The Snake Queen

Chapter 29

So I just finished this semester of college and to celebrate a chapter for everybody!! Hopefully, I will be able to work on it more over the summer since the quarentine where I live is still in effect and keeps getting extended. Also, the subject of my books getting published has been coming up in coversation a lot more between me and my friends so I wanna know who thinks my stuff is good enough to get published? Not to mention, I'm curious as to who else has read my other books. So if you've read my other books, let me know and comment which one is your favorite. If you haven't read them, go read them. I promise you won't regret it.

Dedicated to my best friend. Miss you, Kayl.

"You want help?" He gave me a questioning look. If snakes could even give questioning looks. "I don't understand. You never wanted any part of this before. Why now all of a sudden?"
"Tombutoo, please. I can't keep doing this. Not to my parents."
"Alright. Alright. I will help you. But since you haven't done anything for almost a year, you'll really need to crack down."
"I will. I promise. I'll even let you explain all this on the way back to town."
"It's a start." We headed back to civilization.
It was a long walk back to town, so Tombutoo explained my family history. Apparently, I'm a descendent of Shahmaran, Queen of Snakes. She was half-human, half-snake, like me, but differently.
She had this human lover named Tahmasp. He was a woodcutter that fell asleep in a hole or something. When he woke up, he was surrounded by so many of them. It was kinda like how I was when I first found out about the curse.
He closed his eyes because he was afraid of what would happen, and Shahmaran was in front of him when he opened them. She introduced herself then disappeared. he went back to sleep, and found himself in some sort of banquet hall when he woke up with Shahmaran on the table. I wouldn't have appreciated that that much. I don't like snakes where I eat, even if I'm one of them.
It didn't take them long to fall in love. Despite how happy he was, he missed his family so she let him return home. As long as he didn't tell anybody of the Land of Snakes. But because he spent so much time with her, he started to develop similar characteristics. She warned him not to bathe because water would expose his snake scales and his secret.
Years later, the king of the surface got sick, and the only way to get better was to eat Shahmaran's flesh. He made everyone take baths to see who knew about the Land of Snakes. When Tahmasp's secret was exposed, they made him take them to Shahmaran. When she was captured, she told them whoever ate her tail gained all wisdom and lived a long life. Whoever ate her head would die.
Her body was cut into three pieces, and it pretty much made Tahmasp suicidal. So he ate her head while the king ate her tail only for the king to die and Tahmasp gained all of Shahmaran's wisdom because it was in her head.
Gross. The eating her head part made me sick to my stomach. I know people can get pretty desperate when it comes to dying, but that was disgusting. In my opinion, this Tahmasp guy was a selfish douche for risking getting himself and Shahmaran exposed. If he hadn't left the Land of Snakes, he wouldn't have gotten caught and she wouldn't have been eaten. Not to mention, I wouldn't be in the postition I'm in now.
"So, basicially, because some guy got homesick and careless, I'm in this situation."
"Well, I wouldn't put it like that but yes."
"So, if she was half snake with a tail, how am I here?"
"It started out as Shahmaran's offspring were like her then they evolved over time."
"I could've had a tail?" I blurted.
"Not exactly. Think of it as human evolution only a tail was traded for legs." I blinked a few times. "You more or less evolved from having a tail to how Tahmasp looked after he was exposed."
"Well, why didn't you say that in the first place? Would've been better for me to understand."
The sun had already started going down on the walk back to town, so it was dark when I got home. I chalked it up to pure luck that I was able to walk back to my house with a snake while talking to said snake. Tombutoo and I still had a lot to talk about so we went out to the backyard.
"So, if this happened centuries ago, how do you know all of this?"
"How old do you think I am?"
"Well, considering the average lifespan of a king cobra is seventeen to twenty years, I'd say you're not much older than me."
"Keyword is 'average.' I'm no average cobra. I was just a hatchling at the time."
"Christ, you're old." I blurted.
I had to admit for his age, he looks pretty damn good. To be honest, I expected older snakes to be all wrinkley and sound like an old person. I guess being magic has it's perks.
"Tombutoo, why am I in this situation?"
"Because you're a descendent of Shahmaran. We just went over that. Pay attention."
"No. What happened that all this is what it is?" I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms around them. "Why is my family cursed?"
"Well, when Shahmaran was eaten, her snakes weren't happy that their queen became someone's dinner. When her next of kin rose, it became a tradition that whoever got bit would more or less avenge Shahmaran. Unfortunately, it has always ended in fatality, and no one has ever been able to break the curse."
"I'm cursed because a bunch of snakes have a grudge?"
"That's one way of putting it."
"No offense but that's kinda stupid. Holding a grudge for thousands of years is a little silly and very childish."
"Tahmasp was selfish and careless, and the king got greedy."
I shook my head at the stubborness of my ancestors. "So what do I have to do now?"
"You can start by eating better. We don't need you to get sick again." I nodded my head. "And another thing you should definitely do is tell Ryan."