Page 28 of The Naga Maverick’s Determined Mate

They got close far too quickly. There was a red one only half as long as Ses and far more delicate, its rider a golden male with slender shoulders and a youthful face. A shimmery pink one with a grizzled snout full of scars that was nearly the same size as the golden dragon I was on. That one’s rider was a male Naga with hair as white as snow, and his grizzled face matched his dragon.

Below us a small green one soared in aerial acrobatics, tumbling through the sky with twirls and curls. It was showing off, though it had no rider but it was clutching a huge parcel between its front paws. It reminded me of little Kiwi who could flit through the sky in much the same, daring manner.

We came in for a landing on the sands just outside the oasis, surprisingly little dust flying into the air when half a dozen dragons touched the ground. Not far off was the pile of sleeping dragons but they weren’t all asleep, I saw several large eyes blink open in various spots; staring at us with their strange, slitted pupils.

The older Naga male with the bright pink, but grizzled dragon was the first to reach us. He leaped from the back of his beast so fast that he had probably unhooked his riding harness before his dragon even touched the ground. Zsekhet on the other hand was taking his sweet time to unbuckle each of our straps.

“Zsekhet! Boy! You’ve returned!” the male called out, a gruff kind of warmth filtering through his voice. His scales were not a bright shimmering gold in some places but dented and scratched. Zsekhet said he molted once a year, which removed any sign of damage or scars from his body unless it went deeper than his scales. Once they got very old though, the intervals between moltings became much longer and with how grizzled this male looked, I figured he had to be ancient.

“Hello, Arakash,” Zsekhet answered, coiling himself around me so he could safely carry me down to the sands. It meant I was mostly obscured from this male until we were both on the ground; then, I was close enough to be able to see the shock form on his rough features.

“What is that?” the male hissed, his hand going to the hilt of a short, curved rapier-type sword hanging from a belt at his hip. “It looks… Bizarre!” His eyes were a darker shade of gold than Zsekhet’s but they still looked similar. He didn’t sound particularly kind as he appraised me, hitting a little close to the reception my presence had brought forth from the Bitter Storm Clan.

Zsekhet bared his teeth, his upper fangs long and sharp as he displayed them to this elder. “That, Arakash, is my mate, a being from the sky! You will treat her with respect. Do you understand?” The older male reared back, rising on the thick base of his tail, his eyes growing wide and shocked in his face. Then he settled, his expression smoothing out as he nodded.

“Put away your fangs, boy. I will not harm your… mate.” He sounded more confused than disgusted which I took as a good sign. Maybe Zsekhet was right, maybe his Clan wouldn’t be all that hostile to me. I hoped they really were more socially advanced than the other Clans in that respect, but the crowd of curious onlookers that was gathering around us wasn’t giving me much hope. I saw more distrust and shock there than anything, but that was still only a little step up from hatred and disgust.

“Where is the Queen? I am here to report on Outcast Haven and fulfill my duties to Serqethos,” Zsekhet said as he scanned the crowd surrounding us. Sesethul was staying close by, his wing outstretched above our heads to shade us from the bright sun. The small green dragon had dropped its package and was eagerly sniffling and rubbing against Ses’ front and neck in greeting, but all the others were keeping a respectful distance.

I saw many subtly different shades of gold or yellow scales glittering in the bright sunlight. The eyes all varied in gold to yellow or orange too, while each of these Naga had a black horn on their chin and a pair of black horns rising in tight spirals from their foreheads. They felt slightly foreign and different to me too, after I’d gotten used to the predominantly purple and blue Naga at Haven.

“This way, I am sure she is eager to receive your news,” the older male said. He gestured toward the tents shaded beneath the trees, large swatches of fabric hung like sun barriers stretched out across the paths too, helping to offer shade and respite from the desert heat. When Zsekhet started moving, it was to slowly uncoil my body from his grasp. Around us people drew in shocked breaths, some fingers pointing at my legs, which had to be a strange sight to them.

“Ignore them,” Zsekhet said firmly, “They are just curious but soon they’ll get used to you. You have nothing to fear.” I was going to take that advice but with a hint of caution, I was determined to see this through because it meant so much to Zsekhet, but I was not going to leave his side for a single moment. I wasn’t stupid, some of those looks were a bit too horrified for my taste.

Walking away from Ses’ protection also felt strange, but I trusted my mate, and I had no doubt that the golden dragon would rip this camp apart if he thought that Zsekhet needed his help. I shifted my focus from being worried about the crowd to wonder at seeing this camp up close.

The tents were all just of simple leather and often open on one side to let me see inside. Humble homes with piles of furs for nests, clay pottery with simple decorations, and curious inhabitants. Then, we reached a path where the tents were not homes but the workstations of craftsmen, where goldsmiths were working at crafting exquisite jewelry. Male or female, it didn’t matter, both genders seemed equally represented as they plied their trade.

Zsekhet called out greetings to some, a friendly, open smile on his face as he ignored all the curious stares I was getting. I was starting to relax, nobody had called me names or thrown stones, this wasn’t too bad. One female Zsekhet had waved at even rose from her workbench to wave at us, eagerly tossing questions our way. “Who is that? She’s so different! Her eyes are like the sky! How is that possible?” I smiled, amused now. Who would have thought that a Naga female could sound that friendly?

Then my eyes settled on a tent not far away, no different from the others except for a pair of Naga lounging in the shade in front of the entrance. It was perhaps a slightly larger tent, but beyond that, it was exactly like its neighbors. The two Naga at the front, both males, rose on the bases of their tails when we approached. Each of them gripped a spear in their fist.

Zsekhet waved at them, offering a friendly greeting, but it was the presence of the older male, Arakash that got us instantly waved through. It was much darker than I expected inside, and I blinked rapidly with my eyes to help them adjust. A low wooden desk, several slender golden coils spread out around and beneath them on a thick, painted leather floor covering.

Zsekhet was already talking, dipping us into a bow when my eyes started to make out more details. A soft oil lamp was burning on a stone pedestal, the only source of light in the darkened interior. Only a single Naga female was present, slender and smaller than I expected her to be.

If this was the Queen of the Serqethos Clan, she was nothing like the Queens of the others. She wore no jewelry, just a simple white fluttery robe around her shoulders, her chest bare and nearly flat, her belly ridged with powerful abs. Her face was narrow and delicate, with an almost ethereal kind of beauty. She looked young to me and fragile, despite her athletic form.

“Greetings, Alshara. I bring news,” Zsekhet said. He rose, but never higher on his tail than her, making sure their eyes were level. That was still tall enough, I barely reached up to his pectoral, or hers. She didn’t glance at my mate, but looked down at me instead, her golden eyes, rimmed with black wide and huge in her face.

“News, and a guest?” she said, her clawed hands flexed at her sides before she settled them demurely across her belly. Had she struggled to contain some kind of violent urge, or was she simply nervous? “Come, sit down, join me for some Chaira.” She gestured at the pillows strewn across the floor while she twirled her body back toward the desk she’d been writing at.

A porcelain tea set was perched on the edge, several thin fire-glazed cups stacked together next to a tall teapot. She started pouring from it, and what I’d taken for white glaze on the pot instantly transferred to the brown cups. That was not a warm drink, but something icy and cool, condensation painting the outside of the earthenware white. The sight of a frosty drink instantly made me aware of just how thirsty and warm I was.

“Thank you, my Queen,” Zsekhet said, his hand on my back urging me forward so that we could settle down. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to sit before or after the Queen did, so I was grateful that he was showing me what to do. The young Queen held out a cup to me with a curious glint on her young face.

I started to reach for it just as someone burst into the tent, flinging fabric aside to bring light and hot air with him. A golden male as wide in the shoulder as Zsekhet and banded in a leather riding harness just like my mate and our escort, Arakash. “Zsekhet! You are back!” this newcomer thundered in a deep bass. “And you brought danger with you!” His golden eyes dropped from Zsekhet to me with a fierce glare.

Immediately, the Queen snatched back her hand with the cup, clutching it to her chest as her eyes went from me to this brash new guy. Like Arakash, his long hair had turned almost entirely white, with only streaks of shimmering gold remaining at the temples. An older Naga male, though he didn’t act like it and still looked alarmingly large and threatening to me.

Barreling over Arakash’s tail, he threw himself between Zsekhet and the Queen, or more accurately, between me and the Queen. He hadn’t drawn a weapon but his hand hovered very close to the handle of one of the daggers strapped to his chest. He was acting exactly like I’d been bracing myself for, only, I had expected it to be the Queen who’d be antagonistic, not this guy. Whoever the fuck he was.

“Zsandex,” Zsekhet growled, his body coiling around mine to protectively yank me behind him, his tail sliding over my vulnerable chest and belly. “I see you’re still around, haven’t keeled over from all the excitement you cause yet?” Arakash huffed out a laugh while this new guy, Zsandex snarled wordlessly back at my mate.

It was the Queen who gasped in surprise and then clapped her hands together, “Silence both of you! Zsekhet, that was rude.” She pinned my mate with a fiery glare and he rolled a shoulder and dipped his chin. I knew that pointing that horn at their own neck was commonly a sign of respect, or an admission of guilt, but Zsekhet didn’t dip his head very far at all. Just the slightest of nudges.

The new guy kept himself puffed up in front of the Queen, but Arakash brushed past him to start pouring that cool drink. “Here, may we all have cooler heads while we discuss this.” His eyes flicked to me on the last word, making it clear I was the ‘this’ in this conversation. I bared my teeth in a snarl at him, narrowing my eyes in a glare, I wanted him to know that I could understand every word he said.