The gnomish patrol was hesitant, cautious, almost fearful. They poked their heads out of their newly dug tunnels like rats cautiously sniffing out the area after a thunderstorm rolled through, hoping a predator hadn’t set up shop and was just waiting to pounce on them. They scurried out of it and headed for cover right away, looking up like the same rodents afraid of getting attacked by a bird of prey circling above.

There were no Winged Drones, though, at least none currently in sight. The sky was overcast, with a few deep, dark clouds, which could hide them although it would mean the surveillance was quite a ways up.

It wasn’t the first time the gnomes had tried to send these probes and it wouldn’t be the last. They’d gotten a little bolder recently, perhaps out of growing confidence in their power and preparations or desperation because their enemy’s other enemies were dwindling and leaving the Starlit Hive free to turn their attention to them.

Ken watched them with a small, growing grin on his face. While they couldn’t see any drones observing them, a few War Drones had buried into cleverly dug and disguised holes, foliage and ripped branches concealing them from view. Their eyes let any member of the hive who cared to look watch the gnomish soldiers. Ken himself had chosen to rest on top of the nearest hive outpost’s observation tower, his chin in his hand as he watched through the psychic link with a relaxed posture that belied the anticipation he had been feeling.

“It’s only a matter of time now,” he murmured. “We’ll get you soon.”

Perhaps not these ones, Regina said. Might be better to let them walk back, give the Confederation more confidence.

“Of course, my Queen,” Ken muttered, scratching his blade-limb. In the psychic link, she could tell he wanted to jump the patrol, but also savored the anticipation. Ken had not forgiven the gnomes.

He’d known she was there, of course, focused on watching the gnomes and him. Like any other drone, she mostly felt comfort and reassurance at having her attention on him.

“Do you want to bait them into an attack?” he asked after a few seconds.

I’m considering it, Regina replied. Ben is ambivalent. Capturing a larger strike force would offer us the opportunity to get better intel from them, though. It’s easier to let them come to us than try to go digging after them. Although we’d have to do that anyway.

They’ve had quite a bit of time to prepare by now, Mother, he commented, shifting so he leaned against the wooden railing on his other side. We shouldn’t give them extra time, I guess, but they’re not going to be as stupid as they were before.

I’m counting on it, she assured him. We’re stronger than we were before, too.

Still, he had a point. In absolute terms, the difference in their capabilities had shrunk rapidly in the hive’s favor, but the Gnomish Confederation of the East still had a lot more resources to leverage, they were still quite a bit larger.

Regina turned her attention back to the gnomish patrol, watching them venture further into the mountains, approaching the hive’s base from an oblique angle. They were acting with purpose and direction, despite the obvious caution they displayed.

It also meant they were moving slowly, and she got a little bored watching the gnomes just creep around. She didn’t really need to pay them any attention; her drones had the situation well in hand. She was just watching out of curiosity, and because she’d wanted to see the situation at this border for herself. In the end, though, it was probably better to leave Ben to do the war planning. Not that they were sure when they wanted to kick off more aggressive operations.

Regina had also shown more concern for the gnomes recently because of their comparative advantage to the human kingdoms, if you considered the technological progress of all relevant groups. She was going to deal with the Delvers, soon. It would be nice if she could properly compare them to the gnomes in that respect. Unfortunately, I still don’t have a good read on just what capabilities the Delvers have, Regina considered, frowning in annoyance to herself. There has to be more to it, right? They haven’t really shown anything out of the ordinary and they’ve been digging up old ruins for centuries. Of course, I guess they do have the System and high-level people. Some old electrical junk isn’t really going to hold up well compared to that. Still … are they hiding something? Is it limited to specific Delver chapters? And even if they don’t have any machines or whatever, how much do they know, what could they verify?

She sighed. There was no easy answer to those questions, although she’d really prefer to have them before going to deal with the Delvers. It was hard enough to stomach working with them in the first place. She’d at least like to know it was worth it.

In principle, turning them to her will would be more satisfying than destroying them, though.

It shouldn’t even be that hard, if what she’d heard of their opinions regarding ‘Progenitors’ was accurate. Especially if she could back up her origins. Improving things in Nerlia would be good, although getting a noticeable improvement would need a timeframe she didn’t really have.

Instead, Regina had already contacted the Delvers. Galatea was currently on a mission for her, arranging some things for them. For someone who was technically a non-human, the Delvers seemed to grant the (former?) AI a lot of respect. It was justified, of course, especially considering Galatea’s magical power. Still, it meant Regina couldn’t just call her up and ask her.

Regina set up another scrying attempt, this time making sure to keep her distance. Unlike when she was trying to contact Kiara, she wanted to stay discreet, and she knew they had countermeasures. It took a short while before she got a clear mental picture of their base.

The town housing the Delvers in Cernlia had been untouched by the fighting. From Via’s report, she suspected Lyns had deliberately detoured around it, to avoid provoking the Delvers. There was more bustle than in any town of similar size she’d seen, and this time the additional bodies weren’t refugees fleeing the war. Well, actually, it seemed like there were some of those, but there was also a gathering of adventurers.

Not all of them could be Delvers, or there were a lot more than Regina had thought. Although I guess they might have called in some from other countries. She frowned. Did the news of a potential surviving Ancient spread to make this many people come just to see it? The thought left her feeling a bit queasy. Most likely, though, they were just adventurers or mercenaries with ideological leanings towards the Delvers, even if they weren’t full members, who had gathered here because of the situation. The war offered opportunities, but anyone who’d worked as a mercenary for the old king had probably cut and run a while ago, and this seemed like a natural spot for them to end up.

She could see the Delvers were not leaving things to chance, however. They looked at least broadly organized, with small patrols around the edges of the settlement and Delvers walking around to make sure everything was in order and the peace was kept. For this many armed people of questionable temperament gathered in one place, it was surprisingly quiet. At least they weren’t brawling in the streets or anything.

Regina only had less than a minute to watch them before it felt like someone dragged a fire poker across the window leading into her mind. She flinched back, feeling the connection snap as her view of the town dissolved.

“Ow,” she hissed, rubbing her forehead. The pain and discomfort had already passed, but she still felt a bit pissed.

She waved Max back to his post, shaking her head, and stood up. “Okay, so no peeking on the Delvers without precautions, they don’t like it,” she muttered. “Figures.”

Did they know it was me? she wondered. She couldn’t be sure. This wasn’t much of an attack, considering it didn’t leave any negative effects, but it was also a bit more forceful than a polite ‘no surveillance please’ note.

Plus, the Delvers supposedly had a clairvoyant or seer or whatever, and if they got bullshit System powers accordingly, it would be hard to tell what they knew or didn’t know. Although, at least, they clearly hadn’t realized she was a former ‘Ancient’ right away.

“Does this change things, Mother?” Max asked quietly. He was leaning against the doorframe once more, arms folded.

Regina shrugged. “They’ve got quite the concentration of force there,” she admitted. “If they still wanted to intervene in the Cernlian war, we could hardly ignore them. But it doesn’t look like they’re preparing to fight us. I don’t know.”

Max nodded, staying silent. He had clearly decided not to poke his nose in right now and to let her handle things, or let her cool down before he said anything.

Regina paced around the room for a minute, trying to work out a bit of the tension she was feeling. If she was honest, fighting a war against Cernlia or Nerlia felt simpler; trying to figure out how to make the pieces fit in the aftermath was a different kind of challenge. The uncertainty made things worse, as the Delvers could be a great asset or the reverse. But she wasn’t going to hesitate now. Not getting cold feet at this juncture.

“I’m going out,” she told Max. “Be back in an hour or so.”

She’d been mostly cooped up in here, anyway. It took a lot of work to get reconstruction going for all of the territory they were now responsible for, on top of the needed reforms. Roads were just starting to be built, and they were scouting out possible locations for manufactories and factories as well as buildings like schools. The experiments in importing new food crops and testing fertilizers were starting, too, but they involved a lot more tedium than Regina wanted to think about right now.

The walk didn’t take long. If she wasn’t already considering moving the official capital of the hive here, the convenient location alone would suggest it. There were tunnels leading both to Forest’s Haunt and to various points around it where the hive had built something or set up a training area or field. She took one of the closer ones, walking a few meters down a tunnel narrow enough to slow down potential attackers and dimly lit by a little bioluminescent moss. It ended in a small staircase leading up to a low wall. When Regina emerged, she found herself at the edge of the human village.

By the time she got there, the person she was going to meet was already present. Regina leaned against the wall for a moment and watched as Marianne Neralt walked down the street, looking around like she hadn’t seen the village in a while. Because, of course, she hadn’t.

“Lady Marianne,” Regina greeted her, pushing off the wall and giving her a smile. “How are you doing?”

Marianne seemed startled for a moment, before she dropped into a courtly bow and straightened up to return Regina’s smile. Only the tension she could sense from her let on that it wasn’t completely genuine. “Your Majesty,” she greeted her. “It’s a pleasure to see you again in person.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Regina replied, not losing the smile. “Would you prefer to go somewhere more comfortable to talk?”

“I’m sure my son would be happy to host you, Your Majesty,” she said.

Regina didn’t need her psychic senses to tell that the offer was made mostly out of obligation. “There’s a lounge in the new workshop just around the corner, so we don’t need to intrude on him,” she offered, instead.

Marianne seemed amenable, so Regina led the way. The new building was intended for a more public-facing role, part of why it was built directly beside the old village, and actually had a meeting room well-equipped enough to serve as comfortable surroundings for talks. She felt it would set a better tone than summoning Marianne to her office.

There was a moment of silence after they both sat down, before Regina cleared her throat. “First of all, I believe I owe you an apology, Lady Marianne. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I regret the treatment you received from the Esemen and any danger you were in.”

The words stuck in her throat a little bit — she didn’t enjoy apologizing to anyone, especially someone not a member of her hive — but Regina knew it was probably warranted, and she would rather smooth things out with Marianne.

“No apologies necessary, Hive Queen,” Marianne said smoothly. “I agreed to undertake this task for you. I knew what I was getting into as your envoy.” She paused. “I was sent as an envoy, but there was a risk they would take me as a hostage. Let us not mince words, Queen Regina, we must have all known it was a possibility.”

Regina suppressed a wince. While Marianne was clearly - and deliberately - not making an issue of it, she could hear and sense the older woman’s feelings under the polite words. She was not entirely okay with it.

“Thank you for your understanding,” Regina said. There wasn’t much else she could say. “I am glad you are home safe now.”

“Of course.” There was a slight ironic undertone in her words now.

Regina exhaled and decided to tackle the problem directly. “Do you have recriminations or complaints? I am willing to listen.”

“No,” Marianne responded curtly. She glanced at her, then away and her posture deliberately relaxed. “I should have expected you to prioritize your own goals and priorities. And it would be thoughtless to expect a mother to save someone else before her own child, after all.”

Regina sat back. I feel like she’s just making a point of not complaining but still pointedly telling me what the issue is.

“I see,” she said tonelessly. “I did have more information about your whereabouts and condition than Ria’s, and I tried to get you back safe and healthy. But … I understand.”

What else could she say, after all? She had prioritized getting Ria back rather than Marianne, when it came down to it. Regina wasn’t going to apologize for that, or deny it.

“Of course.” Marianne inclined her head. “I am still willing to serve Your Majesty in whatever capacity the situation may require, never fear.”

“And you will have a reward appropriate to the efforts and sacrifices you have undertaken for me,” Regina responded right away. Even if Marianne was never going to trust her completely, she still wanted her to work for her. “We are currently discussing how the new territories will be administered and how we should structure the hive and everything else going forward. Your input would be very much appreciated.”

“Of course. I’ll look forward to being invited for discussions, then.”

Regina nodded. “If you have requests or preferences, please bring them up, at any point.”

The other woman nodded as well, and they both fell quiet. The silence stretched on for a bit, both of them watching the other without being too obvious about it.

“Please tell me one thing, Hive Queen,” Marianne spoke up, hesitantly. She licked her lips, then pressed on. “A question. Going forward … will humans ever have any role in your empire beyond servants?”

Regina stiffened. She turned her head to look at the wall instead of Marianne, not wanting her to see her expression right now. She took a deep breath before turning back to her as she considered how to answer.

“Before I answer that, Lady Marianne,” she said, “answer me one question of my own. Do you have a role beyond servant in Cernlia?”

Marianne visibly paused. Her face twisted into a frown, and she cocked her head. “I take your point, I suppose.”

“I am the ruler of my hive as much or more than any humans currently living under our aegis,” Regina said. “I won’t pretend there aren’t cultural differences in play, or biological differences for that matter. But … to be honest, your own system is hardly one I consider very free. And I want to at least do better. Not necessarily for the nobility, as such, although they’ll get the same benefits everyone else does, but for the people in general. I do hope and expect we can have democratic participation in a reasonable timeframe. Which means humans will administer their own affairs, at least in certain areas. I don’t intend to discriminate based on species, or anything like that.”

She shrugged. Despite being a woman, Marianne was definitely one of the more privileged people in Cernlia. She knew about the discrimination against nonhumans, but wasn’t affected, so a goal of being better than that wouldn’t necessarily mean anything to her. Still, Regina intended to be honest with her. If they were going to work together long-term, she couldn’t do anything else.

“I see,” Marianne repeated, her expression thoughtful now. She stood and bowed. “I thank you for your honesty and insight, Your Majesty.”

“Anytime, Lady Marianne.”

The older woman made for the door, then turned and looked back at her, a slight smile on her face. “I think I would prefer to have more diplomatic tasks, but not all the time, actually. Perhaps in addition to other responsibilities.”

“I’ll definitely take that into consideration,” Regina responded with a relieved smile. “Thank you.”

Marianne nodded and left the room, the door clicking shut behind her. Regina stared after her for a moment, thoughtful. She wasn’t entirely sure how she’d say this conversation had gone. Although it could certainly have been worse.