Seconds passed in which the serpent continued to regard them, the unnatural tilt of her head and the way her tongue flicked in and out not reassuring Sonah at all.
But Sonah trusted Melanos and the others to help her if needed.
And so she edged around Fane, snapping her wrist out of his grip, and stumbled forward into the cave.
She jerked back when Fane grasped her cloak, momentarily choking, before she twisted sharply and his hold slackened. Taking a few tentative steps forward, Sonah shot her gaze between Melanos’s scowling visage and Bethana’s eerie eyes.
“He’s right,” Sonah said, proud her voice only had the slightest of tremors. She swallowed and held her hands out like Melanos. “I told Melanos I wanted to help you and that is why I’m here. Although, I don’t know how.”
The serpent watched her through eyes that made Sonah shiver and drop her gaze. She began to fidget with her hands. Catching herself, Sonah tucked her hands beneath the folds of her cloak and cast Melanos a beseeching look.
The giant god smiled reassuringly at her. “I have found that, when all else fails, do what your heart tells you. You want to help Bethana break the curse? Listen to your heart.”
Sonah chewed on her lip as she thought on Melanos’s words. She heard the Spartans speaking softly to one another, and she glanced over at Fane, who watched her with intensity; Sonah felt heat climb up her throat, threatening to choke her.
Behind her, Sonah felt Melanos move closer, the heat from his body enveloping her, soothing her, and her shoulders loosened. With a sigh, she lifted her head and asked Bethana, “May I touch you?”
Fane inhaled sharply, and she was certain he was about to object, but Sonah took a step toward Bethana, determined. “I… I must touch you, I think. I?—”
“You may,” the serpent hissed.
“Sonah—”
“Let her be,” Melanos said, his tone rife with warning.
Fane bristled, but as Sonah crept closer, she glanced at him with reassurance.
Sonah knew the serpent was big but this close, she was massive. Shuddering, Sonah couldn’t help but think of Croak’s account of how Terena had gotten the fangs for King Altos.
She hoped she wasn’t going to be another victim of Bethana’s rage.
Tentatively, Sonah held out her hand. Pressing it against the serpent’s scales, she willed herself not to shudder at the textured surface. She swallowed, grateful Bethana did not strike her. Stepping closer, she pressed her hand firmly on the scales and closed her eyes.
Nothing happened. Sonah frowned. As the seconds passed, she became frustrated, ready to pull away.
Then she felt it.
Warmth stole over her body, rising from her belly, through her arms and down her hands. She tingled all over, as if ants raced over her skin.
Sonah squeezed her eyes tighter, tilting her head as she braced against the rush of heat threatening to consume her.
Gasps sounded behind her, and she heard Melanos swear softly.
Words she did not know filtered in and out of her thoughts. Sonah opened her mouth and whispered these words. This unknown language was as much a part of her as her skin, her hair, her breath. The words sounded all around her, the airvibrating with energy she could feel pulsing within and without, swirling around her as if seeking to be closer to her.
Sonah’s eyes snapped open, the last of the words echoing in her brain for a long moment after she’d spoken them.
Her heart in her throat, Sonah’s eyes widened as she stared.
“Gods save us,” Fane uttered.
Melanos stood beside her now, his presence large and solid and yet she felt him shaking. Sonah, too, wasn’t sure if what she saw was real.
The most beautiful woman she’d ever seen, with hair like spun gold, almost a foot taller than Sonah, stood before them. Her iridescent skin gleamed from the water, sparkling as she moved. She had a figure most men would covet, a thin blue robe clinging to her generous curves. Watching them through large brown eyes sparkling with gold, she lifted a tremulous hand to her face, her long fingers falling off her pale cheek as her gaze found Melanos.
With a cry, she launched herself at the god, who wrapped her up in his thick arms. Sonah felt tears track down her face.
A hand slipped into hers, tugging her back and she looked up to see Fane, who looked at her with awe in his brown eyes.
