Assassin's Quest

All eyes turned to the door. Molly stood there, very pale, breathing hard. Her right hand was reddened with blood. She clutched to her chest a large wooden box. An ominous humming came from it. "The bitch you sent after me is dead," Molly said harshly. "As you will soon be, if you don't put down your weapons and free my child and man." The stout man grinned incredulously. Redbeard lifted his sword.

Her voice shook only slightly as she added. "The child is Witted, of course. As am I. My bees will not harm us. But injure one of us, and they will rise up and follow you and give you no quarter. You shall die of a million burning stings. Think your swords will be of much use against my Wit-bees?" She looked from face to face, her eyes flashing with anger and her threat as she clutched the heavy wooden hive box to her. One bee escaped it, to buzz angrily about the room. Red-beard's eyes followed it, even as he exclaimed, "I don't believe it!"

Burrich's eyes were measuring the distance to his sword as Molly asked softly, almost coyly, "Don't you?" She smiled oddly as she lowered the hive to the floor. Her eyes met Red-beard's as she lifted the lid of the box. She reached in and even as the stout man gasped aloud, she drew out her hand, gloved with moving bees. She closed the lid of the hive and then stood. She looked down at the bees coating her hand and said quietly, "The one with the red beard, little ones." Then she held her hand out as if offering them as a gift.

It took a moment, but as each bee took flight, it unerringly sought out Red-beard. He flinched as first one and then another buzzed past him, and then came back, circling. "Call them back or we kill the child!" he cried out suddenly. He batted at them ineffectually with the branch of candles he held.

Molly instead stooped suddenly and heaved up the whole hive as high as she could. "You'll kill her anyway!" she cried out, her voice breaking on the words. She gave the hive a shake, and the agitated humming of the bees became a roar. "Little ones, they would kill my child! When I set you free, avenge us!" She raised the hive higher yet in her arms, prepatory to smashing it to the floor. The injured man at her feet groaned loudly.

"Hold!" cried the stout man. "I'll give you your child!"

Molly froze. All could see that she could not hold the weight of the hive box much longer. There was strain in her voice but she calmly directed, "Give my baby to my man. Let them both come to me. Or you shall all die, most certainly and most horribly." The stout man looked uncertainly at Red-beard. Candles in one hand and sword in the other, Red-beard had retreated from the table, but the bees still buzzed confusedly about him. His efforts to slap them away only seemed to make them more determined. "King Regal will kill us do we fail!"

"Then die from my bees instead," Molly suggested. "There are hundreds of bees in here," she added in a low voice. Her tone was almost seductive as she offered, "They will get inside your shirts and the legs of your trousers. They will cling to your hair as they sting. They will crawl into your ears to sting, and up your noses. And when you scream, they will crowd into your mouth, dozens of humming, fuzzy bodies, to sting your tongue until it will not fit inside your mouth. You will die choking on them!"

Her description seemed to decide them. The stout man crossed the room to Burrich, thrust the still-screaming babe into his arms. Redbeard glared but said nothing. Burrich took Nettle, but did not neglect to stoop and seize up his sword as well. Molly glared at Red-beard. "You. Get over there beside him. Burrich. Take Nettle outside. Take her to where we picked mint yesterday. If they force me to act, I do not wish her to see it. It might make her fear the very bees who are her servants."

Burrich obeyed. Of all the things I had witnessed that night, that seemed to me the most amazing. Once he was outside, Molly backed slowly toward the door. "Do not follow," she warned them. "My Wit-bees will be keeping watch for me, right outside the door." She gave the hive a final shake. The roaring hum increased and several more bees escaped into the room, buzzing angrily. The stout man stood frozen, but Red-beard lifted his sword as if it would defend him. The man on the floor gave an incoherent cry and scrabbled away from her as Molly backed outside. She dragged the door shut behind her, then leaned the hive against it. She took the lid off the hive and then kicked it before she turned and ran off into the night. "Burrich!" she called quietly. "I'm coming." She did not go toward the road, but off toward the woods. She did not look back.

"Come away, Fitz." It was no Skilling, but Verity's soft voice close by me., "You have seen them safe. Watch no more, lest others see with your eyes and know where they go. It is better if you do not know yourself. Come away."