Not that it would do me any good. He’s the most beastly of the gods, more animal than person, but he is also immensely powerful.
“I have created an entire level for you underneath, though you are welcome to wander wherever you please. Just know that you can be a target up here. We’ve fended off multiple attacks. The rarog is a frequent offender.”
His body comes apart slowly, growing thinner, fuzzier, as the insects spread out. Then it snaps back, his outline tightening. I grind my teeth behind my pleasant smile. I dislike the Kingof Bees and find him ridiculous, but alas, war breeds strange bedfellows.
“We will stay outside but obscure ourselves.” He speaks in a susurrating voice that reminds me of murmuring streams and the whispering of trees.
“Good. We monitor the island at all times, so if an attack occurs, my troops will come flying. Would you like to see Nawie now?”
“We would like to meet the woman you keep here. Our paths crossed once.”
My hackles rise, and I almost lose my smile as possessive jealousy heats my chest.Of course, he wants to see Jaga, the prophesied mortal who’ll end the war. Then my mood lifts as I imagine what she will do to him if he offends her.
“By all means. Follow me.”
I spread out my shadows to check for enemies, and when I’m certain we’re safe, I make a doorway in the side of the mountain. Enormous gates fall open with a clang and melt back into thick walls as soon as we pass through.
I lead him down the main corridor, one with fake windows that show what’s outside at all times. Gems glimmer here and there on the walls, and souls drift past, faint and translucent, stopping to gossip when they see us.
“Who’s that?”
“A bee-man!”
“Don’t be silly, don’t you see the beetles and dragonflies? Is he a god of all the crawlies?”
“He’s the King of Bees, you morons. He rules the woods.”
“And how would you know?”
“I was a huntsman. I prayed to him every day. Blessings and a thousand thanks, my god.”
“Yes, he is the King of Bees,” I say with a nod. “Better go and tell everyone. You are the first to see him here.”
All souls crowding the corridor float away quickly, eager to pass on the news to everyone who doesn’t know yet. We continue in relative peace, and I lead the King through shortcuts, some of them known to all, others just mine and Nyja’s. We pass a few corridors, some tall, some squat, crossing through a spacious cavern with many carved columns holding up a ceiling shaped like the ribcage of an enormous animal, and briefly walk through a meadow where nawkas play as children in an everlasting summer.
Nawie is limitless and shaped by magic. I am proud every time I show it to a newcomer, but the King of Bees reacts with nothing but faint buzzing, and my mood sours to the point of brusqueness.
I try to engage him in conversation, but he remains silent until we reach the Hall of Fires. Jaga stands up from a comfortable chair made of dark wood and rubies. It looks like a throne, one I’m seeing for the first time, and I love how queenly it is. I’d love for her to embrace her power with total acceptance.
“You have bled your fealty on our thorns,” the King susurrates, and Jaga eyes him with an inscrutable expression.
“We’re allies now and I should be nice, correct?”she asks through our bond.
“No, Ishould be nice. You can tell him to fuck off if he annoys you.”
She doesn’t reply to my rather hot-headed words, and doesn’t follow my suggestion.
“I did,” she tells him with an aloof expression. “And you let a poroniec almost kill me.”
The King undulates, the buzzing growing louder before he settles back into his original shape. His violet eyes flash in the fuzzy chaos, trained on Jaga.
“Kill you? We knew you could not die.”
I look up sharply, and Jaga presses her lips together, her eyes flinty. “How did you know?”
“Your first toll,” he buzzes. “We saw it drain you completely, yet you came out of the river alive. We knew you were stronger than any other creature in our woods. Apart from us.”
“I’d bet my left hand that you’re more powerful than him now,”I tell her.
