All of the queens just stared at me as Marlow decided he also wanted to introduce himself. He hopped up and down while yelling “My name is Marlow! What’s yours?” The large Queen who I assume is the leader of the others snarled and said. “How dare you, barge in here yelling such childish titles. And you even brought hatchlings into our sacred throne room! Who do you think you are?”

I frowned and began to repeat my titles. “I am Aya! Queen of the mud flats and th…” The queen angrily screeched. “No! I don’t want to hear that again! Guards, escort the hatchlings outside immediately.” Two bruisers walked toward me but I just smacked them away, making sure not to use my claws.

The queens gaped at me as I almost effortlessly beat back the two guards. My kids cheered me on and yelled obscenities at the guards about their income. I shed a tear of pride after that.

I smiled and said. “I would like to join your settlement. I am a queen and I would like to take my rightful place among your council.” The lead queen looked like she was about to instantly reject me but another yelled. “Good! It’s been too long since another queen has been born. It’s about time we got some new people. Hi! My name is Tiktelazertoli but you can call me Tik!”

I instantly liked her and said, “Nice to meet you! My name's Aya!” Tik nodded and said. “I heard! Very impressive titles.” I nodded and said. “I’ve earned every one of them! But thank you.” The angry queen unsurprisingly got angry again and yelled. “I am Tuobella! Matriarch of the Tuo dynasty, rulers of this city. You will address me with respect.”

I nodded and sobered myself up. I sat down and bowed my head. “Of course, I apologize. I heard of the majesty of this city and wanted to join.” Bella seemed a bit placated by this and said. “Well, at least you know some manners. We will now vote whether or not Aya, can join our city.”

I watched anxiously as most of the queens just shrugged while Tik energetically yelled. “Yes! I want more friends!” Bella smiled and said. “I say she should join, I have the perfect position for you.”

Position? Do all of the Queens have different political positions? Bella’s smile looked quite evil as she yelled. “I accept Aya into our city and name her general of the army!” All of the other queens winced as I just stared at them, confused by the weird reaction. First off, why am I being put in charge of an army? They’ve known me for like five minutes.

Also how is general a bad position? That means I control an army. Tik walked over to me and said. “Tough luck Aya, but I’m sure you’ll be able to rise past it. Let’s still be friends!” I nodded and turned towards Bella. She was still smiling evilly as she said. “You and your small group of claimants may live in the uninhabited royal burrow in the 15th district. That also means you control that district. Get yourself set up and come back tomorrow so we can discuss your duties in private.”

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I was still weirded out but I just shrugged and walked away. From what I could tell I was just given a part of the city to control and an army. Why would they ever give this much stuff to me for free?

Oh well, they’re loss. A bruiser walked up to me and said. “Queen Aya, please follow me.” I nodded and followed him. As we walked towards the edge of the settlement I noticed the quality of my surroundings steadily decreased. Bruisers, usually quite plump, had their ribs showing. Hatchlings looked hungry and dejected.

I asked the bruiser leading me about it. “Why do they all look so sad and hungry?” He just shrugged and said. “It’s just unclaimed filth, not worth the trouble. That's why they stuck you in here. Queen of the unclaimed. That's what you’ll be called. And the general of the army? There is no army. It’ll be your responsibility to make one. Every Queen has her own personal guard.”

Huh, so Bella was trying to put me into a bad political position? Well, Queen of the unclaimed isn’t that bad of a title. Although the second I claim them will they still be called unclaimed? And how are they all hungry? I can fix that pretty quick once Az and his siblings claim all of the other farmers.

So for now, I need to find a way to feed these guys, raise an army and somehow manage however many unclaimed lands there are in this district. I began to interrogate the bruiser guiding me, eager to get some information.

“How many unclaimed lives in this district?” He frowned and said. “Around two thousand I think.” I nodded and asked. “What do all the citizens of this place do? I mean you don’t make the food, so what do you do?”

He smiled and said. “We create artwork, create more canals, many are personal soldiers for the queens. I believe Queen Tuobella has almost a thousand personal guards. The rest are builders, laborers and researchers. We even have a few mages. There are teachers as well, academes, shops.”

Huh, so all of the people living in the city at least do something. But it sounds like I can turn most of the unclaimed in my district into cites. Killing stuff is a great source of food, and it’ll make sure the bruisers learn how to fight.

I asked the bruiser another question. “Why do none of the queen's claim the unclaimed? It just seems dumb?” The bruiser suddenly stopped and said. “Are you calling Queen Tuobella dumb? She’s the greatest queen this cities ever seen! Because of her we’re not at war with anyone else right now. And why would anyone want those unclaimed? Some of them might be useful but they’re all runts and rejects birthed from broodmothers.”

I just smirked and said. “Why would I call the benevolent Queen Tuobella dumb? I was just thinking about how she might want more servants.” The bruiser calmed down and said. “She does not need such useless servants. You can claim them all if that's what you want.”

I smiled and said. “I do actually, I claim all of the unclaimed within my district and all of the districts inside the city. Please tell the council of the queens that for me.” He gawked at me but stayed silent. After another ten minutes of walking and my kids growing more and more impatient we finally arrived. The royal burrow was a large hole in the ground surrounded by multiple canals. I shooed the bruiser away and let my kids down. They eagerly began exploring their new home as I did the same.

I didn’t fit in any of the holes but it was nice outside anyway. I let each of my kids get their own burrow for the moment but knew that would soon change. I saw far too many hatchlings having to fend for themselves within the city. They might not be my kids but abandoning children is unacceptable!

The next few weeks would be uncertain but I should be able to easily take advantage of the idiocy of these queens. Why would you even have a high population if you’re not going to make use of it? Oh well, they have a poor person mindset. That’s their problem. Not mine. My plan for world domination starts now!