Even though Kanti is talking to my grandmother about Mahananda only knows what, her attention is on Enzo, her nose scrunched in horror. Though Asha has instructed my Serpent on how to hold his fork and knife properly, it isn’t second-nature to him. According to Asha, “old habits die hard.” Every time she utters the phrase, my mind drifts to the woman I was before and I wonder: did she have habits?
I’ve asked Priya, but she doesn’t like speaking about who I was before, reminding me that I’m not her. She’s right. I’m not the princess with the pink eyes and dark hair who resurrected a dormant king before giving birth to a curse-breaker. I’m the hollowed-out shifter with the odd face and odder tongue.
“Easy there,abi.” The queen pats Enzo’s hand, cutting off Kanti midsentence. “We wouldn’t want you to choke.”
He gulps down his mouthful. “S-Sorry, Sumaca.”
“We’ve gone over this. I want you to call me Priya, not Sumaca.”
His head bobs with an abrupt nod.
A nerve jumps in Kanti’s jaw. I don’t have to read her mind to know that she disapproves of the privilege my grandmother has bestowed on my Serpent. “How tight you’ve all gotten in my absence.”
The queen cants her head. “You say this as though it were unfortunate. Were you hoping I wouldn’t appreciate the Mahananda’s choice of mate for my granddaughter?”
Her utterance of the wordmatestrengthens my desire to call upon Erwin.
After breakfast.
AfterI speak with Enzo in private.
Kanti shrugs. “You weren’t partial to her last mate. Then again, he’s an uncivilized brute with an ego the size of his spirit animal.”
It isn’t a hiss that flows off my tongue but a rumble, one that makes Kanti roll her eyes and my grandmother narrow hers. I’m guessing she didn’t realize I still had affection for Cathal Báeinach.
“He’s the father of my child, Kanti.” Though my posture is rigid, I square my shoulders some more. “I will not have you—or anyone else—denigrate him. Am I understood?”
Kanti snorts. “Shabbe’s a free world, Daya. Freedom of thought. Freedom of speech. It’s inked in our constitution. Haven’t you read it?” She bites her lip, then leans over the table and drops her voice to add, “That was insensitive of me.”
A frown pleats my brow.
“The queen mentioned that your dearth of reading and writing skills were a sore spot, but here I am, blabbering about them. Please forgive me.” She flings me a smile that is as artificial as her apology.
If only Kanti could go slumber in the Mahananda…
I could push her in,Enzo offers.
No.My sharp interjection has his spine pinching straight.Not only would harm befall you, but asorceress must also choose death, otherwise the Mahananda will send her right back.
A shame.
Enzo, please be careful with your thoughts. The Mahananda hears all.
If it does, then why isn’t it punishing Kanti?
It sent her away from Shabbe,I find myself thinking. I must think it into the bond because Enzo blinks wide eyes at me.
Admittedly, I never considered her departure a punishment, but what if it was? What if the Mahananda’s intent when sending her to Luce wasn’t only to seduce one of Lorcan’s enemies?How mysterious you are, Mahananda.
Find Agrippina.
I frown at Enzo who is, again, bent over his food.What?
He glances up at me, eyebrows tilted.What?he echoes.
What did you just say?
His frown deepens, but then he says,I asked you why it wasn’t punishing Kanti.
