Page 55 of Embrace the Serpent

“I know Rane.”

He breathed a laugh that sounded likepah!

“I do,” I said. “He’s been nice to me.”

“Rane is an idiot.”

I bit back the words that came to my lips.You’re not even half as clever as him.

The Serpent King shot me a withering look. “Listen, Saphira.Iam going to rescue my people.Youare going to stay out of my way.”

I glared at his elbow. And then, quietly, I asked, “But they’ll be all right, won’t they?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

My feet missed a step.

“Well, it’s not a tea party, is it?” he snapped. “They’re probably fine. They’re my best. There’s a chance that they’ll have saved themselves by the time we get there.”

I didn’t believe him. I don’t know that he believed himself either.

We didn’t speak for some time, thankfully, because the road curved uphill and I needed every inch of my lungs to keep up with him.

The tinkling of running water came from the side of the road, and the Serpent King veered off the path. “Finally, a river. Thank the stars.”

I wondered at his enthusiasm. To call it a river was a stretch; at most it was a stream with mild ambition. Still, I took the opportunity to gather my breath.

The Serpent King knelt by the bank and trailed his fingers through the water. He whistled, four clear notes that hung in the air.

A warbling trill came from the stream, matching his tune.

The flow changed, catching, a snag in the current. The Serpent King unfolded himself by inches, like he was coaxing a rabbit from a bush, but the bush was the stream and the rabbit was a column of water.

The Serpent King came to his full height, his fingers brushing the water, and inclined his head in a regal bow. The water trembled, and then it solidified, first the long muzzle and pointed ears, then the neck and sea-foam mane, then legs tipped with gleaming hooves. My eyes told me that the thing before me was a horse, if a slightly blue-green one, but the rest of me felt my eyes were being rather hasty with their declarations.

The Serpent King patted its neck, and its pale hairs shifted under his hand. It certainly looked solid. “Let us hurry,” he said. “Come. I’ll help you up.”

The horse whinnied, and its teeth seemed very real and very large. I inched back. “It’s okay, I’ll walk.”

He huffed, nearly rolling his eyes. “It’s just like any horse.”

“Except it came out of the water.”

“That’s perfectly natural. It’s one of the water horses. A divine beast.”

“How did it come here? I thought the divine peoples were bound to your land.”

“They are not bound. They have choice. Some chose to stay, and they live in the hidden corners of your world. In my land, they live openly.”

He reached out a hand.

“Still,” I said, “I’d better walk.”

“It’s not a monster.”

“I didn’t say it was.” No more so than any other horse, at least.

“Then why—Ah.” He cut himself off with devilish delight. “Do you not know how to ride?”