Page 22 of The Naga Princess’s Soldier Mate (Serpents of Serant #7)

Sazzie

“I still think he was acting weird,”

I told Reid as we traveled.

It was definitely getting colder.

At night, we had to cuddle together to stay warm—all three of us.

Thankfully, the small amount of supplies Artek had given us included a few furs for sleeping.

Sorbet was sitting on my shoulder, clinging with her paws to my scales without hurting me.

She wouldn’t be able to sit there when she got much bigger, but for now, both of us liked this.

“Artek always seems a little mysterious and closed-off,”

Reid responded. “Maybe he was just homesick.”

He wasn’t disagreeing with me exactly, but doing what he called playing the devil’s advocate. He’d explained it to me, but I wasn’t entirely sure why he did it—something about trying to keep an open mind on all the options.

“Granted, he was definitely trying to get rid of us. We just don’t know why, and is it really any of our business?”

That was true, too, but obsessing over Artek’s quick departure was easier than thinking about our impending arrival.

Ahoshaga’s peak rose above us, and Reid said we’d be at Haven’s gates soon.

A cliff wall was on one side, and forest spread out on the other for most of the morning, but now that, too, was turning more rocky, strewn with giant boulders—some as big as a house.

I could scent smoke in the air, which was a sure sign of civilization.

“Okay,”

I agreed. “It’s not our business.”

Artek had a right to privacy, but I could not let go of the idea that he’d been hiding something big from us.

If he left right after that skyship had crashed with all those strange, wart-covered alien survivors, he should have had plenty of time to get home. He hadn’t come from home, though, so he’d made a detour to somewhere…

Sorbet chose that moment to tilt her snout and snort in my ear, and I giggled, instantly cheered.

She kept doing that, sticking her nose in my ear as if she expected to discover food there.

Maybe she just kept doing it because each time she did, I reached up to give her some of the Exar berries we’d harvested that morning.

That’s why Reid had dubbed her Sorbet, and the name had stuck—because those berries had been partially frozen by morning frost, and she’d seemed to love the frozen berries even more.

Apparently, sorbet meant frozen fruit in his language.

It was a weird word, but I could easily wrap my tongue around it, and it sounded cute.

The small Ayala was already bigger than she had been three days ago, when Zap had given her to me, and she was eagerly licking the last drops of juice from my fingertips when I caught sight of the wooden wall.

Oh, we’d arrived.

The palisade was tall and thick, with guards posted along the top who sounded the alarm as soon as they saw us.

There was a wooden building outside the gate and several tents around a large central fire pit.

When we got closer, I saw that at least half a dozen males were sitting around it, working on various tasks.

Males in shades of Copper Tooth purple, Water Weaver green, and Thunder Rock blue.

Even, much to my surprise, a red male from Bitter Storm.

So many colors, so many different males, but all working together in friendly camaraderie.

“Hey, Joxra!”

Reid called out, waving at the Bitter Storm male with a smile on his face. “Ekkire, still here? I thought you were itching to go, my man! What happened?”

He knew all of them and hurried to greet us, him. I received many stares and looks, a wide berth, as they slapped fists to chests and shoulders in greeting. Many of them exclaimed over Reid’s appearance and his incredible luck at surviving yet again.

I did not say anything, just held Sorbet to my chest, petting her soft fur.

Reid kept his hand curled around my fingers the entire time, making sure I could not flee and ensuring I felt his support.

When the males quieted, I thought things were over, but no—more people were streaming from the gates.

Then I caught sight of one particular shade of azure. My chin lifted, and I locked eyes with Zathar, my brother.

“Sazzie,”

he said, his voice painfully familiar, and it sounded friendly too. I had imagined a million different ways this could go, but the soft expression in his eyes had not been in any of those fantasies. “Why am I not surprised?”

he laughed when he glanced at Sorbet. Then, he drew me into his arms, hugging me for the first time in our lives, as far as I could remember. “Welcome home, sister.”

THE END