Machina’s Royal Snakes: Living without fear among reptilian kin, by Zara Machina In the dry heat of northern Yobe, there lies Machina, an emirate where tradition answers to myth, and myth walks — quite literally — in the form of snakes. Here, serpents are not pests, nor symbols of terror. They are royalty. The story begins with a royal birth. Generations ago, a queen in Machina gave birth to twins: one human, the other a snake. The human stayed within palace walls; the snake, overwhelmed by the bustle of human life, slithered...