The queen of queens trembled mid-air, her wings buzzing loud. How was this possible?! By the Flower Tender, what was going on?! How had the newcor built an army that could challenge her own in a re week?!
Or…was the hive that sent the newcor so large and powerful that they could afford to send a hundred soldiers with a new swarm?! What kind of hive could do such a thing?! How could a single queen even lay the sheer number of eggs required for such a hive?!
And worse still were the giants. The queen of queens had never seen, never even imagined a bee like them. It would take several of her soldiers to take down even one of them, assuming their mandibles could pierce the giant’s chitin. If not…they’d have to devote thousands of workers to try and cook the giant alive.
The queen of queens compared the numbers in her head and her wings began to slow. The probable outco of a fight here…was not good. She had the advantage in workers, but they were even in soldiers and she had no plan to deal with the giants. An open fight here and now would favor the newcor, the best plan would be to fall back and force them to co to her while raising as many soldiers as she could.
But…that plan did not consider her other subjects. Indeed, she could see scouts from the other hives beginning to arrive and observing the commotion. Her empire was now watching her every move here and she knew that it was out of fear, not loyalty, that her subjects obeyed her. Were she to retreat, were she to back down from this newcor even temporarily, they all would turn on her in an instant. She would lose the tribute she needed to raise more soldiers imdiately and their forces, though paltry, would join the newcor’s and tip the scales even further.
She buzzed once more as she focused on the newcor and the traitor. She would admit that they had outmaneuvered her here, she had been well and truly played. She would admit that she had grown complacent, arrogant in the belief that she had grown beyond any possible threat.
But if they thought she would back down now, then they were as arrogant as she. She was the queen who conquered all others, who erged victorious from the days of endless war and put an end to it all. Hers was the army that had crushed countless rival hives, that had subjugated the big solitary wanderers, that had fended off the bird and the wasp and the spider, that had tad the carnivorous flower. It was they who had brought peace and order to the Flower Tender’s lands. Her empire had been built by the lives of thousands of her children and she would not surrender it to anyone.
She began to spread the advance pheromones once more. No, the newcor would not take her empire without a fight. The queen would abandon her title of queen of queens and beco the conquering queen once more, risking her hive and her life on the field of battle as in days past. And if she were to fall, if her empire was to co crashing down today, then it would only be by the hemolymph of the newcor’s children, as she would exact her toll for every one of her children who perished.
And so, the queen of queens prepared to fly to her destiny at the head of her all-conquering army…
“Stop.”
Until a single word froze every bee on the battlefield. Flowers began to bloom in the space between the two armies, unleashing a sweet scent that cald the beating of their wings. The Flower Tender herself arrived and walked to the center of the field. Even the queen of queens would not defy her order, and so she and her army halted once more.
This…was abnormal. The Flower Tender did not involve herself in the affairs of bees. Not in the days of strife, not in the bird invasions, not in the wasp wars. She was an existence beyond them.
But now, she was here, speaking to them directly. All bees present, the queen of queens included, could only wait for her words. And none of them could have predicted what the Flower Tender would do next.
The Flower Tender held out her hands towards both armies.
“Queens, co here.”
The queen of queens froze. The Flower Tender…was requesting their presence? Was calling for them to land on her hands?
“Ok!”
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The queen of queens had no words as the insolent newcor flew forward and landed directly on one of the Flower Tender’s hands. There were no pheromones produced by any bee that could describe such insolence, such an insult!
But the Flower Tender just smiled at the insolent newcor and then turned her smile to the queen of queens. The queen of queens’ mind stopped at that instant. She hardly recalled flying forward, swaying in a daze until she hovered before the Flower Tender. The Flower Tender lifted her hand until it touched the queen’s feet and her wings finally stopped beating. The Flower Tender was…holding her in her hand, looking at her directly.
All that she thought she knew was being overturned by the minute.
Tarwantrad held her smile until the stingless queen settled in her hand, using the ti to try and organize her spinning thoughts. She had just barely made it in ti to stop a war between one of her queens and the Third Daughter! She had promised Belissar everything would be alright and then ca ho to this!
Once again, Tarwantrad was forced to confront the reality that perhaps she was a bit impulsive at tis and could really do with a bit more forethought to her plans. She had not expected to beco so busy with all the talks in the Compact these days and the situations with Tamosd and Finnakynne. She had nearly missed this looming fight because of a commotion with Tamosd happening right outside her door!
But negotiations with the Compact would prove irrelevant if she allowed Belissar’s bees to co to harm. It was all too clear that she had been negligent with her bees, and now she had been negligent with the Third Daughter’s introduction to her Tower. So, she needed to solve this situation directly, even though she had not had the chance to ask Belissar for his guidance. She’d just have to try and learn from his example as she went.
So, she reached out and had the two queens land on her hands as she had seen Belissar often do for his own as she tried to think of what he might do in this situation. He’d…probably speak kindly to them first, right? She put on her best Belissar smile as she addressed her stingless queen.
“First of all, thank you for all you have done for my dungeon. For all the happy flowers that have grown well thanks to your hives. I haven’t been diligent in speaking with you, but know that I am pleased with what you have accomplished thus far.”
Her stingless queen didn’t respond at first. Tarwantrad grew a bit worried…and then the stingless queen began emitting a confused mix of pheromones that beca unintelligible as they blended together. Fortunately, Tarwantrad had seen the bees reacting to Belissar enough to know that was actually a good sign. Her smile grew sincere and warm. Ah, her bees were just like Belissar’s deep down, weren’t they?
Her heart tightened as she realized she had not acknowledged them like this all this ti…but she could not change the past. All she could do was press on and learn from her mistakes.
“So, please, do not fight with one another. I do not wish to see either of your hives hard, especially not by each other. I have brought this new queen here because she cos from a dungeon far different from ours, with all sorts of bees that I never could have imagined. I had hoped that we could learn from each other, so that your hives could grow greater than ever before.”
Her stingless queen’s antennae and wings drooped.
“Flower Tender…doesn’t want bees fight?”
Her heart clenched but she persisted and shook her head.
“Not anymore. This queen cos from a place where different hives do not fight each other, but work together.”
The stingless queen curled up in her hand.
“…sorry. Fought lots…”
Tarwantrad quickly shook her head.
“No! You have nothing to be sorry for! It is my fault for not paying more attention to you and not caring for you more! Please, do not feel bad, you did exactly as I wanted before and followed your instincts.”
She turned to look at the Third Daughter.
“It is just that I have learned a great deal since eting Belissar, master of the Bee Dungeon, and I wished to share this knowledge with you. Could we both try sothing new, together?”
She glanced around at the other queen in the area and all the worker bees observing.
“Could all of us, every bee, try sothing new, together?”
The stingless queen looked up to her before emitting her pheromone response.
“If Flower Tender wishes, will do.”
The Third Daughter had began her response dance imdiately.
“Ok!”
Tarwantrad let out a sigh of relief. She had managed to avert disaster, at the very least. She would now have to work her way towards implenting so of Belissar’s ideas in her own Tower without the chance to ask his guidance first, but the bees wouldn’t go to war today.
She was concerned about that whole commotion involving Tamosd happening outside her door…but she’d just have to hope that Princess Finnakynne would actually help out with that. Right now, her bees needed her, and she could not face Belissar again if she let them down…
anwhile, just outside of Tarwantrad’s dungeon, Tamosd and Forgemaster Ughlarer were staring each other down. Tamosd was surrounded by ard black elves. anwhile, Princess Finnakynne was lounging on her side midair while munching on a sweetened nut.
“Wow, Tammy, getting arrested for treason, huh? I didn’t think you had it in you! You even got old Ughy to crawl out of his cave! I’m super impressed, I can’t even get my mother dearest to get off her chair.”
Both Tamosd and Forgemaster Ughlarer glared at her. The pixie princess responded by taking another bite and crunching on it loudly.
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