Page 40 of King of Serpents

Buosoa looked back at her over her shoulder and her mouth tipped. “The strongest and most disciplined males—something which is rare to see in the shinara since many females these days look for softer traits—need it the most, even if it is the least apparent.”

Alex quietly absorbed the guard’s words, her eyes following the female as she turned toward the corridor that led toward the entrance into the upper palace. Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her tattered, but clean, flight suit, she followed behind Buosoa as she tried not to get too tripped up in the excess bright blue material dangling around her ankles from beneath the flight suit while trying to walk on the uneven, broken flooring of the corridor.

“I still can’t see how patting him on the back is going to help all that much,” she commented after several lengthy minutes passed.

The female looked at her again, this time with open amusement. “Is that what you imagine you would be doing?” She hissed with laughter, her gavo vibrating with her amusement as she gave Alex her back once more and continued forward, occasionally poking at one wall or another with her velkat. “If all humans are like you, then you must be a very entertaining species,” she commented.

Alex frowned at her. She didn’t think it was all that funny. Maybe something was lost in translation. “I don’t exactly have a lot of experience comforting anyone,” she admitted. “Non-gratas aren’t expected to have those kinds of close relationships because we are pretty much treated like livestock to move around at the convenience of citizens and corporations. And my interpersonal skills with other people are perhaps worse than most. I am not even sure how to pat someone on the back in a way that would feel meaningful.in any sort of way—and given that is just rudimentary stuff, that is kind of sad. How do Seshanamitesh physically express support and affection for each other, anyway? I am sure what Therxian will need is something I have little to no experience with.”

“Clueless as a hatchling,” Buosoa murmurs.

Her words were puzzling. How was she clueless?

“What?”

The guard whipped around toward her, turning so suddenly that Alex didn’t have a chance to check her stride before nearly colliding with her. Her squeak of surprise was instinctual due to the close call and because the female’s face suddenly dropped unnervingly close to her own. The guard’s thick dual tongues snaked outward, tasting the air immediately around her as Alex remained frozen in place, not even daring to breathe just in case. Amber eyes narrowed on her for a moment before Buosoa retreated with a soft, thoughtful hum.

“Not much experience,” she muttered mystifyingly as she withdrew and continued once more down the corridor, her attention completely focused on their surroundings once again. “But satisfactory for Therxian, I believe.”

Alex wrinkled her nose, unable to make sense of it. “Does he need me to fly him somewhere? That is the only real skill I have.”

The guard’s tail twisted and the female inelegantly rolled slightly sideways as her head snapped back to peer back at her. Her gavo began to vibrate and a hissing laugh burst from her. “You would certainly fly him well, I imagine.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that I am the most experienced or skilled,” she said slowly, “but I think I could perform satisfactorily enough.”

Her words set off another round of laughter from the guard, but when pressed as to the cause, Buosoa merely dipped her chin repeatedly in a silent refusal to answer. Alex really didn’t understand what the joke was. Normally she was unconcerned about such things, but the female’s refusal to explain was beginning to rankle.

“You want to clue me in on the joke?” she demanded as they rounded the corner into the final corridor that led directly to the broken shaft.

“Very well, little human. If you must know—Stop.” Buosoa’s hand shot up in silent command, her gavo lifting as she stared at the entrance leading from the palace into the tunnel.

Alex craned her neck in an attempt to look around the much larger female. “What is it?”

“I am not certain. Wait here,” Buosoa ordered, her tone once more leeched of all warmth. Whatever camaraderie that they had established seemed to have disappeared in an instant as they reverted back to their established roles of guard and helpless human.

The Seshanamitesh drew closer to the lump sitting in the middle of the entrance, her velkat dropping to point suspiciously at it. She hovered over it and pushed what looked like a large segment of material off it so that it fell away. Alex couldn’t see what the hell it was from her vantage point, but Buosoa stared at it for a long moment, a flicker of surprise crossing her face. Gradually, she lifted her head and stared at the empty tunnel extending beyond the entrance. A cold wind blew from the deep caves through the broken shaft, chilling her as the material on the ground fluttered slightly from the disturbance.

“Buosoa... what is it?” she called out.

The female’s head twisted slowly to the right and left, her ears fanning as she listened intently. Hissing quietly to herself, she lowered her velkat and glanced back at Alex. “It appears that someone left a gift for you.”

“A gift? What could anyone possibly want to give me down here?”

“It would appear to be fresh meat,” Buosoa replied as she drew back on her coiled tail to study it.

Meat? Alex crept a little closer and peered at the offering sitting at the entrance of the tunnel as Buosoa scrutinized it. The guard poked it with her velkat suspiciously. Bizarre. How did it get there without either of them hearing anything? Okay, maybe not herself, but surely Buosoa should have heard. That it just materialized was creepy as hell, especially since no one should have even known that there was anyone down here.

“What do you think?” she called over to her. “Do you think it is some kind of trap? Or poisoned, maybe?”

Buosoa leaned down and sniffed at it. Her gavo rose and then snapped back down, her ears flicking dismissively as she straightened. “It does not appear to be.”

Alex squinted at it and crept closer despite the guard’s instructions to remain where she was. The female’s ear fanned in response, and the tip of her tail twitched, but she did not appear to be too concerned about it.

“What do you think might have left it?”

The guard flicked her ears again and straightened. “Perhaps Therxian decided to leave something for you before attending to his... duties.”

Duties. That was a way to put it. It had nothing to do with her, of course, but she grimaced at the unsettled turn of her stomach and the odd pressure in her chest. She thumped her fist on her chest and coughed. Buosoa’s head turned to look at her, and Alex shrugged.