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

"You shouldn't exist. My careless daughter, through her ignorance, created you, a creature that the previous generations of Hive would have killed on sight."

"I don't understand?"

She sighed. “Let me put it another way. Why do you think I killed my bondmate?"

"Because you're a cold-hearted bitch?"

Magnus spit out his wine and devolved into a fit of raucous laughter. He giggled to himself and tried to drink more wine, which sloshed around in the glass from his shaking hand. "He has you on that one."

"Are you not supposed to be on my side?"

"Oh, I am, darling, but even you have to admit: it's true."

Aliria growled, knocked back the rest of her bloodwine, and motioned to Magnolia to pour her another. "Be as that may, that's not the point I was trying to make.

"All entomancers, and the other races to a lesser degree, have access to the Hive magic. They are only scratching at the surface, and only a few can handle the process to connect to the Hive on a deeper level. Namely, the Hive Monarch and their knights."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. The first human Hive Knight in existence."

Ah, I'm just a filthy human, not worthy of being with her daughter. I jabbed my fork at Aliria. "So that's why you're calling me an abomination, because I'm not one of your precious Hive?"

Her eyes flickered with surprised amusement, and she let out a quiet laugh as sharp as her cheekbones.

"Oh, little one, I couldn't care less about you being human. I never had conflict with your species. No, that's not what makes you an abomination."

By the nine kings of hell, quit dancing around the question and spit it out already!

I'd had enough of her antics. “Answer the question!"

Aliria sighed, a deep, disappointed sigh, signaling I was ruining her game. Too bad.

"You're no fun at all, but fine, I'll tell you," she said, taking another drink of wine. "The Hive magic inside you isn't what make you different, but when you freed my daughter from her prison, she was bound to you through black magic. That sliver of magic is what makes you an abomination, as the two were never supposed to coexist."

Her words troubled me, but beyond that, I didn't know what to make of them. I took my time pondering the implications as I ate. The boar steak, my favorite food, cooked to absolute perfection, crumbled to ash in my mouth. I chewed through it anyway; if nothing else, to give me time to think. I swallowed a few mouthfuls of the meat and washed it down with another gulp of ale, which, thank the gods, still tasted sweet.

I remembered the pain I was forced to endure, the agony of my heart being ripped to shreds by the war of the two magics, and when Eris told me of the Aspect, she had mentioned it was acting unusual, so her words made sense. But beyond that, I think I knew all along. Ever since I became the Hive Knight, the Aspect's had a hold on me, twisting me into something dark.

Aliria smiled. "But you've known, haven't you? You can feel the Aspect inside your mind, driving you, pushing your anger and rage."

"How did you know that?"

"Because I was once like you."

"I don't understand?" I replied.

"You wouldn't know this, but the black magic that cursed my daughter to her prison and bound the two of you together is a much stronger version of the bonding magic the Hive used to bind our partners together. Though, because of the nature of the spell, you have it far worse than I did.”

Son of a bitch. I understood the meaning of her words now. All this roundabout speak was leading me to the only conclusion available. I drained the rest of my ale, though it too was losing its flavor. My stomach was in knots. Magnolia was there to hand me another mug of ale, but I held off.

Eris told me once that the females were considered the property of the males, but what Aliria was saying was much worse than that. If they used a form of black magic to bind them, then the females were literally slaves. Eris and I were bound through the black magic, and then we'd bound ourselves together through the bonding ritual.

Not to mention Ouroboros’s influence, turning me into the Hive Knight. Yeah, after all that and the Aspect, I'd consider myself an abomination too. So that explains Aliria's behavior in the Mnemosyne.

"You killed your husband to remove the magic that bound you together."

Aliria smiled and laughed, a true laugh that held none of her earlier bitterness. It was throatier, but her sing-song musical laugh was very much the same as Eris’s. She kept up her laugh and looked at me in a new light. "You're not as inept as I first thought."

Magnus let out a disjointed bark that I took to be laughter. His eyes glazed over, and he swayed in his chair, which looked ready to topple to the floor at any moment. "See, A-Aliria…told you he was c-c-lever."

Least I have the drunk’s vote of confidence. At the sight of Magnus deep in his cups, Aliria scowled, which, strangely, fit her face better than if she were laughing. I could handle it better than her friendly laughter. "Dear, I think you've had enough to drink this evening."

"Psh, no, you're…you're ridiculous." He turned to me and breathed heavily as he tried to speak, his wine-soaked breath pungent even from where I was sitting. "Hey, Duran, you tell her I'm still good to go!"

"Sorry, Magnus, but you're trashed."

At this, Magnus stopped. He had been reaching for the next bottle of wine on the table, but hearing my words, he put down the bottle and seemed to