I can taste that, and it is why you were brought here, rather than being left to drown.
He had come within an inch of death, and now he was at the mercy of this huge creature. It was terrifying, but perhaps also an opportunity. “I am grateful for it. May I ask you a question, or is that forbidden?”
You may ask, and I may choose to answer.
He worded it carefully, in case there were bindings in place. “Which is your enemy, the British ships you have been sinking, or the one who has ordered you to do so?”
The serpent sank back on its coils.The question is a clever one.
The back of the cave, formerly shrouded in darkness, grew bright, revealing half a dozen deep alcoves. Most were empty, but one contained a few large eggs, carefully clustered together in a shallow pool. Lazy swirls of steam rose from the water.
Another held a deeper pool that glowed in aqua hues as a long thin shadow moved through it, perhaps a yard long. An infant serpent?
Then a different image formed as in his head, of this same cavern, but the alcoves were piled high with eggs, the deep pools full of wriggling shapes playing together, while young serpents wandered the floor in small groups, clearly interacting silently, a vibrant community.
This was what you would have seen, only a few seasons ago. Now they are gone, all our hatchlings and eggs. For every three ships we sink, he returns one to us. When we refuse to sink one, he gives a hatchling to the Wicked King, to be raised in enforced servitude and all its hatchlings after it. I am not proud of it, but we value our young more than your ships.Regret filled the air.
Darcy inclined his head. All those drowned sailors, who also had families who loved them. “As any parent would. I will have a child soon, and I would do anything to protect him.” But this was it, the answer the War Officehad been seeking so desperately, of why the formerly peaceful serpents had gone to war.
He had to risk another question, to confirm what he already knew. “The one who ordered you to sink the ships, who stole your eggs, is it the Emperor of France?”
The serpent shifted on its coils.I am unable to answer that.
A binding, then. “Let me ask this, then. Could you deny it, if you chose to?” Were sea serpents bound by the fae obligations to speak only the truth?
I choose not to deny it, friend to dragons.
Napoleon, in league with the High King of Faerie, so despised by the dragons. How would they respond when they learned the French Emperor was giving him sea serpent eggs? Was this how he was forcing dragons to fight for him?
“Stopping the French Emperor is my goal. It is why I was crossing the Channel, to put a plan in place to end his power.”
The serpent studied him.On behalf of the dragons?
“I am sent by my government, but the dragons know of it. They wish to see Napoleon gone, but they cannot support my mission, since it requires killing. But I, like you, will do anything to protect my unborn child.”
The serpent tossed its head.Dragons are trapped by their very nature, by the price they must pay for bloodshed. I am not. I wish you success on your mission, friend of dragons.
“First I must reach France. Am I there now? Could you tell me how to get there?”
We can take you close to it, but I dare not ask any of my fellows to come near the shore. Can you swim?
“A little,” Darcy said, though he was considered a strong swimmer when it came racing across a lake. Swimming the open water of the Channel, fully clothed, was an entirely different question.
The serpent slithered towards him.Stand still.
Darcy forced his body to obey, grateful now for his experience in the Nest with the dragons and their mysterious ways. A few months ago, he would have been hard put not to flee for his life.
Especially when the serpent opened its massive jaws, only a few feet from his head. Good God, it was enormous, large enough to swallow him whole if it chose! But he stood his ground. The dragons had proved trustworthy, and he needed any ally he could get.
Even when the cloud of sea serpent exhalations enveloped him, cold, clammy, and smelling of fish and seaweed. And so heavy with magic he could scarcely breathe, much less move. The inside of his nose stung as if attacked by hornets. It scoured his skin, not just his exposed face and hands, but all over his body. The power seemed to infuse his very bones.
What had the serpent done to him?
That will keep you safe in the water.
Darcy blinked. Safe from other serpents or from sharks, or would it make him buoyant? Either way would be a gift. “I will do everything in my power to remove the danger to your eggs.”
The sea serpent inclined his head.Your service will not be forgotten. Now my brother will take you as near to France as he dares, and the people on the shore will help you, if you tell them you were brought by one of theles serpents de mer. May good fortune smile on your efforts.
