Page 74 of King of Serpents

Her eyes widened, and she dropped her voice to a whisper. “Do you think that was an intentional construct, too?”

She watched tension tighten her mate’s face as he regarded the wall. “It is possible. It would have been a convenient way for a queen to send secret messages, perhaps. But how many would know of it?”

“An Uralial?”

“Possibly.” He hesitated, a look of uncertainty crossing his face. “But that is not what worries me. There was one possibility that we did not consider while we have been considering the implications that might arise with the proximity of the Uralial to the shinara... one that might be detrimental to your safety.”

Her brows beetled in puzzlement. “Which is?”

Therxian’s expression grew grim. “It has bothered me that the meat offering was left, but that there is no other evidence of the male returning. If he was foolish once in his attempt to lure you, why would he give up so easily? But it is unlikely to be a trap made by an Uralial as Uralial cannot fly. Not unless the male made his way through the palace to deposit it rather than flying down through the tunnel—”

She shook her head. “He wouldn’t have gotten past Buosoa.”

He inclined his head in agreement. “Precisely. An Uralial cannot fly, but a Seshanamitesh can swim.”

Alex gaped at her mate. “You are saying that this could all be a huge trap?”

“It seems wise to consider. It is unlikely that anyone realizes that the Uralial could still have access to the elder palace, but the noble families could be aware of certain features of the palace that a male could be capitalizing on. Maybe even in the hope of pleasing a matriarch. After all,” he murmured, “a love-lorn male seeking a mate can be persistent—which this one is not when it comes to courtship behavior—but a male seeking to please a matriarch would go to great lengths.”

“Crap,” she whispered.

His mouth twitched with amusement. “Indeed. It seems that we are in dire need of more information. Information that the library seems not to have. It lacks many things, unfortunately.”

“Like what?” This was the first that she was hearing of it. He had never spoken of having any difficulty finding something in particular that he was looking for.

He blinked, as if startled, and then hissed quietly to himself. “With everything... I did not tell you.”

“Tell me what? Don’t keep me in suspense here. Did something happen?”

“My mother... she was poisoned along with several other females among the noble families,” he rumbled quietly in reply. “And what is worse, there is no antidote. The healer has been searching for information. She recognized the symptoms, and that it is treated with poisons by the Uralial, but not even the palace library could provide more information.”

Uralials certainly seemed to be a specialized bunch. It was no wonder that the primary nest within the western wing looked like it doubled for a workstation. If she had the space in her quarters at the colony, she too would have lugged her personal projects home with her. Hell, whoever lived there might have been the palace healer for all she knew—

“Oh, shit!”

Alex gasped and twisted her body sharply, fighting to get out of her mate’s grip. Therxian released her in surprise, a look of hurt crossing his face, but it didn’t linger long and instead shifted to curiosity as she began to babble.

“I can’t believe I totally forgot! But I found something tucked away in the primary nest when I was scouting around. Something that you’ve just got to see. You just reminded me of it,” she said in a breathless rush as she hurried over the table and picked up the aged scroll she found and thrust it at her mate. “I don’t know if it will have anything useful, but you need to take a look at this.”

Her mate peered at her curiously as he accepted the scroll and slowly began to unroll it. Alex waited, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet with anxiety and excitement as his gaze slipped over the contents. She was really going to need to learn to read if she was staying. She would have been a hundred times more help if she had been able to examine the contents of the scroll while she waited for him to return.

Therxian gavo suddenly snapped up and his deep red eyes widened. “This... this is it,” he whispered, a sharp laugh of disbelief escaping him. “I have never even heard of these plants, and apparently in requires the fresh leaves and fruits from a number of them. But at least this gives us a starting point with which to look.”

“But it’s not enough. Here I thought I had perhaps helped, but it’s not going to magically solve the problem with her poisoning. There were jars with all kinds of herbs in the western wing, but the contents didn’t exactly look hopeful,” she muttered unhappily. “Especially if needs to be fresh.”

She gasped in surprise as her mate’s tail whipped forward and wrapped around her, drawing her abruptly back into his embrace. His wings closed around her, and he held her for a long moment. He didn’t sing, but the beat of his hearts created its own steady melody of reassurance and love as he held her.

“This alone is of tremendous help,” he murmured. “You have done enough. The healer may be able to make use of it. I will deliver it to her when I see my mother.”

Alex nodded against his chest. She hoped that they would be able to make use of it soon. Zathexa was a complicated female and queen who had been dealt a bad hand in trying to change the established system of the shinara. As someone who had always been a member of a social class that had always been the butt of the system on Earth, Alex respected that.

“Speaking of my mother, there is another thing,” he hissed slowly. She tipped her head back, resting her chin against his chest so that she could look up at the sharp angles of his face, and raised her eyebrows inquiringly. “She knows. She knows everything.”

Hol-y Shi-it. “How did she take it?”

An odd look crossed his face. “Surprisingly well. She actually seemed more concerned that I left you in the elder palace defenseless more than she was about my mating choice. Though she was certainly surprised.”

“Whoa. Didn’t have that on my bingo sheet,” she mumbled.