40. Zendaya

Chapter 40

Zendaya

H ealing Agrippina and Enzo drained me. Though I surfaced in skin from the Amkhuti, I'm not entirely certain how I got from the Amkhuti to my bed. I assume someone carried me. I also assume that this someone may have been winged.

I wake to fingers of light scraping against my lids. For a moment, I just lay there and reflect on everything that's happened. It feels like a dream. I suddenly worry that it was and sit up brusquely.

"Easy there, imNaage." Asha clucks her tongue at me.

"ImNaage?" Mother of Serpents?

"Well, you're now the proud owner of two Serpents."

"One does not own people, Asha." I flop back onto my mattress with a sigh. "Right?"

"Slavery isn't a thing in Shabbe."

"But it is in other places?"

"Yes and no. Faeries insist they pay each one of their servants, but it's such a pittance that it probably feels like slavery to the humans in their employ. I request a change of topic. Not only because the other pisses me off, but because…you have two mates?"

"What?"

"Agrippina, who is, um, a surprisingly vivacious woman, claims that she can hear you." Asha hops stomach-first onto my bed, sending my mattress rippling. She props herself onto her elbows and cups her round cheeks. "Can she?"

"Yes, but that doesn't make her my mate."

Asha frowns. "I thought?—"

"Lorcan shares a mind link with all his Crows. I believe that my type of shifter works the same way. It's why I went to Luce in the first place."

"Well that explains Enzo's grouchiness. Do you know that he's stayed in his beast form for the last two days? Refuses to eat anything. I thought it was sympathy pains for his mate, but I think he may be depressed. He really likes you."

"He likes me because I saved his life and gave him magic."

"No, Daya. He really likes you."

"He's a child."

She rolls onto her back and stretches out. "He's nineteen."

"So I've been convalescing for two days?" I ask, not feeling like discussing Enzo's crush. "Tell me all that's been happening."

"Ceres and your new Serpent have taken residence in Enzo's wing. Fallon has been making many roundtrips between Luce and Shabbe to check on you and bring news from Luce. Your little stint has disquieted quite a few Lucins." She smirks.

"Is Lorcan very angry with me?"

"Nah. I think it's come in quite handy. Humans now believe they can have magic. Since you're the Lucin Queen's mother, they've been on their best behavior. As for the Faeries, they, too, have been behaving but that has more to do with fear than eagerness. They're a little worried you'll come and lick them next."

I snort. "What about Taytah? Is she angry?"

"Just remember that all she feels and shouts stems from love."

"That doesn't sound ominous," I mumble, suddenly unsure whether I should leave the comfort of my palace wing. I rub my arms, then frown when I notice the golden glint of a bargain. Didn't I already collect Erwin's?

Asha rolls up and off the bed, then stretches her arms over her head once more as though she, too, has been slumbering for days. "A present from the Lucin general."

Right away, my mind goes to Cathal.

"A thank you for having saved his daughter."

Of course. Whyever did I imagine Cathal would've given me a favor? After all, there's nothing I've done for the man that would warrant his gratitude. I'm tempted to ask Asha if he went home. He must've. Perhaps he visited, though?

"I've yet to hear you apologize," she says.

"For?"

"For leaving me without any warning." She dips her head and gives me a stern look that makes me want to grin more than apologize. "I've gone up another dress size."

Where Taytah can be downright frightening when she's angry, my guard cannot. "I'm sorry, Asha."

"You swear to never leave Shabbe without me again?"

"Yes."

"Say it."

I sigh and roll up. I must move too fast because my vision spins. I knead my temples.

"Drink this"—she shoves a glass full of bright green juice into my hands—"and then say, I swear, Asha amNeema, that I, Zendaya amMeriam, will never leave the queendom without you."

I take a few sips, then lower the glass and lick the sweet nectar off my lips. "How come I never knew that your mother's name was Neema?"

"Daya…"

"I'm not going to speak any more vows out loud, but I am sorry to have distressed you."

She huffs.

I take another sip as I get to my feet. "Now that we're three, should I launch my own facial tattoo? A little serpent around one eyebrow?"

"I think that thing in the middle of your forehead is branding enough."

"Fair point."

She trails me to my bathing chamber and leans against the wall as I go about my business. While I wash my hands, I twist my face this way and that. My hair has acquired a lot of volume while I slept but is surprisingly not salt-hardened.

"I washed it so your sheets wouldn't smell like the inside of a conch shell." Asha nods to my outfit. "I also changed you, even though your favorite Crow desperately offered to assist me."

"Why wouldn't you let Fallon help?"

"That's not the Crow I was referring to," she singsongs.

My blood warms. "He's not my favorite." I splash my face, then pat it dry and rub coconut-honeysuckle oil onto my pulse points.

She sidles back against the door as I traipse into my closet. "Well, just in case you were wondering, he's been flying over on the regular to check if you'd roused."

My heart begins to sprint. "I wasn't wondering."

"Sure you weren't."

I pitch off my nightgown and replace it with a yellow dress that slips over my skin like sunshine but ripples like water, what with my heart beating as briskly as it is.

"I'm guessing he didn't jump to the same conclusion as I did about you having two mates."

I drop down on the pouf in the middle of my dressing chamber to lace up a pair of golden sandals. "How did he find out about my mind link to Agrippina? Did she tell him?"

"Was it supposed to be a secret?"

"I suppose not." I secure the laces with a double-knot.

"What are you going to do?"

"About?"

"His hopes and dreams of rekindling your old romance?"

"Nothing." At least, not for now. "I have a new Serpent to train."

"Your grandmother saw to her training. She can now shift in and out of scales at will."

"Has Enzo introduced himself?"

"He's been wallowing, remember?"

"In the Amkhuti?"

"The Akwale have shut off all accesses to the Sahklare and dropped the waterline to avoid a repeat of the other night. Though truth be told, I think Enzo has learned his lesson."

Enzo? No answer. Agrippina?

Her voice crackles through my mind almost immediately. Present, my queen.

No need for titles. I'm not your queen.

Shall I call you Maker? Or Mother of Serpents?

I snort. Daya will be just fine.

You're lucky we were really close friends back in the day.

Why's that?

Because if I didn't remember liking you so much, I would've had a bone to pick with the woman who used my body as a hatchery. You gave me fucking stretchmarks.

I'm not sure what those are.

Fallon, our daughter —I can feel her smile and realize, for the first time, that the usual wave of jealousy doesn't dash against me— was kind enough to work her magic on them. Hopefully a few more sessions of blood therapy will have my body good as new.

I massage my throbbing temples. Were you always so talkative?

Always.

And we truly were friends?

You stuck a baby inside of me, so yes, Daya. We were friends. After a beat, she asks, You really have no memory of your past life?

No. I lower my hands to my thighs. Where are you?

I was on my way to try and coax my fellow Serpent out of the Amkhuti with some very delicious treats which I snatched off the lunch table—Asha mentioned food might motivate Enzo to shift—but I can be wherever you need me to be.

She's back to sounding almost giddy.

I may have drunk a little too much date wine at lunch because a certain Crow came to see how I was faring and his face pissed me off.

Reid?

Right. You mustn't remember what happened between us. So, he's the male I was madly in lust with. We had a thing until he told me, point-blank, that he could never be with a Faerie long-term because our bodies weren't compatible for baby-making. Babies… She shudders. As though I had any desire to make babies… Anyway, I've doubled back and am standing outside your door, trying to negotiate with Abrax to let me in.

"Asha, can you go open my door, please?" I call out, finally standing. "Abrax won't let Agrippina in."

My guard shuffles down the long hallway. As the door hinges groan, I pad out to greet her. For a moment, Agrippina just stands there, balancing a glazed bowl heaped with food intended for Enzo. She shoves it into Asha's chest and traipses near.

"Look at that hair color," she comments with a smile. "Is Enzo's green?"

"Yes."

"Did he have green eyes?"

"I don't—I don't know. Why?"

"Just a theory I have about why my hair turned blue. I mean, your eyes were hot-pink, and…" She gestures to my hair. "Anyway. Can I hug you?"

"You want to hug me?"

"Yes. I want to hug the woman who brought me back—" Her breathy voice catches. "To fucking life."

Before I can answer, she winds her arms around me.

"Is the swearing new?" I ask, embracing her in return.

She laughs. "Years of hanging out with Lucin soldiers will do that to a woman's vocabulary. It aggrieves Mamma to no end." She presses her damp cheek to my shoulder. An illusion. Agrippina Rossi never weeps.

But she does, and although I cannot remember our friendship, I understand why I transferred my most precious possession inside this woman's womb. I'm sorry I broke your mind.

I gave birth to the Curse-breaker. She pulls away, knuckling her lash line. Entirely worth it. Besides, after my expedited history lesson on the past two decades, I believe the Mahananda impaired me to keep me from interfering, for I would—knowing my character —have revolted or done something that would've compromised Fallon and jeopardized her destiny.

Could that have been the reason or is she merely trying to alleviate my guilt?

"Should we go try to find the male Cathal refers to as the Green One?" Her lips flip up. "I don't think your mate likes him much."

Her comment flicks my heart out of alignment. Cathal isn't my mate, Agrippina.

"Of course he is."

"Not in this lifetime."

"How's that possible? Not only did the two of you create the Curse-breaker, but your passion was explosive, and I know explosive romance. Well, knew. Fucking Reid…and fucking romance books that set your expectations unrealistically high."

"Romance books?" I ask.

"Forget I mentioned those."

Asha snorts just as a voice I haven't heard in too many days rings through my hallway.