Crimson Coils (The Snake Men Book 2)

Chapter 10

Madame Savari worked Mari to the bone. Everyday she had to make a new piece to add to Savari's collection. Sometimes she would tell Mari what to make, other times she would lether make whatever she wanted. Doing so allowed there to be a variety in her various lines and collections, which she sold to the people of Wyrms Nest. In a way, Mari was thankful for all the work given to her. It took her mind off of her family, and more importantly; off of Rezran.

That sneaky snake somehow found a way to slither into her brain at the most inconvenient moments, and she had no idea why. One minute, she would be carving into the largest ruby she had ever seen; then he would suddenly pop into her mind and she would have a broken ruby by the end of it. She hadn't seen him in the past few days since she had first arrived, besides passing by him on the road whenever she went out to get groceries.

She had been pleasantly surprised by the village market. In one of the caves of Wyrms Nest, they had cultivated a few farms that grew crops which thrived in the ash. As for crops and meats that couldn't be found in the Wastes, some of the merchants met with other Naga merchants that came by to trade for their products. Mari had caught sight of a few of the merchants one day, and saw how different they were from the Kraugest. One Naga was tall and lithe, with a green tail as bright as emeralds. Not even silk cloth came in such a color, she couldn't help but stare. Another came with white and yellow scales, and matching hair to boot. Mari was a little envious at how beautiful the Nagas could be, while she saw herself as a maiden with tanned skin, sometimes covered in ash, with brown eyes and black hair.

What surprised her most, one day, was a Naga with a long black tail, redeyes, and black hair tied back with a leather tie came slithering in one day. He nearly scared the living daylights out of her, if it weren't for the human woman that came with him. A seemingly dainty thing, until Mari saw her lift heavy baskets and walk off with them like she were carrying feathers. She believed she heard someone say they worked on a farm in a place called Elveton, and she wondered what a place like that was like. Though she had noticed that a lot of the Kraugest had been on edge around the Naga with the black tail, as if he was about to spring out and attack. She swore she saw a smirk on his face as he left.

"Mari!"

Mari jumped in her seat and looked towards the door to see Madame Savari standing there. "Yes Madame Savari?" Mari said, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Her mind had wandered off while she was working, and she hadn't noticed the golden Naga calling her name, much less her presence.

Savari rolled her eyes, and shook her head before continuing. "You can take the rest of the day off, I have a meeting to attend to." she stated, before giving a slight wave of her hand and slithering off. She had frequent "meetings" in the evening. She never told Mari where she was going, what these meetings were about, and who exactly she was meeting.

Of course, it didn't really bother Mari. She was wary of it at first, but the meetings hadn't brought any harm so far. If they were something of great importance, she figured that Savari would've told her about them already. Since Madame Savari wasn't going to require her services for the rest of the day, she decided to take a walk around the village.

Packing up her tools and dusting off her clothes, she stepped outside of the workshop and into the village. Like any normal village, the Naga's were going about their business; shopping, bartering, and working like all normally do. Her mind drifted back to her grandmothers stories. How could these people be considered monsters?

Walking down the street, Mari moved into the market district, where some were calling out their wares to sell. One older Naga male tried to sell her some jewelry, but she politely declined and kept walking. Gods know what Madame Savari would do if she found Mari wearing jewelry that wasn't from her line. She stopped at a small hut made out of stone yet had small holes all over it. Crawling around those holes and flying out of them, were the pygmy dragons Mari so adored. Outside of the hut was another Naga, a female, balancing a few that were perched on her arms and shoulders.