Chapter 221: Chapter 221

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?”

“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.

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?”

“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.

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.