"So you were a princess then?" Ariana asked. "No." Davita answered. "How were you not considered a princess if your family was considered the most n.o.ble?" Ariana asked. "I was born different. My father accused my mother of cheating and giving birth to some sort of defect." Davita replied. "Were you an only child?" Ariana asked. Davita shook her head no. "Snakes give birth to multiples each time. Sometimes those children don"t survive but my mother was a snake from a lesser known n.o.ble section. However they were known for their amazing birthing ratio. So she was able to give birth to five other girls before my litter was born." Davita explained."Oh, giving birth to multiples... That sounds harsh." Ariana said with a scrunched up face. "Yes. When my litter came around my mother laid six eggs." Davita said with a small, sad smile. "Wow, so you have lots of siblings around your age then? Do they all look like you?" Ariana asked enthusiastically. "No. I was the only one who survived. The others didn"t hatch." Davita said sadly.
"Oh...." Ariana said as she dropped her gaze. "So what happened to the other eggs?" Ariana asked. "It is taboo to do anything with the eggs. We are supposed to burry them with our deceased family and pray they find their way to Vita our creator." Davita explained. "But?" Ariana asked. "But... My mother went mad fom being accused of cheating. She wasnted to save her life as infidelity is a taboo. If caught you would receive an immediate beheading as your punishment." Davita replied.
"What did she do?" Ariana asked as she swallowed back saliva. Her mouth had gone dry. "She opened each and every egg to show my father that she was faithful. Apparently the other five were all males and a beautiful shade of dark green." Davita said. "So your mom proved that she was faithful and her life was spared. You were just a rare phenomenon." Ariana said hopefully.
"Yes and no. My father still wanted to kill my mother for touching the eggs. He was angry and hated the fact that his boys died. I was considered a curse. My parents wanted my dead but my grandfather stepped in." Davita said softly like the memory wasn"t really her own but a story that she was trying to remember. "So your garandfather stopped your father?" Ariana asked. "Yes." Davita said with a firm nod.
"Then what happened?" Ariana asked. "Apparently my grandfather said I was a blessing. That his mother was born again. My great grandmother was a pearl snake, a rare breed that had died out years ago. She was kidnapped from her homeland and sold to the slave market. My great grandfather spotted her and fell in love at first sight. He ignored the words of his council and bought my great grandmother." Davita explained.
"So don"t you think that you looking like your great grandmother may have been the reason why your family couldn"t kill you?" Ariana asked. "Maybe... I actually don"t know for sure but my grandfather told me that my great grandmother"s homeland was destroyed when the pearl snakes were wiped out. That it was divine punishment from the jade dragon Vita for touching her most precious and loved offsprings." Davita said as she wrinkled her small snout.
"So your family was scared of the story?" Ariana asked. "It"s possibe but I was not a pure blood pear snake, I was an albino. If anything I think they were afraid of Vita mistaking me for a pearl snake. So when my grandfather pa.s.sed away. I was turned into a handmaid for my mother and siblings. They may have been too afraid to sell me to the market and treated me like dirt." Davita said. "The market?" Ariana asked in wonder.
"Yes the market where you can find anything and everything including snake meat." Davita replied. Her words sent a chill down Ariana"s spine. "So when you said the herbivores of this world ate meat in yours..." Ariana said slowy and cautiously too afraid to find out the answer. "Yes, it was rare that a snake would be sold to the market. Usually the lesser clans, like the pigs, the dogs, the cats and fish would do it so they could bring money into their homes. Sometimes you could find wolf, bear or tiger meat but the rare ones were what people wanted." Davita explained.
Ariana turned green. "There was even talk of breeders who owned property deep within the shadows of the market. They would hold animals there, breed them in captivity, they would never be educated, some were chained to keep their bones from becoming hard while others died from too much inbreeding or old age." Davita said in a low hissing voice. Ariana turned ghostly pale.
"Why did no one ever stop it?" Ariana asked as she grabbed her tea and took a sip, it had gone cold but she didn"t care she needed to wet her dry mouth. "Because the KIng of the entire nation loved to eat his meat, he loved lion meat the most while his daughter princess Momo loved snake meat." Davita said with a dark smile. "No that isn"t right. You had human like bodies, how could you eat one another?" Ariana asked desperately.
"That was they way of our world. Nothing was gong to change that. Well I thought nothing was going to change that until I finally met the person at the lake." Davita said a she produced a gentle smile. "Was he someone charming?" Ariana asked as she started to feel better. It seemed that Davita was starting to talk more now by her own violation and it was exciting to talk about a mysterious gentleman.
"Yes very charming, his smile was captivating his skin as so silky smooth and fair. His eyes were a beautful shade of black and his hair was just like yours. Black, wavy and soft to the touch." Davita said with a small sigh. "So what kid of animal was he to make you swoon o much for him? If he had hair was he a rare bread of lion or maybe a wolf?" Ariana asked.
Davita shook her head no. "He was the first man I had ever seen." Ariana looked confused. "Man?" She asked Davita. "Yes, he was human just like you."