Page 106 of Embrace the Serpent

“My mother—where is she?”

“She’s there.” He gestured back the way I had come. Past the entrance hall, into the ballroom.

The ballroom was still strewn with wedding decorations, but the townspeople had arranged foodstuffs into organized piles, and it looked almost like a small town square. A group of children were playing with Grimney, and their laughter sounded strange and distorted to my ears.

My mother rose to her feet, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

She... looked fine.

“Saphira, what is it?” The Serpent King said from beside my ear.

I jumped, not having felt him come near. I didn’t understand. “Vanon said—”

“Vanon?” A strange look came over him, thoughts flickering in his eyes. His posture grew tense as a drawn bow as he pieced together something I could not yet see. He beckoned to a huntsman. “Vanon was stationed—where?”

The huntsman stammered. “H-he offered to guard the Imperial messenger.”

The bowstring snapped, and the Serpent King flew into action. “Seal the exits. We must find them. Send huntsmen to the shrine.”

The huntsman objected. “But—he wouldn’t help her, not after what she did to him—”

“We don’t know that,” the Serpent King said. “All we know is that he told Saphira a lie, and she left the heartstones alone.”

I flinched at that, as the implication dawned on me. Horror sank through my bones.

Several of the huntsmen set off at a run down the stairs. I took a step after them, but an arm blocked my way.

The Serpent King’s eyes were cold as he said, “Stay here.”

There was a hiss under his voice.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have left, no matter what he said.” Guilt squeezed my throat.

“We are lucky they didn’t try to take you.”

My body was a coil of tension. How many minutes had it been since I left the shrine?

The Serpent King didn’t meet my eyes. How could he not blame me?

A horn blew in the distance, from the direction of the watchtower on the other side of the lake. Beyond it, the sky seemed to tremble, like a desert mirage, and a hot wind blew, sending ripples across the water.

Bile filled my mouth.No.

The horn blew again, and a tiny dot leapt out of the top of the watchtower and streaked toward us. They flew erratically, dodging arrows from below.

I glanced back. The stairs leading to the submerged levels showed no signs of the huntsmen.

The tiny dot had grown into a winged runner, now streaking low and fast across the lake, racing their rippling shadow.

The stairs were quiet, empty.

The winged runner touched down, shouting, “The army—they’ve broken through!”

A strange shiver seemed to go through the Serpent King, as if he had fought back an illusion. His hands were fists at his side. “The border has fallen.”

The sound of breaking glass interrupted my thoughts. Someone screamed, “Stop them!”

I ran to the edge of the courtyard.