Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Silac
Ihate seeing the hurt in Lila’s eyes as she changes the subject.
I also hate the fact that I can’t volunteer to help her.
My snake is urging me to, pleading for me to allow her to shift and become our mate, but I have a marriage contract—one that will upset my father if I break it.
He still has desperate hope that mating with a basilisk might make a naga youngster.
His desperation to not see the end of the naga line has caused him to make some poor decisions.
Kinga’s basilisk family is involved in some shady deals and are ruthless when crossed.
I don’t dare tell him about Lila’s mimic ability, or he would break that contract faster than I can blink and shove me at her instead.
That will not bode well for my family if we end up on the bad side of the Bravalana basilisks.
I desperately want to tell her all this, but I don’t want to get either of our hopes up, so I stay quiet, and my inner naga sulks violently.
“I would be honored if you would mimic me,” Chief Zana volunteers, but Zilla gasps and shakes her head.
“No way. What if she steals your identity?”
“It doesn’t really work like that,” Lila says patiently.
“No, it really doesn’t. Lila mimicked my warlock form, and I am still me and she is her own being.
She just has all the powers and looks of a warlock now.
She is essentially a brand-new warlock. Same with the other beings she mimicked.
Queen Corethea of the Celestian royal family was another being she mimicked when her abilities first emerged and she had no control.
She is still herself, and Lila has her own version of a Celestian,” Xavier explains gently but firmly, looking between the two Rilunese while trying to reassure them both that she will not be stealing anything from Zana.
“Hush now, Zilla. I trust them, and it would be a great honor to assist the only Skarrian mimic in the world.”
“Thank you, Chief Zana, you honor me with your trust.” Lila bows her head at the chief.
“Shall we move somewhere more private? Lila tends to lose her clothes when she mimics someone,” I suggest, looking around for a place to use.
“Back there a little ways is a cafe with private dining rooms. We can use one of those.” Zana whirls and leads us back the way we came.
The cafe is filled with people eating and drinking before the larnuk bonding auctions start.
The Rilunese allow people to bid and then try to bond with a larnuk.
If they fail, their money is returned to them minus a fee and hopefully not minus a limb.
It is a bloody event that has locals coming from all around to view. That is why the markets are so packed.
The chief requests a back room, and we follow a server who cheerfully escorts us to one.
Tirrian stops before entering the room. I know his dragon is pushing him as hard as my snake is to bond with Lila, and seeing her naked is not helping either of us one little bit.
“I saw a Necro in the crowd earlier. Silac and I will go see if we can convince him to have a drink with us, then Xavier can mesmerize him.”
Zilla’s eyes widen, and she looks from Tirrian to Zana, obviously torn between staying and making sure her father isn’t body snatched and trailing helplessly after the dragon she’s had a crush on for a long time.
There was talk about an arranged marriage between Zilla and Tirrian to cement relations between the two planets, but Tirrian’s dragon will have nothing to do with it.
If a marriage is forced, he may kill her, and that would be disastrous.
She refuses to accept reality though and pines for something that will never come to be.
Tirrian doesn’t discourage her as much as he should because he feels sorry for her.
“Here, use this on the necro so he doesn’t give you a hard time.
” Xavier’s hand reaches through the mist, and Zilla takes a step backward.
In his palm is a spelled charm, so I take it from him, glad we are not going to have a repeat of the Barcoa.
I’m sure Tirrian is too. “Maybe it would be best if you accompanied them. The less people around, the easier it is for Lila, and she still needs a couple of shifters to mimic. Maybe you would know if there are any on Rilu for the sale.”
“Yes, alright, but make sure my father is okay.” She bravely points a finger at the mist-covered warlock whom I can practically feel roll his eyes.
She’s quiet as we leave the café, but the minute we’re out of earshot, she’s all chatter. “Aren’t you worried about that mimic? I read somewhere that they become power hungry and try to take over the world. All those different powers and abilities must be too much for one person to handle.”
“Don’t tell anyone this,” Tirrian begins, which guarantees that it will spread through the universe at light speed, “but Lila isn’t very powerful.
We aren’t sure if she will even be able to mimic your dad.
Xavier has a contingency plan to keep himself and Silac safe while we travel across the desert, and Lila will just be included in that. ”
“So why are we looking for more races for her to mimic if she’s not very powerful?” Zilla seems incredibly pleased with Tirrian’s secret. Almost smug.
“Because the warlock will use illusion to make it seem like she has mimicked them so that nobody will know she’s not powerful,” I tell her, passing on what we all agreed to share with others who aren’t within the circle of trust. “They like the idea that no one will challenge her if they believe she is a mighty mimic.” I only hope it doesn’t backfire on us.
“Is that why she needs more shifters? I would have thought you two would be powerful enough for her to pretend to mimic.”
“We don’t want her to,” Tirrian says gruffly, and I can tell by his tone that he doesn’t want to talk about it, so before Zilla pushes, I change the subject.
“Let’s just grab that necro, and then we can get going. We need that flower, and if we don’t hurry, we will be cutting it close.”
Lila’s face is radiant, and her grin is a mile wide as we soar over the desert sands on the backs of our rented larnuks.
Her hands tightly grip the mane of the bright red animal, but I can hear her whoops of glee from my own.
Zilla is in the lead on her own personal purple one she called Jonti.
I’m sharing one with Xavier, and he has a protection spell wrapped around us to protect us from the harsh suns.
He has dropped his mist and assumed a Rilunese glamour, but it doesn’t come with sun protection.
Without it, we would be seriously burnt within minutes of being out here.
Tirrian shifted into his dragon form and is flying on Lila’s left flank.
Larnuks are used to dragons, so none of them had been particularly concerned when he shifted.
Lila mimicked both Chief Zana and the necro without any problems, but her eyes were a little troubled when she resumed her own form after mimicking the necro. She refused to talk about it though. She just reassumed her Rilunese form and insisted we needed to get moving.
She has the same pale, watery blue eyes, and Chief Zana gave her a pair of goggles to wear to protect them from the sun.
Her skin has the same dark tone, and her hair is long and straight down her back.
She, of course, doesn’t have any of the colored streaks, as she is not bonded to a larnuk, and that is not something that carries over in the mimic.
I think both Chief Zana and Zilla were relieved to see it.
“Well, snakelet, this is fun,” Xavier says behind me, and I roll my eyes.
His arms are wrapped around my waist, his grip tight, and I can feel how stiff he is despite the relaxed drawl.
He really isn’t comfortable on the back of this animal, but he won’t admit it anytime soon.
“You know I did a little digging and discovered you are engaged to the princess of the Bravalana basilisk family. They are a nasty family. They have their fingers in all sorts of illegal pies all over the galaxy. You know they are being heavily watched by the Galaxy Council Taskforce. Is that the reason you haven’t told your father about Lila being a mimic who is able to give you pure naga babies?
You know he’s going to hear eventually.”
I feel myself stiffen, and a wave of annoyance washes over me. “You should mind your own business.”
“Uh, uh, uh, don’t be like that. I could make all of your problems go away, you know.
It just so happens that the Bravalana basilisks have made a few wrong steps on Westalin.
They pissed off some influential warlocks who have appealed to my parents to have them dealt with.
If anyone can take care of them, we can, but I guess I need to know if that is something you want, or do you happen to like your little Bravalana princess?
I hear she is a sweet thing and way too good for the family she was born into. ”
My heart skips a beat as I think of Kinga.
She was my best friend growing up. Raised away from the family drama, she and I went to school together and were close until her family realized what an asset she could be and tried to marry her off to the first influential family they could find.
That’s why I stepped in and asked my father to offer her a marriage contract.
Although neither of us feel that way about one another, it would keep her safe and out of the hands of men trying to get ahead in life, ones who didn’t have her well-being in mind.
If I broke it now, all our lives would be in danger.
But what if the warlock is telling the truth? What if he could help all of us?