Read Online In The Coils Of The Snake by Clare B. Dunkle - Free Book Online Page B

the month she reached
eighteen. To elf men, she didn’t seem like a woman at all before that
date. Nir was aware that humans and goblins
didn’t honor this law, and he found it almost unbearable to consider.
    Marak Catspaw turned
back to the elf girl, perfectly serene. Coming
from this nauseating elf lord, he felt that monster had the ring of a compliment. He studied the girl
admiringly. By the Sword, she was a pretty little thing, he thought,
forgetting that he had just concluded in annoyance that all elf women were
pretty. Masses of silky black hair fell in
soft waves down her back, and her small oval face was almost
heartbreakingly lovely. She was standing perfectly still, staring
through his chest at some point far away. She wasn’t sniffling like the others,
and he warmed to her for that.
    “What’s your
name, little elf?” he asked her.
    “Arianna, she
answered in a whisper so faint that the furious Nir couldn’t even hear it. But standing so close, Catspaw could make
it out.
    “Arianna, is
it?” he replied. ‘Arianna, hold out your hand.”
    The young woman
extended her shaking hand, but when the goblin
King reached out to lay his lion’s paw over it, she jerked back with a little cry of disgust. Nir flinched at the
sound and set his teeth. He had known what would happen for months now,
but that didn’t make it easier to accept.
    Marak Catspaw sighed
in exasperation. It was just a big paw; it didn’t
drip slime or glow green, and now she was going to burst out crying. But
Arianna didn’t cry. She stood exactly as before, eyes wide and solemn. Oh,
well, considered Catspaw, warming to her again,
the poor, deprived girl wasn’t accustomed to meeting goblins. He reached out his normal hand and took her by the
wrist. This time he held her hand in place as he laid the heavy paw over
it.
    The
truce circle filled with a soft light as golden sparks formed all over
the small hand. They glittered like stars as they grew in size, shaping
themselves into delicate golden lilies, and dripped off the hand in a gentle
shower, replaced by new sparks. The silent rain of radiant blossoms continued for an entire minute as the elves and
goblins murmured in wonder. Only two
people in the truce circle didn’t watch the charming spectacle. Arianna
still stared straight ahead, petrified by the unwelcome attention, and Nir
still stood glaring at the stars. He didn’t need to watch. He had tested her
years ago and knew perfectly well how magical she was.
    Marak Catspaw looked
at her for some time after the sparks faded away. He knew what he had to do
now, but he hesitated, studying that solemn face. He frowned as he thought of
Miranda’s smile. This girl probably wouldn’t
smile at him for months — maybe not ever. He did wish that she would at
least look at him, though. Putting his hand
under her chin, he tilted her face, and Arianna lifted her large dark
eyes to his.
    She
had been watching the goblin King curiously before he had come close, so she did have some idea what to expect,
but she stared in
horrified bewilderment at the face looking down into hers. Every thing
about elf beauty was harmonious, but everything about this creature was discordant. His eyes, blue and green,
made no sense to her. They weren’t a pair of eyes; they didn’t belong
together. His short hair didn’t belong together, either, the golden and pale
locks swirling in violent disarray as if
they were fighting a battle. Used to the faces of sensitive elves, she
found nothing in his expression for her to read beyond a kind of complacent
cruelty. Arianna was ren dered incapable of
thought by that strange face. She simply stared at him without moving a
muscle, her eyes huge.
    Elf beauty had its
degrees, and black eyes were the limit of that beauty. They appeared only in
the nobility and in the elf Kings. Gazing
into Arianna’s eyes, Catspaw felt their powerful allure. He still
preferred Miranda’s brown eyes, he thought loyally. Then he wondered if