers were gone, and sister surrendered back to Shangla’s embrace, and Jathella and her sisters were now among the trusted palace guard, that old friendship was recalled with that one touch as the female drew his mate away from his side. It was perhaps all that allowed him to maintain control of himself.

He did not trust those of the shinara, but he could not summon that same feeling for Jathella. His teeth gritted; he inclined his head toward the first commander of the guard. The corners of her mouth hitched, and she returned his nod as she drew Lori protectively under her wing. The message was clear. She would protect his ashlava for as long as she was immediately within her care. His mate glanced back over her shoulder one last time at him, her eyes bright and warm with love before Jathella’s wing obscured her completely. He swallowed hard as he strained against the instinct to tear his mate away and tuck her back beneath the protection of his own wings.

He closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight any longer, and turned his head away as he heard the females exit as the rest of the guard followed close behind. Commotion returned to the room with excited voices raised in conversation—every one of them speculating on his mate’s chances of success, though there were a number of comments in condemnation or support of Vekatha that rose within it. His eyes opened slowly to a slitted stare and his gaze fell immediately on Payeri.

He definitely did not trust that female, but he was powerless to prevent her participation. No other female had offered to take on the responsibility. It was rare even among Seshanamitesh to volunteer to be the maiden on hand when it meant that the female was not only responsible for the life of the female being tested but also for carrying her away to safety if the female became injured and incapable of forfeiting on her own. As humans were an unfortunately wingless species, Lori needed that more than most, should anything go wrong. He did not dare to allow her to go to the surface on her own even if the court granted that dangerous option.

As if sensing his stare, Payeri’s head turned, her eyes fastening upon him. She raised her gavo in a fluttering flare of acknowledgment and inclined her head in his direction. Her wings spread wide and snapped, pumping as she took to the air and flew over the crowd. Unlike most nesting caverns and built structures within the shinara, the palace had high ceilings in the central gathering room to allow Seshanamitesh to come and go with ease. His gaze followed her as she exited the palace and glided out into the open air of the shinara’s cavern before his eyes returned to those still gathered.

Many of the onlookers were departing in the same manner as Payeri, but the noble matriarchs and their families would remain for longer yet in his mother’s attendance as they settled among the cushions and around tables that were quickly brought out by the females who served the palace. He peered over at his mother, noting the relaxed way she reclined onto the pile of cushions that were brought out for her and cheerfully engaged in conversation with her nearest attendants as if the events of the day had not happened. The evening feast would follow shortly, and he was certain that he was expected to attend. His mother would have to accept his absence this time. The idea of remaining there without his mate to eat with his mother and her court made him feel ill. He could not eat with them even if he wanted to.

Taking his mother’s current distraction as an open opportunity, Slengral took to the air, following the route of Payeri and those others who had already departed as he too escaped the palace into the night air over the shinara.