Chapter 54: The Predatory gaze
The dimly lit room was filled with a soft, warm glow from a small candle flickering on a wooden table. Shadows danced on the walls as the flame swayed, but the atmosphere was far from serene.
Cassian lay on his bed, his face pale and glistening with sweat. His brow was furrowed in distress as he twisted and turned beneath the thin blanket, clearly trapped in a restless sleep.
Beside him, a small white snake coiled up, her scales shimmering faintly in the candlelight. She watched Cassian with wide, anxious eyes, sensing his turmoil. She was no ordinary snake.
"Come on, Cassian! Wake up! It’s just a dream!" she thought, desperately hoping her warmth would soothe him. "You can do it! I believe in you! Remember me, please!"
The little snake nestled closer to him, hoping her warmth would calm his agitation. She had bitten him, hoping that buried memories from the past would become clear to him. Finally, he would remember her existence.
She had waited for too long, and now he was here, but she could not get close to him. That thought alone was enough to pierce her very soul. Cassian was everything to her—her family, her savior, her friend, and the one who had given her life. She was like a little follower of him.
How could she only watch him and not talk to him? That’s why she had bitten him—so he would remember her, just about her, nothing more—even when she had been warned not to do this.
She had thought the pain would be fleeting, but as she watched him struggle, her heart sank. Had she done something wrong?
His face contorted in pain, and a small whimper escaped his lips. Lyra felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She never intended to hurt him; she only wanted him to remember the bond they once shared.
Her assumptions had gone wrong, because her plan had clearly backfired. If Cassian was seeing her memories, there should not be pain, but his condition was clearly saying something else. She feared that he was dreaming an entirely different scene that caused him so much pain—and it was surely not a good memory.
With each twist of Cassian’s body, her anxiety grew. "What if he never remembers me? What if he ends up resenting me?" Tears filled her big black eyes. "I can’t take that! I’m just a little snake! What if I have to go back to being all alone? My heart is already so small!"
Now? What to do? She really wanted to pull her scales, but she remembered she didn’t even have hair. Oh, how to vent her frustration? The little snake looked like a frostbitten eggplant, her big black eyes dimming as she could only flick her little forked tongue.