Serpent's Touch (Serpent's Touch 1)

How long had it been since my last sleep? Or meal? Did the time in the River of Mists count? Or did it stand still?

I just knew that I was too tired to eat.

“Let me help you familiarize yourself with this place a little before I go.” Kyllen took my arm.

Walking me slowly around the room, he placed my hand on each object, explaining its purpose.

“Table and two chairs. I’ll shove them closer to each other so you’ll have more space and less chance to trip over them. Window. Stay away from it. It’s large enough to walk out of, with only a few branches trained to grow across for a railing. The water is deep enough to possibly survive the fall, but the impact would be hard—we’re quite high above the surface here. Bathing basin. It’s always full in Lorsan.” I heard a smile in his voice. This was a clear reference to the empty bathtub he had found in the hotel room back in London.

Trickling of water reached my hearing.

“Waterfall?” I asked.

“Exactly. Touch it.” He took my wrist and extended my hand for me.

Warm stream pleasantly rolled over my fingers.

“Good to drink and bathe if you like. The toiletries are here on the ledge to the right.” He then opened another door. “Waste room. It’s quite small.”

The noise of another waterfall rushed from inside the small room.

“Does the waste get flushed straight down into the Bay?”

“Of course not.” Disgust tinted his voice. “It gets processed and sanitized first.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure.” He closed the door, and the sound of the waterfall disappeared behind it. “I never had the interest to study the specifics of waste processing, but if you absolutely need to know—”

“No,” I stopped him. “Definitely not tonight.”

“Alright. Your nest is here.” He took me to the other side of the waterfall with the bathing pool.

“The nest?”

“The bed,” he explained. “You call it ‘the bed.’ Werewolves often say ‘the lair’ or ‘the den,’ depending on the region of Sarnala they’re from. And gargoyles refer to it as ‘the perch’ sometimes. But it’s all the same with small differences—the place where you sleep. It’s right here, behind the screen.”

With one hand on the wall of polished wood, I followed his lead to a recess in the wall. A screen of silky material stretched over a wooden frame hid a soft mattress that appeared to be placed right on the floor.

“The nest is round, not square like your beds.” Kyllen continued to serve as my eyes, describing the things I couldn’t see. “It’s not raised, but it’s so thick, you’d never feel the floor.”

I bent over to examine it by touch. The edge of the mattress was about three feet high. A thick soft cushion roll circled the edge, which would make it look very much like a nest, I imagined.

A knock on the door sounded. The man who had brought us here came to announce that Kyllen’s room was now ready.

“It’s on the same branch as this one. I sent a maid to fetch a dress for…um…” He clearly was at a loss on how to address me.

“Amira,” Kyllen set him straight. “Lady Amira to you.”

“I’m no lady,” I muttered under my breath.

“You are now.” He drew me into his side. “It’s easier that way. They need to know where to place you.” He then spoke to the man again, “The dress won’t be necessary tonight. Lady Amira won't be coming to dinner. She wishes to rest instead.”

“As you wish, my lady,” the man said. “Your evening clothes are laid out in your room, my lord.”

“I’d better go, my sweet pea.” Kyllen placed a kiss on my forehead.

My heart dropped, letting him go, but I forced my fingers to unclench from around his hand. He wasn’t here to babysit me. His entire life had just been re-organized, and he had to sort it out.

“Sweet dreams.” He wished me before leaving.

A few moments later, someone knocked on my door again.

“Yes!” I perked up, hoping against all odds that Kyllen had returned, that he would spend my first night in the new world with me.

The door opened.

“My lady,” a feminine voice sounded instead of Kyllen’s. “My name is Geltar. I was sent to help you get ready for the night.”

“Help? But how?” And why? What was I supposed to do to go to sleep? Other than lay down and close my eyes? Not even that, I realized with a smile. My eyes were already closed by the blindfold.

“Um…well.” The poor woman sounded discomfited. “I’ll have to brush and braid your hair, take off your clothes, and put on your nightgown.”

Was she concerned I wouldn’t manage all that on my own?

“Oh. Thank you. But I can do it myself.” I wasn’t entirely incapacitated, even with the blindfold on.

“But…” The woman hesitated, making me feel sorry for her.

“Is there a problem?”