The Firstborn paced about as she waited for her mana to regenerate. She knew she should conserve every bit of energy she had, but she couldn’t help it. She had a lot on her mind, lately.

First were the newcomers. They were giants who appeared much like the King, yet they also had features her instincts warned her about, indicative of vicious threats. But the King had asked her to stay her hand, and apparently the Queen of All Bees approved of their presence here, so the Firstborn’s soldiers held back their stingers. Still, she could not be comfortable with the presence of outsiders in their midst, ones who could not even dance to convey their intentions! The King could understand them, as powerful and wise as he was, but even he was wary of them. Fortunately, they had not approached the hives. The Firstborn wasn’t sure how to respond if they did.

And now, one was pushing the King to run, and driving him to the point of exhaustion. The Firstborn had been ready to strike them low but the King apparently did not consider this a hostile act. The Conduit had confirmed with him and revealed that he was training.

It was that news that had the Firstborn pacing about. The King was training. That meant...he was planning to join the fray once again. The Firstborn’s hopes had been dashed. Now that the army of the Flower Meadow was powerful enough to face the invader head-on and now that the Apiary soldiers could carry the flames on their own, she had hoped the King could withdraw from the fighting and remain in safety. But apparently, he was not satisfied yet.

It was no mystery why, for the Firstborn was there when the Queen of All Bees blessed the King’s memorial. She saw the way he looked upon each of the symbols displayed there. As he honored her fallen warriors. As he lavished praise upon the wounded one, the one she had only continued to feed because of the King’s attention.

The Firstborn then detected the stirring of mana and turned her body. A new soldier was pushing against its cocoon and starting to emerge. Medicinal workers helped pull away the cocoon and brushed their antenna across the soldier as it stepped out of its cell. A soldier with purple pile.

Thanks to the aid of the First of the Fifth, the Firstborn had raised a new type of soldier, one that would have the same toxins used by the King’s honey traps. The Firstborn crawled over and brushed the soldier’s antenna. She responded with a salute dance before marching off to join the army in their training.

This was a good first step. Medicinal workers had taken over the task of tending the brood, improving the health of her hive as well as freeing up her other workers for increased foraging, and the new soldier would hopefully increase the impact of the army’s attacks.

But the Firstborn felt it was not enough. She had made a stronger bee army, but she had not yet created the strongest bee army. She had not yet raised an army so powerful that the King could send them into battle without worry.

So, she began to ponder. What more could she do? How else could she increase the strength of her armies?

But think as she might, it would not be her who would come up with the next step...

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The First of the Fifth had finally calmed down. The deception of the Firstborn had caught her off guard, but it was to be expected. The Firstborn was the one the King trusted with the defense of his realm, she had to be capable of at least this much. The First of the Fifth had made the most of it and passing the soldier feeding onto the Fourth of the Seventh had freed up a lot of honey for her. She would simply need to be careful in her future dealings to ensure she was not sent scrambling again.

And, once the First of the Fifth had calmed down and took stock of the situation, this incident had born unexpected fruit. It had given the First of the Fifth a new perspective, one that helped her divine the purposes of the King.

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There was a huge abundance of resources in the Realm that were not being put to good use.

The Fourth of the Seventh’s move to an unoccupied section of the Apiary and her subsequent growth made the First of the Fifth realize just how many flowers were growing without any visits by the foragers. It was, perhaps, only natural. The bees of the Apiary had only two concerns up to this point: honey production and proximity to the King. As a result, they focused entirely on the mana flowers that could produce the most and best honey and competed for the areas closest to the King’s personal hive.

And because of that, the First of the Fifth had missed an obvious opportunity. But no more.

She had conferred with the queens of the Apiary, for she needed their help with this. She set forth her plans and now, they were about to pay off.

She stood before a small wax cell, watching as a new bee, fully grown emerged from her cocoon. She was far, far smaller than the First of the Fifth or a soldier bee, yet she was larger than the workers now tending to her.

For she was a princess. Yes, the First of the Fifth was starting a new hive.

None of the Apiary queens had thought to do so thus far, for none of them wanted more competition for mana flowers and the space around the King. But the Fourth of the Seventh had revealed that there was far more room to grow for those who were willing to accept less. Likewise, recent events had revealed a need for expanded honey production. The King now shared the honey of the Apiary with the bees who did battle on behalf of the hive. The First of the Fifth wanted to ensure there was sufficient honey of...less than top quality available, so that her own labor would remain at the King’s table.

It had been a significant expense. A single queen took even more mana than a soldier bee did, and the First of the Fifth had to imbue honey with her own mana to create the necessary royal jelly. It would have been a costly endeavor had the Fourth of the Seventh not accepted the burden of the soldiers. And beyond that, a queen would require drones and that meant cooperation from other queens. None of them were ready to bear queens of their own, so the First of the Fifth was required to offer concessions in exchange for drones. Some of the other queens would now be permitted to gather from the new flower patches the King had made. The First of the Fifth did not enjoy sharing the King’s gifts to her, but it was necessary.

For now, she would have her offspring utilize the space and resources that the rest of the Apiary overlooked. It would be her line that fulfilled the designs of the King when he filled the entire realm with flowers.

Now that the new queen bee was born, the First of the Fifth realized something else. As a monster bee queen, she had an innate ability to command her own brood. And contrary to her expectations, she still felt a connection with the young princess. The new queen was not exactly a member of her hive and the connection was not as strong as with her workers...but still there was a connection. The First of the Fifth danced happily. The new queen would not be an additional rival, but instead would be a part of the First of the Fifth’s strength.

The First of the Fifth began to buzz and tremble. The King himself had made a hive of hives. And now...the First of the Fifth had begun to follow in his path.

The young queen stood before her. The First of the Fifth brushed their antenna together, and then assigned some workers to attend her. The young queen saluted and then made her way out of the hive.

And so, the First of the Fifth began to build her own hive of hives. Meanwhile, workers from the Fourth of the Seventh caught sight of the new princess on her maiden voyage. They brought news of this to their queen who loved to hear of all that went on outside her hive. And when they went to gather from the flowers of the Flower Meadow, they exchanged scouting reports with the workers who lived there, intending to gather more news for their queen...

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The Firstborn stood completely still after she heard the report.

Of course.

It was so obvious now.

A new queen would double the number of bees born. More workers, more honey, and therefore more soldiers. The Firstborn and the other queens of the spawners had largely focused on the mana flowers, so there was an abundance of normal flowers available. The Flower Meadow could support many more hives than it had. The King was building a hive of hives so it was only natural they should raise more hives of their own.

It was so obvious that the Firstborn had to spend quite a while pondering why exactly none of them had thought of it until now. In any case, she would have to thank the First of the Fifth. Thanks to her ceaseless efforts, yet another path had opened up for the King’s army.

And so the Firstborn got to work...