Serpent's Claim (Serpent's Touch 2)

I nodded, taking the mug from him while also stuffing my mouth with more duck eggs, crispy lizard sausage, and slices of blue orange.

“Slow down.” The king chuckled. “I don’t want you to throw up all over my nest.”

I took a long, slow drink of cattail root broth from the mug.

“Sorry. I don’t remember when I ate last.” I sat back. Picking up a small bowl of gooseberries drizzled with lily honey, I ate them with a spoon in a slightly more dignified manner. A pleasant heaviness settled in my stomach with the satisfaction that came from a good meal.

The king scoffed. “Was Adriyel more concerned with dressing you up than feeding you?”

To be fair, I had gotten some food delivered to the cell where Lord Adriyel held me. I just hadn’t had any appetite or even the presence of mind to eat at that time.

“Are you hungry?” I took an alarmed look at the nearly empty tray. I’d almost eaten the king’s entire breakfast.

He picked up a cucumber slice from the plate of cut-up vegetables and chewed on it slowly. “My appetite is no longer what it used to be.”

I stared at the remaining slices on his plate.

“Think of it as a cucumber…”

Kyllen’s words sounded in my mind, his voice light with humor and full of life.

It had been so real… More vivid than any dream I'd ever had.

I glanced at my nest by the window. A long terrace ran along the tree trunk under it from the outside. It stretched all the way to the next window that also served as the door out to the terrace.

“What’s stopping someone from climbing up the tree from the outside?” I asked the king. “To get in here?”

He halted his chewing, clearly confused about the reason for my question.

“The royal tree is impossible to climb.” He shook his head. “No one is going to come and steal you. If that’s your concern.”

“But what if the person could climb it?”

The king smirked. “Kind of like the boy in your story?”

I nodded, stilling my breath. “Kind of like him.”

“Even if he managed to climb all the way up here somehow, he wouldn’t be able to come in. The wards on my windows wouldn’t let him. They keep away anyone who is not of the royal blood. And since I am the only one of my bloodline,” he chuckled, “you and I are absolutely safe from any intrusion here.”

My hope dwindled and died. The crazy notion that Kyllen had somehow survived Bherlon’s attack, then traveled to Ufaris, naked and unarmed, to climb the tree to visit me last night was just that—crazy.

Without hope, however, there was nothing but pain.

The king shifted in the sheets uncomfortably, his face twitching into a grimace.

“Is there anything you need?” I asked, glad for the distraction from my dark thoughts. “Do you want me to call Kiris again?” I moved aside the breakfast tray.

The king waved me off. “Kiris will be back soon enough.”

“He said something about massaging your legs. I can do it for you if it helps.”

He smirked, giving me a measuring stare. “Isn’t your purpose here to massage my cock?”

I glanced away, feeling my face warm with a blush. He chuckled, touching my burning cheek through my veil.

“So innocent. Words make her blush,” the king murmured as if to himself.

I cleared my throat.

“I have very little experience to adequately deliver for that purpose,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “But I have worked for years, serving others. I can take care of people. Wouldn’t you rather have a skilled caretaker than a clumsy lover?”

“I already have a palace full of caretakers.” Moving his fingers under my chin, he lifted my face to his, then slid his thumb along my bottom lip. “In her prime…” His eyes were hooded by his eyelids in a dreamy expression. “Rare like the blossom of the river orchid.” He heaved a breath. “Had our paths crossed just a little earlier, I would’ve delighted in making a skilled lover out of you. The things I would’ve done to you. You’d scream for mercy, but eventually you’d beg me for more.”

My heart made a thud in my chest. Gaining the favor of a powerful man like King Zeldren could make the difference between life and death for someone like me—a human woman with no family, no friends, and no means to support myself.

I feared, however, that gaining his favor might come with the price I couldn’t pay. I decided to make it clear, even if it might cost me my life.