“Oh, right! I guess that would make a difference… and there are a lot of statues. How many gods are there?” Joy asked, looking around the cathedral as they moved forward slowly, giving her time to look around. It was obviously deliberate on the part of the others, which made Joy even happier with them.
“That… I honestly have no idea. Stella? You’re the Acolyte, so maybe you could answer?” Cora asked, looking at the human curiously.
“Just because I’m an Acolyte, you think I’ve studied all the gods?” Stella asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically at Cora, and Brianna laughed.
“To be fair, I think she just meant that you were the most likely to know, out of all of us. I can name a dozen of them, maybe into the thirties if I put my mind to it, but I haven’t studied them,” Brianna interjected, smiling wryly. “I’d guess… a hundred?”
“Brianna has the right of it. I know a few more than her, I think, but not that many,” Cora said, shrugging helplessly. “It isn’t a question I ever thought about, honestly.”
“A fair point. I didn’t study all the gods, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a bit,” Stella admitted, considering before she added, “Growing up, my mother often talked about the hundred and eight gods of heaven and earth. I’m fairly certain that’s not actually how many gods there are, mind you, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it isn’t close.”
“Interesting!” Joy said, more fascinated by the way the others were interacting than the actual answer she’d gotten, and she hesitated before asking, “So, um, do you mind if I ask which of them you follow? Each of you, I mean.”
“I don’t mind at all. My chosen goddess is Fayliss, goddess of beauty,” Cora said, gesturing in the direction of one of the statues, that one depicting a stunningly beautiful woman with roses woven into her hair. The flowers instantly made Joy’s opinion of the goddess improve, even if she thought roses would be dangerous to place like that. Cora wasn’t done, though. “While she’s the one I primarily venerate, I also pay respect to other gods as well, like Besalk, the god of luck. Each deity has their own realm of concern, so respecting them is paramount, in my opinion.”
“Yeah, you don’t want to get a deity cursing your luck on something,” Brianna said, shivering, then nodded to the side, “As for me, I follow a pair of gods for the most part. Cavrin and his wife, Xinra. Between them, they’re the gods of nobility, strategy, and warfare, and they’ve been patrons of my family for several generations.”
The statues Brianna had nodded toward were those of a man and woman, also both human, Joy noted with interest. The goddess was smiling, while wearing a fine dress and elaborately done hair, while holding a tiny figure that looked like it was from a game Joy had seen a couple of adventurers playing, while the god was in full plate but without a helm, a sword planted in front of him sternly. He reminded her a bit of James, really.
“Wait, your family? Are you nobility, Brianna?” Stella asked, looking at the other woman suddenly, looking rather startled. “From the way you talked before this, I didn’t think you were.”
“Because I’m not,” Brianna said, then scowled at Cora as she snorted. “I’m not! My family has been knights for four generations, sure, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be knighted, too. My parents might be a bit disappointed if that happens, but they’re not going to get upset with me if it doesn’t.”
“Ah, much is explained,” Stella said, her confusion fading, while Joy’s grew more potent.
“Um, what’s a knight, and why does that explain it?” Joy asked, looking between them. “I don’t understand.”
The others looked at each other, and in the end it was Cora who decided to explain.
“Knights are a particular type of nobility, Joy. They’re chosen by those who were born nobles, and given a title that lasts until they die. It isn’t passed to their children the way most titles are. It’s also the only way to get the Knight job,” Cora explained, nodding to Brianna as she continued. “The job is a bit better when it comes to defensive abilities, so it’s rather popular. Plus, since most of the time it requires the person to pledge fealty to the nobility of the nation they’re from, the nobles like to knight others. It helps ensure the safety of the nation.”
“Yeah. My biggest problem with the idea is that I hate the idea of being tied down to a single country. It’s too stifling, so I haven’t decided if I want to become a knight in the future,” Brianna agreed, shrugging uncomfortably. “Of course, that assumes I’d be given the chance. I will earn glory for my family, though.”
“Ooh, I see! I wonder if an apis queen could knight someone…” Joy murmured, her thoughts going off in yet another direction, since they’d said that apis queens were the equivalent of nobles.
“That… is a very good question. It might be worth asking, when we visit the next hive,” Stella said, blinking a couple of times. “Still, we got sidetracked again. I worship Mother Moon, who you can see there. She’s the goddess of the night, but the enemy of the horrors therein. She is the one who provides safety in the darkness, and whose light shines down on us in the hours that evil lurks.”
Joy looked at the statue Stella was pointing at and blinked, her mouth opening, then it shut again as she considered the statue. It was of a beautiful if matronly woman who was smiling gently, wearing flowing robes and with a necklace that wasn’t carved. The necklace was silver, with a circular disk that shone with soft white light.
“The moon? That’s really the only time I ever went out at night as a bee, when the moon was full and the sky was clear. It gave enough light to gather nectar even in the dark,” Joy said, her voice soft as she considered her memories, then nodded as she added warmly, “I think I understand why you’d follow her, as nice as she sounds.”
“Nice might be a bit of a strong term for it,” Brianna said, frowning a little. “I don’t know that I’d call any of the gods ‘nice.’”
Stella scowled at that, a hint of anger on her face, inhaling sharply. Before she could say anything, though, Cora hurriedly interjected. “Please, don’t argue! Theology is a sensitive subject, and I don’t want differing opinions to drive a wedge between us. Brianna, that wasn’t very nice of you. Unless you’re also saying that ‘nice’ isn’t something that adventurers are allowed to be, either?”
Joy looked back and forth between Brianna and Stella for a moment, worry welling up inside her as she took in their expressions. Stella looked angry for the first time since Joy had met her, and that wasn’t something she liked seeing. Worse, Brianna had a stubborn look on her face, and the sight was… incredibly unpleasant for Joy. Suddenly she realized just why queens likely didn’t get along, because they were far more individual than workers were, and it meant that their opinions could clash. Then, just as Joy was beginning to worry, Brianna’s expression softened slightly.
“I… sorry, Stella. I’ve just… never mind that,” Brianna said, letting out a soft sigh. “I’m sorry if I offended you.”
Stella paused for a moment, then nodded as she replied. “Apology accepted. Your opinions are your own, of course, but I have my own as well. I… will leave it at that.”
“As you like,” Brianna replied, her tone cool.
“Err…” Joy looked between them, utterly at loss as to what had just happened, other than the two getting into a disagreement. The worst disagreement she could remember encountering was when she’d wanted to harvest from a flower at the same times as another bee, and they’d simply raced to be the first one into the flower.
“Come on, Joy. Let’s get attuned to the cathedral, hm? I’d hate for something to happen and then end up all the way back in Seldrim,” Cora said brightly, but her enthusiasm was obviously forced. Still, if she was going to ignore what had happened, Joy wasn’t going to argue.
“Alright! Am I introducing myself to a rock again?” Joy asked, moving forward alongside the elf as she headed down the aisle between the statues.
Her question caused Cora to smile, while Brianna chuckled sof
tly. Even Stella’s mood looked like it improved to Joy, brightening her spirits.
“Yes, that we are. Though you really don’t have to do so. It doesn’t hurt on the other hand, so why not?” Cora replied happily, relaxing a little as she paused, bowing her head to the statue of Fayliss, then continued toward the back of the building.
Joy looked at the statue more closely, and marveled at how much like real roses the statue’s adornments looked. They almost looked like someone had turned real roses to stone, which impressed her. Even more importantly, she looked at the statue and was struck by the kind smile on the woman’s face, which made her think better of the goddess. Seeing the bowl in front of the statue, where a handful of coins were piled, Joy hit on an idea and quickly reached into her belt pouch to pull out a few coins.
She wasn’t certain how many coins she put in the bowl, at least a dozen, but Joy did so, then paused, nodding to the statue as she spoke sincerely. “Thank you for all the pretty flowers!”
With that she followed the others, humming happily as Cora laughed.
Chapter 16
The worker paused in the midst of the trees, freezing as she heard something from up ahead, then chided herself again. She wasn’t a worker anymore, she was an apis scout, and that was something she had to get used to. More importantly, the sounds were coming from the same neighborhood as where several workers had disappeared, which was why she was investigating.
Worse, the scent of alarm and danger pervaded the air ahead of her, which indicated that the missing apis had run into something dangerous. Coupled with what she thought were words, the apis thought she had a good idea of what the danger might be.
Still, she was a scout, so she drew on her enhanced senses and slowly, cautiously approached, her bow out and drawn, while her wings beat virtually soundlessly.
She didn’t like the strange other people that kept intruding into the hive’s territory to begin with, and if they were killing workers, the queen was going to be very upset.
* * *
“Damn it, why won’t these stupid apis just surrender?” Egan spat, scowling as he pulled a surviving bolt out of the apis’s body. Of his crossbow bolts, only one of the five had broken during the fight, so he was doing his best to recover them, even if there was a decent reserve back in Bearton.
“I don’t know, boss. Hell, I’ve never seen anyone fight so fearlessly even when they were obviously outmatched,” Reina said, shaking her head as she cleaned her axe off. “For that matter, have you noticed that all of them have been hostile after we met the first one?”
“Yeah, I have,” Egan said, glowering down at the body for a moment, then let out a sigh as he looked around the Teeming Jungle warily.
Damaris had run into a few indications that this might be where the seal they were after was located, so she’d sent Egan and some of his people on a scouting mission, particularly to see if they couldn’t find any ruins from the old kingdom that had once been in the area, but the trip had been frustrating so far.
The Teeming Jungle didn’t look that bad from the outside, at least in Egan’s opinion. Oh, it was a nasty mess of gigantic, gnarled trees with more flowers than he could believe, but that hadn’t been enough to put him off. Neither had the fact there were leopards, giant insects, or spiders… at least, not until he’d gone into the damned place. Then his opinion had slowly changed.
Two days in the jungle had proven that he’d underestimated it. One of his soldiers, confident that he was more than high enough level for the area, had gotten himself eaten by a giant spider. Egan wasn’t sure if Jack had revived or not, but if he had, the dwarf was sure that the quartermaster was going to verbally rip a strip off the soldier’s hide, along with the massive hole in the man’s purse the death would leave. It was rather idiotic, in Egan’s opinion, since the area was appropriate for level fifteen and higher adventurers, which should have made the man think before wandering out of the camp to relieve himself.
Finally, Egan had decided that he was sick of tromping about aimlessly, and he’d seen one of the apis buzzing about, and who’d just happily waved at them before going on her way. Since the apis likely would know more about the landscape of the jungle, he’d decided to capture and interrogate one of them, and had waited until one of the women was suitably isolated before springing his trap with a net.
The results hadn’t been what he’d expected, though. The apis had refused his demand to surrender and instead fought viciously, and her bright smile through it all had shocked Egan, as two of his people had been injured before they’d been forced to kill the apis. Even with a crossbow bolt through a leg, and one of her arms crushed by a mace she hadn’t backed down, which was more than he’d ever seen from someone who was barely level twelve.
The next seven apis hadn’t been caught off guard, either, instead meeting his people with their weapons in hand, which was perplexing, to say the least. Egan would’ve expected that if they’d encountered the apis within sight of their dead companion, but that hadn’t happened. No, the apis had been on guard from the instant they’d appeared, and not one of them had shown the slightest inclination to surrender, which was simply baffling.
“I’m beginning to think we’re not going to get any information out of these apis, and we’re probably not going to get one to take home to the Lord, either. Not unless one of the magi can incapacitate one of them,” Egan said at last, looking around grimly. “Still, we’ve learned enough to give an initial report, I suppose. The jungle’s more dangerous than we expected, and Damaris is likely to want to hear about it. I damned well hope our goal isn’t in here, but if we do return, I think we’d better come in force.”
“Seems like a good idea to me, boss. Plus, with you and the other captains, it’ll be a lot safer around here. I’m barely high enough level for this,” Reina said, rolling her shoulders, then slung her axe behind her back.
“True enough. Come on, let’s get out of here,” Egan said, and gestured to the other soldiers, leading the way as they headed northward.
* * *
The scout’s eyes narrowed as she considered what she’d heard. She didn’t know a lot about the world outside the Teeming Jungle, but when she’d become a scout, she’d been directed to speak with the apis priests, who had explained much about the world the gods had brought them into, as well as the factions involved in it. The adventurers she’d seen avoided the jungle, though, so she’d settled for observing them for a time instead… which also made her suspicions grow firmer.
These intruders weren’t from the usual neighbors, she suspected. No, they had to be from the so-called ‘Kingdoms of Darkness’, with how they’d slaughtered a handful of apis for information. If they’d simply asked, the workers likely would have told them what they wanted to know, but instead the hive had been attacked, and they were talking about taking members of the hive for their own Lord. And that… that was something which she needed to report to the queen.
“A war between hives isn’t good. It isn’t good at all,” the scout murmured, and watched as the handful of ground-bound intruders headed toward the edge of the jungle. That was the only reason she wasn’t attacking them, with how the pheromones of the deceased apis clung where they’d injured their attackers.
So she followed them until they reached the edge of the jungle, and the apis paused, considering them for another minute, then returned to the queen.
Likely as not, the hive would be preparing for war before the day was out. Another war.
Chapter 17
“Joy, are you ready to go?” Cora asked, slipping on her pack and studiously ignoring the apis’s side of the room. The apis had absolutely no issue with disrobing in front of others, and Cora had taken to avoiding looking as much as possible, just to be safe.
“Yep! I have everything packed, and have six jars of lemonade ready to go!” Joy said, drawing Cora’s gaze over as the apis grinned, holding up a stoppered flagon. Cora couldn’t help a chuckle at the sight of the flagon,
since she’d never expected that to be the result of letting Joy try lemonade.
“I see that it agrees with you, even if you do make it quite a bit sweeter than we prefer,” Cora said, smiling at Joy warmly, happy to see her friend so enthusiastic, after her obvious worry the previous day.
It’d been quite obvious that Joy didn’t know what to do when people argued. The apis had been almost walking on eggshells between Brianna and Stella, and the dimming of her normally sunny attitude had been remarkable, though the apis had obviously tried to be cheerful anyway.
Brianna and Stella had noticed rather quickly as well, and to their credit they’d tried to behave more like normal afterward. It didn’t completely calm things down, but Joy had bounced back relatively quickly, to Cora’s relief. She’d never expected a disagreement over something as simple as Joy calling Mother Moon nice. Fortunately, Joy didn’t know about Cora’s thoughts.
“It does! Oh, I don’t think it’s as good for me as pure honey, but it tastes good, and it reminds me of being back in the hive,” Joy replied happily, slipping the flagon back into her pack, which still bemused Cora.
The oversized, hexagonal wax jar was perfectly designed to fit between the apis’s wings, and Cora found it amusing that the pack could hold slightly more than a normal backpack in a single stack, though it didn’t have quite as many inventory slots as most backpacks. There were tradeoffs to everything, the mage supposed.
“If you say so. Shall we, then? It isn’t like Bearton is going to get any closer while we wait,” Cora suggested, and Joy quickly nodded, grinning broadly.
Webs & Wards (Beesong Chronicles Book 2) Page 12