The tension was taut enough to cut, yet as Arcan's words echoed with grim severity it was interrupted by a full-bellied laughter that came from the serpent herself. She cackled and wheezed, clutching her stomach with all the tact of a brick through a stained glass window, bending over like she had heard the funniest joke in the world.

[b][color=#38b000]"Well, look at that."[/color][/b] She said, not even hiding the venom in her words. The elder djinn hadn't been an endearing host. In fact, all this was breaking the unsaid rules of hospitality and such a knife cuts both ways. The itch to knock him down a peg wasn't something Verdant resisted. [b][color=#38b000]"It came back to haunt you at the least opportune moment."[/color][/b]

A feral grin split her visage like a gaping scar, filled with too many needle-sharp teeth for a human. Posture low and muscles tense, Verdant was more a serpent ready to spring than the little glutton that was her usual mask.

[b][color=#38b000]"None here are yours to claim, old thing."[/color][/b] She hissed harshly, scales sprouting across her face and the back of her arm, spreading down until a sinuous tail grew behind. [b][color=#38b000]"She'll not be a sacrifice to pay for your mistake."[/color][/b]