you … speaking to that serpent?”
I thought of ways to deny it, ways to lie, ways to shield him from the truth. But then, I didn’t want to. Not for his sake, not for mine, and not for loyalty to the lifegiving snake around my arm.
“I was, Aidan,” I said. “I was talking to it.”
He closed his eyes. He reopened them.
“And could the serpent talk to you?”
I saw the fear, the revulsion in his eyes. I owed him no further explanation.
“You can go ahead, Aidan,” I said, feeling my face burn. “I’ll wait for the next wagon to come. I’ll walk if there isn’t one.”
Aidan shot me a look of vexed disbelief. “Really, Evie?” he said. “I told your grandfather I’d see you safely to Chalcedon. You think I’d leave you alone now?”
There was no mistaking his meaning. Duty, a promise, his sense of honor. They were all that kept him here.
“Grandfather will thank you.” I fought to keep my face neutral, to prevent it from betraying my hurt. “When we reach Chalcedon, your task will be finished.”
Chapter 21
The sun was high in the sky by the time we climbed into our rescue cart, driven by a freckled boy of about thirteen and pulled by an ancient mule. I crawled into the straw in the bed of the wagon and lay there, wondering if I’d ever have the strength to rise again.
We rode past fields and pastures, watching cows chew cud faster than the mule could lift his hooves. Under my dress, my leviathan slept. Odd though it would seem to have a sleeping serpent wrapped around me, there was something sweet and soothing about it. Had it been only me and Aidan in the cart, my loneliness would be unendurable.
Was it really yesterday that I woke up in my own bed, in Grandfather’s house, feeling all the world lay before me, a shiny oyster to be opened?
And now I had a leviathan. Or it had me. Why me? Of all the people in the world who might inherit such a prize, how did I come to be the one?
And what did my mother have to do with it?
More than once I looked up from my stupor to see Aidan looking at me, but when our eyes met, he turned his elsewhere. Once he opened his mouth to speak, then changed his mind.
After an hour, the driver clapped his hand over his forehead and swore. “Ma’d have my hide!” He reached underneath his seat and pulled out a box. “I forgot. She sent some food for the poor shipwrecked folks. Too bad there’s only two of you to eat it.”
Bodies will not rise faster on Resurrection Morning than Aidan and I rose from the straw, practically fighting over the lunchbox. We caught ourselves and almost laughed, then wrestled the box open. Inside, shining like manna from heaven, were a dozen cooked eggs, four thick slabs of greasy cooked bacon, two sliced loaves of bread all spread with butter, and a jug of milk.
We attacked that food like starving hounds. Aidan shucked and stuffed two eggs into his mouth at once, and I gnawed at my bacon. We had to rest between bites and gather strength. When I’d finally sated my initial, overwhelming hunger, and gotten down to the business of slowly eating some good solid bread, I felt a stirring underneath my sleeve that made me squirm. My leviathan was rousing and sniffing the air.
Food ? it said. Nice fish?
I took morsels of egg and bacon and, when Aidan wasn’t looking, slipped them under the collar of my dress. It was a ghastly thing to do, and I began to think longingly of a hot bath.
My serpent moved over my skin, up and around my shoulder, and I felt the tiny movements it made as it worked its mouth over the bits of food and swallowed them.
I felt its sensation of shock and surprise. Ffaugh , it said. What kind of fish is that?
“Not fish,” I whispered as softly as I could. “Not fish at all.”
Strange.
“People like that food.” I held my hand over my mouth as though I might cough.
People are strange. Is there more?
“We’re nearly to Chalcedon,” Aidan said, watching the road pass by. “When we get there,
I thought of ways to deny it, ways to lie, ways to shield him from the truth. But then, I didn’t want to. Not for his sake, not for mine, and not for loyalty to the lifegiving snake around my arm.
“I was, Aidan,” I said. “I was talking to it.”
He closed his eyes. He reopened them.
“And could the serpent talk to you?”
I saw the fear, the revulsion in his eyes. I owed him no further explanation.
“You can go ahead, Aidan,” I said, feeling my face burn. “I’ll wait for the next wagon to come. I’ll walk if there isn’t one.”
Aidan shot me a look of vexed disbelief. “Really, Evie?” he said. “I told your grandfather I’d see you safely to Chalcedon. You think I’d leave you alone now?”
There was no mistaking his meaning. Duty, a promise, his sense of honor. They were all that kept him here.
“Grandfather will thank you.” I fought to keep my face neutral, to prevent it from betraying my hurt. “When we reach Chalcedon, your task will be finished.”
Chapter 21
The sun was high in the sky by the time we climbed into our rescue cart, driven by a freckled boy of about thirteen and pulled by an ancient mule. I crawled into the straw in the bed of the wagon and lay there, wondering if I’d ever have the strength to rise again.
We rode past fields and pastures, watching cows chew cud faster than the mule could lift his hooves. Under my dress, my leviathan slept. Odd though it would seem to have a sleeping serpent wrapped around me, there was something sweet and soothing about it. Had it been only me and Aidan in the cart, my loneliness would be unendurable.
Was it really yesterday that I woke up in my own bed, in Grandfather’s house, feeling all the world lay before me, a shiny oyster to be opened?
And now I had a leviathan. Or it had me. Why me? Of all the people in the world who might inherit such a prize, how did I come to be the one?
And what did my mother have to do with it?
More than once I looked up from my stupor to see Aidan looking at me, but when our eyes met, he turned his elsewhere. Once he opened his mouth to speak, then changed his mind.
After an hour, the driver clapped his hand over his forehead and swore. “Ma’d have my hide!” He reached underneath his seat and pulled out a box. “I forgot. She sent some food for the poor shipwrecked folks. Too bad there’s only two of you to eat it.”
Bodies will not rise faster on Resurrection Morning than Aidan and I rose from the straw, practically fighting over the lunchbox. We caught ourselves and almost laughed, then wrestled the box open. Inside, shining like manna from heaven, were a dozen cooked eggs, four thick slabs of greasy cooked bacon, two sliced loaves of bread all spread with butter, and a jug of milk.
We attacked that food like starving hounds. Aidan shucked and stuffed two eggs into his mouth at once, and I gnawed at my bacon. We had to rest between bites and gather strength. When I’d finally sated my initial, overwhelming hunger, and gotten down to the business of slowly eating some good solid bread, I felt a stirring underneath my sleeve that made me squirm. My leviathan was rousing and sniffing the air.
Food ? it said. Nice fish?
I took morsels of egg and bacon and, when Aidan wasn’t looking, slipped them under the collar of my dress. It was a ghastly thing to do, and I began to think longingly of a hot bath.
My serpent moved over my skin, up and around my shoulder, and I felt the tiny movements it made as it worked its mouth over the bits of food and swallowed them.
I felt its sensation of shock and surprise. Ffaugh , it said. What kind of fish is that?
“Not fish,” I whispered as softly as I could. “Not fish at all.”
Strange.
“People like that food.” I held my hand over my mouth as though I might cough.
People are strange. Is there more?
“We’re nearly to Chalcedon,” Aidan said, watching the road pass by. “When we get there,
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