by Pirateaba
Carefully, Pawn collected gold, silver, and bronze coins from the carefully organized stacks of coin. He stared at the gold coins, and then wondered idly what would happen if he took more. There were thousands, tens of thousands of gold coins in the Hive, the product of over ten years of hard work and little spending. And this was only one of the treasury rooms.
But who cared? The Antinium didn’t post guards on the room because there was no need for them to steal, and no [Thief] would ever make it this far into the hive. Then again, if other Antinium became Individual like Pawn, who knew?
That was a troubling thought. Pawn took no more gold than he was allotted. He carefully walked up towards the entrance of the Hive. It was still early yet; he didn’t’ want to patrol before he ran a few errands. After all, he could only take twenty Soldiers out of the Hive with him at a time. What about the rest, forced to wait and guard in the tunnels? That had to be boring, so Pawn decided to get them something to make the wait easier.
—-
“You want what?”
Krshia blinked at Pawn. This time her stall was deserted, and Pawn saw that the other customers shopping this early were going to the more prosperous [Shopkeepers]. Again he felt bad, but reassured himself because of the size of the order he was placing.
“Cheese. I would like enough to feed roughly two hundred and forty individuals. Enough for a small meal, at least.”
The Gnoll [Shopkeeper] just stared at Pawn, jaw hanging open. Pawn wondered if he’d made a mistake. Was eating too much cheese a faux paws in Gnollish society?
Yes, cheese was what Pawn wanted. It was tasty and edible and it would go down well with the Soldiers, he felt. That was the only thing he could think of. Meat was too expensive and it spoiled quickly, and besides, it was hard to acquire in the winter. But cheese? Cheese was more plentiful.
And it tasted good.
Pawn stared anxiously at Krshia as the Gnoll struggled with shock.
“If there is an issue in delivery, I can arrange for direct pickups with Workers. And if there is a shortage…”
“No, no.”
Krshia smiled at Pawn, baring her teeth in a wide grin.
“I am simply surprised, yes? Even when my shop was booming, such orders were rare things. I thank you, Worker Pawn, for giving me such business.”
“You are the shopkeeper that Erin trusts. So I trust you.”
That was all it was to Pawn. There could be nothing simpler, nothing easier to understand. But Krshia lowered her head to him as if it meant something truly important.
“Hrr. I am grateful for that. Truly.”
Her shop. Every time Pawn saw it, he remembered what it had been. This time he decided to ask about it, since Krshia didn’t seem to have any customers waiting.
“How has your business been doing lately, Miss Krshia?”
She bared her teeth again, but this time not in a friendly way.
“You can see for yourself, can you not? Rebuilding what was lost is difficult, no? I will survive the winter, but it will be a year or more before I am able to open this shop with pride.”
That hurt too. It was an odd, uncomfortable feeling, hurting for people who were not Pawn himself. He hadn’t known it could happen before he’d met Erin. But this too was part of being alive.
“Is it truly so bad?”
Krshia shrugged, looking tired.
“Truly? It is not the worst. I will not starve and the others, the other Gnolls and even some Drakes have supported me. But it is bad to feel what is lost and know you have fallen, no? Because of one moment. Because of a thief.”
That last word was bitter, and Pawn immediately thought of Lyonette, laughing and serving them all with respect and pride. It was different from the Lyon that Krshia knew.
“I met the Human Lyonette yesterday. In Erin’s absence she has taken over the inn.”
Pawn didn’t know why he was telling Krshia this, especially because the Gnoll stiffened at Lyon’s name. But he felt compelled to, as if sharing the good Lyonette had done would offset some of the bad.
“She has acquired more bees and honey. She served me and a number of Soldiers the food. It was very tasty.”
“Is that so? Good for her. I have not had honey myself for many, many moons, yes? It is a valuable thing even when it is not so very cold.”
Krshia’s voice was hard, and he could see she was upset. Pawn thought. He thought quickly about how he could make things better for her, if only in his small way. He thought about Lyon and regret and honey. Then he had an idea.
“I will obtain your cheeses for you, within a few hours, yes? But first we must talk about prices and which cheeses you would like—where are you going?”
Pawn took a few steps away from Krshia’s store. She looked alarmed, but he reassured her.
“I am not reconsidering our deal, but I have a pressing matter to attend to. I shall return within the hour. Please excuse me.”
He could feel the Gnoll’s eyes on his back as he hurried off. Pawn left the city and walked swiftly up a hill to an inn. There he opened the door and talked.
—-
“Oh! Pawn! It’s so good to see you! Come in, would you like something to eat? Not staying?”
…
“Other Soldiers? Later today? Well of—of course! I’ve still got a lot of bees and here, try this honey water. I can get Olesm to buy more meat and make another soup.”
…
“Please, Olesm? Please? And I need butter and vegetables—I have a list here. Oh, and let me add…”
…
“Krshia? You’d like to…well of course. I—will you tell her that I—”
…
“…Thank you. But wait! Before you go, can I offer you this?”
…
“What do you mean, it looks fattening!?”
—-
Less than an hour later—less than half an hour later, really, Pawn walked back down the street towards Krshia’s stall. She stared at him. She stared at him, but especially at the huge jar of honey he held with all four hands, walking carefully so as not to drop it.
Other pedestrians stared at the Worker as well. The jar of golden liquid tended to attract stares, Pawn had noticed.
“I have brought you honey. It is yours to keep and use as you please.”
That was what Pawn said as he placed the jar on Krshia’s counter. The Gnoll just stared at him.
“How?”
“I talked with Lyonette. She agreed to give you this jar of honey.”
It was a simple thing. Most things in life were, but Pawn had observed that the way people reacted to simple things was—complex.
Such as now. At the mention of Lyonette’s name, Krshia began to look angry.
“Why did she give this honey to you? Because you paid? Or because it is meant to be an apology?”
“She certainly feels remorse. I believe her acceding to my request was done out of guilt and an interest in helping settle the debt between you two.”
Pawn replied calmly. He watched with interest as Krshia’s ears slowly flattened on her head.
“And what does she call this? Repayment? It is hardly worth my stall, no?”
Some people would have hesitated to tell an angry Gnoll anything. But Pawn only spoke the truth, so his tone was level as he immediately replied.
“I think it is something, rather than nothing. An apology—the beginning of one, at least.”
That made the Gnoll pause. Pawn waited, and then spoke carefully.
“Lyonette has one message she would like to pass on to you with the honey.”
“Yes?”
“‘I am very sorry.’”
That was all. But it changed things. Simple things, simple words, always did. That was what Pawn had told Lyonette, and why the apology she had given him was this. And what happened was that Krshia stopped growing angrier. She was still angry, but she let Pawn open the jar.
“Would you like to try some? It is sweet, and
I am told there may be grubs within the honeycomb.”
The Gnoll sniffed at the honey, and then dipped a finger into the thick liquid. It came out glistening, and Pawn stared at the honey in envy. He liked honey. Maybe he should have gotten some to go with the cheese. He’d go back to ask Lyonette about it later. But this jar was Krshia’s.
“Hmf.”
She licked the honey off of her finger. Slowly, Krshia’s tail began to wag, although her face didn’t change.
“This is good. Sweet. Sweeter than honey from small bees, yes?”
“Mm. I believe so.”
The Gnoll nodded. She stared at Pawn.
“You are an odd Worker, Pawn of the Antinium. But…yes, I believe you and Klbkch are good for this city.”
“Thank you.”
Pawn nodded to Krshia. He felt happy for her words because she clearly meant them. Krshia nodded and smiled. When he left, it was with all the cheese in the marketplace and locations for Workers to pick up more. And Krshia was selling honey in the form of hand-sized jars. There was already a queue.
—-
Lyonette felt good after Pawn had left. She felt better when he came back with his Soldiers. She cooked and served food again, and that night when she was cleaning up, she couldn’t stop humming.
The jars she and Erin used were truly big. They were taller than her knees and very wide—Erin had paid in gold for them since they were made by expert [Glassblowers]. At the moment she had two jars of honey, one half-empty and one and a quarter jars of dead bees. Even with the Soldiers’ appetite, Lyonette had still a lot left.
Well, she wouldn’t if she was actually feeding the Soldiers a full meal. Then she would have had to give them six or seven bees to fill them up, but two or three for a lunchtime snack was all Pawn had asked for.
And the honey? The honey had brought in more than a few guests—all Drakes—who’d come to drink a few glasses of honeyed water and fill their jars with the sweet honey and honeycomb. It wasn’t exactly filling tables at the inn, but it was more money.
And when Lyonette had sat down with Mrsha to eat a proper meal of shepherd’s pie—courtesy of Selys who taught Lyonette how to make it—they had one more unexpected guest.
Klbkch.
He came into the inn while the two were eating. Lyonette wanted to find him a table, but the Antinium declined.
“I shall not be here long. Rather, I would like to make a purchase.”
“Of the bees?”
Klbkch nodded. He pointed to one of the jars Lyonette kept against the kitchen wall.
“How much…for the entire jar?”
“The entire jar?”
Klbkch nodded, looking at Lyonette’s ecstatic and panicked expression.
“I believe my Queen will enjoy the bees. Will you sell them to me directly?”
That was actually something of a hard question for Lyonette. Should she sell the bees? If she did, she might not have enough for Pawn tomorrow, and he was bringing more Soldiers then as well.
But a whole jar? All of Lyonette’s instincts told her to say yes. After all she could always get more bees, even if she was afraid of taking too much honey from the Hive. She had more flowers—hopefully she could use less this time—and she had to do it sooner or later.
“Of course I’ll sell you—the entire jar, you said?”
“Yes. Will that be an issue?”
“No, no! But the bees—they’re raw. Would you like me to fry them up first? They taste really good when they’re drizzled in honey. Apparently.”
“Hm. We have a [Cook], but perhaps it will be instructive to show him how it is done. By all means, please prepare a third of the jar. I will partake of a few as well to ascertain quality.”
In the end, Lyonette finished eating with Mrsha and then went into the kitchen to cook while the Gnoll played hide and seek with Klbkch. Although that really just involved Klbkch pointing at her while the Gnoll roamed around the inn, trying to be stealthy.
Cut, fry, drizzle. Lyonette worked tirelessly to make the best bees possible, conscious of who would be eating them. The Queen. And also, Klbkch, whom Pawn told Lyon was actually very important in the Hive. Klbkch ate five while he was waiting.
“Thank you. These bees are quite delicious. I may return at a later date if you have more stored away.”
“I will. Thank you for buying them! Have a good night!”
That was how Lyonette spent the rest of her day. She went to bed exhausted, but remembered to put the bee larvae very close to the dying fire as she did. Pawn didn’t want it, and she’d neglected to offer one to Klbkch. It kept slipping her mind. And besides—Lyonette stared at the larvae, wriggling blind in the bowl.
…She might be getting attached to it.
That night, she leveled up in all three of her new classes again, although she got no new Skills. That would have been enough though, but Lyonette heard a new announcement after the list of level ups.
[Beast Tamer Class Obtained!]
[Beast Tamer Level 1!]
[Skill – Healthy Rearing obtained!]
—-
[Beast Tamer]? Her?
Lyonette couldn’t believe it. But when she woke up, she knew it had happened again.
A new class! Why?
Because she’d taken care of the bee? Because she’d made sure it was warm and fed? Because she’d done all that? Was that all it took?
She couldn’t be a [Beast Tamer]. Of all the classes, Lyonette felt least confident in that one. What purpose would it serve her? Was she going to raise a bee? As a pet? It was a useless class. Well, the [Tactician] class was also useless to her, strictly speaking.
And yet—Lyonette wanted the class. She wanted the [Tactician] class too. And the [Barmaid] class she’d leveled up in! She wanted to level! No matter what class, no matter how few levels!
She wanted them. And from what Lyonettte knew of classes, that was probably why she’d gotten them. Because while other people had no desire to devote their lives to raising animals or monsters and so didn’t get the class even if they owned pets, Lyonette was different.
She had been starved of classes, not leveled while growing up. And now that she was free, truly free—
She’d take all the classes. No matter how damning it might be to her one ‘true’ class. Even it it meant she’d never reach a high level. She never levelled in it anyways.
With that in mind, Lyonette added a new routine to her day. After she watered Erin’s flowers and stoked the fire and before she went to fetch more water, she checked on the bee. It wriggled in the royal jelly and she saw it was a bit larger again. Lyonette wondered whether it would actually grow up—this was no hive. But she could always get more royal jelly and she did have a Skill to help her, after all.
“I guess you’re going to need a name.”
So saying, Lyonette touched the bee gently. It squirmed and it was wet and slimy. Gross, in short. But it was alive, and it struggled to stay alive.
Just like her.
One last thing happened that morning. When Lyonette was trudging back to her inn, she saw a Gnoll pulling a sled up the hill. She froze in fear, but the Gnoll’s sled was loaded with goods.
Food. Lyonette saw meats, vegetables, and all the things she’d asked Olesm to bring, neatly bundled up on the sled. The Gnoll set it down in the snow outside the inn. She—the Gnoll was a she now that Lyonette was closer—turned and saw Lyon with the buckets in hand.
“Delivery.”
That was all she said. She must have been one of the Street Runners the shops hired. But Olesm had told Lyon that no one would deliver to the inn, to her. What had changed?
The Gnoll began walking down the hill. With a start, Lyonette realized she was going.
“Oh. T-thank you so…”
The Gnoll [Runner] made no reply. She just growled something and stomped back down the hill, dragging the sled behind her.
Lyon watched her go. Then she opened the door and had Mrsha help her drag ev
erything inside. She didn’t say much, but she was smiling. And crying.
—-
“They are coming.”
That was all Klbkch said to Bird, Pawn, Belgrade, Garry, and Anand when he gathered them together for the first time in his small quarters. It was early morning, just after dawn, in fact. The Workers had been roused—in Pawn’s case from his sleep by the mental order—and told to come here.
Now Klbkch paced back and forth in front of them, clearly agitated. The other Workers said nothing, but they each felt slightly alarmed. None of them had ever seen the Revalantor like this.
“Pardon, Revalantor Klbkch, but who is coming?”
That came from Garry. Pawn hadn’t seen Garry in…so long! Klbkch had even ordered Garry to attend. That was unusual because Garry was specialized now in the [Cook] class—he played no part in commanding Soldiers and indeed, he stayed far away from any area of the Hive where monsters might attack.
“The other Hives. They have sent a delegation, and they will arrive sometime today.”
That was all Klbkch said, but it shocked all the other Workers to their core.
Another Hive? They knew—all the Workers and Soldiers knew in an oblique way that other Hives existed. But they had never seen or even heard of the other Hives until today. Liscor was far from their location, and the Antinium did not move between cities like other races.
“Why are they coming?”
“To see you. To greet my Queen and to see you. And appraise what value you have as Individuals.”
Klbkch never gave them detailed explanations. Pawn knew that was because he and the other Workers weren’t that important, but he wished the Antinium would trust them with more. He remembered Klbkch’s promise. If he made something out of the Soldiers, he would be told more.
“What should we do? What will the other Antinium ask of us?”
That came from Belgrade. He was probably the most worried, among the Workers, Pawn felt. Bird was usually calm, Garry was hard to ruffle, and Anand looked like he was actually enjoying this new development.