Chapter 2 - Kneel and Strike

"Some wars are won not with swords,

but with a smile — and a well-placed knee on the ground."

-Nest Of Serpests

by E.S.Mare

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As we broke through the trees, I pressed my lips together, swallowing the laughter rising in my throat.

After an hour of stumbling through the dark and stealing some ill-tempered horses, we were worse off than when we’d started. Still, I couldn't stop myself from laughing. Vilas once tossed me into a filthy river, and I was still struggling not to burst out.

When we finally reached the White Snake Palace, we dismounted from the restless horses. It was the only way to slip in unnoticed. Besides, if we’d stayed on their backs a moment longer, they’d have thrown us off themselves.

Snakes were never good with horses. The beasts barely tolerated even the ones they'd been broken to. That they bolted the instant we dismounted only confirmed what we already knew.

As Vilas watched them vanish into the dark, he turned to me—just in time to see the laughter ready to explode. He slapped his large hand over my mouth.

Still, the laughter wouldn’t stay down.

“Stop it,” he whispered sharply. “Do you want us caught?”

I hit his hand, hoping he’d take the hint. Of course, he didn’t. Not until my sharp teeth nicked his skin and he recoiled, glaring at me like I’d just betrayed him.

“Do you have the faintest idea what kind of danger we’re in?” he hissed.

“Vilas, you’d be heartbroken if I died, wouldn’t you?” I asked, pulling a face of mock sorrow. “You’d cry for me, wouldn’t you?”

“You’re still mocking me.”

“You’re always so grumpy,” I muttered. “Don’t worry—I’m not that easy to kill. I was sick for years. So sick that my own people have never even seen my face. And yet here I am, still walking around. Maybe I’ve discovered immortality.”

“Assra!” he said, dragging out the ‘s’. We were far from the others now—close to the palace, close to where I belonged. “Princess Alissa’s wedding is tomorrow. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

I shrugged and began the climb up the steep slope toward the hidden tunnels. “I wasn’t invited. Why should it?”

He caught up, matching my stride. “Because she’s your sister.”

“Which part of ‘I wasn’t invited’ are you struggling with?” I kicked a dead branch aside. The forest was so thick the moon barely reached us, but I’d walked this path more times than I could count. My feet remembered it even when my eyes couldn’t see.

There was a cave about a hundred meters up. I’d once slept there for a few nights. The cost had been steep. Just thinking of the scars on his back made them ache again.

“At least you could be there for her,” Vilas said. Why was he doing this? Why bring up that cursed wedding and sour my mood? I loved Alissa. I knew how badly she didn’t want this marriage. But there was nothing I could do. The war between the White Snakes and the Black Snakes had lasted years, and this wedding was supposed to end it.

It was absurd—and disgusting.

“I can’t,” I said, voice dry. “She cries all the time. It’s unbearable.”

I jumped down a ledge, still a bit dizzy, and stumbled. Vilas caught my arm. His voice was strange this time.

“You might not care for your other siblings, but I thought you cared about her.” He pulled me back. “Maybe you really are your mother’s daughter.”

I bit my lip and listened to the trees creaking in the wind like a whispered warning. I tilted my head, pretending to look for the moon between the branches. I needed a moment—to keep from reacting.

His words stung. But I knew he didn’t mean to wound. Not this time. If Vilas wanted to hurt me, he’d do it right and deep. No, this was different. He wanted to provoke me. Pull me out of my mask of sarcasm.

He’d known me since childhood. And I’d known him just as long.

“Maybe,” I said, walking again. “Actually, if I ever get married, I’ll outdo him. Eight children—no, nine. The boys can kill each other trying to be the strongest, and I’ll sell the girls to the highest bidders to forge alliances. Oh, sorry—‘marry them off.’”

I smiled sweetly at the look on his face. “What blissful family happiness.”

We stopped before a jagged wall of rock. My foot landed on a familiar outcrop, and suddenly I remembered what he’d said earlier.

“You tried to kidnap him,” he said.

I turned to him, hiding my surprise. The night turned his grey eyes murky. He wasn’t just accusing me—he knew.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Assra?”

He was baiting me. I saw it now—I had just guessed the reason wrong.

“She refused,” I said evenly. “There was no point. Maybe… maybe deep down she actually wants to marry that disgusting Black Snake.”

“You know she doesn’t.” His voice struck harder this time. I clamped my lips tight and stepped closer.

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“What do you want me to say, Vilas? Yes, I tried to take Alessi. She refused. Yes, I didn’t want her to marry that filth, but she refused. Do you hear me?

Maybe she’s scared—of what might happen, of her father, her mother. Maybe she saw what they did to me and decided surrender was easier than defiance. Alessi is soft. She can’t take pain.

Maybe warming the bed of a Black Snake seemed better to her than the alternative. So, tell me—what do you gain by making me say this?”

His face twisted in disgust. He hated the Black Snakes as much as I did. Maybe even more than the Lions.

“To remind you that you don’t have to hold it all in,” he said at last. His voice cracked—equal parts anger and regret. “You could have told me. That’s better than sneaking off to some forbidden tavern to drown it in wine, isn’t it?”

I gave a faint smile. Whatever humor I’d had was gone. But there was something tender in his tone that softened me.

“You’re right,” I said quietly. “You’re not so terrible yourself.”

“I’m serious, Assra,” he said, licking his lips. The wound there caught my eye again, glinting in the moonlight.

“I thought we promised not to keep things from each other.”

I forced myself not to roll my eyes. I raised a hand and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"You were in training. I wasn’t planning to go to the tavern, it just sort of happened. Don’t be so sensitive. Besides…”

I rose onto my toes and leaned in, lips almost grazing his.

“We haven’t even kissed yet. Don’t expect me to confess my every move. Now kiss me!”

She pushed me away gently, scowling.

“I’m disgusted by you.”

I clutched my chest.

“Ouch. That one hit deep.”

“You’ll learn what pain really is if you hide anything else from me.”

“In the name of the Great Lesster! You’re clearly in love with me, so why won’t you just kiss me?”

“Any snake who falls for you must have a death wish,” he said, his face twisting.

“Then I’ll go find a lion who’ll fall for me,” I said—and the moment the words left my mouth, we both froze.

Then gagged. In perfect sync.

“That was revolting,” he groaned.

“Absolutely vile,” I agreed, clutching my stomach. “Lions... gross. If I ever say something like that again, cut my throat.”

“With pleasure!” he shot back instantly.

He smirked, but the smile faded as his brow furrowed.

His gaze lifted to the top of the nearby rocks.

A quiet curse slipped from his lips—not aimed at me this time.

And I knew why.

Danger had a smell. A presence. And it was close.

I turned and stared up at the rocks.

I’d always thought they resembled a man—specifically, Siles, the King of the White Snake Kingdom. Maybe that’s why I held such an absurd grudge against them. I’d even sharpened my sword on them once, out of sheer spite.

Now that man stood atop them, arrogance radiating from him.

Soldiers flanked him, as always—parading his power.

Vilas dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

“Your Majesty!”

I felt him pinch my leg—a silent command.

Not wanting to test the king’s temper—not today—I knelt too, bowing my head.

“Stand,” the king snapped.

I clenched my teeth and rose with Vilas.

King Siles’s narrow gray eyes swept over us.

Tension rolled off Vilas in thick waves. Still, he remained silent. Speaking before the king was unthinkable.

No one dared.

Except one person…

Queen Kalissia.

“My dear daughter, Princess Marian,” she said, eyes locking on me. “And Commander Vilas.”

Still staring only at me.

The hatred in her eyes never faded—not even now. She didn’t bother to hide it. But I understood her.

If I were her, I’d hate Assra Marian too.

Honestly, I didn’t mind. I kind of liked it.

King Siles—my loving father—had only ever loved one of his children.

My twin, Drass.

Maybe Alessi.

Me? I was his shame.

“Daylight is about to illuminate Elessmier and its snakes,” King Siles said, “and yet here you are—outside.”

He waited. Watching.

Knowing Vilas would jump in to protect me, I beat him to it.

“Your Majesty,” I said.

He didn’t like that. Not one bit.

But he couldn’t silence a princess addressing her king.

“I was just out for a walk. Commander Vilas mistook me for an intruder during his patrol.”

Vilas tensed even more.

“Is that so, Commander?” the king asked.

Vilas hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, sir.”

The king turned his eyes on me, calculating. I saw it coming—no anxiety, just the usual performance.

“Princess Marian,” he said, his tone mocking, “so you were out walking. Judging by your appearance, I’d wager you wandered far from the palace grounds.”

A statement, dressed as a question.

I didn’t bother denying it—what would be the point?

I could’ve said, “Yes… Your Majesty,” or begged for forgiveness.

But the words never came.

“The princess asks for your gracious forgiveness,” Vilas cut in, clearly impatient.

Maybe he thought I was too proud to say it.

Maybe I was.

“How dare you interrupt a princess, Commander?”

“Forgive me, sire.”

At least he could say it without choking.

The king’s voice turned colder.

I felt his gaze like teeth sinking into my skin.

“Do you realize what you’ve done, Marian?”

He smiled, but it was pure venom.

Still towering above us—his favorite angle.

“Of course you do. This isn’t the first time you’ve snuck out. But this time, there will be consequences.”

Ah. So this would be his first punishment. How charming.

I saw Vilas’s fists clench.

He bowed his head slightly—bracing.

“Throw her in the dungeon!” the king barked.

Vilas’s head snapped up.

“She is to be flogged!”

No number. That was always worse.

I smirked at the king.

His jaw tightened.

“My lord, the queen will not be pleased—” Vilas began.

The king cut him off with a glare sharp enough to slice through stone.

“Are you going to tell her, soldier?”

“My lord—”

“Then you, too, shall be imprisoned.”

“At least spare him the whip!” I blurted out.

Wrong move.

It only made things worse.

“There will be a price for your insolence, Marian. And as for you…” He turned to Vilas again.

“If the Queen finds out—”

“You’ll have him flogged twice as hard, Your Majesty,” I said smoothly.

Because the only other option in that head of his was execution.

The Queen wouldn’t blink at the death of a soldier. But maybe I could stall it.

For now.

A soldier’s death could always be “an accident.”

The king fumed.

Before he could speak again, I added, “He’s too loyal to me.”

And then I smiled.

In front of the king.

Bold, reckless, idiotic.

But not for me.

I was still his daughter, after all.

Even if he hated me.

The king—well, he loved any excuse to break someone. Especially someone the queen cared about.

“You heard the princess,” he said, with a twisted satisfaction he barely concealed.

And yet, somehow, it still disgusted him.

The heat radiating off Vilas could’ve torched the palace.

But there was nothing he could do.

Well… nothing for now.

He’d scold me later. That was a given.

Assuming we survived the next few hours.

“Take them away,” the king ordered. “Both of them. And treat the princess like a prisoner.”

As the guards descended the rocks, I ignored Vilas’s burning stare and dropped to one knee again.

“Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting my request.”

I raised my eyes to his.

His pupils shrank. A twitch ticked at the corner of his mouth.

Because something clicked.

He realized—finally—that he was following the path I’d laid.

Each step, each word, led him exactly where I wanted.

And I wasn’t afraid.

He’d lost. Again.

One day, my dear father will kill me.

Or I’ll kill him.