They had barely left the premises of the summit, or at least the town, and hadn’t reached the hive base yet when Regina’s planning was interrupted again. This time, at least it was a cause for celebration. Finally, the first person in the hive after her had reached level 60.
She’d been waiting for it. The fact that her own growth limited that of her drones still didn’t sit well with her, even if she knew that it didn’t make much of a difference in practice, since they didn’t gain Experience that fast, anyway.
She also wasn’t surprised that it turned out to be Tim who reached the Threshold first. Max had basically just sat around and played bodyguard, but except for one incident, he hadn’t had much to do or many challenges, so he wouldn’t have gained that much Experience. Mia or Tia might have been first, too, they also did a lot of work. Of the others, they were younger and too far behind, except perhaps for Ben. But it seemed that Tim’s work at the conference and helping put her plans into practice for what followed gave him enough Experience. He’d gone on ahead to personally check everything was ready in Forest’s Haunt and the base, and having prepared for her and the others to get back, it seemed to have been the final small push needed.
Have you already chosen a Class? she asked, sharing his excitement over the psychic link.
Tim smiled. I do have one picked out, the System offered me a Class called Champion of the Empire. That sounds better than keeping my old Royal Champion.
At least he found it more interesting, she could tell. Regina smiled as well, letting him sense it through the psychic link. It was probably a good sign, anyway. That’s nice. Tell me what sorts of cool Class Skills you get.
I will, Mother. There’s nothing yet, though.
Regina sent an acknowledgment and withdrew to give Tim a chance to talk to the others, or to experiment privately if he preferred. She was curious what the rest of them would get, too. It shouldn’t be very long now.
In the meantime, she had a lot of other things to organize, especially with the addition of another trip on short notice. It probably wasn’t urgent, but she didn’t want to wait too long. Besides, her coronation was in less than a month, she wasn’t going to manage to get away close to that date.
She’d already started talking to other people and organizing the trip. The Delvers were an obvious group to ask, they knew the country better and would be motivated to protect her (hopefully even from religious sources, should that be necessary). Kiara might send someone to accompany them as well, just as a courtesy gesture. Regina was still debating on whether to bring June or not. She wasn’t a member of her hive and she didn’t want to cause issues with potentially conflicting loyalties. Janis was definitely coming, Regina would probably have to chain her down back at the hive base to prevent that. Same with Max.
She was still happy to return to the base, even if it was only for a short time. In the days they’d been gone, it had expanded again, unsurprisingly. Although many of the drones had accompanied her to the summit, many had stayed behind, and they’d been working on the base pretty much non-stop since they started it. Now, the fortifications were a bit less visible than before, the eye drawn to the new houses going up.
Some of it was housing for hive drones, although many of them still lived underground. Others were for humans, who were only going to keep coming here. Yet other buildings were workshops and offices.
Regina was starting to get the feeling that if she didn’t start building her own capital soon, it would build itself right here.
She set down in the center of the hive’s main base, stretching her wings and enjoying the slight strain in them, the feeling of satisfaction in flying on her own again for once. Then she folded them back up, waiting for Ira to make sure they were properly tucked away, before she returned to the underground portion of the base. Her first stop was the nursery, after which she went to the bathroom, although she’d visit it again soon.
There was nothing else immediately for her to do, since with the psychic link, Regina could keep up with most things by talking to people remotely. They’d also started to work out a good system and her input wasn’t needed in all that many places. It was a good thing, since she wouldn’t have the time to micro-manage the hive.
Tia found her an hour or so later, and they chatted about the current state of the hive over dinner. Regina usually ate that meal on her own when she didn’t have obligations like at the summit, but this time she ventured into one of the common areas of the hive and watched her children while they talked. There were quite a few of these areas scattered through the base, in several sizes; drones were communal and preferred to spend a lot of time together, whether for eating, sleeping or working.
“Do you never want to have some solitude?” Regina asked curiously.
Tia shrugged. “Occasionally, I guess, I do like some alone time. Not everyone does, though, from what I’ve heard. And it’s not that hard to get, you can usually find a room no one else is in currently.” She paused. “Well, I guess if the Hive keeps growing and we don’t expand the base at the same rate, it’s going to get harder.”
Regina nodded. She had a feeling ‘occasionally’ was a lot less often than even, say, Janis would want to be alone. But Tia did have a point and Regina would have to ensure the hive didn’t have to use quarters that were too cramped.
Tia was content to eat in silence after that, while they watched the others and Regina considered the state of her hive. The other drones left them alone, too shy to approach her without her invitation. She didn’t mind that at the moment. Instead, Regina started talking to Tia over the psychic link, ensuring only the two of them could hear, about the state of the hive and anything she needed to pay attention to now that she was back.
You’ve done a good job, Regina praised after a bit.
Tia ducked her head. It’s not like I was on my own, you and the others were still available to talk and you and Tim checked in regularly.
Doesn’t change the fact that you did well. On that note, I’ve got a question for you. Would you prefer a job like this for the future, or something more along the lines of leading government divisions and ensuring the reform plans in the Empire succeed?
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Tia frowned, and Regina could feel that she was torn. Can I think about it?
Sure. We could also do a bit of both, I guess. That might be for the best; multiple positions and integrations between various areas and spheres.
Tia smiled at her and Regina could feel her happiness, so she smiled back and focused on her food for a moment, finishing it off. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the time to linger for much longer.
For the rest of the day, Regina met and talked with several people, walked through the corridors and tunnels of the base, and visited the hatchery twice, with the help of Ira and Max to carry the new eggs. By the time she went to bed, she was exhausted and feeling a bit sore, but in a good way, that of having accomplished something. (The thought occurred to her that this was probably the closest she could get to the feeling of having had sex, but she tried not to think too much about that.)
The next day, she had planned to set out for the temple to talk to Alianais, if things went well.
Regina still spent some time with the hive, finally visiting some newly hatched drones, checking on the eggs and deciding on specializations and even Class Evolutions for a few Swarm Drones, and generally fretting a bit. Then she ate some food, whoever was cooking today had managed some pretty good bread rolls out of grass of all things, and set off. Since the distance wasn’t that far, Regina had decided to fly by herself. She could always climb on a Winged Drone Mount if she got tired, but she really wanted to stretch her legs a little. Besides, after sitting around all day at the summit she probably needed the exercise.
The trip was actually nice. Despite being in the middle of winter, the sky was clear today. The snow sparkled prettily on the fields below them and it felt like she was gliding through the landscape of a Christmas postcard. Something in her chest felt warm at the thought that this all belonged to her, this was her territory.
At least until they got to Cernlia proper, which was still technically hers as part of the new Empire but not exactly her territory, even if it was beautiful. Regina was flying more slowly than a high-level Mount would be capable of, but she still pushed herself to maintain a decent pace and they made good enough time. It helped that aside from Janis and Max, Regina had put her foot down and wasn’t bringing too many people. Instead, Max had settled for some select high-level drones as escorts.
The temple they’d finally decided on, with some help from native Cernlians, was located in a town not too far away from the hive’s territory proper. It was further south than Whitor’s earldom but just far enough that it didn’t belong to the Lyns march. It had suffered a bit in the recent war, and apparently there was some debate about the proper lord of the town since the previous one died, but Regina didn’t really care about that. It was located on a pretty big trade road and called Godsfern after the temples it housed, which were its sole claim to fame.
Clearly, at least someone in town had been informed of their visit, since the hive’s party appearing over the horizon didn’t cause a panic. People still stopped and stared, but that was probably to be expected. Regina waved a bit, but didn’t wait to head for the temple.
She was still a bit unsure about religion in Cernlia, and the other human kingdoms. It didn’t seem to have that big of an influence on the daily life of the people, which considering these gods were actually real and could act, was surprising, compared to the Middle Ages. Maybe the people she’d had the most to do with were just atheistically inclined, or it was an effect of a polytheistic pantheon, or this particular one.
Come to think of it, some gods must have died in the war against these Mesen people and their fleeing to this Earth. It felt like there were too few for a full pantheon and there were gaps in the roles. Maybe that still had repercussions in other ways. Something to consider.
Anyway, visiting a town like this gave her a different impression. The temple was rather grand compared to the town, a sprawling complex built primarily of white stone, with gardens and even a fountain in the center of the courtyard. Priests in uniform robes had gathered to see them and they’d drawn a crowd of worshipers come to gawk.
Besides, Regina could sense … something. It was very faint.
She shook her head and started for the temple. It was tempting to just waltz right past the assembled priests, but that would be pretty rude, so she slowed down and gave them a regal nod when she reached them.
The priests bowed deeply, and the leader, given the hem of his gray robe was more ornately embroidered than the others, spoke up. “Welcome to the temple of Godsfern, Your Imperial Majesty.”
The address caused a bit of muttering among the spectators; maybe her new title and news of the founding of the Empire hadn’t spread as widely yet?
“Thank you for the welcome, high priest Letarn,” she responded, going by his System description.
“It is our honor and pleasure to have you here, along with the Princess and your companions.” He tilted his head at them, then hesitated for a moment. “I assume that you are here to honor Alianais, specifically?”
Regina raised an eyebrow and nodded. She’d known that the Goddess of Progress was the main deity of this temple, but she supposed it made some sense if other gods also had shrines here. Maybe Leian — that was something she could look into later.
“Then please, allow me to guide you.”
Regina glanced around curiously as the priest led them into the temple proper. It was pretty much as she’d expected; a pretty futuristic architecture for the local culture and technology. There were high, vaulted ceilings and long expanses of colored glass, mostly set in artistic, sometimes geometric patterns. It reminded her a bit of gothic cathedrals in the end but with a different vibe. There wasn’t much actual religious iconography. The temple instead used understated elegance coupled with vibrant colors where there were any, and an architectural plan striving towards heaven with several levels and a complicated layout. It did its own thing and despite herself, she had to admit that she kind of liked it.
The place the priest led them, after leaving enough time for gawking and admiring the architecture, was up a broad flight of stairs and through a set of large double doors made of some metal they’d managed to dye blue somehow. Behind it lay a smaller room than the large central hall, but it didn’t lose out in style. The corners were held up by fluted columns merging into a field of branching vines on the ceiling and the walls were a rich emerald color fading into a deep blue towards the floor. More importantly, there was a large statue of Alianais, sitting on a desk and appearing to read a book with her head cocked slightly to the side, gazing up as if she was just receiving a visitor.
There were a few braziers in the room and what she was pretty sure was a discreet altar, all presumably used for sacrifices, but the priest only guided them to the front of the room by the statue. Then he quietly bowed his way out of the room.
Regina took a step forward and looked around. Here they were. She took a deep breath and then focused on the statue, also trying to feel for the divine mana she’d felt before and the connection she apparently had to the goddess.
“Alianais?” she asked quietly.
Naturally, there was no response.
Regina bowed her head and focused harder. “I’ve come to talk; please respond to me. O goddess? I need to consult with you. You’ve marked me, I’m in a temple of yours. I call on you, Alianais.”
This time, there was a reaction. Regina saw a slight shimmer in the air at the same time as she felt a movement in the ambient mana and took a step back, along with the others behind her. The next moment, Alianais stood in front of her.
“Finally.” Regina exhaled. “I wasn’t sure that would work. Thanks for coming, I really need to talk to you, Alianais.”
The goddess frowned and Regina shivered involuntarily, as her displeasure hung in the air almost like a physical weight.
“Regina,” she greeted her back tersely. “I am a goddess, not some harlot to call over for a quick session. You need to show some respect to the divine, mortal girl.”
Regina suppressed the urge for a snappy answer. She bowed her head. “I apologize, Goddess. No disrespect was intended.”
Alianais examined her like a rare bug under a microscope for another second before she nodded and the subtle pressure she felt faded.
“Good. You wanted to talk, so speak we shall.”