The Hive Queen (Wings of Fire, Book 12)

by Tui T. Sutherland

  Cricket wondered whether Lady Scarab’s “help” came in the form of threats or offers to help Cadelle social climb. “Weren’t there official records, though?” she asked.

  “I helped with those, too.” Lady Scarab looked extremely pleased with herself. “A little bribery, a little distraction, a forged document, and then you were Cadelle’s and everything was in order.”

  “But why would you help my sis — I mean, Katydid — at all?” Cricket asked, guessing part of the answer already. “Did you … did you know my dad?”

  Lady Scarab’s grin disappeared like waves pulling back off the beach before a tsunami. She stared down at her painting for a long moment, then set down the paintbrush and heaved herself upright with a growl.

  Cricket moved out of the way as the old dragon stomped over to the bookshelf. Lady Scarab pulled out an old, dark green book and flipped it open. Inside, the pages had been carved away to leave a hollow for a small painting.

  The dragon in the portrait had kind eyes; that was the first thing Cricket noticed. He wore glasses, just like her. His scales were a warm orange color, except for his wings, which were dark red, with spots of black scales here and there. Some of them even looked like ink blots, like hers did. He was holding a book, which made Cricket want to cry.

  “Who is he?” she whispered, touching the painting lightly with one claw. Definitely a HiveWing. So I’m really not a hybrid.

  “Malachite,” said Lady Scarab. “My secretary, back when I was still allegedly the minister of education. Brilliant, talented, made excellent coffee, full of exciting ideas. The first dragon in years who gave me hope for the future of our tribe.” She sighed. “It was my fault, really. Queen Wasp has always hated me. I should have known better than to let her see there was a dragon I cared about. To spite me, she forbade his marriage to the dragon he fell in love with.”

  “Katydid,” Cricket said.

  “Yes. And then she took him away from me, before he even knew you existed. He works for her now.”

  “He’s really still alive?” Cricket whispered, looking up at her.

  “In a sense,” Scarab said bitterly. “She parades him past me whenever she can, always with those hateful white eyes. I don’t know if he ever gets to be himself. I haven’t seen him with his own eyes since the day she took him over and summoned him to Wasp Hive.” She hissed. “I have to pretend like I don’t care. If she doesn’t get a reaction from me, maybe one day she’ll lose interest and let him go.”

  That’s why Lady Scarab has no servants, Cricket realized. That’s why she’s always alone — so there’s no one Wasp can hurt to get to her.

  “Is that what’s going to happen to Katydid?” she asked.

  “I hope not,” said Scarab. “Queen Wasp usually gets bored rather quickly. If Katydid can’t lead her to you, she won’t have much use for her.”

  “I wish I could rescue them,” Cricket said, twisting her talons together.

  “Well, you can’t,” Lady Scarab pointed out. “Because Wasp can control them anytime she wants, and she’ll just march them right back to prison.”

  A wave of anger rushed through Cricket, strong and sudden. “There has to be a way to stop her.”

  Scarab snapped the cover closed over the portrait of Malachite. “I was hoping you’d found one in the Book. But if there are no more predictions, then it’s all chaos.” She waved her talons in the air. “Anything could happen! She doesn’t have secret knowledge of the future after all.” Scarab chuckled. “No wonder she wants you dead.”

  Cricket ran her claws along the bookshelf, thinking. She still didn’t have an answer to the mind-control question. She didn’t know if the HiveWings could be saved from it. But she did have one thing: the truth about the Book.

  Katydid should have trusted me with the truth about her and Malachite.

  My tribe deserves the truth, too. They need to know that Queen Wasp has been lying to them.

  Cricket looked around the room. If this was her last day in the Hives, she had to use it well. She couldn’t just look for answers anymore; she had to make sure other dragons also knew them.

  “Lady Scarab,” she said. “Can I borrow a paintbrush?”

  Sundew didn’t like it, and so Swordtail didn’t like it, either, although Cricket suspected he would have been all for it otherwise. Blue loved the idea, though, and that was what she cared about.

  “This is way too dangerous,” Sundew protested.

  “Exactly,” said Swordtail.

  “Queen Wasp may already suspect we’re in Jewel Hive; this will just prove it to her,” Sundew pointed out. “It’ll be snake eyes and everyone talking at the same time again in a heartbeat, and then we’ll be surrounded, and then we’ll be caught, and then none of our plans will have a chance.”

  “None of them!” Swordtail said, waving his wings around dramatically. “Because we’ll be in the clutches of zombie HiveWings!”

  “All right, simmer down,” Sundew said, rolling her eyes.

  They were huddled inside one of the indoor stalls of the Glitterbazaar, not far from the Salvation Statue. This one sold books, wonderful beautiful books with gold leaf on the spines and feathery edges to the silk pages. Cricket couldn’t stop picking them up, just to feel something safe and beloved in her talons again. A part of her wished she could abandon this plan, crawl under one of the tables, and read all the books in this stall for the rest of her life instead.

  Hanging from the top of the doorway, wind chimes with little hummingbirds dangling from them sounded in the breeze. Dawn was coming, and the market was virtually empty. Even on the upper levels, most of the dragons they’d seen had been dragging themselves sleepily off to bed.

  “I know,” Cricket said. “But I have to do something. It’s no use knowing the truth if everyone else still believes the lies. My tribe needs to know that Queen Wasp is lying to them. Maybe I can’t set them free from the mind control yet, but knowing the truth about the Book …” She looked down at the scarf she’d been twisting between her claws. “I think knowing the truth is the first step toward their freedom. I hope.”

  “I hope so, too,” Blue agreed. “I mean, imagine you’ve only been told one thing your whole life. Imagine you don’t even know it could be a lie.” He hesitated. “This is going to be hard for dragons to hear.”

  “What are we supposed to do with all this?” Sundew asked, flicking her claws at the stacks of silk paper that Cricket had taken from a nearby stationery stall.

  “We’re going to write out Clearsight’s letter from the end of her book,” Cricket said. “Over and over again, as many copies as we can make. At the top, write ‘This is what the book really says’ and at the bottom write ‘There are no more predictions. Queen Wasp is lying.’”

  Swordtail groaned and flopped his head down onto his talons. “Wriiiiiiting,” he whined. “That sounds like homework. Nobody said the revolution would involve homework.”

  Sundew whacked him on the head with one of her wings. “You are lucky that you can write,” she said. “We were told that SilkWings weren’t allowed to go to school.”

  “What?!” Cricket yelped. She couldn’t imagine being forbidden to go to school. “That would be cruel and awful and barbaric!”

  The LeafWing shot her an amused look. “Well, exactly,” she said.

  “Sounds all right to me,” Swordtail muttered, but he accepted the inkwell and sheaf of papers with only a little more grumbling.

  Cricket made the first copies, as she was the fastest writer, and then they all copied from those, working as quickly as they could. When they had well over a hundred and the sun was starting to sidle in through the far windows, she stopped them and collected the papers.

  “Now you have to go,” she said.

  “Go where?” Blue asked.

  “To hide for the day,” Cricket answered. “Somewhere far away from Jewel Hive. I’m doing the next part by myself.”

  “Then I’m going back out to look for Luna,” Sw
ordtail said.

  “While I get to meet with the Chrysalis,” Sundew sighed.

  Blue took one of Cricket’s talons in his. “No way. I got you into this mess. I’m not leaving you alone to deal with it.”

  She shook her head. “You didn’t get me into this mess, Blue. Queen Wasp did this. She kept my parents apart and she stole my father. She used the Book to make herself powerful and lied to the entire tribe to do it. You helped me find the truth, and now I have to help my tribe the same way.”

  “Technically I helped you find the truth,” Sundew observed, “since it was my idea to steal the Book in the first place.”

  “I, too, have been important to this whole — everything,” Swordtail chimed in.

  Cricket put her wings around Blue, awkwardly now that his own wings were in the way, and hugged him close. “You have to stay safe to help the SilkWings and the LeafWings,” she said. “But the HiveWings are my responsibility. All right?”

  “Also,” Sundew said, “it’s better if only one of us gets caught. Then the others can maybe rescue her. Maybe,” she repeated, wagging one claw in Cricket’s face. “But also MAYBE NOT, so don’t get caught.”

  “I won’t,” Cricket said. “I’ll try. Go hide. I’ll meet you by the last stall outside before sunset.”

  “We can go look for Luna together,” Swordtail said, nudging Blue’s side. “We can split up and cover a lot more of the bay with two of us — three if Sundew helps. Maybe she’s hurt and stuck on an island. Or in a cave and can’t find us. Please help me, Blue. Luna and I need your help.”

  Cricket guessed that Swordtail meant it, but that he was also trying to give Blue a way to be able to leave her — by reminding him of another dragon who needed his help even more than she did.

  Blue opened and closed his talons, looking at them as if he was hoping they’d tell him what to do.

  “I will, but … Cricket,” Blue said woefully. “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “I know,” she said, her voice catching in her throat. “But you can understand what I’m feeling, right? You can imagine how important this is to me and … and how important you are to me.”

  He blinked back tears and leaned closer so their noses touched, and then Swordtail dragged him away and the three of them were gone, Blue still looking over his shoulder at the last moment.

  It was hard to watch them hurry away through the displays of the Glitterbazaar. It was really hard to stop herself from shouting, “Wait, come back! I don’t want to do this by myself! I’m actually terrified!”

  But she took deep breaths and stayed quiet. And as soon as they were out of sight, she set out to complete the next part of her plan.

  She knew the queen would tear down anything she put up as fast as possible, so she focused on quantity — as many messages in as many places as she could. Lady Scarab’s largest pot of paint was the bright pink color of hibiscus flowers, so that was what she used on every poster, every open surface, every blank unguarded wall. She especially enjoyed painting over the Wanted posters, covering her own face with tall pink letters.

  THE QUEEN IS LYING TO YOU

  CLEARSIGHT NEVER PREDICTED THE TREE WARS

  CLEARSIGHT NEVER SAID THE OTHER TRIBES SHOULD BOW TO THE HIVEWINGS

  EVERYTHING QUEEN WASP SAYS ABOUT THE BOOK IS A LIE

  CLEARSIGHT’S PREDICTIONS ENDED A THOUSAND YEARS AGO

  THE QUEEN IS LYING TO YOU

  THE QUEEN IS LYING TO YOU

  THE QUEEN IS LYING TO YOU

  She slid the paper with Clearsight’s letter on it under doors and scattered them through the parks. She left one on top of the book the Clearsight statue was reading outside the library. She couldn’t bring herself to do anything else to that statue, but she had no trouble defacing the Salvation Statue in the Glitterbazaar, scrawling LIAR in enormous pink letters all over the queen’s face and wings and then WASP IS LYING around the base.

  The sun was well above the horizon and the streets were starting to fill when she ran out of paint. A few dragonets on their way to school saw her slipping the papers under doors and asked what they were, so she gave them one.

  “This is the truth,” she said. “I’ve seen the Book of Clearsight.”

  They gazed up at her, wide-eyed, three tiny HiveWings and two wingless SilkWings.

  “Really?” said one of them. “Is it amazing?”

  “It is amazing, but not the way you’d think,” she said. She tapped the paper. “This is what it really says.”

  They all gathered around to sound out the words together, and she hurried away to the next level, wondering how long she had before Queen Wasp saw the messages through someone’s eyes.

  Two levels up, a door opened just as she slipped the paper underneath. A startled HiveWing stood there on her way out to work.

  “Hey!” said the strange dragon. “Who are you? What’s this?”

  “It’s —” Cricket took a deep breath. Be brave. “It’s the truth,” she said. She picked up the paper and held it out to the dragon. “I thought everyone should know what the Book of Clearsight really says.”

  The dragon’s jaw dropped open. “You’re the one from the Wanted posters!” She seized the paper from Cricket’s talons. “You really did read the Book? By the stars, I’ve always wanted to know what it says!”

  “Me too,” Cricket said. “And now I think everyone should know.”

  She left the HiveWing standing there, reading with shining eyes.

  They are listening. They want the truth. Maybe this will work.

  But her luck ran out on the way to the water tower, where she had hoped to hide for the day. She was hurrying through the streets, ducking her head to avoid meeting anyone’s eyes, when she turned a corner and ran into Cadelle.

  “Oh!” Cricket yelped, looking straight into her mother — no, her grandmother’s face. “I mean, sorry, sorry, ma’am.” She tried to cover her confusion, to bow and turn away and continue on like any other stranger in a hurry.

  But Cadelle seized her arm in an iron grip. “You,” she snarled. “What are you doing here? In my Hive? Are you trying to get me arrested?” She dragged Cricket through Dragonfly Square to her house and threw her inside, slamming the door behind them.

  Cricket stumbled on the gray silk carpet, trying to put some distance between herself and Cadelle. There was so much in this living room that reminded Cricket of her childhood — the square black marble side tables her mother had taken with her, the ivory reproduction of the Salvation Statue with tiny garnet eyes, the smell of chamomile tea and boiled rabbits coming from the kitchen. Everything in the house was exactly the same as it had been a year ago; every book exactly even with the edge of the shelf, every painting perfectly aligned with the next, Queen Wasp glaring at Lady Jewel, who stared blankly at the most boring Clearsight in portrait history.

  Even the terror wasn’t entirely new. She’d never been able to predict what Cadelle would do next. She’d always been afraid of something sudden and terrible striking out of the blue.

  But this time the room felt colder, the smell of meat stronger, and this time the threat of Queen Wasp poisoned everything. This time, instead of yelling or throwing things, Cadelle might deliver Cricket right into the queen’s waiting claws.

  “I kept my mouth shut,” Cadelle hissed. “I didn’t want anyone to know I had anything to do with you. And then you show up here? Did you think I would help you?”

  “No!” Cricket rubbed her scales where Cadelle had dug her claws in. “I didn’t want to see you at all!”

  Cadelle’s wings flared. “Then why here — why this Hive, why so close to my house? I came here to get away from you!”

  “I know,” Cricket said. “And I know why. Don’t worry, I want to get away from you, too.” She took a step toward the door, but Cadelle blocked her path, baring the venomous teeth that neither her child, nor grandchild, had inherited. Cricket had seen her use them a few times to bring down prey, especially larger animals like antel
opes or water buffalo.

  But she’d also once seen Cadelle bite a dragon … a new SilkWing cook who had accidentally burned Cadelle’s favorite meal on a bad day. The venom had spread quickly from the wound on his neck, and there had been screaming, and he’d only survived because Father (Grandfather) got him to the hospital in time.

  Cricket mostly remembered the screaming.

  That, and the realization that Cadelle was even more dangerous than she’d thought.

  Would she do that to me?

  “Just let me go. Pretend you didn’t see me,” Cricket said. “If we’re both lucky, you’ll never see me again.”

  Cadelle frowned. She’s not used to me talking back, Cricket thought. She’s never seen me try to push her away; she’s always been the one doing the pushing.

  “Do you have the Book?” Cadelle asked, her tail lashing.

  “No,” Cricket answered. “But I’ve seen it. I’ve read it, and I know Queen Wasp has been lying to everyone about it.”

  Cadelle brought her wings in close and squinted at Cricket with her “professor” face. “Is that so? I must say, teaching the history of Pantala feels quite incomplete without a resource like the Book. I’ve always thought it should be available for study.”

  “Me too,” Cricket said. “Maybe we do have something in common after all.”

  “You could give me the Book,” Cadelle said, advancing toward Cricket. Her teeth seemed to grow longer and sharper as she smiled. “I am actually qualified enough to know what to do with it. It shouldn’t be in the talons of some grubby SilkWings.”

  “I told you I don’t have it,” Cricket said, backing up until her tail hit the wall behind her and her wings nearly knocked down a map of Pantala. “And I wouldn’t give it to you even if I did. You’d probably give it back to Queen Wasp in exchange for an invitation to a party.”

  Cadelle hissed furiously. “Maybe, but I’d read it first!” she snapped.