CHAPTER TENThe Banished Queen
I raised myself to a sitting position and stared at my arm. Where earlier the grey and white bee army mirrored my mother’s glorious decorative riot of colour and vibrancy, nothing remained. Loss hit me like a galloping horse and my breathing grew panicked and erratic.
Poor Bliss bathed the sting site with ice water but could not revive my spirits. I cried without shame, knowing I could never return. My body felt stiff from the paroxysm of shaking and the bee venom withdrew from my veins with agonising slowness. It left a red trail which webbed beneath the skin where once a reminder of my mother rested. It highlighted my loss of identity.
“You must not go again,” Bliss whispered. “Promise me?”
I shook my head and nodded at the same time, bereft and unable t
