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Yes, my tutor probably would’ve done the same to me—not the until-they-bled part; that just sounded barbaric—but these weren’t humans.
“They’re trying. Give them a break.”
Meanwhile, the scorpions had spelled out the sentence: the scorpion queen wishes to give you safe passage threw our land.
Farrow, of course, had to correct them again for spelling the wrong through.
But I brightened happily. “Really? You want to help us? That’s so kind of you. Thank you, Queen Scorpion.”
Next to me, Farrow merely scowled before suspiciously asking, “Why?”
“Oh my Lord!” I whacked him in the arm. “You don’t say why when someone wishes to impart such a kind gift to you.”
“The hell if you don’t. It typically means they want something in return. Something more precious than you’re willing to part with.”
We owe a favor to the family of King Terran, the scorpions answered.
“King Terran was my grandfather,” I explained.
Farrow sent me a dry glance. “Yes, I remember.”
“Oh, right.” I’d already told him that. Then I beamed. “And you actually listened to me? How fabulous.”
He sighed, probably worried I would now think that had to be some kind of sign, signifying we were true loves after all.
Which I did.
Because we were.
“Oh, stop being a fusspot,” I told him, smiling as I nudged his elbow. “I’ve never had scorpions talk to me before. This is new and exciting. I didn’t even realize they understood humans.”
“Yeah,” Farrow echoed, folding his arms over his chest. “It’s creepy.”
In the sand, the scorpions had written: King Terran saved our kind from certain exsteek...
But knowing they were probably spelling the word wrong, they tried again with extension, only to erase that too and settle on certain death instead.
Then they added: we repay our dets.
To keep Farrow from correcting their spelling yet again over the word debt, I pinched his arm when he opened his mouth.
He glanced over with raised eyebrows, so I spat, “Shh.”
An amused grin quirked his lips, making my insides heat. He was so handsome when he responded to my silent demands with a simple, sexy smile. Made me wonder what else I could get him to do with a single look.
All the while, the scorpions patiently waited for our reaction.
“Right, yes.” Clearing my throat, I nodded and stepped forward. Since I’d been the one they had addressed in the first place, I felt like I should be the one to answer.
Bowing before them, I gifted them with a gracious incline of my head and sunny grin when I straightened. “We are most honored by your offer of guidance and graciously accept.”
“We do?” Farrow edged closer to me so he could ask from the side of his mouth, “Are you sure about this?”
I nudged him quiet and kept smiling at the scorpions. “Once we’ve made it safely through your land, consider your debt to my family line paid in full. Thank you.”
And so, for the next four days, we had a royal escort from the scorpion queen’s tribe.
