“…and after the garden, I’ll show you our wing of the Palace, Sister! Maybe not today, but soon! You and Kyrae can pick between a few rooms, but I think I know the one you’ll want. Mom would want you to have it anyway,” Ssiina finished with a bright smile.

I smiled back, just in time for another series of sharp knocks to come in through the door. They sounded dull and far away—probably a result of whatever sigils Dyni and Tyaniis had made. Not wanting it to go to waste, I tossed the rest of my tea back just in time for the warm family atmosphere to shatter into cold hierarchy.

Dyni answered the door, motioning for Sire to rise. Tyaniis took the lead, Ssiina to her side, as we left the lavish room back into the lavish hallway, turning quickly down a passage that led further into the palace. Kyrae and I were allowed to follow quietly, although my sire did speak up against searching us.

Her word was good enough, and to be honest neither Kyrae nor I looked a threat. Compared to the Jii’Hssen, we probably weren’t. From Phaeliisthia’s lessons, I’d learned that the blessing of Jaezotl upon the Jii’Hssen was more than a slight sign. Of course, she hadn’t explained more than that, simply leaving me with a memory of a mischievous glimmer in her eye.

So I had no idea what we were slithering into, honestly. And while I understood Tyaniis had tried her best to tell me what I needed to know, “act formal until I signal otherwise” wasn’t a good plan. Kyrae had wondered aloud if that was where I got my bad planning from when our sire had said as much.

I failed to suppress a snicker at the memory from this morning, earning a hiss of “quiet” from one of the servants escorting us. I stuck my tongue out at her under my hood.

Truthfully, I was getting tired of being led around: told where to stand and where to go and what to do. Phaeliisthia, strict as she was, gave us free reign on our days off and encouraged us during lessons; I missed that. Sire was probably trying—that she didn’t give me specific instructions was maybe a good sign.

Still, though, I felt guilty for thinking that way. We’d been given so much… But that didn’t mean I liked having everything dictated to me. If the Spring of All Life’s not different, I’m going to be a bad student, aren’t I?

I noticed the door we arrived at before anyone had to tell me, my anxiety keeping me alert despite my mind whirling. The door was nice, and big, but it wasn’t grand—merely fine, dark old wood with a handle of finely-polished metal.

When the servants opened the door, I immediately understood why the door looked as it did: we were entering a massive throne room from the side. To my right I could see the ornate, gem-studded doors of the main entrance. In front of me was blocked by Tyaniis and columns supporting the tall roof. To one side, Dyni stepped back; evidently, she would stay outside the throne room for our meeting.

I looked up, and saw a mural ringed by shafts of light. In the paint, Jaezotl—as Hse’Aazh—was coiled before a kelaniel matching nearly my coloration, passing her some form of light. Two familiar rivers met in the background.

The shadows in the room called to me in my anxiety, promising release—and escape. They were slow, hampered by some magic of the Palace, and I held my mind fast against them, ignoring as best I could. That way was not a path of my choosing as I had once thought. It was another being’s fallacy at worst, and running away backwards at best.

As we slithered inside, past the columns, Kyrae gasped. I reached for her hand, dimly realizing we were told to keep apart. Clutching nothing, I turned toward the rear center of the room past Tyaniis, and beheld the emerald throne.

A massive coil backed almost like one of Phaeliisthia’s chairs, the throne looked like it was made of solid emerald. Shining in the light, its back was carved to look like two massive serpents. Ivory fangs and eyes of gold completed the effect. I could only see the head of one faux-serpent, however, as the other was covered by the throne’s occupant.

Jii’Hssen Ssyii Ssyrijiilits was massive. Kelaniel like the others in my family, I could only guess at her length, but she had to be almost twice Tyaniis’s size.

The throne rose from the center of a room by a ramp, but she didn’t need that to tower over us. She beckoned with two hands, and Sire Tyaniis slithered forward, followed by a shaking Ssiina.

I’d expected Jii’Hssen Ssyii to bear a resemblance to Sire Tyaniis—and in some way she did. She had the same regal bearing, the same golden eyes, and the same sharply-featured face. She wore the same expression of disdain my sire was uncannily good at, too. Her green scales were slightly darker: a rich, vibrant color polished so much I could probably have seen my reflection in them.

But that wasn’t the difference that made me stop and gape under my hood. Jii’Hssen Ssyii had beckoned with two right hands. Her posture straight, she had one pair of arms folded in front of her, and the other were split: one crossed under her chest while the other curled clawed fingers around her chin in an expression that mocked the idea of curiosity.

My attention to her arms was short-lived however, because her scale-colored hair moved. Dozens more pairs of golden eyes raked across me, tiny tongues flicking out when they caught my slack-jawed stare.

Jii’Hssen Ssyii had serpents in place of hair. They moved in concert, seemingly subconsciously, one even wrapping the wrist of her hand that rested against her chin.

“You’ve caused quite the scene today, Hssen Tyaniis. I did not know you were so close to that ancient lizard.”

My sire bowed her head, but offered no apology.

Jii’Hssen Ssyii quirked one scaled eyebrow. “And you would offer no excuse? Furthermore, you have brought not only your daughter, but two others of unknown name and class into my throne room. While you know as well as any hssen my disdain for rigid hierarchy, there is decorum that must be observed. I trust you have a good reason for chafing against the letter of a millennia-old treaty by bringing that lizard so close to here, and by breaking social code by bringing unknown children into the Emerald Palace?”

My Sire kept her head bowed.

“Speak, Hssen Tyaniis,” Jii’Hssen Ssyii said, her serpentine locks hissing an echo to her words.

“I have good reason, Ssyrin Jii’Hssen,” Tyaniis answered. “A request that requires utmost discretion at this time.”

“Let us hear the request then, Hssen Tyaniis.”

Despite the addressee being her sister, I felt little emotion from the Jii’Hssen and my stomach twisted—wasn’t she supposed to be nicer, a younger sister, too?

“I request aid and discretion, two things. The aid I request for the matter of a terrible curse, and the discretion for a matter of family.” Sire spoke with her head still bowed.

“A curse? You have seemed much more… active as of late, Hssen Tyaniis.”

My sire winced. “Indeed I have.”

“Of course, you are staying within your privileges as hssen, are you not?”

“I am.”

Jii’Hssen Ssyii’s golden eyes flicked to me, then Kyrae, then back to our sire. “Rise, Tyaniis. Tell me then, Sister, is there truth to the rumor I have heard?”

When the Jii’Hssen said “sister,” her voice gained an almost tired edge to it that I absolutely didn’t have the nerves to try to think about.

“Which one?” Tyaniis pressed.

The Jii’Hssen chuckled mirthlessly. “The one propagated by Ussen Anqi Ziilant, Sister. I am far from blind.”

My eyes once again flicked to the Jii’Hssen’s serpentine locks, now still. I felt like I was being watched back by dozens of pairs of eyes.

Tyaniis nodded formally. “Then yes, Ssyrin Jii’Hssen, there is truth to that rumor.”

“That would be the discretion, and the reason you asked me for such a clandestine meeting then, yes? You know there will be rumors about this—that I have shown favoritism to one who has rejected my position.”

This time, Tyaniis met the Jii’Hssen’s eyes—at least the two in her head. “It is as such. Though, in the matter of aid, your discretion is even more important. If I think it threatens my children, I will not reveal more, Sister.” Her tone finished combative—like a defensive dare.

Ssiina gasped, and I looked for a moment at where the servants had entered with us. They were gone—in the immense throne room, our group was alone.

The Jii’Hssen moved one hand from her lap to her forehead, touching it lightly. “Though I hoped the sister I knew would one day reemerge, I never could have imagined such a rapid, severe change. If anything, Hssen Tyaniis, you are more daring than before the tragic deaths of Hinssa and Sseti.” Jii’Hssen Ssyii closed her eyes and signed in a moment of formal reverence, which loosened Tyaniis’s tightening jaw.

“I… have not been the sire Ssiina has needed, and with more responsibility in my near future, there can be no room for weakness—and no absence of compassion for my family.”

The Jii’Hssen inclined her head towards Kyrae and me, looking at us directly even as she shifted her position on the immense emerald throne. “These two are the ones?” she said, gaze lingering, to my surprise, on me instead of Kyrae. “Two adoptions, and one an ea besides? I am certainly intrigued.” Her tongue flicked out with her words and I suppressed a shiver.

Even as affable as she seemed, the immense, four-armed kelaniel with serpents for hair intimidated me. I’d bet anyone in the empire, except maybe the Jii’Ssyri or Phaeliisthia would feel the same.

“Two?” Tyaniis raised an eyebrow, then smiled, showing her immense fangs. “Issa, if you would please?”

I almost missed my cue. Taking a deep breath, and with Kyrae’s hand to steady me, I pulled the hood of my outfit down, looking briefly at the Jii’Hssen before bowing as low as I could. I would do nothing more just yet.

The Jii’Hssen’s golden eyes widened, and her serpentine locks froze their languid motion as if turned to stone. “Those eyes… Green eyes are common, but yours are familiar.” Her many-eyed gaze traveled the length of my body, and I could feel it without even looking up. “And you are ra’zhii as well. Come closer, young one.”

I gulped and slithered forward.

“Closer.”

I moved closer still, part-way up the ramp to the throne. Jii’Hssen Ssyii’s coils shifted, and she moved toward me with a slowness that belied her strength.

“Closer,” she repeated for a third time.

I slithered close enough that she towered almost directly over me. I heard Kyrae draw in a tense breath behind me, and forcing myself to look at the Jii’Hssen instead of back at my sister was the hardest thing I’d ever done.

Jii’Hssen Ssyii reached one clawed hand forward and cupped my chin gently, angling it up so that my eyes met hers. For a long, petrifying moment, she seemed to stare into my soul. When I broke my eyes away first, she looked over the rest of my face, turning my head, and I saw her expression soften.

Like she donned a heavy burden, her stoic face seemed to sag, losing a measure of composure. “You look just like her. By Jaezotl… Sseti.” I barely had time to yelp as the Jii’Ssyri’s lower body whipped around to wrap mine in a bone-crushing hug. “I do not know what divine miracle of Jaezotl Tyaniis has wrought to bring you home, but I am… beyond words.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

For a long while, the Jii’Hssen held me tight. The Jii’Hssen. Second most powerful person in the entire empire and my aunt, held me like a grieving parent. When she finally loosened enough for me to breathe again, I saw that her carefully-applied makeup was streaked with tears from her eyes.

The wide, gleaming smile she bore and her expression—both were brighter, warmer. Even retracted, her fangs were still moderately terrifying, especially the fact she had two sets on both top and bottom.

“Sseti,” she cooed, using a name that was no longer mine, “please, tell me what has brought you home, and what suffering you must have endured outside these walls.”

She set me down and returned to coil the throne. Still nearly within arm’s reach, I gulped and bowed my upper body at the angle appropriate for not only hssen, but blood relatives. Carefully, I repeated the line I’d been practicing in my head all day—the one I’d decided on myself.

“Ssyrin Jii’Hssen, raeni Ssyri’jiilits Sseti, tuoanra’zhiin Ssyri’Jiilits Tyaniis ziis Hinssa, entuosi Issa.”

Honorable Jii’Hssen, I am Sseti Ssyri’Jiilits, ra’zhii daughter of Tyaniis and Hinssa Ssyri’Jiilits; my name is now Issa.

“Issa,” Jii’Hssen Ssyii—no, Aunt Ssyii—tasted my name on her tongue. “It is most unusual for hssen to change their names; I will assume your story to be extraordinary.” She held up a hand as I was about to speak. “Wait a moment, niece of mine. I will hear your story once other business is concluded.” She turned her head to Tyaniis, though her serpentine locks stayed fixated on me and Kyrae behind me. “What of the other, then: the ea?”

I couldn’t just stand there anymore. All the tension that had been building in me burst forth.

“She’s my sister!” I blurted, voice peaking. “Uh, Ssyrin Jii’Hssen,” I added with a quick bow.

Ssiina gasped, then nodded rapidly. Tyaniis paled, fixing me with a glare.

All of this was drowned out by a low chuckle from Jii’Hssen Ssyii, who seemed to sag on her throne. “It seems a story is in order, first.”

Tyaniis’s head snapped up. “We do not presume to take more of your time—”

Aunt Ssyii silenced my sire with a casual wave of two hands. “Nonsense. We will not be disturbed as I have canceled all audiences today.”

“You knew what was going to happen,” Tyaniis said, shocked.

Jii’Hssen Ssyii shrugged. “Flying in on the back of a serpent dragon notorious for her aloof demeanor and the rumors we discussed were all I needed to figure out most of what you had in mind, Sister.” Her smile dipped at the corners, no longer reaching her golden eyes. “The role of Jii’Hssen demands I am at least that competent.”

Tyaniis’s breath caught, and I didn’t know why. But my cheeks still burned from my previous outburst, so I dared not try another. Well, that was what my thoughts wanted. My mouth, however, ran faster.

“Her name is Kyrae, Aunt Ssyii.”

The Jii’Hssen smirked when I called her “Aunt.” “Well then, Kyrae, what is your relation to my niece Issa? You may rise, and you may speak.”

Kyrae rose from the bow she’d been maintaining on and off since we entered. “Ssyrin Jii’Hssen Ssyii, I am Issa’s sister, by circumstance rather than blood. She cared for me as no one else would, stayed by me when no one else did, and kept us going through thick and thin.”

“You kept me going!” I fired back, unwilling to watch Kyrae sell herself short. “You were the one who always made sure we had food and a good place to sleep. You even helped me with my crazier plans when you knew they wouldn’t work, and then got us both out before we got caught.

“I should be thanking you, Sis! I’m not going to sit here and let you sell yourself short singing my praises when it’s my fault that we… that we…” I choked back a sob, then another as I tried and failed to apologize.

Tears started, and Kyrae rushed next to me, her hood thrown back. I leaned into her as the tears fell.

Jaezotl, I didn’t really deserve you, did I?

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I love you, Sis. And that includes all of you—good and bad, okay?”

Her warmth was nice in the big, dim room. “Okay,” I sniffled.

Kyrae hugged me tighter and I hugged back, jumping in surprise when Ssiina joined with us. I didn’t dare look up to see the looks on our sire’s or the Jii’Hssen’s faces.

“Sister…” I heard the Jii’Hssen whisper faintly.

“I have already taken care of most of them,” Tyaniis responded. “I do not think they were aware.”

“That should not matter.”

“It didn’t.” Tyaniis slithered, probably closer to the throne.

I shivered a little despite the warmth. All I could see was half of Kyrae’s smiling face and Ssiina’s shoulder as my older sister ran her hands through my hair, and that was all I cared to see. The orphanage—did Tyaniis…

I tried not to think about it. Sure, I hated everyone there, but I didn’t want… did I? The shadows suddenly seemed closer.

“Sister, tell me what you know of what happened to Issa. I will hear the rest from her when she is recovered.”

Behind me, as my sisters and I collapsed into a pile, then turned to watch our sire and aunt, Tyaniis told Aunt Ssyii all of what I had told her. Later, I was called to give my own recounting, which I did as best I could. Kyrae was better than me at remembering details, and I could have sworn Jii’Hssen Ssyii took on an approving glint to her eyes as my elven sister spoke.

When we got to the night I was cursed, Sire Tyaniis took a moment to pause my retelling. I was right in the middle of how Kyrae and I had beaten back a giant crab twice my sister’s size that had been lurking in the mud under the warehouse, narrowly avoiding the watchful gaze of the dozen, blade-armed taaniir.

“My daughter’s… embellishments aside, the events of that night are the start of what I wished to petition your aid for, Sister.” Our sire was coiled on the ramp next to the throne, and us three sisters were arrayed around the front—close to, but not touching the Jii’Hssen.

Kyrae’s hand was solid in mine, and I realized that I must have been the one shaking.

“Your trips to the Grand Temple a little over a year ago were related to this?” Jii’Hssen Ssyii asked.

“Yes.”

“I had wondered why Ussyri Noksi was so evasive when I had contacted her about the matter. I am glad I did not see fit to inquire with the Jii’Ssyri.”

Tyaniis bowed her head. “As am I.”

“And why might that be?” Once again, the snake-haired Jii’Hssen split her gaze between me and my sire.

Can she focus on both of us at once?

“Issa came into contact with a black stone idol of, as she has described it, ‘many smooth tails and an eye with no pupil.’ I believe the idol was smuggled in by an associate of Ussen Anqi Ziilant, but I do not have enough evidence to make a formal accusation.”

Jii’Hssen Ssyii’s upper lip curled. “Isn’t what you just said close enough, Sister?” she asked rhetorically.

“My mistake,” Tyaniis replied sarcastically. “I shall refrain from untoward accusations in the future.”

“See that you do. Anyway, what is the nature of this curse that had the preeminent Ussyri of the Grand Temple so concerned?”

“She is connected to a being outside the material plane. Phaeliisthia, Ussyri Noksi, and myself are not certain, but we do not believe it to be a god. Phaeliisthia is not even certain of its sapience. However, it’s malevolence is known, and three times now has it tried seriously to take Issa’s mind.”

I expected the shadows to twitch at being acknowledged, but they did not move from their waiting position, eager for release. Still, I shuddered, as I felt torn between the shadows’ chill presence and Jii’Hssen Ssyii’s many-eyed gaze.

All those golden eyes closed a moment, and Aunt Ssyii exhaled slowly in a long hiss. Her eyes snapped open, and her lips curled back, revealing eight extended fangs, each almost as long as one of my fingers. “Another dares lay claim to hssen of mine?” Her voice had a magic eight to it, stinging and furious like warm venom.

“It does,” I answered, surprising myself. “But I do not let it. Phaeliisthia is teaching me to take control of the shadows for my own ends.”

“Good, Issa. How have we not purged this vile curse from her yet, Sister?” With her fangs extended, Aunt Ssyii hissed her words more than was polite.

“Ussyri Noksi and Phaeliisthia believe that the connection to Issa is such that to purge it might leave a part of her behind, outside the mortal plane. Furthermore, the curse pushes her to use its powers, which in turn increases the chances of her demise. Phaeliisthia has been teaching young Kyrae to fight the progression of Issa’s curse and Issa to take the curse’s power for her own.”

Part of me outside the mortal what? I felt my hands down my chest, pausing at the softness now present. I feel pretty whole right now.

Jii’Hssen Ssyii drew in a sharp breath. “This is dire news, then. Issa, come here—I wish to see for myself. I believe the words of others, but words alone will not suffice to understand the matter.”

“Will it hurt?”

“Jaezotl no, child. Though I do wish for a brief, safe example of your powers first.”

I nodded, and called upon my training to wrench some of the shadows in the room free. A me-sized tendril of darkness flowed out into the room curling its cold around me like an immense serpent. Whether that was to protect or constrict me, well that wasn’t so clear even to me. I pushed it through some motions, and lifted myself partially with the shadow, shivering at the chill as I sunk most of the way into the semi-solid mass.

The Jii’Hssen watched with rapt fascination, her four hands working complex sigils to form magical arrays that poked and prodded at me and my shadow both.

“That is enough, Issa,” she said eventually, golden eyes burning with fury. “Phaeliisthia is admittedly a good teacher, for all I dislike the woman. I can see the concern behind your power. Give me your hand.”

I slithered forward and did as she asked, dismissing the shadow tendril and placing my hand in her much larger one. She placed another below, clasping my hand between.

Aunt Ssyii stared at me with eyes that began to literally glow. The serpents crowning her head lifted, all angled at me. Her two lower hands drew sigils, some of which I recognized from Kyrae’s lessons. A warmth rose through me, and I closed my eyes against the vibrant white-green light of my aunt’s magic.

As quickly as it had suffused me, the warmth faded, and I opened my eyes to Jii’Hssen Ssyii’s own, a mere handsbreadth from my face.

“Your eyes truly are beautiful, Issa dear. You have my word as Jii’Hssen that I will use all power available to me to ensure that your curse is cleansed.”

I gulped and whispered back. “Can… can I keep the powers? Take them as my own?”

Aunt Ssyii smiled, showing fangs again. “An excellent idea—you are truly your sire’s daughter. Were that I was as interested in power as she.”

Before I could ask what in the world Aunt Ssyii had meant by her last whispered comment, she pulled away, letting go of my hand almost reluctantly. “What is your plan, Sister Tyaniis, and what aid do you require of me?”

“It is a plan of two parts: the first is to adopt Kyrae and reintroduce Sseti—now Issa. The second is to send all three of my daughters to the Spring of All Life after another year with Phaeliisthia. She and I believe the archives there will hold some of the answers we need to cure Issa, or to have her cure herself as I am increasingly believing may be the solution.”

“What of staving off Issa’s death?”

“Kyrae is being trained to do so, Sister.”

The Jii’Hssen glanced down at Kyrae. “Show me then.” Her tone was eager, rather than combative, even if her words were cold.

Kyrae ran through several sigils in rapid succession, and a glow built from her body.

“You have been doing this a year, yes?”

Kyrae nodded. “Yes, Ssyrin Jii’Hssen Ssyii.”

“Phaeliisthia truly is a gifted teacher then,” the Jii’Hssen sounded bitter. “With another year, I would be comfortable leaving my niece in your care.”

Kyrae’s eyes went wide, and she nodded. “Thank you.”

“I do not extend my praise lightly—do not slacken your learning.” She took a breath and addressed our sire with a hand gesture. “Tyaniis, by this adoption and then sending the trio to the academy at the Spring of All Life, you must want to show the decentralists among the ussen that our family, and by extension all hssen, are superior.”

“Indeed. But… that is not the primary reason.”

“Oh?”

“I wish to provide my daughters with the best life possible—and show compassion that I have been sorely lacking this last decade since Hinssa’s death.”

Aunt Ssyii chuckled low, before her voice turned pained. “You sound just like she’d scolded you.”

“In a way, Sister Ssyii, I think she did.”

Jii’Hssen Ssyii sighed. “Jaezotl, I miss her. She was a sister to me as much as you are, Tyaniis.”

“I know.”

“But now is the time for action, and grief can come later. Needs must, after all. Frankly, your plan is insane. Do you know how precarious my position is already? Much of the ussen already feel I am under their scales with my plans to open Jii’Kalaga to human refugees and to dismantle discrimination against ea.

“If we go ahead with this plan, the adoption of an ea into the ranks of hssen—a blood-only class I need not remind you—we may as well be fomenting insurrection. Half the provinces will threaten sedition, and the Temple will not take kindly to what many ussyri will consider an overreach of my power.

“They tolerated your mate, Tyaniis. Ignored that she was kss’kaa, that she was raised by ea, and that she bore a heretical name. They will not tolerate this.” Jii’Hssen Ssyii sounded tired when she finished her speech.

“Good thing I’m not Empress,” Tyaniis responded.

“You do not care then, Sister?”

“I care about my daughters, Sister. All of them.”

“This must never leave this room,” Aunt Ssyii warned all of us. “You know as well as I do, Tyaniis, that I did not desire the throne. You would force it upon me in a moment of weakness and then put me in an impossible position?”

“Impossible?” Sire Tyaniis spat, rising to a height just above the Jii’Hssen, who slouched in her throne. “You are the Jii’Hssen. Look at you, Ssyii—my little sister towers over me, blessed by Jaezotl himself to rule over the people of Jii’Kalaga in the ways the Temple cannot. I did not foist the throne upon you, Ssyii. I chose you—I pushed you because I knew you would make the better Jii’Hssen out of the two of us. You are gentle and kind, despite the rigors of your position.

“That you do not want the throne is as much a blessing as it is a burden. That you resent it and fear the power you are blessed with is a sure sign that your hand will stay open, not closed.”

“Your words do not make what I must do any easier, Sister.” For a moment, instead of the massive kelaniel coiling the emerald throne, I saw a small girl—terrified and determined in equal measure.

“Do you agree then?” Tyaniis pushed.

“I do.” Jii’Hssen Ssyii sighed hard. “Jaezotl, I do. Separating Issa from Kyrae I can already see would be a cruelty almost beyond imagination. And an ea as hssen? Progress toward reform would be pushed forward decades, if not centuries. But it will come at the cost of unrest.”

“I know.”

“Yesss…” Jii’Hssen Ssyii hissed informally, slouching even more before she straightened up. “I will tell no one of this conversation, Sister, but there will be rumors. I shall do my utmost, but it will only protect you and your daughters for so long.”

“The Empire will know at Ssiina’s coming of age next year before they attend the Spring of All Life.”

“Good.”

As our sire and Aunt threatened to launch into a bout of rapid conspiring, Kyrae spoke up. “Do… can I be adopted? Become Issa’s sister in class?”

“You already have,” Aunt Ssyii replied with a smile. “I would not speak so candidly among anyone other than family, Hssen Kyrae.”

“Really?!” The long-silent Ssiina gushed, pulling both me and Kyrae into a hug again.

“What about a contract or law or something?” Kyrae asked through being crushed between two lamias. Despite the business-like question, her tone was giddy as her hand found mine in the mass of scales.

“My word is law when it pertains to matters family matters of hssen,” Jii’Hssen Ssyii replied simply. “Now, before we leave, we have much to plan—all of us. If only less discretion was required, I would have us meet somewhere cozier, with good food and better coiling. Tell no one, but this throne is both cold and overly hard.”