Kael didn't let go. Instead, he tightened his grip on Syris' hand until his knuckles turned white, staring dead into the Snake King's amethyst eyes.
"I will never leave Ren's side," Kael declared, his voice low and vibrating with intensity. "She will become the Queen of the White Tiger Clan, and I will be her loyal guard. I will go anywhere she goes. I will follow her to death's door itself. And if she walks through it, I will follow her there too."
He leaned in, his golden eyes burning.
"And you, Snake, will just have to live with it."
Syris glared back, his own grip tightening until their handshake looked more like a contest to see whose bones would shatter first.
"She doesn't need a guard," Syris hissed, his forked tongue flicking out in agitation. "And she is already my Queen. The Queen of Snakes. She does not need a ruined, broken clan dragging her down. You should all just accept your fate and die out with some dignity."
"Stop being so unreasonable," Kael gritted out.
