The Seeress of Kell

other reptiles particularly the venomous ones. This is considered the course of wisdom in the world of snakes.
    "It was not entirely your fault, Salmissra." Ezahh was also a snake, and he was also very polite. "I just wish there was some way to get the taste out of my mouth.”
    "I could send for a saucer of milk. That might help."
    "Thank you, Salmissra, but the taste of him might curdle it. What I'd really like is a nice fat mouse alive, preferably."
    "I'll see to it at once, Ezahh." She turned her triangular face around on her slender neck. "You," she hissed to one of the chorus of eunuchs kneeling in adoration at one side of the throne, "go catch a mouse. My little green friend is hungry."
    "At once, Divine Salmissra," the eunuch replied obsequiously. He jumped to his feet and backed toward the door, genuflecting at every other step.
    "Thank you, Salmissra," Ezahh purred. "Humans are such trivial things, aren't they?"
    "They respond only to fear," she agreed, "and to lust."
    "That raises a point," Ezahh noted. "Have you had time to consider the request I made the other day?”
    "I have some people looking," she assured him, "but your species is very rare, you know, and finding a female for you might take some time."
    "I can wait, if necessary, Salmissra," he purred. "We are all very patient." He paused. "I'm not trying to be offensive, but if you hadn't chased Sadi away, you wouldn't have to take the trouble. His little snake and I were on very good terms."
    "I noticed that on occasion. You might even be a father by now."
    The green snake slid his head out from under the throne and regarded her. Like all snakes of his kind, he had a bright-red stripe down his green back. "What's a father?" he asked in a dull, incurious tone.
    "It's a difficult concept," she replied. "Humans make much of it for some reason.”
    “Does any real creature care about the perverse peculiarities of humans?"
    "I certainly don't at least not anymore."
    "You were always a serpent at heart, Salmissra."
    "Why, thank you, Ezahh," she said in a pleased hiss. She paused, her restless coils rubbing dryly against each other. "I must select a new Chief Eunuch," she mused. "It's a bothersome thing."
    "Why trouble yourself? Select one at random. Humans are all alike, after all."
    "Most of them, yes. I’ve been attempting to locate Sadi, however. I'd like to persuade him to come back to Sthiss Tor."
    "That one is different," Ezahh agreed. "One might almost believe that he is somewhat akin to us."
    "He does have certain reptilian qualities, doesn't he? He's a thief and a scoundrel, but he still managed the palace better than anyone else has ever been able to. If I hadn't been molting when he fell into disgrace, I might have forgiven him."
    "Shedding one's skin is always a trying procedure," Ezahh agreed. "If you don't mind a bit of advice, Salmissra, you should probably make the humans stay away from you at those times."
    "I need a few of them around me. If nothing else, it gives me someone to bite."
    "Stick to mice," he advised. "They taste better, and at least they can be swallowed.”
    “If I can persuade Sadi to return, it may just solve both our problems," she hissed dryly. "I'll have someone to run the palace without bothering me, and you'll get your little playmate back."
    "Interesting notion, Salmissra." He looked around. "Is that human you sent out to fetch my mouse raising it from infancy?” be asked.
    Yarblek and Vella slipped into Yar Nadrak late one snowy evening just before the gates were closed for the night. Vella had left her lavender satin gowns at Boktor and had reverted to her traditional tight leather garb. Because it was winter, she wore in addition a sable coat that would have cost a fortune in Tol Honeth. "Why does this place always smell so bad?” she asked her owner as they rode through snow-clogged streets toward the riverfront.
    "Probably because Drosta let the contract for the sewer system out to one of his cousins." Yarblek shrugged, pulling the collar of his shabby felt coat up around his neck. "The citizens paid a great deal in taxes for the system, but Drosta's cousin turned out to be a better embezzler than he was an engineer. I think it runs in the family. Drosta even embezzles from his own treasury."
    "Isn't that sort of absurd?"
    "We have an absurd sort of king, Vella."
    "I thought the palace was over that way.” She pointed toward the center of town.
    "Drosta won't be in the palace at this time of night,"