Even if she was really curious and kept thinking about what she’d heard from the Delvers and what else she might be able to learn, Regina exercised her self-control and didn’t try to repeat her scrying very soon.

She’d been more worn out by it than she thought, sleeping for the better part of a day when she laid down for a nap afterwards. Her mana would also need some time to build back up sufficiently. She could delay her various projects and plans for what she wanted to work on to focus on gathering enough for another scrying attempt, but she felt like that would backfire. She certainly couldn’t afford to slow down her egg production for the hive, and pushing off her Conjuration for things the hive needed as well as her practice with her Spells didn’t seem like a good idea.

When she finally sat down again for another try, a week had passed, and she discovered that the Delvers did seem to have noticed her previous scrying and erected some defenses. She didn’t get anywhere with it, at least. Trying to scry for Owin only took a chunk of mana out of her pool and gave her a headache. Since there was the possibility that he just happened to be somewhere that blocked scrying, like out on a mission or whatever the Delvers called their adventuring, she waited a bit and then tried again with Gwen. It didn’t work any better, though; she had a hard time even getting far enough to focus on her and try to cast the magic. Probably because she didn’t feel as familiar with her as Owin, even though she hadn’t really known him for any longer.

So, with some frustration, she backed off and decided to give it some time. She would try to scry on Kiara later, that might work better.

In the meantime, she had more than enough to occupy her attention. The hive was still growing. Even with a firm leadership structure in place and many of her ‘senior subordinates’ (she still found it hard to think of Max and the others like that) taking a large part of the burden off her, that meant more work to do. Regina still had the final say in any decisions and her approval was required for any major changes to the hive or the organization of the drones, including the training and deployment of the warriors and Swarm Drones. And she preferred to actually get information about the situation and their options instead of just signing some report someone laid on her desk. Not that they actually had paperwork.

Either way, between her general duties to the hive, things only she could do, her practice with magic, holding lessons and training sessions with others, and trying to keep up with a few other projects, like their experimental printing press, she was quite busy. Via and Ira were a blessing, helping to keep her focused and organized and taking care of anything they could for her, but it was still a lot. Regina wouldn’t complain, though. Things were good.

More of her drones leveled up and reached new Tiers, both for their first and second Evolution. That included a few Swarm Drones. The second to next one to reach level 40, after another War Drone, was actually a Winged Drone. Presumably, the Production Drones were falling behind because they didn’t participate in combat and so didn’t get any experience from it. And they didn’t have many other opportunities to get more experience, either. In either case, both new sapient drones showed a very similar pattern as Kit. The new Winged Drone, a former Winged Drone Carrier who’d now evolved to Drone Paragon, had also grown a bit and looked sleeker and more dangerous.

“I think I’m going to have to stop doing the three-letter patterns thing,” Regina said, tilting her head as she looked at the two new people. She’d hoped they would choose their own names, but they’d both asked her to name them, like Kit.

Kit was also there, hovering beside her fellow as they stood in the small yard outside the building. She’d taken the two of them under her wing a bit, figuratively speaking. “We could help you come up with new names, my Queen?” she offered, sounding hesitant.

Regina shook her head. “I appreciate the thought, but no, that would only drag things out. I think starting with Evolved Swarm Drones is a good way to break the pattern, anyway.”

"That makes sense to me,” the Winged Drone said, although he (he’d already decided to use masculine pronouns) didn’t sound like it mattered too much to him.

“So.” Regina paused and looked at them. “I’ve thought about calling you Chase,” she nodded at the War Drone, “and you Gale,” at the Winged Drone.

The first one smiled. “That sounds good. Thank you, my Queen!”

“Guess it’ll do as well as anything.” The Winged Drone shrugged. “Thanks, I guess.”

Regina nodded. “If you run into any trouble or need anything, feel free to tell me. We’ll do our best to make sure your transition goes smoothly.”

She stayed with them for a while longer, making sure they were okay. She should have done that earlier, honestly, but she’d been too busy to really give them the attention they deserved. That was why it had taken a while to give them their names, too. But she’d rather do that properly than have them end up with something silly. Well, sillier than usual, at least. Arguably her choices weren’t very serious and dignified.

Then she turned and left. She was just about to head back to her rooms, when the System gave her another notification. Regina paused, standing in the street. Dan, who had been going the other way, almost ran into her, but managed to correct course just in time. She shook her head and mumbled an apology at him, but still glanced towards the message again, thoughtfully.

Congratulations, you have unlocked a new Template: Drone Keeper

Something niggled at the back of her mind for this Template, some kind of dim recognition. It was definitely not something she had missed in her memories of her old life, she was pretty sure of that. It had to be something relating to her Hivekind nature.

She considered it for another moment, then shrugged. She was happy she had unlocked another Template, anyway. It was bound to be interesting. The name could go several ways. She was hoping for a ‘keeper of knowledge’, personally, but that might be too much to hope for … or it might be a hint from her subconscious, actually.

Regina paused once she was inside a currently empty room and frowned. I really need to get a handle on this Hive Queen instinctual thing, she reflected. I’ve just been kind of coasting along, but this is too important not to at least try to analyze it further. Trying to test my own instincts or nature in artificial scenarios seems a bit like a fool’s errand, but what do I have to lose?

So, she sent a mental message to Max, Tim, Mia, Tia, Via and Ira, and then flew to perch upon the roof of the main building. They’d intentionally constructed it to have it accessible for Winged Drones and flying drones, with a small hatch leading down, as well as a flat surface and a few wooden perches for smaller Winged Drones. They had to keep shoveling the snow off in winter, but it was worth it.

“What’s up, Regina?” Max asked, climbing up onto the roof. Tim followed him up quietly.

Regina glanced at Via and Ira, who were just landing, before she answered. “I got what I think might be a weird feeling or impression from my instincts again, and I wanted to try and do some analysis.” She shrugged. “We all have this influence from our innate natures, or whatever you want to call it. I thought it was a good idea to try and get to the bottom of it. Especially since we now have another avenue to explore, with former non-sapient Swarm Drones who became sapient.”

“So, what is it you want to do?” Mia asked, hopping out of the hatch.

Regina nodded at her and Tia, who followed her. “Partly just bring it up and ask you to keep an eye out. I’ll try to observe the newcomers and pay special attention during any future transitions, but I can’t always spare the attention. Then I also wanted to ask for your impressions of me, and maybe each other, and the psychic link in general.”

“This might be easier if we did it over the psychic link,” Tim pointed out.

Regina nodded and turned all of her attention toward it. She’d already been tracking the others through the link, mostly subconsciously, but now she really focused on it. She’d gotten a lot better at using this link between them over the last few weeks, one of the reasons why she had decided to do this now.

Focus on what we’ve been talking about, please, she sent to them.

She could have done it one at a time, but she had a hunch that trying to get a sort of composite view would be better. In this case, the issue was more than the sum of its parts.

Like the Starlit Hive.

Regina submerged herself deeper into the psychic link, her surroundings and even her own body fading away as she focused entirely on the minds around her, and her own mind. She was intricately linked to them, even if she had only just started to understand just how deeply. They were the people she knew best in the world, but she also knew them on a level below the relationships they had consciously built together. Now, she put all of that together, and dove into the thoughts, memories and feelings they opened to her.

In the end, she learned a lot more about the psychic link than the original question that had set her on this course. But that was okay, because the link was also a part of what ruled her instincts and influenced her behavior. It was a key part of being a Hive Queen. Her burgeoning psychic powers only amplified that, but she had the dawning suspicion that they also allowed her to control it more deeply. And thus probably any influence it exerted on her. If you could even call it that. In the end, it’s not like this link is a separate entity, she reflected. It’s me, or at least my hive.

She got the feeling that this little exercise had deepened her understanding and ability with the link a lot, in addition to making her feel closer to the people she had shared it with. Seeing their perspective on it and how it differed from her own was interesting. And even if she never learned everything about the Hivekind or what sort of subconscious knowledge, biases and inclinations she had to deal with, it at least offered her a path to controlling their influence on her eventually. That was something, at least.

"Well,” Max finally said. “That was something.”

Regina nodded and glanced at the others. She couldn’t tell what they were thinking right now, since she had withdrawn from their minds, but it was easy to guess. Most of them were a bit uncertain but also excited about what it meant, while Tim was thinking of the strategic implications, Via was also contemplating the newly Evolved Swarm Drones and Ira likewise considering Regina’s state of mind.

“The gnomes have sent another group of merchants,” Tim finally said. “Ace just notified me that they’re crossing into our territory and approaching the northern part, traveling along the forest’s treeline.”

Regina raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded after a moment. She could tell he had changed the subject deliberately. They all needed a bit of time to reflect. Regina especially.

“Alright,” she answered. “Let’s make sure they know where to go. It might be better to guide them to the second western outpost, in fact. Let’s see what they have to sell and what news they might have brought.”

“I’m looking forward to learning if they brought something new to trade,” Tia said cheerfully.

Regina nodded and smiled faintly, but she was mostly thinking about other things. “This might be a good opportunity, too.”

“Oh?” Max cocked his head curiously. “You’re not thinking of taking their invitation, are you?”

“Actually, yes. Well, sort of.” Regina gave him a look. She knew he was about to raise a fuss about her safety. “I’m not going to go myself. But I was thinking of sending a group to the gnomish confederation.”

The others exchanged looks, and Regina caught the edge of their exchange over the psychic link. She could have pried into it, but chose not to. Clearly, their little exercise had also encouraged them to go for a slightly closer connection right now.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Regina?” Tim asked hesitantly.

“Maybe not, but I hope it’s worth the risk,” she answered. She paused for a moment, then sighed. “They clearly know something about the Hivekind. Even if it’s biased and twisted, we might still be able to get some information there.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Max muttered, looking thoughtful.

“Not to mention I’ve been curious about the Confederation and their surroundings since I’ve heard about them,” Regina added. “I think paying more attention to the larger picture wouldn’t be a bad idea. Somehow, I doubt the Cernlian civil war is going to stay completely confined to Cernlia, if it even is right now, and we are kind of in the middle of it.”

That was clearly a thought the others didn’t particularly like, either, but they all saw the sense in it.

“Maybe we can ask the elves what they know about the gnomes, and the rest of it?” Mia suggested after a short pause.

Regina smiled at her. “That’s a good idea. It might be time to send an envoy to the elves, anyway.” She considered for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, none of this is time-critical. It’s just something to keep in mind.”

She’d have to figure out which drones to send to this Gnomish Confederation of the East, anyway. Regina suppressed a sigh at that issue and decided to focus on more immediate matters.

“Now.” She clapped her hands together and smiled at the others. “Who wants to go first and give me a more detailed report on their area of responsibility?”

For some reason, the question did not fill them with enthusiasm.