Page 33 of Between Two Kings

Chapter Five

Before Tem could wonder how Rowe would retaliate, a murmur swept through the courtyard. Everyone turned to watch as a large mattress was set down in front of the fountain. It was not unlike the mattress Tem and Caspen had used for the ritual, and she wondered briefly if it was the same one. As soon as it was in place, two basilisks emerged from the crowd. The woman was tall, the man even more so. They were stunning, as all basilisks were, and when they reached the mattress, they stood beside it and waited. The crowd fell silent.

“What are they waiting for?” Tem whispered.

Caspen’s lips dipped to her ear. “You.”

Tem’s eyebrows rose. “Me? Why?”

“They expect you to bless their marriage.”

Tem was already blushing at the sight of the beautiful basilisks before her. If Caspen was about to tell her that she was supposed to join them, she would not survive it. “I thought you said basilisks don’t have weddings.”

“We do not.”

“Then how do I bless their marriage?”

“You will witness their union as a married couple.”

Tem blinked. “What?”

“You are the Serpent Queen, Tem.”

Tem stared up at him. “I need a little more detail than that, Caspen.”

He let out a soft chuckle. “Every mating season, any couple whose marriage is bound by blood has the opportunity to be blessed by the Serpent Queen.”

“Why only marriages bound by blood?”

“Because they are considered sacred in the eyes of Kora.”

“Who blesses ours?”

“No one. You are a Hybreed. That means you do not need anyone’s blessing.”

Again, Tem felt a whisper of possibility at the prospect of such power.

“When my mother died, the blessings stopped,” Caspen continued. “Now that we have a queen once more, they can begin again.”

Tem frowned. She didn’t know exactly how long ago Caspen’s mother had died, but even if it was mere years ago, it seemed incredible that only this couple had since bound their marriage by blood. Caspen had said that the blood bond was rare, but Tem hadn’t realized it was that rare—that there was just one other couple who were joined the same way she and Caspen were.

Tem shook her head in disbelief. “Can’t someone else do it?”

“It is your duty as their queen.”

The concept of duties was not unfamiliar to Tem. She was used to the chores and obligations of life on the farm. But these duties were bizarre to her. The most responsibility she’d ever had was feeding the chickens. She certainly wasn’t ready to bless a marriage.

“It’s my duty to watch them have sex?”

“Yes.”

“But what if I don’t want to?”

“You…do not have to,” he said slowly.

Tem narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

Caspen sighed. “It is true that you do not have to. No one will force you, including me. But it would not be wise to refuse. They will view it as an insult.”