Snakecharm Quotes

“You speak of giving up my dreams. Have you ever, since Maeve's coven split, had a dream? Have you ever had anything worth dying for?”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“You have no sense of what war is like. You have no idea what it means to see those you love fall. You cannot possibly understand what it is to fight for what you believe, and how sometimes you have to fight with words and dreams after all the weapons have been put away. You serve a cold god, surviving on his power for thousands of years without ever living!”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“Anhamirak, abandon and freedom.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“...sifting through our thoughts like children going through colored stones -- optimistic, because although some were too dark and some were too sharp, many glittered like precious gems.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“The inherent dangers of youth will never change. Volatile hearts and ill-advised flirtations can hardly be compared to the hatred and slaughter of war.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“You may come back as soon as your senses have returned.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“I looked to Rei, wondering if his vague answer to Betsy meant he might let me slip away downstairs, but A’isha had once again engaged him, hooking one of the many melos scarves she wore around his waist in an attempt to draw him into the dance.
The crow looked at it with shock. A’isha plucked the scarf away with a flourish.
“No need to be shy, little crow,” A’isha said. “If the gods didn’t want people to admire you, they wouldn’t have made you so stunning.”
I got to see Rei flush for the first time, blood creeping into his tanned skin. A’isha flipped her scarf around his neck.
“One dance,” A’isha implored. “I’m sure Zane would go elsewhere; you would be performing only for the nest.”
“I’m sure Zane would,” Rei said dryly, glancing at me.
I shrugged.
“What is your lady friend going to think, if she hears you are learning to dance but are ashamed to perform?” A’isha goaded the crow.
“One dance,” Rei said, relenting. “And only because I know you’ll never forgive me if I don’t take my opportunity to make a public fool of myself.” He turned to me. “You get out of here and thank A’isha for giving me an excuse to leave you alone.”
I would indeed.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“Danica’s eyes fluttered open the instant I stepped through the door, and she smiled softly. “I was starting to wonder if you were planning on obeying Betsy after all.”
“Never,” I assured her. “Though I’ve promised I will let you get some sleep. How do you feel?”
I went to her side, and Danica hooked and arm across my shoulders to steady herself as she sat up.
Danica winced. “I hurt.” She rolled her shoulders, as if the muscles were sore.
“I’m sure,” I responded sympathetically. Offering the Ahnleh A’isha had given to me, I went on, “This is a congratulatory gift from sha’Mehay.” I explained the significance of the ancient coin and repeated A’isha’s words regarding why she was giving it to Danica.
She took the coin reverently, closing it in her hand for a moment before tying the cord into place. “Thank you,” she said softly, as she snuggled closer. I knew the words were not for me, but for the nest around us.
I began to massage her shoulders, and she closed her eyes and leaned back toward my touch. My fingertips brushed the feathers growing under her hair at the nape of her neck. There was still a moment of hesitation in my mind every time I felt those feathers, a moment when my thoughts protested, remembering so many years of war when this beautiful woman had been my enemy, so hated that when fate crossed our paths there had been no choice but for me to love her.
She met my gaze now without any hint of the fear that had once been there. Cobriana eyes had once been for Danica what her feathers were for me. Avian legend said that a royal cobra’s garnet eyes possessed demonic power, and it had taken a long time for Danica to trust me enough to look into mine. Most avians still shuddered and avoided my gaze.
“I feel…tired, but wonderful. Betsy tells me--” She broke off, words failing her, and then gave up on speech and kissed me.
“I love you,” she whispered--then yawned widely. “Take a nap with me?”
The request, as always, made me smile. When we had first met, the idea of resting with another person was as foreign to the lovely but reserved hawk as the idea of flying was to me.
I was happy that Danica had not yet taken me into the air, but she had grown used to a second heartbeat while she rested. That blessing pleased me almost as much as any could.
I wrapped my arms around milady; Danica sighed, tucking her head down against my chest like a chick in the nest. Having her there calmed my fears and let me drift into sleep.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“When I had arrived home and learned of this terrible series of events, I had immediately set out for the Hawk’s Keep. I had started that ride in a fog of denial, refusing to acknowledge that my brother was dead, refusing to believe that the burden of the roal seat had fallen to me so suddenly at the age of sixteen. The hours had turned my thoughts from disbelief to mad fury. I had scaled the walls of the Hawk’s Keep, intent on murder, and stumbled into the room of Danica Shardae.
And there, I think I fell in love. As I beheld the avian princess sleeping so innocently, her cheek marked by a new cut--probably by one of my own people’s blades--my hatred died, leaving only a desperate desire for peace in its wake. When the mad suggestion was made last winter that taking the enemy queen as my mate could end the war, it had almost seemed like fate. It had not been easy to bridge the gaps between us, but together we had managed.
Fate had given me many gifts. Danica Shardae was the one for which I would forever be most grateful.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“She broke off the instant food was presented to her, staring at it for long moments as if not believing her yes. After that, she ate with a hunger that reminded e more of wolves than of graceful falcons.
She also drained glass after glass of water and finally slowed enough to sip a hot tea. The color began to return to her skin, though in places the change served only to accentuate her injuries.
“Feathered Hades, girl, when did you last eat?” Tadeo gawked. He was almost hustled out of the nest, but Kel smiled wearily.
“Before I left the Keep,” she answered.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“We come from different worlds,” I said, “but each has so much to teach the other. There will be moments of dissonance, when people struggle to understand each other’s ways, but once we get past our misconceptions, imagine the reward.
“The dancers will perform in the market of Wyvern’s Court; they will be beside avian poets, singers, philosophers and storytellers or we cannot hope to succeed. Merchants will haggle prices and barter goods as they have in both our markets throughout history. Scholars will work to impart their valuable knowledge to their students. Artists will create beauty. And our children will grow up together, playing the same games, taught by the same teachers, living side by side until as adults, I pray, they laugh at the petty arguments we had in this nest while we designed their world.”
“And ravens will dance, and serpents will fight for the lives of falcons.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“The dancers are a crucial part of serpiente culture, not to mention a beautiful addition to any public area.”
“They may be important to the serpiente, but making their performances so accessible to our children just isn’t appropriate,” Lincon said. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for the dancers to remain in their nest, so the more impressionable of our…” He trailed off, because the room had suddenly gone very quiet around him.
A’isha flitted over to the avian man, wrapped in quiet anger. “Have we harmed you in some way while you have been here? Has one of my dancers offended you?”
Lincon pointed out, “It is not your hospitality I question, but your regard for propriety. I was propositioned within moments of entering your nest.”
A’isha chuckled, shaking her head. “You are a pretty man, and you walked in alone.”
Lincon cleared his throat. “I don’t think this is a laughing matter.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“Amazing how far we had come. A few days ago, I had been surprised to see Rei and Valene accepted as dancers in the nest; now anyone who wanted a part in this project was welcome. We had achieved half the goal of Wyvern’s Court simply by dreaming of it.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“We’re plotting reformation of life as we know it,” I replied, somewhat flippantly.
“Oh, is that all?” she teased. “Why not start with breakfast?”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“I have an excuse to be up at this mad hour.” Irene yawned as we located her in Salem’s nursery. “Why are you looking so bright-eyed?”
As she spoke, she rocked Salem in her arms. The babe kept shifting from boy to cobra, trying to wriggle out of her grip, then turning back to human form to pout when she wouldn’t let him.
“We’re plotting reformation of life as we know it,” I replied, somewhat flippantly.
“Oh, is that all?” she teased. “Why not start with breakfast?”
“Thank you, but no,” I answered. “Danica and I actually wanted your feedback on an idea we had.”
Quickly, we detailed the conception of Wyvern’s Court, from finding the two symbols to getting A’isha’s support. Irene listened quietly, nodding every now and then as she finally managed to settle Salem down.
When we paused for her response, she looked hopefully at the face of her child. “If you can create such a place,” she finally answered, “I would be honored to raise my son there. And I have never seen you two fail to achieve any dream you strive toward.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“We’ll need to speak to Irene, and your mother,” I asserted. “If either one of them rejects this idea, there is no way we will succeed. Any potential heirs to either throne--hawk or cobra--must be raised in the same mixed-blood land, or people will feel they can still choose to be apart.”
Danica nodded, so I continued.
“Then I suppose we seek the approval of our respective courts, and allow the information into the markets. Once we are sure we have support, we can consult with architects, artists, whoever we need to try to bring this place we are imagining to life.”
After that, we ate breakfast in silence, sifting through our thoughts like children going through colored stones--optimistic, because although some were too dark and some were too sharp, many glittered like precious gems.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“The avian court follows the Tuuli Thea. They would be hesitant to bring their families so close to the serpiente, at least at first, but hopefully future generations won’t be as frightened. And if we let it be known that we will raise our child there, I think that plenty of avian scholars would be willing to go, if only in hopes of ‘protecting’ the queen’s heir. Then of course there may be those who simply wish to curry favor with their monarch, even if it means supporting what they will doubtless see as another mad scheme by their Tuuli Thea.”
“Another?”
“Of course,” she answered sweetly. “You may recall the last one, since it involved announcing you as my alistair.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“How is your lady love faring in all this?”
His expression shifted, betraying the smile of one happily besotted despite the circumstances. “I think she is as stunned as everyone else, but she is a very strong, capable woman.”
I couldn’t resist the urge to tease a little. “Strong and capable? Flattering descriptions, but hardly warm enough to merit the soft look in your eyes.”
“She isn’t a serpent, who wears her passions like jewelry and dances barefoot in the morning,” Gerard answered. “She is an avian lady, serene and composed even when she is upset. Strong, and capable.” More softly, he added, “She guards her heart and soul tightly unless she is around those she most trusts…so every little glimpse she allows me is like the silver moon rising over the sea.”
“A’le-Ahnleh,” I responded with newfound respect. “My best wishes to you both.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“We will do what is necessary to assure our child’s prosperity.” The statement hurt as I recalled my conversation with Irene. “We have some time before the decision must be made. If we can find no way to raise the child so both our kinds will accept her…then she will be raised to be Tuuli Thea, and I will name Salem my heir until--”
Until another child is born, I had been about to say, but there would be no other child. Danica wrapped an arm around my waist and gave me a half hug, despite how scandalized her mother would be by the contact.
Nacola nodded, and for the first time, I saw a glimmer of respect in her eyes.
“We will decide what we must, when we must.” Danica’s soft voice cut through the silence. “I hope you will trust us to do what is best. For the moment,” she said, changing the subject deftly as her tone lightened, “my most pressing concern is that this has been a long and difficult morning, and I’ve yet to have breakfast. Perhaps you might join me?”
One thing was true in both our cultures: When a woman carrying a child said she was hungry, people listened. Danica had no shame in ruthlessly using that fact to disengage us from her mother’s interrogation.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“Nacola Shardae, damn her feathers, was a true queen. In that single little speech, she managed to hit every vulnerability and fear Danica and I had regarding this child.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“Excuse me.”
The cold voice behind us made me cringe for reasons that had nothing to do with falcons or Rei’s abdication. Danica turned with a smile, and I struggled to do the same.
Despite how well the recent months had gone, Nacola Shardae still refused to believe that a serpiente man could possibly be the right mate for her only daughter. Because of that, she hated me as only a mother could.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“Do you feel well enough to travel back to the Keep today?”
“We need to,” she answered, but despite her tired tone, she was smiling.
“We can postpone the trip if you’re not feeling up to it. You and our child’s health are more important than indulging Nacola.” Or Syfka, I thought. She could speak to the rest of the Royal Flight when Danica was ready.
“Don’t worry; I feel fine,” Danica assured me. With wide-eyed innocence, she added, “I know how much it would disappoint you not to see my mother.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“Would you rather set up our child for war from the instant it’s born? If the serpiente reject our child for their throne, then you still have Salem as your heir. If my people reject it, there will be no Tuuli Thea after me.”
I stepped back from her, horror seeping into my blood. My gaze flickered to the others in the room. Ailbhe’s pale blue eyes would not meet mine. Rei’s did, but then he looked away. Valene was watching Danica, her expression unreadable. My mate was the only one who would meet my gaze, her golden eyes pained.
“Out,” I said, speaking to our audience. They looked at one another, hesitating. Valene first deferred, followed by Rei. Ailbhe lingered a moment longer, and I was not sure whether he did from guilt or compassion.
Then we were alone, and I took Danica’s hands.
“Danica, do you know what you are asking of me? Giving up my child to the Keep, to be raised by strangers, to sleep in lonely silence, to be taught to be ashamed of what she feels and what she is…and to be betrothed before she can even speak, before she can possibly understand love.” Danica closed her eyes for a moment, taking a breath. “I will never have a mate but you. I love you. And yes, I will have an heir. But you are talking about taking away my child.”
“What else can we do?” she returned. “Zane, I was raised in the Keep; it is not as horrible as you think. And you would still see her--” She broke off, because she knew as well as I that the heir to the Tuuli Thea saw her parents only in formal situations. She shook her head. “Please…Zane, is there another way? Anything else that will keep our firstborn child from coming into the world only to see her land ripped apart by war?”
Silence.
“It will be months before the child is born,” I whispered, pleading not only with Danica, but with whatever powers might be. “We don’t have to make this decision, not yet.”
Danica nodded, but still she said, “One queen cannot rule two worlds, even if she is of both.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“I don’t think we can deal with this immediately.” I looked at Danica as I spoke, searching her expression for agreement or argument. “Valene, the dancers have already welcomed Danica and our child. If they can circulate the knowledge that I will name Danica’s child my heir, I can only hope it won’t be as much of a shock when the announcement is made.” Even as I spoke, I felt the cold knot of fear in my gut. Our child would be born in peace, but would she live in war? “Besides that, we’ll have to wait until the protests are raised specifically.”
“Not meaning to be troublesome,” Ailbhe answered, “but how absurd is the idea that Salem could be Diente?” The white viper’s words were answered by a roomful of glares, but he stood his ground. “What I mean to ask is, what is your ultimate goal? Salem will be raised without hatred for Danica’s people. He’ll have no hunger for war, and what’s more, he’ll have a civilization at peace to begin with. If peace is your goal, your sister’s child will still make a fine Diente.”
“And what of our child?” Danica spoke in her calm and detached court voice, which she used among serpents only when she was too angry or disgusted to maintain rationality any other way. My hand found hers, and she gripped it tightly.
“Your child may well be born as purely avian as you are. If it takes an avian mate, its children will probably show little of the Cobriana blood. Again, if your goal is just peace, the child could be raised avian--raised to be Tuuli Thea. Each court would have its heir, an heir raised without bloodlust and hatred. You would have peace.”
For a moment I could not speak. So long as I had breath in my body, I would see my child on the serpiente throne. Diente, Tuuli Thea--our child would be both.
“Are you mad?” The words escaped me as I locked eyes with Ailbhe. “How could you consider--”
“Zane.” Danica interrupted me, placing a hand on my chest.
“You can’t be thinking--”
“Would you rather set up our child for war from the instant it’s born? If the serpiente reject our child for their throne, then you still have Salem as your heir. If my people reject it, there will be no Tuuli Thea after me.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“Loss of that loyalty, respect and trust would destroy the Cobriana. Loss of their royal line would destroy the serpiente. If the serpiente refused to acknowledge Danica’s child as their monarch, no number of guards would be able to keep that child on the throne.
I had walked this precarious balance before, when I had declared Danica my mate.
If necessary, I would do it again.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“I don’t know much about your kind, but I know that a snake’s egg will grow too quickly and die if they’re too hot. Your palace doctor has confirmed that your young are the same way. That being so, imagine a serpiente child growing in an avian womb; it would never survive.” Without waiting for me to acknowledge whether I understood, she concluded, “Apparently you’re both human enough to breed together. Your mate’s body is adapting itself to take care of your child. She will be weak for a while, but otherwise she appears healthy. You may see her in a couple of days.”
“Days?”
“I’ve been a doctor since before you were born, and that gives me the right to be blunt,” Betsy said. “She needs a few days without excitement while her system is getting used to the changes. Having you in her bedroom is not going to help her rest.”
Again I grudgingly accepted the doctor’s orders, though I hoped that Danica would argue once she woke.
“Andreios, you’ll make sure he does as he’s told?” Betsy appealed to the crow.
Rei answered immediately, “You know I would never let anyone do anything that would endanger my queen.”
Betsy frowned. “You’ve spent too much time with serpents for me to trust that means you’ll obey my orders,” she said. “I’ll wash my hands of it until she has the sense to return to the Keep. Just make sure she is allowed to rest. I will stay in serpiente lands until she is well enough to travel, in case complications arise. Zane, your associates assured me a room in the palace.”
I nodded. “Of course.” I wasn’t overly fond of the doctor right then, but that wasn’t really her fault. Avians, and their fixation on decorum and respectability, sent me to the brink of insanity almost daily.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“I’ll…be okay,” Danica asserted. “I was just…dizzy.” She accepted held standing, but once she was up, her balance seemed to return quickly; she rested one hand on my arm, though I sensed that touch was more from habit than weakness.
A’isha looked from one of us to the other, and her expression slid from worried to startled to amused. “Little hawk, you’ve never been faint before,” the dancer said.
“It’s hot in here, and I’ve been tired and nervous,” Danica argued. “Perhaps this was too much.” She tucked her head down, suddenly realizing that she had fainted in front of an audience.
“Bring her to rest, Zane,” A’isha ordered, apparently not daunted by the fact that she was addressing her king. Inside the nest, no one ever was. “I hear your sister’s mate makes an excellent raspberry-ginger tea. I suggest you get the recipe. Now off with you.”
A’isha’s hinted meaning suddenly dawned on me, and I could not help pulling Danica against me to kiss her. “Is she right?” I asked, my mind tumbling with too many thoughts to put into words.
“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Danica responded, leaning against me. “I hate raspberry tea.”
I tried not to laugh; Danica’s innocence asserted itself at odd moments, and right now nothing could keep me from grinning. “Danica, Danica…”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“Feel the beat. It is the wind,” A’isha directed. “Fly with it.”
The soft beat of a drum, paired with the lilting melody of a flute, filled the room as Danica stepped onto the dais at the back of the nest.
Closing her eyes, Danica stretched upward, moving onto the balls of her feet, wrists crossed high above her head, and paused there for a heartbeat. The pose was known as a prayer--a dancer’s call for guidance from the powers that be.
She moved into the dance flawlessly, the sway of her body as fluid as water over stone. This was the magic of the serpent and the snake charmer combined, as pure and intense as a thunderstorm.
The first dance was soft and gentle, a common sakkri’nira. I could feel the drive in the music, however, and knew the moment when the first dance would move into a more complex one.
When the flute stilled, Danica rose once again onto the balls of her feet for an instant. She smiled at me before she began the most complex of the intre’marl: Maeve’s solo from the Namir-da.
What had been praise and beauty became passion. Maeve’s dance was a seduction, and the way Danica held my eyes made me feel it. Seeing my mate perform those steps made me want to join her, as any royal-born serpiente would. The holiday for which the Namir-da had been named was still four months away; she would be able to perform then, and I with her, in a ritual that dated back to the creation of my kind.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“You dance every day with the wind. This is not so different,” A’isha said encouragingly to Danica. “Now, look at the man you love and dance for him.”
The nest hushed, faces turning to their Naga. Her cheeks held more color than usual, which A’isha addressed with a common dancers’ proverb. “There is no place for shame, Danica. If Anhamirak had not wanted beauty admired, she would not have made our eyes desire it. You are art.”
Danica stepped out of A’isha’s grip. “If my mother could see me now,” she murmured, but she smiled as she said it.
“Feel the beat. It is the wind,” A’isha directed. “Fly with it.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm

“You made a good choice for your Naga,” she assured me. “Danica is more graceful on a dais than half the serpents I know.”
“Provided she isn’t blushing too brightly to see,” another quipped. “The first time I saw our queen perform, I thought she was a lost cause--far too uptight, like most avians--but I’m glad to be proved wrong.”
I knew I was grinning. I had never doubted that Danica could learn the serpent art. Much of her loved my world; a part of her craved dance as surely as anyone else in this nest did. Perhaps that thirst came from her time dancing with the currents of air far above where we earthbound creatures roamed, or perhaps it came from the expressive nature her own world forced her to hide.
Similar conversation flowed among us until A’isha’s musical voice commanded me, “Zane, admire your queen.”
― Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Snakecharm