Shapeshifters (77 page)

“You
used
to be,” she asserted. “You know I loved your father, but I hated the curse he left you with. You've rid yourself of that now.”

“The curse he left me with was passion,” I replied. “And yes, it hurts, but it is
mine.
And the gift he left me with was Wyvern's Court.”

“You would really stay here, when Cjarsa has offered you Ahnmik?” My mother looked at me with confusion. “Hai, all your life, I have struggled to give you this—”

“All my life, you have struggled to give
yourself
this,” I said. “Struggled to win, against the Empress.”

“Haven't you?”

“Darien …
Mother
… you are
shm'Ahnmik.
And the white god has no patience for right and wrong, or sacrifice, only power.”

“You're one of us.”

I shook my head. “In the first
sakkri
I ever saw, I watched through Kiesha's eyes as Cjarsa and Araceli ripped Anhamirak's magic in half. I screamed with the cobra, until my throat bled and I lost my voice for weeks. I should have known on that day that I would never be a falcon.”

Those around me knew my heritage by my ebony hair. I knew that it was held somewhere even deeper than magic … and that it wasn't on the white island. It never had been.

“You will stay in this land, without a serpent form?” Darien asked, in a last desperate plea. “Hai, I do not understand you. You had Wyvern's Court in your hand, and you gave it up. You gave up your cobra form, and your position as Diente. Why else would you have done that, if not to come home?”

“I gave up my magic to save my cousin's
life,
” I said. “I am more than my animal form. I am more than the magic the royal house of Ahnmik deemed right for the serpiente to retain. I am more than feathers or scales.

“I am
Kiesha'ra.”

Months later, I still sometimes woke in the night, coated in sweat, with my heart pounding. Wrapped in Nicias's arms, I would open my eyes and take a deep breath to assure myself that the past half year had really happened.

As a child, I had centered my entire life on my Empress's desires; I had sought nothing more than to please her, even when she had sent me into Ecl. Now I had cut my ties to Ahnmik and was responsible for myself, for my own decisions, and for my own future. I had lost all guidance beyond myself and had chosen this heartache of decision that made serpents and avians so brilliantly alive: freedom.

Though flavored by tears, that freedom was the sweetest thing I had ever known.

After the weeks of chaos, from Oliza's abdication through Salem's resurrection, Wyvern's Court did not return instantly to rest. Both royal houses came together to try to heal their shaken world, like parents holding a child through
her night terrors. There was much shuddering and wailing, but eventually the court returned to its precious balance of two worlds dancing together in defiance of Fate herself.

I was honored to say I was among the dancers.

On this night, I stood in the center of the Obsidians' camp, surrounded by all their guild, as well as some more unusual faces—the exiled falcons from the candle shop, and an uneasy-looking Sive Shardae, who was standing beside her serpiente companion. The only light came from a single lamp hanging on one of the nearest trees, and from the stars high above us.

Vere stood before me, dressed in black, with a silver
melos
about his waist.

“Your people have fared badly in all this,” I said to him as we waited for the last guests to arrive. “First Oliza made you promises, and then I did, and now neither of us is in a position to keep them. I am sorry.”

A rustling in the forest announced the arrival of three newcomers: Salem; his Naga, Rosalind; and Nicias, who had guided them here. Nicias came to my side and wrapped me in his arms.

Vere nodded a greeting and then continued our conversation. “You really think we have been mistreated by these events?” the white viper asked. “Look around. The cobra king and his mate are peaceful guests in our camp, traveling dancers and—albeit nervous—friends.” He gestured at Sive, who was now deep in conversation with Maya. “You say we've come out badly, but look around. You'll see
Maeve'ra, Kiesha'ra, shm'Ahnmik
and the descendant of Alasdair standing together.”

“It's an exception,” I replied. “Tomorrow—”

“It is an exception that has never before occurred over the
course of thousands of years. And tomorrow, even if the fighting begins again, they will remember.” He smiled in a way that said that he knew his words were dangerously optimistic, but that he couldn't help it. “I never wanted to be a king, Hai,” he assured me. “I accepted your suit because I felt it was time to reach out and make alliances, but I am pleased with the way things have turned out.”

His smile became a little more wistful as his gaze flickered from me to Nicias, but all he said was “Are you ready?”

I drew a long, deep breath, taking in all the scents of the wild forest, and raised my face to the night sky.

“I'm ready.”

As I stepped onto the camp's center dais, I allowed myself once more to reach out to my lover and foe. Carefully, I asked Ecl's favor. There was only one thing I needed to know.

 

It was a strange world, taken over by humanity and stretching farther than anyone had imagined. Vast oceans, unknown continents, machines that did the work of men … What an incredible world it had become in the centuries since my own life. And within that world:

Two women stood face to face, garnet eyes looking deeply into gold. The cobra began to laugh, then hugged the hawk joyously. The Tuuli Thea was crying, but they were sweet tears.

Both knelt beside a baby girl with white-blond hair and golden eyes. The next Tuuli Thea's father—a white viper, one of the few remaining children of Obsidian—leaned nearby, watching trustingly as the Diente picked up the hawk-viper child.

None of them knew what their ancestors had gone through—what risks had been taken, or what sacrifices had been made—to allow them to stand there unafraid.

I pulled back from the vision as easily as I breathed, as I heard the drumbeat begin. Mentally, I sent a kiss to the familiar abyss, but the one it sent in return did not restrain me.

My eyes still closed, I lifted myself onto my toes, arching my back and crossing my wrists above my head. I listened to my heart as it began to beat in time with the drummer's rhythm. The flute, when it began to play, felt like an extension of my own breath.

My audience gasped as I unfurled wings the color of a cobra's scales, with a span of more than fifteen feet. Because my magic was finally under control, Nicias and—grudgingly—Oliza had been able to work together to heal them. Now, as I prepared to dance, I spread them wide.

Yes, I had finally embraced my Cobriana heritage, but who said snakes weren't meant to fly?

 

My prayer is simple, my child, my child,

Please, do try to understand:

I've given you freedom, and left you with choices.

Now you're at the beginning,

Again.

Two great reads in one
Coming in 2011

 

Also by
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Four books in one
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