Chapter Five
Before Tem could wonder how Rowe would retaliate, a murmur swept through the courtyard.
Everyone turned to watch as a large mattress was set down in front of the fountain.
It was not unlike the mattress Tem and Caspen had used for the ritual, and she wondered briefly if it was the same one.
As soon as it was in place, two basilisks emerged from the crowd.
The woman was tall, the man even more so.
They were stunning, as all basilisks were, and when they reached the mattress, they stood beside it and waited. The crowd fell silent.
“What are they waiting for?” Tem whispered.
Caspen’s lips dipped to her ear. “You.”
Tem’s eyebrows rose. “Me? Why?”
“They expect you to bless their marriage.”
Tem was already blushing at the sight of the beautiful basilisks before her. If Caspen was about to tell her that she was supposed to join them, she would not survive it. “I thought you said basilisks don’t have weddings.”
“We do not.”
“Then how do I bless their marriage?”
“You will witness their union as a married couple.”
Tem blinked. “What?”
“You are the Serpent Queen, Tem.”
Tem stared up at him. “I need a little more detail than that, Caspen.”
He let out a soft chuckle. “Every mating season, any couple whose marriage is bound by blood has the opportunity to be blessed by the Serpent Queen.”
“Why only marriages bound by blood?”
“Because they are considered sacred in the eyes of Kora.”
“Who blesses ours?”
“No one. You are a Hybreed. That means you do not need anyone’s blessing.”
Again, Tem felt a whisper of possibility at the prospect of such power.
“When my mother died, the blessings stopped,” Caspen continued. “Now that we have a queen once more, they can begin again.”
Tem frowned. She didn’t know exactly how long ago Caspen’s mother had died, but even if it was mere years ago, it seemed incredible that only this couple had since bound their marriage by blood.
Caspen had said that the blood bond was rare, but Tem hadn’t realized it was that rare—that there was just one other couple who were joined the same way she and Caspen were.
Tem shook her head in disbelief. “Can’t someone else do it?”
“It is your duty as their queen.”
The concept of duties was not unfamiliar to Tem. She was used to the chores and obligations of life on the farm. But these duties were bizarre to her. The most responsibility she’d ever had was feeding the chickens. She certainly wasn’t ready to bless a marriage.
“It’s my duty to watch them have sex?”
“Yes.”
“But what if I don’t want to?”
“You…do not have to,” he said slowly.
Tem narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
Caspen sighed. “It is true that you do not have to. No one will force you, including me. But it would not be wise to refuse. They will view it as an insult.”
Of course it would be viewed that way. Every custom that directly railed against her human side was a mortal insult to the basilisks if she refused. There was no neutrality here, no way to stay in the middle. She was always choosing a side.
“It just seems so”—Tem searched for the right word, settling finally on—“invasive. Won’t I be intruding?”
Caspen shook his head. “You must dispel your human notions of sex, Tem.”
“I know that. But still.”
“They want you to watch them.”
She gave him a look.
“We do things differently here. You know this.”
Tem did know this. “Any other duties I should be aware of?”
Caspen’s mouth twitched. “Nothing comes to mind.”
Tem rolled her eyes. Surely there were more. And surely, they would surprise her. But that was the nature of her life beneath the mountain. She’d come to expect the extraordinary. “So I just…watch them? And that’s how I bless them?”
Caspen looked suddenly apprehensive. Dread filled her stomach.
“Caspen,” she insisted. “How exactly do I bless them?”
“You need only watch them. But it is also customary to enjoy yourself.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you are welcome to…indulge.”
“Indulge in what?”
Finally, the truth came: “You may touch yourself if you wish.”
Tem blushed. For all the times she’d pleasured herself, she’d never done so while watching two people have sex. The entire concept of using the couple as inspiration was absolutely foreign to Tem.
The courtyard was still silent. The couple was still looking at her. Everyone was looking at her. Tem was suddenly self-conscious and moved their conversation to her mind:
I don’t understand. How is that a blessing?
Technically, it is not. In order to bless them, you must climax to the sight of them.
WHAT?
It is to show your approval.
Tem didn’t even have a response for that. Perhaps no response was sufficient.
Why did everyone have to be so involved?
It had required an entire ritual for her to be with Caspen.
And now this couple sought her approval.
Even when Tem was on the other side, in the position of power, these traditions baffled her.
It seemed unbelievable that she would be so enmeshed in everyone’s personal lives.
Tem hardly felt worthy of such responsibility.
But she also understood that the basilisks were a community.
They made their decisions together. Everything was a group effort, a group project.
There was no point in resisting this, just as there was no point in resisting anything else that happened here.
So Tem stepped forward.
The moment she moved, the crowd parted for her, and she approached the couple with Caspen at her side. They bowed first to her, then to Caspen. Tem didn’t know what to do, so she simply nodded in return. The couple smiled. Then they stepped onto the mattress. A moment later they were kissing.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tem saw Caspen take a step backward. She understood his retreat. This was her duty; they sought Tem’s blessing, not Caspen’s. Still, she wished he would stay by her side. Standing here alone with so many eyes on her was extremely nerve-racking.
You may kneel, Tem. Or do anything that feels comfortable.
But nothing felt comfortable. Everything felt open and exposed and public, as if the most vulnerable parts of her were about to be laid bare.
It was one thing to witness casual sex in the passageway or the banquet hall.
It was another thing entirely to see it three feet away, solely for her pleasure, and with the expectation that she would touch herself to it.
It was too intimate—too personal. For all the times she’d seen basilisks having sex in the past week, it had never been like this, never seeking her approval.
The woman’s face was flushed. Tem felt much the same: warm and turned on, as if she were watching something she shouldn’t be. She remembered how Caspen had said she wasn’t intruding, and she tried to believe it. But as soon as the man began to enter the woman, Tem couldn’t help but close her eyes.
Open your eyes, Tem.
I can’t.
You must watch.
I’m too nervous to watch.
There is nothing to be nervous about.
Says you.
Says everyone.
Everyone is watching me watch them. I can’t do it.
Empathy flowed from him to her. I understand. But no one is judging you.
Tem was still wrapping her mind around the fact that she was judging them. I feel like I’m intruding.
You are not.
What if I don’t do it right?
There is nothing to do but watch.
But that wasn’t true. He’d told her that she needed to touch herself—that she needed to climax in order to bless them. Her approval of their marriage was directly contingent on that event, and if it didn’t happen, everyone would see her failure.
I can’t do this. I’m nobody.
You are their queen. A moment passed. Then: You are my queen.
Caspen believed in her. Caspen knew she could do this.
Tem. My love. Open your eyes.
Tem opened her eyes.
The couple was now fully intertwined, staring adoringly into each other’s eyes with every thrust. Tem thought about their blood bond—how they were bound together on a magical, unbreakable level. It was the same bond she shared with Caspen, and it was immeasurably special.
Just watch them, Tem. Witness their love. It is beautiful.
Despite Tem’s nerves, it was beautiful. There was nothing more beautiful, really.
What could be better than watching two people who were in love express that love to each other?
It was no different than what she did with Caspen every night.
It was no different than what she’d done with Leo. Sex was beautiful. Sex was everything.
The couple was clearly obsessed with one another; they kissed at every opportunity, cradling each other’s faces and pressing their lips together tenderly.
Tem saw the way they looked at each other like they were the only two people in the world.
It was humbling to witness such devotion.
Tem wondered suddenly if this was how she and Caspen had looked like during the ritual.
We looked better.
Tem rolled her eyes. Caspen was still in her head, watching from behind her.
Eventually, under the protection of his steady presence, Tem relaxed.
She still hadn’t touched herself—hadn’t even moved from where she was standing.
But she felt ready now to indulge, as Caspen had so eloquently put it.
And she wasn’t going to do it from here.
Slowly, so as not to disturb the couple, Tem stepped forward and knelt on the edge of the mattress.
The moment she did so, a wave of approval crashed into her mind.
It wasn’t just from Caspen; Tem felt it from all over—everyone in the crowd who was watching her wanted her to do this. Their hunger was staggering.