Belissar stood in silence in front of the Bee Memorial, gazing up at the names on the pillar. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He had panicked at the thought of meeting the Tower Lords. He could still remember the smell of smoke and blood from that day. He could still hear the screams of people he had known his entire life as the soldiers cut them down. He could still feel the pain from when the arrow pierced his back. He reached to scratch at his back, though he couldn’t reach the exact spot.
He had rushed in his panic and bees had died as a result. If he had spoken with the bear people from the very start, he would have learned that he had plenty of time. The bear people hadn’t even heard of humans, much less Tower Lords. Who knows how long it would be before he met one again, or if he ever would?
So...was there a reason for these bees to have died? Did he truly need to grow as quickly as he had? Couldn’t he have waited? Couldn’t he have learned magic first, and then participated in the fight directly? Or maybe traded with the bear people for one of their bows, now that he remembered they had archers. Couldn’t he have done more?
He opened his eyes and then reached up to touch the names. But as he did, the bee carvings moved, and one of them flew as if to land on his finger. His eyes widened. His heart burst in his chest as his vision began to blur.
He rubbed his eyes and then glanced over to the beehouse as he heard a crackling noise. He saw the wounded soldier there, stirring up her mana. A wing made of yellow lightning appeared on her back. She tried to swing it around like she did her original wing, though she did not manage to take flight.
Belissar took another deep breath and closed his eyes once again.
“Right...”
He reminded himself once again that the bees did not regret their sacrifice. In the case of the soldiers, fighting and, if necessary, dying for the hive was what they were born to do. And though the cost was high, the Tower and the bees had grown through this. Belissar only needed to look up into the skies of the Flower Meadow to see the soldier bees practicing new movements and formations in response to the latest battle. He could look to the flowers where countless worker bees continued their tireless gathering. He could watch the newest queen as her hive took shape, as workers from a nearby hive arrived to assist her.
He couldn’t change the past. He couldn’t fix mistakes he had already made. All he could do was to do better in the future. The battles were fought. The bees had fallen. The rewards had been gained. What Belissar needed to do now was ensure that it was worth the cost.
He stepped back from the memorial and glanced around until he found Niobee.
“Hey Niobee, can you ask the queens when would be a good time to meet? I’d like to speak with them, though I don’t want to interrupt their work.”
“Ok!”
Belissar watched as Niobee flew off. He decided first things first...he wouldn’t act alone. He had missed critical information by ignoring the bear people when he rushed to prepare for the Tower Lords. At the very least, he wanted to see what his bees thought of their home.
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The First of the Fifth didn’t even wait for the Conduit to finish her dance. She rushed out of her hive and soared through the air.
The King was calling for her. He desired her counsel.
She immediately dropped everything to rush to his side...and then froze in the air.
The Firstborn and her council of brutish queens were already there, surrounding the King, likely filling his head with all sorts of nonsense. She nearly charged them at them.
And then worse, she saw the Fourth of the Seventh and her own kin. The queen she had born, along with all the other queens of the Apiary. She had been the last to arrive.
A betrayal most foul.
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But she calmed herself. No, this was better, wasn’t it? If she thought about it, the queens that arrived first had to wait for those that would come later. They had to waste their time while she would lose none at all. If she thought about it that way, it absolutely made sense the Conduit had told her last. It was proof that her time was the most valuable of all.
Surely.
But as she pondered, the King laid eyes upon her. He smiled with the warmth of the sun, a face as inviting like the petals of a flower.
“There you are, we’ve been waiting for you.”
The words rocked the First of the Fifth to the core, and she forgot all else that was occurring around her.
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Belissar stood surrounded by queens and scratched the back of his head. The queens were the most important member of their hives, for the hive would not exist without them. Yet, every single queen had dropped everything they were doing and immediately rushed over to him. He had hoped to schedule this for a time he wouldn’t interrupt, but at this point he couldn’t say he was surprised by this turn of events. Anytime he had spoken, the bees had responded to his requests immediately and without complaint. It was clear they regarded him extremely highly and took his words as absolute.
All the more reason for him to get better at this job.
He opened his mouth, then paused. He closed it and rubbed his chin. He was going to start by laying out the choices and asking the queens what they thought. But Niobee had answered that question often enough that he could predict exactly what they were going to say.
“Whatever King chooses!” was endearing, but it was not what he wanted to hear today. So, he took a moment to think about how exactly he should approach this.
“Um, the Tower is about to grow. I, uh, want to hear from you all. What do you think the Tower needs? Or, um, what would you want to do your job better, if you could have anything?”
Belissar smirked as a lot of “Whatever King chooses!” dances started. Well, he wasn’t exactly good at leading just yet, so he figured he wouldn’t get his point across right away. But, to his surprise, there was one bee that hadn’t joined in the dances. One bee that stood still...and then slowly started to dance...
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The Firstborn was about to join the others. The King had built this entire land before they were even born. He could create entire fields of flowers. He could grow mana flowers in an instant. He could build grand constructions the likes of which they couldn’t imagine. He bent destructive infernos to his will and set them upon his enemies.
What was the opinion of a mere queen in the face of such power? Could anything she imagined add even the tiniest bit to the wisdom of the King? How could she contribute to plans on a scale she couldn’t comprehend? Especially her, for she had failed. Her army's latest performance had put all the hives and even the King himself at risk...
All of the other bees acknowledged the wisdom of the King and indicated as much with their dances. But something caused the Firstborn to hesitate, for after everything she could not get this wrong as well. Such thoughts were obvious...and so, surely the King had thought of them as well. Surely, he knew how far the depths of his wisdom outstripped their own.
And yet, he had asked them anyways. He had requested their opinions, their desires.
She thought of her own meeting with the queens of the Flower Meadow, how a queen younger than she had brought up a concern she hadn’t thought of. She thought of the First of the Fifth, whose efforts had revealed paths the Firstborn had never dreamed of. She thought of the hive of hives the King was building.
The King wanted to know their thoughts. Not because they were worth anything, and not because he needed their help to design his grand plans, but because they might be different. Their very limitations may force them to face concerns the King never would, not in spite of but because of his overwhelming power and wisdom.
So, the Firstborn thought about his question. What did she think the hive of hives needed? What did she want to fulfill her own role within it? What could resolve her failures?
And then, slowly, she began to dance. The King fixed his eyes upon her, as well as all the other bees. She nearly stopped. How terrible would it be if she were wrong? If she dared to question the plans and wisdom of the King?
But she was the Firstborn. She had resolved to defend the lands of the King. She aimed to build the greatest army bee-kind had every seen. And most recently, she had failed. So, she pressed onward, and spoke her mind.
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Belissar watched as the largest of the queens gave an answer.
“Army not strong enough.”
He smiled. It was a simple answer, but it was an answer. Indeed, the soldier bee army had weaknesses that needed to be addressed.
“Um, can you think of anything that might help fix that?”
The queen stood still for a while before slowly beginning another dance.
“More soldiers, bigger soldiers. Need queen that can raise. Need better queen.”
Belissar rubbed his chin and nodded. A moment later, another queen, the largest from the Apiary, flew in front of him and began a dance of her own.
“More flowers! More nectar means more bees! New bees!”
Belissar nodded at that.
“That’s a good point, those medicinal bees really helped.”
All the bees froze at this point. Soon, they slowly began to dance.
“More flowers is good.”
“Soldiers should be tougher.”
“Should be faster.”
“Mana flowers best!”
“More palaces!”
Soon, each of the queens was dancing their own dance. Some of them even began conversing with each other. Belissar nodded as he tried to take in all of their suggestions. Slowly, ideas began to form in his mind. He couldn’t help but grin.
He knew asking the bees was the right choice!