To his credit, Alenas didn’t act intimidated or threatened, but rather as if he was a welcome guest in their camp. Regina didn’t really mind. She offered him a seat by the fire and considered offering some of the cooked meat they’d prepared, but then decided not to. He had to have his own provisions and she didn’t want to give what they had away to spies. Besides, it wasn’t exactly the peak of culinary hospitality.

“It seems you have not been here long, my lady Regina,” he remarked, glancing around.

“You could say that,” she replied.

“May I ask from where you hailed? I am afraid it must have slipped my people’s notice.”

“No, you may not,” she said, frowning a little. He might not even believe me if I told him I was just born here days ago. “Not that it matters, save that I have no place else to return to.”

He nodded. “Of course. I only ask out of curiosity. I fancy myself to be familiar with the people of the world, but I must confess that I have never seen such as you before.”

He was speaking more formally, she noticed. Perhaps trying to be diplomatic? “That is a shame,” she replied, giving him a brief smile. “You see, I do not know much about my people, myself. I’m afraid I don’t know where you could find them, either.”

His right eyebrow rose a little. “That sounds like you must have quite an interesting tale.” Then he shook his head. “But I will pry no further, of course.”

Regina nodded. She felt Mia’s gaze on her, one eyebrow slightly raised, although the Worker didn’t speak up. But Regina hadn’t revealed their isolation by accident. If it turned out that her people were actually known as a horrible scourge of some far away place, she could always insist that she didn’t have anything to do with that. It might not be worth much in such a case, but it would help. And if there were friendly relations, then the elves would hopefully see no reason not to help a young royal (kind of? Probably?) and her companions return to her people.

Of course, if they were the type to tolerate no others and just kill them all to be safe, that would backfire. It was a risk. But what she thought elves should be like and Alenas’ behavior made that scenario seem unlikely.

“These are my … companions,” she said, trying to be friendly. Weirdly, using that word felt like forcing out something sour. “Max, Tim, Mia and Tia.” She indicated each in turn.

Alenas’ mouth twitched, but he smoothed his expression quickly. “A pleasure to meet you all,” he responded, inclining his head to them.

After a sharp gaze from Regina, the drones all mumbled similar niceties.

If the elf was offended at the lackluster response, he didn’t show it. Probably, she figured, because he was aware they’d caught him sneaking around close to their camp and had little reason to feel nicely towards him.

She didn’t know what would have resulted if this had happened while Regina was away, leaving Max in charge. A slightly defiled corpse seemed likely, though. I need to have a talk with them after this. She suppressed a frown. They are still just kids.

She wondered what his level was. It couldn’t be extremely high, or he wouldn’t be this wary of them, right? Unless it was an act and that was what he wanted her to think. She supposed she didn’t have any way of knowing.

“If it’s not too rude to ask, may I inquire how big your people’s community is?” she asked.

He shrugged and waved a hand airily. “Oh, not the biggest, but not the smallest, either.”

Very useful. But she hadn’t really expected a straight answer.

“Your own group seems quite small,” he remarked. “Unless there are more members that I’ve yet to meet.”

Regina’s eyebrow twitched. “Not quite.” She glanced at the others and shrugged slightly. “Not at the moment.”

That made him frown. He followed her gaze, and she could see him studying their features. Then his eyes returned to her.

Regina shifted slightly. She and all her drones were still mostly naked, and it made her feel uncomfortable. The elf was clearly taking note of their state of dress, too. It was obvious he was deliberately keeping his eyes off her chest. She appreciated the courtesy, of course, but it was an odd feeling for her.

“As you can see, we are somewhat lacking in amenities,” she said with her best self-deprecating smile. “If your people are interested in trading, we would certainly welcome the chance.” Hopefully, that possibility would also provide incentive to deal with them.

He smiled slightly. “You are looking for necessities like clothing, I assume?”

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She nodded. “That, as well as other things like medical supplies.”

His eyes wandered to Tia. Her injury had healed up a bit, but it was still clearly visible. “Yes, I can see the need for that,” he replied. Then he regarded her thoughtfully. “I hope you understand that I cannot make any promises. I am but a simple scout. Whether this is possible, and how we will deal with you in general, will have to be my superiors’ decision.”

“Of course, I understand.” She wouldn’t like any of her drones making promises on her behalf, either. She hesitated for a moment. “But you do see the possibility of friendly interactions, Mister Alenas?”

His face closed off slightly. “I cannot say,” he repeated. His eyes narrowed. “I do think it would improve your chances if we knew more about you and your people. I’m sure you understand that the unknown can be concerning. Especially when dealing with people who are clearly monstrous, if you’ll forgive me pointing that out.”

Regina paused. “I suppose I cannot begrudge you the use of that term,” she said.

The elf grimaced slightly. “Monstrous or not, the elves have always understood that demihumans are children of the gods, too,” he assured her. “We are not like those fools who consider anything with monstrous traits inferior or cursed.”

Regina nodded, trying not to smile. He’d just given her some information she needed about the world and its people. So, I may need to watch out for fanatics — probably human, they usually are in the stories I remember — but the elves, at least, aren’t xenophobic. Or no more so than usual. That’s good. And they have a polytheistic religion.

“So, we will not have to worry about bigots in your ranks?” she asked. “If you’ll forgive the blunt question. I know little of elves.”

Alenas shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t think so. Obviously, you have Names and the System has granted you a Status. That should be more than enough proof for anyone.”

“Good. Then, to answer your question…” Regina frowned. “There truly isn’t much I can tell you. However, our group is most likely going to continue to grow, though I can’t say at what rate. I’ve only been here for, hm, I think it’s been twelve days?” She shook her head. “We are not particularly attached to this place, so if it is necessary, we would be happy to move, as long as there is a place for us somewhere.”

Alenas nodded. “That is good to know. If I may ask, how will your numbers grow? Are there more of you wandering the forest?”

“Uh, not quite.” Regina hesitated. She really didn’t like the idea of telling him about how she created drones. “I’m afraid it’s rather hard to explain, and a bit of an, ah, delicate subject. Quirks of our race, I suppose.” She also didn’t want to tell him about the two eggs currently sitting in one of their shelters, preparing to hatch soon.

He raised his eyebrows a little, but nodded. “Of course. I don’t believe you’ve mentioned the name of your race?”

Regina grimaced slightly. “I haven’t, because I don’t know.” She shrugged at his look. “In truth, none of us has ever heard the name.”

“How curious. Well, I did promise not to pry. What else can you tell me about your people?”

“We’re omnivores, and as you can see, there is quite a bit of physical polymorphism in our race. We prefer warmer temperatures, and obviously, we have protective shells over our skin in addition to a proper skeleton. I can use magic, but I’ve had no real instruction in it.”

Alenas nodded. She couldn’t read his reaction very well. Did he think she’d given him too little or useless information?

“If you don’t mind, would you tell me about your people?” she asked. “As I mentioned, I don’t know much, and I’m rather curious.”

“I’m not the best person to ask when it comes to our lore,” he answered. “Obviously, we are one of the core sapient races. We are a long-lived people, and individual elves may devote themselves to many different pursuits.”

That sounded completely generic and very devoid of detail. But Regina didn’t press the point. She knew that, since it could still come to hostilities between their people, he didn’t want to give her any information that might help her fight them.

“I see,” she said.

He smiled again. “If that is all, I think it is time for me to take my leave. My colleagues will start to wonder where I am, and it wouldn’t do to worry them overmuch.”

Regina nodded and stood up as he did the same. “Of course. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mister Alenas. I do hope this will prove to be the start of a productive relationship between our groups. When might we expect to hear from you?”

“I’m sure. Unfortunately, I cannot say that. Perhaps in a week or two. Farewell, Hive Queen.” He inclined his head at her, then turned to leave.

Regina copied the gesture, then watched as he walked away. Alenas didn’t turn and didn’t run, although he did walk at a relatively quick pace. He moved with grace that probably spoke of a high Dex, or just elven heritage.

After a moment, she turned to her hive. “Tim. Go and see where he goes. Shadow him. If he notices you, that’s probably fine, but I want to know in which direction he leaves. Keep your distance and come back once you get to the edge of the territory we’ve explored.”

“At once, my Queen.” Tim hurried off into the forest, where Alenas was disappearing between the trees.

Regina sighed and sat down again, resting her chin in a hand. She looked at the forest where their unexpected visitor had left, even though she couldn’t see anything. She felt Mia and Tia move off to resume their work, but Max stayed.

“I wish I could tell if I said the right things or not,” she said.

“I’m sure you did, my Queen,” Max said. But when she glanced at him, his expression made her think he didn’t really believe that.

She sighed. “The thing is, Max, while we probably had him in our power right now, the actual power difference is definitely not in our favor. I don’t know how big his tribe or whatever is, but they could probably crush us easily if they wanted.”

“Is that why you were so friendly and open?”

“Was I?” Regina tugged on her right mandible. “I decided it was better to give them a few answers than make them feel like they would have to force them out of me. I think most of what I said was readily apparent or would have been obvious after repeated contact.”

“But you didn’t tell them about the eggs.” Max frowned.

“Right. There are a few cards up our sleeve. Like my ability to produce new warriors quickly and my ability to see through the eyes of hive drones.”

Max followed her gaze into the forest. “Do you think you convinced him we’re no threat to them?”

Regina sighed and shook her head. “I wish I knew.”

It felt like their quiet life in the forest was coming to an end. This encounter could be the start of something better, or a huge danger.

After a moment, she groaned and put her face into her hands. “I should have found a way to ask him what language we were speaking.”