Filed To Story: Between Two Kings: A Split or Swallow Book PDF Free
Tem sighed. She hadn’t chosen the timing at all. “So they’re not usually like this?”
“No,” Adelaide said. “They are not.”
That made her feel slightly better. Adelaide shifted closer.
“Temperance,” she said quietly. “I can imagine that your time here has not been simple.”
Tem snorted. That was putting it lightly.
“Should you ever need guidance…or a friend…I am available.”
Tem raised her eyebrows. A friend? Adelaide was the last person she thought would offer something of that sort. Friendship wasn’t something Tem had expected to find in basilisk society and certainly not from Adelaide. But who better, really, to understand what she was going through? Adelaide was once engaged to Caspen. Adelaide was a Seneca, and she deeply understood her quiver’s plight. There were stranger things, certainly, than a friendship with her. Tem was smart enough to recognize when she was being offered an olive branch and was brave enough to take it. She’d considered Adelaide an enemy at first. But perhaps that wasn’t true at all. Perhaps they were allies.
“Thank you,” Tem said, suddenly self-conscious. It was difficult for her to accept help, especially from someone like Adelaide. But she found she was deeply grateful for it. Basilisks did not often extend graces. If Adelaide was choosing to be kind, Tem was glad to receive it.
“Of course,” Adelaide said.
A silence followed, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Instead, the two women stood together, watching the revelry taking place. Nearly everyone was having sex. Mostly in pairs, but sometimes in groups. For the first time, Tem saw a full range of basilisks, particularly older ones. Tem realized she had never seen a baby basilisk and had no idea how they were born.
“Are there any children here?” Tem asked.
Adelaide smiled. “There are not.”
“Why not?”
“We do not raise them here. It is unsuitable for the young.”
Tem stared at the writhing naked bodies before her. Unsuitable indeed. “Then where do you raise them?”
“Out in nature. They are born as basilisks and transition into humans when they come of age. Once they are able to assimilate, it is safe to bring them near the villagers without worry they will lose control and violate the truce.”
This was fascinating to Tem and answered most of her questions. But she found she had one more: “When do basilisks come of age?”
“One hundred.”
Tem blinked. She’d always known Caspen was ancient, but she hadn’t realized that a century was the starting point. Surely, he was far beyond childhood by now. Her eyes slid to Adelaide, who was watching her with a smile, as if she could already predict her next question.
“How old is Caspen?”
“Perhaps you might ask him that.”
“Perhaps I might not,” Tem muttered.
“We are not shy about our age, Temperance,” she laughed, touching her shoulder again softly. “But I know Caspenon, and he would want to tell you himself.”
Tem sighed. It was hard to wrap her head around the fact that everyone here was over one hundred years old. They all looked so…youthful. Even the basilisks who were clearly older-who had hardened faces and traces of gray at their temples-were beautiful. Humans wilted as they aged. Basilisks seemed to do the opposite.
They watched the crowd some more. Every once in a while, someone walked over to release themselves into the fountain. Tem spotted Apollo, entangled in a web of women. The moment he made eye contact, she blushed and looked away.
“Do you know Apollo?” Tem asked. “Caspen’s brother?”
Adelaide shifted, glancing down at her. “Of course. Why do you ask?”
“Caspen said he’ll try to sleep with me.”
The basilisk smiled elegantly. “That is likely true.”
“Well. I don’t want that.”
Adelaide’s smile only widened. “It is not such a bad thing, Temperance,” she murmured. “To have two men fall at your feet.”
Tem had no idea what to say to that, so she said nothing. Eventually, the silence lingered, and Tem felt the need to break it. “Do you have anyone falling at your feet?”
Adelaide gave her a devious look. “Always.”
Tem perked up immediately. If Adelaide had been engaged to Caspen, the son of the king, who was a suitable match after someone of such high ranking? “Who?”
Adelaide leaned in. “Can you keep a secret?”
Tem raised her eyebrows. “Yes.”
She leaned even closer, and Tem felt the thrill that only gossip could bring forth.
“Cypress has been in my bed the past seven nights.”
Adelaide pointed across the room. Tem followed her gaze to see Caspen’s sister. They had the same dark hair, the same regal stature. She was a stunning woman and a fitting complement to Adelaide. Tem could imagine they looked beautiful together.
“Why is that a secret? I thought everything was allowed here.”
Adelaide shrugged, straightening. “Men are curious creatures, Temperance. They are petty, and they are stupid.”
Tem snorted.
“It is true, is it not?”
“It’s completely true.”
Adelaide laughed too, far more elegantly than Tem. “Caspenon is protective of his sister, as he should be.”
Tem frowned. “Sister? I thought he had two.”
“Agnes is dead.”
Adelaide said it so bluntly that Tem had no idea how to respond. It didn’t feel like the right moment to press the topic, so she didn’t. Instead, she waited until Adelaide spoke again:
“Besides, he does not fully trust me.”
Tem looked up at her. “Why not? He was going to marry you.”
Adelaide shrugged. “A marriage does not guarantee trust. I am a Seneca. He is a Drakon. We are on opposing sides. He was right to be wary.”
Tem was a Seneca too. Did Caspen trust her? “Can…I trust you?” Tem whispered.
Adelaide looked at her. “Yes,” she said. “You can.”
For some reason, Tem believed her. Another question occurred to her-one she was almost too afraid to ask. But she asked it anyway. “Are you…angry with me? For…taking Caspen?” Tem wanted to finish her sentence with from you but decided against it.
To her surprise, Adelaide smiled. “It is not possible to take someone who wishes to stay.”
It was a typical basilisk answer-more riddle than response. “But are you angry?” Tem repeated. She needed to know.