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

"There you are. I should have known you'd—" She took note of my presence, almost like an afterthought. "Oh, little queen, you're here as well." She shifted her gaze to my back. "You're all set to go?"

I nodded. "I am."

"Good. Then let’s hit the road."

Adam seemed to panic a bit at the abruptness of Evelyn's arrival. "Wait, I'm not ready yet."

Evelyn turned and glared at her brother, her eyes not accepting Adam's excuse. "You've had your bag packed five minutes after we left the dining hall, and you have all of the constructs and creatures that you could possibly need or want, so don't give me that nonsense. Quit dragging your feet and get your ass in gear."

Adam nodded, crestfallen, his head hanging low as he followed his sister out.

What a strange family. I laughed at that; I had no room to talk. I quickly followed the back into the biting daylight.

Chapter 6 - The Salted Mire

The four of us made our way to the stables. Since I was with them, they couldn't take a teleporter, but the others didn't seem upset at the prospect. Adam opened the door to the stables for us, and we walked inside.

The others scrunched their noses at the smell of the stable. The raw stench of manure, sweat, and animal blended together with the body heat of the horses. I didn't mind the smell, though. Evelyn, Adam, and Gil immediately went to separate stalls each one housed a different horse.

The horses recognized their owners and were happy to see them. I didn't have a horse of my own, a fact that became apparent to everyone quickly.

Adam thumbed his finger back at me. "Who's sharing a horse with her?"

I walked over to the furthest pen from the door to see a familiar face. I smiled at the obsidian horse. "Why don't I ride Lacuna?"

Adam laughed. "Don't bother; she hates everyone but Duran."

I leaned over the pen to run my hand over her face and along her thick mane of midnight hair. Lacuna nuzzled against me. "Good girl," I cooed.

Adams's jaw dropped, which caused me to giggle. "Well, I take back what I said."

The others busied themselves with saddling their own horses, while I went to grab Tegen and Cheira.

They hadn't moved an inch, still playing where I had left them. I picked them both up, dusted off their filthy clothes, and carried them to Lacuna.

I sat them on the horse and climbed up; it was difficult but much easier than the last time I tried. Sam's not here to do it for you. Do it yourself. It took two tries, but I managed. I let both of the children ride in front of me; they were small enough to fit in the seat together comfortably.

Everyone else was atop their horses. Evelyn rode a deep gray horse with a snow-white mane, while Adam sat astride and beige and chocolate horse with deep brown eyes. Gil's horse was nearly as tall as Lacuna, but where Lacuna was lean and tall, Gil's horse was clearly a warhorse, with a mountain of muscle. It was a deep champagne with black hair that was longer than the others.

They were all beautiful creatures, but none could compare to Lacuna. I reached down to stroke her hair.

"Is everyone ready to go?" I asked.

"We are, but why do I feel like we're missing something?"

Gil's question was answered by a high-pitched scream. "Wait for me!"

The four of us turned our heads simultaneously at the source of the commotion. A shock of bright red hair tied back in pigtails flapping in the wind greeted us as Makenna ran full sprint from the keep. Clouds of dust rose in her wake as she ran with her bag nestled in her arms. She tried to sling it on her back and keep running at the same time, but she tripped and landed in the dirt.

She sat up with a groan and wiped the mass of dust from her traveling clothes.

Makenna wore dark green wool pants that hugged her legs quite nicely, and a black sleeveless tunic only a tad big on her. She was maybe an inch taller than me, and even with the dirt, she was too cute.

She doubled over and tried to catch her breath, gulping down huge lungful’s of air. Gil inhaled sharply and muttered to himself beside me, "I forgot about her. Oh, she's so going to poison me in my sleep."

His words both confused me and intrigued me at the same time, so I had to ask. I turned to face Gil. "Why would she poison you?"

I didn't think my question was rude, but Gil shot me a heated look. His eyes pleaded with me, but the damage was done.

"Gilgamesh! You ass! You forgot me, didn't you?”

Gil sighed into his hand. "Shit."

Oh, that’s why. I’m sorry, Gil. I think I just got you in trouble.

"I'm sorry, Kenna. I got so absorbed in my work that I tuned everything out."

She huffed, and it was clear she was still angry at him, but she let slip a grin, letting him know he was forgiven.

Makenna still jabbed a finger at him. “Since you have so much time for your side projects, then you have time to get Cinder saddled for me."

"Of course I can," Gil said, hopping off his horse and walking as fast as his legs could carry him back to the stables.

He returned a few minutes later with Cinder in tow.

I found her name to be appropriate. Her coat was such a bright brown that it seemed like fire alight under the eyes of the sun, and she had a mane the color of a burning wick, black, which lightened to a