Chapter 88: Chapter 88
The Firstborn flew to the Memorial, the first to arrive as the queens of the Flower Meadow gathered at the end of the day. They had agreed to confer with one another once each day so that the queen in command of the army could report to the others on what she had done and any changes she had made, as well as to confirm would be in charge next. Soon, they all had arrived and formed a circle with the queen in command for the day, the First of the Third, in the center. She began to dance…
The First of the Third’s report resulted in buzzing wings and twitching antenna. The Firstborn herself couldn’t help rise in the air a bit. The sprayers had performed remarkably well in their first battle. The shade had hardly a chance to retaliate as they took it down and not once was a single bee in any real danger.
The Firstborn’s mind wandered a bit. Would these sprayers have changed the outcome of the battle against the flying enemy? It certainly seemed possible. The shade’s overwhelming speed may have been less of a hurdle to the sprayers, who could still have landed attacks even if they couldn’t catch up to it. Bees attacking from a distance also would have had more time to evade when it turned to assault them or when it unleashed its lightning attack.
On the other hand, the sprayers did not seem faster than the shade had been, so if they had all been deployed forward and the shade got past them the outcome may have ended the same regardless. The shade may have taken a toxic spray or two, but would that have been enough to bring it down? It may have been weakened, but the Firstborn imagined it would still have come down to her and the wounded soldier in that case.
Still, she had not yet seen the sprayers in action so she could not say for sure. The point was that they should not neglect their current efforts just because they had a new type of soldier. The sprayers would do their job and do it well. It was the queen’s role to put them in a position to succeed.
But she put her wonderings aside, for the First of the Third indicated she had more to say.
“Also, met Fourth of Seventh, here in Flower Meadow…”
That alone stopped all dancing and pondering and brought every queen’s attention back to her, the Firstborn’s included. The only time queens had moved between the rooms were major battles, the King’s banquets, or when the First of the Fifth came to coordinate with her. So, the Firstborn knew that this news must be important.
But even she did not anticipate the First of the Third’s next dance.
But the Firstborn had an idea that might be, again inspired by the Fourth of the Seventh and that would pair nicely with their existing plans. She flew forward a bit, signaling her desire to take the floor. The other queens danced their asset and the Firstborn flew to the center. ꭆ𝒶Nộ𝔟ÊŠ
“Fourth of Seventh didn’t join existing hive but took new queen under wing. How about…expand hives while raising new queens, then keep new queens in hives? We help set up, they help take care of hive when we lead army.”
The Flower Meadow queens were already planning to expand their numbers, but were finding it difficult to justify the expense. New queens would need to migrate out, find suitable location, construct their hives, fill out their worker ranks, and absorb the requisite mana to grow. Then, and only then, could they begin to contribute soldiers to the army. With the King’s battle and the casualties that resulted, the weakness and flaws that battle revealed, and then the new soldier types to raise and integrate into the army, it was hard to set aside resources that would not boost the strength of the army for such a long time. The queens could help speed up the process by donating workers and honey but that, too, would be a drain on their immediate resources for a future payoff. It was something none of them felt like they could afford.
But the Fourth of the Seventh had revealed a simple solution. What if the new queens didn’t have to migrate, scout locations, and build new hives? What if the Flower Meadow queens didn’t have to wait for their children to match their growth before they could begin contributing to the fight? If they formed joint hives from the start, the new queens could start laying workers right away. They would immediately begin contributing to the joint hives, for even a small addition of extra workers would allow the older queens to devote more resources to soldiers. And, of course, there was the aforementioned benefit of having someone around to watch over the hive when it was a queen’s turn to command the army.
The expense was far easier to justify if the new queens would boost their hives directly and from the start. The new queens would also grow more quickly since they would receive resources directly from their mothers and so wouldn’t need to keep as careful a balance as an early hive normally would. And once they had grown…well, the Flower Meadow would then have twice as many queens that could raise soldiers and take command.
And, perhaps most of all, it would turn the hive of hives ideal into a reality. They would not merely pursue the King’s vision, but they would each live it.
The rest of the queens paused and slowly began to dance as they considered the Firstborn’s words.
“Joint hive…but if with daughter then…”
“…could work. Would still need bigger hive, though.”
“King is building palace, though? Will need new hive anyways?”
“That’s…right. If that case…can do?”
The Firstborn danced once more.