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“Because…because…,” I stammer, “no one says things like that to me.”

“They say you look like a demon. To them, that is the truth. I say you have a fine voice. To me, that is also the truth. Fact is that you’re a snake girl, immune to venom. Why do you let a few poisonous words hurt you?”

I don’t know how to respond. “How are you so comfortable around people like that?” I blurt out. “They’re cruel to you too.”

“I don’t have a heart,” Hokzuh replies matter-of-factly. “I don’t care whether people like me. You, on the other hand, do have a heart. And it isn’t as strong as you pretend it to be.”

My retort shrivels in my throat as I remember my own father’s betrayal. Maybe it had been Dakuok’s idea to sell me off. Maybe Adah had been reluctant to agree. All the same, in the end, I wasn’t worth more to him than a small sack of coins.

I push forward into the jungle. “I’ll lead the way.”

* * *

Summer is in full blaze, and I coat my arms and neck with a thin layer of mud, motioning for the dragon to do the same before we go. It’ll help with the heat and, for Hokzuh, the mosquitoes.

It’s strange having Hokzuh in the jungle with Ukar and me. He’s surprisingly light-footed for such a large creature, but his wings make it hard for him to move unseen. The spiked edges skim the undergrowth, occasionally getting caught on bulging roots and vines. But in spite of that, he doesn’t slow us down too much.

Ukar keeps ten paces behind, wriggling through ravines and eating little mice. I don’t worry about him lagging. If he eats now, he won’t be hungry for days, and he’s always less cranky when he’s full.

The only person who ever came to the jungle with me was Vanna. I remember strapping her to my back when she was little, and taking her to feed a nest of snakes.

“These are my friends,” I told her when Ukar and his cousins came to greet me.

“They’re snakes!” Vanna exclaimed.

“No, they’re my friends. You know all the names of the children in the village, and I know all the names of the snakes in the jungle.”

Vanna wrapped her small arms around my neck, pressing her cheek against my back. She was afraid.

“They won’t bite,” I promised her. I pointed at a freckled green snake near the nest. “Look, this one is Ukar. He’s my best friend.”

“Your best friend?” Vanna rapped on my back for me to put her down.

“Well, my best friend aside from you. Don’t be scared.”

“I’m not!” She slid down my back and reached for Ukar. To my surprise, she kissed him. “If you’re Channi’s friend, then you’re mine too.”

Ever since that day, Ukar’s had a soft spot for Vanna. He wants to save her as much as I do, and right now it shows—especially with how hard he’s trying to tolerate Hokzuh.

“Want some?” Hokzuh plucks purple berries from a bush. “They’re sweet.”

“They’re poisonous,” I reply. “Bristleberries. They make purple blood spew from your mouth and worms sprout from your insides.”

Hokzuh stares for a minute, then pops the berry into his mouth. “Very funny.”

Ukar and I are chuckling.

“Aren’t you hungry?” asks the dragon.

“I ate already. How are you so hungry? I thought immortals didn’t have to eat.”

“I’m not immortal.”

Is that why you chose to stay with Meguh so long? Ukar asks, unable to help his acid tongue. For the royal feasts?

Hokzuh’s nostrils flare. Ukar’s hit a nerve. “Meguh didn’t feed me much at all.”

It didn’t look that way at the banquet.