Magdala caught a flash of movement in the corner of her eye. A tiny green snake slithered over the gravel, its body as thin as her pinky finger. It coiled inches from Asherton’s bare foot, its tongue testing the air.
Chapter 15
“Ah.” Asherton’s eyes locked on the snake, and he ran his tongue over his lips. “That is a …”
“Dragonbane adder, yes, I’m aware.” Magdala’s mouth was dry, her palms damp. They hadn’t taught her how to fight snakes in training. No one ever let loose a serpent on the sparring mat.
Asherton arched a brow. “How do you know that? Is herpetology part of your royal guard curriculum?”
“If you wore shoes, you wouldn’t be in danger,” she bit. “Now let methink.”
“A lot of good that’ll do us,” he grumbled.
Magdala glared at him.
Asherton shifted, like he meant to run.
“Stop!” Magdala warned. “It is a hundred times quicker than you!”
Her heart froze in her chest. If assassins or rogue curses or just his own stupidity caught up to Asherton and he died under her watch, it wouldn’t take Zephyr long to discover who she really was. Her father’s hatred would put a noose around her neck. Coming here had been a mistake.
Asherton rubbed his thumb along his lower lip, his eyes still fixed on the serpent.
“Don’t …” Magdala said, holding out her hand in a steadying gesture.
Slowly, Asherton crouched and reached for a forked stick lying a half-stride away. Smoothly, cautiously, he lifted it. He glanced at Magdala and a shadow passed over his face. His mouth tightened, and then he jumped back. The snake struck. Asherton dodged and slammed the stick over its body.
It writhed, trapped, then began to wriggle free. Asherton darted out his bandaged hand, meaning to pinch its neck between his thumb and forefinger, but in the heat of the moment, he forgot that his bandages restricted his movement. The snake twisted over his hand, and he swore as its teeth sank into the white cotton. Magdala lunged, slashing at the snake with her knife. She severed its head, and it sprayed blood across Asherton’s shirt. He gasped as its body fell to the ground, twisting in death.
“What did you kill it for?” Asherton shouted, his cheeks flushing scarlet. He unhooked the snake’s teeth from his bandage and Magdala knocked it out of his hand.
She blinked at him, waiting for him to collapse. When he didn’t, she couldn’t decide how to feel.
“Why aren’t you dead?” Magdala demanded. If there was a curse, it was misfiring.
Asherton held up his hand. “Your blundering dressing is so thick, the teeth couldn’t cut through it.”
A gust of anger buffeted Magdala. “I told you to stay close to me! I told you not to wander off! But you don’t listen because you’re a bloody idiot.”
“And you are an incompetent assassin.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dragonbane adders don’t live on Elegy Island. You disappeared and then came around the corner just before a highly venomous, non-native snake appears? This was a ham-fisted assassination if ever I saw one.”
Magdala pinched the bridge of her nose. “If I was trying to kill you, why did I kill the snake?”
“It had already bitten me! You were covering your trail. Now, if you’re going to kill me, just do it, for Roz’s sake.”
Magdala shut her eyes and inhaled slowly. “I’m not going to kill you. I saw someone in the hedge.”
“I’m sure you did,” he said bitterly. He walked past her. “Don’t tell Zephyr about this.”
“Of course I’ll tell Zephyr! There’s an assassin wandering around the island!”
“Alright, go inside, then,” he said. “Explain this to Zephyr and see if he doesn’t have you back in Largotia in a blink. It’s no trouble for my mother to send someone else. But you’ll be disgraced. No one will take you seriously. You’ll be the female bodyguard who couldn’t lasttwo dayson Elegy Island.”
Oh, she hated him. Magdala was used to Julian and her father and their slow-witted friends, but sparring with Asherton did not end in the decisive victories Magdala usually enjoyed.
