The village Regina had specified as a meeting location was a relatively big but not very important one called Hamlet, for some no doubt historical reason. She only arrived there an hour before Earl Whitor’s men, but it had already been secured by the drones she’d sent ahead. As she walked through the gate in its wooden palisade, she saw people peeking out of their windows, but no one dared to approach her or her companions. The hive was out in force, with more drones around than there were human villagers, from what she could estimate.

Of course, choosing this location had been a bit of a risk. She’d deliberately named a settlement inside the borders of Nerlia, and it looked like Whitor had taken the hint she had intended for him.

Hopefully, she’d find out what he thought pretty soon now.

One of those who’d come here earlier was Tia, and she’d set up a security checkpoint - more like a barricade - outside the village’s townhall. Regina exchanged a few words with the sapient drones present there before she entered. Tia had clearly looked for the biggest chair in the village and set it up at the head of the actual hall, then added the bastard cousin of a conference table. As soon as Regina sat down, Ira brought her a silver-plated goblet. Assuming it didn’t come from their own stores, Regina hoped they’d compensated whatever merchant or minor noble they took it from. She gave Ira a look and only received a beatific smile in response, then sighed and took a sip.

The wine was actually pretty good, she judged. She already knew Hivekind didn’t process alcohol like other races did, but that was a good thing, since she didn’t want to actually impair her faculties. Instead, she just enjoyed the taste while she watched Ira set up a pitcher and other table settings along with some prepared refreshments.

“Hopefully, they’ll think we’ve effortlessly taken control and held the village for a while,” she commented.

“That’s the idea,” Ira agreed. “And it’s even true, at least the first part.”

Regina sat back in her chair, allowing herself to slump, and closed her eyes while she reached out to the psychic link again. The morning was no longer young, and she’d already been up for a while. Considering her recent adventures underground, she was still pretty tired. She’d just have to cope.

She watched their visitors as they approached and entered the village. Max came out to greet them, as one of the highest-ranking members of the hive. Regina herself stood to greet the visitors as they entered the townhall.

“Sir Edmund, a pleasure to see you again. You and your companions are welcome here. Please sit with me.”

While they replied politely, she glanced at their status windows, focusing on the leader’s.

Edmund of Whitedale — Level 38 Chevalier

If she remembered correctly, he’d gone up a level since they last met. His companions were mostly around level forty as well, which probably made them valuable and well-regarded fighters. They looked like she expected knights to, with well-made heavy armor, heraldry of their own, and what she assumed were courtly manners. She briefly wondered if she should be offended they’d all shown up to meet her in armor, but considering this was the middle of a war zone, it only made sense. At least they’d doffed their helmets.

“My compliments on the success of your strike so far, Hive Queen Regina,” Edmund said, his tone a bit ironic and a hard-to-read expression on his face. He managed to make it all seem in good humor, though. “I dare say no one expected something like this.”

“All praise should go to my general,” Regina deflected with a small wave of her hand and a nod at Ben, who dipped his head. He’d just taken a seat on one side of her, while Max sat at the other.

Edmund returned the gesture, nodding courteously at Ben. “A well-executed maneuver. I am sure the Nerlian court is in an uproar. Of course, they will be unsure how far you intend to go, I expect.”

Regina cocked her head. It seemed like he’d decided to skip small talk and be pretty direct, which she approved of. “Farther than they expect, I assume.”

“Oh? The correspondence my lord saw fit to show me was not completely clear on that point, Your Majesty. May I inquire further?”

It seems word has spread, Regina thought with a bit of irony, noting the term of address he used. Now the question was how much she should reveal. He hadn’t exactly committed to any stance on it so far.

“The strategic situation is fluid and may change depending on our enemies’ response,” she finally answered. “Be assured this is not simply a probe, however. We are taking this seriously. I intend to force the Nerlian-Cernlian alliance to dedicate resources to this front, at the very least.”

He nodded, not looking surprised. That much must have been obvious.

“Your own county’s plans must have been affected by these recent developments, as well,” Max spoke up, giving him a brief smile. “Hopefully the matter can be clarified, however.”

Edmund looked hesitant. Regina suspected that he had been chosen because he had his father’s trust, and maybe because she knew he did, not because he was necessarily a good or experienced diplomat. That was fine with her, it wasn’t like she was one either. He traded a look with one of the older knights before he replied.

“The situation in the earldom has been rather … unsettled of late,” he finally said. “You can be assured the earl is in control, however. Still, our location between Nerlia and Cernlia does offer some potential issues. The king has also kept a rather sharp eye on our doings.”

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Regina nodded. She’d expected that, since she hadn’t heard anything from Whitor despite the fact he’d clearly shown some interest when he’d been her prisoner. She hadn’t been sure whether he’d simply feigned more of it than there he’d felt, changed his mind, or didn’t consider it safe to try and talk to her.

“That you are here now, speaking with me, tells me he is both displeased and able to do something about it, isn’t he?” she asked.

Edmund smiled slightly. “Perceptive of you, Your Majesty. Yes, with recent news of your own Hive’s presence and alliances, old concerns have come to the surface.”

“He’s assured I can offer the kind of protection I promised, I hope?” she said, as a statement instead of a question.

Edmund looked a little surprised. “Yes, Your Majesty,” he responded after a moment. “Your numbers have grown as expected, and unless you lose the war and suffer the attending consequences, you should be easily able to deal with any monster hordes. That is, however, a rather big condition.”

“It would seem less uncertain if Earl Whitor were to help our efforts,” she pointed out with a wry smile. “I do not, however, need him to. We will win this war anyway. There is no other outcome. The only question is what it may mean and what may happen after.”

Especially to people who’d stood against her, rather than being her allies or followers. She didn’t spell that out, but she was sure they all caught the obvious implication, anyway. Now I just need to know if he thinks we’ll win this. Whitor had always struck her as pretty clear-eyed for a Cernlian noble. He might have been the fastest to see the implications of her hive’s exponential growth curve.

“You have to understand that my father’s foremost concern is and must always be the safety of the people under his protection,” Edmund said, finally dropping the pretense he was just a random knight.

“I know, and I completely understand,” Regina said reassuringly. “I would never want the common people to suffer for this, Sir Edmund. They already suffer far too much in what is, after all, a squabble between nobles. I will not add to that unless I have to.” She even meant that, mostly. “I am happy to lend the Earl troops to defend his demesne’s villages and towns, to drive the king’s men out or simply make sure no monsters or bandits attempt to prey on the people.”

Edmund looked at her searchingly for a moment before he nodded slowly. “I see. Thank you, Your Majesty. I am sure Lord Whitor will be relieved to hear of your sentiments.”

One of the other knights, the older one he’d looked to before and who was called Philip according to the System, cleared his throat. “One wonders what you might want in exchange,” he said diffidently.

“It is simple, and I think rather obvious,” Regina said. “I want his help, I want his men to be turned against my enemy and fight for my cause, and I want his counsel and advice. In exchange, I will spare him, I will protect his - your - people, I will augment his strength and reduce the casualties his forces take, and I will provide him some of the knowledge he desires to make sure his legacy and the lives of his people are improved by more than warfare.”

There was a short silence as everyone seemed to consider what she’d just said.

“You do not require him to swear allegiance to Marquis Lyns as pretender to Cernlia?” the knight asked.

Regina hesitated and considered the question for a moment. She knew what she’d like, but she hadn’t settled on any planned demands to make in that regard, yet, since she wanted to see how the earl would take it first.

“I would prefer it if he were to align himself with Lyns’ rebels,” she finally said. “Even if he chooses not to swear allegiance to the marquis, however, I’d require him to work together insofar as fighting the king’s forces goes. And, of course, working with me.” She shrugged. “To be perfectly frank, I’d understand if he wanted to avoid firm commitments like sworn oaths of fealty for right now, but a working agreement between them would be good.”

“I see,” Edmund said. “I’ll convey your words and suggestions. Thank you, Your Majesty.” He glanced at his companions, who returned nods.

“I do hope you can work with them,” Regina said with a light smile.

She didn’t point out that if not, she could always send her forces into the earl’s domain without an invitation. Taking it by force was definitely within her hive’s capabilities, even if a more diplomatic solution would be preferable, since she’d rather use his soldiers instead of fighting them. She didn’t need to, she was pretty sure they all understood that much.

Edmund inclined his head. “Certainly, Hive Queen Regina. I am confident we will come to an agreement. If you don’t mind, I’ll excuse myself to send a message now. We should have a return message soon.”

Regina nodded. It sounded like what they’d talked about was within the parameter his father had given him for the meeting, that it followed the expectations Whitor had. They were just checking in now. A reminder that Whitor was not an idiot she could just run over, but that was fine with her.

“By all means. There are rooms prepared for you as well, if you’d like to rest after your trip,” she offered.

She watched as the earl’s envoys bowed their way out of the room. Then Regina sighed and slumped back in her chair, glancing at the others. “I was hoping this kind of stuff would get easier with time,” she muttered.

“I’m sure it does,” Ira shrugged, refilling Regina’s cup.

Regina grabbed it and took a sip. “Am I getting better at this? I honestly can’t tell.”

“I’m not sure we’re the right people to ask,” Max replied. “You’ve always been a great Hive Queen to me.”

Regina snorted, then sat up straighter and forced a blank expression on her face when she realized he was entirely serious.

“You might want to check with Janis,” Ben commented, keeping the conversation going before it could lead to an awkward moment of silence.

“She’s already on the way,” Regina said. She would have preferred to have Janis here from the beginning, but the mage had things to take care of at the hive’s main base and decided to take a look at the area from the back of her Winged Drone Mount on the flight here.

"I think the earl is going to come around,” Max noted. “They’ve as good as said that they’ll agree to this.”

Regina nodded. “I’m sure they’ll bargain for as much help as they can get in return, though. We’ll need to send troops to his earldom. Well, to be fair, I’ll feel more comfortable having our own forces there, anyway. What do you think, Ben?”

“Eminently doable,” Ben assessed. “We have the troops, even if it will stretch us thinner here. But we still haven’t run into real resistance. Considering the main Nerlian army is with our Cernlian enemies, that makes some sense. I think we’ll have to invest some castles before long, though. That seems to be the way things are set up here.”

“Well, razing a medieval castle would be a nice exercise, I’m sure,” Regina said.

Max snorted, and Ira hid a smile as well. Regina didn’t comment, even if she shared some of their amusement. In reality, if she’d really wanted to, she could have already put the fear of god into Nerlia. But she didn’t. There were some genies you couldn’t put back into the bottle. And a high-level foreign psychic like Madris showing up just reminded her that there was a bigger stage to worry about here.

No, it would be best to stick to more-or-less conventional methods, she felt. Not that she could even be sure any of her other ideas would work, with them never having had the chance to try them out. It was frustrating, and it would probably lead to a higher blood price to be paid for her hive, but it was her job to make those kinds of calls and she had determined it was the best course to take. Now I just have to hope I’m right about that.

Janis’ arrival pulled her out of her ruminations. Regina stood up to greet her friend as she landed outside, and turned her thoughts to the next steps in this campaign. The hard parts were just beginning.