STARGATE ATLANTIS Lost Queen by Lost Queen (SGX-04)

Author:Lost Queen (SGX-04) [Retail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fandemonium Books
Published: 2020-07-06T14:18:33+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

*So far as he is able,* Forge said, and laid a cautious hand on Bell’s wrist.

The blade snatched it away. *Is there no one here who serves my queen?*

*Her consort is here,* Everlasting said.

*I do not see him.*

*I am here.* Blaze rose from his place at Moonwhite’s side, though he kept himself between her and the others. *You may speak freely.*

“Hey.” That was Sheppard, standing on the far side of the fire. “You want to let us in on this?”

*Not particularly,* Salt said, as though the thought escaped unbidden. Everlasting smiled in spite of himself, and Forge ducked his head to hide his amusement.

*Humans,* Bell said. *Lanteans? What are they doing here?*

*They are here because you landed on a world given to them under Alabaster’s treaty,* Blaze answered. *And, yes, we will speak so that they can understand.*

Bell’s mouth closed in a thin line. *I will not betray our queen’s business to the Lanteans.*

*You will do as I tell you,* Blaze snapped. *And the first thing I want to know is how you came here.*

Forge looked across the fire to see Ronon looming behind Sheppard, and the cleverman McKay watchful to one side. The Young Queen pushed another branch into the fire, and looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes dark in the flickering light. *Speak aloud,* he said.

*The cleverman is right,* Blaze said, and switched to speech. “I ask you again, what happened? How did you come here?”

Bell bared teeth at him, though his weakness was still plain to see. A part of Forge’s mind admired his courage even as he glanced sideways to see how the Lanteans were taking this.

“We came to visit their hive,” Bell said sullenly, and jerked his head at Everlasting. “For what purpose, I do not know. The queen did not share that with me.”

“Though you have been considerably in her company of late,” Blaze said.

That had the familiar sound of rivalry, a consort working to keep down a rising favorite within the zenana, and Forge caught Everlasting’s eye.

“Be that as it may,” Everlasting said, and Blaze checked himself with visible impatience.

“So she did not share her mission. Very well. What do you know?”

“We came, we docked.” Bell shrugged. “We waited while she went aboard alone. She returned, and we cast off again, to return to the hive.”

“And then?” Blaze demanded.

Forge could see the Lanteans moving closer, spreading out so that they could see everyone’s expressions more clearly. *Careful,* he said, and Salt touched his wrist.

*Let them hear. It concerns them, too.*

It would if they were Wraith. Forge paused, startled by the thought. If they were Wraith — if they were a species to be dealt with as though they were people — then this treaty was valid and the Lanteans had every right to be part of the discussion. And that was a weird and disturbing thought, and one he would not pursue just now.

Bell glanced unhappily at the Lanteans. “Once we left the hive, the queen complained that she was ill.

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