The Serpent Bride

by Sara Douglas

  "I cannot see how marriage to Maximilian would help, Great One. We need armies, warriors,

  magicians--"

  I need you to marry Maximilian Persimius. Ishbel, do as I bid.

  Ishbel's mouth compressed. "One of the other priestesses, perhaps. I--"

  The Great Serpent's mouth flared wide in anger, and his tongue forked close to her hair. Ishbel--

  Then, stunningly, another voice, a male voice, and one much gentler than that of the Great Serpent.

  Ishbel, you need not fear.

  Ishbel spun about, looking to the stone balustrading. An oversized frog balanced there, its body so insubstantial she could see right through it to the sea beyond.

  A frog, but one such as she had never seen previously. He was very large, as big as a man's head, and quite impossibly beautiful. This beauty was mostly due to his eyes, great black pools of kindness and comfort.

  He shifted a little on the balustrade--

  Almost as if he balanced on the rim of a goblet...

  --unconcerned about the precipitous drop behind him.

  Ishbel, he said, listen to my comrade, no matter how distasteful you think his directive. He is arrogant,

  sometimes, and uncaring of the fragility of those to whom he speaks.

  "I am not fragile," Ishbel said, almost automatically. This apparition was a god also: she could feel the power emanating from him, and she sensed that perhaps he was even more potent than the Great Serpent. It was a different power, though. Far more subtle, more gentle.

  Compassionate.

  For some reason Ishbel's eyes filled with tears. It was almost as if the frog god could see into her innermost being, where she still wept for her mother, and where she still shook with terror from the whisperings of her mother's corpse.

  "Who are you?" she asked, her voice soft and deferential now, where she had been irritated with the Great Serpent.

  Above her head the Great Serpent gave a theatrical sigh. A companion through a long journey, Ishbel.

  My aquatic friend here keeps watch on the ancient evil to the south whereas I, it seems, must spend my time seeing that my archpriestess does her duty as she is bound. There was a moment of silence. I can't think what he does here.

  Ishbel felt amusement radiating from the frog.

  I feared that if you got too dramatic, my serpent friend, the frog said, Ishbel might be forced to throw herself from this balcony in sheer terror at your persuasive abilities.

  Ishbel bit her lip to stop her smile. For a moment the frog god's eyes met hers, and she felt such a connection with him that her eyes widened in surprise.

  You are not alone, the frog said, into her mind alone. We may not meet for a long time, but you are not alone.

  "Must I marry this man?" Ishbel said.

  Yes, said the frog. It shall not be a terror for you, for he is a gentle man. Do not be afraid.

  Your union with this man is vital, said the Great Serpent. Allow nothing to impede it. You will do whatever you must in order to become Maximilian Persimius' wife. Whatever you must!

  He paused, then added in a gentler tone, You will return to Serpent's Nest, Ishbel. It shall be your home once again.

  Then, as suddenly as both the frog god and the Great Serpent had appeared, they were gone, and Ishbel was left standing alone on the balcony high above the Infinity Sea.

  She waited a moment, gathering her thoughts, still more than a little unsettled by the appearance of not one but two gods. Then she went down the stairwell to Aziel, to whom she said she had changed her mind, and that she would, after all, marry this man, Maximilian Persimius.

  She did not tell Aziel of her meeting with the Great Serpent, nor of her encounter with the compassionate and hitherto unknown frog god.

  In the morning Aziel met with Ishbel again. He would not have been surprised to learn she had changed her mind yet again, but to his relief, and his pride, she remained resolute.

  "I will marry this Maximilian," she said. "I will do what is needed. After all, has not the Great Serpent said that I will return to Serpent's Nest eventually? This shall be a trial for me, yes, but marriage cannot be too high a price to pay for saving Serpent's Nest and the Outlands from the ravages of both Skraelings and ancient evils."

  That was a pretty speech, Aziel thought, and well prepared, and he wondered if it was less for him than for Ishbel herself.

  Perhaps Ishbel believed that if she repeated it enough times, over and over, the words would take on the power of prophecy.

  "When the Great Serpent sent me to fetch you from Margalit," Aziel said, "he told me that you would eventually need to leave--perhaps even then he foresaw this disaster. And it is true enough he said you would eventually return." He smiled. "I hope you will not stay too long away, Ishbel."

  "I also hope I shall not stay away long," she said, and Aziel laughed a little at the depth of emotion behind those words.

  "Besides," Ishbel continued, "perhaps Maximilian of Escator will not accept me." She paused. "There would be few men willing to wed an archpriestess of the Coil, surely."

  "Ah," said Aziel, "but I do not think we shall be offering him the archpriestess, eh? You are a rich noblewoman in your own right, and I think it is as the Lady Ishbel Brunelle that you should meet your new husband. We shall call you...let me see...ah yes, we shall call you a ward of the Coil. That should do nicely."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The Royal Palace, Ruen, Escator

  Maximilian Persimius, King of Escator, Warden of Ruen, Lord of the Ports and Suzerain of the Plains,

  preferred to keep as many of his royal duties as informal as possible. He met with the full Council of Nobles thrice a year, and the smaller Privy Council of Preferred Nobles once a month. Maximilian respected, listened to, and acted upon the advice he received from both those learned councils, but the council he leaned on most was that which he referred to as his Council of Friends--a small group of men that, indeed, made up Maximilian's closest circle of friends, but were also the men he trusted above any else, for all of them had been involved to some extent in his rescue from the gloam mines eight years earlier.

  These men knew Maximilian's past, knew where he came from, had seen him at his worst, and they still loved him despite his occasional darker moments.

  Today the king was in a lighthearted mood, and none expected any of his dark introspections on this fine morning. Maximilian sat in his chair, one long leg casually draped over one of its arms, his fine face with its striking aquiline nose and deep blue eyes creased in a mischievous grin, his dark hair--always worn a little too long--flopping over his brow. He was laughing at Egalion, captain of the king's Emerald Guard,

  who had hurried late into the chamber. Egalion was now making flustered excuses as he dragged a chair up to the semicircle seated about the fire that had been lit in the hearth.

  "You must be getting old, my friend," Maximilian said, "to so oversleep."

  "Out late, perhaps, with a lady friend?" said Vorstus, Abbot of the Order of Persimius. In his late middle age, Vorstus was a thin, dark man with sharp brown eyes and the distinctive tattoo of a faded quill on his right index finger. The Order of Persimius was a group of brothers devoted to the protection and furtherance of the Persimius family. Maximilian owed Vorstus a massive debt for aiding the effort to free him from the Veins, and sometimes, when Vorstus looked at Maximilian with his dark unreadable eyes,

  that debt sat heavily on Maximilian's shoulders. When first Maximilian had emerged from the Veins he had trusted Vorstus completely. Now he was not so sure of him, for he felt Vorstus watched him a little too carefully.

  Maximilian ignored Vorstus' comment. "Perhaps you need the services of Garth, Egalion. A potion,

  perhaps, from the famous Baxtor recipes, to soothe you into an early sleep at night so that we may not be deprived of your company at morning council?"

  That was as close to a reprimand as Maximilian was ever likely to deliver to any of these three men.


  "I apologize, Maximilian," Egalion said. He was a tall, strong, fair-haired man who had served the Persimius throne for over thirty years, but now he reddened like a youth. "I have no acceptable excuse save that I did, indeed, oversleep, and no excuse for that--no woman or wine"--he shot a sharp-eyed glance at Vorstus--"save a need to compensate for a late night spent at the bedside of one of the Emerald Guard."

  "And that late bedside vigil spent in my company," said Garth Baxtor, court physician and the fourth member of the group sitting about the fire. "One of the men developed a fever late yesterday afternoon,

  Maximilian, and Egalion and I spent many hours in his company until we were satisfied he was not in any danger to his life."

  "Then I am the one to apologize," said Maximilian, all humor fading from his face.

  "You were not to know," said Egalion. "The man, Thomas, asked that you not be disturbed."

  "Nonetheless," said Maximilian, "I should have known."

  "Thomas is well this morning," said Garth, "and after a day's bed rest should be able to recommence light duties tomorrow. I think his fever nothing more than a passing autumnal illness."

  "But one that kept you and Egalion for hours at his bedside," said Maximilian. He studied Garth a moment, wondering at his luck that eight years ago the then seventeen-year-old should have believed in Maximilian so much that Garth had managed to persuade a diverse and powerful group of people to support his endeavor to free the king from the Veins.

  Garth Baxtor was now a full-fledged physician, second only to his father in the use of the Touch, a semimagical ability to understand the precise nature of an illness and to help soothe away its horrors. He lived permanently at Maximilian's court, but, apart from treating Maximilian himself as well as other members of the court, Emerald Guard, and royal militia, he also spent two days a week treating the poor of Ruen for free. Garth, still only in his mid-twenties, was Maximilian's closest friend.

  Garth grinned at Maximilian, his open, attractive face appearing even more boyish than it normally did. "It is too early in the day to succumb to guilt, Maxel. You didn't need to be there."

  Garth and Vorstus were among the very few who used the familiar "Maxel" in conversation with the king.

  Egalion, who had permission to do so, only rarely managed to take such a huge leap into familiarity.

  "Well, at least let me be cross," Maximilian said, "that you don't have any shadows under your eyes,

  Garth. Ah, the resilience of youth."

  Garth laughed. "You are hardly old yourself, Maxel!"

  "Almost forty," Maximilian said, his eyes once more gleaming with humor. "About to tip over the edge."

  Now everyone laughed.

  "Well, now," said Maximilian, "since we're all finally here, is there any business to discuss or can we give up governing as a bad idea this fine day and go visit the palace hawk house and admire my newest acquisition instead?"

  Garth and Egalion brightened, but Vorstus glanced at a small satchel that lay beside his chair, and Maximilian did not miss it.

  "My friend," the king said in a soft voice, "why do I fear that that satchel at your side contains dire news?"

  Vorstus gave an embarrassed half laugh. "Well, hardly `dire' news, Maxel." He paused, glancing at the satchel yet one more time. "A document pouch arrived late yesterday afternoon, from your ambassador to the Outlands."

  "Another request for a swift return to civilization?" Maximilian said. The Outlands were not renowned for their creature comforts and Maximilian's ambassador to the region, Baron Lixel, had sent plaintive requests to return home at regular intervals over the past year. Maximilian knew he should allow him home soon, but there were so few men better equipped with such a smooth diplomatic tongue for dealing with the notoriously touchy Outlanders that Maximilian felt he could barely spare him from the duty.

  "Among other things," Vorstus said. "And one of those other things..."

  "Do we have to drag it out of you with blacksmith's tongs?" Maximilian said.

  Vorstus took a deep breath. "One of those other things is a somewhat unexpected offer of a bride."

  Garth and Egalion shot careful glances at Maximilian, gauging his reaction to this news.

  Maximilian had been singularly unlucky in finding a bride. It was eight years since he'd been freed from the Veins, and he was still wifeless. Garth knew it niggled at him. It wasn't so much that Maximilian wanted a woman by his side, as welcome as that might be, but that he was desperate for a family.

  Maximilian had once confided to Garth that when he'd been trapped down the Veins, he'd occasionally overheard guards talking about their children. It had made him long for a family and children of his own,

  although, imprisoned in the Veins as he was, Maximilian could barely imagine a world where that might be possible.

  Now that it was possible, it was proving difficult beyond anyone's wildest imagining.

  "A bride?" said Maximilian. "How many negotiations have we opened and lost these past eight years? It must be all of...what...twelve or thirteen?"

  "Fourteen," Vorstus muttered.

  "Fourteen," Maximilian said. "All of them eligible, and all of them deciding for one reason or another that I wasn't quite `right' for them."

  His voice was so bitter that for a moment Garth more than half expected Maximilian to wave away the offer without even considering.

  But then Maximilian sighed. "And here we have a new offer. From the Outlands, of all places. They're such a strange nomadic people, Vorstus. What manner of Outlander woman would want to spend her life as queen in my staid--and stationary--court? And why would I want her?"

  Vorstus had by now retrieved a sheaf of papers from his satchel. "The lady in question's name is Lady Ishbel Brunelle, and she is the surviving member of an ancient family who for many centuries resided in Margalit."

  "Margalit? The only place even faintly resembling a city in the Outlands?"

  "Yes," said Vorstus. "It's the only place where families actually settle--as you say, everyone else lives a virtually nomadic life." He rustled through the papers. "Lixel has investigated the Brunelle family...let me see...ah yes, here it is...eminent and highly educated"--Vorstus looked up at Maximilian--"well, as highly educated as an Outlander family can get, I imagine." He looked back down to his papers. "Very distinguished. Somewhat cultured--I have no idea what Lixel means by that--and remarkably fecund."

  He chuckled. "Lixel patently thought that a point in the woman's favor."

  "Yet this Lady Ishbel is the only remaining member of her family?" Egalion said. "That doesn't seem very fecund to me."

  "A plague went through the Outlands twenty years ago," said Vorstus. "I don't even need to consult Lixel's report to remember that. Half the Central Kingdoms were affected by it as well, and Escator was damned lucky to escape its ravages. Anyway, the plague took out everyone in the Brunelle family except Ishbel, then an eight-year-old girl. So"--again Vorstus looked at Maximilian, but now with some humor twisting his mouth--"the Lady Ishbel comes with a considerable dowry along with her other attributes,

  which Lixel claims are a fair face and form, a decent education, and a pleasing manner of character."

  "Why do I sense a `but' coming?" said Maximilian.

  Vorstus put down the papers, and sighed. "There is a problem."

  "Yes?" said Maximilian.

  "The Lady Ishbel is currently a ward with the Coil at their base in Serpent's Nest. It is the Coil who offers her to you, Maxel."

  There was utter silence, everyone staring at Vorstus.

  Egalion finally broke the quiet. "I thought the Coil was a myth! You can't tell me that the vile...gut gazers...actually exist!"

  Vorstus looked down at his hands, now folding the papers over and over in his lap.

  "Vorstus?" said Maximilian softly.

  Vorstus sighed. "The Coil do exist. I have always believed them fact, and Lixel confirms it here."

  "But they're nothing like the myth," said Garth. "
Right, Vorstus?"

  The abbot remained silent.

  Maximilian gave a soft humorless laugh. "Do you--or Lixel--actually suggest I take to wife a woman who lives among those who slice open the bellies of the living in order to foresee the future?"

  "And who in the doing turn the entrails of the still-living into snakes?" said Egalion. "I can't believe you--or Lixel--have actually thought to take this cursed offer so seriously as to bring it to the king's attention."

  Maximilian waved a hand. "Vorstus must have a reason. Let's hear it."

  "The lesser of the reasons is that the Lady Ishbel is not a priestess. She is not a member of the Order.

  The Coil took her in during the dark days when much of the Outlands was in turmoil. When Ishbel had no one, the Coil offered her a home."

  "And a warm place to sleep amid the steaming entrails of their victims," muttered Egalion.

  "The Coil's priests and priestesses never leave their Order, Maximilian," Vorstus continued. "The mere fact they offer her to you indicates that Ishbel has been their ward, but not their trainee."

  Maximilian gave a shrug. "Why should I consider her? Gods, Vorstus, she comes tainted with all the vile reputation of the Coil...how could I take such a woman as my queen? No one would accept her."

  "The Lady Ishbel comes with an added extra to her dowry, Maxel. The Brunelle family, as well as owning half of Margalit, also controlled vast estates in the principalities of Kyros and Pelemere in the Central Kingdoms, as well as the full manorial rights to Deepend. She would bring much-needed riches to Escator."

  Maximilian said nothing, regarding Vorstus with unblinking eyes as he slowly stroked his chin with a thumb as he thought. Vast estates in Kyros and Pelemere. And full manorial rights to Deepend, the town and its land, which in turn controlled the trading and shipping rights to Deepend Bay to the south of Escator.

  Riches indeed, particularly to a king who, in the very act of escaping and then destroying the rich gloam mines, had virtually crippled Escator's economy. Most of the past eight years had been spent, relatively unsuccessfully, trying to repair the country's finances.