Hive Queen by Sinclair, Grayson (ereader iphone .TXT) 📗

When Sam was finished, he went over to his nightstand and knelt, opening the bottom drawer. He paused when he opened his coin chest. “Huh, someone’s been in here. The strand of hair I placed between the lids been moved.”

“It was me,” I said immediately.

He turned, smiled at me and shrugged. “Okay. Was just curious.”

“I borrowed some money since I didn’t want to ask the guild. I’m sorry.”

Sam waved me off, grabbing several coin purses and stuffing them full. “Don’t be. You’re welcome to anything I own. And it’s not like I don’t have plenty of money.”

“Thank you. I have noticed you’re rather generous with your money.”

“I’m not reckless with my money, but I usually overpay wherever I go.”

“Why?” I asked, moving to lean against the bed. “It seems humans value gold more than anything else, why give it away so freely?”

He sighed. “Because I know what it’s like to not have it. When we first arrived here, most of us took to adventuring, completing quests for rewards. It was fun, but the pay wasn’t always consistent, and some months we struggled to make ends meet. It wasn’t just that way for players, but NPCs too.

“So now that I have an abundance of money, I don’t mind spreading a little around. I hope it helps people who might be going through what I went through once.”

I couldn’t help my heart as it swelled. “You really are a kind person. You just have different ways of showing it.”

Before he could respond, Raven walked back in. She wore black leather armor that fit her incredibly well; it hugged her body, and I couldn’t keep my eyes from her plunging neckline, as the leather left a good portion of the top part of her chest visible.

Sam looked up and tilted his head. “New gear?”

“Gil improved it for me. I wasn’t just joking earlier. He really is a nice guy. I can see why you’re friends.”

“Yeah, he’s the best.”

Sam stood and stowed his money in his inventory. “All right, then, if everyone’s dressed, let’s get ready to go. We’ve got a busy day today.”

The three of us packed in haste. I ran down to storage and grabbed everything I thought we would need, which wasn’t much. Sam knew better than I about what he needed, but I followed Adam’s guideline and just stuffed as much as I could into our three packs.

When everything was packed away, I hefted all three bulging bags in my arms and met Sam and Raven in the outer bailey. Sam took them from me, and they disappeared into his inventory.

“I’d step back if I were you,” Sam said, backing away from Raven.

I did as he asked and took a few steps back in the dirt to stand beside him as we both stared at Raven.

In a magnificent display, Raven grew wings and folded them over herself, letting a rain of sleek black feathers obscure her from us. When she reappeared, it was as a huge black raven.

“Amazing,” I gasped. “I’ve never seen a shapeshifter so large before.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice projecting without a source.

I walked up to her and ran my hands gently through her soft, downy feathers. “You’re so unbelievably beautiful,” I said, turning my thoughts into words.

“All right, enough admiring the pretty bird. I’d like to put as many miles under us as we can today.”

“Ass,” Raven said, laughing. “Though you did call me pretty, so I guess I forgive you.”

Sam climbed on first and helped me up. I nestled against his back and still kept my hands firmly on Raven.

She crouched and took to the skies with a burst of speed, and suddenly we were flying. The wind whipped furiously at my hair, and the chill in the air offset the beating rays of the sun as we soared over Lake Gloom.

Sam held me close while I leaned over and stared in wonder at the landscape rushing past in a blur as the grayish-green outskirts of Gloom-Harbor territory opened to the vast Rolling Hills. We flew for hours, and I eventually settled back into Sam’s arms and just enjoyed the journey.

I cherished the simple alone time we shared while we flew.

As the sun dipped, Raven’s speed slowed, and we began looking for a place to set up camp.

I set up the tent while Sam got the fire going and Raven prepared the food. While not as skilled as Sam was, Raven was still a hand in the kitchen, and her cooking was delicious.

Sam pulled out his flask and raised it to his lips, but he paused, and after a moment, he lowered his arm and handed it to Raven, who happily took a drink.

Once we’d eaten, we all crawled into our tent together and went to sleep. I don’t think any of us were quite ready to spend the night together in that fashion, but it was nice cuddling up with both Sam and Raven.

In the morning we began after a light breakfast, and we made it to Castle Aliria before lunchtime. Raven landed on the tower, and as we disembarked, the faint clang of steel against steel could be heard. It blew away with the wind fast enough that I thought I’d imagined it.

I shook my head, and as Raven transformed back to human, the three of us made our way to the door.

A young woman with lovely light brown skin and auburn hair waited for us as the door opened.

“Welcome back, Duran,” she said, a dark blush to her rich cheeks and a spark in her honey eyes.

“Good to see you again, Jasmine.”

Jasmine peered around Sam and Raven to look at me. “Who’s she?”

Sam laughed. “This is my wife, Eris.”

I walked over and held out my hand. “Hello, it’s