The Bee Dungeon

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter drew her attention away from the gardener and scouts she had sent to accompany the King. She then turned to a communer standing next to her, one that was not the Fourth of the Seventh’s…or her own. She could even feel mana flow through the mana of the joint hive and into the communer…and then onward to her. She shook herself a bit. The mana still resonated with her, but it tickled now, not flowing as naturally as it did before. Still, it was enough that she could feel the attention of another queen upon her.

“Queen mother, have news. King built new room as discussed yesterday. Room strange, but gardener says good for flowers. King wants gardeners to help raise many flower types.”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter was still, well, the First of the Fifth’s daughter, and made regular reports to her mother on the state of affairs in her hive as well as the Orchard in general. She felt her mother’s reply through the communer her mother had sent.

“Amazing, incredible, King is best king! Can take care of room with Orchard hives?”

She danced her salute.

“Can.”

“Good, then do. Let know if need help. If find new flower types, recommend give to one subordinate queen.”

The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter saluted once more and then felt her mother’s attention pull away. She then sent word through her own mana for her own daughters to gather. And, thanks to the drone, her mana passed through the Fourth of the Seventh’s communer as well, and then on to the Fourth of the Seventh’s daughters. She started a happy dance, seeing once again that the Fourth of the Seventh’s hive could now act as one with her own.

Which meant she was now well positioned to fulfill the Fourth of the Seventh’s duties within the hive of hives in her place. The new room was fortunately timed for the Orchard queens, their daughters were just getting up and running. Additionally, some of their daughters indicated a desire to see more than the grove they had been born in, no doubt due to the stories their mother told them. The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter had so far focused on raising them into excellent queens with well-ordered workers, and so could not allow them to venture abroad.

But now? Now there was a brand-new room that was their responsibility. A strange room that was more difficult to traverse than usual, and that had an unpredictable nature. Even the King, in all his wisdom, and the Conduit, with all her experience, did not know what to expect. It would, therefore, make a perfect place for her daughters to send their first scouts, a chance to explore the unknown without leaving the safety of home, all while fulfilling a task assigned them by the King himself.

So, she would gather the queens of the joint hive and the Fourth of the Seventh’s communer to discuss and organize the scouts and gardeners required. And, while she waited for her children to gather, she gave another command.

“Scouts, visit Flower Meadow. Tell about new room and drone, see if any news from them.”

The Fourth of the Seventh’s workers had once traveled the breadth of the King’s realm, from the Apiary to the Flower Meadow, seeking news for their curious queen and exchanging information between all the queens of the King. The First of the Fifth’s First Daughter took that task upon herself while the Fourth of the Seventh was away, a task she was well suited to given she could speak directly to her mother via communer. So, all she had to do was send messengers to and from the Bee Barracks and she could remain in contact with the entire hive of hives, ensuring all were up to date on the latest developments. That all knew of the Fourth of the Seventh’s brilliance. Who knew that drones held such a power for the hive of hives? Who but the Fourth of the Seventh would have preserved a drone long enough to find out?

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And, most of all, she would then gather a great deal of new information to share with the Fourth of the Seventh in-person when she finally returned.

And so, the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter diligently carried out the duties of the joint hive, eager to report her successes to her partner queen.

The Firstborn crawled through the Bee Barracks, greeting the various queens as she went. The gardeners had hatched and the Firstborn was waiting to see how they affected honey production before deciding which and how many offspring she would lay next, so in the meantime she was taking stock of the hive. She…had certainly been chastised by the First of the Fifth over the state of her hive, so she had resolved to keep a better eye on what was going on at home from then on.

She found workers assembled into groups with gardeners dancing before each one. The gardeners had gone through all the flowers of the Flower Meadow and verified their state and were now instructing all the workers of the Bee Barracks on how to maximize both their honey production and the health of the flowers. Notably, the flowers the King had planted by the Memorial apparently required foraging. The Firstborn and the other Flower Meadow queens had held off on foraging from those, for it somehow felt wrong to do so. Apparently, they had been mistaken, and the flowers very much wanted some visits, so they were now arranging to do so.

The same went for the strange gravilion flower the King had planted, which was both far away and difficult to gather from. But the gardeners discovered it had grown sluggish and quiet due to the lack of foraging, which was unfortunate since it was supposed to contribute to the defense. The Flower Meadow queens had thus resolved to ensure it received regular visits.

All this was yet another reminder of all that the Firstborn had neglected. She had missed much due to her fixation on soldier bees and stingers, including much that had direct relevance to her mission. She turned her gaze to the army training in the field. She once again stood in awe of the huge shadows buzzing overhead. A squad of her own soldiers flew to the bumblebees and rubbed their antennae, causing the bumblebee soldiers to descend. The giant soldiers dove to the ground with a crash as they drove their stingers deep. It had taken some time to figure out how to coordinate with the giants who didn’t seem to dance, but they were now working it out.

But what a help they would be once they did. The Firstborn was still shocked the bumblebee queens had raised soldiers larger than her own lancers. And they had done so with help from the First of the Fifth, help that had only been possible due to the First of the Fifth’s meticulous focus on honey production.

And that was why the Firstborn was glad to be part of the hive of hives now. Each queen made up for the weaknesses of the other, and all played their part. The Second of the Sixth worked to heal the wounded lancers the Flower Meadow queens had raised. The First of the Fifth helped the bumblebee queens raise soldiers larger than any other, who the Flower Meadow soldiers were now trying to integrate into the army. The Apiary queens continued to donate honey, including a new shipment from the digging queen, so that the Flower Meadow queens could raise soldiers that would fight in the Dirt Tunnels. And in turn, the Flower Meadow’s soldiers now helped the karnuq lift wood and cloth and ropes to build mighty hives as the King had done for them…all the while listening to the karnuq’s instructions and taking note of how such things were made.

For the first time in a while, the Firstborn could say she was satisfied. Her hive still had many flaws and was dependent on many others…but such was not fatal in the hive of hives. As long as she continued to contribute however she could and raise the army as best she could, the hive of hives would carry the day.

And speaking of which, she received word that messengers from the Orchard had arrived, bearing news. Yet another symbol of the hive of hives, that the Orchard hive would spread information to the others rather than keeping it themselves. She went to greet them herself, and listened intently as they described the newest land the King had built. She had no doubt such the room would elevate the hive of hives in new and unforeseen ways…

“Wait, dance that again.”

The Firstborn froze and then stared intently at the messengers as they repeated the last piece of news.

“Drone that Fourth of the Seventh saved found job. Can bind mana of different hives together, let queens command other queens’ workers.”

The Firstborn spun around and began a frantic dance to her workers.

“Assemble the queens! Need talk!”

This changed everything.

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