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Page 4 of Embrace the Serpent

Mirandel. The name was a splinter in my mind. I scanned her face. Could it be? There were no traces of the ungainly, scowling girl I once knew. If it was the same girl, then the ravages of time were showing clear favoritism.

Mirandel smiled slow and wide. “It’s anyone’s game, of course. That is truly a fetching jewel. Let me try it on, won’t you?”

Lady Pewter said nothing as her daughter took off the necklace and draped it around Mirandel’s neck. So much for my clasp keeping it safe.

Mirandel’s skin flushed—not in the delicate way Ella Pewter’s had, but in the way of a shepherdess after a romp in the hay. “Where’s the mirror?”

Oh, horsepiss. It was in my hands. My legs were strangely wooden, and it took effort to cross the room. My body remembered how Mirandel had betrayed me. But there was no way she would recognize me after all these years.

I held the mirror up, angling it just so to block her view of me.

“It’s lovely,” said Miss Pewter.

“Yes, it is, rather,” Mirandel agreed. “And unlike anything I’ve seen before. I do like it. Wouldn’t it be funny if you made it a gift to me, Ella?”

A prickly silence followed. A test.

Miss Pewter’s lips trembled. She glanced at her mother, whose face betrayed nothing. “Um, I’d be happy to, if you like it—”

Mirandel laughed. “No, no, thank you, darling. I can’t stand the blushing-virgin look.”

Galen coughed delicately. “If the young miss desires, a necklace of a similar but unique design can be made with sapphires for alertness, or diamonds for stamina—for all that dancing.”

Mirandel turned to him. “You are the jewelsmith?”

“Oh yes,” Ella Pewter said. “I wanted to introduce you. This is Master Galen. Sandice Thane told me about him—you’ve seen her new anklets, haven’t you?—and—”

“Master Galen.” Mirandel held out a hand. “Yes, your work has made quite the splash as of late. It’s about time someone dethroned Master Vyalis.”

Galen preened. “You are too kind.”

Mirandel reached back to undo the clasp.

“Wait!” The warning left my lips—a second too late.

Her eyes met mine as the clasp bit her hand. She yelped.

Galen paled. “That’s the magic of the clasp, my lady. Only its owner can remove it.”

“No harm done.” Mirandel laughed, but her eyes were hard. “Your assistant tried to warn me.”

Her gaze landed on me and slid away. Her brow furrowed. She glanced back, and her hawk’s eyes were sharp.

I kept my expression vacant. She had no reason to remember me. I was invisible. But my mouth dried out so much my tongue stuck to my teeth.

Mirandel dropped her gaze. “Oh, I’m being silly. Come, Ella, take this thing off me.”

Miss Pewter hurried to undo the necklace. Mirandel touched the back of her neck, and her finger came away with a drop of blood. She considered it, then brought it to her lips. “Isn’t this how fairy tales go? A pinprick, and then she marries the prince?”

Ella stammered. “Yes, it is, isn’t it? She finds her true love. Maybe the Serpent King—”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ella. Love has nothing to do with marriage. Wouldn’t you agree, Lady Pewter?”

Ella’s face fell. It seemed to me that the puppy had found its neck in the wolf’s jaws.

Lady Pewter smiled thinly. “Let’s let Master Galen get on with his day, shall we?”

Once the gray doors shut behind us, my lungs expanded two full sizes.


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