Regina sent a strongly-worded letter to Marquis Lyns, and another to Kiara. She considered trying to scry her and start a conversation in person right away, but decided to hold off for now. She wanted to get all the information she could, first.

As it was, she remained somewhat vague in the letter. It should be enough to make it clear to the marquis he’d better cough up what information he had, but she didn’t want to throw around wild accusations, either. At least it doesn’t seem like this is going to blow up in our faces immediately, Regina reflected.

It was also possible she was being too paranoid, or at least not giving enough credit to the marquis. Their relationship was tense, and he’d made mistakes previously she hadn’t forgotten, so she knew she might be a little more inclined to think worse of him than she should. As good allies, at least.

Then again, she was dealing with the sort of people who would start civil wars for their own ambitions, or because they felt slighted and defensive, or because of family drama — Regina still wasn’t too sure about all the nuances, and frankly she didn’t care too much. That she’d now have to try to figure out what the Esemen wanted was promising to be another headache she could have done without, anyway.

She distracted herself from it by seeing to the other things she’d been meaning to get to. Mostly, that meant walking around the village and checking on everyone’s progress. It actually helped to cheer her up.

Their old waterwheel had been expanded and a second one was being built. It now powered not just a paper mill, but a few other things as well. That entire complex was still a work in progress, but Regina thought it was coming along nicely. She was particularly happy with the water-powered drop hammer they were putting into a new smithy put up at the edge of the village. It was the bare beginnings of actual metalworking infrastructure, but they had to start somewhere. The new forge and smelting plant was a nice start, too, even if it barely deserved the name right now.

She paid attention to more than just the infrastructure, though. The hive had been here long enough and basically taken over the town that the villagers had grown used to it. From what she saw, they seemed to be getting along pretty well. It might have been because they were assured food security now, she figured. And the occasional lessons given by drones which were open to all were probably a good idea, too. It wasn’t much as far as a skilled labor base went, but better than nothing, she supposed. There would be a need to recruit - or integrate, maybe - more people, so any lessons they could take from this now would be valuable. Regina made a note of discussing it with some Attendants and Keepers.

They certainly appeared to get along better than the drones she’d sent with Janis did with Whitor’s men. Regina had been aware of some tension and minor incidents, although she’d largely left the people on the ground to handle it, but now she wondered if it wasn’t a worrying pattern. Hopefully, fighting together would get rid of some of that tension. Not that she really wanted them to fight, of course.

Their enemies, the combined army of the Cernlian and Nerlian kings, were not reacting as quickly as she’d expected. Regina suspected that was because of dissent within their ranks, something Lyns’ few remaining spies seemed to support. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anyone high enough up to be privy to the real decision-making process - at least not that he’d shared - so the most they could really do was speculate.

Regina almost hoped they would split their army. It would make Cernlia’s remaining forces much easier for the marquis to deal with, especially if the hive lent a hand. And it would be easier for them and Whitor to only have to deal with returning Nerlian soldiers. Of course, it also meant they’d have to fight major battles on two fronts, and need to win both. Not to mention that the enemy armies would probably have an easier time linking up. And the burden on the civilians would probably also increase. So maybe that wasn’t such a good scenario after all.

For the moment, Regina focused on handling what she could right now. That mostly meant preparations and keeping her hive running properly. If she didn’t have the help of the Attendants, that would be an unmitigated headache. After all, the hive hadn’t stopped growing in, well, ever, and they constantly needed to assign new people, get new infrastructure in place, juggle the mana use of their mages and more, all while preparing for and waging war.

The larger her hive grew, the less Regina was actually involved in the details of running it. She supposed that was inevitable. The latest expansions to their main base had been planned and started without her giving any input in the design, although she’d looked at plans through the psychic link and approved them. Trying to get to know or even just talk to every new drone was a goal only getting less and less realistic. Even if it made her feel vaguely guilty, considering everything she asked of them.

They’d set up some systems to handle new drones, essentially an extended mentorship program. It was also the backbone of growing ‘family ties’ within the hive, Regina was starting to realize. The fact they were all technically siblings didn’t mean that much if there were hundreds or thousands of them — although it did mean something, still, they were Hivekind and not humans — but people you actually knew, grew up with, lived and worked with were another matter. Hivekind drones were social by nature, they needed social ties as much if not more than humans.

Regina did try and at least talk to newly hatched drones when her time and the situation allowed, though. She spent a bit of time in the village doing just that, chatting with some of the drones around, especially the younger ones. Max accompanied her along with some of her self-proclaimed bodyguards, which, in her opinion, made this more awkward than it needed to be. But at least they generally stayed out of the way and only covered potential entrances against assassins. Presumably. It’s not like I’m in the middle of my own territory with my psychic powers working perfectly, Regina thought, a bit disgruntled.

When she actually noticed another mind approaching, Regina was confused and starting to feel alarmed at first, before she realized what it was she sensed. The mind in question was rather unique. It approached through the air, and she went to wait in the small yard outside the new workshop building, away from most eyes.

Galatea could obviously fly, although Regina wasn’t sure if she was not just traveling that way for the last leg of the trip so she wouldn’t risk being mistaken for an enemy attack. Regina was pretty sure she could teleport, after all. But that had to have limitations, and it might just not be worth it. Either way, she was pretty fast. She touched down quickly, and greeted Regina with a smile.

“It’s good to see you again, Galatea,” Regina said, smiling as well. She hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward to give her a quick hug. As always, Galatea felt only halfway material, only giving a featherlight feeling of resistance against touch.

“Thanks, Regina, I’m glad to be back,” the AI replied as she stepped out of the hug. “Did you miss me?” she continued teasingly.

“What’s there to miss?” Regina answered without missing a beat. “No, I was just worried you’d get into trouble and I’d have to bail you out.”

“So glad you’re worrying about my safety,” Galatea said drily. The look in her eyes told Regina she acknowledged that it wasn’t completely a joke, though.

“I hope you haven’t brought more reasons to worry,” Regina said, turning the conversation to a more practical matter. “We’ve got a few things to talk about.”

“I heard about your strike into Nerlia, it seems to be going well,” Galatea commented as they started walking back.

Regina nodded. She glanced around, noting that Max and the others were keeping a discreet distance and no one else seemed interested. Galatea had already made herself seem like an unremarkable human woman wearing subdued but neat clothes. “It did, I’d say,” she answered. “Things might get a bit more complicated, though. I’ve got indications that the Esemen might intend to get involved.”

“Really?” Galatea raised an eyebrow. “A few more countries and this is going to be just like the old days.”

“You don’t say,” Regina answered drily. “I take it you didn’t learn about this before?”

“No, although now that you mention it, there might have been a few possible indications,” Galatea said more seriously. She started to frown thoughtfully. “Lyns has definitely been a bit frazzled, from what I could tell. Kiara maybe not so much, but then I expect she’d be relieved not to have to go through with what he planned.”

“It’s still possible that they’d be entering the war to back him,” Regina noted. It was kind of telling that Galatea had assumed the opposite, or at least that it would be more complicated than that, though.

“If that was all there was to it, then they’d have made plans with Lyns long before and he’d have told you,” she said. “He gains nothing by keeping news like that secret and only risks worsening relations with you.”

“Good point,” Regina conceded. “What did you learn apart from that?”

Galatea remained quiet for a moment, clearly ordering her thoughts. “Things are more fragile than they appear on the surface, Regina,” she finally said. “In both camps, actually. King Nicholas was never the most well-liked of royals, and the war hasn’t really done him any favors in that regard. His victories have kept his position decently strong, but most of his supporters aren’t following him because they particularly like him, and more than a few are trying to get what gains they can from all this. Lyns, on the other hand, has apparently managed to stave off disaster - largely by his alliance with you, I suspect - and there’s definitely a bit of ‘hanging together instead of separately’ involved. He’s still lost pretty badly after his initial successes, and that’s taken a toll, though.”

Regina nodded slowly, considering what she’d just heard. It made sense, although she couldn’t see how it would all shake out.

“And the Nerlians?”

“Hard to read,” Galatea replied, sounding a bit frustrated. “I had to be careful. After the last time I visited, and after Madris and her companions did, they’ve gotten warier about strangers. Both intruders and strangers openly showing up, actually. I judged it was better to keep myself as hidden as possible. Anyway, the Nerlians are definitely in a bit of an uproar, and there’s growing tension between them and the king.”

“They want to hurry back to chase us out and he wants to keep them?” Regina hazarded a guess.

“That’s what it looks like,” she agreed. “I’m honestly not sure how quickly they’ll act. I could have stayed until they did something, but I decided I should hurry back to give you what information I can.”

“Probably the right call,” Regina said. “The longer you stay there, the higher the risks. That said, did you at least get an indication of which course of action they’re leaning towards?”

“They’ll stay together, I think. They’re not idiots, they’re aware they’ll risk getting defeated in detail if they split their forces in half. If the Nerlians were going to just walk away, they would’ve already done it. They’ll either try to force a decisive battle with Lyns or turn north as one, maybe splitting off a smaller force to check him.”

Regina nodded. She wasn’t a general, but either half of their army would be vulnerable if she and Lyns joined their forces, so it made sense. It would be risky for them to leave Lyns’ army behind them to possibly attack their back even if they detached a force to pin down or slow him, but then, all options for them carried risks. That was the way she wanted it.

“You don’t seem happy,” Galatea observed.

Regina glanced at her, only now realizing she was frowning. “I feel like we’re missing something,” she admitted. “We’ve been invading their country for a few days now, and they’re just sitting there.”

“I think you underestimate how much time it takes to get an army organized, especially a pre-modern one,” Galatea commented. “Plus, they’re not exactly unified, as I said.”

“Maybe,” Regina said. “I suppose even if they have some trick up their sleeve, they’re probably still making a mistake. Every day they give us to dig in is going to cost them heavily.”

“True,” Galatea agreed.

The two of them fell silent as they reached the baron’s manor, where Regina had been invited to stay. She steered clear of Florance and June Lyns and instead took Galatea into a quiet back room, after asking a drone to bring them something to drink.

“You seem livelier,” Galatea commented after a short pause.

Regina leaned against the wall, briefly glancing out the window. “I feel more invigorated,” she admitted. She ran a hand through her hair, then turned back to Galatea. “It’s not just the war, I don’t think. I feel like I have a clearer idea of what path to take. Or at least what the path forward is going to take me to.”

Galatea cocked her head, her eyes narrowing just a bit, before she nodded. “I’m glad,” she said. “I assume it’s not about this war.”

Regina shrugged. “It would be a pretty poor aspiration just to be winning a war,” she said wryly.

“True.” Galatea regarded her silently for a moment. “Either way, I’ll help as best I can.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that. I’m going to need you before this is all over.”

“You’ll have me,” Galatea assured her, simple certainty in her voice.

Regina smiled faintly. At least Galatea seemed to have figured some things out for herself, too. That was good. She suspected she really would need her help, and probably more than she currently thought. There were many challenges ahead of them, after all.