“Bargain?”
“When two people with magical blood strike a deal, the deal inscribes itself into our skin. The bargainer gets a dot atop their heart; the bargainee gets a band around their bicep. If you try to approach a waterrise now, the dot will burn to remind you of the promise you made me.”
My hands drift to my sides. “You fool me?”
“No.” His lids lift. “I assumed Fallon had explained how bargains worked to you.” He jams a hand through his hair, then says some more things that I don’t quite grasp since his words are running together, but I sense he’s genuinely apologetic, so I sigh and tug on my dress’s cord, settling it back on my shoulder to hide the glowing reminder that the world still has many secrets from me.
“Daya, do not strike bargains with anyone, except for me, all right?”
“I learn lesson. No sayI swearagain.”
“I’m sorry. I?—”
“It fine. You promise to take me to nuptials, so I see world soon.” I smile. When he doesn’t smile back, mine collapses. “You say swear, so you?—”
“Yes, Príona. I will carry you outside these walls. Those are the terms of our agreement.” He seems as thrilled to uphold his end of the bargain as Fallon was to have Kanti tag along with them to Luce. “I appreciate you trying to help, but everyone said serpent healing is useless.”
“They not know since no serpent lick. Besides, I special Serpent.”
His face softens a little. “You are.”
“Pants, Cathal.”
“Not tonight, Príona.”
“But you say?—”
“I said I’d let you. I didn’t say when.”
I bite down so hard the ivory in my mouth clicks. “Why wait?”
“Because you need to rest before tomorrow.” Under his breath, he adds, “And so do I.”
“Why?”
“Because tomorrow, you swim with the serpents.”
Chapter 11
Zendaya
My blood rushes like the minnows swarming beneath the surface of the Amkhuti as the queen signals for Behati to transform one of the waterrises into a waterfall. The silent air suddenly fills with the crush of water and I startle.
“Shh, abi djhara.” The queen strokes the base of my spine. “You’ll be swimming with no more thanoneother serpent. And I’ll be inside the water with you at all times.”
A crow-shaped shadow swathes me. It steals the warmth of the afternoon sun but fills my veins with comfort. Before shifting, Cathal warned both the queen and me that he wouldn’t hesitate to snatch me from the moat if the serpent gave any sign of aggression.
I pray to the Mahananda that my scaled companion will prove kind. And that he or she be small. My prayers must not land for the yellow body that flops from the Sahklare into the Amkhuti is colossal, with a tusk as long as my leg. It sinks out of sight before goring the surface as the animal ribbons toward us with great flexes of its body.
The queen smiles at the advancing serpent as though glad to see him. Or is it a her? How does one tell? Does something dangle from his abdomen like male Two-legs’? “Well, hello, Sun Warrior.”
I imagine that’s the creature’s name. Does the queen have names for every serpent?
“Do not be intimidated, Daya. Sun Warrior’s the gentlest giant in my realm.”
My stomach feels as hard as the rock beneath my bare toes. I press my palm against it, eyes riveted to the tusk shearing through foam.
“I’ll go in first. You dive in as soon as you feel ready.”
