Serpent's Claim (Serpent's Touch 2)

The king found me asleep on the floor of his wardrobe room. I was fully dressed. And alone.

“That’s an odd place for a nap,” he commented, but didn’t demand an explanation. As an exotic pet, I supposed, I was allowed to behave in an unusual way at times. “Come, I started a new game.”

I followed his mechanical chair to the bedroom, where he had the table set with game pieces already. Passing by my nest, I quickly stashed under the pillow the book I’d brought up from the Archives, then took my place at the table across from the king.

I did my best to play well enough to make the game entertaining for him. But my thoughts remained elsewhere.

Kyllen and I came to this world together. And together I thought we would be. I’d lost myself in him, and it had been a wonderful place to be. But now, I was alone.

Somehow, I had to learn to survive without him.

Lord Adriyel’s warnings had been mostly self-serving. I saw through them, but he wasn’t wrong. One way or another, the king’s death would upset the current balance of things. I couldn’t let it catch me unprepared. I had to secure my place in this life, even if the purpose of my life remained only survival.

I had no magic, no real power, but there was a weapon available to me—I had to arm myself with knowledge.

After dinner, when the king settled back into his nest for the night, I took my place in the window seat. Leaning back against the interwoven vines that served as a window frame, I opened my book.

The intricate characters on the page looked unfamiliar, but their meaning was clear in my head. Just like Kyllen could speak English in my world, I had gained the ability to speak and read his language when I crossed into Lorsan.

For too long, I’d relied on what others told me about Lorsan. It was time to learn its laws and its history on my own, straight from the source. Then maybe I could find my place in this world and figure out the best path to get there.

I had to stop being tossed around by the will of others and take the course I wanted to take.