Page 57 of Bitten By the Basilisk

Chapter Seventeen

Alice

Alice relied on Nic to draw her forward by her elbow, as she was too engrossed in her surroundings to keep her feet moving.

Floating candles cast bright, golden light while basket-style braziers warmed the air. Clusters of red and white flowers tucked into gaps in the masonry made the weathered walls more inviting, with more flowers ornamenting a pair of enclosed dark-red tents.

Scattered about in small groups were a few serpent-folk in their shifted forms. All wore couture attire that opened at the bottom—tunics, robes, gowns—as well as a truly inordinate amount of jewelry that glittered beautifully in the candlelight.

Moving among them while bearing a tray of drinks was a two-legged server with pointed ears who deftly skirted the guests’ loosely coiled lower halves.

The variation in tail patterns was fascinating. One was glossy, solid black. Another was white with saddlelike reddish-brown splotches along the back. That one was partially entwined with a geometric pattern of greens.

The turquoise tail belonged to a guest who was slithering their way toward what had to be the main banquet area in the rear bailey, based on the harp music and the din of a large gathering coming from that direction.

The two human-shaped guests entered one of the tents, the entrance falling shut behind them. The other tent appeared to be a coat check, which she imagined also accepted shoes.

Several guests turned their heads toward her. The few gazes she could bring herself to meet appeared mildly intrigued. She hoped her mom’s glamour was covering up her reddened cheeks, because the warmth radiating from them wasn’t the fault of the nearby brazier.

“How many guests are non-serpent-folk?” she murmured to her escort as they neared the coat check.

Nic made a pensive hum as if adding them up in his head. “About a dozen, I believe. We always invite the most influential members of the founding families, including the mayor, although he hasn’t arrived yet, and Sheriff Somerley.

“The rest are local supes with long-standing business relationships with the nest. Oh, and a member of our nest is mated to a selkie who’s very personable. Boss made sure to seat her next to you.”

Alice’s heart squeezed, and a little smile quirked her lips. “How thoughtful of him. I look forward to meeting her.”

They arrived at the coat check just as the two guests in the other tent emerged in their shifted forms, both carrying their cloaks and footwear. The two females’ dresses almost didn’t matter, as they both dripped with gold and gems.

While Nic was inside the changing tent, Alice went to check her shawl.

“Good evening,” greeted one of the two fae attendants. Alice dipped her head in response. A myriad of cloaks, shoes, and other garments already filled the racks behind them.

She slipped off her shawl, revealing the top half of her gown as well as a lot of skin, then handed it to the attendant. Thanks to the braziers and the stone walls blocking most of the sea breeze, she felt warm enough without it.

Instead of handing her a numbered ticket for her checked item, the attendant assured her they would know what belonged to her when she returned at the end of the event.

Only a moment passed before Nic rejoined her, now in his half-serpent form. His all-black attire consisted of a tight-fitting sleeveless tunic with a double-slitted skirt, and it made his many gold accessories and emerald-green tail all the more brilliant in comparison.

“Very handsome,” she complimented, earning a pleased smile and a bow of thanks.

Once he had checked his outerwear, they continued to the rear bailey, taking a stone walkway down a small decline toward a courtyard surrounded by roofless buildings of rubble masonry.

Alice swept her gaze across the lavishly staged, candlelit gathering. More braziers kept the air temperature comfortable, and dark-red banners hung overhead like tree boughs.

Several long tables with opulent place settings occupied most of the space. At the head of each stood a wide, backless bench with broad armrests and carved designs, she assumed for the Basilisks in attendance. There were only a handful of chairs, presumably for two-legged guests, and thick velvet cushions for everyone else to coil their tails upon.

At another long table, set perpendicular to the rest, several serpent-folk were selecting from an array of artfully plated finger foods, and in a nearby corner, beneath a flower-draped pergola, was a beautiful woman playing a full-size harp.

Despite there easily being over a hundred serpent-folk mingling wherever there was open space, and several dozen more in a roofless building to the right, she spotted Silas almost instantly, her heart stuttering.

His dark-gold tail gleamed brilliantly. He had curled its considerable length into overlapping figure eights, a position that suggested he’d been settled there a while.

His upper half wore a long, sleeveless tunic that likely ended below the knee in his human form, the skirt split on both sides. The upright collar gave him a roguish look, and the open front left his chest exposed in a captivating V all the way down to the gold belt ring securing a silk cord around his waist.

She wryly noted that the color of his garment—burgundy at the bottom, blending into black at the top—matched her gown. However, he wore many more accessories than she did.

Most intriguing was the gold body chain that hung from his neck down the center of his chest and split just below his ribs to encircle his waist, disappearing into the sides of his tunic. Red gems that she suspected were rubies twinkled along the chain’s length, from his sternum to a rather large teardrop pendant over his stomach.