Hive Queen

by Sinclair, Grayson

  “What?” I asked, nearly shouting at her. “What’s going on with Sam?”

  “I don’t care.”

  Reina rose from her chair and place a firm hand on my shoulder as I attempted to get out of bed.

  “Not so fast, Eris. We still have much to discuss.”

  I calmed down and checked over myself, making sure I was okay. It was then that I realized I was clean—and completely nude.

  “Where are my clothes?”

  “Ruined, given the giant hole in them. I’ll have some fresh ones brought in for you once we finish talking.”

  “Okay…what do you need to talk to me about?”

  She sat next to me on the bed, her body turned toward me. “You accomplished something I thought impossible for you. I was sure you were going to die at Misumena’s hands, but you surprised me and killed her instead. First and foremost, you have passed the trial and are worthy of the title Hive Queen. Even Aliria couldn’t defeat Misumena, though she was alone.”

  “So you’ll help us?” I asked.

  “We’ll see. It’s not in my nature to take sides before I know the stakes, but honestly, I’d rather support you than her. She was strong, but so cold. We value strength above all else, but strength must be equal to temperament, or we will follow the same path as the Hive of old.

  “You seem a far kinder queen, but also a far weaker queen.”

  My jubilation fell as she reached the end. I was happy to have even a modicum of her support, but I couldn’t deny the reality of the situation. I was weak. I’d known this, but now it was staring me in the face as an immutable fact.

  I nearly died. I was so close to death, and I could do nothing. If not for Evelyn, I would have perished. The life I’d built in such a short time was more precious to me than anything, and I’d almost let it slip through my fingers.

  That couldn’t happen again.

  “Reina, I have a favor I must ask of you.”

  Her smile deepened as she leaned ever so slightly closer to me. Her black widowed eyes glistened with interest. “You need my blessing.”

  I nodded. “How did you know?”

  “It’s obvious, and it was the first thing Aliria asked for as well, so I assumed.”

  I sat up on the bed, disregarding trying to cover myself with the sheet. It didn’t matter. “I need the Arachne’s blessing if I’m to get stronger. Will you give it to me?”

  Reina didn’t answer right away, instead she plucked a strand of her snow-white hair and twined it around her finger as she looked away and back again. Her eyes trailed hungrily over my skin, and when our eyes met, there was desire in hers.

  “Have you forgotten our ways? Favors are not given, they are bought.”

  “But I have noth─”

  Reina leaned swiftly, and before I realized how close she was, her lips pressed firmly against my own in a kiss.

  The suddenness along with the passion surprised me, and for a second, I lost myself in the need of another’s touch and returned her kiss. Reina’s lips were soft, her mouth willing as she ran her tongue across my mouth.

  Her hand went to my neck while the other cupped my breast. I moaned as her firm hand squeezed, taking my nipple between her fingers. As she pinched down, I let out a shuddering gasp at the slight pain.

  Reina pulled back a moment later, uncoupling our mouths with regret.

  “You have one thing,” she said a little breathless.

  I shook my head. “I can’t.”

  “Why?” She cocked her head to the side as she tapped a finger on her lip. “Because of your human?”

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  She scowled in annoyance, brushing her fingers over my hand that pulsed with the rapid beat of her heart. “I don’t understand why you would hold yourself to human standards when you are so far beyond them.”

  I frowned, folding my arms over my chest. “That’s not what I’m doing at all.”

  “Isn’t it?” she asked, blinking rapidly. “Tell me, do you find an issue with sharing a bed together?”

  “Well, no, but─”

  Her fingers silenced my lips as she smiled widely. “Then you are absolutely holding yourself to an ideal you don’t believe in to appease your human. You are the Hive Queen, yet you act like you have no power.”

  “Because I have very little…”

  Reina surged forward and grabbed me around the throat, her fingers gripped tight as fire filled her eyes. “If you have no power, then take what power you can. I’m offering you power. Take it. Or do you want to continue to be what I thought when you first appeared? A false queen?”

  I grabbed her wrist and forced her hand away. Reina was strong, like all of the Arachne, but she couldn’t match the strength of an entomancer.

  “I am the Hive Queen!”

  She gave me a fierce smile. “Then act like it.”

  Her face was so close to mine, and I wanted nothing more than her lips. Logic and desire took the fight from me. Reina came closer a second time and pressed her forehead to mine. Her lips barely touched my own before I pulled her into my embrace.

  ***

  “Do be sure to say goodbye to Tegen and Cheira. They’ve grown fond of you,” Reina said as she stood in the doorway. “You are free to enter and exit the Darkwoods at your leisure. You can even bring your human next time. I’m anxious to see the kind of man you decided to bind yourself to.”

  Then she left and I was alone with my conflicted thoughts.

  I sat on the edge of the bed with my head in my hands. Did I just ruin everything? I didn’t know. I loved Sam more than anything, but I didn’t always agree with him. I understood his ideals and respected them, but Reina was right. I wasn’t human, and I shouldn’t hold myself to them.

  But I also knew that what I’d done was a betrayal to Sam. I’d betrayed him, and that thought sickened me.

  I hope you’ll forgive me, my bonded, and that you’ll understand.

  Despite how I felt about it, I was undeniably stronger now. Reina’s blessing flowed through my veins and brought a new life to my limbs. It was powerful, but it might have cost me everything.

  Not a minute after she departed, there was a knock at the door, and russet-skinned man with long braided hair entered with a bundle of clothing. The man was familiar to me. I’d seen him with the commander.

  “Where is your bonded?” I asked.

  “He’s scouting the boundary of the forest, making sure everything is in order for your departure,” he said, laying the clothes at the foot of the bed. “Have a fair day, Hive Queen.”

  He left, and I dressed quickly. Reina had provided me with an outfit similar to the one she wore. It was a pair of tight, dark pants and a flowy tunic that left most of my upper chest bare without revealing anything. I dressed and left the room, trying to find my friends.

  The long wooden hallway was sparse. The only decorations were the covered oil lamps that provided light through the corridor. I rounded an corner and found Evelyn waiting for me.

  She looked over at me when I came barreling around the corner but didn’t move.

  “We need to talk, little queen. About what you saw in your Mnemosyne.”

  With what happened with Reina, I’d nearly forgotten what I’d seen, the sights I couldn’t fathom. I didn’t know exactly what I’d seen, but I knew one thing for certain. I just needed her to admit it.

  I settled on the wall next to her. “Tell me, Evelyn. I need to know. Are you human?”

  Her eyes fell from mine, and she sighed. Her usual calm aloofness faded away as her luminescent eyes stared at the ground.

  “Once. But that was a very long time ago.”

  Chapter 19 - Iron Bound

  Sampson

  I activated Chitin Shield, and the chitin on my left hand shifted, melting and reforming in the shape of a smooth concave circle on my forearm. I raised it as the frontrunner charged me, a long-haired blond with a trimmed beard. He raised his one-handed axe and brought it down. Its curved blad
e clanged against my shield and chipped a sliver from the chitin. I batted it aside as it struck and thrust with my sword.

  My blade slid though the side of his neck, nicking his carotid.

  He clutched his bleeding neck, but it wasn’t deep enough to kill him quickly. One hand gripped his neck as blood slipped through his fingers, and the other hefted his axe once more.

  I kicked his leg out from under him, and he stumbled back, landing on his ass. I raised my sword to finish him when the equivalent of a freight train took me off my feet.

  I flew into the air and got a glimpse at what had hit me. One of the dwarves was a mage and had used earth magic to turn the floor itself into a weapon. A jagged stalagmite rose a few feet from the ground.

  I rolled when I hit the ground, nearly clipping a pew as I stood. I shook off being flung and settled back into my stance as another dwarf charged me.

  The aubergine-faced man growled in anger as he thrust with his spear. I sidestepped, but he nicked my sword hand, and I dropped my weapon. I didn’t bother attempting to retrieve it. I shuffled into his space before he could whip his spear around and brought my shield down on the metal. Chitin met steel, and the inferior metal sheared under my strike.

  The dwarf dropped his spear and tried to regroup with his comrades. He’d made a mistake in engaging me and had put a row of pews between him and them.

  I had him.

  I lashed out with a clawed hand and sank my fingers deep into his face.

  The sharp chitin tore through flesh with ease until resistance met me as I hit bone, and then I forced my hand deeper. The frontal bone resisted as my fingers carved divots in the ivory. It held for as second before cracking under my strength. I broke through and sank my fingers into as much brain matter as I could get in my hands before I yanked it free.

  Half of his frontal lobe came, clutched in my claws as red blood and scraps of gray brain stuck to my chitin. His jaw hung slack as I pulled my hand from his pulped and ruined face.

  The dwarf tipped over as soon as my hand no longer supported him. Vile chunks of brain oozed out, and I shook the gore from my hands.

  I knelt and retrieved my sword before the blood reached it and leapt over the pews.

  They were too spread out for me to use Dance of the Immortal, and I’d added enough points to my battle fatigue that though I still had a lot of fight left in me, I didn’t know if I could take all five of them. Even counting the one whose neck I’d cut. They’d swarm me quickly.

  ‘”Let them. Slow time and devour them.”

  And how do I get out after I drop from maxing my fatigue?

  The Aspect shut up after that and left me to deal with the rest of them.

  I focused on the injured one. He would go down the quickest, and one less to deal with would only help me.

  He’d retreated, leaving a thick trail of blood on the floor along with his axe. He was currently trying to staunch the bleeding while the other four guarded him.

  “Who’s next?”

  Two of them flanked around me. One, a taller dwarf with dark hair and darker eyes, unstrapped a shield and hefted his sword at me. The other, one of the women, a blonde, wielded a bow staff comprised of shadowsteel.

  While devastating against unarmored and lightly armored opponents, her staff wouldn’t be able to generate enough force to crack my chitin, and it was flexible enough to distribute the impact so my brain wouldn’t turn to mush if she managed a lucky hit. My chitin, along with the leather and shadowsteel underneath meant I was relatively safe against her attacks. Which meant I discarded her as the immediate threat and dealt with the shield bearer.

  I quickened my pace and stepped to the side, keeping the dwarf with the shield between me and Bowstaff. He lunged with his sword while holding his shield tight. His blade aimed for the right side of my chest. I brought my shield to intercept it when he struck me in the hip with a surprise kick. I stumbled back, and his shield smashed straight into my chin.

  My head snapped back from the blow, and my ears rang. Bowstaff ran forward and used the back of Shielder as a springboard and leapt into the air. Her staff angled toward my head.

  She’d made a mistake, and I capitalized on it. In the air, you’re at the mercy of physics, and she couldn’t change her direction. I grounded myself and covered my head with my shield, raising my sword. Bowstaff tried to correct herself with her weapon, but it slipped off my shield, and my blade speared through her side. Shadowsteel met shadowsteel, but gravity was on my side, and her momentum pushed my sword through her armor and into her flesh.

  Her weight hit my shield and drove my blade deeper into her. She cried out in agony as my blade slid past a couple of her ribs and slid into her heart.

  Her eyes widened as I punctured her heart, and she coughed as blood splattered across my face. I dumped her corpse off my shield and stood, just as a sword hit me in the chest.

  Shielder had closed the gap me while I’d dealt with Bowstaff. His blade slid through my chitin, but thanks to my increased Durability, he didn’t have the strength to puncture my armor.

  As he gaped at the fact I wasn’t bleeding out, I pivoted to my left, breaking his grip on his sword. He’d left himself open to a counterattack, a sloppy move.

  I brought my own blade up to slice across his throat. He backed up, going for his neck, but I grabbed for his discarded weapon and jammed his sword through his nose and out the back of his head.

  He toppled to the ground, dead.

  I’d taken three of them, but I was tired. My battle fatigue rose quickly with the shield active, and it was over halfway full.

  The battle was only going to get harder as it wore on.

  The remaining three Chosen grouped by the open door.

  My target was the one whose throat I’d cut. He had a health potion in his hands, and I didn’t want him healing.

  I reached for the knife Thrayl gave me and realized I’d forgotten it back at the safehouse. Shit.

  Can I throw my shield?

  “What? No. What a stupid question. Who would want to throw a shield?”

  I snorted. Saw it in a movie once.

  “A what? Never mind, just go and devour them already!”

  With a curse, I canceled my shield. I couldn’t justify the added weight.

  The last female, an older dwarf with red hair shot through with gray, raised a hand and spoke a rolling incantation in Script.

  Can’t let her finish that spell!

  I changed my direction and went after her instead. Her eyes widened at my approach, but she kept up her chant as my sword arced toward her.

  A dwarf stepped in front of her and caught my attack with his two handaxes. He was the oldest of the six; age had weathered deep lines in his face and left too many streaks of white in his once-black beard.

  “You will suffer in agony for defiling our most sacred treasure!” he spat through gritted teeth.

  With a twirl of his wrist, the dwarf hooked the head of his axe on my quillon and tugged, taking my sword from my grasp. It hit the stone a few feet away and skidded to a halt underneath one of the pews.

  Fuck!

  I backed up as his twin axes cried out for my blood as they sailed toward me. I stepped back as the blades bit gently into the soft stone, scoring shallow grooves where my foot had been. The dwarf came back up with a snarl. I pivoted into a crescent kick, striking the head of his axe.

  It forced the axe aside, and his wrist buckled, sending the blade of the axe to his unprotected forearm, slicing a heavy gash across his arm. He cursed and dropped his axe.

  As it fell through the air, I dipped low and snagged it before it hit the ground. Now we both had a weapon, and the playing field was back in my advantage.

  The axe wasn’t my preferred choice, but I knew it better than most other weapons. I swung it light, as the dwarf sidestepped. He brought his axe overhead as he tried to go for my unprotected side, but I shifted on the balls of my feet and leaned back as steel passed two inches from m
y face.

  I clamped my left hand over his wrist to stop him from bringing his blade back up and sank my stolen axe deep into the nape of his neck.

  It didn’t behead him, but I’d at least severed his spinal cord, as he dropped lifelessly to the ground. I left the axe buried in its owner and quickly retrieved my sword from where it had landed. When it was back in my hand, I turned to face the mage. Our fight had taken less than a minute, but it had given the woman all the time she needed to complete her spell.

  A dark brown light flared from her hands as she grinned triumphantly.

  Low rumbling shook the earth as the spell took hold. A mass of rock and stone rose from the floor and formed a rough shape.

  It started as a massive blob, but within a second, it became humanoid with two legs, arms, and a head. The next second it had fully formed, and the stone golem stood silently, staring at me with empty sockets where its eyes should’ve been.

  The stone golem stood nearly ten feet tall, relatively thin compared to its size, reminiscent of an artist’s sketching mannequin. Craggy rock formed its skin and bald, faceless head as it lumbered towards me. Unlike Adam’s creatures, this golem was crafted from the earth, but it was animated solely by mana.

  I had to destroy it or the caster to get rid of the golem.

  It raised a heavy fist and brought it toward my head. I threw myself into a roll as it sailed past me, landing heavily on the stone floor and cracking the slate into dozens of pieces. I came out of my roll and sliced its leg with my blade.

  I hewed a thin groove from it as my shadowsteel ripped through the rock, but as soon as I brought my sword back, the rock shifted. My slice faded as liquid rock dripped from its chest and repaired the minuscule damage I’d done.

  “Well, fuck.”

  It kicked me in the chest, and I went flying. I landed a few feet away when my back crashed into a pew.

  Damn, it’s faster than I gave it credit for. New plan, then. I wasn’t going to destroy the golem, not without Aura of the Antimage. And if I used Dance, I’d have solved my immediate problem, but I’d be helpless after, and I wasn’t that desperate yet.