Regina waited for quite a while until the humans were out of sight before doing anything else. She didn’t know the range of their hearing, especially with some people among them who seemed to be quite high level.

Once she finally turned from watching the forest, her stance relaxed and she let out a deep breath. Glancing down, she saw that her fingers trembled slightly, and made them stop with an effort of will. She’d been focused during these talks, pushing her emotions aside and doing her best to only present a calm, cool facade.

In truth, she’d known that there would be nothing she could do if the visitors decided to discard diplomacy in favor of violence, that attacking her hive would be easy for them and with their numbers and levels, they might be able to wipe out everyone here without breaking a sweat.

She hated that feeling.

“I hope you are sure of that decision, my Queen,” Tim mumbled quietly.

She glanced at him and gave him a short nod. I would have found it more difficult to hand over Ulric, but this was a different matter. In the end, they’re just five humans, not very important in the great scheme of things. Presenting myself better to that Kiara Lyns was probably more important.

“If you will excuse us, Lady Regina,” Bianorn said stiffly, “we will need to discuss matters.”

“Of course.” While the elves departed, she glanced at a few of the drones, thinking, So do we.

For the next few minutes, Regina kept most of her attention on Dark and a few other drones she’d sent out to scout where the humans were going. The bird had regenerated pretty well from being burned. Ada and the others simply made sure the humans didn’t turn back or approach again, while she sent Dark to follow their movements. She made sure to keep it back and out of sight of them. That didn’t allow her to get any close-up views or follow their conversation, but she didn’t want to risk it getting hurt again.

At least she could confirm that the humans were indeed leaving. They moved at a very quick pace straight through the forest, in the direction of the human settlements. The soldiers occasionally killed a monster that got in their way, but they didn’t stay to hunt.

Finally, Regina returned her full attention to her surroundings. Her drones had already scattered, for the most part, returning to their duties. She sent a mental nudge to Tim and a few others and then headed into one of the houses that was empty at this time. Max had stayed close by and followed her in.

He was the first one to speak when the others arrived and Ben closed the door. “Why did they agree to all of that?”

Regina sighed, leaning against the back wall of the house. A quick check through several drones’ senses showed that no one else was nearby. “I don’t know,” she said.

Tim was frowning. He folded his arms and leaned against another wall. “I don’t get it. They could have just wiped us all out instead of bothering with diplomacy. They clearly realized that we were growing in strength quickly, from our levels, if nothing else. So, it would make sense to nip a potential threat in the bud.”

Regina nodded. “That’s what I was thinking, too. And unfortunately, I think we still can’t discount that scenario. It might be be due to that girl being softhearted — or whatever you want to call it, I don’t mean to criticize her — or because Janis influenced her. Or, what do you think?”

The others shrugged. “It could be due to a religious reason,” Mia spoke up. “They clearly just wanted to find out what was going on at first. Then you mentioned that a goddess intervened, right? And they probably confirmed that with the prisoners.”

At the mention of the prisoners, a few of the others’ faces darkened. Regina knew that they didn’t like that those had gone free. But none of the drones complained. It didn’t even seem like anyone would bring it up. She couldn’t help but feel pleased at their obvious trust in her, or at least respect for her decisions.

“As good a possibility as any,” Regina agreed. “If there are physical gods around, it probably makes sense to not want to piss them off by killing someone they’ve protected in the past, especially when you’re probably in the wrong. But in any case, I think we can take this deal as valid for now. It’s always possible Kiara will get overruled on it later, but we should have a bit of time right now.”

There was a short silence, and the gathered drones exchanged glances.

“Was that what you wanted to accomplish, my Queen?” Max asked. “I’m sorry if this is presumptuous, but did you have a plan for this truce negotiation?”

Regina smiled faintly. “My original plan was to get some time to build up our forces, then strike and take a bite out of their land while the human kingdoms are distracted fighting the elves.”

He raised an eyebrow, and she felt the attention of the others sharpening even further, if that was possible. “Is that still the plan, then?”

Regina allowed her smile to widen. None of them had even blinked at her declaration.

“Two months would have been better,” she said after a moment of deliberation. “But one month is already more than I expected. We definitely have more of a stay of execution than I could have hoped for, if nothing else.” She crossed her arms, glancing at the gathered kids. “We’ll have to be prepared to adapt, but I don’t see why the basic idea shouldn’t be possible.”

Tim pushed off the wall. He looked to be deep in thought. “What is your objective, my Queen? Revenge or justice, territory, resources?”

“Most of those, yes,” she replied with a serious nod. “But mostly territory, and the resources that naturally come with it. We don’t need too much, at least at first, but this little area isn’t going to support us for all that much longer. I want to expand beyond the forest, and this is probably the best chance we’ll get.” She hesitated for a moment. “I also want to deal with the humans from a position of strength, and I seem to remember that it’s generally better to be on the offensive than the defensive.”

There was a little more to it, which she found hard to put into words and was still not entirely clear within her own mind. She was aware that her strategy as stated - you couldn’t really call it a plan - had issues. But she was sure of the general thrust of things, the direction she wanted to take.

“Then we will need to work hard to make it possible,” Max stated with a small smile.

She nodded. “That’s probably all we need to say right now. Let’s get back to work and spend some time considering everything. I welcome all of your input.”

Their small gathering dispersed and the drones all got back to work. Regina stepped out of the house, glancing up into the sky. Dark clouds were gathering to the east. She smiled to herself.

She half-expected something to happen after this, but the next few hours were quiet. Drones went about their work, either building or reinforcing the camp’s buildings and defenses, or training and fighting monsters. She kept more of the Swarm Drones outside and in positions to watch the forest than before, but they were still close enough to the camp to be protected. Like in the one case where a Monster Duck attacked one of the new War Drones. Luckily, it survived with the help of Dan showing up to defeat the monster, although Regina had to heal the drone.

The sun set and the activity in her hive died down. Regina stayed up later than normal, but finally forced herself to go to bed after Max’s silent hints became more pointed and she realized she was keeping him awake, too.

The next day proceeded much the same. However, there was one change. The atmosphere between her hive and the elves had noticeably cooled. A deaf and blind person would have known that Bianorn was angry at her for giving up the human prisoners, and perhaps for making a deal with the humans, too. Regina understood that and regretted it on more than a personal level, but she wasn’t about to go and apologize. She was doing what she thought was best for her hive, which he should understand, and she wouldn’t let the elves manipulate her. Although they probably had already.

Around midday, Bianorn sought her out. He had vanished into the forest about an hour before and moved quickly away from the camp. Regina had considered sending a drone or even Dark after him, but she didn’t want to risk them and needed Dark to keep an eye in the direction of Cernlia. Bianorn headed straight for her when he showed up again, and the two other elves stood up from where they had been sitting and came as well. Regina stopped what she was doing, an attempt to weave a basket out of some dried, long stalks of grass, and stood up to greet him.

“We need to talk,” he started. “I just had word from home.”

Regina raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to tell me how you did that?” She could think of a few options, mostly using some Ability. Perhaps even tamed beasts similarly to her own bird. That they had some means of communication didn’t surprise her too much.

“The details aren’t important.” He glanced at the others. “The government is concerned about your deal with the Cernlians.”

“I understand.”

“I’d like to point out that it is unreliable, anyway,” Bianorn said, looking her firmly into the eyes. “They could not speak for Nerlia, and they didn’t even represent Cernlia. Only the local marquis whose lands border on this area, but we do know that he and the Cernlian king are opposed, so I wouldn’t expect all Cernlian soldiers to care about this agreement.”

Regina nodded. She was aware of the limit, although hearing more about the political landscape was good. “Thank you for the information. I will certainly keep that in mind, and I know better than to trust this truce blindly.”

Bianorn sighed quietly. “Unfortunately, you will not get any reinforcements. The fighting to the northwest is gaining in intensity.”

“I understand,” she repeated. “You need to do what you need to do, of course. It was nice to host you, and I hope we can part from each other with no hard feelings.”

Bianorn stared at her for a moment. “That almost sounds like you are kicking us out,” one of the others, the Forest Scout, spoke up.

Regina shook her head. “I simply assumed that you would be recalled, now that your group has completed its reconnaissance here and that we are presumably no longer in danger due to this truce. Am I wrong?”

“No,” Bianorn said after a long moment. “We will leave tomorrow, once one of the other scouts sent into the area meets up with us. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“I’m sure it isn’t much,” Regina replied with a friendly smile. “Let us know if there is anything you need help with. Until later, then.”

She nodded at them, then departed, walking with a casual and relaxed pace. Through the eyes of a War Drone stationed close by, Regina got a glimpse of the elves exchanging a few hushed whispers before walking off together.

She wasn’t entirely sure if she should want them to stay longer. After all, they might still protect the hive against a strong beast attack or human treachery. But she still thought it was probably better this way. Regina sighed and shook her head at herself.

You have leveled up

She dismissed the System notification, tugging at one of her mandibles and resisting the urge to shake her head again in surprise. The timing was probably just a coincidence, otherwise she might have gotten a trickle of experience for asserting herself against foreigners.

Level 17 now. Regina smiled. Although she was climbing in levels, her speed of leveling hadn’t really slowed down yet. That was probably coming, but still, she was gaining strength quickly.

Now she just needed to focus on her drones doing the same. She glanced around, then headed off for one of the huts. She would get a few more War Drones started. And as soon as the next clutch was finished developing, which should be soon, she would add more. Maybe a Warrior or Scout, or two, again.

They’d need to get started on adding more dwellings soon.