Bee Queen Read online

  THE BEE QUEEN

  A Keeper’s War 2

  K T BOWES

  Copyright © 2018 K T Bowes

  All rights reserved.

  Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Hive Bonus Chapter One

  DEDICATION

  “Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.”

  Henry David Thoreau

  FOR CHARLOTTE

  Who made me start a compost bin.

  Who dragged me through the New Zealand bush to show me beautiful things.

  Who finds grace in the strangest of places.

  And rainbows on the darkest days.

  Whose first bee sting was because she wanted to stroke it.

  And who believes we can still rescue this planet.

  THE STORY SO FAR...

  Raised on an island in the middle of nowhere, the Princessa Estefania is traded to the prince of the warring capital of Forlornn. From spoiled and privileged to resented and almost assassinated, hers is a tough awakening to the cruelty of men. Nothing is as she once believed and Estefania discovers her life has been a carefully crafted illusion to conceal her real identity.

  She is a virgin bee queen, able to pass from the reality of the Outer to a virtual hive which hovers between realms. She’s the last of her kind, the only one left who carries the bee mark. The spiteful Wasp Lord and his marauding Swift warriors set out to finish what they started and herald in the perpetual winter. But they underestimated Estefania of the Melitto.

  Discovering her silent bodyguard’s gift for snatching her completely from the Outer and taking her into the hive, Estefania arrives there battered and bruised with a new agenda. She doesn’t want to rule a colony. She intends to kill the Wasp Lord.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Destination

  “The labyrinth is a dreadful idea.” I walked behind Limah as he picked his way through the forest. It seemed scrubbier after the few weeks of constant snow, the pines bowing their elegant heads beneath the weight collecting on their boughs.

  “It’s safe.” Ever loath to waste words, he forged ahead, a crown of sleet gathering on his dark curls.

  “Limah!” My strangled cry arrested him and he spun to face me, an avalanche of white dust cascading onto the bridge of his regal nose. He blinked and shook it off.

  “What?” He spread his arms out wide and searched my frightened expression for an explanation.

  “I don’t want to. I can’t.” My hands fluttered over my lips, the thought of returning to the cloistered darkness making my stomach roil. “I won’t.” Taking a step backwards, I felt for the courage and determination of yesterday and found it lacking. I took another step back and Limah raised a hand in placation.

  “Stand still, Este.”

  “I’m not going back.” A princess by birth-right, I channelled arrogance and a latent sense of privilege into my tone and the haughty tilt of my head. Narrowing my eyes, I peered through amber eyelashes dusted with snowflakes. “You can’t make me.” He’d shortened my name and it should have alerted me to the rest of his sentence. Limah always called me Lady or used my full name. Unless I got into difficulty. Then he shortened my name and I always loved the way he said it. I felt myself softening and stopped moving backwards.

  “Este!” Frustration crossed the handsome side of Limah’s face. Irises as black as coals glinted from beneath dark brows and olive skin. His leather breeches and clanking armour distinguished him as a warrior, but the authority in his straight bearing and muscular physique marked him a leader. I remembered his efforts to rescue me from the well and the way he’d whispered my name then. Like he cared.

  “Don’t move.” His instruction startled me. It held warning, but something else resonated behind it. The deep scar bisecting the right side of his face took over as he blinked, scoring his eyelid before releasing its hold with the reappearance of his brown eye.

  He exhaled, a snort of frustration in an impatient man. He took a step forward and I matched it with another backward. My lips drew back in an arrogant snarl, petulance in my tone. I grew sick of being told what to do. “You wish to scare me, so I obey you. I won’t play your game.” The alarm in his eyes told me otherwise.

  “Estefania, your left foot is less than a stride away from the edge of a ravine. One more step back will take you over the edge.” Limah smirked. “I recommend you remain still or at least walk toward me.”

  I couldn’t resist a look behind and my eyes widened in horror. Tall trees alongside had masked the drop, lining the path like divisive sentries. I shuddered and my foot moved, sending a pile of loose snow tumbling backwards. It scattered and divided, coating branches and bark on its haphazard plunge. Limah gritted his teeth and lurched towards me. His knuckles showed white as his fingers caught around my wrist and he hauled me against him. My chin crashed against the metal of his chest-piece and my teeth rattled in my head. “Minimal danger!” Shoving his chest proved fruitless as he remained immovable, my feeble push making no inroad. “I knew it was there, Counselor.” I lifted my chin and saw the smirk cross his face at my use of his new title.

  He took a step away and affected a small bow. “Did you, Lady? Did you indeed?”

  “Yes.” I hid my shaking fingers behind me and jutted out my chin. “But I refuse to return to your dungeon of lost souls and your horrid, clanking machine.”

  Limah’s nostrils flared and he set his face into its customary blank expression. “As you wish, my Queen.”

  I swallowed. The ease of his capitulation troubled me. My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What other plan do you have?”

  Limah shrugged and turned away, smoothing the snow at the roots of a pine with the edge of his boot. I watched his easy movements and my gaze followed the line of the trunk heavenward. It reached so high, its tip penetrated the thick canopy overhead and disappeared out of sight. With a groan of effort, Limah bent his knees and used the tree trunk to lean against, sinking so his backside perched on a knotty root. He gathered up the ends of his coat to protect it from the damp ground and settled to watch me.

  “Well?” I put my hands on my hips and glared at his passive expression. “I need another plan. A safe place must exist where we can rest and decide on a course of action.” I patted my lips with a finger almost blue with cold as I mused. “I shall need to raise an army against Galveston. Do you know of any who may still feel loyalty to my kin?”

  “Yes.” Limah nodded and the faintest smile strayed across his lips before disappearing. “I know of such a place.”

  My chest heaved with relief and I released the breath I held. I took a step towards him and my heavy boots scuffed in the snow. “But what about my clothes? I’m
a princess dressed as a very poor man.” I wrinkled my nose and plucked at the ripped jacket and threadbare breeches. “They won’t take me seriously.”

  Limah raised an eyebrow and rested his hands in his lap. “You’re a queen-in-waiting Estefania. They will know you.” He lifted a finger to point at my attire. “And you wear my good friend’s clothes. He’s not a poor man, just a stupid one.”

  I huffed out a breath and narrowed my eyes. “So, I’m a queen-in-waiting dressed as a stupid man. They still won’t listen.”

  Limah pushed himself to his feet, his impeccable balance giving the movement an element of unexpected grace. “They will listen to you, Este. A wise man follows the character of his leader, not the style of his adornments. One leads to victory and the other to an out-of-date wardrobe.”

  “You mock me,” I rebuked and Limah’s left eyebrow quirked heavenward.

  “You make it so irresistible. It would be criminal not to take advantage.” He stretched out his arm to indicate the path and I shuddered, joining him as freezing temperatures drove us onward. “So, where are we going?” I demanded, slipping and sliding amid tree roots and bramble.

  Limah kept his gaze on the path ahead, picking our route through the forest with surefooted ease. “To a dungeon filled with lost souls and a horrid, clanking machine,” he replied.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Labyrinth

  A day’s walk saw me back at the labyrinth where I started. The effort of not running away like a feeble, shrieking princess cost me. A lack of caring replaced the overwhelming sense of dread. I stopped counting the cuts to my fingers from ill-natured bramble or the number of times I skinned my knees. I believe I turned off all thinking processes as the ground tilted downward, watching only the snow kicking up from Limah’s boots as he trudged ahead. I counted his steps in a dead, monotonous whisper and then when the numbers grew longer than the beat of his tread, I began again by counting my own.

  When I planted my face into a drift and ripped another hole in my breeches, Limah stooped and offered me his hand. I faltered, flailing as damp soil mixed with the snow and formed a nasty paste around my mouth. “Take my hand,” he insisted. “Please, Este.”

  I winced as I felt the cold contact of his fingers, waiting for the burn and the nauseating sinking sensation. When it didn’t come, I tightened my grip. He’d shortened my name again and I wanted him to keep saying it in that gentle voice lilting with affection. “I forget,” I puffed, standing upright and cleaning my face on my tattered sleeve. Frozen, shaking fingers brushed snow from my soaked jacket. “I expect the pain.”

  Limah shook his head and his dark curls danced beneath a layer of white dust. He inspected his fingers. “I know, Estefania. I’ve spent your entire life avoiding contact unless essential for escape to the hive. Your reaction is normal.”

  I sighed and viewed the increasing camber of the slope as it disappeared into the valley. “Must we go forward?” I heard the desperation in my voice and saw his brows knit into a line. “May we go back to the town where you bought your weapons?”

  “No.” His brow furrowed as he touched first the knife at his belt and then the dented sword at his hip. “It’s the first place the Wasp Lord will look. And I didn’t buy them. The blacksmith owed me a favour and loaned them.”

  “Can he not owe you another favour?” I paused, my numb feet sinking into the drift. “I would rather hide in a barn with Galveston at the gate than return to the caves.”

  “It’s not the place of horror you believe,” Limah said, his voice gentle. He tugged my hand and urged me onward. “My people are yours also, my Queen.”

  I shook my head. “You’re wrong. You didn’t see. They burned smoke to force me into a stupor and held me captive in a wash room.” I looked down at my fingers and frowned. “My life became a drudge of washing pieces of metal for your horrid machine, eating and sleeping.”

  Limah’s gaze raked the landscape behind me and his expression softened. I sensed the nearness of the labyrinth of cave systems and darkened rooms. When I turned, I sensed I would see the stand of tall trees guarding the exit. It filled me with dread, though another emotion accompanied the foreboding. I touched a hand to my chest and sighed, keeping my bluing fingers over the space where the sensation of urgency radiated from. “I don’t understand.” Releasing the words brought relief and a flicker of a smile lit Limah’s face.

  “You will, Estefania,” he reassured me. “I promise, you will.”

  Twice more I lost my footing on the downward. Twice more I bruised bones and jarred fingers and toes already bitten by cold. My steps grew heavier with each small distance covered and it felt as though the landscape pitched me forward, knowing I didn’t wish to arrive. I halted often, frustrated by Limah’s eager march. “At least explain your machine!” I pleaded, picking myself up from the icy floor. “Speak to me and drown out the misgivings filling my head.” My voice croaked and I heard hysteria lurking behind the request. “Call me Este from now on. I’m weary of regal titles when I have nothing.”

  Limah halted to wait for me and inclined his head in a shallow bow. “I’ll explain the machine,” he said. A curious light enhanced the dark of his irises and a rare smile lifted the undamaged corner of his lips. He turned and began walking again, slow enough so I could match my pace to his. “Experience taught me much about the hearing frequencies of bees and of their enemies. I set out to create a machine which possessed the ability to deter creatures hearing at the frequency of Swift or Wasp kin, without disrupting the function of a healthy colony.”

  I remembered my outward journey and the birds falling from the trees. My lips parted in a question. “It worked, didn’t it? The night of my escape, something changed in the noise and vibration and my path became littered with feathers and bodies.” I peered at the ground, half expecting to see it strewn with decaying carcases. Limah glanced sideways and his slow nod confirmed it.

  “Not dead.” He raised an index finger and wagged it at me. “Just stunned.”

  “But I saw one.” I shuddered at the memory of the dead, black eyes. “It died.”

  “Such defences will always incur freak casualties. I found one or two for whom the shock proved too much. But the rest awoke and abandoned their vantage points. They won’t spy for the Swift queen in our territory.” Limah pushed his shoulders back. “She will need to rethink her plans.”

  “What about the wasps? Did it send them away?”

  Limah pursed his lips. “One thing at a time, Este.”

  He’d shortened my name and my heart warmed a fraction, thawing my lips. “And what about people? Do I hear at the level of a bee or human? People will have a more acute sense of hearing. And what of vibration?”

  Limah stopped outside the clearing which surrounded the entrance to the cave systems. His movements looked jerky and I sensed offence in the set of his jaw. “I don’t know everything, Estefania Melitto. I am a mere man. My visits to your mother’s hive were at her bidding. I never belonged there. I possess no schooling and rely on experience and intuition alone to honour my promise to her.” He inhaled and I saw regret in the downward turn of his lips. “Though you retained human form, you fitted into her world in a way I never could.” When he spread his hands, pity vibrated through my soul. “I am only the Bee Keeper, Este. And that is weight enough for one man’s shoulders.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Remnant

  “I do not wish to go in,” I whispered, my eyes widening as Limah cleared away ivy from the door marking the entrance. “There must be another way.”

  Limah’s face channelled kindness and he rested his hand on my shoulder. “Were the hands which bathed you not kind, Este?”

  His question caused me to falter and I wound the hem of my jacket around my fingers in a loop of vexation. Winding. Unwinding. Winding again. “Yes,” I admitted. “They were.”

  He nodded. “And the hands which brought your food and laid you down to rest at night. Were they kind also?
”

  My shoulders slumped as the excuses tumbled away, one after another. “Yes, Counselor. They were gentle.”

  “Then what?” he asked, lowering his voice and letting the ivy fall to cover the door again. “What is your reluctance?”

  I thought of Hosta’s eyes, accusing and angry. Though her hands proved kind, her biting comments and spiteful glances portrayed an inner hatred of me. “The men are suspicious and the women hate me. I was an object to polish with care through obligation, not love.”

  “Do you demand love then, Este?” Limah lowered his hand to his side and his eyes narrowed. “What of your maid on the island? Did she not provide an adequate service?”

  “She loved me!” I exclaimed. “I never doubted it.”

  Limah’s gaze hardened and he shook his head in a slow, terrible movement which revealed the extent of my naivety. “She treated you as a daughter,” he said, his tone heavy. “But it’s not the same.”

  I inhaled, a ragged, awful noise. My feet moved backwards of their own volition. “You lie.”

  Limah closed his eyes, joining the scar from forehead to chin and it overtook his face. He tested the gravity of his words with moving lips before speaking them. “Love is not a right, Estefania. For all but family members within the inner circle of our hearts, it is earned. If you found favour in the maid’s eyes then I’m pleased for you, but her task was to educate and protect the future Melitto queen. I’m glad you found the relationship conducive, but love comes because of our character, not status.”

  “You’re saying she didn’t love me?” My words sounded strangled and Limah’s eyes flicked open, watching my struggle with an impassive gaze.

  “No.” He shook his head. “I’m saying she wasn’t paid to love you. If she did regardless, then that’s proof of your worth indeed.”