Lyn slammed down her fist on the table, drawing the displeased gazes of the other generals and a few nobles.

“We can’t continue like this!” She said in a loud voice, finally exasperated by all the bickering and posturing.

“Every day, the wasp horde pushes us back, little by little. If we don’t start aggressively pushing them back in return we will lose this war!” she glared at her now quiet audience.

One general Saline sneered at her, the two had butted heads on more than one account. “Do you really think by just being a little more aggressive we could change the tide of war?” she asked in a deriding manner. “It might look like we might be losing, but! The truth of the matter is that the horde is exhausting itself, and we have claimed many victories in return for their hubris.” getting a few nods of her fellow colleagues.

Lyn gritted her teeth. “We might have ‘Claimed’ many victories… but that doesn’t matter if for every victory we ‘Claim’ we have two or three defeats! While it looks like we are maintaining the line, that line has not been where it used to be… just a few days ago!”

She then tried to reign in her anger, and try again. “Right now the horde is eating half of the forest. Literally consuming anything that's edible on their side. They are doing this to grow their numbers explosively and to grow the average size of their warriors, soon we might be facing beetles, ants, and more the size of a dog if not bigger. So while it may be true they came into this war with a slightly smaller force and maybe losing two soldiers to every one we lose, they are the ones slowly winning this war… because we are here playing games, and they are the ones going out in total war! TOTAL WAR!”

“Every inch of land we lose is another square inch of food for the horde to consume and raise new armies to attack us with. This ‘empress of thunder and lighting?’ is willing to sacrifice half the forest if it means conquering all of it. And we are unwilling to commit our full force because we either think we're winning, or we don’t trust our so-called allies!”

She then looked at the people around her. “If we don’t change the tide of war now, we won’t be able to later… they will slowly win through sheer attrition… at most… we have less than a year before their inevitable victory if we don’t do something now…” trying to convey the seriousness of the situation to everyone.

General Saline crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair, then shook her head before replying to the upstart fairy. “This is why those with no experience in war shouldn’t lead.” earning a glare from Lyn.

“The horde is eating their half of the forest? Who cares!” Now she slammed her fist on the table. “Our warriors are some of the best around! Wasps might be one thing, but they are few in numbers. Not to mention, ants have made a meal out of termites for generations! Who cares if they get a little bigger! Who cares if they have a few more! We would never lose to a bunch of outcasts and lesser insects!”

“And finally… if we were to talk about providing for the war effort…” her eyes narrowed. “Shouldn’t we be asking you where your army is? Supposedly you're a high queen… but you can’t even field a proper army, how do we know you're not holding back on us to take advantage of everyone else later?”

Lyn looked incensed by the accusation. Her fingernails unintentionally making marks on the table as she flexed her muscles.

“Enough!” Gloria said, putting an end to the conversation before it could devolve into anything else. “You both bring up good points, which is why we are all here to discuss them and figure out what to do from here on out. But if you two are going to bicker back and forth… again… then you can save it!” she hissed. “For later…”

“For now… you are all dismissed. We will discuss the rest of our plans when everyone can come back with cooler heads.” and with that, she got up from the head of the table and left, signaling for everyone that the meeting was over.

Saline gave one last glare, which Lyn returned, before leaving.

With a deep breath and a sigh, Lyn also made to leave to the room provided for her stay. But also made sure to do some small talk to what few allies she was able to make while here before doing so.

Once she said her goodbyes to what few friends she was able to make here, she left, walked down a few hallways, and entered her room. Closing the door behind her and leaning against it with fatigue. She closed her eyes and wanted to just go to sleep right then and there.

But just as she was about to throw her clothes off and jump in bed, a knock came at her door. A little irritated and wondering what it could be now, she turned around to open the door, failing miserably at schooling her expression. But that quickly changed when she saw who it was.

“Amie?” Lyn asked in surprise, she was not expecting her to come today.

“Hi Lyn, how are you holding up?” Amie asked with a gentle and somewhat apologetic smile. Knowing what Lyn probably had to go through during her stay, and feeling somewhat responsible for it.

Lyn sighed but gave a tired yet genuine smile towards her lover. Just happy to see someone who she could trust again. “Not good.” she replied, “but not bad either I guess.” then with a shrug. “I guess you can say I'm holding on…” continuing her smile and trying to hide how tired she actually was so as not to make Amie too worried.

“How are you doing? How's Van? Is he doing okay? Along with everybody else?” she quickly asked. She knew she probably shouldn’t, but with everything going on, the anxiety of it all, made her constantly worry about every little thing, keeping her up at night sometimes. So any good news, would be much appreciated.

She then realized that Amie was still out in the hallway and motioned her to come in. Then closed the door so it was just the two of them and no one could accidentally overhear.

Amie now gave a big smile, as if happy with what she was going to say next. Knowing that it would do much to relieve her lover’s worries. “I have some good news! It looks like Van might get another wife, whose mother has experience dealing with soul realms! Right now they should be going through the last processes of opening up and fixing Van’s soul realm!”

Lyn was shocked. That was good news! Perhaps not so much that Van might marry a stranger she hadn’t met yet… but with access to his soul realm, she could call forth her host of warriors that were left behind! She was so happy, she couldn’t help but share the same joy that Amie was giving, and the two gave each other a hug and cheered at their good fortune!

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More to the point, Lyn had been hiding something from Amie and Van. Since that day that Van lost access to his soul realm, Lyn had been feeling weak and that her power was stagnating. But with access to it again, perhaps that feeling would disappear and she would feel a little like her old self again.

Soon the two were kissing, which led to them stripping, and then onto the bed. Lyn missed having sex with Van, but Amie was not a bad alternative and she needed to get rid of some stress. She was so happy about this bit of good news that she couldn’t help but take what her lover was offering.

A few moments later, they were a tangled mess on the bed. The two going at it like sex-starved beasts, which in some ways they were. It wasn’t until an hour later that they were finally done and the two cuddled up to each other, ready for sleep.

But just as Lyn was about to fall into that welcome slumber. She felt her eyes snap open with shock. The connection she felt with Van that had been weakened, all of a sudden increased in size and power. Her eyes glowed with it right now, and she could feel it flowing into her, changing her. She gasped and moaned, but this time for entirely different reasons as she felt like her veins were on fire with pure energy.

Amie got up worried about what might be happening.

But as soon as it came, it left, and Lyn was lying there, amazed at what just happened, as well as knowing what just transpired on an Instinctual level.

Van had access to his soul realm…

“Amie…” Lyn said softly to her lover. “I think it’s time I take a break from all this for a day or two… me and Van... have some catching up to do…” she said with a smile.

---

She moved out of the milky white bath with grace from where she was submerged. Her belly was swollen with child. As she walked out, attendants were already there to help clean her off.

At first, she hated these baths… but as the years went by she found she got quite used to them…

Putting on a gown, she rubbed her belly. Soon she will be giving birth to another princess. Perhaps her fourteenth or fifteenth child, though she couldn’t be sure at this point anymore.

She could feel the tell-tale signs that she was close, so without further thought on the matter, she went to a nearby room where her servants followed and gave birth. Once that was done, she simply moved on, leaving it to the nanny on standby to take care of the rest.

After that, wearing practically nothing but a simple gown, she moved to the throne room to address her subjects on the next course of actions the horde will be taking. Her belly was already flat as if she was never pregnant just a few minutes prior.

Even now she couldn’t figure out how that worked, but that was probably just another quirk of this world that she would just have to get used to, just like those baths...

As she walked down these halls, she couldn’t help but remember when she was firstborn. How confused she was, how she was the last queen of her small tribe, how afraid she was of the giant insects, and so much more.

But that was all in the past… and now… now she was an empress.

Taking her place on the throne, she acknowledged her generals, her vassals, queens of both wasp and hornet, and her allies, the termite king, and his wife. Perhaps she should take him and his wife as a spouse… it would be better than outsourcing the sperm she used and bathed in... And perhaps better to know where such sperm came from in the first place… but she didn’t want to be tied down… and decided to save whatever romances she might have open for the future when she won this war...

Once she got comfortable in her chair, the meeting began.

“Your highness, I regret to inform you that your daughter Xenith is still missing. And the fairy that was last seen with her is now wreaking havoc on our western line. Worse, it seems this fairy has gotten stronger and has rallied some of the neutral factions to her cause.” one of the advisers said, then hesitated as she handed over a few pieces of paper.

“These are also the papers you asked for on our food stores… we are going through them at a far faster rate than projected. If this continues… our side of the forest will…”

The empress barely gave a glance to the papers before dismissing them. “It matters not so long as we win,” she said imperiously. “Those idiots won’t be able to stop us for long, there to divide for that. Put a little more pressure on them and they will collapse… With that in mind, I want all reserves to go to the front line. Breakthrough points seven, eight, and twelve. Don’t stop until I hear the good news of our victory.” she said, sounding bored as she looked down on the map of the forest before her.

“B-but your highness!” the adviser exclaimed, “there is no way we could do that! The numbers difference alone would-” The empress glared at the adviser, shutting her up.

“If we are low on troops… then use more slaves…” she said, sounding cross, like her patience had already run thin. “And the more territory we take, the more food stores we have and the less for them… not to mention they are so divided, that our troops merely being near the border of one noble or another is enough for them to surrender. Meaning we don’t have to defeat their entire army, we just need to make them see ‘reason…’ and with that they will withdraw all of their forces from this alliance of theirs… the difference over time will continue to be more pronounced… and we will eventually win…”

Her gaze became sharper. “But. not. If. we. don’t. Press. The. attack!” she hissed, scaring the adviser and making her recoil.

After that, none dared to question her motives. They all knew what would happen if they did. And so far, her predictions were spot on, and she hasn’t made a wrong move yet. So with that, the meeting turned to other things. Such as logistics, weapons requisitions, and a dozen other things that the empress had to handle in order to run an empire.

She was beginning to think that perhaps this war wasn’t worth it if it meant that her future will be nothing but paperwork. But then again, she had a goal… that goal was to be recognized as the undisputed ruler of this forest and from there, form connections with the outside world.

She didn’t really care about conquering the forest… All she wanted was a position of power with which she could negotiate for knowledge and resources from the outside world. For she had a dream, a dream from her past life she wasn’t able to finish. A dream she wanted to come true in this life…

At first, this expansionism was all for the purpose of securing her safety and the safety of her tribe. But as she expanded, she realized that her wasp and hornet brethren were giving the raw end of every deal. Not entirely unwarranted mind you, being wasp and hornets, but still an unfairness she couldn’t abide…

She then rallied others, giving them a sense of identity and purpose, teaching them and raising them from their nomadic lifestyle, and presenting them with culture and higher learning, to which they took to like fish to water. Unfortunately, the nearby insect and fairy queendoms did not like a growing wasp power and tried to nip her growing movement in the bud.

And so she expanded, with the intention of protecting what was hers, and extending her hand in aid to the termites, who were also oppressed by the ants during this time. Giving her the necessary ground force to really become a threat.

Soon she realized she couldn’t stop, the more she grew to prevent others from attacking her now growing queendom, the more other queendoms saw her as a threat that needed to be dealt with. And so a vicious cycle began, she expanded to better protect herself and her kind, and more would attack in response, forcing her to expand again.

It didn’t help that her inner greed also expanded with every conquest. Especially when she realized what she could get her hands on…

This world was magical… and full of strange science and knowledge… and the researcher inside her couldn’t help but want to study all of it… her dream was to create great works of machinery that would promote civilization, or discover new schools of thought and science.

Since becoming empress, she has already started up schools for teaching knowledge about math and sciences as a part of her social reforms for her empire. She also created social safety nets, transportation routes that were safer to navigate, and large greenhouse farms to help gather food year-round and to help deal with any shortage that might come from over-harvesting the forest's natural food supply.

She has worked so hard, done so much, come too far for it to end without a fight. Her enemies vilified her. They will find out soon enough what kind of person she truly was…

Once this war was over, she was going to ease the slaves back into society. Once this war was over, she would make sure that it could run without her input too much. Once this war was over… she would go back to her research, maybe even perhaps explore the world a bit…

But only once the war was over… a war she was going to win… and woe to anyone… that tried to get in her way...