The interior of the palisade was mostly obscured by the wall, but several towers extended above them, each hexagonal as well, though with timber spars anchoring the corners, while wax walls extended between them. Three towers were nearly forty feet tall, and as they watched, Cora could see a dozen workers on ladders slowly positioning a wax wall against the newest section, which would make it at least fifty feet tall in the end. There were only a few apis with wings, but dozens of them were moving in and out of the gates, scattering to attend to the flowers that surrounded the compound.
“It’s been what, a week? And they’re already building something like that?” Brianna asked, her disbelief palpable.
“Don’t ask me!” Cora protested, looking back at her friend. “I thought we might see a few houses, not something like this! Joy didn’t strike me as… well, an architect!”
“She did build that bridge, though, and without any plans. She even fit the posts into the holes without any way of measuring it,” Brianna said, her shock slowly fading into wonder. “Maybe they’re just natural architects, and we didn’t realize it.”
“Maybe so,” Cora admitted, her gaze moving to the apis, and as she did, she shivered as she realized something. A couple of the guards were keeping an eye on them, she noticed, but that wasn’t the issue. Instead, she nodded at the workers leaving the hive and spoke. “Ah, Brianna? Are you seeing what I am? About all the other apis.”
“What… oh,” Brianna said, blinking as she looked around, then frowned as she asked, “Do they all resemble one another?”
The workers coming out of the hive were eerily similar, in Cora’s view, a fact which wasn’t helped by how all of them wore essentially identical armor and weapons. Each had chitinous black armor like full plate that hugged their figures, while they had rapiers at their sides as well. They also had yellow hair with black highlights, black eyes with bright yellow irises, and black antennae extending from their hair. For that matter, over nine out of ten of the ones she saw had the same style hair that Joy did, down to the length. Only a few had shorter hair.
“It’s certainly eerie,” Cora said, blinking several times, then frowned unhappily as she admitted, “In fact, it makes me sort of understand why she thinks workers are replaceable. When they all look interchangeable…”
“I suppose, but—” Brianna began, then paused as her gaze rose and she spoke sharply. “We have company.”
At the same time she spoke, Cora spotted the six flying apis that started in their direction. Half of them had heavier-looking armor than most of the apis possessed, and in their hands they held long, wicked-looking spears. The other half wore armor more like Joy’s, which was a bit lighter, and they had rapiers and bows, which disconcerted Cora a little. The idea of flying apis with bows didn’t exactly make her feel better.
“I see them. I’d say we should just wait and see what they do. If they attack, we can always run,” Cora replied after a moment, feeling just a little tense. Or a lot tense, since she remembered one of those apis stabbing her in the back the last time she was here.
“Sounds good. They are level ten, though, based on what Joy said,” Brianna murmured, but she didn’t draw her sword, simply watching the apis approach.
The tension seemed to grow as the women approached, and Cora worried a lot, wondering how to explain the situation if they were allowed to speak. Her worries lasted right up until one of the lancers came into easy earshot, though.
“Hi! We’re here to find out why you’re out here. Are you just wanting to look at the hive, like the others?” the apis asked cheerfully, her mannerisms and voice so similar to Joy’s that Cora almost did a double take. On the other hand, the apis sniffed, then her nose wrinkled as she looked at them more closely.
Brianna’s mouth was slightly open, and after a moment the Swordswoman closed her mouth and swallowed before speaking a bit hesitantly. “Ah, no, that’s not why we’re here at all. We actually were wondering if we could meet with someone in the hive, to discuss buying something.”
“Oh, like the merchant!” the apis replied, looking at her companion, who nodded in agreement.
“In that case you’re going to want to meet with an attendant,” the second apis said, pointing her lance toward the hive as she smiled, seeming far too much like Joy as well for Cora’s comfort. “They only meet inside the hive, so you’ll have to come in and wait. They’re busy, most of the time.”
“That seems reasonable to me,” Cora agreed, looking at Brianna as she asked, “Bri? Your opinion?”
“I’m fine with it. After meeting Joy, I’m a bit more comfortable with the idea… even if I still find what happened with you apis strange,” Brianna said, looking up at the women as she added, “No offense is meant; it’s just that you appeared practically from nowhere.”
The apis all laughed, some louder than others, and then the first spoke, grinning as she did so. “None taken! You can’t be as surprised as we were, and there’s a lot to learn, now that we’re apis. There’s just one thing we have to make sure of, though. You aren’t going to cause trouble, are you? We had one person try to take our things without asking, and we really don’t want to have to stab you.”
“Um, no, of course not,” Cora said, a bit taken aback at the thought, blinking up at them. “We’ve been traveling with an apis, as a matter of fact. Joy, though I was told she had to leave the hive.”
“Oh, we know. We could smell her on you,” the apis replied, waving off the comment airily, then grinned. “I’ve heard about her! She’s the first one to get a name in the hive, even if she left afterward. Just head for the gates, then, they’ll tell you where to wait. Bye!”
“Goodbye,” Cora replied, a little stunned as she watched the six apis flutter off, then looked at Brianna in confusion. It took her a moment, then she asked, “Did that just happen? I expected them to be… I don’t know, stern or something.”
“Yes, it happened… and stern? Have you met Joy?” Brianna replied, her tone teasing as she grinned back at Cora, then admitted, “True, I didn’t expect them to be quite so cheerful either, but I think we should’ve realized what they might be like from her attitude. That might change in the future, but I’m certainly not going to object to this.”
“True enough. Most demi-humans that stick to themselves are rather xenophobic, so getting a meeting would be hard,” Cora said, her emotions calming down as she started toward the hive.
Brianna nodded, circling a flower as she did so. As they walked, Cora caught sight of a group of apis outside the palisade, at least thirty of them, and she slowed down marginally as she realized they were using what looked like hoes to tear up the ground. She wasn’t sure what they were doing, not entirely, but it looked like they’d thoroughly churned the soil for several dozen feet.
It took Brianna a moment to realize that Cora had slowed, and her friend paused, following Cora’s gaze, then blinked, putting her hands on her hips as the human murmured, “What is going on there?”
“They’re tilling the ground!” an apis voice interjected, causing Cora to jump slightly, then she looked up to see an apis looking down from a dandelion about ten feet over her head, smiling brightly at them. “The humblebees said that we could do something called tilling, and plant our own flowers, so that we could get nectar more easily.”
“Oh, that makes sense; we call it farming,” Brianna said, blinking up at the apis. “Thank you for answering the question.”
“You’re welcome!” the woman chirped, then her wings began buzzing, and the apis took flight, heading for another nearby flower.
Cora watched the woman go, then laughed, moving forward again as she murmured, “That was startling. I didn’t even realize she was in the flower!”
“There are a lot of them, and it makes it hard to keep track,” Brianna agreed, leading the way as she added, “I really hope the town manages to befriend them, since the apis seem to be nice, for the most part.”
“You and me both,” Cora said
, looking up at the wall as they drew closer, then focused on the apis guarding the door, nodding to her as she said, “I’m Cora, and this is Brianna. We were told we might be able to meet with an attendant?”
“Of course! You’ll need to wait in the dining hall, though,” the guard said, and looked at a nearby worker, who looked up from the container she was moving: a big, six-sided wax crate. “Would you take these two to the dining hall?”
“Sure!” the apis said, her eyes brightening as she set the crate down and straightened, looking at Brianna and Cora curiously, then nodded toward the big center building with a grin. “It’s right this way!”
Chapter 3
Cora was bemused as she stepped past the guard and into the central compound, confused and impressed by what she was seeing.
All around them, apis were working industriously, reminding her of the phrase ‘busy as a bee’. There were a couple of apis in a hole in the middle of the compound, along with a pile of dirt next to where they were digging, making her suspect they were digging a well, while the buildings she’d seen were just the start, with several adjacent structures built or under construction, each of them fairly large and with the six sides the apis seemed to favor.
Many of the apis were swirling around the compound, especially near a structure built over the location where Cora recalled entering the hive the previous week, a thought which startled her. The apis certainly didn’t seem to care about personal space, and—
Cora’s thoughts jarred to a halt as she did a double take, seeing a figure that was distinctly different than the apis she’d seen so far. The man almost blended in, with his similar coloration and clothing, but he stood out nonetheless, with an elegant figure and muscular arms. It was the first male apis she’d seen, and despite herself she found her lips pursing in surprise.
“Cora! Where are you going?” Brianna interrupted, and the moment that Cora’s gaze pulled away from the apis, he vanished into the crowd.
“Sorry, sorry… I just got distracted. I saw a male apis,” Cora said sheepishly, shaking her head as she forced down the impulse to blush.
“Oh, one of the drones? They’re around, and helping! The change means they live longer, so we’re having to figure out what to do with them,” their guide chimed in, heading toward the double-doors leading into the building.
“Why didn’t they live very long?” Brianna asked, fortunately speaking for Cora.
“They died after mating,” the apis said bluntly, shrugging as she continued. “We’d go to other hives and let them have our drones, and they’d send out theirs… it worked well enough. Now we have to find other apis to trade drones, which will be a little more difficult. The queen said she’s going to figure it out, though!”
“A-ah,” Cora said, blinking as she thought about the attractive man dying, then shook her head firmly. She was not going to think about that more, not when she found both male and female apis rather mesmerizing. Fortunately, most of the apis struck her as too innocent for her to be terribly attracted to. “I didn’t know that, obviously. Now, this is the dining hall?”
“That’s right!” the apis confirmed, opening the door and gesturing around. “Choose a spot where you want, and the attendant will find you. I don’t know how long it’ll be.”
The room was fairly large, but it was filled with tightly packed tables and benches, while in the back was a table with a pair of apis behind it. There was a huge container next to one apis, who was dishing honey from it into bowls, while the other apis handed the bowls and spoons to apis who’d lined up in front of the table. All the dishes were made of wax, and with the walls made of the same substance, Cora was starting to have a hard time telling apart the floor from the walls or furniture. Worse, from her perspective, the apis were packed together tight.
“Thank you,” Brianna said for them, and Cora belatedly nodded, opening her mouth to speak, but the apis was already gone, waving as she headed back toward the gate, where another apis was moving the crate she’d had initially.
“That… was quick. Well, shall we?” Cora asked, gesturing at the nearest empty spot, and Brianna nodded, stepping forward to slip onto the bench.
While Cora joined her, the human studied the table, then rapped on it and nodded, murmuring. “This is a lot like that bridge Joy made, don’t you think? The outside is a bit more opaque, but I can see the hexagons inside it. I’ll bet its light, too.”
Cora looked more closely, and after a moment she saw the honeycomb that Brianna had mentioned, though it was hard to see through the mostly opaque exterior. She nodded in agreement, looking around as she replied quietly. “You’re right, and I agree about the weight. For that matter, what do you think, are the walls the same way? They’re just thick enough that it’s hard to tell for sure, but I think they’re made the same way, just with larger hexagons.”
Brianna nodded, but didn’t say anything. It was probably because the apis were watching them at this point.
It was obvious, since the apis would just look directly at them, and Brianna and Cora stood out like sore thumbs, with how much like one another the apis were. Cora couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be for almost anyone to infiltrate the hive, though she was sure that it was possible. The right abilities could make up for almost anything, and getting a disguise would be difficult, but definitely possible. That was the one advantage to them all looking so much alike, she suspected.
The apis continued with their meals, though, and the conversation Cora could overhear was… strange, to say the least. The apis discussed the best ways to build walls, containers or cells, as well as taking each other’s advice quite seriously, while others talked about the best places to harvest nectar and pollen, still others were talking about the activity of giant aphids attacking some of the flowers, and wondered aloud if they were going to be sent to clear up some of the infestation. It was both like and unlike discussions in towns, and yet… the harmonious attitude around them was the strangest thing. There weren’t arguments at all, and she hadn’t heard a single name spoken.
“So you’re our guests. Welcome to the Tulip Hive,” a woman said, startling Cora despite her attempts to keep alert, and the woman circled the table to take a seat on the bench opposite them.
The woman looked little different than the workers, save that she was slightly taller, had a subtly different pattern to her armor, and she had a flowing, diaphanous gown that descended from her waist. The woman looked at them curiously, then tilted her head expectantly.
“Would you be the attendant, then?” Cora asked, forcing down her curiosity and trying to ignore all the apis around her.
“That’s right. I’m one of the queen’s attendants, and am tasked with taking care of many things throughout the hive,” the apis agreed, nodding as she added, “I’m told you are called Brianna and Cora. From previous encounters with non-apis, we’ve learned that names are important to your people, so I have been given the name Emissary.”
“I… see. Pardon me if I’m surprised; I just didn’t expect what we found here,” Cora said, smiling wryly as she added, “Neither of us did, actually. We never expected you to have built so much in such a short time.”
“Of course, we entirely understand. As for us, we’re working hard because we have to,” Emissary said, gesturing at the door as she continued. “We’re halfway through spring, and our requirements for space have increased threefold so we must prepare for next winter. If we do not have shelter, many apis will die in the winter, and we require more food during the winter, as we’ll be active more. Because of that, we need additional stores of food, and activities with which to keep ourselves busy. Time is precious, and the hive cannot afford to waste it.”
Cora wasn’t sure if that was a hint to get on with things or not, but she chose to take it as one, since she didn’t want to upset the apis. Taking a deep breath, she considered how to approach the subject briefly, then spoke.
“Well, the reason we came here is because of one o
f our friends, Joy. She was a member of your hive not long ago, but was told to leave,” Cora explained, shrugging as she added, “Joy joined us afterward, and we ended up in a dangerous situation by accident.”
“Joy, I remember her,” Emissary said, smiling warmly as she added, “I was the one who told her she was no longer a member of the hive. I somewhat envied her chance to see the world, in truth. Hearing that you were in danger, though… that is more troubling. I assume you made it out safely, though. I smell her scent on the pair of you.”
“You can smell her? And that she’s alive?” Brianna asked, sounding as taken aback as Cora felt.
“Of course we can. Much of our nature is based around scent; it allows us to follow the trail of other apis, as well as find flowers more easily,” Emissary said, shrugging as she added, “Determining if an apis we’ve followed has died is also rather important, so we can tell when they aren’t producing pheromones. It wouldn’t do to fly into a spider’s web, after all.”
“Ah. I… hadn’t thought of it that way,” Cora replied, feeling oddly self-conscious now. She cleared her throat, then continued. “Yes, we managed to get out alive, but only because Joy made an incredible sacrifice for me. I was poisoned by a demon, and nothing we could do could stop the poison, so she gave me something of hers. She gave me her pure royal jelly, to keep me from dying.”
The sudden silence that enveloped the room caught Cora off guard, as every apis stopped moving at the same time. Most of them were looking at her, and a couple even stopped in the middle of raising their spoons to their mouths. It was eerie, and Cora tensed, looking at Brianna in confusion. The pause was only for a moment, though, as the apis quickly went back to what they were doing.
“Ah,” Emissary said, her smile fading into an expression of sorrow. “We will mourn her sacrifice, then.”
Webs & Wards (Beesong Chronicles Book 2) Page 3