by Pirateaba
“Royal jelly. It’s this thing in hives that bees make. You can eat it, I think.”
“Really? Well why not take the grub out and—boil it first, maybe?”
“The jelly? Or the grub? I’m trying to keep it alive.”
Selys paused, mid-bite, a piece of toast in her claws.
“Why? Are you—are you going to eat it? Do Humans…?”
“No. I want to feed it to the Antinium.”
“To the—and you stole honey from those killer bees Erin mentioned?”
“Not just honey.”
Proudly, Lyonette pointed to a corner of the room. Selys looked and nearly jumped out of her scales.
“Gah!”
The dead bees pressed up against the glass walls of the jars, obscenely squished together. Selys stared at them as she slowly pushed her plate away. Mrsha just sniffed at the jars, tail wagging with curiosity.
“Mrsha, don’t. Those are—come with me.”
But the Gnoll refused to move. And as she ran from Selys and the Drake futilely chased her about, Lyonette had an idea.
“She can stay with me.”
“What?”
Selys looked up at Lyon, panting. She shook her head, glancing around the empty inn and then at Lyonette.
“Out of the question. Erin trusted Mrsha with me—and she’s far too young. And besides…”
Lyonette knew what Selys was saying. Besides, how could Mrsha be entrusted to her, Lyon’s care? But she just pointed to Mrsha.
“She likes it here, though. She likes honey. And—there are lots of beds. I could take care of her. I could, Selys.”
The Drake stared at the Human and Mrsha chased her tail. But when Selys grabbed for her, Mrsha just ran behind Lyonette. The girl stared down at the Gnoll, and the Gnoll stared back up.
It wasn’t as if Mrsha knew Lyonette that well. They’d—well, Lyonette remembered feeding the Gnoll scraps from her plate and scratching her behind the ears, but that wasn’t what made Mrsha want to stay with her over Selys.
It was the inn. It was that Lyonette was here, waiting. And so was Mrsha. And no matter how much Selys argued and tried to coax the Gnoll to come with her—
“I’ve got to go to work. I’ve got to go but—this isn’t over, Mrsha! If I have to I’ll get Krshia!”
The young Gnoll hid behind a chair as Selys pointed at her. She quivered, but she still refused to budge.
“You don’t want to have her come up here, do you? Do you? Come on Mrsha—”
“I’ll take good care of her while you’re gone. I promise. I can make food—”
“Just don’t let her go outside, okay?”
Selys looked ready to tear the spines on her head off. She stalked over to the door, angry, upset. She yanked the door open and blinked at Pawn. The Antinium’s hand paused, ready to knock. But that wasn’t what made all the blood drain out of Selys’ scales. She stared up at the massive Soldier, huge, imposing, staring down at her. Her mouth opened, she gaped—
And then fell backwards in a faint. No one caught her. Lyonette stared at Pawn. He stared at Selys. Mrsha hid behind the jar of bees.
“Oops. I was going to knock.”
He nodded to Lyonette as she helped him drag Selys inside. The Soldiers walked in behind Pawn, so many of them! They filled the room, standing perfectly still behind their leader.
For a few seconds, in that moment when Selys had yanked open the door, Lyonette had wanted to scream. But that instinct had fled the moment she had seen Pawn. She looked at the Soldiers as they stood in the inn. They looked—
Scary. There was no other word for it. But all Antinium looked like monsters, didn’t they? Until you got to know them.
Pawn sat at a table, clearly wavering over the unconscious Drake. He nodded several times to Lyon, and distractedly stared at Mrsha who was creeping closer to him.
“I do apologize. I didn’t mean to scare anyone. I just—I had hoped you were open for business.”
Open for business. The words made Lyon’s eyes open wide. She stared again at the Soldiers, but this time not as a stranger seeing something unfamiliar, but as a…a [Barmaid] sizing up a potential client.
And there was a lot of client, and a lot of them. How much could they eat? Lyon’s eyes traveled to the jar of bees. Her heart beat faster. So she stood up.
And smiled. She smiled at the Antinium, even at the huge Soldiers. Mrsha stared up at one of the silent behemoths, and he stared back. He was missing a hand on one of his four arms. But he was a customer, a guest. And…oh, how would Erin say it?
Lyonette gestured to her empty chairs. She pointed at the bees and remembered there was a special pan for frying them. She looked at the twenty Soldiers, at Pawn, and at the Gnoll poking the unconscious Drake. She smiled, because she wasn’t alone anymore. And she asked them one simple question.
“Would you like something to eat?”
3.22 L
Sometimes it bothered him, the way others treated his kind. Pawn knew there was history behind the stares and frightened looks. And he understood that the Antinium looked…different, even from other species. But even so, it hurt a bit.
And Selys knew him! She was hardly a stranger to the Antinium. Was there really that much difference between Pawn and the Soldiers?
Standing in the inn, Pawn turned and looked up at the towering mass that was the Soldier standing nearest to him.
…Well, yes, actually. Despite Pawn’s alien appearance, he was still just a Worker, with hands and recognizable body parts. The Soldiers on the other hand looked like they were made only to kill, because they were.
Their hands were formless digits that were more suited to gouging their enemies and smashing skulls into the ground. Their carapaces were reinforced, made to act like armor. And their mandibles were quite a bit bigger, so as to give them another means of attacking.
They were frightening. But the Human girl who smiled at Pawn and the small, white Gnoll didn’t seem nearly as scared as Selys had been.
“I’ve got a ton of food for you! Just wait—I’ll cook up some right now!”
Lyonette was practically running around, trying to show Pawn her latest acquisition as Selys sat taking deep breaths and Mrsha ran about, sniffing at Soldiers and darting away when they stared at her. It was confusion, and Pawn wasn’t helping by trying to simultaneously apologize and explain.
“I am very sorry Miss Selys. I did not mean to cause alarm—”
Selys waved a claw at Pawn as she half-drank, half-choked on her glass of water. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the Soldiers.
“No—no I was—it wasn’t your—why are there Soldiers above ground? Ancestors, don’t tell me it’s war!?”
The Drake looked horrified. Pawn hastened to reassure her.
“Nothing of the kind. The Hive has merely sent out a patrol to…patrol the landscape. We will eliminate any monsters we encounter and attempt to improve the morale of the citizenry by our vigilance.”
“Improve? Our morale?”
Pawn nodded. That was the official line Klbkch had given him and Pawn thought it was a rather good one. Seeing Selys’ fish-eyed stare made him wonder how believable the explanation was, though.
“I see. I see. I’m uh, well, I’m glad for you. This is a promotion, isn’t it?”
“A promotion? Ah. Um. Yes, I believe it is.”
Pawn had never thought of his new job in those terms. But the idea seemed to be reassuring to Selys, so he went along with the idea. She stared at the Soldiers, still standing motionless in the inn, all waiting for Pawn’s next order.
“And they obey everything you do? Really?”
“That is their nature, sadly.”
Pawn wished it weren’t so. But the Soldiers really did seem to have little personality, or at least, the will to do what they wanted. Even less so than the Workers, to be honest.
A lot had happened since he’d visited the inn last night. After a rather…nerve-wracking conversation with Klbkch, Paw
n had found his request to take Soldiers outside the Hive approved to his great surprise. He had also made a few attempts to inspire the Soldiers, to give them his perspective on life.
That hadn’t gone so well.
The first thing Pawn had given them was a chessboard. Even when he’d explained how it worked, the Soldiers had just stared at the pieces. When he’d asked one to play against him, the Soldier had begun moving the pieces, following the rules, but seemingly without any idea of how the game actually worked. Pawn had played five games and the Soldier hadn’t improved after the fifth game. In fact, he just moved the chess pieces forwards from left to right as Pawn slowly eliminated them from the board.
That was disheartening. But then Pawn had had the brilliant idea to give Soldiers names! Erin had done it for him. He’d sat with a Soldier—somewhat apprehensively as he knew what might occur—and given the Soldier a name.
Robert. But the newly named Soldier hadn’t even seemed to react to having a name. Pawn had noticed that happened when he and Klbkch had tested the Workers and some Soldiers as well. The Workers either became Aberration or Individual when given a name, but the Soldiers didn’t. They just acted like the name was, well…words.
It didn’t seem to matter to the Soldier that he had a name. Pawn had hoped it would spark something in him, some sense of ownership, but the Soldier had just obediently responded to the title just like he would if Pawn pointed at him and said, ‘you there’.
It was baffling to the Worker. How could the Soldiers not care about names? But then he’d realized—what use was a name if you couldn’t speak it yourself? The Soldiers had no voices, no speech. They couldn’t speak, and so what was a name for them? Just another word they would never say.
Pawn agonized. He’d given up in despair, realizing that he had made one smart decision. Within the Hive there was nothing to show the Soldiers. But outside—
Selys seemed like she was ready to go. She kept glancing towards the door, but she hadn’t moved, possibly because two Soldiers stood next to the entrance, as if they were guarding it.
Which they might actually be. Klbkch had told the Soldiers to protect Pawn, and Pawn had told them not to attack anyone. Which meant they only looked as if they were contemplating tearing Selys’ tail off and feeding it to her.
“Well, I’ve got to be going. I’m already late and there’s so many Humans to deal with in the Guild…shame I can’t stay and chat, Pawn.”
Selys stood up, tail twitching anxiously as she edged towards the door. She glanced at the ground and called out sharply.
“Mrsha, come on! Let’s go.”
The little Gnoll looked up in betrayed shock—Selys made a grab for her, but Mrsha dove under a table again. Lyonette paused and turned back to the Drake, looking anxious.
“You said she could stay!”
“I did. But now Pawn and his—friends have come, I’m sure it would be safer—”
Selys caught Pawn’s eye and looked away guiltily. He felt sad inside, and a bit angry.
“We will not be staying long, Miss Shivertail. I only wished to show the Soldiers this inn before we continued patrolling.”
“Oh. Well…”
“Mrsha will be fine here. And I can feed the Soldiers as well. I have more than just bacon and eggs.”
“Like cheese?”
“What?”
Lyonette looked confused. She hurried into the kitchen and came out with something on a plate.
“I just made this! It’s not as good as what Erin can do but—I found more bees!”
Pawn had been about to decline Lyonette’s offer for a meal. He didn’t want to impose, and he didn’t want to alarm Selys by having the Soldiers eat here. But all that changed when he heard Lyonette’s words.
“Did you say…bees?”
He’d had…one bee before. One bee. And like the acid flies, it wasn’t something Pawn forgot easily. He stared avidly at the thing on the plate. Lyonette had indeed just fried up the thing that Selys recoiled from and made even the Soldiers look twice.
A bee, legs curled, neatly sliced down the abdomen to let the insides fry on the pan. It now lay, wings folded, staring up at Pawn, making his intestines gurgle. It was steaming, and juicy with grease and honey. Pawn’s stomach sat up and begged for him to bite into the exposed innards that smelled…
Oh, heavenly.
Part of Pawn immediately wanted to eat the bee at once. But he stopped his hand as he remembered.
“Ah. Regrettably…I would love to sample this bee. But it would not be fair to the others, I feel.”
He was full of regret. But to his surprise, Lyonette just smiled.
“I have lots more.”
“Lots?”
Pawn looked at her hopefully. The [Barmaid] nodded.
“Two huge jars, in fact. Enough for you and all the Soldiers. You should have this one first. You are their leader, aren’t you? And then when you all come back from your patrol, I’ll have enough for everyone.”
Pawn hesitated. A meal had been in his hazy plan for the day with the Soldiers, but bees? He had a bag of coin, but he didn’t know if it would be enough. But bees…perhaps Lyonette would open a tab? He looked at the other Soldiers and came to a swift decision influenced not at all by the delicious bee in front of him.
“I am afraid we number twenty one in all. Would that put too much of a strain upon your inn?”
He didn’t want to overburden the Human girl. Lyonette did indeed seem shocked. She swayed on her feet a bit, and gulped slowly.
“Twenty? I can…yes, I can do that.”
“Very well then. We shall patrol and be back…in two hours? Roughly that time. Is that enough?”
“Oh, yes, absolutely! And Mrsha can stay with me—”
The Gnoll was still evading Selys’ every attempt to get near her. Frustrated, Selys threw up her hands.
“Fine, fine. I’ve got to go! I’m so late! Just keep an eye on her, okay Lyon?”
“I will. And I’ll have everything ready for you in two hours, Pawn.”
The Antinium nodded, and after Selys had left, led his Soldier back outside. There they joined the other Soldiers who’d been waiting like statues outside and nearly given Selys a heart attack.
“As you may have heard, we will be eating a lunch at this location later today.”
Pawn addressed the Soldiers who stood to attention, listening to his every word. He’d already gotten over a lot of the awkwardness of commanding them. They were the twenty least-injured Soldiers assigned to him, and they had obeyed his every order flawlessly since leaving the city.
He wondered if they were getting anything out of this experience. Well, they’d only left the secret tunnel just outside of Liscor and walked here so far. And this was a good place to start.
Pawn gestured awkwardly to the inn. The Soldiers stared at a wooden wall and then back at him, expressionless.
“That was an inn. People go there to sleep and eat delicious food.”
They stared at him. Pawn coughed, and nodded a few times. He stared around. What else could he show them? It was the middle of winter, and there wasn’t a lot of…
He pointed at the ground. The Soldiers stared down at the snow, ankle-deep around their thick legs.
“This is…snow. There’s grass underneath. Grass is green and can’t be eaten, but it is worth looking at.”
They stared at the snow. One Soldier lifted a foot experimentally and crushed some snow underfoot. Pawn considered this a victory. He coughed again.
“I ah, will find a place for us to patrol to. We can walk and I can tell you…stories, I suppose. Show you the landscape.”
If only there were flowers and animals! Pawn agonized, but he was determined to make this outing a success. Somehow. The Soldiers might not be too amazed just yet, but he’d show them. And if he failed, which was likely, there were always the bees. The delicious, crunchy…
Pawn licked honey off his fingers. Well, he was the leader after all, an
d Lyonette had already cooked it. Besides, the bee had been small. Barely a mouthful. A delicious…savory…
—-
The Soldiers stared at Pawn. He was thinking, and so they waited for him to give the next order. This is how they thought. Pawn was their commander. He had eaten something that was not mush, something that smelled good. That…intrigued them. Would they eat it later?
All of the Soldiers stood at attention, but they were not fully at attention mentally. In fact, all of the Soldiers were highly distracted by the scenery around them.
What was this strange place they had come to? None of them had ever left the Hive, ever gone to that mysterious place known as Above. Even when some Soldiers had been called by Klbkch to fight above, they had not been chosen.
But today, they had gone Above. They had emerged into the bright, bright world and found unending wonders waiting for them. They had seen…snow? Is that what Pawn had called it? And a Gnoll? Was that the fuzzy creature that stared up at them with huge eyes? And the fleshy thing? A Lyon?
While Pawn was thinking, some of the Soldiers looked past him. Up. Into the sky. They had never seen the sky before. Their sky was dirt and stone. But this sky—
Vast. Limitless. And so full of color. Some of the Soldiers felt weak at the knees, and not because something had bit their kneecaps off. They looked up and saw the sky.
The sky was blue. Deep blue, and the air was so cold. The Soldiers felt as though they would die if they stayed out here too long, and that was a fascinating thought. The Hive was never this cold. Chilly in some places, in deep tunnels, yes, but never freezing. And the sky.
It was so blue. It was a color they’d never seen, not once in their time in the Hive. Just the sight of it made each Soldier rejoice inside, and realize that there was something to rejoice. Just like when they’d heard the stories of a better place, when the Worker had come to them and offered them—
“Ah, we’ll go this way. It’s not so crowded.”
The Soldiers broke off from their dream-like thoughts and snapped fully back into the world. They had orders! Pawn pointed, down the hill towards a flat area of snow.
“We’ll look at trees. Trees are like grass, but harder. It turns into wood, like what this inn is made of.”