Page 10 of Embrace the Serpent

Okay, so my design was wrong. Mystery solved, and I didn’t even have to lose a hand to know for sure. No one was on Darvald’s level.

I was with Mirandel. Galen needed to go beg Incarnadine for mercy, instead of sitting there with that cocky smile.

Mirandel said, “Before Vyalis, another jewelsmith tried to do it. They found him bent over his table, eyes open, not a thought

in his head. Three months he stayed like that, with his assistants pouring soup in his mouth, until he finally choked and

died.”

She was talking about Master Joonis. Two years ago, his head assistant took over his shop under mysterious circumstances.

Galen’s smile only grew. “If you’re so sure I can’t do it, why help me?”

Mirandel leaned back. “Don’t mistake me. I offer my help, but not for nothing. I want your assistant.”

My heart stopped.

The smile dropped from Galen’s face. “That’s out of the question.”

Mirandel’s gaze met mine. “You do know that she’s an Imperial Ward. A runaway. Harboring her will bring Incarnadine’s wrath

down on your head.”

I would’ve felt less exposed if I was standing there naked.

Galen laughed. “Saphira, an escaped ward? Please.”

His gaze bored into the side of my face, but I couldn’t look away from Mirandel.

“Why?” I whispered.

Her lips curled in a smirk. She rose, tossing her silken hair. “You have a choice to make, Master Galen. Give Saphira to me,

unharmed, untouched, and I’ll help you keep your shop. Or, Lady Incarnadine will take her and your livelihood both. You have

a day to decide.”

She strode out the door and paused on the threshold. “Oh, yes. My handmaiden will be along shortly with payment for the rings. Lovely work.”

Galen shut the door.

A long moment of silence stretched between us.

“Saphira,” Galen said, “is this true?”

My voice was stuck somewhere deep in my belly, and it wormed its way through my teeth. “Yes.”

“You hid this from me?”

Hysterical laughter was bubbling up in me. Did I hide this from him? What kind of a question was that? Of course I did. Should

I have danced on the rooftops, singing, I ran away from Lady Incarnadine, ’ cause she killed my family, please don’t send me back?

Of course I didn’t tell him the truth. Instead, I made myself valuable to him. So if he ever learned my secret, I would be

worth more to him than the reward Lady Incarnadine would give him.

But I didn’t know what he would do. If I looked at him, I was sure I’d see him mentally weighing the scales. Weighing me.

If I was worth it.

My mouth was sour with bile. I managed to say, “I won’t go back.”

Galen’s hands found my arms, and I stiffened. “I wouldn’t give you up,” he said. “You must know that. The gods gave you to

me, and I don’t take that lightly. And it doesn’t matter, really. We’ll just have to do it at once. Not ideal, of course,

but you already have your dress, and Brother Feredin owes me a favor. He’ll come.”

My mind turned this over very, very slowly. “I—I don’t understand.”

“The law is clear,” Galen explained. “Once a ward is wed, legally they’re part of their spouse’s family. The Emperor’s claim ends. You’ll be safe.”

My ears rang. “You want me... to get married?”

His lips curved in a stilted smile. “I’m sorry it took me so long to notice that you’re quite grown now. But of course, you

should have a right to the workshop and my money—our money. We’re a team.”

I met his eyes. “You want me to marry... you?”

A flicker of annoyance. “Goodness, Saphira, don’t act like we haven’t discussed it. If this is about that man, forget him.

What can he offer you? I know you. You want to live like a princess in a tower, away from everyone. I’ve given you that. I’ll

keep giving you that. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

My head spun. Discussed it? What had Galen been chattering about these past days, when he’d hovered over me? And what man—did

he mean Rane?

In his eyes was an absolute certainty that what he was saying made perfect sense. That it was reasonable, even. “Don’t worry

anymore. Everything will be fixed.”

And nothing would have to change. That’s what you want, isn’t it?

I shook out the lilac dress. Thin scraps of fabric floated down, scraps the dressmaker had placed between its folds so the

embroidery wouldn’t catch. It was so stiff with embroidery that, when I fanned out the skirts and straightened the bodice,

the dress stood up on its own. It hardly needed me in it.

Oh, horsepiss. Now that I was paying attention, it was obviously too fine to be anything but a wedding dress.

I’d had warning. If I’d just paid attention.

My stomach heaved, and I pinched my nose until the feeling went away.

Galen was right. This solved all our problems.

My hands shook. I lay down on my bed and counted my breaths. One... two...

Maybe not breathing was the answer. I flipped around and buried my head in my pillow. Something rustled under me.

I drew it out. It was Rane’s card, only a little crumpled. A tiny hope rose in me, like catching a glimmer of a distant candle

in the middle of a dark night. I didn’t need to marry Galen if I just... ran away again? Told Rane the truth about my jewelsmithing?

Told him I could do the job? And then what? Once that job was done, I’d be without a home and with no protection against Lady

Incarnadine.

It didn’t make sense. Galen’s plan made sense.

But by the gods, I didn’t want to marry him.

A heavy tread came up the steps and then a hesitant knock came at my door. Grimney squeezed himself through the doorframe.

“How do we get out of this?” I asked him.

All the world seemed so small suddenly. My room was so small. The worktable that I adored, my collection of stuff, all of

it. If I married Galen, I could keep it. He would save me from Lady Incarnadine. But I—

Downstairs, the door banged open, and Galen’s voice was joined by others.

I whispered to Grimney, “I won’t do it. I won’t.”

Footfalls sounded on the stairs, and then Galen stood in my doorway. He was wearing a long jacket and trousers in ivory, with embroidery that perfectly matched the lilac dress. “Why aren’t you dressed?”

The words came out of me with no planning, no way for me to soften them. “I don’t want to get married.”

He shut the door behind him. “Enough nonsense, Saphira. It’s all been decided, everything is ready, the priest is waiting

at the temple. Take that off and put this on. You know how much it cost? There are noblewomen who don’t have dresses as nice

as this.” He held out the lilac dress.

“We could—” My mouth was so dry. I swallowed. “We could run away. Go to a different town, far away. Start over.”

Galen sighed. From below, someone yelled his name, and Galen went to the door and yelled back, “We’re coming! One moment.”

When he turned back, his expression was calm, patient. “Saphira. There is no place you can go that Lady Incarnadine won’t

find you. No one can even leave the city without her knowing. And even if we did, we’d leave everything we worked for. There

are no jewelsmiths outside the city. We could go to some backward village and do what? Remember: I have a purpose on this

earth—and you are here to help accomplish it.”

I was shaking. I had to get ahold of myself, but I couldn’t think. There were tricks to being invisible—I knew them all—but

I didn’t know how to disappear entirely.

A flicker of impatience in his eyes. “Have I ever hurt you?”

“N-no,” I said.

“Then do as I say.” His hand closed around my arm, and he pulled me toward the lilac dress. “Put this on, and let’s go downstairs. They’re waiting.”

His hand tightened. I yanked myself free. A ripping sound—my sleeve tore at the shoulder. The tear went across to my collarbone,

and cold air brushed my skin.

The back of my legs hit my worktable. My fingers brushed a handle—I gripped it.

Galen’s voice was like ice. “What are you going to do with that?”

I raised it between us. A tiny hammer. “You’re scaring me.”

“You’re being extremely ridiculous, Saphira.” He reached for me—

I swung the hammer. It caught his cheek. Not very hard, but enough. Enough for darkness to enter his eyes.

He grabbed my wrist and brought it down hard on my worktable. Once—twice—I let go of the hammer—and again—

Something cracked.

My mother’s ring.

And then Galen was rising into the air. Grimney lifted him by the scruff of his neck, and Galen’s eyes widened with fear.

“ Put me down. ”

Grimney looked to me.

Galen twisted in the air, swinging his fists. He shouted, “Put me down!”

Still Grimney waited for me. “Grzzy?”

Galen shouted louder, “You obey me . I paid for you. You belong to me .”

“Galen,” I said. “Please. I don’t want to get married.”

There was a look in his eyes I’d never seen before. Dark, cold, possessive. “You don’t have a choice.” He took a deep breath and shouted, “Guards!”

Grimney hit him. Galen’s eyes rolled back, and he crumpled to the floor.

I dropped to my knees, but it was okay. Galen was still breathing.

Slowly, I got to my feet. My vision blurred with tears. I hated myself for crying. It was one of the oldest lessons I’d learned:

people don’t notice what they don’t want to notice. Galen had never cared about me, not me, not truly. I worked so hard for

him, because... because... I wanted to believe he treasured me. Because he saved me from Lady Incarnadine. But now I

had to save myself.

A commotion came from downstairs. Footfalls on the stairs, growing closer. A male voice called, “Galen?”

“We’re all right,” I shouted, wiping my face. “He’s, uh, helping me get dressed.”

The voice came. “Who called for the guards? Where is he?”

Crud. I met Grimney’s gaze. We were doomed.

I flew into action. The biggest bag I owned—I dumped out the measuring rings, the odds and ends, and filled it quickly with

whatever I could reach. My tools. A change of clothes. The lilac dress? I could sell it.

I crumpled it into a ball and shoved it in. It strained the seams.

My foot slid on a piece of paper. Rane’s card. I shoved it in my pocket, and then I grabbed his cloak, too. It was big and

anonymous.

“Dwyggr?”

I spun. “Oh, Grims.” He couldn’t come with me. But he couldn’t stay. I didn’t know what Galen would do to him when he woke. “You’re too big to come with me—I mean, you’re perfect. But—”

He held himself very still. A rumble came from deep in him, a crush of rock on rock, growing louder and louder. A crack—

I flung my arms up, protecting myself from what felt like small explosion.

A dust cloud cleared. A pile of rocks stood where Grimney had been.

“Oh gods, Grimney!” My heart dropped. I’d killed him?

Movement came from the rubble. A tiny Grimney bounced out, arms spread. He was gleaming, glittering, made up of only the semiprecious

stones he’d eaten, bound together with thick veins of gold. All the sturdy brown rock had been left behind. He had one amber

eye and one of pale white, and his grin took up half his plum-sized head.

He tucked himself into a ball and rolled happily onto my foot.

“That was very melodramatic.” I picked him up and put him in my pocket.

I ran down the stairs, barreling through a priest who was coming up. He shrieked something at me. My feet skidded to a stop

at the bottom of the steps.

A handful of people—Galen’s friends—stood before the main door. “What ho!” A jovial redheaded man blocked it. “What’s this?”

I spun on my heel and threw myself down the hallway, out the back door, and into the shadows of the alleyway.

I was at the mouth of Gem Lane when shouts came from the workshop. “Guards! Guards!”