Page 35 of King of Serpents

“Has the female already been selected, or do I get to offer some suggestions this time?” he asked tonelessly.

The male’s smile faltered and his gavo shrank to flatten against the top of his head with his discomfort. “The queen did mention that the selection was being carried out at the first hour.”

“And I was not summoned,” Therxian concluded with a hum, to which the male inclined his head nervously in agreement.

“Th... the council decided that your presence was an unnecessary distraction to the proceedings,” the male stammered. The other males glanced toward him curiously, but he quickly shooed them away. Perhaps in reflection of his own desire to flee the situation. The other males certainly appeared no-little relieved at being able to quickly escape. “I... it was decided that to keep the conflict between the contending females to a minimum that the high queen will simply inform you of the night’s selection afterward.”

Therxian’s mouth twisted with dark amusement. Ferinia had clearly made more of a nuisance of herself to secure her spot in the selection than he had guessed. The situation itself, however, was not the least bit amusing. It was for that reason alone that he cast a sharp look at the male when he began to relax and smiled conspiringly. It did not take much to guess that the male did more than just supervise the other servers beneath him. With that cunning gleam in his eyes, Therxian was certain that the male was reporting everything he noticed about Therxian’s nest and habits.

That would need to be dealt with.

“If the prince would like to bathe—” he began, but Therxian snapped one wing to silence the male.

“Unnecessary,” he muttered as he rose from his nest. “If my presence is not even necessary when it comes to my own fate, then I will only do as much as is required.”

The servant clearly was not expecting that answer because he gaped, his gavo and wings twitching uncertainly. “That is—mean to say, that is not what—perhaps I should report this to the queen,” the male said anxiously.

Therxian gave him an impatient look as he moved past the male toward the table. “Also unnecessary,” he hissed. “And I would strongly advise you against any further reporting of anything that happens within my nest if you wish to remain looking as pretty as you do for your mate. There is nothing here for you to benefit from.”

The male gave him an uneasy look before dipping his head several times respectfully as he backed away. Therxian pretended to ignore him as he settled behind the table, but in truth, he was aware of every movement the male made. He watched him as he fidgeted in place before making for the entrance. Therxian allowed him to gain some distance before uttering a single command in a bored tone of voice as he plucked up a piece of well-spiced fungus.

“Remember,” he hissed, bringing the green male to an uneasy halt just in front of the entrance tunnel. The male looked over at him uncertainly, and Therxian smiled at the fungus before directly a cool look toward the male. “Do not speak of my nest at all. If you are compelled to speak, then you know nothing and confirm that I am waiting in acceptance of my fate.” His eyes narrowed at the male. “And outside of the meal hours, stay away from my nest unless invited. The minimal amount of privacy is not too much to ask. Learn to lie well if anyone tries to compel you to do more.”

The male bobbed his head jerkily and fled as Therxian tossed the fungus into his mouth, his sharp teeth pulverizing it.

“Now, how will the council take it, I wonder, when small threads of control start escaping them,” he quickly observed before popping another piece of fungus into his mouth. If they wanted to play with him, then he was happy to oblige them.

Chapter 25

Alex wasn’t losing her mind. She heard it again! She had been hearing it all day since she woke up. The splashing didn’t happen all at once, and was often subtle, but it was noticeably present before moving once more beyond the boundaries of her nest. Was there something prowling on a lower level beneath her? If so, it seemed to be primarily in another area and only periodically returning to the vicinity of her quarters for reasons she couldn’t fathom.

What if it were a predator trying to find its way to her? After dealing with such a cunning predator as the vawenda on the desert surface, it seemed plausible that something equally clever lived in the cavernous depths in search of prey. Not only did it seem likely but given the state of the surface and how many lifeforms were burrowers and dwelled deep with the cave systems of the planet, it was almost guaranteed that there could be something out there—possibly much larger from the sound of it—hunting her. And she was completely alone with zero defenses against the predators of M285. What if it was something truly monstrous, like the enormous tentacled fazthal that the provided training material instructed colonists to avoid?

“Fuck, that would be just my luck,” she whispered aloud, breaking the silence with the weak sound of her voice.

Clutching her blowgun tightly in one fist, Alex paced uneasily at the end of the corridor, staring uncertainly into passages she hadn’t yet explored. Truthfully, other than going to the food preparation chamber, she didn’t venture far from the royal nest where Therxian left her. She never considered herself to be particularly cowardly, but from the main corridor there seemed to be a complex network of corridors that extended further throughout the elder palace.

At least with the thick overgrowth of galthie blooms lighting them, they were well illuminated rather than dark tunnels descending into hell. She drew a deep breath and slowly expelled it. She wasn’t going to get anything accomplished standing there anxiously. She could either go back to her quarters and pretend like she didn’t hear or see anything and pray that whatever it was lost interest and went away, or... or she could pick the corridor that seemed to head off in the general direction it went.

Alex licked her lips nervously. That was one hell of a decision.

“For the record, I never once complained about my life being boring,” she muttered to whatever native deity, or deities, who might be listening. “There was absolutely no reason to just keep making it increasingly ‘interesting.’ Throwing strange sounds and possible unknown predators into the mix is just rude.”

Not that she hadn’t complained about other things that came with the territory of being a non-gratas assigned to Darvel Corporation. The shoebox of a room she slept in, the bland food offered at the canteen, the endless work-shifts being among those which she had muttered about from day to day. Being able to take a flyer out on the odd assignment was one of the few pleasures she had that allowed her to escape the flight deck and hangar where she was assigned. Granted, she had been too tired to enjoy her last flight, but now it seemed that something out there possessed a grim sense of humor by relieving her of all her complaints about the colony at once in the most potentially life-hazardous way.

She couldn’t believe that she was actually beginning to miss the grease and grime of her workstation. At least there was no question of the vermin that managed to find their way into the hangar making life even more unpleasant by trying to eat her. Half of them were in there due to being drawn to the smell of fuel and oil, as several species seemed to like the taste of it.

Better something that craved the flavor of fuel than slavering over her.

Alex grimaced as the thought immediately conjured an image of a monster drooling as it looked down at her asleep in her bed. Yeah, that wasn’t going to work for her.

“So let’s just check things out a bit and make sure that there are no easy open access points into the palace,” she mumbled.

At least Therxian had been considerate enough to close the main doorway that connected the elder palace to the corridor leading up the shinara, securing the main entrance into the palace from the upper corridors. There was less risk of anyone—or more importantly, anything—just stumbling in and catching her unaware from that direction. Especially from the broken corridor that opened directly into the abyss below.

“Or at least get this place locked down and thoroughly sealed up,” she amended.

It had to be possible. It stood to reason that there would be other parts of the palace that would likewise possess heavy doors that could be closed and barred.