Chapter 108: Chapter 108

The Firstborn crawled through her section of the fortress. The Flower Meadow queens had finished moving their hives a while ago and had fully settled in. Everywhere the Firstborn looked, worker bees from many hives crawled, hovered, and buzzed about with their countless tasks. Foragers brought in new nectar, medicinal bees tended the brood, and she even saw a group of scouts dancing with workers from the Fourth of the Seventh, passing on their knowledge of the beyond. And, of course, workers beat their wings across trays full of honey of different types. The slightly golden glow of mana honey, the bluish-green tone of healing herb honey, the purple of the mad honey, and a few more. There was a small section devoted to the red honey from the flame radishes, though that honey seemed to generate its own heat. They could only keep a small amount of it to prevent it from growing dangerously hot, threatening to melt its wax containers, or worse.

The honey from the newest flowers were currently mixed together. The Flower Meadow queens were aware that not every flower type could raise a unique type of bee. They were also aware that the Apiary queens would certainly categorize and experiment with each of the new flowers and determine which ones could. So, they decided to wait, and focus on maximum honey production instead. They were the hive of hives, honey was the Apiary’s specialty, battle was theirs.

Besides, right now, they needed the extra nutrition.

The Firstborn saw and greeted the Second Second of the First as they both crawled over the top of their trays before she moved down to her destination. In the center of one of the trays was a particularly large cell, currently covered in wax, as well as countless smaller ones. The wax cover on the biggest one was just starting to split. Then, two mandibles pierced through, and the medicinal workers got to work. They helped pull apart the wax cover so the cell’s occupant could crawl out.

The Firstborn’s First Daughter, a princess ready for her nuptial flight. She crawled out of the cell and then the workers poured over her, helping clean her off as she beat and dried her wings. Once she was clean, the Firstborn approached her. Her daughter turned to face her and then began a salute, indicating she was ready to go.

But the Firstborn had other ideas. She gently brushed the young queen’s antennae with her own before stepping back and beginning her dance.

“Go, wait for drones. Then, return here.”

Her daughter looked up to her before beginning a slow and unsteady dance.

At the Firstborn’s command, her daughter crawled on the back of the larger soldier. The Firstborn then took off with her soldier following along. All the queens thus made their way across the Flower Meadow towards the entrance. Her daughter stared at the sight before her.

The young queens all froze as they saw the massive numbers of soldier bees flying through the air. And then, they began to shiver.

“Queen mother…there’s something…”

The Firstborn confirmed.

“Yes, the invader approaches. Watch closely.”

Her daughter backed up a bit on the soldier carrying her but looked to the direction the Firstborn indicated.

There, at the entrance of the hive, two wolf-shades appeared. Her daughter recoiled and began to beat her wings, instinctually wanting to flee. But the Firstborn remained still and had commanded her to watch, so she remained.

She ceased all movement as she watched the soldier bee army set upon the shades and eliminate them in minutes, without the loss of a single bee. The Firstborn flew in front of her.

“This is the hive of hives, and this is our duty.”

Her daughter danced her acknowledgement in a bit of a daze.

After that, the Flower Meadow queens gathered and introduced each other to their daughters. And so, a new generation was inducted into the hive of hives.

The Fourth of the Seventh, her lead worker, and the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter stood at the entrance of their joint hive to the Orchard. In front of them where thirty-two workers arranged into squads of four. The lead worker began her dance.

“One squad in each direction. Preliminary scouting, only check flowers if in abundance or if possess mana. One scout memorize terrain, other three watch for danger. Turn back when sun begins to fall. Understand?”

The worker bees all danced their salutes. The lead worker saluted as well and then turned to face the queens. The First of the Fifth’s daughter turned to the Fourth of the Seventh, so the Fourth of the Seventh started to dance.

“Go! See the beyond!”

And with that, the workers began to beat their wings and flew away from the hive. As they left, the Fourth of the Seventh turned to both her lead worker and the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter.

“Thank you both! Couldn’t have done without you!”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter immediately started a rapid dance.

“Of course! Will always help Fourth of the Seventh, with anything!”

The lead worker paused for a moment. She…could not bring herself to state she would help with anything, knowing what her queen truly wanted. And that killed her, given an unrelated queen was offering to do just that. Her loyalty and her instincts warred with one another as she tried to determine what she would dance.

“As the queen commands.”

She settled on that, for it was true. If the queen commanded her, she would follow through, whatever it was. Previously, her instincts might have prevented her from following a command that might doom the hive…but with the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter’s cooperation, their hive would now always have a queen present, so there was far more leeway. So now, she could follow her queen with no reservations.

Besides, in the end she trusted her queen. She knew the queen would not harm the hive. And her trust was proven as the Fourth of the Seventh danced happily.

“Thanks! Let’s get to work then?”

The worker and the other queen saluted and then all three returned to their hive.