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Hornet stared at Lace as she laughed, a creeping fear building in her belly, something she rarely felt these days given all that she had experienced but nonetheless had her itching for her needle.
Was Lace truly returned to her as she was before the abyss, or had she come back altered?
Hornet had struggled endlessly to attain the everbloom in an attempt to return the debt she owed. Lace had come to her aid when she needed it most, had fallen into a place in which Hornet had outright refused to tread for countless years lest she risk losing herself.
But she’d done so for Lace, and did not regret doing so.
She’d considered the option of abandonment, of course. Lace had been intriguing with her teases and attempts at playful threats, her spars invigorating enough to not completely write her off. It was rare that anyone actually challenged her these days, so Lace stood out all on her own.
But the abyss, the void; It was better avoided for a reason.
Hornet knew without consideration that she hadn’t imagined her siblings during those final the moments, nor had the she imagined the shade lord — the knight — that had once followed her around Hallownest and fulfilled a duty no one else had been capable of achieving. They'd saved so many bugs, and before she'd been stolen away to Pharloom she'd begun to see the glimmers of hope within their society once again.
But her sibling was one with the void from the start, and although she had believed relieved to see them, pleased that in some way her sibling still lived, she knew that neither her nor Lace was ever meant to fall into those depths and come out alive.
Besides, Lace was one with silk, who knew what the void could do to her?
“Spider?” Lace asked between chuckles, tilting her head when it was obvious Hornet was planning to do little more than stare. “What’s wrong? Why do you seem so—” she shifted closer, reaching out to touch Hornet’s face.
Only for Hornet to scurry back, concerned that one wrong move might incite an attack.
“Are you unchanged?” Hornet asked, checking for any sign of the void’s influence.
She knew the void wasn’t quite like the infection that the radiance spread back in Hallownest, but it did have an influence on others, consumed one entirely, and with Lace’s unique form it could have long term effects. She’d been freed, and Hornet did not regret freeing her — would gladly do it again — but it was difficult with the memory of what had happened fresh on her mind.
The shade lord’s face flashed in her mind once more; a reminder of what she’d experienced long ago.
“I am myself, silly spider.” Lace chuckled. “Why are you scared of me?” she asked, “You saved me, yourself. You know I’ve returned to how I was. Can’t you sense it?”
Hornet didn’t need to ask what she meant by that. Years of combat and experience with all manner of afflictions had attuned her with the subtle differences another bug could show. She’d discovered Lace’s particular circumstances early on, even if she hadn’t revealed as such at the time.
There had been a hope there, for just a moment, when Lace had spoken with her before everything had fallen to pieces. An understanding that there before her was someone who could perhaps nearly match her life span, someone that could be a companion without being a risk to either her life or her heart.
But then she’d fallen, and with her descent into the darkness creeping below the fear came.
She didn’t seem changed. The void had perhaps not reached the parts of her that would remove who she was not just in form — but her soul itself. It seemed that unlike Garmond, who’d been consumed from within, that the void hadn’t quite managed to do more than attach itself to her outer shell.
She was safe, truly safe.
“I can.” Hornet admitted. She took a moment to look around, observing their location and the troubles still ahead. “What will you do next, child?”
Lace huffed.
“I’m not a child, spider.” Lace argued, moving to follow her as she stood, searching for their way out. “And I think you should know,” she reached forward, gripping onto Hornet and giving a happy trill when Hornet didn’t remove her grip. “I’ll follow you, now. Wherever you wish to go.”
Hornet didn’t ignore the trill as she had so many others, nor did she try to dodge the small brush of affection given when Lace moved closer, a sign of her attraction. It had been so long since she’d allowed anyone to court her, longer still since she’d taken a mate.
But Lace’s lifespan should nearly match her own. The first of any in her life since her siblings that could live a life alongside her.
Though hopefully there would be no more tragedies or kingdoms to overthrow. Perhaps this courtship could be completed somewhere comfortable, somewhere warm and soft where they could take their time.
Who was she kidding? They both reveled in bloodshed. Perhaps a battle to prove their worth to one another was on the agenda. She couldn’t simply agree to a mating without it.
Even if she’d already revealed herself by trudging into the abyss and all its dangers for her.
“I suppose we should head up.” Hornet stated, reaching for her needle. “And then, perhaps, if we survive, I could show you my bed.”
“My, my, spider.” Lace teased, “So forward.”
But she didn’t protest, simply readying herself to follow along towards whatever wayward adventure they ended up on next.