A fresh new update for The Serpent’s Garden. Red and the Calnians are trying to patch things up as the latter get over their shock of seeing what the former is capable of (and more importantly, willing to do), but are determined to work together with their alien visitor. For her part, Red One is just as committed to fashioning an alliance with the Calnians. Both sides have good, or at least straightforward intentions.
Well, so did the man who bought his wife a comb, and she did the same when she bought him a chain for a watch….
Below is an excerpt from a discussion between Nanil and her first officer. She’s recently had some of her own words thrown into her face, but she doesn’t have to look too far for the leak might have been. For the full scene and the rest of the chapter, please click the link above and enjoy!
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The silence felt heavier with passing second, as if it sucked every sound from the room but for the sounds of their footfalls, which felt like they growing louder until they became the drumming of heavy hail upon dry ground. Finally, Nanil broke the quiet.
“What else did you tell them?” she asked. As she spoke, she stared straight ahead, never looking at her subordinate. “Cardinal Overseer Iljta-Risan and his staff, I mean. What else did you tell them about?”
Unlak missed a step with his right forefoot, but regained his stride quickly. “Hierarch?”
“Don’t,” she told him. “Please don’t. Don’t pretend. Let me have the illusion that you have some respect left for me.”
Though she tried to hide it, Unlak could hear the hurt in her voice. He knew this conversation had been coming, but it still surprised him how much his hierarch’s words hurt. In response, he offered the only defence that he had – the truth. “I have a great deal of respect for you, administrant,” he answered. “It was because of that respect that I felt I had to act, and I only told them what concerned me most.”
“Two words, intendant.” She still wouldn’t look at him. Her speed picked up. “I said two words and you circled my flank.” Her teeth clicked against each with every syllable. “Did you think for one moment to come to me first with your concerns or were you looking to have the overseer and the liaison stroke your mane?”
A flash of anger and indignation of his own broke up the guilt, but Unlak suppressed it. Nanil’s anger might be misplaced, but it was genuine and, to some degree, even justified. “Doyenne,” he insisted. “I have. I have always supported you. I have always given you the respect your rank deserves and that which you personally deserve, but we have a problem.”
“And what is the problem that we have?” she snapped back. She did look at him this time, but only for a split-second. To look away from someone while you spoke to them was a calculated insult, an expression of contempt for the person and a dismissal of anything they might have to say. She was furious, hurt and betrayed by Unlak, but she wasn’t showing him complete disrespect. Things hadn’t fallen apart that much – not yet.
“A vessel’s greatest strength is its commander,” he replied. “So too can they be its greatest weakness. Your crew loves you, hierarch. They would follow you from the hearth through the furnace and into the flame itself. If you say run, we shall wear our feet to the bone. If you say stand, the strongest wind will not knock us down. If you say fight, we shall bloody our horns and break our teeth on our foe… and if you utter a death-prayer, they will carve idols to the imaginings of barbarians.”
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