The middle of the floating platform, where the tower is built, is the largest section of the embarkation and thus the most stable as the rest are attached to it with ropes and conform more to the waves which is why I head there with Yvonne as we depart.

Inside, we find amphorae, sacs of grain, and barrels of water stored under a flight of stairs running along the four walls up to a hatch. Cetyz and Celyz are likely upstairs.

We go up and find them behind a tall guardrail obviously meant to conceal them as long as they don't rise to their full height. They seem in deep discussion as their tendrils are waving and they don't greet us.

“Madhuman.” Cetyz mutters, shifting to the opposite corner from Yvonne.

“My greetings, Princess Cetyz.” Yvonne replies, bringing her hands away from her weapons by crossing her arms. “I'm glad to see you in good shape.”

“Why here?” Cetyz asks. “Little one safer us, not need you.”

I open my mouth to intervene but Celyz shakes her head so I stand down, slowly shifting to rest my back against the guardrail. Yvonne ponders for a moment before answering, wisely choosing her words.

“Because I feel guilty, I miss my friend, she might need the help when the symbiont is removed, and I'm verifying that you're truly leaving.” Yvonne answers carefully. “Also making sure you're not going to do anything against her will.”

“Rykz word given, we not human.” Cetyz counters harshly.

“Trust but verify.” Yvonne replies uncomfortably.

“I'm going to kick your butt when the symbiont is off.” I comment cheerfully.

“Can't wait to show you how wrong you are.” Yvonne chuckles.

“Yvonne's assistance will not be a luxury after we remove the Little one, Cetyz.” Celyz speaks up. “It will be easier for her to detect discreet health problems in Jessica than it would be for me.”

“You tell me already.” Cetyz mutters in dissatisfaction. “You say talk human for month, I say not enough for trust.”

“Did the two of you plot this together?” I ask Celyz.

“We discussed some issues that may arise.” Celyz evasively tells me.

“But we definitely plotted this.” Yvonne whispers loudly at Celyz.

“...” Celyz stiffens and responds. “She is exaggerating, I merely said that you may be uncomfortable after the process.”

“Would people stop treating me like I'm made of brittle clay?!” I grunt in anger.

I open the hatch and make my way downstairs, wishing to be alone. I pick the rectangular crate containing my liangi and take Suxen's notebook out to review the parchment where I noted down my progress on the plow.

I make use of my symbiont's sense to keep watch over the Rykz outside, which I can vaguely distinguish through the towers' logs, in order to be warned if they become agitated.

As I assemble a messaging construct to get working on it, I hear Celyz walking downstairs. She takes a place by my side, sitting on her ankles to watch me work in silence.

“You know I don't like this stuff.” I can't help but say, setting the construct aside.

“I worry about you.” Celyz replies quietly. “I was trying to give you company and make sure that you would be alright whatever happens, before, during, after. It is why I gave that woman a sword for your safety. Yvonne shared my concerns but she made the decision on her own, I suspect she ascertained that Leomi Lance and you would be best protected by ensuring you are well when the two of you meet.” My oak rises to depart. Her body language is rigid. Celyz is clearly hurting for the actions she took.

“I'm sorry that you feel the need to do this for me. I don't want you putting yourself aside for Leomi and I, but it does make me happy that you would go so far for me.” I hurriedly tell her.

“That is all I want for you after what we have all put you through.” My gentle Celyz tells me.

“Won't you stay?” I ask despite wanting to be alone.

“I wish to.” Celyz carefully replies.

“Then do.” I tell her.

“But...” She hesitates.

“I'm less annoyed now than I was before you came down, Celyz.” I tell her. “I do realize I have issues about people, that my reactions to things as normal as my friends trying to help are too harsh but it's hard to see that in the moment, it always feel like I'm being used.”

“It is our burden to bear that you deem our intentions suspicious for we did so.” Celyz says sadly.

“Such is the nature of the fight I threw myself in the middle of.” I sigh. “I only want to return to my old life.”

“I think that is a good thing and what you need.” Celyz agrees.

I nod and return to my work, if it can be called that considering I'm mostly playing with logical segments to figure out what sequence is the most stable. Celyz comments occasionally, mostly to point me towards possibilities I hadn't seen rather than offering pointers.

“We could try to use an unstructured construct to achieve the end result of plowing the earth, we may find a less energy-intensive way than the shredding construct.” Celyz suggests.

“Hm, would you mind answering some questions about unstructured flow?” I propose.

“Of course not.” Celyz replies.

“What are the limits?” I ask.

“None that we know of. Every block we encountered can be attributed to a lack of energy to accomplish the desired outcome but it is impossible to verify a lack of limits until we've tried everything.” Celyz tells me.

“Doesn't that mean enslaving someone's mind is possible then?” I blink.

“It is in theory.” Celyz says carefully. “But not in practice.”

“Does that have to do with the absolute control we have over flow inside our bodies and the fact that our unconscious is always using our energy at some level?” I ask.

“As always, you pick things up quickly.” Celyz notes. “Beings have fierce survival instincts. Drones, for example, prioritize the Hive but that is merely a different shape of the instinct.”

“And sapient beings prioritize their independence.” I nod.

“There is also a significant block to it in the sense that we would need to be capable to create the construct to make it usable more than circumstantially. The first method would be to obtain an answer through unstructured flow and build a construct upon that to reduce the cost in energy but when we attempted to put a human to sleep with unstructured flow, it consumed tens of thousands of portions to only initiate a temporary slumber that ended when we stopped feeding energy. The person expressed no need or desire to go to sleep but was not actively resisting either.” Celyz explains.

“So, knocking them out would be a lot easier.” I nod.

“We've failed to make anyone do anything against their will, no matter the amount of energy we've used, and even using unstructured flow to guide someone through something they wanted to do was not measurably cheaper.” Celyz tells me. “We stopped the experiments after five hundred Princesses together failed because this amount of flow should have succeeded but did not. We concluded that the target unconsciously blocked the construct from working or that flow itself has a safeguard against the method.”

“I assume the other way would be to study brains and consciousness to create the construct from scratch, which not even the Rykz know enough about to do.” I comment.

“Correct.” Celyz nods.

“What about involuntary flow manifestations, what are they?” I ask.

“It depends heavily on the individual, which is about all I know because it is very rare.” Celyz replies. “I do not believe Leomi Lance is any danger to herself as a consequence of what happened between you two.” She continues, reading me like a book. “I believe the one-winged bird is a manifestation of her doubts, uncertainty, and guilt as well as a pressure to follow her ideals.”

“They're her ideals.” I gripe. “She shouldn't need that.”

“I have noticed humans, as well as Rykz, behaving in a way that is at odds with what they declare is their intent, have you not?” Celyz gently asks.

“You are right now.” I accuse. “You keep telling me you want me but you push me away, you tried to set me free and apparently now you're trying to set me up with Leomi.”

“I do not believe a confrontation between me and her over you would end well, for any of us.” Celyz tells me calmly, which I've learned to take as a sign that she isn't when we are discussing our relationship. “You have made your choice so I am helping you.”

“I, it's just so hard to understand you sometimes.” I stutter, feeling like she's throwing me away yet also experiencing guilt for it. “I, shouldn't have brought this up, but you didn't answer. I did make my choice but you're not just accepting it, you're, it feels like you're pushing me aside.”

“If it makes you feel better...” Celyz trails off, hesitating. “I am purposefully doing this to ensure you do not forget me, I need to do this as I lose you to her arms so you cannot set me aside.” She says, insisting heavily. “I am in no way being fair in competing in this way.” She finally admits.

“That's fine, I don't want you to be fair.” I say, feeling a weight lifted from my stomach.

“No, you do, Jessica.” Celyz denies. “Let me show you how difficult this is for me to further impress on you how unfair I could be.” She suddenly rises and unwraps her tendrils.

I immediately jump up to my feet in reaction, not because I feel threatened but out of sheer apprehension. Celyz walks up to me, making me retreat until my back hits the wall. She leans over my shoulder, placing her ovaloid head next to my ear.

“If I wasn't being fair, I would simply take you.” She tells me.

I shake in my boots along with her rumbling voice. The Little one snaps awake, smelling the same sweet sugary odor and musky scent I am. Celyz rests her tendrils against the wall all around my body.

“B, but...” I try to protest but lose my words, too preoccupied by her proximity, by how hot I'm starting to feel.

“You gave your word to her, I did not.” Celyz insists. “All I truly need is your desire and acceptance.”

I suddenly find that the fact I've held off masturbating for a week to be a disadvantage, a weakness she can exploit. The fact that I'm already utterly wet seems like proof that she's been restraining herself in order to be fair.

“Would you refuse me if I asked you to sleep with me?” She asks.

“I, I...” I struggle. “I, I get it.”

“Do you?” Celyz sighs. “Rykz rely on instinct, Jessica. Were you a sister of mine, I would never have stood for this. We would be far apart to avoid this very situation all together.”

One of her tendrils' curves passes just over my head, brushing my hair as she picks my mask off. I take a sharp inhalation, excited by the pressure of her powerful body standing over mine like this, her thin appendages enclosing me.

“W, what situation?” I ask in a murmur.

“Your body's scents assault me, ask for my touch, torment me with your need for intimacy.” Celyz utters in a sultry voice, her ovaloid head moving from one side of my face to the other. “There is no one thing that I wish for more than to give this to you, Jessica, yet I cannot fairly propose such a thing.”

“I'm sorry.” I mutter, feeling so excited, so very desired it is difficult to control my impulse to give myself to Celyz. I would not be able to had Leomi and I truly broke up.

“Had Leomi Lance not demanded you to safeguard yourself from any other than her, would you refuse me if I asked you to give yourself to me?” Celyz whispers her question.

“I, would never.” I utter with difficulty, feeling like I'm running out of air.

“That answer, is all I need if I so desire to be unfair to you.” Celyz murmurs.

My lips split and I inhale, feeling feverish with a burning hot chest and a heart beating so fast I can sense the vibrations transfer to the tendrils around my ribs. I reach out to Celyz intending to kiss her a hundred times, a thousand times, a hundred thousand times.

I want to cover her magnificent trunk and her every branch with my love. Yet, my oak tears herself away, her tendrils slapping back around her trunk as she takes a huge backward step. I gasp for air and buckle, feeling weak in the knees.

“I am being fair because I think it is the best path to obtain your heart in the end.” Celyz utters, breathing so roughly that the air wheezes as it escapes the twelve openings around her ovaloid head.

My knees fail and I drop on my ass, leaving my legs open. I gasp for fresh air, yet cannot find any with her scent filling the inside of the tower. It takes all I have to close my thighs instead of opening them for her.

Celyz swiftly deploys her flow and creates an air current that goes through the tower's door to cleanse the air. I shudder, fearful of the intense effect her physically expressed feelings, her pheromones, can have on me.

“You already have, my heart. I wish to have you in my life, not just in bed.” I pause to swallow my saliva. “Do, do you go through this too, because of me?” I ask, receiving an abrupt nod. “You, you don't have to stay, and feel this, not for me.”

“I go through this for me.” She firmly responds. “And it is not quite as difficult for me as we have the capability to deal with pheromones that affect us while you do not have those defenses. Another factor is that your species' drive to reproduce is, ironically, more pressing than ours.”

“O, okay.” I reply, biting my lower lip.

I try to think of my time farming, which should be a turn off, yet it makes me think of flowers and that brings me to an image of my two lovers, one tormenting me while the other soothes me.

“I suppose I should tell you why.” Celyz says, shifting into a lecturing tone as I struggle with my libido.

“That, would be great.” I say, holding my hand out.

Celyz holds my mask out, keeping the tip of the tendril holding it far from my fingers. I set it back on my face. The gesture calms me, as expected. I smile at the mocking laugh that echoes inside my head.

“The number of Hives and Queens is equal despite the fact that we would be stronger creating the equivalent of cities for ourselves.” Celyz tells me. “We rise as Queens or produce Princesses only when there is sufficient available fertile territory allows it. We have not dared to tamper with this biological constraint but we did learn to cheat it to a point by shuffling the Princess population and create voids.”

“Interesting, and a good self-serving distraction.” I chuckle, feeling myself land.

“Indeed.” Celyz says, waving her tendrils in amusement. “Are you better?”

“I'm worse.” I sigh. “I felt so, wanted.”

“Comparable to how that woman makes you feel?” Celyz asks.

“Probably.” I whisper, stunned by my own response. “I will know when we go further.” I add dreamily.

“Is that a promise?” Celyz questions intently.

“What?” I ask, blinking.

“You said you will know when we go further, I want to take it as a promise that we eventually will.” She directly tells me. “Not a binding one, merely a promise of intent.”

“I can't promise that.” I say sadly. “You kn...” I pause, realizing that I would be placing the blame on her if I told her that she knows that I cannot. “I promise you that if I am ever free to go further with you than we have, I will.”

“Hyr.” Celyz chirps in a high pitch. She reaches out to me with several tendrils which she wraps around my waist. She picks me up and sets me on my feet, her appendages curving and slowly pressing on my flesh in a sensual manner. “That much is enough to make me happy, Jessica.”

“I really don't deserve you.” I say, feeling sad for her but so very lucky.

“You do.” Celyz disagrees, tightening her grip on me.

I rest the side of my head against her torso and look up to her ovaloid head, freezing when I find Yvonne looking down from the hatch with Cetyz standing behind and above her, her head angled towards us.

Yvonne is in tears, not even noticing Cetyz' tendril pressing down on her chain-mail. It looks like the Princess is peeking over the sword-sworn's shoulder, which she is. Celyz and I instantly split apart like we've been caught doing something wrong.

“That was so sweet!” Yvonne blurts out with empathy and warmth “And bitter.” She adds, turning anguished.

“Ys. Love, hurt.” Cetyz seconds in a difficult tone of voice.

“Since when have you been listening?!” I exclaim.

“Not long. Heard end.” Cetyz replies in a voice full of emotion. “Made noise, now smell why.”

“We did not do anything.” Celyz hurriedly establishes.

“Then sister too timid.” Cetyz shakes her head in disapproval. “Two you, take time need.” She tries to close the hatch but Yvonne blocks it with her shoulder.

“I'm coming up.” Celyz says, quickly rushing upstairs.

“Why? Human here not full against, not complete mad.” Cetyz replies, trying to gently shove Yvonne aside.

“Because I need fresh air and you need to be told to mind your own roots!” Celyz barks.

Cetyz' tendrils jerk a bit and she swiftly steps away from the hatch. I keep my eyes locked on Yvonne's because I don't trust the fact that she doesn't seem angry. The sword-sworn waits for Celyz to climb up before coming down.

“You weren't in danger, it isn't my role to intervene.” Yvonne explains, still looking torn with a thin smile and drying tears on her cheeks.

“What if I chose her, what if I left?” I ask.

“I wouldn't stop you as long as I don't believe the Rykz wish you any harm, which I don't. I am bound to you right now, by word if not a true oath. It means that I won't stop you even if your choices indirectly harm Leomi.” Yvonne says in an unsteady voice. Despite the pain on her face at the idea, she retains her hurt-filled smile.

“You really are a sucker for this stuff.” I grunt, recalling what someone told me about her in Castle Lance.

“I want you to find the happiness you seek, if it isn't with Leomi... then it isn't. I think you are honorable and would give her peace before you left.” Yvonne says, gulping with difficulty.

“You're doing your best to stay impartial, huh.” I mutter a little aggressively.

“It's like herding cats, I'll end up all scratched up if I pick a side.” Yvonne tells me, smiling a little. “I like this shirt too much.” She blatantly lies.

I sigh and take my seat back, blushing slightly at the discomfort my moist underwear causes me. I pat my side and invite Yvonne to sit down, deciding to run her through my double-plow idea since she's here and can offer me her opinion.