“I’ll admit I am surprised you thought to turn to Phael, Hssen Tyaniis. Or that you think she will listen to either of us,” Ussyri Noksi said slyly, coiling tighter in the depression she was resting in. “I thought you would wish for a tighter leash on your reunited family.”

“Will she help us or not, Ussyri?” Tyaniis hissed, her eyes narrowing.

Seated with Kyrae, my sister and I watched with wide eyes as two powerful people casually discussed our future. The glance Tyaniis sent my way and the smile Ssiina wore did much to calm me. Though Kyrae’s fingers intertwined with my own, and her warmth against me, did far, far more toward that end. Shadows be damned.

Ussyri Noksi made a placating gesture marred by a smug half-smile. Beside her, Onussa flushed darker and bowed her head.

I didn’t understand classes, respect, and all that fully—that was always Kyrae’s job—but I knew enough to know that Ussyri Noksi’s power play was treading a dangerous line. I didn’t know why or how or really truly what exactly was going on, but I understood one thing: ssyri’ssen, holy people of the Temple of Jaezotl, were the highest class in Jii’Kalaga, regardless of their rank within the Temple’s hierarchy itself.

Sort of.

Hssen, or royalty, were holy in their own right, and ussen too, sometimes, held much more power than all but ussyri or higher. Or at least I’d heard ussen say as much, and I’d seen how some of them treated people at other temples too.

The Jii’Ssyri was in charge of the Temple and therefore the empire. Noksi was only two steps below that—and definitely on the more influential side of things given her position in the Grand Temple. The Jii’Hssen, the empress, meanwhile, was more of a figurehead than anything. But she had power just the same, and I definitely understood that, having seen firsthand the kind of power some ssen’iir with connections could have in Ess’Siijiil.

All this meant that the ussyri could stare down the former empress candidate: play games with her and not give the respect she didn’t owe, but was sorta expected to give anyway.

Really, it all made my head hurt, but I tried to understand it anyway. Something would probably take this chance Kyrae and I had away too, but it didn’t hurt to try to get ready for life as hssen. At least it got my mind off everything else.

I’d missed whatever was said next, but I felt Kyrae tense, her hand gripping tighter against mine. The reason was obvious: Ussyri Noksi had leveled her icy gaze at my sister.

“Yes, I’m certain,” Tyaniis answered an unheard question. “My daughter won’t break so easily, Ussyri Noksi, and neither will her adoptive sister. Both will doubtless exceed expectations and thrive under Phaeliisthia’s tutelage.”

Noksi sighed and shifted her cold eyes to mine. “If you are certain, Hssen Tyaniis. But there is a more pressing matter: that of young… Issa’s curse.”

“Surely Phaeliisthia is more than capable of keeping Issa’s curse at bay?”

“She is, but what of after? Do you wish to explain your daughter’s frequent visits to the Grand Temple—or visits by whomever you choose to bring into the Emerald Palace.”

Tyaniis stiffened, sucking in a hiss. “You are surely aware of the efforts of both Jii’Hssen Ssyii and Jii’Ssyri Lissena, are you not? My sister is not the woman our mother was during her reign.”

Noksi’s eyes left mine and I exhaled. “And? Surely you do not think centuries of competition and resentment to be undone in two decades?”

“I do not.”

“Then you had best be prepared for what will come to you and yours. An adopted ea, hssen by mark on parchment alone? Reliance and a close relationship within the Temple, hinting at a secret they know, but hssen and ussen do not? Do you truly—”

“Enough,” Tyaniss said tersely, cutting the ussyri off. “We will find—”

“A solution? What solution then, Hssen Tyaniis? Do you truly believe you will get the chance to before your reputation, and your sister’s reputation, suffer irreparably?”

“Were you not for Issa’s reintegration, Ussyri Noksi?”

“I am,” Noksi answered simply, as if she had not just made an argument to the contrary.

“Why then do you presume to contradict your own—and my—ideas?”

“Because I am a realist, Hssen Tyaniis. Despite what you may believe, I am more than excited to see a closer relationship between the Temple and the nobility. But I also understand the risks involved, and I do not want to see a chance at true reform wasted by impatience and arrogance.”

Tyaniis narrowed her eyes. “Say what you are thinking, Ussyri Noksi.”

What?

Ussyri Noksi frowned. “I am disappointed in your recklessness despite your age, Hssen Tyaniis, but I will not disparage your competence for a role you declined based on a single rash decision made out of love and fear.”

Tyaniis drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly through her nostrils.

The entire room went quiet and still. Onussa went from flushed to pale, and Ssiina looked a lot like she wanted to crawl under the table and hide.

Tyaniis spoke at the end of her breath. “Ssssscertainly, Ussyri Noksi. I would not desire to imply you to be any less than a pillar of morality in the eyes of Jaezotl and the empire.”

“I am relieved to see you do not lack the tact you are known for, Hssen Tyaniis,” Ussyri Noksi inclined her head in acknowledgement. “But, unfortunately, we still lack a solution.”

Beside me Kyrae took a deep breath. I turned to her, shocked at her courage, just in time for her to speak, her fragile voice carrying in the silence of the room.

“I-I will, Ussyri Noksi. I will learn.”

The ussyri smiled. “Will you now, young ea?”

Kyrae nodded sharply. “Yes, Ussyri. I will learn whatever it takes to keep my sister safe—to keep her curse from claiming her.”

“You are aware that you cannot be hssen and also be part of the Temple, yes?” Noksi said softly, but with great weight.

“So that is your goal.” Tyaniis’s tail tip curled somewhere behind me and she clenched her hands into fists.

“Hers is a decision made of her own accord, Hssen Tyaniis,” Noksi replied slyly.

I moved my head between them, confused at their sudden aggression. Kyrae tensed, probably having caught something I’d missed.

“Is Phaeliisthia part of the Temple?” Kyrae asked suddenly, cutting Tyaniis’s next words off.

Our sire held her tongue, the anger that flashed in her eyes quickly dissipating.

“She is a neutral power,” the ussyri replied cryptically.

“I will learn from her, then,” Kyrae said simply.

Noksi frowned, then chuckled, the sound deep and resonant. “You will? Hmm, I suppose I do not see an issue with such an arrangement.”

“You don’t?” Tyaniis snapped. “You must know she could be adopted, were she to learn from someone outside the Temple.”

“Yesss,” Noksi hissed, leaning across the table to come close to Tyaniis. “But she will have another, unshakeable, neutral ally, Hssen Tyaniis. Such a pedigree as to be Phael’s only student of magic for the past millennium would be more than enough pedigree to break with tradition, no?”

Tyaniis glared at Noksi, leaning forward to meet her. “You’re correct, Ussyri Noksi. I believe that is precisely what will happen.”

Huh?

“Kyrae,” I whispered, well aware that my voice was the only sound in the room, but unable to hold back any longer. “What in the world is going on?”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Plotting,” Kyrae responded in a voice close to normal volume, her eyes on the rest of the room. “To put it simply, Hssen Tyaniis is only concerned about our well-being, while Ussyri Noksi wishes to ensure what we and Tyaniis do doesn’t cause too much of a conflict between the Temple and the nobility. She wants me either on the Temple’s side, where an elf rising to prominence wouldn’t be unheard of, or she wants me to have enough of a sponsor of sorts that your sire adopting me as hssen will not cause too much backlash.”

Ussyri Noksi blinked twice, whatever words she was about to say dying on her lips.

“Do you see now, Ussyri Noksi,” Tyaniis hissed smugly, coiling around behind me and Kyrae. “All of my daughters are brilliant. Regardless of whether they share my blood.”

I braced for harsh words.

Instead Ussyri Noksi chuckled, and the chuckle turned into a full-throated laugh. Onussa sucked in a breath, some color returning to her face, and Ssiina crawled out from under the table where she’d slipped to at some point (and where I wished there’d been room for me too).

“For all our sakes, Hssen Tyaniis, I pray that you are right.” Ussyri Noksi rumbled, shaking her head and letting her braids fly about. “I will send word to Phaeliisthia as soon as we are done here, along with my highest praise for young Kyrae.”

“See that you do Ussyri Noksi,” Hssen Tyaniis answered. “And… thank you.”

To my surprise, the ussyri gave a slight bow to my sire. “Of course, Hssen Tyaniis. Now, if you will excuse me, I will leave you and yours to discuss what you will do in the interim before I receive a response by messenger bird.” She uncoiled herself and slithered toward the door.

We all watched her go, Dyni warily, and I only now saw how tense Ssiina’s small bodyguard was. Onussa watched as well, a faraway look in her dark eyes.

“Come, Onussa,” Noksi commanded. “You have other duties to attend.”

The ssyri’zh jolted. “Y-yes, Ussyri!” She turned to us on her way out and whispered. “I hope everything works out, you two! You’ll see me around the temple if you’re here for a while.”

“Onussa,” Ussyri Noksi hissed.

“Apologies!” Onussa chirped, then dashed out the door after her superior.

“Sss-so what happens now?” I asked into the empty room once the door had closed behind the pair of ssyri’ssen.

“Now?” my sire answered with a deep sigh. “Well, I cannot take you back to the palace, nor can I remain here for an extended period of time. Will you two be alright here for a few weeks until we hear back from Phaeliisthia and arrange a ship to take you to Uzh? Ssyri’zh Onussa certainly seems to have taken a liking to both of you.”

“I…” My sire’s words hit me, and I realized they meant I’d be going somewhere strange again. Away from the people I just met that I thought I could trust. A little voice told me that thought didn’t make sense, but I ignored it and felt tears coming.

Kyrae continued to hold my hand, but she said nothing, her head down as well.

“I’ll go too, Sire!” Ssiina said suddenly, and I felt her slither closer to me around the table.

“Ssiina?” Sire Tyaniis replied, confusion in her tone. Her eyes found my blurry ones and she paused for a moment to stare, before breaking her gaze.

“We can’t just promise them both all this and then put them on a ship and leave them for months, maybe years.” Ssiina gestured at me with one hand while she glared at our sire.

“I fully intend to—”

“Visiting doesn’t count, Sire!” Ssiina cut her sire off. Realizing what she’d done, she clapped a hand over her mouth and shivered.

“Daughter,” Tyaniis hissed in warning, then shook her head, again glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. “No… no you are right. I can see your fear as well, Ssiina, and I apologize. Perhaps it is best for you three to be away from me.”

Is… is she apologizing? Admitting wrongdoing?

“That’s not what I meant, Sire!” Ssiina cried. “You… I think Issa coming home—even if she’ll be away in Uzh—has changed you—will change you. My apologies; I can’t quite seem to find the words.”

“I… I want to trust you, Hs-Sire Tyaniis!” I said as firmly as I could. “You… don’t seem like other ussen I’ve met, or like your servants…”

Hssen Tyaniis winced.

“…Sssso I want to believe that you might care. I shouldn’t, and I’ve barely met you, but I want to try. Maybe it’s just because I almost died and this is my last chance and I don’t think I could keep going if this all fell apart and Kyrae and I lost everything again…”

I wanted to keep going, but I choked instead, no more words coming out. It hurt to admit. It hurt to admit in front of my sister and someone vastly more powerful than me that I was at the end of my dock.

“It’s true,” Kyrae added with a slight smile. “Issa doesn’t trust anyone these days, but I can see the way she’s carrying herself, how she’s not as tense. We can all hear what she just said to you, and I’ve never heard her admit anything like that out loud, even when she was dying. She wants to trust you Hssen—Sire Tyaniis.”

Sire Tyaniis’s well-schooled face broke into a pained smile, and her golden eyes grew wet. “I… thank you. All of you. I will… try to be better going forward, and I promise to visit as well, both here and in Uzh.”

“Does this mean I can go to Uzh, Sire?” Ssiina asked.

“Indeed, Daughter. I think that would be a splendid plan, provided your sisters agree.”

Both Kyrae and I rapidly nodded our assent. I found myself a little surprised at how rapidly I’d grown close to Ssiina. She really was familiar.

“Then it is decided!” Tyaniis clapped her hands. “Now, I am overdue to return to the palace already, however, a certain daughter of mine has waylaid me severely.”

Ssiina winced. “Sire, I—”

Tyaniis kept going, her smile widening. “And unfortunately, I will not make it back to the Palace until dusk as a result. My rebellious daughter, of course, will not be seen, her punishment to remain in her room the next two days.”

Huh?

Ssiina didn’t share my confusion, however, and her golden eyes grew wide as full moons. “Wait, do you mean…”

“I do, Daughter mine. I only ask that you stay well out of sight of those who would see you harm or repudiate our story, and that you do not try to elude Dyni… again.”

Ssiina nodded. “Yes, sire! Of course!”

“Does…” Kyrae started. “Before you go, can we arrange a steady supply of herbs before we go to Uzh? I don’t want to… well…”

Tyaniis nodded. “I will see to it that you can, though it is already late today.”

Kyrae immediately perked up. “I can wait until tomorrow! I already have what was given to me today, anyay.”

Our sire smiled.

However, I frowned. “Uhm, Sire Tyaniis?”

“Yes, Issa?”

“Can I get herbs too?” I asked.

Sire Tyaniis cocked her head to one side. “Herbs? Issa, do you wish to be my son instead?”

Huh? “No! I mean, aren’t I already… y’know because…”

Tyaniis’s brow darkened. “You are ra’zhii, Issa. Were you never told?”

Ra’zhii? Aren’t I just a fake? Just because I have both parts down there doesn’t mean…

“Well, remember what I said about the orphanage—”

“I remember,” Tyaniis cut in, tone severe. “I thought Ussyri Noksi or Ssyri’zh Onussa would have told you—or that you already knew.”

“I, uh, well I just assumed…”

“You are ra’zhii, Issa. And kelaniel both, as I am, as your grandmother was.”

“Is Ssiina also—”

“No,” Ssiina answered quickly. “I am kelaniel, but I am not ra’zhii.”

“Does that mean…?” I let the question hang.

Sire Tyaniis finished my question. “Without herbs, or magic, you will grow to resemble me, I would imagine, although closer to your mother’s coloration.”

My thoughts stopped. I knew I had both parts, but I just assumed that… well I assumed all the other kids were right.

“Even if you were not kelaniel, that would not mean you couldn’t be ‘ra’zhii’, Issa. I will admit that common knowledge is lacking, and you story makes me worry the bias is worse than we know.”

I nodded numbly. “So do all ra’zhii, y’know…”

“Most do, Daughter mine,” Tyaniis answered simply. “Some are male, and others take neither name for themselves. Much like many who are not ra’zhii, as your mother taught me; your sister Kyrae should be more than enough proof.”

“Then how do I know I’m not male?”

“Are you not the one who supports your newbloom sister the most?” my sire asked, her tone almost lecturing.

“B-but aren’t lamia—”

“You’re not different!” Kyrae jumped in. “Not like that, anyway. And besides, Issa, your boobs are already growing in!”

I looked down. The usual swollen places poked my simple shirt slightly outward. “Really?”

“Yes, really, Sister,” Ssiina giggled.

“Oh.”

My mind whirled and I just stared down, past my chest and into the dark floor. How did I not know? Why did I think otherwise—it should’ve been obvious.

Tyaniis clapped, breaking the tension and silence both. “Issa, Kyrae: you have told me much of your lives. I believe it is time I told you of mine and Ssiina’s. And of your mother, before her death.”

***

Hssen Tyaniis wasn’t surprised when her… three daughters (that concept was going to take some time to adjust to) drifted off to sleep hardly an hour into her storytelling.

Part of Tyaniis blamed herself for perhaps being boring, although the giggles she got when telling stories of both Issa’s and Ssiina’s early childhoods made her think that not to be the case. Her daughters were, in all likelihood, simply exhausted, and once the mood and their future had settled somewhat in a positive direction, their fatigue had caught up with them.

At least my voice was able to do more than terrify, Tyaniis thought somberly. I haven’t been the best sire for Ssiina, have I? I should really do better.

Her oldest slept quietly, her hair splayed over her face, as she clutched tightly onto Issa, their tails intertwined.

Not just for Issa, this will be good for all of us. I pray so.

Tyaniis spared a glance toward Kyrae, the ea she had agreed to adopt. The newbloom was showing clear signs of male puberty—something that Tyaniis would absolutely work to address even before they left for Uzh. Gingerly, the hssen reached down and brushed Kyrae’s hair away from her mouth. She stirred, but didn’t wake up, instead clinging tighter to Issa.

Come what may, Tyaniis thought, I know in my heart I have made the right choice.

Slowly, quietly, she drew herself away from her daughters, watching them stir, but not wake. In particular, she was glad to see Issa sleeping soundly, a slight hint of a smile on her face. She has suffered so much, and I fear her suffering is not yet at an end. Her curse would be a delicate topic to broach, if it could not be kept secret.

Hssen were blessed by Jaezotl, and to see a hssen cursed by something so powerful that to cure her would more than likely kill her would shake that belief. At a time when the Jii’Hssen herself was pushing reform, to add fuel to the opposition’s fire…

No.

Ussyri Noksi had a point, but it was not Tyaniis’s style to bend to the Temple’s will. I will not sacrifice your happiness for stability. Damn the consequences.

That said, it is best that I do everything I can to shield them, everything shy of the coldness Ssiina expects—expected—of me.

Still in thought, the immense hssen kelaniel made her way out of the room, and straight into the sleeping form of Ssyri’zh Onussa in the antechamber. She came back so soon; it seems my daughters aren’t the only ones in need of sleep. The ssyri’ssen was coiled around one of the tables and slumped up on the stone, her head in her arms and her tongue flicking out with each slow breath.

The guards she had sent to escort Ssiina had arrayed themselves by the door out, quiet so as not to disturb the exhausted ssyri’zh. Tyaniis bade them rise quietly, and the group stole out of the Grand Temple and back toward the Emerald Palace, the eyes watching them with awe and a hint of fear far from Tyaniis’s mind.

I wonder, she thought, what sort of styles Kyrae would like to wear the most once she has herbs to help her along?