The Serpent's Fury by Kelley Armstrong

Author:Kelley Armstrong [Armstrong, Kelley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PRH Canada Young Readers
Published: 2021-06-08T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“You—you—” I can barely get the words out. I’ve heard of such things, of course, and I always thought they were terrible tales of terrible episodes that happened once upon a time, like the stories of people being sold into slavery. None of that is remotely legal in Tamarel, so it must not be legal anywhere. That’s what I’d thought when I was little. Then I grew up and realized they were not horror stories of times long past. Even in Tamarel, where indentured servitude—being forced to work until a debt is repaid—is illegal, it still happened to Dain. In other countries—distant ones, thankfully—they do practice slavery. And in other countries, there is an active trade in monsters, both for menageries and as pets.

If you want monsters as pets, you’re going to want them young.

And where are you going to find those juveniles? Old enough to be weaned but still dependent on others?

Where the monsters feel safe to build their nests and dens. In the mountains. In the Dunnian Woods.

“You trade in monsters,” I say. “You steal them from their parents and sell them as pets.”

“And you hunt them, Princess Rowan. You kill them. Which do you think they’d prefer? You have pets of your own. Yet you object to us making a living allowing others to enjoy the same privilege. Is owning monster pets only for the wealthy in Tamarel? Only for the nobility?”

“No,” Wilmot says. “Owning monsters is illegal for all. Rowan’s companions are free to leave her at any time, as are her humans ones. They come to her by choice. Stay with her by choice. You are on Tamarelian land, breaking our laws. I would suggest you reconsider your choice of settlement. In the meantime, all I care about are those harpy fledglings and our companions. Give them to us and we’ll be on our way.”

“You don’t get your companions unless you pay us our due for rescuing Everard of Bellamy’s brat.”

I stiffen, but Wilmot keeps his voice low, almost pleasant. “If you speak of his child that way, I would strongly suggest that you do not know Everard of Bellamy. Although that is evident by the fact that you hold her hostage. We have done as you asked by capturing the fledglings and destroying the nests.”

“You never wanted that,” I say. “You lied about the harpies harassing your village. You just wanted the fledglings, and you couldn’t figure out how to get them yourself. Lucky, then, that I came along and solved your problem. If you’d just suggested relocating the fledglings yourself, we might have fallen for it. But you had to try for Jacko, too.”

“That was a mistake,” Geraint says. “You may keep him. We’ll take the harpies and the dropbear.”

Kaylein walks up to Geraint, still flat on his back under Malric, and crouches beside him. “Please tell us again what you’ll do? Since you have us in such an awkward position.”

“Oh, but I do. My men are armed, as you see, and ready to defend our claim.

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