11. Zendaya

Chapter 11

Zendaya

M y 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 than one other 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."

I've been yearning to meet others, so why am I contemplating whirling on my heel and bolting back to my bedchamber?

"Ready, emMoti?" The queen sheds her flowy skirt but retains the fitted bodice.

I wear a similar outfit today. The queen brought it into my chambers when she came to wake me only to find me up and pacing. Though I'd flopped across my bed at some point between Cathal's departure and Priya's arrival, my mind had been so abuzz that I hadn't even attempted to sleep.

The queen takes my face between her hands, the callused tips of her fingers resting lightly on my skin. "Everything will be fine."

"What if Sun Warrior try eat me?" I ask.

The queen's eyes begin to glitter. I realize it's with shil s when one spills over her lashes and trundles down her cheek. "How well you speak…" Her voice shimmies with the same emotion that wets her cheeks. "Who else has heard your voice?"

"My Crow sentry."

"Your Crow sentry?"

I roll my eyes skyward.

She sighs. "Though, admittedly, the male does guard you like a feral creature, he isn't your guard, Daya."

I frown. "You not choose he?"

"No. The only people I've appointed to watch over you are Asha and Abrax."

"Then why he always with me?"

The queen releases my face and turns toward the Amkhuti. "How about that swim? Look how eager Sun Warrior is to meet you."

Lid-to-lid black orbs roll over me. Though I've caught glimpses of myself in the air bubbles trapped beneath the Amkhuti's stone shelves, until now, I hadn't realized just how beastlike I truly am. Save for my coloring, do I resemble this creature in every way? Is my tusk as massive, my eyes as bulbous, my nostrils that slitted? Do my scales shine like his? Is my dorsal fin as sheer and ruffled? I cannot decide if I find the serpent hideous or beautiful.

He whips the surface with his tail, plucking me out of my contemplation. Do I ever flick my tail? Besides when I swim? Does it mean something?

I'm about to ask the queen when I catch her striping her neck with blood in order to breathe underwater. And then she's diving, hands extended in front of her head, spine arced. I rush to the edge, almost toppling right over. I'm aware the queen's immortal, but hitting the water from so high up always stings my feet. Won't it fracture her fingers or fissure her skull?

She slides in like a needle through silk and sinks out of sight.

I wait for the serpent to dive after her, but he waits. And waits. When the queen still hasn't surfaced, I jump. The instant my body hits water, I shift. And then I hunt the clear depths for her white hair. Although I sense the other serpent swimming parallel to me, I don't pay him any mind, wholly centered on Shabbe's ruler. I find her kneeling on the pale sand, one arm outstretched, fingers waving like the green sea fan beside her. I nuzzle her forehead on the hunt for an injury. When I don't scent broken flesh, my pulse begins to quiet.

Something hits my body. Hard.

I recoil, whirling my face toward the yellow serpent, whose nostrils flare. And not in a pleasure to make your acquaintance way but in a back up way. The queen flutters her feet and rises between us. She clutches Sun Warrior's head. I assume it's to prevent him from goring me with his tusk until his eyes glaze and I realize she's pouring pictures into his mind. As I watch them, I suddenly think of all the words lodged inside my head, the ones I assumed were Serpent because they didn't belong to any other tongues. How do I shape them underwater?

I part my lips and try to push some out, but all that does is send a rush of brine down my throat. How do serpents communicate? Do they press their heads against one another? Why didn't I think to ask the queen before diving in?

A strident bleating jerks my body and tautens the already tight coils of my body. It takes Sun Warrior reproducing the sound a second time for me to realize it came from him. Why is he…screeching?

The queen smiles at me expectantly. Is she waiting for me to replicate the sound? I roll my lips a few times before managing a weak wheeze that creates more bubbles than sound. Priya claps while the serpent cants his big head, clearly not impressed by my communication skills.

Suddenly a terrible smell permeates the water. Sun Warrior swivels his head, then hissing, backs away in a haze of foam. Once the bubbles clear, I spot the intruder.

The queen's gaze cuts to my Crow sentry. Not my sentry , I remind myself.

Although she cannot use words beneath the water, her snappy hand gesture conveys her irritation. She points to the surface. Cathal follows her command, but I soon realize, it's only to take a breath. The second he's filled his lungs, he kicks back down toward us.

Sun Warrior's stopped retreating and dangles like a vine between sky and sand. His slitted nostrils flaring like mine. This must've been why the other serpents wouldn't approach last night…because the water somehow amplifies the noxious scent.

Although my stomach clenches, I edge closer to Cathal, to the black ooze that lifts from the flap in the leather. The odor, like wilted blooms dusted in cold ash, grows so pungent, so sour, that my head jerks, and I sink.

I'm suddenly furious with myself for retreating. I'm stronger than this. Stronger than a regular serpent. I dart back up, shooting straight for the injured Crow, but I'm bounced off course by a hard jab to the abdomen. I blink, trying to grasp what's happened when I feel something lace snugly around my body and yank.

Something covered in yellow scales.

Sun Warrior releases another bleat, this one so shrill it vibrates the water and stabs my eardrums, as he drags me away from Crow and Queen.