Chapter 19 #2
“My sister, Zala, will guide you to the flower. She is the one the Celestians entrusted with the path. It’s why she lives with the circus.
It is much harder to gain access to her while she is traveling with her herd.
She only returns home occasionally,” Zilla tells me with an underlying tone of envy.
“Oh, Zala is your daughter? I didn’t know that.”
The chief beams and nods enthusiastically.
“Yes, Zala is the special chosen one. Larnuks of every color have blessed her with their bond, much like our father. It signals that she will be the next chief. Most of us only get blessed by one gem horse.” She points to the purple streak in her hair.
“Oh?” I need to know more, so the chief takes over the explanation.
“The larnuks eat gems, so they can sniff out where they are in the mine. Each colored larnuk has a specific diet of gems. Being blessed by more than one larnuk means you have the ability to find all the gems. Does this make sense? Zilla has a purple larnuk as her bond mate, which means she is adept at finding purple gems—amethyst, purple sapphires and diamonds, and khooni neelam, as well as a couple you are probably not familiar with.”
“Oh, I think I understand now. Because Zala has bonded with multiple colored animals, she can find many different kinds.”
He looks pleased and nods eagerly. “Yes, exactly. Zala is only missing an opalescent larnuk, and that is because they are nearly extinct. The one herd that still exists refuses to bond with anyone despite having thousands of people try.”
“How does one bond with a larnuk?” I ask, and Zilla snorts with derision.
“Nothing you would be brave enough to attempt.”
“Zilla,” Chief Zana scolds. “It involves standing still and allowing the larnuk to approach you. If they believe you are worthy, then they will put their mouth on you somewhere. Next, you need to make the decision on whether or not you are going to allow them to bite you. If you hold still and they bite down into your skin, you form a bond, but not everyone is brave enough to hold still.”
“Why not?” The sound of hooves rushing toward us have me looking up and watching in awe as a dozen larnuks of all colors are herded into the arena.
Their wings are spread out, and they are trotting, snorting, and throwing their heads around.
Plumes of steam come out of their noses much like Tirrian’s when he becomes annoyed.
One of them tosses their head back and growls like a bear.
It’s weird. I expected a high-pitched whinny, so hearing that makes me step back a little.
That, and the sight of razor-sharp teeth glistening in their mouths.
“Because they have teeth sharp enough to cut through precious gems. If they decide to, they can kill or heavily maim the person they are bonding with. Many larnuk masters have lost hands or needed major surgery after a bonding attempt,” Zana explains.
“And that is the only way to travel out to the colonies?” I ask hesitantly.
“Are we going to have to bond with one of those?” I watch the brightly colored animals settle as a handler walks in and pours a bucket into one of the feed troughs.
It sounds like pebbles on a tin roof, and when I see what he’s pouring, I’m mesmerized.
Tiny little gems in all different colors fill the trough, and the larnuks just dig in, crunching and snapping with larnuk joy.
“You are hardly worthy of a larnuk bonding, so no. We will use ones that are bonded to a master, and he will allow them to be used for transport between here and the settlements. It is a very lucrative business.” Zilla waves at a set of stables down from where we are standing.
Well, isn’t she a ray of political goodwill sunshine? Everyone is glaring at her now, including Tirrian and her father after that aggressive slight toward me.
“Zilla, that is enough. Lila is the heir to the Galaxy Circus and deserves as much respect as the warlock, Prince Tirrian, and the serpent king.”
Wait, what? “The serpent king?” It’s my turn to gape at Silac, who frowns and shakes his head.
“No, Lila, I am no more a king than Link is,” he quickly assures me, obviously seeing some of the hurt I was trying to hide.
“While there are many types of snake shifters, cobras and pythons and others, his family is the only family of nagas, and as such, they have the nickname the serpent kings,” Tirrian quickly adds.
“What about your fiancée?” I ask, incredibly curious now even though I shouldn’t be.
“Kinga is a basilisk. Any children we have will be basilisks. Naga can only breed true with other nagas, and my mother was the last one.”
“Oh, I get it, so you didn’t want me to mimic you because I would have been a female naga capable of continuing the line. That’s why you thought your snake would imprint, thus ruining your arranged marriage. I’m so sorry, Silac.”
“It’s okay. We’ve come to accept that now. Maybe somewhere in the galaxy there is a female naga for one of my younger brothers when it is their time to mate. I can only hope.”
“So you weren’t actually looking for a naga shifter for me to mimic then?” I ask the three of them.
“No, even if we had run into one of his brothers, there’s still a chance Silac’s snake or any of their snakes would imprint on you. I wanted to find a basilisk. They are still pretty good options,” Xavier explains, and I feel a sense of sadness, but I quickly push it down so nobody sees.
“Okay, fine, but now we need to find one of the locals for me to mimic so we can get this show on the road.” I change the subject, not wanting to dwell on the fact that I’m attracted to the pretty snake, and he is well and truly off-limits.