The Scorpion Queen (The Royal Celestials Book 8) by Cate Corvin

Author:Cate Corvin [Corvin, Cate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vivia Press
Published: 2021-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

17

Nix

It was clear that this scorpion was what I’d come to the desert for. It was my treasure.

I stayed near my boulder for the rest of the night, sipping water until the haziness of dehydration slowly receded.

When the sun rose, I turned my steps back towards the oasis, following the band of gold in the opposite direction.

The scorpion rode in my hand for most of the morning, and eventually made it clear it wanted to get down by shuffling to the edge of my hand and back.

I hesitated for more than one reason, not wanting to lose him. First, he was clearly what I’d come for, and second, if he could produce magical springs of water out of nowhere… well, I wasn’t too keen on repeating the experience of dehydrating nearly to death for the third time in my life.

I looked down into its tiny constellation of eyes. The scorpion unfurled his tail once, then twice, and I sighed. “Please don’t run off on me.”

I knelt down, letting him zip onto the dunes, then took a few experimental steps.

The scorpion followed me in the most roundabout possible way. He ran left and right, kicking up little puffs of sand, but didn’t stray further than ten feet away from me.

Feeling a little more confident in my decision, I pulled my hood further over my face and continued on, following the sun’s path.

I talked to him while I walked. Maybe it was a little ridiculous, talking to a scorpion, but there were times I would swear he understood me. He would draw closer, staying clear of my feet, and wouldn’t take off again until I’d paused to drink or collect my thoughts.

We camped at the half-buried caravan wagon that night, and he did his little spinning dance in the sand, calling up another spring to refill my jug.

When I’d drunk my fill, I leaned back against the wagon. “Did Scorpio send you?”

The scorpion stared at me. He huddled down in the sand near my leg, one pincer daintily picking at my pants.

I lowered my hand, flattening it against the sand, and he ran to my palm. Before I could lift him, he stung me again.

I drew in a hiss of breath. He had to be a true scorpius; he was doing exactly as the Riders did with their infants, bonding me to his venom.

I rubbed the spot until the bleeding stopped and the pain dulled, then settled him in my lap. “You need a name,” I informed him.

He marched up and down my leg. I watched the moon glint off the hints of gold in his black carapace, my eyelids already growing heavy with exhaustion.

“There’s a story they tell in the western desert oases. It was a story I listened to many times while I fell asleep in the caravan with my family.” I tugged my shawl tighter around my shoulders, already feeling the chill of the desert seeping into my bones. “There was once a merchant who was rich, but he was full of greed and always wanted more.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.