Let’s start with you two rowdy rascals. I knew what they were fighting about, but it was really something I would think they could resolve on their own.

Unfortunately, that was clearly not the case. One of Beryl’s good arms snapped up, pushing Beelzebub back far enough for the older warrior’s stinger to get between them. Beelzebub, without missing a beat, responded in turn, raised her own tiny weapon to meet her opponent. They suddenly blurred, and I realized with a start they had moved at insane speeds, faster than I could even see.

I barely even had time to react. The simple pushing match devolved all at once into a brutal sparring session. In moments, the clearing outside the central hive was filled with the sounds of clashing ‘blades’ and clouds of dust kicked up by the sheer speed.

Hey. Hey! This is happening right outside my damn window!

“YOU TWO! Have some tact, you animals!” Beatrice exploded out of the hive, somehow having made her way out without me noticing. She furiously tried to calm the raging beeasts outside my window, to no avail. If she saw them getting a little too close to the hive, then… eek. It’d be her first time using [Aide Authority] out of anger. That might be scary.

“Hoo, they’re really going at it! Hey you two, slow down so I can watch better,” Bess hollered from my window. She was leaning on it so casually, as if the consistently escalating scuffle outside my room was a roadside attraction.

Well, at least every other bee just kept working. Thank goodness for bees and their efficiency!

Not being able to see what was happening was annoying, so I focused on seeing the fight through the combatants’ eyes. That shift nearly made me puke. I wiped my mouth after spitting out an egg. Ah, I suppose I was puking anyways.

Somehow I was able to keep my thoughts in order even as I suddenly saw spiky stingers and barbed arms shoot out and impact my - the fighters’ - body. It wasn’t something I was amazed by anymore, but thinking calmly about puking up eggs while being in the perspective of someone fighting for their life was certainly difficult to get used to.

Beryl’s stinger was much longer, giving her more reach and momentum. Her sheer strength couldn’t be discounted either, as it was among the best within the ranks of the regular warriors. But what ultimately set her apart from the rest were her strategic and intuitive thoughts. She noticed a subtle movement in Beelzebub’s abdomen and twisted, avoiding a surprise stinger stab. In return, she defied reason and kicked up more dust with her Mind, even though there was a seemingly massive opening for counterattack.

The smaller red bee was much faster and stronger, but Beryl had the advantage when it came to strategy and skill. If she had directly countered there, she would have fallen victim to Beelzebub’s monstrous speed and lost the fight. Instead, she prolonged the battle by slowing Beelzebub for a fraction of a second. Beryl hadn’t trained with Bedivere for long, even compared to the Valkybees, but her talent was evident. Every attack Beelzebub made was practiced and smooth, to a predictable degree. Sure, attacks were wild, but still textbook. Beryl had studied under the same ‘master’, after all; she knew what movements Beelzebub would make before she even acted.

And yet, Beryl flinched as an easily predicated thrust scratched her side, leaving behind an angry cut nearly as red as Beelzebub herself. Because here was the fight from Beelzebub’s perspective: Beryl was weak. Capable, but weak compared to Beelzebub’s sheer might. A sneer, a snarl, and bubbling with confidence, Beelzebub landed another shallow thrust on Beryl’s face, which the older warrior could barely manage to avoid. It didn’t matter how easily Beryl could predict an attack; Beelzebub just needed to attack so fast and hard that skill didn’t matter.

To say the two were evenly matched was pure nonsense. Beryl just couldn’t compete with Beelzebub, to the point that the small bee was even taking it easy on her. But even so, Beelzebub was finding herself continuously surprised when an attack that should have been devastating ended up producing just a flesh wound.

“ENOUGH!”

Beatrice’s voice rang clearly through the Minds of the two bees, stopping them mid-attack. Despite their best efforts, neither was able to move as they wanted, but they still did move. Oops. I got a little too into the fight there. At some point, the pair had gotten too close to the hive, so Beatrice put a stop to the fight with her Ability.

But the two of them didn’t really get the memo. A punch from Beelzebub eventually landed, but it was slow enough to deal little damage. I sensed Beatrice’s anger boiling over, so I finally decided to step in.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough you two. Honestly. Beelzebub, you’re still not proven in your skills as a commander, and definitely not as a ‘trainer.’ Bedivere has already decided that Beryl will be the main general, so leave it at that, will you?”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Beatrice looked like she wanted to rip her glasses off her face in shock. “It was for such a stupid reason…?” she sputtered.

“But- but Mom! Look at her! Butt-ryl can barely even fly, so what’s the use having her as general? Big bro just feels bad for her, that’s all! THAT’S ALL!”

“I wonder.” I paused for a moment to spit up another egg. “I can’t fly with my wings either, so am I unfit to rule the hive? Sucks for me I guess.”

Beelzebub went pale as a sheet (somehow), and Beatrice stopped wringing her hands to stare. Maybe that comment was a bit too far, actually. Someone like Beatrice might take it a bit too seriously-

“Ha! Good one, Mom. You got the great Beel shakin’ in her boots,” Bess guffawed, slapping the outside of my window like some playboy in a sports car. What did she think my room was for?

Beelzebub recovered quickly. “No way. NO WAY did I mean it like that, Mom. You see, Butt-ryl just sucks, ‘cause she’s Butt-ryl,” I saw her stare daggers at Beryl again, so I firmly made her stand down by tossing a command through the Link.

She sure got the message this time, shooting to the ground and resting on her knees like a chastised little kid. Beatrice buzzed over in a rage and completed the image, pointing and shouting like a disappointed schoolteacher.

Beryl huffed, turning away from the hive. “If that is all, I will take my leave. The warriors still have a ways to go before they can properly contend with the likes of the Yiwi mercenaries-“

“Oh no, you get back here young lady. You’re not worming your way out of this,” a voice crept up from behind Beryl. Beatrice grabbed Beryl’s shoulder as the proud warrior tensed, initially attempting to resist the pull of an angry older sister.

To no avail.

“So, Bess, how are things?”

With a heavy heart, Bess turned away from the glorious sight of someone other than herself getting yelled at by Beatrice and back to me. Regardless, she gave me a big bee grin and began detailing her plans with a twinkle in her eye.

“Oh, it’s been great! Obviously the amount of materials is way less than I’d like, but it just means that I’m getting more and more efficient at controlling the drones. I’ve been having some small groups doing some complex deign as practice, and it’s gone pretty well. You know the hexa pillar? My designs for it are all over the place, but its complexity is something I might actually be able to manage now.”

“I see! That all sounds great.”

“Yup! Can I have the Shaft?”

“No.”

Bess moaned and groaned, but I was not giving up my new ultra-pen! When she first saw it floating towards the hive, she thought it was a gift from the gods themselves. It was, after all, the perfect shape and size to serve as the base for her hexa pillar project. But who cares about that?! I need a proper pen to spin, and the Shaft is the next best thing. I know she wants a support structure for her dome, but dangit, she had already been designing structures that could work without supports. So why now?

“Please? It would make the dome’s completion so much easier. I know I said I could make the drones do complex stuff, but that can only take me so far! The dome is just too big, and the materials we have won’t cut it.”

“Nope. Not happening. Maybe you shoulda thought about that before making the first layer so huge.”

“I had to! It was demarcating our territory, remember? But at this point, the entire freaking forest is our territory, so there’s no need for that separation. And since I already constructed the wall, making an inner dome just seems… wasteful.”

“Would it be, though?” I wondered aloud. I mean, it’s not like we had a thousand-strong bee army to protect our wax wall. If something of moderate strength wanted to, it could probably bust through the wall and head for the central hive, no problem.

Well, there was a problem. For the intruders, that is. Indeed, our best defenses came not from our fortification, but from those who valiantly maintain a solid bastion against our foes. And they came in the form of our best and brightest warriors.

Who were currently on their knees, being called childish babies by a secretary.

“Actually Bess, I’ve been thinking. A beehive’s purposes is to provide shelter, to some degree, right? But the main purpose is for the wax cells to store food and house the brood. So why not expand the main hive as the main priority?”

Bess’ expression darkened, and I could swear her nonexistent teeth were gnashing together. “That’s. What. I’m. DOING!”

Her shout was loud enough to disturb Beatrice, who briefly paused her lecture before continuing to berate the warriors, who now wore bruises that seemed to be unrelated to their spat.

“Sorry, Mom. I just got a little heated,” Bess mumbled, immediately apologetic. Which was exactly what I planned.

…

Really? I set it up perfectly there. Queen’s really going through it, I suppose. I’d put all my focus on helping her as soon as I’m done with this. Which, by the way, I planned none of. I genuinely didn’t realize that the central hive had expanded at all, but I hadn’t really paid any attention to it.

Searching, I found what Bess was talking about. She had originally begun sending drones with some material to the central hive as an exercise in distance and control, and eventually used that as an excuse to expand the central hive slightly. The nursery had a significant number of new cells, and the food storage had been more than tripled. There were even large food cells, with enough space to house some of the more unwieldy human… delicacies.

It was impressive work. So why hadn’t I noticed it? Well, technically, I knew it all existed, and I knew Bess had completed it and been proud of it. Was there a mysterious reason as to why I didn’t think about it immediately when suggesting it to her?

No, not really. In fact, the answer was rather mundane and stupid. The info had popped up in my head, but like a jerk, I thought it was a brilliant idea I had come up with myself. I mean, the CBU’s suggestions popped into my head the same way.

“I’m the one who should apologize, Bess. Sorry. I guess I’ve just been distracted.”

“Not at all! You don’t need to apologize to me, Mom, never. I mean…” she trailed off, looking with a mixture of awe and disgust as another egg popped out of my mouth. She eyed a caretaker, who nervously picked up the precious egg, and sighed as she scurried off.

“I think you of all bees can get a free pass for mistakes like that. Now and then,” Bess said, not an ounce of malice - or envy - in her voice.

Aw! That was sweet. But it made me think of Queen again. Sure, it was nice to have all these caring and frankly fanatical bees surrounding me at all times, but I deemed it important for there to be a balancing act in play. Queen cared, but not blindly. She was always there to set me on the straight and narrow, acting as a thoughtful and harsh critic when needed, but still in a way that showed she cared.

All that is to say, where the heck are you, Queen?! What are you up to? Should I force my way into your freaking Mind? Actually, when did you close your Mind off like that? Double actually, how did you do something like that? What the heck?

Suddenly, my attention shifted to the perspective of a different bee. I was looking through Ben’s eyes as he hovered in place, somewhere near the eastern edge of the forest. He was still nowhere near the end of the forest itself, but it was further east than we had ever been.

And he was staring at a green gorilla. Who was staring right back.