Araneae Nation: The Complete Collection

by Hailey Edwards

“I protect my investments.” His frown hinted that I should know this. “There are Mimetidae guarding the border Cathis shares with Titania now. A word from Hishima and they can be his.”

  It choked me to be polite. “Thank you for that.”

  “Don’t thank me. My mercy is conditional.” He pointed at me. “Remember that.”

  “Vaughn.” Mana touched his arm. “If she ran from him, there must be a reason.”

  “I agree.” He flashed his teeth. “That means he will be eager to get her back.”

  “You aren’t interested in what made her leave?” Murdoch asked, leaning against the wall.

  “She ought to be thankful I’m willing to overlook her indiscretions in exchange for smoothing this transaction between our clans.” Vaughn shared a look with Mana. “Fine. Murdoch, have something brought up for Kaidi. She can eat while we talk. A bath can wait. She’s gone this long without one.”

  “Thank you.” Mana pressed a kiss to his lips.

  “Think nothing of it.” The smile he cast me was one of pure calculation. “I’m sure her betrothed is concerned with her whereabouts, and he will be comforted to learn Kaidi is under our protection and enjoying our hospitality.”

  Panic swelled in my chest until I thought for certain it would burst. Hishima would come for me. Despite whatever reservations he might have over the cost of hiring the Mimetidae, he could afford them, whatever Vaughn’s price. Few things outstretched Hishima’s reach if he wanted to possess them badly enough. I ought to know. I was once a clueless girl crushed within his grasp.

  Chapter 3

  Stabbing pain woke me. Blinking into the morning light, I groaned when I spotted Murdoch looming over me. He jabbed me again with his finger until my vision cleared. “Are you hungry?”

  I yawned. “It depends.”

  “On how stubborn you are?” He rubbed his bruised face. “Your stomach growled from the time you crawled into my bed last night until I woke you just now. Do you want food or don’t you?”

  Though my pride tempted me to say no, my treacherous stomach grumbled in answer for me.

  His gaze dipped to my navel. “At least some part of you is honest.”

  “You’re a very rude male.” Not my wittiest retort, but gods it was early.

  He rolled his shoulders. “I find my manners reflect those of the company I keep.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from commenting on the quality of his companions.

  “Wait here,” he ordered, as if I had a choice. He spared me one last glance. “I’ll return soon.”

  “Take your time.” I would savor being free of his watchful eyes.

  He paused with a foot over the threshold and a palm gripping the door. “I don’t like the way you’re smiling.” His gaze slid over the room, as if he hoped to see what I did. “Behave yourself.”

  “I always do.”

  “If that’s the case,” he said in parting, “then why have I yet to see it?”

  Once his footsteps faded, I allowed myself a real smile. “I can’t show you all my tricks yet.”

  Hard raps on the door rang through the room. “Can’t keep your mouth shut, either.”

  Crushing my eyes closed, I rolled onto my back. Figured he would wait outside the door and see what mischief I was up to. I pictured him stomping his feet with a smirk on his face, so sure I would do something foolish and he would be there to catch me in the act. Well I had, and he did. His slyness and wit did not endear him to me. I was feeling less guilty for his wound all the time.

  If he kept taunting me, I might be tempted to give him a matched set.

  I’m not sure how long I lay there, gazing at his ceiling, before sleep snagged my ankles and dragged me down into slumber.

  My respite was short-lived.

  Shooting pangs between my shoulder blades sent me rolling across the mattress in the hope I might escape the latest in a catalogue of twinges earned after a night with my arms and legs tied in awkward poses. Burying my face in the soft quilt beneath me, I screamed out my frustrations.

  “Should I come back later?”

  The sound of Murdoch’s voice made me pop my head up so quickly, I wrenched what must have been the last untwisted section in my back. As the familiar sting from pulled muscle set in, I forced myself onto my side so that I stared up at my captor, who appeared too occupied with the rise and fall of my breasts to notice when I bent my knees, a smile of retribution curving my lips.

  When his focus shifted from the bunched neckline of my shirt, which had ridden down while I slept, to my mouth, I froze. His gaze slid down the length of my body, over my legs, to my feet.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He eased three steps out of my reach.

  “You wouldn’t have to.” I flopped like a salmo out of water. “You’re free to do as you like.”

  “Most Araneaeans are until they break the law.” His even voice grated on my ears.

  I mustered up my most commanding tone. “Get out.”

  He tilted his head. “I didn’t see it at first, beneath all the gore and mud, but there is a maven under that mop of hair, isn’t there? Were you taught from birth how to affect that imperial tone?”

  My chin shot up before I could stop myself. “I am not a maven, and I do not sound imperial.”

  “If I had been standing any closer, that pointed chin of yours would have gouged out my eye on its way up.” His bark of laughter surprised me. “Has your paladin seen this side of you? Or is that vicious streak what attracted him to you in the first place? He must like living dangerously.”

  “Says the Mimetidae during a plague,” I mocked. “Does that yellow pus weeping from the corpses better their flavor? Is it sweet or savory? Do tell me, have you ever gone to bed hungry?”

  His hand flashed out, fisting my shirt and hoisting me upright. “I have gone months with my stomach touching my spine, and I have slept with my gut full of the male I once raised a hand in greeting to every morning for ten years when he lived across from me. I have known hunger your kind can’t fathom, Maven. I have seen things that still dance behind my eyelids after they close.”

  Head swimming from the rush of being forced upright, I met his gaze. “Well, so have I.”

  He studied me for long moments while my temples throbbed. “I almost believe you.”

  Snorting, I had no one but myself to blame for that. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t.” He turned and headed for his bureau. “Not if it flies past your lips.”

  Metal scraped in front of him. His shoulders bunched in a sawing motion.

  “What are you doing?” Had Vaughn decided to torment rather than trade me after all?

  “Don’t work yourself into a lather.” He glanced back at me. “You wanted food, remember?”

  My eager stomach clenched when I glimpsed the platter before him.

  “What is that?” I saw eggs, a chunk of roasted meat and rolls smeared with honey.

  “I assume you mean the meat?” He shook his head. “It’s lepus. See?” He took a bite, and my fingers curled into my palms. “It’s safe to eat.” He chewed and swallowed as my mouth watered.

  “Your endorsement hardly counts.” I envied the flex of his jaw. “You’d eat it regardless.”

  “True.” He lifted a roll to his nose, inhaling the freshly baked scent before biting down.

  If he moved any closer, I would have been tempted to lick the honey from his chin, to suckle his fingers and lap at his palm until I cleaned him of the sheen of grease turning me lightheaded.

  His fork clattered to the plate. “It’s dangerous to stare at a male that way.”

  No. Dangerous was eating in front of a ravenous female. “Take your meal elsewhere.”

  He tore a hunk of bread and popped it into his mouth. “Was that an order, Maven?”

  “I’m not a—” I clamped my mouth shut. “Is this some new form of torture?”

  After breaking open the remainin
g bun, he situated a sliver of roasted lepus in the center and folded his meal in half. “What are you blathering about now? You aren’t being tortured, Maven.”

  “Forcing me to watch you eat?” While I salivated, he gulped down the remaining contents of his plate. He hadn’t saved me a bite. Not one forkful. Even the juices he sopped up with his roll. Instead of caving to despair, I imagined the one thing I counted on to ruin my appetite on days when the best supper I could forage on the road was grass and muddy water.

  I pictured my favorite cousin, Maier, as she had been in life. Tall. Graceful. Periwinkle eyes reminiscent of her father’s. With her hair brighter than rays of sunlight, so like my aunt’s. The torturous ache swelled my throat shut, shattering the comforting illusion with how I saw her last.

  Rain battered my cheeks, mingled with my tears as I knelt between stones, each etched with the name of a family member. Gone. The plague ripped them all from my grasp. My mother. My sisters. My cousins. My aunts. My nieces. Reaching out, I touched a chill tomb, traced the names I would never speak again. Dropping my face into my hands, I wept until my voice went hoarse.

  “Help.”

  I sucked in a breath and held it.

  “Help me.”

  Fingers trembling, I peered between my knuckles.

  A dozen steps away, a pale hand shot from the ground, fingers clawing at the moonlight.

  Hope set my pulse hammering. I slid through muck and grasped the icy hand. Dainty fingers wrapped around mine, yanking with supernatural strength. Her desperation to be freed left me mired in dreck. I was sinking into the mud faster than I could scoop it. Sludge squished through my hands as I discovered an elbow, clasped a shoulder. Picked slush from an ear, a nose, and then a gaping mouth. With the head cleared of muck, I stared into a face I never expected to see again.

  Mud turned her hair stringy, clay dyed it red. Her eyes were milky white and empty, her skin stained. The plague had left her cadaverous. Her nails were jagged from digging out her grave.

  “Maier,” I breathed her name.

  Her head cocked to one side, and she lifted her other hand skyward. “Help me.”

  “I’m here now.” I ran my palm over her hair. “It’s all right. I’ll take you home.”

  She planted her palms on the ground and grunted, pushing until her knees cleared the slush. She flung her head back and issued a keening cry that broke my heart. Then she backhanded me. Blood exploded in my mouth as I flew backward. While I lay wheezing on the ground, she raised her hand to strike again. Before she swung, a low buzz began vibrating my teeth until they throbbed.

  Then it occurred to me…if Maier’s mouth had been buried, then who had cried for help?

  “Lepus turns chewy if you let it get cold.”

  I shivered free of the past. “What?”

  Murdoch wiped his mouth with a crumpled scrap of fabric. “Are you eating or aren’t you?”

  My stomach tightened at the memory of Maier’s emaciated face. “No.”

  Carrying a plate to the bed, he sat beside me and speared a hunk of meat. He pressed against my lips when my mouth stayed shut. Steam rose to tickle my nostrils. I coughed and dry heaved.

  “My nephew knows that trick too.” Murdoch pinched a roll and held it out for me. “He used it when his mother cooked a meal he didn’t like. Though he sticks a finger down his throat first.”

  Being compared to an unruly child tempted me to act like one, but if I opened my mouth, he would stuff it full of roll. Instead, I ignored him in favor of the hall. He’d left the door open, and I had a view of the room across the way. Leaned against its frame was Lleu, who blew me a kiss.

  “Don’t encourage him.” Murdoch rose, stalked across his room and slammed the door in his friend’s face. “He’s worse than a case of fleas and twice as hard to get rid of. Trust me. I know.”

  Since he stood across the room, it seemed safe enough to say, “I want no male’s attention.”

  “Then you’re doomed to a life of disappointment, because no male will ever pass you by and not take a second look, or a third if he thinks you didn’t notice the first two.” He watched for a reaction. It satisfied me not to show him one. “Now. When I asked you if you were eating or not, what I meant was—are you feeding yourself or am I shoveling it in for you? My orders are to get food down your gullet, then escort you to the maven’s quarters for a bath and change of clothes.”

  He leaned down and offered me the same bite of bread. Despite the unease churning my gut, I snatched the morsel from him with my teeth, gulping it whole. “Untie me and I’ll feed myself.”

  Murdoch wiped the edge of my mouth with his thumb. “I’m going to regret this.”

  Setting me free? Yes. I would make sure of it.

  I wobbled like a filly on unsteady legs, my hands braced on the walls to either side of me. It took three times as long to reach Mana’s room as it would have if I had accepted Murdoch’s arm, but I was tired of being dependent on him. I was ready to stand on my own. He made no comment as I crept down the hall, just trailed after me, barking orders at any who came too close or stared too long at me. Ah. So this was how one treated mavens in Cathis. I couldn’t say I cared for it.

  It must drive Mana insane to have a path cleared for her when she would rather blaze her own.

  When at last I reached the end of the hall, Murdoch sidestepped me and rapped his knuckles on the door. It swung open to reveal a fresh-faced Mana. Steam poured from the room, the scent of lavender billowing past her to perfume the hall. Her pink cheeks stretched in a smile.

  “Your timing is excellent.” She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Your bath is ready.” She gestured toward an enormous metal tub perched on clawed feet. “Come in, come in.”

  Murdoch grasped my arm, and I snapped at him, “You can’t believe I would hurt her.”

  “You would do whatever necessary to escape being part of Hishima’s welcome party.”

  He had me there. “I’m in no condition to run, and I have no weapons left.” Thanks to him.

  “While I’m relatively certain of the former, I don’t buy the latter for a minute.” He looked to Mana. “One of us has to search Kaidi. She’s clever with her weapons, and she can’t be alone with you until I know she’s unarmed.”

  Mana was already shooing him. “I’ll handle it.”

  “I won’t leave until it’s done, Maven.” His grip on me tightened.

  As if realizing all her precious steam was escaping, she dragged Murdoch into the room and me along with him. She pointed toward a stool tucked in the far corner. “You, go sit. Back facing the tub.” He followed orders without complaint. “Now, Kaidi, let’s get you out of those clothes.”

  Though I had shared a bathing room with Mana before, it was only now occurring to me that she ought to have a servant for such hard labor. Even with the lack of females, Mana was maven.

  Doubt trickled in, and I wondered if our cozy privacy wasn’t meant to foster sharing secrets.

  But I was so sore and stiff, my clothes so filthy, I appreciated her helping hands. I doubted I could have lifted my arms over my head and removed my shirt or bent to tug my pants down my legs or yanked the muddy boots from my swollen feet myself. Without the weight of those bleak clothes, I almost felt…normal. For a moment, I pretended I was the old Kaidi, visiting my friend.

  Except the old Kaidi would never have ventured inside Cathis. She had better sense.

  “Here.” Mana took my elbow. “Let me help you.”

  “Thanks.” Leaning against her, I was able to crawl into the tub and sink beneath the water. I surfaced with a moan. “I forgot how fresh a bath makes you feel, sparkling from the inside out.”

  When Mana didn’t reply right away, I twisted around to see what held her attention.

  Pinched between her finger and thumb, Mana studied the broken clasp on my silken chain. Without comment, she dropped it in a leather pouch she wore on her hip. Though I was tempted to cry foul, Murdoch waited i
n the corner, and the last thing I wanted was to draw his attention. I gritted my teeth and slumped under the bubbles.

  “She’s unarmed,” Mana announced. “You can leave now, Murdoch.”

  Wood scraped as he pushed back his seat. “Are you sure you want to be alone with her?”

  “Would you rather explain to Paladin Hishima that you shared a bath with his future bride?”

  Seconds passed while I imagined Mana giving him the imperial stare he had credited to me.

  “I’ll be outside.” A chill draft swept past and raised gooseflesh on my arms.

  “Thank you.” Mana’s boots clicked over the stone floor. She must have escorted Murdoch to his post because the door closed softer than I imagined Murdoch knew how to. A bucket hit my lap with a splash. “It’s going to take work, but I think we can untangle your hair before dinner if we get started now.” She had scooped and dumped water over my head before I could splutter at her insult. While I sat choking, she began lathering my hair. “While we have time on our hands, I want you to explain how you went from being a crystalier’s apprentice to decapitating corpses.”

  She made it sound as if I had chosen this new occupation when it had chosen me.

  “Did the paladin put you up to this?” Feed me, bathe me and pry secrets past my lips.

  “You met my husband.” Her fingernails felt divine on my scalp. I almost purred as I craned my neck. “Do you really think he believes the way to earn cooperation is through kindness?”

  Since she sounded mildly perturbed and not outright insulted, I told her the truth. “I think he will do whatever is necessary to get what he wants. If it means a hot meal and putting his wife at my disposal, that’s what he’ll do. Perhaps your affection blinds you to Vaughn’s true nature.”

  “Yes, Kaidi, I am blind to all of my husband’s faults.” Mana’s burst of laughter shamed me. “Has any wife in the history of the second world ever uttered those words? I somehow doubt it.”

  “You can’t enjoy being married to him.” I set my shoulders. “He’s Mimetidae.”

  “I can, and I do.” She emptied a second bucket of water over my head. “Marriages are about compromise. Trust me when I say for each slight to his clan’s reputation hinted at by my friends, there are five Salticidae slurs spat at me when I wander the city streets without Vaughn’s escort.”