Page 21 of The Naga Princess’s Soldier Mate (Serpents of Serant #7)
Sazzie
We’d been traveling most of the day, but moving downhill made the trek go fast, and Reid had endless endurance, even though he was pulling Khawla’s heavy body on an improvised sled. The air was getting a little warmer as we descended, but it was clear that autumn was coming; summer was over. A brisk wind had set in from the south, and though I was not easily cold, I was starting to feel it. Reid, on the other hand, seemed completely unbothered by the temperature, and he had lost his shirt.
Throughout the day, we’d talked, and I’d learned more strange things about the world that Reid came from than I could have ever imagined. But it was all light-hearted things—like the differences between his trees and mine, and the color of the sky. Blue? That was so strange; I could not imagine looking up at the sky on a bright day and seeing anything but Serant’s gentle violet. It was fascinating.
“What about gold?” I dared to ask, a smile stretching across my mouth. I still liked shiny gold and gems, even though I’d shed all of my pieces after I had killed my mother. When Reid glanced over his shoulder at me from beneath a hank of shiny black hair, his warm brown eyes twinkled with laughter. It felt as if he were letting me in on a joke with that look, and warmth bloomed in my chest. I felt included, part of something.
“Ah, all things that glitter,” he said. “Yes, Earth has gold. It is valuable everywhere I’ve been.” He paused to readjust his grip on the makeshift sled before crossing a particularly rocky stretch. Several large boulders made it tricky to pass without dumping poor, still-unconscious Khawla onto the ground. “And human girls tend to like gold and diamonds, just like Naga ladies do.”
Diamonds? I considered the super-tough, white or translucent gems that were set in some of the more intricate pieces of jewelry from Serqethos. Yes, I liked diamonds, but I was beginning to be much more partial to warmer tones—brown, like Reid’s eyes. Was there a gem that could match his eyes—the warmth and love I saw there every time he looked my way?
“Humans have a custom,” Reid said, pausing again, but this time not to readjust the sled. He put it down and smoothed his hands along his thighs. The gesture seemed oddly nervous when I caught it. Why would my brave, confident protector be nervous? Gesturing at him with my hand, I urged him to continue, and his mouth twitched into a smile. I had to be mistaken; now he looked happy, relaxed—not nervous at all.
“It’s called marriage. It’s pretty much the same as mating. Humans don’t have mating marks, though, so we came up with something else: a ring.” He tapped one of the fingers on his hand, then reached out a hand to one of mine. Without hesitation, I placed my fingers in his. He pointed to my second-smallest finger. “Ring finger. That’s where a man or a woman wears a band to indicate they belong to one another. Usually, it’s a gold band with a diamond.”
Naga did not wear rings—at least, not at Thunder Rock. Rings got in the way of daily tasks, could be a hazard on hunts, or were easy to lose. But I knew Artek wore them; I’d seen the glitter of gold or silver on the Shaman’s fingers more than once. I eyed my own hand, tried to picture a ring with a cool, glittering diamond on it—and struggled.
“Would you like that? If I got you a ring? Zsekhet could help me make it; he’s from Serqethos.” Reid’s fingers twitched around mine before sliding away, and with them, his gaze dropped to the ground. Nervous again? I loved the way he looked in the late afternoon sun: his skin gleamed golden, and the ink stood out dramatically along his arms. I even loved how the geometric shapes of his nanobots pressed beneath his skin. So pretty.
“Yes,” I said, even though I did not like the idea of a diamond. If he wanted to make it for me, that would mean everything, and I would wear it proudly. And aid from a Serqethos male? It was so very tempting, because the Serqethos Clan was the very best at jewelry-making. They were artisans, true craftsmen. All my mother’s best pieces came from their Clan. They were expensive and worn with great pride.
My answer made him beam a bright smile, his brown eyes glowing. I reached out and cupped the side of his face, my thumb brushing his cheek just below his eye. “I want a stone like your eyes, Reid. I love your eyes.” His smile grew so wide it was radiant, and I felt proud to have caused that kind of happiness. He swept me into his arms, holding me close and gently rocking us back and forth as if we were dancing.
“As you wish, princess,” he said, pressing his mouth to my hair with a warm, quick kiss. “That sounds even better.” We kissed then, but Reid jerked back so suddenly that it made my head spin. His chin rose, his eyes sharp and focused as they searched the trees around us. He sensed something, so I did the same, searching for any sign of life. My tongue flicked out to taste the air, and instantly, I knew it was all right. The scent I drew into my lungs was a familiar one, and we had nothing to worry about.
Reid seemed to conclude that at the same time; his shoulders relaxed, his arms growing soft around me. “Artek! Are you there, my friend?” I held my breath as I waited to see from which direction the Shaman would come. I thought he would come from below, where his home was located, so it was a surprise when he appeared from above us. His white scales gleamed with hints of blue, green, and pink in the late Serant sunlight, shimmering like a pearl.
Artek did not look as polished and refined as he usually did when visiting Thunder Rock Village, which caught me off guard. His long, golden hair was slightly disheveled, his colorful sash conspicuously absent, and a twig was lodged beneath the gold-and-blue chain around his neck. His sapphire eyes widened in surprise as he ducked under a branch to reach us. “Reid? Sazzie? What are you two doing here? I thought you were at the Training Grounds.”
He did not say a word about how close Reid and I were standing; my mate still had his arms around my waist, casually resting his hands against my spine. “I could say the same about you,” I told Artek. “Isn’t your home down there?” I asked, pointing down the ridge of a mountain flank we’d been following to reach the caves he lived in.
Immediately, the Shaman nodded, seemed to finally become aware of the twig caught in his necklace and hurried to remove it. “Yes, well, I was at Haven because Vera is almost due, but then the skyship crashed, and I needed to return home to check on things.” His eyes finally left Reid and me, dropping down to the sled at our feet, and they went huge again. “Oh stars, what happened?”
He raced forward, coiling at Khawla’s side to inspect the unconscious scout. Already, he was pulling a handheld device from his satchel, slipping it over his fingers so he could take care of the male. “We had a bit of a run-in with Bitter Storm on our way home,” Reid said, then proceeded to explain what we’d gone through and what had happened to Khawla. He left very little out, even boldly declaring that I was his mate and that my mating marks had glowed for him.
Artek did not seem the least surprised. “Yes, that’s good. I always did think your potential was wasted in the shadow of the Queen, Sazzie.” He glanced up at me, his blue eyes friendly, though he also appeared distracted, focusing more on his patient than on us.
“Shall we help you get him down to your home?” Reid asked, sounding a little grumpy. I smiled behind my hand at the sight of his sour expression. Did he expect something else from the Shaman? Congratulations? A Shaman with a patient was single-minded, so Artek’s behavior did not surprise me.
No, I took that back. When the Shaman quickly shook his head, something felt off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. “No, no need! I can take Khawla home myself. It’s close. I’m sure the two of you wish to hurry to the pass so you can get to Haven. Everyone has been very worried about you, Reid.” While all those things were true—and Reid looked pleased again—they still didn’t make sense to me. Khawla would reach his healing chamber faster if we helped. And, truly, we could use a few supplies. Artek was normally quick to offer those, but not today. Why?
“If you are sure,” Reid agreed slowly and dubiously. That reassured me—I was not alone in feeling a little suspicious. There was not much we could do, though; Khawla would be in good hands with Artek, even if he was up to something. The Shaman would never harm anyone; he didn’t have an evil bone in him. I had seen that as a child, back when he was still an apprentice with another Shaman. I had wanted to bring that injured Ayala to him because he was the only person I knew who would help me.
As if my thoughts of the Ayala I’d once tried to save had summoned it, the bushes rustled below us on the mountain flank. Then, they parted to reveal a black-and-white-striped snout, and a sturdy but slow-moving Ayala trundled out. All its quills bristled along its rump, making it look shaggy and big. A gold band around its chubby neck marked it as something other than prey. It couldn’t be… How old did an Ayala even get?
I flicked my eyes from the more-white-than-black snout to Artek and was trapped in a suddenly, very kind blue gaze. “Yes,” he said to me, his mouth tilting in a smile. “That’s Zap. She’s been with me for nearly twenty years…” He did not say more, but he didn’t need to. This Ayala came a little closer, and now I could see the slight limp she had; her back leg was a little crooked. It was her—the little baby I’d tried to save so long ago.
Tears sprang instantly to my eyes, my throat closed up, and a sob shook my chest. Artek just kept looking at me with kindness, while Reid frantically began asking me what was wrong. So out came the whole story about that impactful confrontation with Astrexa, with Zathar’s interference and advice. “I can’t believe she’s still here—that she made it!”
“Zap has thrived under my care. She’s been a good friend,” Artek told me. Now, he wasn’t impatient or distracted. Khawla must not be in any immediate danger, because he circled around the sled to come closer to us, lowering himself to stroke his palm over Zap’s snout and ruffle her soft, round ears. My palm instantly ached to do the same. She did not look nearly as soft as she had been as a baby, but it still looked so nice.
“Zap wears a collar that protects her from predators,” Artek explained, more to Reid than to me, because my focus was entirely on the now-very-old Ayala. Slipping from Reid’s grasp, I dared to move a little closer to her, lowering myself like Artek had, so as not to be a threat. How was it possible that nobody had ever told me that Artek had an Ayala with him? Twenty years was a long time for that to be a secret…
The Ayala was big for one of her kind, evidence that she’d been well-fed and nurtured, just as Artek said. She also wasn’t shy; a huff through her snout was followed by her abandoning Artek’s petting to nuzzle my outstretched fingers. A deep inhale made her striped flanks expand, and then her quills shivered; they seemed to smooth down a little, as if she were relaxing. Her black nose was a little wet but soft, as was her white cheek. I was still marveling at the sensation when she abruptly turned around and scuttled back into the bushes. “Oh... Was it... did I do something wrong?”
Reid folded his hand around my shoulder, silently offering support, but Artek’s words were the most reassuring. “I doubt it. Nothing bothers Zap these days. She’s been nesting near here for a few months now; her latest litter must almost be old enough to be on their own. I bet she’s simply gone to check on them.” Artek rolled a shoulder, then shrugged out of the satchel that dangled from a strap. “Take these supplies, Reid. There should be enough to get you to Haven.”
Reid took the bag, and I heard the two males talking as they stuck their heads together, but I didn’t pay attention. My eyes were still fixed on the bushes the Ayala had disappeared through.
Artek was picking up the handles of the improvised sled when I finally wrenched my eyes away from the purple fronds and leaves. His body was already turned toward his home lower on the mountain, and he gave only a vague, hurried parting greeting as he started to leave. It was so out of character that I was, once again, surprised. Why was he in such a rush to get rid of us?
I opened my mouth to ask him, even though it was a little nosy. The Sazzie I had always been to others would never have done that; acting callously disinterested had been the best way to protect myself. I had Reid now, so I didn’t need to do that. Artek ducked his head low, his pale shoulders rising to his ears as if he sensed my intentions. He picked up the pace, and my curiosity almost made me hurry after him. I would have, if not for the timely distraction.
Zap was back, chortling cutely as she jogged around a tree. Something small and wriggly dangled from her mouth, and in the precious seconds I needed to parse what it was, Artek was gone. “What’ve you got there, girl?” Reid said, and the seductive drawl of his voice seemed to work on me as much as it did on Zap. She made a very satisfied chirping sound as she approached us, the baby Ayala still dangling from her mouth. I crouched in front of her, smiling wryly as Zap gave Reid an adoring look.
“Yeah, it makes me do that too,” I agreed with her. It made her chortle again from the back of her throat, her young mewling much like Zap had done in my arms all those years ago. When she took another step toward me, my heart clenched in my chest. I almost didn’t dare to reach out with my hands, but Reid gently nudged me, and his presence helped. I shouldn’t have feared rejection; Zap dropped her baby into my hands without ceremony.
It was almost exactly the same size Zap had been when I rescued her, and the sensation of that warm ball of fur in my hands brought back all the memories—especially the strong desire I had felt then to keep her, to care for her myself. Zap seemed far less fussed about giving me one of her young. She gave the small rump a lick, huffed once while giving me a look, and then turned and trundled away. I was left holding a wiggling ball of fur with a pair of dark eyes and hints of pink still visible through its white fur. “Reid, did Zap just give me one of her babies? Why did she do that?”
I struggled to look away from the small bundle lying trustingly in my hands. It was old enough to jump out and survive in the woods on its own, but it didn’t seem to want to leave. It was the opposite of what Zap had done twenty years ago. “She did. Maybe she’s repaying you for saving her,” he said, and then he chuckled, and my belly clenched with a spark of heat at the sound. “The little one will be very welcome at Haven, that I can guarantee. Come on, we’ll need to forage for it on our way home.”
I rose, gently cupping the small animal to my chest and marveling when it sighed and settled its head on my shoulder rather than fighting. “You’re fine with me keeping it?” I asked Reid, not quite certain if any of this made sense to me. Nobody at Thunder Rock would ever consider keeping a pet, but Reid seemed very casual about it.
With his palm pressed to the small of my back, he urged me to start moving, and I soaked in his warm touch. We were turning toward the rising mountain arm, away from Artek’s home, where we clearly weren’t welcome. “You know, the first time you sat with me in that med bay, I remembered thinking you should be holding either a pet or a baby in your arms. Of course, you should keep it. What do you want to name it?”
Ah, now I was crying again, but it was because I was so happy. I felt so loved. Reid got me; he saw the real me. With him at my side, I wasn’t even scared that Haven might not welcome me. Now, we just had to get there.