The serpent coil

Chapter 12: The Serpent's Coil

​The private bedchamber was suffused with the deep, amber glow of twilight. Outside the high lancet windows, the storm had finally broken, leaving behind a cold, biting wind that whistled through the stone battlements of the Citadel.

​Joss laid me down onto the heavy silk mattress with an agonizing, frustrating care. He pulled the thick fox-fur coverlet up to my chest, his broad hands lingering on my shoulders as if he expected me to spring up and bolt the moment he let go.

​"Stay," Joss commanded smoothly, his golden eyes fixing me with that absolute, unyielding intensity that admitted no rebellion. "Master Edwin is bringing a warming tonic. You will drink it, and you will remain in this bed until tomorrow morning."

​"I am not an invalid, Joss," I growled, trying to push myself up onto my elbows. "My mind is completely clear. The Eastern Ridge threat is immediate. If Vane's men are already filtering through the border customs at the valley, we need to issue orders to the eastern watch posts tonight."

​Joss didn't even blink. He reached out, his thumb pressing firmly against the center of my chest, casually forcing me back down into the plush pillows.

​"The orders have already been dispatched, Spymaster," Joss said, a cold, dangerous smile touching the corner of his lips. "The moment I carried you out of the Whispering Gallery, I ordered Commander Seryna to seal the eastern border passes under the guise of an imperial quarantine. No grain wagon enters or leaves the valley without a full inspection by my elite shadow-guards."

​I stared up at him, my mouth opening slightly in surprise. "You used a quarantine protocol?"

​"It avoids causing panic among the merchant houses while giving my soldiers total authority to strip every wagon to the floorboards," Joss replied, leaning back slightly as he unbuckled his heavy leather gauntlets and tossed them onto the bedside table. "Your decoded manifests gave us the exact registration marks of Vane's false trading companies. We are impounding every single one of them as we speak."

​I let out a slow, sharp breath, settling back against the silk pillows. "Vane will realize his network has been compromised the moment the first wagon is seized. He isn't stupid, Joss. He has secondary channels contingencies within contingencies."

​"Then we will dismantle them one by one," Joss said. He dropped onto the edge of the mattress beside me, his weight causing the frame to groan softly.

​Without asking, he reached beneath the heavy fur coverlet, sliding his broad, warm palm over my dark tunic until it rested directly against my lower abdomen. The silver rune-bracer on my left wrist hummed instantly, its blue glow softening into a deep, steady pulse that mirrored the rhythm of his own heart.

​The sudden influx of his magic made me close my eyes for a brief second, a quiet sigh escaping my lips despite my best efforts to hold it back. The lingering ache in my lower back melted away, replaced by that suffocating, addictive warmth that my body had begun to crave with terrifying intensity.

​"Your core is finally settling," Joss murmured, his voice dropping into a low, rumbling register. His thumb stroked a slow, soothing circle against my stomach through the fabric. "Edwin says the second month is when the physical changes begin in earnest. Your body will need twice as much rest, and twice as much of my essence to maintain the bond."

​My eyes snapped open, locking onto his golden gaze. "Physical changes?"

​Joss’s lips twitched with a dark, possessive satisfaction. His hand shifted slightly, his fingers pressing gentle pressure into the subtle, soft curve just above my hipbone,a curve that hadn't been there two weeks ago, when I was still just a lean, battle-hardened assassin trapped in his dungeons.

​"Your frame is broadening to support the child," Joss whispered, leaning down until his dark hair brushed against my temple. His warm breath fanned across my cheek, sending a involuntary shiver straight down my spine. "You can hide it under velvet cloaks for a few more weeks, Gawin, but soon the entire court will see what you are carrying. My heir. My blood."

​"They will see a target," I rasped, my dark eyes flashing with a sudden spike of defensive anger. "The Northern lords already hate me for being a Southern blade. When they see me carrying the royal line, the assassination plots won't just come from Grandmaster Vane. They'll come from your own noble houses."

​Joss’s expression hardened in an instant. The ambient temperature in the room plummeted, the shadows along the stone walls twisting and stretching as his dark aura flared like a dormant beast awakening.

​He leaned in closer, his face stopping mere millimeters from mine, his hand flattening over my stomach with iron certainty.

​"Let them try," Joss growled, the words vibrating with a dark, feral fury that made my pulse leap against my ribs. "If a single lord in this Citadel so much as looks at you with malice in his heart, I will rip his house from its foundations and scatter his blood across the snow. You are untouchable, Gawin. The realm knows what happens to those who touch what belongs to me."

​"I am not a piece of property, Lord Wayer," I spat, my jaw clenching as I glared back into his burning golden eyes. "I am the Spymaster of this realm. I am the reason your border passes are sealed tonight."

​"You are my partner in this war," Joss corrected softly, his tone shifting from violent rage to a deep, intoxicating devotion that caught me completely off guard.

​He leaned down, his lips pressing firmly against mine before I could draw another breath to argue.

​The kiss was deep, heavy, and possessive, tasting of mountain wine, cold rain and dark magic. It wasn't gentle, but it wasn't cruel either; it was a fierce, unyielding claim that demanded everything I had to give. My breath hitched in my throat, my hands flying up out of pure, treacherous instinct to grip the heavy lapels of his linen shirt, pulling him down closer against me.

​The tiny spark deep within my lower belly flared in response, fluttering against my inner walls with an eager, golden warmth that harmonized completely with the dark magic pouring through his lips.

​When Joss finally pulled back, his golden eyes were dark and heavy with desire, his thumb tracing the swollen line of my lower lip.

​"You are going to rest now," Joss whispered against my mouth, his voice thick with a low, dangerous affection. "And tomorrow, my Spymaster, we will watch the Southern Guild crumble together."

​I closed my eyes, my fingers slowly unclenching from his shirt as I sank back into the silk pillows, completely trapped in the shadow of the King who owned my heart.