“Kneel or I won’t eat,” said Maya, a little serpentine girl with glossy raven-black hair, a rather disagreeable expression on an otherwise pretty face, and all of ten years to her.
It had been yet another long morning for Nanny, but not for Maya, who enjoyed this game of tormenting her servant. After being raised by Nanny all her life, Maya instinctively knew that Nanny would obey everything she said. And if Nanny didn’t do what she said or tried to complain, Maya could always throw a tantrum or convince her parents of a story that got Nanny into trouble. Amma and Appa may not spend a lot of time with her, but that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t give her anything she asked for -- she was their only child after all.
“Well? Are you going to kneel or shall I slap you?” Maya demanded again, rather imperiously, like she’d seen Appa do when he terrified everyone and got his way every time. Maya noticed the glaring frustration in Nanny’s eyes as Nanny started to clench her scarred hands tightly on the bowl. A weird sensation of unease floated through Maya.
Have I gone too far? Nanny wouldn’t tell on me, right?
It’s ok….even if she does, I can say that she hit me first.
Still, a sense of unease lingered in Maya until Nanny finally unclenched her hands and knelt on her trembling knees, careful to not let the bowl of steaming porridge spill on Maya or the ground.
Relieved, Maya opened her mouth as she spoke in a slightly softer, less demanding tone. “Ah”
Nanny obliged, blinking away tears in her eyes. As she fed a bite to Maya, she too opened her mouth as she tried to cajole Maya back into a better mood “Ah. Yes, my little nagini. There’s a good girl. The food is very good, isn’t it?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At 7 years old, in her stiffly ironed dress with neatly patched holes, Nuissa had made a 12 mile trek to the palace with a tin lunch pail in one hand and her oldest brother holding her other hand. He’d dropped her off to begin her duties as the royal nanny for the newborn Ravi -- now Naga Ravi, Maya’s father. By her early fifties, she’d served as the royal nanny to him and his siblings and now Maya, Naga Ravi’s only child.
She’d rarely seen her family since then. Sometimes her father or one of her three older brothers would drop by with news of a marriage or birth in the family that prospered from her service to the serpent people. She hadn’t seen her two younger sisters, or the two more that were born shortly after, or her mother at all. The last words her mother spoke to her before she’d left still rang deeply in her memories.
“Nuissa, do whatever the serpent people say. Be an obedient girl. Maintain the good names of our family and the tribe. Make us proud.”
And she did. It was unbearable at first, she’d cried herself to bed every night, and it still was tough. But although the serpent people had threatened to send her back to the tribe whenever she made a mistake, she took the lashes on herself instead of fines and appeased them cleverly. So what if her body had grown old and saggy with the lashes that fell on her? Her family was prospering.
Lately, as she grew older in her body and wiser in her soul, she wondered to herself. She had raised the little nagas and naginis with all the love she’d been unable to share with her family. Did they not love her back? Or was their love only cruel?
From what she’d seen, the serpent people seemed to only love themselves. Nagini Ramya had only held Maya briefly after giving birth to her. After that, the nagini seemed to barely acknowledge Maya and even then, only on her birthdays or the festivals when everyone was looking. Even that she could tolerate. After all, Nagini Ramya was a stranger to Nuissa. She had never raised the nagini. But Naga Ravi...the first child she’d raised...that he had not even been there for Maya’s birth...that he had insisted on completing his meditations for his ascetic ambitions under that blessed banyan tree and only seen Maya three whole months after she was born...that she could not forgive. Full of pity for the young Maya, Nuissa had felt her hardened heart crack once more as she showered the child with love that her parents did not give her. Thinking maybe with Maya, this time, it would be different. But she was wrong.
Power corrupts. And the absolute power that they’d willingly handed over to the serpent people corrupted the whole race.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maya finished eating in silence. Nanny then helped the little nagini wash her hands and her face, also in silence.
The two were both preparing their game plan for the battle of wits that happened every afternoon. Every afternoon Maya would try to get out of taking a nap so she could run off to the gardens to play and dance. And every afternoon Nanny would demand that Maya take a nap. Although the power balance was normally weighted heavily towards Maya, when it came to Maya’s dancing, which her parents found unseemly, Nanny was granted special concessions. This made it harder, but not impossible, for Maya to get her way. Although Maya pretended to dislike that, secretly she and Nanny both knew Maya loved to strategize and scheme and the sweetness of victory only grew if one wasn’t guaranteed to win.
Today, Nanny decided to hold Maya tightly to her bosom as she slept. There’d be nowhere for Maya to go and so, she’d have no choice but to sleep. Immediately after Maya was all cleaned up, Nanny climbed into bed with the startled Maya and wrapped her arms around the girl. When Maya started protesting, Nanny started humming a lullaby determinedly and ignored Maya. Finally, given no other choice, Maya had closed her eyes and the nanny fell asleep.
Stolen novel; please report.
An hour later, Nanny’s hands still tightly enclosed Maya’s body. Ordinarily, it would have been a foolproof plan. But Nanny didn’t know that Maya had reached a critical stage of her development as one of the serpent people; she developed the ability to shift forms. She was still new to it and had a hard time triggering the change unless she had enough time and room. She had neither now, but Maya was a stubborn little child. She was determined to defeat Nanny this time.
Maya wriggled a little as she tried to create some space between Nanny’s arms and her. Her brown skin started to ripple with the iridescent shimmer of her black cobra scales, indicating her imminent transformation. All of a sudden, Nanny was no longer holding Maya. Instead, Maya in her serpent form was coiled on the bed, surrounded by the Nanny’s loose hands. She then silently slithered over the nanny’s arms and out the gap between her bedchamber doors and into the garden.
Maya didn’t need music to dance. She didn’t need the classical dance forms of the serpent people that they learned once they fully came into their serpentine powers. She had picked up dancing through a pure childlike enjoyment of the outdoors, by copying the movements of the birds, animals, and plants in the garden. She remembered how the vine curved covetously on her balcony trellis and curved her own body sassily; she watched a leaf fall, swayed by a slight breeze and echoed its lonely path down. To any human watching, as long as they were not afraid of getting caught, they’d be mesmerized by her childlike enthusiasm and spirit that was aptly conveyed. To any of the serpentine watching, they’d be appalled by her improper form and sneer at her inability to control her emotions. Needless to say, her parents did not approve. But still Maya could not help herself.
After a few moments, Maya started to experiment with her serpent form while dancing. She did not yet know all the magic of her people as serpent children are only assigned magic tutors at age 13. Maya couldn’t wait to learn. She thought maybe she could teach herself. Maybe that would impress her parents and allow them to let her finally learn how to dance in the serpentine classical dance forms. As Maya rippled, part serpentine form and part human, scales flashing here and there, she lost track of time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You should’ve seen the Brat earlier today. She’s been giving ole Nuissa a run for her money” a maidservant giggled rather loudly, as she clasped hands with a man that looked to be her lover and strolled down a garden path near where Maya was experimenting with her dancing technique and her serpent form.
Jolted out of her reverie, Maya silently fumed.
I was just getting a hold of it. Who dares interrupt me? And how dare they call me the Brat?
They’re not even allowed to be here. Just wait, I’m going to get them in soo much trouble now.
Maya grinned nastily to herself as she plotted. She could hear better in her serpent form, but unfortunately, she didn’t have enough time to shift fully. She quickly promised herself that she would master shifting back and forth more quickly in the future so that she could overhear more secret conversations and get people in trouble. For now, Maya would just have to sneak closer to the couple.
“It’s not just the Brat. It’s all of them…They think they can just run all over us, but they’re wrong. Our ancestors gave them power by agreeing to worship and serve them. Our ancestors trapped us in servitude. But not anymore.” the stableman lectured back to the adoring maidservant.
“Is it true what they say? That Sarai and Navir found some alloy...Kent? Ment?...that will---” she started eagerly.
“Shh….not so loudly here. But yes, they’re doing it tonight.” the stableman replied, ending the conversation as they strolled further away from Maya.
What are they talking about? Strange…maybe I can ask Appa during dinner. Maybe we can figure it out together.
Disappointed to have heard so less, Maya then came out of hiding and resumed her dance practice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around the same time, Nuissa squeezed her arms close in response to some nightmare she was having about Maya. When her arms didn’t close around Maya, Nuissa woke blearily. How did Maya escape now? She ripped some of her hair out with frustration before she realized what she was doing. Moving some of her hair to cover the bald spot, she headed out to look for the errant princess, muttering to herself as she went.
Nuissa too noticed the maidservant and the stableman on their stroll discussing rather loudly about plans that were better kept a secret. She strode over to them and knocked both of their heads together. “Don’t go blabbing on a day like this. The future of our people is at stake,” she scolded. The couple sheepishly obeyed and hastened away from Nuissa.
Nuissa caught Maya shortly after Maya came out of her hiding place. She was a little worried that Maya had overheard these buffoons, but there was nothing she could do now. When she saw Maya dancing, she paused for a minute and forgot her worries, enthralled as she was by the little nagini’s dance. Most of the time Maya was a real brat, but when Nuissa saw her dancing, she was reminded of Maya’s more endearing side. Reluctant to stop her, but needing to, Nuissa went to escort the princess to the royal dinner. Although Maya threw a tantrum about everything else, Nuissa and Maya both knew that she’d never delay a dinner with her parents. And so, they both hastened to the dinner together peacefully.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Royal dinner was always a formal affair. The Naga and Nagini often conducted important state work during the dinner, amusing dignitaries and granting approval to various requests from their ministers regarding the country’s needs.
To Maya, the royal dinner was her only chance to spend time with her parents.
“Amma! Appa! How was your day today? ”, she piped up.
Neither of them responded to me. Ooh….what if I try telling Appa about the servants?
“Appa! I saw some servants strolling in the gardens when they’re not supposed to…”
“Appa, do you know what this is? They said something about a met-met-metal alloy called Men-men-”
“Not now, Maya. Can’t you see Amma and I are dealing with something urgent right now?” the Naga finally responded.
They never care. No matter what I do or say.
Maya’s voice trailed lower. Clocking her parents’ continued lack of reaction, she reached her emotional threshold and finally gave up. The Naga and Nagini continued to entertain their guests. They barely noticed that Maya finished and finished the rest of the meal sullenly in silence. Finally, she asked to be excused and trudged out of the dining room with her ever-present nanny by her side.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they reached Maya’s rooms, although Nanny was anticipating another tantrum, Maya was surprisingly compliant. That was fortunate for Nanny, but she still rushed Maya through the motions of getting ready for bed even faster and repeatedly checked the clock as if she was waiting for something. Finally, Maya was tucked away in bed. Nanny locked the bedchamber doors for the night and started to sigh in relief before noticing Maya hadn’t slept yet.
“Maya! Go to sleep this instant. Otherwise, I’ll tell your parents,” Nuissa tried the stick.
But that didn’t work. Maya continued to stare rather sullenly at the wall. So Nanny switched to the carrot instead.
“Come on, my dear little nagini…Your parents will be with you all day on your birthday tomorrow. If you sleep now, tomorrow will come sooner.”
Maya finally closed her eyes then and Nanny lay down as well. Quiet tears trickled down Maya’s face until she finally fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And as Maya slept, the humans, who had worshipped the Naga for centuries until now, got to work.