Belissar just watched the soldiers throughout the Tower with his tower sight, smiling as he did. He didn’t know if he had made the best choice, but it certainly felt like the right one. He returned his sight to normal.

“Ok…I think that’s all for now. Let’s get back to work.”

Most of the queens saluted, but then the First of the Fifth crawled forward.

“King…First of the Eighth has a question. Can ask?”

Belissar broke out into a wide smile as he nodded.

“Of course. You all can always ask me anything!”

The First of the Fifth did a quick “King is best king!” dance before catching herself and dancing towards another queen, one with purple stripes. The Apiary’s maddening queen, the First of the Eighth apparently, flew forward and performed a salute dance, then launched into her question.

“King…workers found human alive in pit when filling honey trap. What should we do? Should sting?”

Belissar froze.

“What?”

He zoomed with his tower sight to the Dirt Tunnels and quickly found the problem. There, in the final pit trap in the Dirt Tunnels’ exit corridor, was one of the Tower guards, coated in maddening honey with the remnants of a dirt bridge scattered around him. He frowned as he rubbed his chin. There was a lot going on in the fight but he guessed he vaguely recalled someone falling into a Pit Trap on the initial charge?

Well, he guessed no one else recalled either since the bees didn’t set it on fire. He was about to give the command on reflex, but the words caught in his throat.

The man was groaning. He appeared to be trying to speak but his face wasn’t moving. The rest of his body stayed still, save for the occasional twitch of a finger. His eyes were somewhat unfocused but began to quiver any time a bee approached.

Belissar crossed his arms. This man, while one of the Tower Guards, was no longer a threat. He had most likely, and still was, paralyzed from being drenched in maddening honey. He couldn’t even move.

He was one of the Tower Guards, one of the men who burned his home and slaughtered his village. He had come along with the Tower Lord’s son to attack Belissar’s new home, resulting in the deaths of many bees. And yet…now that he was lying completely helpless at the bottom of a pit, Belissar hesitated to give the order to just end the man’s life. Not when he had an alternative method of dealing with him.

He heaved a sigh and turned to Chief Rohsuak.

“…would you be able to handle a third prisoner?”

Chief Rohsuak saluted.

“Of course, Sacred Den Master.”

Belissar nodded at her.

“Thanks.”

And then he turned back to the bees.

“Let’s get him out of the pit, then, and take him to the karnuq. Oh, um, don’t kill him, unless he starts moving and attacks or something.”

The bees saluted.

“Sacred Den Master, I do have a question on that topic.”

Belissar turned to Chief Rohsuak and nodded for her to continue.

“Do you have any plans regarding these prisoners? In particular, we are not able to speak with them, so we may need your assistance depending on what you wish to do with them.”

Belissar tilted his head.

“You…can’t speak with them? Why? Are they refusing to talk?”

Chief Rohsuak shook her head.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“No, we simply do not understand each other’s language.”

Belissar furrowed his brow.

“But…then how are you speaking with me? I speak the same language as them.”

Chief Rohsuak made a light smile as she shook her head.

“That is because you are a Sacred Den Master.”

Belissar nodded.

“Oh, that makes sense. Guess it’s just another Tower power.”

Chief Rohsuak smiled.

“Indeed.”

Then Belissar crossed his arms once more. What should he do with the prisoners? He honestly had no idea. What did one do with prisoners anyways? He had obviously never had a prisoner of his own. The village didn’t have any either as far as he was aware, anyone who had done something wrong would normally have to pay a fine to the injured party and the village chief. If they had done something exceptionally bad, they’d be exiled or handed over to the Tower Guard. In either case, they were never heard from again, so Belissar had no idea what became of them.

And even if he had, he did not want to follow the Tower Lord’s example if he could manage it.

“Hm…to be honest, I can’t really think of anything right now, what do your people do with prisoners?”

Chief Rohsuak shrugged.

“During our sojourn, we didn’t take prisoners.”

Belissar rubbed his chin.

“I see. In that case, I guess just keep them from causing trouble? Ah, and keep them alive. As for the language thing…well, I guess I should talk to them now. I do have some questions regarding the Tower Lords. Um, if there’s anything you need to say to or ask them, I can say that as well while I’m there?”

Chief Rohsuak nodded with a salute.

“Thank you, Sacred Den Master. That should suffice for now.”

He let out another sigh.

“Well, I guess we better get to it.”

----------------------------------------

Belissar stood by the pit in the Dirt Tunnels and relit the beeswax candles…though not the ones made with wax from the maddening bees. He watched as two bumblebee soldiers descended into the pit. Numerous maddening workers crawled over the man, lapping up the maddening honey still stuck to him. The man’s eyes were shaking and he was whimpering…whimpering that only grew as the giant bumblebees descended upon him. But he still couldn’t move or do anything, so they landed and wrapped their legs around him without issue.

As one, the two bumblebee soldiers lifted the man out of the pit. Belissar smiled and nodded at them.

“Great work everyone. Let’s take him over.”

The worker bees saluted. The bumblebees couldn’t zip around while holding the man, but they did buzz their wings.

Belissar led the group to the karnuq settlement. Once there, the karnuq dressed up Belissar in the same getup he wore to meet with the sigmaka, and then Metsaitti directed him to the side of the room. There, a ring of karnuq hunters stood at guard while the karnuq villagers assembled a large stone structure. The two wyverns were off to the side with ropes lashed all around them and soldier bees buzzing overhead.

Metsaitti led Belissar to a smaller, more normal sized stone structure to the side of the one under construction. Well, it was only small in comparison, it was still karnuq-sized so large by Belissar’s standards. Two karnuq hunters at the front of the building along with Juosiutik and a karnuq woman Belissar didn’t recognize, and the Second of the Sixth with a group of medicinal workers. The hunters opened up the door as Metsaitti approached. Metsaitti stepped in, then Belissar followed him with the bumblebee pair and his usual soldier bee guards, and then Juosiutik, the woman, and the Second of the Sixth came last. The room was empty save for three bed rolls, and the other two humans. The bumblebees gently placed the man down on one of the bed rolls, then flew off so Juosiutik, the woman, and the Second of the Sixth could have a look.

Belissar rubbed the two bumblebee soldiers’ fuzz, and then turned his attention to the other two men while he waited. The old man was sitting and leaning against the wall, his eyes unfocused. The young man had stirred as they entered, however, and was watching with wide eyes.

“Is he…?”

Belissar shook his head.

“We found him in one of the pits. He’s alive.”

The young man slowly nodded. At first he moved to sit back down, but paused as Belissar remained. He slowly straightened himself.

“Do you wish to speak with us, Tower Lord, sir?”

Belissar scowled.

“Don’t call me that.”

Even Belissar was surprised at how he spat the words out. Niobee, who was sitting on his head, and the soldier bees began to buzz their wings in response. The young man took a step back with his hands held up and bowed his head.

“I apologize.”

Belissar took a deep breath.

“It’s…look, I’m not fond of the Tower Lords. Not anymore. Call me Tower Keeper, or Sacred Den Master, or any other name for it. Just not Tower Lord.”

The young man’s face fell and he nodded.

“I understand, Tower Keeper.”

Belissar sighed once more.

“Ok…then, I have questions for you.”

The young man slowly nodded.

“I figured. What do you wish to know, Tower Keeper?”

Belissar narrowed his eyes.

“I need to know how you got here. How did you find me, how far did you travel and from what direction? And how soon can we expect more of you?”

The young man turned his gaze down to the ground and let his shoulders droop.

“You shouldn’t expect any of us.”

Belissar paused at that.

“What? What do you mean?”

The young man took a deep breath.

“We weren’t intended to survive. After what happened in your village, the lord of Starami Tower was really upset. I heard the Conclave got involved too. We were sent out as the first wave with an intentionally small force. We were supposed to die. So…I don’t think any of them care about following us.”

Belissar was processing this when Metsaitti suddenly grunted.

“Sacred Den Master, the man in the back flinched. I think he knows something.”

Belissar turned his gaze to the old man, who had tried to go back to leaning against the wall. But his eyes were focused now, and he was averting his gaze.

“You there. What do you know?”