Page 44 of The Princesses of Ruin
The spider follows an unseen path on instinct with the grace and fluidity of a dancer.
Who is Sheesahng?
Iksah makes a clicking noise.“Mate.”
I’d heard Iksah’s fear before. He was worried for his mate, but there is a distinct sensation carried with this word that sets it apart. Two different entities, both of them mates, but this one is more revered than the other.
Are we going to meet Sheesahng now?
Iksah makes three loud clicks in quick succession, and I sense his mind is working through the question.
“This creature you make noise for is of the kind you speak: man. But you are not woman. You are Origin-touched. You are Other.”
The slimy bit of Ashai wriggling around inside me goes still for a moment. In the absence of its struggle, Ifeel the wetness on my cheek from my tears. The fear for Zane floods to the front of my mind and I realize I’ve been crying the whole way.
I grit my teeth and wipe my face.
I’m not Other.
“A wise one does not deny its existence, or its purpose.”
What do you mean by that?
Iksah is quiet, his mind chittering on faster and without any sense—at least none I can discern. Perhaps he was formulating his thoughts into a digestible form for me, and now I’m being kept out.
The heat of the forest is oppressive. I dare not stop to drink from my skein and lose Iksah in the dark brush. Without the spider’s voice in my head, the sounds of the creatures around us become a hot soup of noise I’m drowning in. Who could live in this madness?
“We draw close. Rest soon.”
Can he sense my thoughts as easily as Alyse can?
We ascend and my muscles burn. Even using my spindles to aid the climb, it’s been a brutal trek that’s left my core weak.
My gaze lifts to Zane as golden light penetrates the canopy. The sunset colors highlight how pale he is and my gut plummets. I’ve allowed us to wander so deep into the forest, with him so near death. I’ve killed us both.
Iksah pivots around a white-wrapped branch and taps it once. A zip of power surges along the once invisible string that leads down into the forest. A woven net of silk comes to life with magic and shimmers through the trees. It would be nearly impossible to navigate this without spindles. It would spell death for any captured creature.
“Protection,”Iksah says, his bulbous fore-eyes focused on me. The other six rotate and scan, looking for threats.
Or a trap,I send back.
“Deceit is for gods and men. Iksah is a hunter. If you were prey, you would not be breathing or carrying medicine.”
I’m shocked by how clear the message is this time. I look down at the bundle of silk glistening with my sweat. “Fair enough.”
Iksah chitters and rotates toward the white wall above us. He pushes his forelimbs into the silk and it separates, opening just wide enough to fit his rounded body and Zane. He squeezes inside, then holds the way open for me.
I swallow my fear and push myself up into the nest. Light spills across my face and I close my eye, allowing my magic vision to take over.
A massive black void sits in the center of the nest with a smaller blotch of yellow resting beside it. There are black ovals all around the white nest, swallowing the color of Iksah’s magic. In the crook of the yellow creature’s overlapping arms is a tiny ovular bundle that pulses deep red.
I open my eye and it adjusts to the low light, revealing what I’d already assumed. We’re inside an egg sac. At the center of it all is a black and red spider the size of a house, but her carapace is desiccated, and her limbs are curled in an unnatural way. There’s a gaping wound on her side and a drag of old blood across the nest floor from the rim of the bowl-like structure where she lies.
A spider several hands smaller than Iksah is nestled against the female’s side. In its crossed pedipalp is a bundle of silk not unlike what I carry.
“Mate Iksah, what has followed you home?”the spider asks in a weary voice.
“Mate Ahnkeem, I have brought medicine and warriors.”Iksah hurries across the distance and pushes close to the other spider. Hewraps two of his limbs around Ahnkeem and presses down, sealing their bodies together for a moment.
