Regina knew her hive wouldn’t get much time until they would have to face conflict again, but she was trying to get every bit of preparation that she could done, and things were working quite well, so far. She had to regulate her mana expenditure carefully, but she still managed to Conjure a few things that would be quite useful. The hive’s drones, especially the Workers, were also hard at work preparing defenses and other things they could use.

Meanwhile, Tim of all people had started cozying up to the local human fighters. He really was better at making friends than one might think. Case in point, she saw him talking to Bianorn several times, too. It even looked like the elf was teaching him some moves with the sword. Regina decided that particular situation didn’t need her attention, and would probably proceed better without her.

They had a lot of people stand watch for the next night, and Regina was half-expecting to get woken up by some night assault launched by an enemy strike team. Despite that, she still managed to sleep pretty well, only waking up two times in the middle of the night. She even broke her usual policy and, instead of sleeping alone in a room, joined Mia and Tia, since Max was on guard duty along with several of their oldest and most powerful drones and Tim was out doing whatever. But the night passed quietly, without any interruptions.

She also took a look at the village and its people, and what they were usually doing. She’d already spent some time thinking about her Spells and was considering getting Water Manipulation next. Not only could it be a good counterpoint to her Fireball, but it had a lot of potential uses, probably even for combat. Seeing the agriculture-focused, mundane life of these people gave her another way to look at it. She had heard that the land here wasn’t considered barren or unproductive, but it wasn’t particularly fertile, either. There was probably a lot more to it, something to do with the nearness of the forest and the river, but she didn’t know anything about that subject.

That day, the weather was a lot nicer than it had been the last few days. There was barely a cloud in the sky. Regina enjoyed the warm sunlight. The days were getting shorter, and she didn’t think the temperature would rise as high as it had been a few weeks ago again. Still, the sky was a deep blue as she looked up at it.

Then Regina blinked. Something about the view seemed odd, as if something was casting a shadow in the sky. It was hard to make out. She quickly walked a few meters farther, then tried to see if she could spot any change. It did seem like the thing was relatively close, though, obviously, still up in the sky.

She almost took off her tunic and unfolded her wings to fly up and take a closer look, but then paused. It was probably not the wisest choice. So, Regina closed her eyes for a moment and focused on Dark.

The little bird was currently nesting in the thick fur of the Mana Beast. He did seem to be awake already, though, and at her prompting, he took off into the air. The other monster snorted and turned around, ostensibly still asleep or at least dozing. Regina focused on Dark and nudged him to explore.

But he didn’t find anything. When he reached clear skies and looked for the darker patch Regina had seen, there didn’t seem to be anything. She frowned to herself and pulled most of her attention back, taking another look herself, but there wasn’t much to see. Maybe I was just imagining things, after all. Although it’s probably not bad to assume that we’re being watched. Hell, for all I know, the Nerlians or this Cernlian king have something like a Diviner or Clairvoyant Class and can look at what’s happening here at any time.

“Max?” Regina looked around. For once, her oldest drone was not hanging around her.

He appeared just a few seconds later from the direction of where most of the Workers were busy at the village’s edge, though. “Yes, my Queen?”

“I’ve seen something that struck me as odd, although I’m not sure if it was really there. However, we should probably assume that we might be being watched, anyway.”

He nodded. “Tim thought of that, too. We’re trying to conceal what we’re doing as much as we can, but a few things you just can’t hide that well.”

“I know. Let’s go take a look, unless you were busy with something else?”

He shook his head, and they set off together. Regina decided to go on a circuitous route, looking around at this part of the village as they did. She had a feeling it was probably considered a large village around here, even though it didn’t seem like it to her. They got some wary looks from the villagers, but, overall, those seemed to just be trying to go on with their day.

Judging from what she’d seen of the night sky and the length of the day and night cycle over the weeks, Regina estimated it would be about mid-August now. There was still a bit of summer left, and the farmers probably had some work to do, though she didn’t know what they’d be doing. She also wouldn’t expect the war to go into some kind of winter pause for some time yet, if ever. The harvest also hadn’t started yet, but it might not be too much longer, at least for certain crops. There were some that would be brought in in late summer or early autumn, right? At the moment, it probably meant she should try not to damage what was growing on the fields.

Regina tried not to disturb the drones when she approached them and looked at what they were doing. The Workers were obviously contributing the most, especially with their abilities. Tia was directing a few of them, enthusiastically pointing at different spots on the ground and demonstrating something with a few pieces of wood or the hive’s material. Regina’s lips twitched as she looked at her. She seems to be having fun. Mia was also there, but a bit more restrained, and seemed to be focused on working on some more complicated bundle of wood, not-wax and a few metal pieces. Regina made a mental note to check their stocks and ask what they needed conjured next.

It was actually Tia who noticed Regina’s arrival first. She put down what she was holding and hurried towards her, still smiling. “My Queen! Was there something you needed, or did you just want to see our progress?”

“Yes.” Regina smiled back. “It seems to be going pretty well.”

“It is!” Tia glanced over the surroundings, looking pleased. She gave a little wave to Mia, who had looked up now. The other girl nodded at her and bent over her work again. “I’m not entirely sure what else you want to do, though,” Tia continued. “We don’t want to give away all our cards, and some things might endanger the villagers.”

Regina nodded. “I thought about mine fields, but that’s probably not a good idea,” she admitted. “For something like that, we’d need to familiarize them with it very well, and that’s not exactly a good idea in terms of ‘operational security’. Not to mention the possibility of accidents. Kids get hurt easily, or so I gather.”

Tia made a face, but brightened again quickly. “Of course. I think we can do some other things, though.”

They slowly walked up and around where the others were working, talking about their plans. Some of them were rather simple and relatively obvious, like just digging ditches. Some were a little trickier. Regina didn’t like autonomous mines, but something that could only be triggered deliberately, like with one of her Fireball spells, might be a different matter. Or at least preparations or placements for such things. She hoped none of it would be needed, but she wouldn’t bet on that. She also focused on measures that would not be bound to a specific location, like preparing more of the ‘grenades’ from before and a few other surprises.

Regina stopped by Mia and had a quick exchange with her, as well. Mia seemed happy to see her, even if she was a bit more subdued about it than Tia.

“Are you sure this will be enough?” she finally asked, a little quiet.

“Of course I can’t be sure.” Regina sighed softly and sat down on a piece of lumber beside her. “We’ll do our best, but, to be honest, all of this is taking a massive risk. Do you think I shouldn’t have done it?”

Mia paused and lowered her work-limb, raising her head. Regina heard Max shift beside her and Tia glanced between them, but Mia didn’t look away from her. “No, I don’t think so, Regina. I think you’re making the best choices you can under the circumstances.”

Regina smiled again and stood up. Having Mia support her like this meant a lot to her. “Thanks, Mia.” She cleared her throat. “Let’s get back to it, then.”

Unfortunately, at that point they were interrupted by Ada, who came running up to the group from the village and was obviously breathing hard. “Commander Anuis sent me, my Queen,” she said as she slid to a stop beside Regina. “Apparently, there are humans approaching from further away. She wants to meet at the southeastern edge of the village, at the exit of the wider road.”

Regina suppressed a sigh. They hadn’t even had the chance to talk about defenses for the castle yet. Well, not in detail. “Alright,” she said. “Tia and Mia, one of you should come along, please decide which one. Max, Tim, you too.” She probably didn’t need to bother mentioning Max at all, he would obviously try to accompany her.

“Also, I checked on Ash,” Ada said as they hurried around the edge of the village. “That elven healer says he’s doing well, and will hopefully wake up soon.”

“That’s great news. Thanks.” Regina smiled.

They quickly reached Anuis, Bianorn and a few other officers. They stood behind a wooden barricade that only left a relatively small gap across the street. Regina slipped inside and noted that the drones positioned themselves in such a way that she would still have a view out of it.

“Who is it that’s coming?” she asked.

Anuis looked faintly amused. “An elite squad or something similar, I would imagine,” she replied. “There are no more than eight people, and their approach is relatively open. I don’t imagine they’re here to retake the village. More likely is either reconnaissance or diplomacy.”

Regina nodded. “Then we should meet them openly, I’d say. Do you think we should include the baron?”

Anuis frowned. “I will leave that decision to you. However, I would first wait until we know what they want, and then let him come out.”

Regina nodded again and turned to the others. “Would you inform him and make sure he’s not preparing to make trouble?”

After a short exchange, Tim and Bianorn left to take care of it. Regina waited with Anuis, looking out over the fields. After a minute, Zoe showed up and handed her a bag with a few prepared devices and projectiles. Regina gave her a quick smile and turned back, but she noticed that Zoe positioned herself to cover Mia. Tia had apparently decided to stay back and keep working.

Soon, she could make out the approaching humans. The party was on horseback, riding pretty quickly down the road that led further into the kingdom. Or, to be specific, into the Lyns March, apparently. Most of them looked like knights, and Regina didn’t recognize any of the men whose faces she could see.

“As I suspected,” Anuis murmured. “They would give us trouble if it came to a fight, but I do think we could take them. There might be several above level 40, but they are grossly outnumbered.”

That was good to know. Regina hesitated for a moment, wondering how to act. The humans reined in their horses soon, a short distance away from the village’s entrance. One of them lowered a kind of pole with a white cloth tied to it.

“Let’s go out and meet them,” she said. She also gave a few commands over her psychic hive link and positioned the Winged Drones on the roofs of the surrounding buildings.

The group headed out, Max again walking beside and slightly ahead of Regina, to cover her.

“Greetings,” the apparent leader said. From closer up, Regina recognized him as one of the knights she’d seen before.

“Greetings to you, as well,” she replied, and Anuis echoed her. Regina paused for a moment, then continued talking. “I would like to make it clear that we acted after the truce I had negotiated with your Lady Kiara ran out. My hive was attacked several times by humans, once including Nerlian soldiers. We have tried to limit collateral damage and we have and will continue to respect and protect the civilians.” She figured it was best to get the important points out there right away.

The knight, Willard, tilted his head, though Regina couldn’t see his expression because of his helmet.

“That is unfortunate news. I understand that the elves and the hive have jointly attacked and claimed the fort Forest’s Haunt and its surroundings, including Neralt Village.”

“That is correct,” Regina confirmed.

“Indeed,” Anuis said. “You may also note that the Hive Queen and her people are primarily responsible for this situation, while my forces are supporting her.”

The knight nodded. Regina wondered if he was recording the exchange. “I see. Are you intending to ransom the baron and his family?”

Regina shrugged before she could stop herself. “Possibly. You’ll have to discuss that with him.”

She imagined he looked surprised behind his helmet. “You will allow us to speak to him?”

“Of course.” Regina smiled. “As I already told him, I seek no quarrel with your people, and this situation is simply an unfortunate necessity.” Well, a little more than that, honestly, but I figure he doesn’t need to know that. “I would be happy to accompany you and a companion of your choice into the village, or simply let the baron come out to meet you here. I’ll even do you the courtesy of letting you talk privately, without anyone listening in.”

Now he definitely seemed surprised. “I appreciate that, Hive Queen Regina.”

Ah, why couldn’t all human warriors be so nice and reasonable? Regina had no difficulty keeping her smile in place. With good timing, the baron stepped out of the makeshift gate at that moment, Tim and an elven soldier accompanying them. She waved him forward and gestured at them to stay back.

“Let’s officially take the parole, then we will withdraw a short distance,” Anuis suggested.

Regina nodded. She was glad at least one of them understood the customs that might apply here, and apparently trusted the humans well enough to stick to them.