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

He would be strong and fast beyond measure, and even with my considerable strength, I didn’t have the skills to beat him, let alone match him.

“Be careful, he’s dangerous,” I said.

The others nodded, but Evelyn stared him down and smiled. Oh, she’s not thinking…oh, yes, that’s exactly what she’s thinking. Evelyn was sizing him up as a challenge, and that wouldn’t end well for anyone.

“Peace!” I shouted in Rachnaran. “Peace!”

The warriors stopped when I spoke, confusion abounding on their faces until Tegen and Cheira bounded from Lacuna to them. Both of them spoke in hushed whispers that even my hearing couldn’t pick up from that distance. Before a minute passed, the Arachne stood down and motioned me forward.

I climbed off Lacuna and threw my hood down, letting them get a good look at me. A few raised their eyebrows, and a few gasped. They stared at me as I walked toward the commander who was taller than I’d originally thought. He nearly matched Gil in height alone.

“An entomancer?” he asked, flicking his eyes up and down.

I nodded, trying to keep the fear off my face. It was difficult when I was staring up at a warrior bred for combat and who could probably kill me without blinking.

“You rescued our brood from slavery?”

“Yes, though not without the help of my bonded.”

“I understand, but this is not my decision to make. You will come with me, and the Widow will decide your fate.”

He spoke with such conviction and finality that if we questioned him, or tried to argue, I knew we’d be dead before we could get the words out.

“Of course,” I said and turned back to my friends, walking to get back on Lacuna. “We do as they say and follow them. If we don’t, we die.”

“I can take them,” Evelyn said, scoffing.

“No, you can’t. They’re strong, well-coordinated, and will swarm us before we could even draw our weapons. Trust me on this,” I pleaded.

She looked like she wanted to argue, but Adam rode beside and smacked the back of her head. “None of that now, sister of mine. Let’s listen to Eris and not start a war with the spider people, shall we?”

“Fine,” she grumbled, easing into a more passive stance.

Our exchange did not go unnoticed by the warriors who stood a dozen yards in front of us in a large pool of blood from the bandits. With a jerk of his head, the commander ordered us to follow him.

We rode through the bloody remains as the stench of blood filled the air. “Ugh, it’ll take forever for the smell to leave my clothes. This is why I like killing with poison. It’s less messy,” Makenna said, pinching her nose as our horse’s hooves squelched underneath the dead flesh.

“I just wonder what they’re going to do with the bodies?” Gil asked.

“You don’t want to know,” I replied.

“Now I’m more curious.”

I didn’t really want to answer; it was a barbaric custom, but he wanted to know, and it wasn’t my decision to keep the information from them.

“They eat them,” I said, sighing.

“Lovely.”

“You asked.”

Gil and the others thankfully quieted down as we rode through endlessly thick forests. The only thing that made traversing through it possible was the small and worn trails we crossed as the Arachne led us deeper into the woods.

After a few hours, the trees began to thin slightly, and there was more space to move around as the trail widened and we entered what could only be a city. We broke through the trees, and dozens of buildings rose up from the forest floor.

They were all wooden, but it wasn’t the mechanical, perfectly designed homes of the humans. These buildings had been carved and shaped like sculptures. They were all smooth and circular, with wide, open windows and door frames with no doors. They reminded me of the buildings we’d lived in so long ago. They weren’t nearly as well-crafted and were smaller in comparison, but it was incredibly reminiscent of home.

The rest of the warriors scattered, vanishing into the city like ghosts, and we were left with just the commander. He turned, speaking slowly to me. “We are alerting the guards to your presence, but if you wander off, you will be treated as hostile and will be killed without mercy.” He spoke the language of humans, but it was slow and with a strange inflection.

The others jerked in surprise at his words, but I just nodded for them. “We understand and will obey.”

“Good. The Widow has been made aware of you and will see you.”

He led us through the city as we passed a number of Arachne, each of them staring at us like we’d grown three heads. I guess it is strange to see humans in a forest that forbids entrance to the other races. I just wish they wouldn’t look at me like that, though. I guess I must be the first entomancer they’ve ever seen, and that has to come as a shock to them.

As we rode deeper into the city, we reached our destination. It was a large dwelling that dwarfed the much smaller surroundings by at least double. Though it was larger, it wasn’t designed with any more elegance than the other buildings, but it bore numerous windows as it rose towards the treetops.

“The queen’s palace, eh?”

“Most likely, but please, let me do the talking when we meet the Widow.”

“The Widow?” Evelyn asked.

“Yes, it’s what the monarch of the Arachne is called. You’ll see why when we get inside.”

With further discussion, the commander hissed at us and opened the double doors. It was the only building that actually had doors, and as we went inside, I found out why.

Half a dozen guards stood on the other side of the door, weapons