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  Hive Queen

  Trinity of the Hive (Book Two)

  by

  Grayson Sinclair

  License Notes

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Hive Queen (Trinity of the Hive: Book Two)

  Copyright © 2020 Grayson Sinclair. All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2020 Luciano Fleitas Cover Artist

  A Starlit Publishing Book

  Published by Starlit Publishing

  69 Teslin Rd

  Whitehorse, YT

  Y1A 3M5

  Canada

  www.starlitpublishing.com

  Ebook ISBN: 9781989994368

  Paperback ISBN: 9781989994351

  Hardcover ISBN: 9781989994375

  Contents

  Chapter 1 - The Cracks Appear

  Chapter 2 - Alone

  Chapter 3 - The Cracks Deepen

  Chapter 4 - Just Another Job

  Chapter 5 - Rock and a Hard Place

  Chapter 6 - The Salted Mire

  Chapter 7 - Complications

  Chapter 8 - The Roving Dead

  Chapter 9 - Training

  Chapter 10 - The Golden-Eyed Twins

  Chapter 11 - Aldrust

  Chapter 12 - Bittersweet Blood

  Chapter 13 - Silvanus Darkwoods

  Chapter 14 - The Widow

  Chapter 15 - Planning to Plan

  Chapter 16 - Old Gods, New Monsters

  Chapter 17 - Heist of the Century

  Chapter 18 - Another Time, Another Place

  Chapter 19 - Iron Bound

  Chapter 20 - Tombsgard

  Chapter 21 - Home Again

  Chapter 22 - Mice in a Maze

  Chapter 23 - Return

  Chapter 24 - Acceptance

  Chapter 25 - Uncertainty

  Chapter 26 - Reunion

  Chapter 28 - Truth At the End of the World

  Chapter 29 - Darkest Knight

  Chapter 30 - Broken World

  Chapter 31 - Fallen

  Chapter 32 - Coming Storm

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  About the Publisher

  The LitRPG Guildmasters

  Dedicated to TJ Reynolds

  For being the best friend I never knew I needed. Thanks for barging into my life and not giving me a say in being friends.

  From where you're kneeling, it must seem like an 18-carat run of bad luck.

  Truth is…the game was rigged from the start.

  ─Benny

  Chapter 1 - The Cracks Appear

  Sampson

  The dead woman in front of me wore a light smirk as I tried and failed to rationalize her resurrection. She was dead, had been dead for centuries, yet here she was, standing in the darkened throne room of the man I considered my enemy.

  What the hell is going on? My mind ran through all the possible explanations and came up empty. She walked over to Magnus, her black dress swaying at her ankles, the cracks of her footsteps on the gray stone tile shattered my nerves and sent abject fear coursing through my veins.

  "How are you alive?" I stammered.

  She refused an answer; instead, she kept her chilling gaze on me as she climbed the obsidian steps, mischievousness sparking from her insectoid eyes. Black and yellow like the stripes on a bee. She stood next to Magnus and draped her arm onto his shoulder. Magnus brushed her fingers affectionately, and only then did she acknowledge me, with an ice-cold smile poised on her pink, cupid’s bow lips.

  Silence hung in the air as the moonlight cast colorful shadows across the floor from the stained-glass windows above us. I just stared them down until Magnus spoke.

  "Aliria, do you plan on enlightening the boy?"

  Aliria? So that's her name. But before the words even left her lips, I knew her answer. Her eyes told me she had no intention of illuminating me.

  She smiled sweetly at me. "Why would I do that? His utter confusion is so delicious."

  Magnus chuckled softly, while I stared dumbstruck at the dead woman.

  "Well, Duran, it's not exactly my story to tell. So if it's her wish to keep you in the dark, I shall respect it."

  "Yeah, great. Sure. It's not that big of a deal," I said, my voice biting.

  Sarcasm was my go-to defense, as if I didn't make light of the situation, I’d likely to run screaming from the room. Aliria was alive, even though I watched her die in the Mnemosyne; she was standing before me. Allied with Magnus, the man who’d brought an army to my home.

  "Can someone explain what's going on…please?"

  He stayed silent, a bemused grin lifting the corners of his tanned mouth as he watched my meltdown. His shamrock eyes lit the darkness.

  “You weren’t brought here to listen to a story you haven’t earned the right to, you were brought here because I wanted to meet the man who has my daughter so enraptured.”

  Aliria rose and crossed the room toward me. Her gait was playful and predatory; she was a tiger toying with her meal before she devoured it, and I was the meal.

  Despite her devious visage, she was an undeniably beautiful creature, though the resemblance to Eris was enough that it made my heart ache. Her golden hair was much longer than her daughter’s and fell past her shoulder blades, though lighter in color and much finer.

  Her hair wasn't the only separating distinction. Eris would never have such cold and callous eyes. Hers were enchanting, while her mother’s terrified me. I'd compared them to a bumblebee’s stripes, but that was naïve of me. The woman in front of me was no playful bee; she was a wasp. Angry and mean—and wouldn't hesitate to fuck up my day.

  Aliria stopped a foot from me, gazing at me as if she were staring through my very soul. She stood a few inches short of me, which put her almost a foot taller than Eris.

  “Caution, knight. This queen is dangerous.”

  Before I could respond to the Aspect, Aliria reached out and laid a finger on my chest. Right over my heart.

  The pain was so sudden, it caught my breath and floored me. I dropped to the floor as torment crawled through my veins and ice stabbed through my brain. The duality of magics flowing through me turned to magma in my veins. I fought for a single breath, just so I could scream.

  Then she removed her hand from me, and the pain vanished as swiftly as it arrived.

  I gasped for air and rejoiced in the pure bliss of the act. My sweat-stained copper hair fell in my face as blood dripped from my torn lip. I’d accidentally bitten it, and salted iron ran over my tongue.

  The stone, cool against my bare fingers, grounded me in the moment. I worked to get myself under control and stumbled up for the floor, glaring murder at Aliria.

  "What in the nine hells was that?"

  She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brow, humming to herself under her breath in a low, guttural tone.

  I was deathly afraid of her, and it wasn't just my personal fear. The Aspect recoiled from her presence and retreated to the confines of my heart, leaving me alone in a den of wolves.

  Aliria spoke, smiling. "Such a waste of a knight. Abominations like you should never be allowed to exist," she said, her
voice held delight as she savored each word levied at me.

  What? I took a step forward, wanting, needing to understand what she’d said. “Tell me what that means!”

  “I don’t think so, not yet.” Aliria laughed and turned from me, walking back to Magnus.

  I didn't let her take another step before I took one of my own and clamped my hand on her shoulder; her sleek black dress balled in my fist as I turned her around to face me. A flash of annoyance marred her face before being replaced by quiet amusement.

  "Can I help you, knight?" her voice sweet, a bastardization of Eris's.

  "Answer me!"

  Her eyes flashed at my outburst, filling with excitement. She moved closer to me, her breath heated as her tongue rolled out, giving me a quick look at her duel sets of elongated canines. Aliria licked her lips with anticipation. And she looked hungry.

  "If you wanted to play, you should have just said so!"

  She pinned my arms to my sides with enough force that I couldn't attempt to break free. Even with my Strength maxed, I could do nothing as she opened her mouth far too wide and latched onto my neck. Her teeth ripped a chunk from my flesh as she gorged on my blood.

  Her saliva mixed with my blood and numbed my skin as she fed. Her tongue lapped up every spilled drop that fled from my body. I fought against her and tried to pry myself free, but it was pointless. I wasn't going anywhere.

  I succumbed to the inevitable and let her drink her fill. Magnus watched the scene with fierce interest, leaning forward in his throne with his chin propped under his arms. My voice broke and wheezed as I attempted to speak, so I asked him with my eyes to intervene, but he just continued staring.

  My vision grew hazy, and fog filled my thoughts as the blood loss took hold. My skin tingled, and by the time she'd finished, I was barely conscious. Aliria released me, and I slumped to the ground, the stone cold against my feverish cheek. I attempted to stand, but I was weak. Through sheer force of will and indignation, I rose to my feet.

  I clenched my teeth, splitting my torn lip even wider as I bared my teeth in rage. She has no right to my blood, to my memories!

  Magnus frowned at Aliria, a reproachful gaze, which she shrugged off. I knew that she would go unpunished for her vile intrusion, and fire roiled in my chest. Let’s see how you like it. Show me what you refuse to tell!

  I initiated Dance of the Immortal, and the world slowed to a standstill. Magnus sat on his throne, staring at Aliria as she froze mid-step, her foot an inch from the floor. I raced for her, my teeth bared to sink into her ivory skin.

  The snap of fingers stopped me in my tracks.

  The hell? I couldn’t move my body from the neck down. I turned back to the throne. Magnus was no longer staring at Aliria, he was looking dead at me.

  He smiled at me and rose from his throne, taking his time down the steps. Before he landed on the final step, he held his hand aloft and from nowhere, an ivory cane appeared in his hands as he stepped off the last stygian step. I’d seen the cane before; it was the same one Liam wielded when we fought.

  “Dance of the Immortal. A neat parlor trick,” he said as he reached me.

  Magnus leaned against his cane, his eyes flicking up and down, taking me in. He held up his left arm and tapped a phantom wristwatch. “Five, four, three, two, one.” He counted down the seconds till Dance timed out, but as he reached one, Dance of the Immortal stayed active.

  He let his arm fall and titled his head back to me. “I understand your anger, Duran. I do. Aliria was out of line, and that’s my fault. I let her have her way far too often. Still, you are a guest in my castle, and it was incredibly rude for her to behave that way.

  “So I’m going to overlook your attempt to harm her, though I strongly caution you not to try it again if I were you.”

  With a nod, the paralysis on my body vanished, and I could move again, though the world was still awash with gray. How is this possible? Dance should’ve timed long ago.

  “How are you doing this?”

  He shrugged and turned, walking back to his throne, the dark mantling of his cloak slapping against his emerald tunic. As he sat back down, he snapped his fingers and Dance shattered.

  My battle fatigue rose to nearly max, and exhaustion sunk into my muscles, robbing my already-fading strength. I sank to my knee as sweat ran in rivulets down my forehead, dripping into my eyes.

  Aliria glanced back at me with delight in her eyes. “I guess you were about to try something foolish.”

  “He was, though you deserve a bit of foolishness. Try to refrain from harming our guest going forward.” Magnus glanced down at me, nearly collapsed from blood loss and fatigue. “Ah, let me ease your discomfort.”

  Another snap, and my exhaustion vanished in an instant. Strength returned to my limbs, and my battle fatigue dropped to zero. I was back in perfect condition, and I had no idea how it was possible.

  “There, good as new,” Magnus said with a wry grin. “Now that our little drama has ended, I’d like to invite you to dinner.”

  "It's midnight."

  "I'll see you in an hour, then."

  Without another word, he stood and strolled out of the throne room, Aliria nipping at his heels. As the door to the throne room opened, the maid who'd led me here was waiting patiently outside the door, her russet hair covering the side of her face.

  Aliria looked at me with a dark grin. "If you need anything before dinner, just ask Jasmine. She's programmed to receive."

  Then she was gone, and I was left standing in the hallway of a strange place, and my only company was a maid. Yeah, that’s about par for the course with my life lately.

  “Follow me.”

  Jasmine escorted me back through the maze of identical hallways to my room, and even I had to admit, it was the nicest prison cell I'd ever been in. Expensive wooden furniture and a bed big enough to fit half a dozen full-grown men. Magnus hasn't said it, hasn’t even come close to saying it, but I'm a prisoner here. I was held here against my will, by his mere presence, for I could do little else.

  I walked over to the bed and sat down, sinking deep into its luxurious softness. The dark comforter was like lying on a cloud, and I hated it. The bed was far too comfortable. I'll never be able to get any sleep on it. But it was only half because of the bed.

  Gods, I miss Eris. We didn't get to spend hardly any time together on the road, and now this. Seems like months since I've seen her.

  Out of habit, I checked our connection. She's sound asleep, dreaming deeply. It wasn't much, but the fact she was safe and sleeping comfortably was a huge relief. Muscles I didn't even know were tense uncoiled themselves, and relief eased my troubled mind.

  Now that my guard was lowered, I took note of my body—namely, my stomach. It screamed in protest, probably thinking my throat had been cut.

  I tried to put my hunger out of mind and went to wash up. The only other door in the room led to a bathroom, and I just stared in amazement. If I thought the bathroom I'd built was large before, I'll need to reevaluate. To call it a bath was laughable, as it was the size of a swimming pool and sank deep into the floor.

  Whereas my bathroom was all stone, Magnus had a flair for the ostentatious, floor to ceiling wood, vibrant hues of chestnut through mahogany. The warm air hit me as I stepped through the door.

  Magnus knows how to impress; I'll give him that. The steam rising off the water in the bath was tantalizing, too much for me to resist. Even if I was clean, the hot water would help ease my apprehension.

  I stripped out of my extravagant clothes, tossed them aside and walked down the steps to bask in the heat that licked my skin with the perfect amount of warmth.

  I'm surprised Magnus had the foresight to set the temperature ahead of time, but with Aliria around, he's probably well-versed in entomancer body heat.

  "Shit." Eris isn't going to take the news of her mother being alive very well.

  From what she told me, Eris and her mother hadn't had the easiest relationship
. Her family had caused so much pain in her life, but never again. She's a threat, and I don't care that she's Eris's mother. I'll kill Aliria if it means protecting Eris.

  Assuming I even can.

  I waded through the chest-high water to reach a shelf on the far wall. It was laden down with all manner of soaps and wash rags. I picked one at random and set about scrubbing myself clean. I ran soap through my hair and looked around for a brush to help detangle a few knots that had accrued. I searched in vain. My brush is with the rest of my supplies back at Gloom-Harbor. I'm defenseless here. Well, almost. Even if I didn't have my gear, I still had my class Abilities.

  I pulled up my character page.

  Character Name: Durandahl

  Level: 51

  Exp: 4100/5100

  Race: Hybrid (Hive)

  Class: Hive Knight

  Reputation: Wanted Criminal

  Bounty: 1300 Gold

  Stats (-)

  Strength: 100 (80)

  Sub-Stats (-)

  Attack Damage: 30

  Constitution: 100 (80)

  Sub-Stats (-)

  Health: 25

  Health Regen: 25

  Durability: 15

  Endurance: 75 (50)

  Sub-Stats (-)

  Battle Fatigue: 10

  Battle Fatigue Regen: 10

  Agility: 50 (30)

  Sub-Stats (-)

  Attack Speed: 15

  Movement Speed: 10

  Wisdom: 25 (5)

  Sub-Stats (-)

  Mana: 20

  Luck: 0 (10)

  Charisma: 0 (0)

  Proximity to Hive Queen greater than 100 meters

  Penalty Active (-20 to all Main Stats)

  No wonder I was so weak against Aliria! I forgot about the penalty when I'm not close by Eris. Damn, this puts me at a heavy disadvantage, though none of my sub-stats were affected. That's some good news.

  The soap suds in my hair slid down my face and stung my eyes. I dunked my head under the water and rinsed them from my strands. When I came back up from the water and brushed my sopping hair from my face. I wasn't alone in the bath any longer.