The Serpent's Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1)(28)

The snake sign? Those U-shaped eyeglasses. Why hadn’t I realized it before? Or had I just not let myself? The scar on my arm was the same as the markings on a cobra’s head.

“They are no parents for the likes of you, my princess,” Danavi cackled.

I whipped around to face her, my temper burning. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

I felt something strong harden inside of me. Something I couldn’t hide from. The truth. Had Ma and Baba ever treated me differently? Like I wasn’t their own? Granted, they were seriously kooky. Ma was always stuffing me full of food. Baba was always stuffing me full of stories. But they didn’t hate me; they adored me. And all I could think about was how much I wanted to be with them again.

I waved off the slippers the woman offered me and jammed my still damp feet into my trusty boots. My eyes were hot, but my voice was firm.

“My parents saved my life,” I said, “and raised me. They may not be perfect, but they didn’t ask to get dragged into this mess. Only now they have been, and I’m going to get them out of it.”

“Oh, a thousand pardons. Of course you are, my princess. You and your companions are very brave. You will go now and rouse the good princes Lalkamal and Neelkamal from the palace …”

“No, just Neel’s in the palace,” I corrected before I could stop myself. “Lal’s in the stables with Mati.”

“In the stables?” The woman’s eyes shone strangely in the mirror. “Without his brother’s protection? Well, well, isn’t that convenient …”

Wait a minute. A terrible feeling came over me.

I stood up and started to back away. “Who are you?”

Something was seriously not right here. Too late, I remembered how Mati answered when Lal asked if he could come into the stables. She said no. What had Neel said? That it was a custom in their country? That you never granted someone permission to enter?

“I’m Danavi—don’t you know what my name means?” The maid threw off her cloak, revealing an entirely different form. A beautiful, dark-haired woman with a bejeweled crown stood before me. All the hairs on my neck stood at some serious attention.

“What?” I squeaked.

The woman smiled, revealing two fangs that hung below her ruby lips. “Demoness!” she said. “But you can call me Demon Queen!”

Aw, bilious rakkhosh snot. Here we went again.

I tried to run, but the rakkhoshi ripped a handful of her own hair from her head and threw it at me. It might as well have been a handful of quick-drying cement. As soon as the magical hair hit me, I couldn’t move at all. I realized with dread that the demoness’s smile reminded me of someone I knew.

“Rakkhoshi! Be gone!” a voice commanded from the doorway. It was Neelkamal, his sword drawn. Beside him was the real Danavi.

“I felt a cold mist enter the room, and then all became dark!” exclaimed the maid.

No wonder the woman’s voice changed mid-story. No wonder she seemed different—the demoness had switched places with the real Danavi!

“Leave Kiran alone!” Neel shouted.

It was only then that I realized the Demon Queen’s sharp-nailed hands were at my throat.

“Ayiiii!” the rakkhoshi screeched, turning toward Neel. “There is nothing so upsetting to the digestion as an ungrateful child!”

I could kind of wiggle my fingers and toes again. Without her concentration, the demoness’s spell lost its grip pretty quickly.

“You aren’t welcome here anymore!” Neel approached the Rakkhoshi Queen with his sword raised. “What trick is this that brings you here?”

“Oh, that is where you are very wrong, you source of my acid reflux, you betrayer from my own womb!” the Queen cackled, growing into her full size. The poor maid shrieked and ran out the door.

The Demon Queen was still beautiful, but with pointed ears, jagged teeth, and enormous horns rising from behind her crown. She towered above us, her horns brushing the vines on the ceiling. With another toss of her hair, she froze Neel where he was standing. I could tell he was trying to move, but couldn’t.

“Let me go, now!” he ordered. The Queen cackled, her inhuman voice echoing weirdly.

I ran for my bow and arrow, which I’d put on the floor next to the bath, but with a motion of her warty finger, the demoness flung them out of the way. Her eyes raged with fire, and puffs of smoke shot out of her nostrils.

She rubbed her chest with a clawlike hand. “All those years just hovering in the shadows, waiting for some newcomer fool who didn’t know about the rules of my banishment; it gave me a terrible case of heartburn.” The Queen turned her creepy smile to me. “But you can thank your little friend here for inviting me once again into the kingdom.”

“No!” Neel protested.

“I didn’t!” I yelled, even as I remembered how the “maid” had asked me if she could enter. It was true. I said yes, and by mistake, I had unleashed this terrible monster.

“For that favor, my slithery princess,” the Queen crowed, “I will not kill you—at least not today.” She licked her lips with a black tongue. “But I am afraid I cannot say the same for that tasty morsel Lalkamal!”

With a thunder-like clap, the demoness vanished into thin air. Neel struggled in place, still frozen. He howled in a voice transformed by fear and rage.