But then she realized, Oh, he’s worried about the HiveWings out there, and what Queen Wasp will do to them if they don’t find us.
She didn’t dare risk whispering, but she wished she could tell him that she’d never seen the queen force a dragon to hurt himself while she was controlling him. As they’d seen in the Temple of Clearsight, Wasp felt the same pain as the dragons she was controlling, and she would jump out of their minds if the pain was too much.
But she could still force a dragon to hurt someone else. There was nothing they could do, though, except turn themselves in, and Cricket wasn’t going to let Blue do that. She was pretty sure Sundew wouldn’t let him, either.
“Come out, you sniveling cowards!” Wasp’s voice roared suddenly. “I know there are dragons hiding in this library! Show yourselves, or I will burn all the books until you die choking on the smoke.”
Burn the books! She can’t — she wouldn’t. Jewel wouldn’t let her. Could she stop the queen, though? Wouldn’t burning the books put the rest of the Hive in danger, too? Maybe Wasp doesn’t care about that. Maybe she’d burn down the whole Hive to smoke us out.
Cricket heard a soft hiss from Sundew below her.
Sundew couldn’t give herself up — she was the one holding the Book of Clearsight, and they needed that to prove Queen Wasp was lying. She wouldn’t let Blue go, either, as long as his flamesilk was part of the LeafWing plan.
But Cricket — she wasn’t any use to the LeafWings, really. What would happen to her if she turned herself in to the queen?
Would she kill me?
Her wings were trembling and she couldn’t make them stop.
I’m not brave. I’m not a warrior. I don’t want to put myself in Queen Wasp’s talons, not even to save all the books.
But if I don’t, what happens to Blue and Sundew?
As if he could hear her thoughts, Blue curled himself closer to her and held her tightly, absorbing her trembling in his own wings.
“Very well,” said the queen’s voice. “Build me a bonfire of books right here,” she ordered. “We’ll use flamesilk from the lanterns.”
“But — Your Majesty — what if the fire spreads?” asked one of the HiveWings.
“Then we’ll have to throw you into it to slow the flames,” the queen snarled. “You are a tedious talon-wringer. I’ll do it myself.”
Cricket heard the dragons snap suddenly to attention and run off toward the stacks without any further argument. She guessed that Queen Wasp had taken them over as well.
“Wait!”
Below her, Cricket heard a book slide down the pile; Sundew caught it deftly before it could thunk against the side. They all held their breaths, frozen in place, caught by the sound of Cinnabar’s voice in the library.
“We’re sorry. We’re sorry, my queen.”
“Very sorry.” That was Tau.
What are they doing?
“We were hiding from Lady Jewel,” Cinnabar said breathlessly. “She said we were spending too much time reading and not enough time on our work for her.”
“So we’ve been sneaking out at night to read here,” Tau said. “We didn’t mean to anger you. Please don’t tell Lady Jewel; she’ll punish us terribly.”
“As she should,” the queen’s voice snapped. “I told her this library would be trouble. I don’t stand for disobedient SilkWings in my Hive. Who else is with you?”
Cricket squeezed her eyes shut, as though the darkness around her could get any darker.
“No one, Your Majesty,” said Tau.
“My cousin Morpho came to scold us earlier,” Cinnabar offered. “But he left a little while ago.”
“Blue wings,” said the queen suspiciously. “I thought I saw blue wings.”
“That would be Morpho,” Cinnabar said. “Or the blankets we sometimes use up there — do you want me to show those to you?”
“No.” The shell of the dragon that held the queen hissed. “This is a waste of time. You, take these two back to Lady Jewel and tell her I said to punish them severely.”
“Sorry again, Your Majesty,” Tau said. Cricket tried to figure out how many talonsteps were leaving the library.
How many were left? Was the queen still inside all of them? Would anyone lock the door again? Would the queen leave guards on the library? How long did they have to wait before it was safe to come out?
The tramping of most of the feet faded away, but she could still hear claws scraping across the floor. Someone was still out there.
It felt as though a long time passed, but Sundew didn’t open the door of the book drop, and Cricket figured she would know when it was safe to do that. She had just shifted to lean against Blue’s shoulder when she heard running steps outside.
“Your Majesty, are you still there?” said a voice.
“Yes,” Wasp answered coldly, sounding as if she was standing directly on the other side of the wall from Cricket. “What is it?”
“We’ve had a tip that Lady Scarab is here in Jewel Hive — and she may be hiding another dragon in her mansion.”
“Lady Scarab,” the queen’s voice hissed. “She would. Let’s go pay Lady Scarab a visit.”
Their talonsteps crashed out of the library, and Cricket looked up so quickly her snout knocked into Blue’s chin.
“They’re talking about Katydid,” she whispered. “They’re going to arrest my sister!”
Cricket tried to scramble downward but accidentally started a cascade of books.
“Ow!” Sundew whispered from below her. “Quit that! Stop moving right now!”
“I have to get to Katydid,” Cricket whispered back, her wings bent awkwardly against the curving walls.
“To do what?” Sundew demanded. “There’s nothing you can do to help her.”
“I could try to warn her!”
“Won’t Queen Wasp have jumped into Katydid already, now that she knows where she is?” Blue whispered.
“Maybe not.” Cricket tried to edge down a bit farther. “Sometimes it seems like she needs to know who a dragon is or see her before she can get inside her head.”
“So she’ll jump into Scarab,” Sundew pointed out, “take one look at your sister, jump into her, and off they go. There’s no way you can get there in time.”
“Couldn’t I try?” Cricket pleaded. She thought for a moment. “Wait, I don’t need your permission. You’ve already decided you’re not going to help me. So why should I listen to you?” She started scrambling down the column again, kicking more books aside.
“Argh, stop!” Sundew said, squishing herself to one side to get out of Cricket’s way. “Listen, I’m not going to help your tribe because they’re a lost cause and they deserve everything they get! But you’re not like them. You can join our side and be safe.”
“As long as I forget about Katydid,” Cricket said, “and let you hurt a whole lot of dragons who never fought in any war against you. No, thank you.” She wrestled Sundew’s tail out of her way and shoved the door open, tumbling out into the library in a small avalanche of books. The front lobby of the library was deserted, the main doors standing wide open.
The door on the column opposite hers snuck open a crack and Swordtail’s snout poked out. “Oh, thank goodness,” he said. “Does Sundew think it’s safe to come out? This guy is insufferable even in total silence. OW.” He twisted around to glare at the blue tail point that was jabbing him in the head.
“I’m telling you,” Sundew said, climbing out behind Cricket, “it’s not going to do any good to go watch your sister get arrested. It’ll just upset you, and you might get caught.”
“I’m going anyway,” Cricket said, starting toward the courtyard.
“And I’m going with her,” said Blue. He clambered out of the book drop and started shoveling books back into it. “I’m going wherever Cricket goes.”
Sundew stamped her foot in frustration. “All right, fine! Let me get my stupid cape.” She stormed off to the upper level.
Cricket came back to help Blue shoulder the door of the book drop closed with all the books inside. “Good idea,” she said to him. “In case we need these hiding spots again.”
“Oh — right,” he said. “Yes. Absolutely that.”
She couldn’t help smiling at him. “You were trying to save the librarians some work, weren’t you?”
“They have enough mess to clean up,” he said sheepishly, waving his wings at the rest of the library, where boxes of books lay tumbled on their sides, a few shelves had been knocked completely over, and it looked as if everything on the desks that wasn’t nailed down had been thrown around.
“Where are we going?” Swordtail asked as Sundew came flying back toward them. “Ow AGAIN!” he yelped as Morpho fell out of the book drop and squashed his tail.
“To get Cricket arrested, as far as I can tell,” Sundew grumbled, throwing the saffron-colored silk cape over her wings.
“I have to get home,” Morpho said. “My dad worries if I’m out too late.”
“I want to meet everyone in the Jewel Hive Chrysalis today,” Sundew said to him. “Outside the Hive, next to the farthest stall of the Glitterbazaar, when the sun is at its highest point.”
He nodded, his eyes shining, and flew off.
Cricket was already leading the way up to the higher levels, thinking about sunset. That’s how long we have until Belladonna’s deadline. We have to bring her something real by then, or HiveWings will start to die. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. She liked Sundew — most of the time — and being with Sundew had made her start thinking all LeafWings were like that. But when she stopped to remember Sundew’s parents, Belladonna and Hemlock, she felt an almost crushing fear for the rest of her tribe.
The higher levels were the busiest at this time of night, as HiveWings swarmed from one party to another, always rushing to make sure they didn’t miss anything, to make sure they made at least an appearance everywhere. Many of them had their most beautiful SilkWings along with them, although at this hour Cricket could see that the rules were more relaxed. SilkWings and HiveWings chatted to one another as they walked or browsed the appetizer tables; SilkWings joined the dances in the ballrooms, laughing and singing along.
There are HiveWings here who see the SilkWings as equals, she was sure of it. HiveWings who might be willing to join a revolution to stop the queen and change the rules of this world. If they could … if they were given the chance before the LeafWings started a new war.
Lady Scarab’s mansion was one of the only quiet ones up here — no music rang from the windows, no dragons fluttered in and out. But a squad of HiveWings were gathered on her front steps, some of them tapping their claws impatiently.
“Open this door, Scarab!” the queen roared from inside one of the soldiers.
A short way down the street, Cricket ducked into a party that overflowed the edges of an elegant courtyard. Nearly invisible strands of silk draped from the hedges and arches and gazebo, hung with tiny firefly sculptures, each one with a small dot of flamesilk inside so the party seemed to be dotted with real fireflies. A trio of SilkWings played quiet string instruments in a corner. Several of the guests turned around with disapproving looks when they heard the shouting at Scarab’s house, then turned back quickly, making their faces blank, when they realized who was doing the shouting.
Cricket slipped through the crowd and picked up a fizzy coconut-scented drink from one of the tables, trying to look as though she went to parties all the time, this was perfectly normal, parties were easy and fun, ha ha, yes, hooray for socializing, that was absolutely a thing she liked to do.
The other three stayed close to her, looking possibly even more conspicuous than she did — wide-eyed Blue, scowling Sundew, and twitchy Swordtail — but the crush of dragons made it unlikely anyone would stop and examine them closely.
“Try this one,” Cricket heard a SilkWing say, scooping a glass of something fuchsia from one of the many sparkling punch bowls scattered on tables around the party. The HiveWing he handed it to tasted the drink and made a face.
“SCARAB!” bellowed the queen, and Cricket saw everyone at the party trying to hide their reactions — irritation here, fear over there, that one perhaps glee, those two definitely curiosity. The soldiers pounded on the door with talons and tails and spiky clubs. “Open this door or I’ll —”
The door flew open and one of the soldiers nearly fell inside. Lady Scarab glared out at the knot of dragons on her doorstep. Cricket had to crane her neck to see the elderly dragon around a few other partygoers. She wasn’t the only one; now several guests were staring openly down the street at the commotion.
“Or you’ll what?” Lady Scarab demanded.
“Oh no,” whispered a HiveWing standing near Cricket.
“Do you think she’s going to do that smell thing?” whispered another. Her friend nodded. “Come on, let’s sneak out before it becomes unbearable up here.” The two HiveWings wove away toward the ramps in a hurry. Cricket saw a crimson dragon by the food table — probably the host — glance despairingly around as a few others sidled off, too.
“Who else is here?” the queen demanded.
“A young friend of mine,” Lady Scarab snapped. “She’s asleep, like a sensible dragon, so take your goons and shut up and go away.”
Small gasps sounded from around the party, and Cricket saw one SilkWing accidentally drop her glass with a tiny smash.
“Bring her out.”
“Wasp. She’s none of your concern. Surely you have more important things to do; just leave her be.”
The white-eyed solder hissed and lashed his tail. “Prove to me she’s not the traitor we’re looking for.”
“She’s not!” Scarab snapped, exasperated. “Haven’t you taken enough from me, Wasp? This dragon has done you no harm.”
Scarab is arguing with her, Cricket suddenly realized with a jolt. She’s arguing with Queen Wasp. She’s saying no to her.
Queen Wasp wouldn’t cause a scene like this if she could avoid it.
That must mean … she can’t control Lady Scarab.
Scarab is like me. She’s free from the mind control!
“Who is in there, Scarab?” the queen demanded. All of the soldiers’ eyes turned white. The party suddenly went very quiet behind Cricket.
Uh-oh.
She darted a glance sideways. The HiveWing beside her had white eyes as well. Cricket guessed everyone at the party had been taken over. The SilkWings were still murmuring to one another, but their voices slowly faded to silence.
Cricket kept her head down, hoping her eyes were hidden by the folds of the blue veil around her horns. All the HiveWings had their heads turned toward Scarab’s house, alert and coiled like angry snakes. So far they were a threat, not yet a weapon. As long as she stayed still, with luck no one would look closer at her.
Her heart constricted, eating all the air in her chest.
“You stay out of my house, Wasp,” Lady Scarab said furiously. “You have no right to poke your snout in —”
“I have every right. I am your queen.” The voice came from all the HiveWings on the street now. It was chilling to hear it so close, the breath of all the stolen guests shivering across Cricket’s wings. On Scarab’s steps, two of the HiveWings stepped forward and menacing stingers slid out from under their claws.
“You’re a creepy old bat!” Scarab shouted. “Your mother would hate to see what you’ve done with her tribe!”
“Lucky for us that she’s dead, then.”
Scarab hissed at the stingers reaching toward her. Suddenly the soldiers staggered back, their eyes watering. All the dragons on her front steps covered their snouts.
A moment later, the smell rolled over the party. Cricket had heard of dragons with Scarab’s power, and she’d even smelled a fraction of it once when Scarab was annoyed by some dragonets in her way at the market. But this had to be the full-force weaponized version of it, like dead rotting things pickled in sulfur. It made
her want to claw off her own nose. She saw the white eyes flicker out of the faces around her; she guessed the queen couldn’t stand to experience it through so many dragons. Several of the party guests dropped their drinks and ran for the stairs.
“I will come here and kill you myself if I have to,” Wasp snarled from one of the soldiers’ mouths.
“Ha,” said Lady Scarab. “Doing your own dirty work? Doesn’t sound like you, Wasp.”
“Lady Scarab.”
Cricket felt cracks shiver across her heart. Katydid had appeared beside Scarab, touching the older dragon’s shoulder gently.
Scarab’s wings drooped. “Idiot child. I could have kept you safe.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble for me,” Katydid said. “There’s no reason to. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ll come with you willingly,” she said to the guards.
“Hm. Familiar, but not the dragon I’m looking for. What an interesting mystery,” said the queen. “Some relation to my missing friend, I’m guessing?”
Lady Scarab only glared at her, but Katydid dropped her gaze to her feet.
“Well,” said the queen, “perhaps we can find a use for her.”
Katydid looked up again, and her eyes were blank as the faces of the moons, empty like the husks of spider-eaten grubs.
“Nice try, Lady Scarab,” the queen said with Katydid’s mouth, Katydid’s voice, Katydid’s mind. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again soon.”
And then Katydid stepped out of the house, joined the group of HiveWing soldiers, and marched away.
Lady Scarab slammed the door of her mansion hard enough to make the firefly lanterns rattle all over the courtyard down the street.
The trio of SilkWings quickly started the music again, and the babble of conversation rose, a little strained and a little higher-pitched than before. A few more guests made excuses to the host, who was stirring a pale green tea dejectedly, and vanished toward the ramps to find safer, better-smelling parties.
Sundew came up beside Cricket, twitching her cape a little closer around her. “I don’t understand how you all live like this,” she whispered.
The Hive Queen (Wings of Fire, Book 12) Page 12
