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Bella could not move, petrified with fear, until, all at once, she felt her legs suddenly seize up, properly paralyzed. She began to thrash her body as she could, but her legs would not respond, and suddenly became consumed by prickles and tingles. Unknown by her, they were melding together from the tops down beneath her dress, and becoming completely covered in emergent orange and golden scales. She would have screamed if she could. At last, she lay in the cart, drawing in deep gasps of air, a long, scaled tail stretching twenty feet forward, twitching sporadically as it became used to its own existence. Saa, still watching, said, "I would not have exxxxpected sssuch sssilenccce during the procccessss. Are you... voicccelessss?" She had no idea how to respond, for more reasons than one, and indeed, with the state her body was in, couldn't, also for more reasons than one. His eyes flashed. "How very... ssssnakelike of you. It isss clear thisss union isss meant to be." Bella - or Ishi, as Saa quickly begins to call her - is initially unable to do anything except what she is told, as Saa leads her to his palace at the heart of the forest. It is filled with snakes, and though Fred had never particularly feared such creatures, seeing the writhing mass leaves Ishi pale. Saa conducts some ceremony which is apparently tantamount to marriage. Ishi is completely helpless. Afterwards, Saa explains to her that, given a few months or years, she will learn how to alter her form from snake to human and back. He also talks about his intention to populate the forest with many more nagas.
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