Page 2 of Embrace the Serpent

Galen set down his tea and, with flourish, opened the jewel box.

A soft gasp came from Miss Ella Pewter. Her mother drew it out of the box and held it gingerly. A soft flush rose to her cheeks.

That was the necklace’s power. I’d set the rubies in a silver-forward alloy to dampen their effect, so all they did was bring

a gentle rosiness to the skin. But the real innovation was the clasp.

Lady Pewter examined the clasp, which I’d shaped carefully to look like a serpent’s head. The details had come from a well-illustrated

book in the Imperial library. The slim head, large eyes, and delicate lace-like skin were patterned on a green tree snake

found in the north.

Lady Pewter said, “Lovely,” but her eyes asked, How does it work?

Galen answered. “A single drop of blood will key the clasp to the owner. Then only the owner can unclasp it.”

Lady Pewter smiled. “Excellent. My dear Ella is so trusting—the Season has yet to begin, and three pieces she’s lost already,

stolen straight from her neck.”

“Mother, please ,” Ella hissed.

Despite her smile, there was something hard in Lady Pewter’s eyes. “You would never have survived the Rose Palace, my dear.

And you are getting too old to protect.”

Galen cleared his throat. “My assistant will help your daughter set up the clasp.”

Lady Pewter’s gaze slid over me, and she nodded. I moved to Ella’s side. On the underside of the serpent’s head was the latch.

I flicked it open. A small needle was inside.

“Your finger, miss,” I said.

Ella obliged. A pinprick, a drop of blood.

She pulled her hair to the side, and I clasped it around her neck. The rubies settled below her collarbone, and a soft pink

flush came to her skin.

“How do I look?” she whispered to me.

From the folds of my livery I produced a hand mirror. I had framed it myself, in silver with a white opal in the handle to

soften the light just so. Everyone likes a kind mirror. It’s not a lie, precisely. I think most people’s eyes are a little

cruel, so my mirror evens the odds.

Ella’s dimples made an appearance as she beheld herself. “Oh, I love it. Mother, look!”

Lady Pewter looked at her with a critical eye. After a long moment, she spoke. “Very good work, Master Galen. I applaud the invention, but the design is also quite stunning.”

“Quite stunning? Mother, it’s the loveliest piece I’ve ever seen—oh, thank you, Master Galen. I love it dearly.”

My chest felt warm, and I fought to keep the smile from my face.

“You are very welcome, my child. It was a great pleasure to craft this for one as lovely as yourself,” Galen said with great

modesty. His attention was on Lady Pewter. “It would be an honor to make a piece for you as well...”

“Oh yes, Mother, you must.”

Lady Pewter demurred. “I’m afraid Master Vyalis has been my jewelsmith for many years now.”

Ella sighed. “His work is so boring, though. And everyone wears him.”

A burst of laughter came from the direction of the front door.

Ella Pewter darted to her feet. “They’re here! They’ll be so jealous, I have to show them—”

Lady Pewter frowned. “That might not be wise, dear.”

The Pewters’ manservant knocked at the door. “Miss, your friends have arrived.”

Galen rose. “Ah, well, if you are satisfied, Miss Pewter, Lady Pewter, then we shall take our leave.”

Ella stopped him. “Oh no, Master Galen, stay a moment, let me introduce you.”

A gleam of hunger shone in Galen’s eye, and he put on his salesman’s smile.

A quartet entered in high spirits. The men’s shirtsleeves were open to their chests; the women’s dresses were cut low, revealing brands that matched Lady Pewters. The specially chosen.

Several of their faces seemed vaguely familiar. Probably from the society papers that Galen collected and strewed about the

workshop.

I beat a retreat to my post against the wall. They greeted each other, and it was like watching a puppy run up to a pack of

wolves. Of the wolves, there was one clear leader: a young woman of middling height, with hawk’s eyes and a silken way of

moving.

“That’s a lovely piece, Ella,” she said.

“Isn’t it?” Ella did a spin, showing it off. Lady Pewter’s lips pursed.

The hawk-eyed woman crooked her head. “Is that a serpent in the back?”

The newcomers shared a look. One of them, red-haired with boyish cheekiness, whistled. “You’ve set your cap for the Serpent

King, have you?”

Ella flushed and forced a laugh. “Of course not. And anyway, no one’s going to catch his eye as long as you’re around, Mirandel.”

Mirandel. The name was a splinter in my mind. I scanned her face. Could it be? There were no traces of the ungainly, scowling

girl I once knew. If it was the same girl, then the ravages of time were showing clear favoritism.

Mirandel smiled slow and wide. “It’s anyone’s game, of course. That is truly a fetching jewel. Let me try it on, won’t you?”

Lady Pewter said nothing as her daughter took off the necklace and draped it around Mirandel’s neck. So much for my clasp

keeping it safe.

Mirandel’s skin flushed—not in the delicate way Ella Pewter’s had, but in the way of a shepherdess after a romp in the hay.

“Where’s the mirror?”

Oh, horsepiss. It was in my hands. My legs were strangely wooden, and it took effort to cross the room. My body remembered how Mirandel had betrayed me. But there was no way she would recognize me after all these years.

I held the mirror up, angling it just so to block her view of me.

“It’s lovely,” said Miss Pewter.

“Yes, it is, rather,” Mirandel agreed. “And unlike anything I’ve seen before. I do like it. Wouldn’t it be funny if you made

it a gift to me, Ella?”

A prickly silence followed. A test.

Miss Pewter’s lips trembled. She glanced at her mother, whose face betrayed nothing. “Um, I’d be happy to, if you like it—”

Mirandel laughed. “No, no, thank you, darling. I can’t stand the blushing-virgin look.”

Galen coughed delicately. “If the young miss desires, a necklace of a similar but unique design can be made with sapphires

for alertness, or diamonds for stamina—for all that dancing.”

Mirandel turned to him. “You are the jewelsmith?”

“Oh yes,” Ella Pewter said. “I wanted to introduce you. This is Master Galen. Sandice Thane told me about him—you’ve seen

her new anklets, haven’t you?—and—”

“Master Galen.” Mirandel held out a hand. “Yes, your work has made quite the splash as of late. It’s about time someone dethroned

Master Vyalis.”

Galen preened. “You are too kind.”

Mirandel reached back to undo the clasp.

“Wait!” The warning left my lips—a second too late.

Her eyes met mine as the clasp bit her hand. She yelped.

Galen paled. “That’s the magic of the clasp, my lady. Only its owner can remove it.”

“No harm done.” Mirandel laughed, but her eyes were hard. “Your assistant tried to warn me.”

Her gaze landed on me and slid away. Her brow furrowed. She glanced back, and her hawk’s eyes were sharp.

I kept my expression vacant. She had no reason to remember me. I was invisible. But my mouth dried out so much my tongue stuck

to my teeth.

Mirandel dropped her gaze. “Oh, I’m being silly. Come, Ella, take this thing off me.”

Miss Pewter hurried to undo the necklace. Mirandel touched the back of her neck, and her finger came away with a drop of blood.

She considered it, then brought it to her lips. “Isn’t this how fairy tales go? A pinprick, and then she marries the prince?”

Ella stammered. “Yes, it is, isn’t it? She finds her true love. Maybe the Serpent King—”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ella. Love has nothing to do with marriage. Wouldn’t you agree, Lady Pewter?”

Ella’s face fell. It seemed to me that the puppy had found its neck in the wolf’s jaws.

Lady Pewter smiled thinly. “Let’s let Master Galen get on with his day, shall we?”

Once the gray doors shut behind us, my lungs expanded two full sizes.

“That went well,” Galen said cheerfully. “I think we’ll have some new customers!”