Page 132 of The Spider Queen
How do people get up onto their roofs?
My eyes widened.A ladder!
Yes!
I could—spin a ladder?
It’s your silk. You just have to tell it what to do.
I opened my mouth and thought about my intent. Nothing happened. I closed my eyes and tried again. Again nothing. My eyes shot open and anger swelled in my chest.
This doesn’t fucking work!
It does work. You’re just not doing it right. What did you tell your silk you wanted?
A ladder.
Doesn’t work that way. What is it youwant?
To get to the ward.
Right. So try thinking about that.
I craned my neck to stare at the rippling ward and thought about getting up there. I envisioned myself climbing on a ladder, my hands grasping the hardened, opaque rope as I made my way up the cliff.
Silky thread shot out of my open mouth.
It curled and weaved and grasped the side of the cliff. It stuck to the rough rocks like white moss and then ascended the mountain. White shimmery threads that resembled fingers clawed their way up. They traveled, and soon, the ends of the tendrils looped around two stones that would act as anchor points for the ladder. Fiber hung down and swayed in the wind. I watched them thicken, grow, and then braid together. The rungs appeared in one blink.
With a final swish, the ladder straightened, and then stilled. I placed my hand on one of the side ropes. It was hard—as solid as the cocoon I’d spun around Hunter.
I didn’t understand the rules of magic, but it had seemed like a good idea to thank it. Who knew if it would be fair-weathered?
“Thank you,” I whispered.
The ladder gave another swish, like it was letting me know it had heard me.
I placed my foot on the bottom rung and stepped up onto the ladder.
And then I began to climb.
Chapter 52
I think I’m going to be sick!
Close your eyes for a moment,Thane commanded.And why the hell did you look down?
Because I wanted to see what the world looked like from up here.
You shot out from inside a mountain and plummeted into the ocean—you didn’t get a good look then?
Uh, I was a little busy trying not to impale myself on the rocks, you jerk!
I pressed my face against the ladder and closed my eyes, trying to calm my breathing. The wind was stronger high up on the cliffs, but the ladder was petrified and hadn’t moved.
My hair whipped across my face and my fingers were numb from cold.
I was only halfway up the damn ladder.
