Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (positive books to read .txt) 📕

“You didn’t?” I asked rising from my seat.

He sighed, dropping his hands. “Didn’t have a choice. They were at the bar less than half an hour after. They took Tel. Had to give ‘em something,” he replied listlessly.

He released the bottles, and as they clattered to the ground with a torrent of shattered glass, he whistled.

“You just damned yourself, Orryn. I’ll kill you for this.”

“Don’t matter. Long as Tel is okay, that’s all I care about.”

Nearly a dozen armed Aldrustian soldiers stormed into the cramped house with their weapons brandished. I couldn’t have killed them all even with Dance. Could make it to the roof, but once Dance ends, I’m just as screwed, and I’d rather save it for when I know I can use it.

With a heavy sigh, I raised my hands and let them take me.

***

They’d left me in a dark, nearly airless hole in the wall for hours while they convened the council. The wall slid aside, and several dwarven jailors bound my hands and feet in chains and all but dragged me to the forum. It was a polished building with white marble tile and columns that rose to the open ceiling that looked out to the center of Aldrust. The giant mana crystal hung silently overhead, pulsing with light.

I was tossed into the center of the floor and chained again to the spike buried in the marble. As I looked up, in front of me was the polished silver panel where the council and king sat. King Baltazar who had fury written plainly across his face as he gazed down at me.

Balthazar was rough around the edges like his features had been carved from the very stone around us, but there was undoubtably a regal set to his eyes and jaw. His swept-back hair had salt and peppered since the last time I’d seen him, but it gave his statuesque features depth. His sharp blue eyes looked down his small, hawkish nose as he bit his lip in anger.

A bead of blood rolled down his lip and dripped, invisible on his tailored burgundy shirt.

“Durandahl, once I called you friend to the dwarves, a man who did what we could not and saved us in a most dire time. If anyone had told me that you planned to betray us like this, I’d have had that man imprisoned.”

“I didn’t hear an accusation.”

A metal-plated fist smacked across my face hard enough to rip my skin. My head went sideways, but my chains kept me from falling over. “Insolent wretch,” the guard shouted next to my already-ringing ear.

“You bear the mark of Lachrymal’s Wrath. But the Heart is clearly not in your possession. Tell us where it is and return it. If you do, in light of your previous achievements, I’ll be lenient with you.”

It was a generous offer, especially from Balthazar, as he wasn’t known for his kindness. But this wasn’t about me, not anymore. Whatever was going on threatened the entirety of Nexus. It was bigger than me, and besides, Raven was halfway back to Castle Aliria by now.

I spat a gob of blood onto the pristine white marble and rubbed my aching cheek. “I won’t talk.”

“He had a girl with him. Pale skinned, red eyes. Not a nocturnal, but definitely not human,” a voice said from the crowd.

I jolted up at the voice, and my eyes scanned the crowd until they locked with Thrayl. His normally well-groomed locks were in disarray. Must’ve raced up here. He stared me down, betrayal clear in his eyes. I opened my mouth, but nothing would come. I didn’t have an excuse to justify what I’d done.

“How could you?” he asked.

I hung my head as my stomach dropped and shame flushed in my cheeks.

The council members all started yelling at once at Thrayl’s revelation, but Balthazar sighed deeply, looking like a disappointed father. “Find her. Meanwhile, question Orryn again. Make him tell us what we need to know. Remind him the consequences of lying.”

Balthazar spoke quickly, issuing commands left and right as his men bustled around the room, rushing to fulfil them. It took a few long moments before the forum quieted enough for him to speak again. “Don’t make me do this, Duran. You, more than most, know that we have ways of making you talk.”

“And having performed several of your methods myself, you know that by the time I break, it’ll be too late. If it isn’t already.”

“Just be honest with us. This isn’t you.”

“Yeah.” I fingered a loose canine in my skull and just decided to pull it. It clattered to the ground as I hawked another thick stream of blood onto the floor. “You’re right about that, but I didn’t have a choice.

“And right now, you think you have a choice. A choice about what to do with me. You think you can get me to talk, but we both know it won’t be quick, and it won’t be easy.”

He snapped his fingers, and several guards strolled in. “Fine, then. I can make you talk. But I also know just how strong your will is and how long that might take. If what you say is true and the gem is lost to us for now, then I’ll just have to settle for making your life as miserable as I can. And we both know I’m well-versed in making misery.

“Take him to Tombsgard Mine!”

Chapter 20 - Tombsgard

Once again, I was manhandled and dragged from the room and loaded into a wagon. Whatever small discomforts they inflicted at that moment were nothing compared to what waited for me in the depths of Tombsgard.

It took a few more hours after my impromptu trial to reach the entrance to the mine. It was always