Although I tried wiping the tears from my eyes, I found it to be a fruitless endeavor, and through the blur, I could tell the other bees gathered in the dining hall were in a similar predicament. Sniffles and buzzes of wonderment filled the room as Beatrice, nearly failing to uphold her stony demeanor, cleared her throat.

“That was truly beautiful, Beck. One of the most rousing, exemplary speeches I have heard in my short life. All bees, no, all beings, should listen to what you had to say. If you could, I would like to help you present those words to all who would hear them. Though perhaps we should save that for another time.”

Most of the bees were still in a heightened state of emotion, but Beatrice was anxious to move on. “I know that will be difficult to follow up, but there is still more to discuss. Please, take a moment to compose yourselves, and whenever you are ready, Belle, I would like to hear from you next.”

Of course, my emotions wouldn’t get the best of me, even with the masterwork of speechcraft Beck just pulled off. I was definitely not the last bee to wipe tears from their eyes, no sir.

I was certainly not still sniffling as Belle cleared her throat to speak. “If I must follow that up, I will try to be measured in my stance. I don’t disagree that Lemonholm was a terrible event, but I would not say it is a loss on all fronts. Though Lahim’s control fades, the contingent we sent to station themselves, even if temporarily, on the outskirts of the town, should be enough for the Link to maintain itself. And that means a new influx of food. As long as the Link holds, Mother’s command to send vast quantities of lemons to Yiwi will bolster our food supplies, and the hive can continue to expand.”

Bess waited patiently, and, finding a pause in Belle’s musings, inserted herself. “That’s pretty much what I was going to say. More food means more wax, and since the dome is pretty much complete, I’ll be able to finish a ton of smaller projects while I prepare for the next big one. Personally, I think Lemonholm wasn’t as bad as you’re making it out to be, Beatrice.”

“I was referring more to the point of new bees, but some food can be allocated for building as well. With the dome completed, we now have a massive hive and few bees to fill it.”

Bess rolled her eyes, clearly exaggerating her annoyance at Belle’s haughty response. All the same, they agreed with each other, so it was more like a bit of friendly banter. I didn’t need to check the Link to see the look on Beatrice’s face, smoldering with disagreement.

“To say that only good came from Lemonholm is short-sighted at best. The plan was always to expand the hive, one way or another. If it meant starving the people of Yiwi, so be it. Is there anything else you want to say?”

Belle crossed her arms. “Sure. I know what you’re thinking, Beatrice, and I agree. But with Lemonholm now behind us, we should focus on what we can act on right at this moment. And all we can do is take what we have got and put it to use.”

Oh, of course. That thing Beatrice is thinking about that doesn’t include our new source of food. That thing I certainly also knew about. I decided to cheat a bit and sift through her thoughts, just to confirm that I was also thinking of this apparently important detail. Unfortunately, Bedivere beat me to it.

“You refer to the actual events of Lemonholm, not the outcome. The sudden, unexpected appearance of the Knights. The murder of Yojer Sawah. The subsequent investigation. Beatrice, you would have preferred if none of them happened in the first place.”

Beatrice said nothing. Instead, Bella, silent this entire time, spoke up. “All we can really do is learn from what happened there and try not to make the same mistakes. Honestly, I don’t even think Lemonholm is worth talking about. We went through it, we learned, we got something out of it. End of story. We should focus on improving what we’re working on right now.”

Beryl scoffed. “Yes, you seem quite intent on doing nothing more than fiddling with your pet projects right now. I would hope you are enjoying mimicking the humans’ ‘corporations’ during this time of crisis.”

“Time of crisis?” Bella turned her full attention towards the discussion. I sensed a hint of embarrassment - Beryl had clocked her pretty good, since she’d been busy working on her own projects during this entire meeting. Even so, I thought Beryl was being unreasonable.

“The only crisis is how weak we are. Individual strength like the kind you warriors strive for is total bunk. Maybe take that lesson from Lemonholm.”

“And the strength you strive for, inspired by the humans, is much better? How goes your collaboration with the MIS agent? I’m sure the magnitude of human greed and wealth you will accrue from Bobbee Inc. will save us when the army of Knights comes to burn our hive to the ground.”

Beatrice shook her head and glanced at me. Me? Was she disappointed in me? Or embarrassed about the bees’ behavior? Oh, it was the second one. Well, it wasn’t unexpected. Thanks to the individuality of each bee derived from my human side, there were bound to be these extreme differences in ideology. At least it was all for the good of the hive, in the end. But a disagreement could grow out of hand quick, so I nudged Beatrice to intervene, though she wanted to let the bees speak their thoughts freely.

“Enough. This argument is unproductive. It is clear there is a difference in the way the workers and the warriors view the events of Lemonholm. Beryl, explain what exactly you wish to take from the disaster.”

She was being a bit disingenuous there. Queen even ooh’d when she noticed how Beatrice subtly manipulated the other bees, intent on making them see her point of view. Unfortunately for Beatrice, she was unique. She was right to say the warriors and workers had a difference in opinion, but it stemmed more from the practical, down-to-earth view the workers used to navigate the world versus the noble, single-minded determination of the warriors. Meanwhile, Beatrice was stuck being the only bee whose entire focus was on planning. Anticipation. Management. Well, Bedivere could pin Beatrice easily enough, and I could cheat by looking at her thoughts. But to say she was alone in her ideas was fair. She probably realized this when Beryl began to speak.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Very well. Bella is right on one count: we are weak. More specifically, we are weaker than we thought, weak as an offensive force, and weak compared to the world around us. We were spoiled by the equally disastrous events of Yiwi and the vultures. Both cases where brute strength did not win us the day, but trickery and the power of our Mother.”

“What did we encounter in Lemonholm? Four Somuian Knights and an elderly agent of the MIS. And we nearly lost. Might I remind you of the many advantages we held in that battle, and still all we managed to do was run, stingers between our legs? One of our strongest, Beelzebub, was primed for battle. Our strongest physical non-combatant, Ben, was also ready to lay down his life. We were in possession of two decently competent mercenaries and a fernen of unknown power. Said fernen possessed an Ability that did nothing but provide more advantages. It strengthened our forces, weakened our opponents, and forced them to have a single, predictable goal which we could prevent. We had the element of surprise, further increasing our numerical advantage with Beelzebub’s strike on Jey. Several powered-up cultists still further improved our advantage. And of course, these Knights were of the sort to hold themselves back so as not to harm ‘innocent civilians’ in the line of fire.”

“And the results? We were beaten and battered, only escaping thanks to last-second desperate maneuvers and exemplary performances from our bees. Along with other bizarre occurrences. This is what I mean. If Beelzebub, one of the single strongest combatants of the hive, arguably second only to Bedivere, could not defeat a single Knight Commander while considering all of these factors, we are truly in deep shit. It means that only Bedivere, Mother, or a swarm of our best warrior bees would stand any chance. And that is a single Knight Commander, isolated from his group. What about a dozen of these Commander-level threats? What about the Royal Guard? If the Knights were to attempt an invasion right this moment, the hive would be obliterated.”

Despite speaking in her Mind, Beryl nearly seemed to run out of breath during her rant. Initially composed, her speech quickly devolved into desperation. And I could see why. Every point she made was totally valid, and it must’ve been stressing her out as one of the top bees responsible for keeping the hive safe. Or, more specifically, keeping me safe. The look of fear she had on her face as she stared right at me made me distinctly uncomfortable.

I could feel what she was thinking: ‘I’m not confident I can protect you.’

Bedivere put a hand on her shoulder. “Calm, Beryl. Your points are good ones, but we are not as helpless as you imagine. There are ways we can fight back, even without exceptional individual fighting prowess. We would just need to prepare.”

Beatrice looked like she was going to explode. “That is precisely the crux of the matter, Bedivere. That is what you have all failed to consider. Preparation. Must I explain why, despite the disastrous events of Yiwi and Lemonholm, we have had some success in each?”

As Beatrice ranted, I caught Bedivere’s eye. He’d done that on purpose. Why was this guy one of the few bees capable of messing with Beatrice like this? Was it because he was basically the pinnacle of a bee I could hatch? If only I had more time, more resources, more everything, I’d definitely try to make more bees like him.

Actually, would that result in more Beatrices? The thought made me shudder.

“Being sneaky. Being powerful. All of that is useless in the face of preparation. Yiwi was a success because I learned from the vultures that relying on magnificent events was insufficient. And yet, I mis-stepped in Lemonholm, and in that, Grehn succeeded in his machinations. To be outsmarted by the human brings me no small amount of shame. It was such a simple mission, such a simplistic goal. We left them to their own devices, sure that such a simple idea could not go awry. We were so intently focused on our work that we were blindsided by everything that happened there. And what happened? At the heart of Lemonholm was Muweh Sawah, the devious human who planned an entire catastrophe in order to rid herself of that damned town.”

“We cannot anticipate everything, of course. But we should make contingencies. What might we encounter? What might we be capable of? What are our goals, and how best can we achieve them? We must understand all this and more before we can continue to expand the hive. I propose-“

“Okay, that’s fine for now Beatrice.” My interruption caused waves in the dining hall, resulting in various dropped jaws and more than a few perked ears. Beatrice seemed frozen in place, her eyes bugging out as if she couldn’t believe what was happening.

Let’s go, I’m the queen here. Listen to mom, kids.

“You know, I thought you were actually intent on making valid points, but it seems more like you just wanted to lord your position over Beatrice for once in your life. Since when were you so spiteful?”

Ahem. “Beatrice is right, of course. But putting any sweeping plans into place right now isn’t, in my opinion, the best course of action. I mean, Lemonholm just happened - Ben and Beelzebub haven’t even gotten home yet! There’s clearly a lot of thoughts and opinions flying around right now thanks to the whole debacle, but I think it would be best to slow down, digest what happened, analyze it properly and come to some solid, agreed-upon conclusions.”

Beatrice nodded slowly. She wasn’t convinced, though. No matter. There was something that had to be mentioned, something relating to the weirdness with the gods at Lemonholm. If the gods were actually going to get involved with us in the real world, and not as some distant, far-off concept, then I needed my bees at their most ready and prepared.

“I think this is a good discussion to have, and we should continue. But watching you all argue, having your extreme difference in ideas… it pains me. Because I can feel you want nothing more than to agree without hesitation with the rest of the hive. You want to listen and carry out a singular mission and leave it at that. And yet something inside you compels you to bring out some part of yourself that doesn’t quite fit with everyone else. Am I correct?”

None of them expected me to do anything like that. It was clear even from their body language, let alone their Minds. Even bees like Beatrice and Bedivere adopted a steely countenance to their Minds, as if protecting themselves from a sudden attack. I was being completely honest; watching the bees argue while feeling their annoyance - not towards each other, but to themselves - sent me over the edge. The bees had suffered under those conditions for so long, and it had only gotten worse. The younger the bees were, the less their individuality consumed them. But these were some of the eldest bees, the most lived and experienced. They felt lost, not from the Link, but from the hive itself. They thought they were drifting away, and they were desperate to prove themselves even more so than usual. Even the always calm, collected Beatrice had called this meeting and was so flustered that Bedivere’s and Belle’s and Bess’ provocations roused her without her noticing. Enough was enough. I’d ensure that when the bees reached a certain age, they would learn the full extent of the truth, so they’d never feel so lost.

“There is something that you should already know, deep inside. Something you vaguely understand. It’s likely that some of you have figured it out, or gathered it from something I’ve said, but I’m just going to tell you all straight, right now, so we’re all on the same page.”

“The one speaking to you right now is only half of your Mother. The half you don’t hear is a bee, a bee that nearly died before any of you were born. She was saved by a god, that being the Bee itself. Because the Bee took my soul, my Mind, and put it in her body as she was dying. They did it because I was already dead, killed in my past life. My past life as a human from another world.”