29 - The Serpent Mistress

There was only one thing Kadru hated more than being disturbed while relaxing, and that was being disturbed by bad news.

“What do you mean, vanished?“

Adramelech swallowed audibly and repeated himself.

“The witch woman carrying the spawn of Zhemerkhet vanished during a magic show performance. No one knows where she’s disappeared to, but she’s no longer in Starlight Shores.”

“Then go find her, and bring back to me what is mine!”

“I, alone?” Adramelech asked. “It will be difficult. The woman will resist.”

“You may take Valafar to aid you in your search. And resist she may, but the beings of this planet are very frail creatures.  So easily broken, you know... not unlike useless djinn whose tasks end in failure.  Do not disappoint me, Adramelech. Now go!”

“Yes, Mistress Kadru.”

The two djinn exited the club, which should have left Kadru alone with her thoughts.  But she knew better.

“Still lurking in the shadows to eavesdrop, Baal?” Kadru directed her voice to a dark hall across the room. “I thought you’d outgrown such childish games.”

Kadru watched as a black shape detached itself from the shadows and Baal emerged from the darkness.

“Nah, I was just making sure you weren’t planning to send me off on your little errand,” Baal said lazily. “But one wonders how you managed to misplace one of your more valuable pets.  That isn’t like you, Mother.  Are you sure you’re feeling quite well?”

Kadru seethed inside, but showed no emotion.  Displays of emotion were a form of weakness and a hindrance to power. Her son’s obvious attempt to bait her into anger only proved his ambition was greater than his sense. He was nowhere near ready for leadership, she judged, and might never be. And he dared insinuate she was too weak to carry out this mission?

“Do you wish to call challenge on me now and discover that answer for yourself?”  Kadru asked mildly.

“Of course not, Mother,” Baal answered quickly. “I wouldn’t think of challenging the wisdom of your rule.”

Yet. The word hung heavy in the air between them, implied but unstated.

But Kadru did not begrudge her son his desire to supplant her.  Treachery kept their race strong and clever, weeding out weakness and sentimentality. After all, she had challenged and killed her own parent eons ago in her own bid for power. Such was the way of all Iblisans, an off-shoot branch of the alien race known as Biomancers.  But while Biomancers were known to this world for their frequent abductions and pollinations of humanity, the Iblisans’ presence and purpose here was still a secret to the inhabitants of the planet.  For now.

But soon, the world would know of Kadru Demoriel, Kadru the Serpent Mistress, Kadru the Iblisan... and despair.