Hive Queen

by Sinclair, Grayson

  It was a modest dwarven two story, though I was hoping Orryn’s comment meant it would be spacious inside, but it was nondescript, nothing that would distinguish it from any of the other houses on the street. The roof was flat rather than slanted, and I was betting it had a roof hatch so we could escape if needed.

  Orryn walked up the steps to the front door, which was nothing but a thick slab of stone, and spoke a few words in Script. The stone slid under the ground and revealed a quaint entryway. He motioned us inside and followed behind us, raising the stone slab with his magic once more.

  “I have no clue if either of you can use earth magic, but there are a few scrolls etched with the spell next to the door. Bath is upstairs, but there’s limited hot water, just letting you know.”

  I gave the place a once-over, just making sure we were alone. It was unequivocally dwarven, with a lot of stone furniture and plenty of furs and blankets draped over everything. Wood was a luxury Copper Lowtown couldn’t afford, so they made do.

  “Thank you. I’m assuming the rest of our supplies will be provided?” Raven asked.

  Orryn nodded. “I’ll bring them by tomorrow.”

  With those parting words, he departed, leaving us alone in the quiet stone house. Before we’d really taken a step inside, a loud grumble caught my attention. I glanced over at Raven, whose cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

  “Sorry.”

  “You hungry?”

  She shook her head. “It can wait.”

  I could eat. Been awhile since I had dwarven cooking. I snagged a scroll by the door and waved her over. “Let’s grab some food. I know a good place. Do you have any dress clothes?”

  Raven nodded. “In my bag.”

  I pulled it out and mine at the same time. “Good. Let’s get dressed and head to Hightown. It’s rather expensive, but with Magnus paying, we’ve got plenty of money.”

  She didn’t put up a fight, and we quickly threw on our clothes. Thanks to Magnus, I had plenty of perfectly tailored outfits and chose one at random. It was black, with light gold around the collar, and hugged my frame nicely. Raven wore a variation on the black dress she’d had on earlier in the day, though this one was more modest, only hinting at her upper chest without dipping down.

  When we were both suitably presentable, I led her up, back through the miles of winding staircases, stopping only briefly at each landing so we wouldn’t sweat and stain our nice clothes. It took about an hour, and we were both famished by the time we found our way to The Oak Door.

  A single-story stone building with gold trimmed tile for the roof, as its name suggested, the entrance housed a massive, incredibly detailed door made from solid oak. It was a testament to how profitable the restaurant was that they could even afford the wood.

  We stepped inside and were immediately warmed by the roaring fire in the fireplace by the host stand. An immaculate dwarf in a simple black suit inclined his head to us. “Two?” he asked, holding up two fingers.

  I nodded, and he escorted us to our table and brought crystal glasses with ice-cold water and stood at attention as we settled in our chairs.

  “We have several dishes on the menu tonight, sir and madam.”

  He proceeded to list off the meals we could order, but as he listed the third, I knew that’s exactly what I wanted.

  “I’ll have the brown butter-basted steak,” I said, trying not to salivate.

  “The same,” Raven replied.

  “Excellent choice. It’s one of my favorites,” the dwarf said. “Might I recommend a dry red to pair with your meal? The tannins in the wine help bring a near perfect balance with the meat.”

  I wasn’t much of a wine person, but the conviction in which the dwarf spoke left no room for debate.

  “That would be lovely.”

  “I’ll bring your drinks out right away,” he said and departed.

  Raven looked around the room and then back to me. “I have to admit, this is a nice restaurant. Cozy.”

  “Expensive, but the meal will be well worth it.”

  I folded my hands together and glanced at Raven, who had a peculiar expression on her face. I opened my mouth to speak but quickly closed it as the silence stretched. Well, this is awkward. I spent the whole trip distancing myself from her, but now I can’t even make polite conversation. Even if she’s a shifter, I can suffer through a single meal with her, at least.

  “So how long have you been working for Magnus?” I finally managed to eke out.

  “Working?” she scoffed. “Nice way to say ‘slavery,’ but to answer your question, about five years now.”

  I shrugged. “Would you call it slavery if you willingly put yourself in that position? No one forced you to sign your life away to the Alice,” I began but stopped, my mouth strangling the rest of the sentence before it could spill out. I threw up my hands. “Fuck, I really can’t have a civilized conversation with you, can I?”

  Raven was about to respond when the waiter returned with our drinks and an open bottle of red wine.

  “Enjoy,” he said and departed.

  I picked up my glass and drained it quickly, barely tasting the hints of cassis and plum as it swirled over my tongue. Raven did the same with hers, and as she finished her drink, she laughed.

  “It’s okay. I hate myself too, if it matters, but how about, for this dinner, you forget I’m a shifter, and I forget you’re an asshole, and we just pretend we enjoy each other’s company?”

  I laughed louder than I meant and quickly covered my mouth as several of the nearby tables turned in my direction. Raven lit up in surprise at my sudden outburst. Her eyes widened, and her mouth lifted in a genuine smile, the first I’d seen on her.

  It made her glow, and for a second, I did forget that she was a shapeshifter. She was just Raven in that instant, and I couldn’t fight the smile that crawled over my lips.

  But reality set in, and the moment passed.

  My smile fell, but Raven’s lingered for a moment longer. Our food arrived a short while later, and we both dug in, while discussing meaningless things as we stumbled our way into a facsimile of polite conversation.

  We finished our meal, polished off the entire bottle of wine, and half another.

  Nothing was waiting for either of us back at the safehouse, so I thought why not stay and enjoy the atmosphere? We both lingered, the wine helping to make us forget what we were here to do.

  After the booze had safely settled, I paid and left a generous tip for the helpful dwarf, and we headed back to Lowtown.

  The two of us had had enough to drink that by the time we made it back to the house, we were a little tipsy.

  Raven plopped down on the couch when we got inside and lay out on the furs. “Hey, this is actually pretty comfortable,” she said, sitting back up.

  “Yeah, the dwarves know what they’re doing when it comes to stonework. They just can’t do much about the cold.”

  “Speaking of, a bath sounds amazing. Care to join me, husband?” she asked, her words ever so slightly slurred.

  “Pass, and don’t call me that. You’re not my wife.”

  “You miss her, don’t you?” Raven asked, sliding from the couch and standing.

  “More than I ever thought I would.”

  She walked over to me and stared at me, her head cocked to the side ever so slightly. “You don’t seem the type, honestly. To settle down and get married.”

  I chuckled and went to the kitchen, where a crude stone refrigerator stood in the corner. Half a dozen frost stones embedded in the stone chilled it to nearly freezing, and Orryn had stocked it with plenty of beer and spirits. I grabbed a glass bottle and unstopped it, taking a sip.

  “I wasn’t. But Eris didn’t care. She bulldozed into my life and gave me something I didn’t know I needed.”

  “And what was that?” she asked, holding out her hand for a beer.

  I reached back in and pulled one out for her, reaching across the small dining table to hand it to her. “Acce
ptance.”

  Raven took a long pull of her drink, eyeing me with a smirk the entire time. “Isn’t that what everyone is looking for?”

  I shrugged and drained the rest of my beer. “Not sure about everyone else, but I damn sure didn’t think I’d ever find it.”

  “I accept you, knight,” the Aspect said with a smirk.

  “Oh, shut up,” I growled.

  Raven furrowed her brows, blinking rapidly. “What’d I say?”

  I grabbed another beer. “Wasn’t talking to you.”

  She threw up her hands and crossed a leg over the other on the couch. “Then who?”

  I blew out a breath and set the beer on the stone table. You want to answer that?

  “With pleasure.”

  The Aspect slithered into my head, bringing a blizzard to my thoughts. My head jerked to the side as I worked my jaw around. “He was talking to me,” the Aspect said, its dark, sibilant voice a harsh echo of my own.

  Raven gasped, dropping her half-empty beer. It shattered on the floor as her hand went to her mouth. “What the fuck?” she whispered.

  My head snapped round to stare at Raven. “He certainly has issues with you. Doesn’t exactly trust you. Though he has little room to judge, he traded away a part of himself for power too. To save his queen, he made a deal with me.”

  “What are you?” Raven asked, standing up.

  We moved across the room in a flash to stand over her. “Thirsty.”

  I shook my head, forcing the Aspect out. “That’s enough, Aspect. Back off.”

  It left me, and I sagged down to the couch, running a hand through my hair, pulling the hair tie out and letting my hair cascade around me, blocking me from having to look at Raven. After a moment, I realized I didn’t have to stay here. I got up and made for the stairs.

  Raven stepped to me and pushed me against the wall. “Oh, no. You don’t get to walk away after dumping that on me. I want you to explain, right now.”

  I glared at her. “Who are you to command me?”

  “Your partner,” she said jabbing her finger into my chest, her crimson eyes slightly glazed. “Now what did it mean, it’s thirsty?”

  She kept prodding me with her finger, and my rage broke free. I pushed off the wall and threw her against it, my hand closing around her pale throat. “It wants you. The monster in my head wants to eat you, wants me to gorge on your blood while I take you.”

  I must’ve sounded like a lunatic. Raven’s eyes went wide for a second before she blinked, long and slow. “Then why don’t you?” she asked, her voice no more than a whisper as she wrapped a hand around my wrist.

  “Because I’m in control, not it. It’s my head, and I will not let it make choices for me.”

  Her radiant eyes stared into mine for what must have been only a second but seemed like an eternity. Then she blinked and time reasserted itself. “So it wants my blood and my body?”

  “Mostly the blood,” I said, nodding.

  I realized my hand was still around her neck, and I eased my grip, but Raven’s hand grew tense around my own and stopped me from withdrawing it. She squeezed my hand hard, curling my fingers tight around her flesh once again.

  “What are yo─“

  “I was given very specific instructions. Magnus told me to do as you said, to be at your disposal. He meant for the job, and I understood. But Aliria took me aside and told me to seduce you if I could.”

  Raven sighed. “I didn’t want to, but I had no choice but to agree. Though it seemed you had no interest in me, which I was thankful for. You hate me, I understand. As I told you earlier, I hate myself too, but if we’re going to work together, we need to trust each other. If your monster wants my blood—” She rose her free hand up, a sharp, black talon elongating from her fingernail. She sliced a groove in her neck in a flash, and a thick drip of blood welled up before spilling down her collar, “—then it can have it.”

  Her hand stopped me from pulling away as she smiled and twisted her neck, baring the blood to me as it slithered over our fingertips.

  Rust and iron filled the air, and I sniffed, drawing the scent in. The scent of blood filled my nostrils and coated the back of my throat. And the Aspect followed it. It flowed from my chest, bringing the frigid tide in its wake. It crept to my head, and I could do nothing to stop it.

  “Finally! I was right. Her blood smells delightful.” It spoke aloud, curling my lips into a gruesome smile.

  My teeth ached and shifted in my mouth. The sharp canines dug at my lips, and the Aspect opened my mouth wide. Raven relaxed as she looked into my eyes and brought her neck closer to me.

  I couldn’t stop the overwhelming ache of hunger boiling in my stomach, nor the irresistible urge to sink my teeth into her flesh. I bent low, no longer sure who was in control and graced the tips of my teeth across Raven’s skin.

  She shuddered at my touch, her hands going from her neck to my waist as she pulled me closer. I sank my teeth into her flesh, and she moaned softly, her warm voice tickling my ear as she cried out. Ruby-red life burst like a dam and poured down my throat in a rush. Her blood was indeed sweet. It filled me with a warmth, and I greedily drank it in.

  The Aspect made its approval known and greedily slaked its thirst.

  For a single moment, I was in the room with her as she grew ever more heated as I drank her blood, then my vision swam, and my mind fell into darkness.

  It was less jarring this time around as I entered the Mnemosyne. I was suddenly standing in a small town with a great expanse of forest in the distance. I recognized the variety of trees; they were the towering trees that filled the Emerald Ocean, which housed the elven kingdom of Yllsaria. There were only a few human towns on the edge of elven territory, which made the village either Rodale or Siltfall.

  It was a modest town, brightly lit by the light of the sun. No house or building was over a single story. Most of the houses were well-built log cabins, but a few of them were worn and falling apart. A young girl stood before me, carrying a heavy basket filled with carrots and potatoes. Her thin white shirt and brown canvas pants were strewn with dirt, but she held a smile on her face as she walked.

  Her skin was darker, her midnight hair a little lighter in the bright sunshine, and her gray eyes had yet to be blooded, but it was still Raven.

  She was younger here, not quite a woman yet. She walked carefree, her lips whistling a tune I couldn’t hear. She reached a dirt crossroad and turned left, heading to one of the older and worn houses beside the street. A man was on the porch, sitting in a chair with a piece of straw sticking out of his mouth. He was older, deeply tanned skin from years of working outside, but he had a kind face, and there was a hint of Raven in his eyes. He smiled widely when he saw Raven walking up the street. The straw slipped from his mouth as he stood and met her halfway.

  When he reached her, he took the basket and knelt, smiling down at his daughter. Joy radiated from her eyes as her father praised her.

  An arrow fired from somewhere beyond my sight pierced her father’s neck.

  Blood splattered across Raven’s face, and her look of joy fell to horror and panic. She turned toward the direction of the arrow, and her mouth gaped. A group of bandits rose from the trees and fell upon the town like a plague.

  Raven had no time to mourn her father as he crumpled to the ground and soaked the earth with his blood. She ran, ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She ran to a well in the center of town and clung to the rope as she slid down it. Raven stopped just before she touched the water, leaning heavily on a small rocky outcropping. Water licked at the hem of her dress, and her hands bled, soaking into the rope she clung so desperately to.

  Time sped up as she hid in the well; minutes flowed to hours, which flowed into days. She stayed down there for two days, making as little noise as possible until the bandits topside had ransacked the entire village and fled.

  After the two days, she weakly hauled herself back up the well, ripping open the scabs on her hand
s in the process. As she climbed out of the well, we both got a good look at the carnage that had been wrought by the bandits.

  Bodies lined the streets, left to rot where they died while most of the buildings were broken, doors and windows splintered while a few were set ablaze, and now were nothing but smoldering blackened wrecks.

  Tears slid down her cheeks as she stared blankly at the destruction.

  The scene faded out as I stared at Raven crying. Her face gave way to darkness as I waited for the next memory to play.

  Must’ve been the Rodale raid that happened eight years ago. Whole village was wiped out by Hal’s clan. Though from what I heard, he got what was coming to him.

  Light faded in out of nowhere and brought me to the next memory.

  Raven appeared in a grove surrounded by lush grass and flowers that bloomed every shade of the rainbow. Raven was a few years older here, leaner. There was a hard set to her chin, and some of the light had dimmed in her eyes. She had the stare that only came with great loss. One I saw every day in the mirror.

  She stood in the center of a perfect circle of death cap mushrooms, the white capped fungus forming a faery circle. The mushrooms glowed with a soft blue light, and suddenly Raven wasn’t standing in forest anymore.

  She was in a rooftop garden, atop a white stone castle. Sunlight bathed the garden in brilliance, and Raven stepped out of center of the faery circle to a smooth stone walkway that led to an archway, which held two soft, rosewood doors. Raven stepped through them and into an expansive throne room.

  Raven followed the path, and in under a minute, she stood before a throne made of white marble with brilliant red cushions.

  On the throne was a girl, no more than eight years old by appearance. She still wore the softness of childhood in her thin features. Her burgundy hair spilled fine wine down her back and over her translucent dragonfly wings, which cast rainbows over the stone. Her ocean-water eyes threatened to drown Raven as she knelt before the queen of the faeries.

  The Alice wore a slender, white strapless dress and leaned heavily on the armrest as boredom played across her face. She gave Raven a once-over and motioned for her to speak. Raven looked up and spoke with pleading eyes. She continued for a few minutes, before she stopped. The Alice sat up straight and spoke a few words before Raven nodded once more.