Headed by a Snake

Imperia shut her eyes... but it only made it worse.

She knew the snake was still there.

The golden eyes of a predator were fixated on her perfect body.

Every part of him was coiled around her... feeling her intimately... his tongue running down the side of her neck.

She was not prepared for such a challenge in her quest.

The Elven Sovereign had returned to this Realm... scarred yet handsome, noble in word and deed.

Imperia desired him... just as she lusted for wealth... for strength... She'd grasp onto anything and everything she could to ensure her place, several steps above her sisters.

Yet... the snake spoke truthfully.

The sovereign was... an Ancient.

They're all the same.

One or ten thousand years was enough to distance even the youngest Ancient from the petty squabbles of commoners.

A regular human would be intimidated by Imperia's 119 years of age. To the Elven sovereign, Imperia was merely... a sapling.

She desperately wanted to believe that the sovereign was different. He was supposed to return to this Realm... to save her and her Elven kin from a great calamity.

Imperia knew better.

No one in the Realm was so selfless.

The Elven sovereign had rescued her from imminent death... but then, she saw the look in his eyes.

He did not know her. He did not care for her-- not truly.

Saving her was saving his own face.

It was what any Ancient would do.

Honor was more important to him than whether a 119-year-old sapling lived or died.

"Different? Is that truly what you believe, Imperia?" The snake rested his heavy head on Imperia's shoulder, flicking his tongue into her ear...

Imperia's eyes widened in realization.

The snake... he could understand Elven.

She... didn't believe her own words. They were... her final hopes, spoken aloud. She didn't even consider the possibility that the snake would understand...

The Maedar's simple question dismantled even that small wish... casting it into the abyss.

She could swear the snake was smiling.

"The words of a Prince..." The Maedar flicked his tongue against the inside of her ear... making Imperia tremble with both fear and... terrified, forbidden arousal... "against the cries of a Princess of muck-ridden blood... which resounds more clearly?"

Imperia's heart trembled. The Maedar knew her bloodline.

It was something she lorded above her subordinates as her strength... but in truth was her weakness.

The first tear fell down her cheek... and bound by the creature's serpentine body, she could not even brush it away.

"You're... a snake..." Imperia growled through clenched teeth.

"A Prince amongst snakes," The Maedar slowly nodded his head... "Do you... know... who I am... Princesssss?"

Imperia gulped, turning away... Her heart fluttered as an unfamiliar name floated to the surface of her mind... a memory inscribed in her soul...

She was a Priestess of the Storm... blessed with a stronger, purer bloodline than her sisters... capable of twisting the winds and the waves with a mere flick of her wrist.

Yet... it was also a curse... and it brought upon her knowledge of the future... of the past and present... things that she did not wish to know.

"You are... Tycondrius..." She whispered... "descendant of the Empress of Stone."

It took for the Snake Prince's name to cross her lips for Imperia to realize just who she had offended.

Tycondrius was the most powerful War Prince of the Snake God faction... a battlefield tactician responsible for slaying tribes of thousands in campaigns across the Free Nation.

The fates had played her for a fool.

She... could not have known that a man of such royal blood was on the Neptune's Revenge. The accursed ship was thousands of miles away from the Prince's territory... in an unmarked location in the middle of the eastern seas.

Imperia was a Princess only in name... without a kingdom and from a nigh-forgotten lineage. Tycondrius... he was a prince to a War Queen who ruled over tens of thousands... humans... elves... and countless other peoples...

For him to refer to her as a Princess...

He... was mocking her.

"Very good..." The Maedar whispered... "aNnnd... YooOu... aAre?"

Suddenly, Imperia's chest grew painfully tight... her breathing grew ragged as she sensed the emotions roiling in Tycondrius' aura.

Irritation. Righteous fury. Pride.

...Greed.

The sadistic desire to see a woman in pain.

Lust...

The physical urge to ravage her... a woman in weakness, barely able to move, so entwined by his body.

Imperia blinked away more tears. Without magic... and with what little physical strength she had, she was helpless against the white-scaled snake... She was an innocent child... her tender meat looked upon by a butcher eyeing her for slaughter.

"I am... Imperia... Princess of the Vulkoori," She shook her head... desperately holding onto the last vestiges of her will.

Her name... the name of her ancestors. Speaking it... always granted her the courage to stand up for herself.

"Isssss that ssso?" The snake... hissed... as if what he heard was amusing.

Where Imperia sought strength from words... Prince Tycondrius' simple response made her feel as if all were for naught.

The Maedar coiled his body tighter... ever so slightly...

It was... perfect-- causing just enough pain to keep her awake, to stifle her breath... yet not enough that she could find the release of unconsciousness.

"That's quite... impressssive," Tycondrius mocked, "A daughter of Vulkoor... yet over the centuries... the bloodline has grown... tHiSssSSS WEAKK?"

Imperia's name... was useless. Her blood... worth less than sand.

Compared to the Snake Prince... she was little better than a commoner.

It was the fault of her useless mother... and her mother, before her...

If they had only chosen wealthier, more powerful males to couple with, she would be able to demand respect from the snake... to demand love and attention from the Elven Sovereign.

If they had only chosen males with purer blood... she would have learned of Tycondrius' name earlier. Then, her current predicament could have been avoided...

"Yet you..." The snake continued... "you know of me. And thusssss... you underssstand your... positionnn? Do you notttt?"

The fear took over as she stared into Tycondrius' eyes.

The dam burst.

She lost control of her bladder, urine running hot down her legs... With death and worse so close to her, she could only beg for mercy.

Imperia inclined her head as best she could... "P-please... Lord..."

The tears would not stop... her brave face, irrecoverable.

At that moment, she was not a Princess of the Vulkoori. She was a terrified sapling, out of her element... "I... I misspoke. I... I beg of you... not to take my purity."

"Tssss!!" The snake reared his head back to scoff, releasing Imperia from his crushing grip... "HAH! Hahaha!"

Breathing in a full breath of cold, damp air... she found no relief.

Imperia wiped at her face... she was miserable... she was freezing... she was... disgusted by her weakness...

As she sat still in her wet undergarments, an intense feeling of shame coursed through her very soul.

"You inssssult me, young lady," The white snake's golden eyes stared down at her, mocking mirth still in his tone, "Sexual relations... is something I grant only to those I favor."

Her bloodline insulted... and even her body, Imperia could not even be glad that the Maedar had no intention of ravaging her.

She grit her teeth... crossing her arms... but then she thought better of it-- placing her open palms on her lap, "What... what the hells, then--"

Another jolt of fear shocked her into silence. Those eyes... those golden eyes put her in a trance.

"Choose. your. words. with caaare... young lady."

She gulped and lowered her gaze... and only then did the magical pressure ease.

"You may not have to like me, Miss Imperia," Tycondrius' body began to transform... completing the shift to his handsome human form within seconds, "But I ask for-- no... I demand your respect. Grant that I will return it, in kind."

He took a white cloth from his breast pocket, took Imperia's hand and placed it within her palm, "Do you understand, young lady?"

She stared at it, surprised by the ironic kindness.

...Surely, it was some sort of trick.

She clenched her fist closed around it... "I understand... Lord."

"I have need of your *magical* services. You will assist me in sending a message to my contact in Archangel, as we are recharting our course to Whitehearth. You will remain crewed on the Neptune's Revenge until our safe arrival."

"I... I hear you," Imperia bowed her head.

She was not pleased by the news. It made her realize the truth of her situation.

She was a hostage.

As long as she was treated with a modicum of fairness, the Elven sovereign would turn a blind eye to her overall treatment.

Imperia had to swallow her pride in order to live... She had to reign in her emotions and act as a loyal servant-- at least until they landed at Whitehearth.

She had until then to plan her revenge... Just like she sabotaged her elder sisters... just like she discredited her mother's generals...

She would not stomach the way she was treated. She would find revenge against the Maedar for her shame...

Yet... even after several moments... no response came.

Against her better judgment, Imperia slowly raised her head.

The Prince still watched her. He still waited...

Imperia stood and bowed her head even lower... something she had not done since she was taught the motion, nearly a hundred years prior.

"I hear you, Prince of Poison."