“You’re rather well behaved, Laranthel.” Mythiara played with the name, allowing her tongue to feel it out, mulling over every syllable. She’d be saying it for the rest of her life now, whether she liked it or not.

  The pair were sitting alone in her quarters, two rooms separated by a bedroom wall and door. A small room in the much greater Halana compound on the northern end of Nokros. They were in her reading room which separated the compound halls from her bedroom proper. Mythiara regarded her new husband with a look of genuine amusement and curiosity. Laranthel for his part had stopped pouting and wore a neutral expression, regarding Mythiara emotionlessly.

  “I had two wonderful teachers,” he replied evenly.

  Mythiara knew the cruelty of her sisters, they had certainty explained to him in painful detail, a male’s place in Nxyean society during their two month trek. Mythiara debated how she should approach this stranger who was now her husband. That she would be cruel to him was certain, but she had a few options available to her when it came to breaking Laranthel in. She could try seducing him, whispering pretty lies into his ears until She gained his trust, only to thrash it in the future. Or, she could begin tormenting him from the start, quickly teaching him his place in their relationship. First, I ought to get to know him though, she thought to herself.

  “What do you think of our city? Of Nokros,” Mythiara asked in a soft voice, trying to comfort the sad boy sitting across from her. He squirmed for a second, contemplating his answer.

  “It’s beautiful, in a depressing sort of way,” he responded, his voice low. He looked Mythiara in the eyes for the first time since they left the High Prayer Hall and studied her. To be so alike and yet so different, he thought. He was the only person in the compound with blue-black hair and he stood taller than most of the people he’d seen in the city. The only Nxyeans who matched Laranthel’s height were the Matriarch and the Oracle, two powerful woman that looked down on him like an ant. He chuckled at the thought and shook his head ruefully.

  “I imagine it is quite a shock for someone who has lived under the naked sun for so long,” Mythiara said. “Though you yourself are quite the anomaly, black haired and wide of frame. And for a man to be so tall? How strange indeed!” Mythiara leaned toward Laranthel with her chin in her right hand, taking in the visage of the boy that sat before her.

  Laranthel met her gaze with the same neutral expression he had adopted since he left the High Prayer Hall. “I did not know I was so strange,” he answered. “My father has blue eyes, do the Nxyean’s of Nokros have blue eyes?”

  “No,” said Mythiara shaking her head. “He must be the human then.”

  Laranthel nodded, keeping his face emotionless and posture calm.

  “How old are you, Laranthel?” She figured she would begin her questioning in earnest now. Laranthel was being standoffish and reserved in his body language. It didn’t seem like he would lie to her with his words, however.

  “I turned seventeen five days ago, I was born on the fifteenth of Agranos in 1399,” replied Laranthel.

  Mythiara gasped and nearly fell from her chair at his response. They shared the same birthday! This was madness! “On the same night shooting stars filled the sky?” She kept her voice curious, trying not to betray her awe.

  “Indeed,” Laranthel answered stoically. “Does that date have any significance to you?”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Yes, that’s also the day I was born.”

  “Huh.” Laranthel’s expression softened and turned into curiosity. It was the first expression not linked to anger or sadness Mythiara had seen on the boy.

  He is quite handsome isn’t he, she thought. “Perhaps it is fate that brought us together. Oh, don’t look at me like that! I might have to whip you for it…” Laranthel’s incredulous look turned into a glare, Mythiara met his glower with a smile. She was the woman; she had the upper hand. Laranthel had betrayed too much emotion at the end of their conversation, from it Mythiara was able to glean the boy’s innocent disposition. Able to get a handle on what made the boy tick. “Come, we must do what is expected of us.”

  Mythiara rose from the purple cushioned bench she was sitting on and beckoned Laranthel to follow her into her bedroom. Perhaps “their” bedroom now, she’d have to ask her mother about such an arrangement. A Helana hadn’t had a real husband in centuries.

  “Uh, my lady,” called Laranthel nervously as Mythiara disappeared into her darkened room.

  “Come, come! I don’t bite!” She smiled at Laranthel from her doorway, reveling in the nervous look on his face. “Look, this isn’t exactly the ideal circumstance I pictured for my wedding night either, but I have certain responsibilities I have to attend to. We have certain responsibilities we have to attend to.”

  Laranthel swallowed and rose from his chair. Will this snake be my first woman? Shall my first time be under such bleak circumstances? He tried to focus on her beauty, but found it wasn’t enough. His pulse quickened as he rose from his chair and walked over to the beckoning Mythiara. He crossed the threshold into her cool, dark room and she shut the door behind him gently. In the dark room faintly illuminated by the dim white light of the strange moon that hung above Nokros, Laranthel could see Mythiara’s red eyes burning with mischievous desire. He felt a hand push up against his chest, Mythiara drew close, so close he could feel her breath against his chest. His nose was filled with the scent of vanilla and his mind began to race with images of carnality, of lovemaking between him and this girl he had only meant a few hours ago.

  “Strip,” Mythiara huffed into Laranthel’s left ear. She pushed him away softly with the hand she had resting on his chest and backed away, her smoldering eyes growing further from him.

  Laranthel licked his lips and paused nervously for a moment. He felt like she had put something into the air, some sort of aphrodisiac that hit him as soon as he walked into the room. The anxiety and fear he had felt ever since his abduction was beginning to fade, alongside his inhibition. He let his negative emotions go and pulled off his jacket and shirt, then began to fiddle with the belt buckle that secured his pants around his hips. Moments later he was stark naked, alone in the dark with this wicked snake that stood before him, ready to devour him whole at any moment.

  “I like that scent you have,” Laranthel replied evenly, his courage mounting.

  “I did not give you permission to speak.” Mythiara came close, ran a nail down Laranthel’s chest. He felt the skin part, a bit of blood began to run. “Have you shared your body with another before?”

  “Why? Would you be jealous?” Laranthel smiled as the words left his mouth. Mythiara giggled in the darkness. He followed her red eyes as she began to circle him.

  “Yes!” Her nails pierced Laranthel’s back, sending pain running up and down his body. He did his best to endure it. The aphrodisiac in the air made the feeling somewhat pleasurable. He nearly laughed out loud at the crooked thought. “I liked that response, I feared you’d stay a simpering fool all night.”

  “I guess you just know how to pull it out of me, my Lady.” He felt a sharp smack on his back where she had sliced his skin. The wound ran hot for a moment as it seethed, then the pain subsided.

  “I did not permit you to speak,” said Mythiara. But by her tone, Laranthel could tell she was happy with his disobedience. “Oh, you are loving this aren’t you?” Her laughter rang out and her red eyes disappeared for a moment.

  They appeared again, a few feet away from Laranthel beneath the curtained window that let just enough light to illuminate the outline of Mythiara’s naked body. She beckoned him to join her, and he obliged. He moved over to the bed slowly, crouching low as he went, then crawled over to Mythiara’s side where she welcomed him.

  “I think this could be a very prosperous relationship for me,” whispered Mythiara sultrily. Laranthel’s head hung over hers, and he was gazing down into her eyes. The closeness of him gave Mythiara tingles and she grew hot. “Very prosperous indeed.”

  She pushed Laranthel down and straddled him, beginning their first coital affair and the first of many battles to come in the couple’s tumultuous relationship.