Regina had a pounding headache, even if she tried to ignore it. She knew it came from leaning too much on the psychic link, trying to watch and help the ongoing battle. She wanted to see what was happening, not just from one perspective, but to get a sense composed from several minds. While she’d done it before, it would have been challenging even right here with the nearby drones.

She didn’t regret putting in this much effort. Tim had deployed a ‘speaker’ Swarm Drone and while he could command it, he was also busy with other things and none of her hive could do it as well as she herself could, anyway. She had made sure communications were maintained and secure with Duke Bluegrass and the other rebel leaders he’d gathered.

For as vicious and chaotic as it was, the battle also didn’t last long. The hive had participated, but less than they’d feared, and so lost fewer drones. Even if she had hoped the chaos could have been avoided.

A lot of soldiers didn’t quite seem to know what to do and had so turned on the hive, the only obviously foreign party there. It was the downside of this setup. Luckily, many of them barely had a way to reach the flying drones the hive used, if at all.

The fighting was dying down now, though, and Regina switched through a few different Winged Drones trying to get a good view of the situation. She could see some wagons and other equipment had been destroyed, a few were still sending a bit of smoke into the sky, which didn’t make visibility easier. The craters and occasional ice patch or puddle left by magic and Class Skills wouldn’t make it any easier to move the army, either. Although that would only be relevant for the very beginning if they tried to march the army somewhere.

There were some bodies lying around, of course. It was hard to get a good estimate of the casualties in this situation, but she still frowned at the sight.

Then, after hesitating and considering for a moment, she reached out to Via. Are a few of your former team up for coming and healing a few humans again?

Via paused for a moment to consider, but Regina could tell she’d already made up her mind. Sure. A few of us did make a few tentative friendships, or at least became fond of a few people. I’m sure most of our healers will volunteer. It’ll just take a while to get there.

I know, but I couldn’t risk leaving you too close to it. Regina hesitated. And I’d prefer if you didn’t go, at least not just yet.

Via paused. Alright, Mother, as you wish.

Regina sent her a feeling of appreciation and then focused on the Cernlian army again. They’d won, as expected — considering the hive’s forces, there really wasn’t a way they could have lost outright, it was just a question of how much — but now they should preserve as many of these soldiers as possible. After making sure they were actually loyal, of course.

She focused on the speaker drone she’d left with the leaders, already making a few mental notes for a new try with Form Drones to get ones even better for this purpose. Duke Bluegrass had stayed close, clearly prioritizing communication with the hive. Say what you want about the man, but she appreciated his competence. And that he’s not a drama queen like Lnys, of course.

“The battle appears to be ending,” she said through the drone.

Bluegrass gave it a startled glance, perhaps because the drone had been quiet for a bit. “It does appear so,” he agreed. “At a regrettable cost. But we have won. I am sure many of us will be relieved to no longer be walking under the specter of an executioner’s sword, or false professions of loyalty, I suppose. The men will be confused, however. I will need to speak to them and make sure the situation is entirely under control before we do anything else.”

“Of course. You will make a fine commander of this army, Lord Duke.”

His eyes narrowed just slightly. “Well, I hope I will manage. I have to ask, who is currently …”

“Hive Queen Regina,” she introduced herself.

He lowered his gaze. “As I thought. You have my thanks, Your Majesty. On that note —“ He hesitated slightly. “Would it be possible to speak to Princess Kiara, and perhaps to have her come here? If she spoke to the troops, it could ease quite a few concerns and secure their loyalty.”

Regina considered the suggestion. She could see the logic. Besides, he was being quite cooperative but ultimately would follow Kiara, and he didn’t have much more than her word that they were acting in her best interests, currently. If he pushed, or other important Cernlian supporters objected, it could make unnecessary trouble. “I am hesitant to let her out of my protection or into any possible danger, Duke Bluegrass. Nevertheless, I do not want to keep you from her, or her from you. We will see if we can arrange something with sufficient security precautions. At present, Kiara is still safe at one of our bases with a large force to protect her.”

“I see, that is good to hear,” he acquiesced. “Just to be entirely certain we are on the same page, Your Majesty — your Hive is acting in support of Kiara? To press her claim to the throne? I would imagine she has made some agreement with you. Not that we are not thankful for your surprisingly extensive and generous help, of course.”

Ah, so there was the question. Regina had been half-hoping she could end the conversation without it. She wasn’t entirely sure what the others had already told him, especially Kiara in the one letter they had managed to smuggle into Lyns’ army camp.

“Yes, you are correct. I intend to see Kiara crowned as Queen of Cernlia and ruling her, your, people, and I would accept no other outcome of this war.” Regina hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath the drone didn’t show. “You should also know, she has sworn an oath of fealty to me. The details of what it means we will have to work out, in the future, but we both intend to honor our oaths.”

Bluegrass raised a single eyebrow slightly, the only sign of surprise he showed. “I see,” he commented neutrally. “Please give her my well-wishes and convey my relief that she survived the Marquis’ reprehensible actions. I will now see to the men, if you will excuse me?”

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“Of course. I trust you to sort out who may not be as loyal as they pretend and take appropriate precautions.”

He nodded, gave a curt bow, and then strode off.

Regina looked after him, considering the situation. She would bet money that Duke Bluegrass would only tell a few people about that little aspect of the situation, and would choose them very well. Most Cernlian nobles probably wouldn’t appreciate knowing their country would be beholden to a nonhuman state, which is probably what they’d take from this. But she didn’t think Bluegrass minded too much. He was obviously aware of the hive’s exponential growth and potential strength, not to mention that, at this point, he really was a bit too far to back out now.

Shaking her head, Regina opened her eyes and blinked against the light, deciding to take a break from the psychic link. It had been rather draining. She absentmindedly rubbed her temples, considering whether or not a bit of healing magic would help with the headache. She didn’t want to use it too often, especially for things like this, but decided she might as well right now.

Right then, she noticed someone else was in the room with her. Regina stiffened, cursing her lack of awareness. She must have been more tired than she thought. At least she noticed their mind at about the same time as their breathing, so that was a good sign for her skills. Turning slightly, she took in the visitor.

“Your Majesty,” Gwen bowed.

“Gwen,” she nodded, suppressing a grimace at a stab of pain. “Were you waiting for me?Not for long, I hope?”

“No, not long, my Queen. You were clearly busy and I did not want to interrupt. Max let me in.”

While warning Gwen not to disturb her, she could tell from their minds, as she threw a glance at Max, who was just standing in the doorway again. At least he seemed to approve of Gwen, at least as far as being sure she didn’t have hostile intent again. And she supposed she would be unlikely to be compromised, given her Class and training.

“Alright,” Regina responded.

“We have been considering recent developments, and would like to discuss it if you have the time,” Gwen continued. “Sir Egon has also returned with some information he gathered and would like to present a summary of his findings soon.”

Regina nodded and gave her a smile that was only slightly strained. “Of course. Well, no time like the present.”

As she stood and left the room, Regina quickly drew on her magic and tried to heal her headache a bit. Using Greater Heal would be overkill and she’d rather they not notice, but it at least helped eased the sting a bit. She’d rather not deal with the Delvers when she was already having a headache. Not that not having one wouldn’t mean she wouldn’t have one by the end anyway, she grumbled to herself, surprised at the bit of fondness she felt at the thought.

Despite herself, Regina was almost enjoying spending time with the Delvers as they accompanied the troops the hive had gathered here. Perhaps it was just the novelty, the obvious interest they showed, or just a part of her wanting a connection with other humans; however respectful they were, it would always be different interacting with humans than hive drones. It probably wasn’t a coincidence that she considered Janis a close friend - June and Kiara, too, if to a lesser extent - and had always enjoyed their company, now that she thought about it. Not that it was really the ‘human’ part so much, she felt close to Galatea as well, it was just different than her Hivekind children.

Gwen had clearly taken her appeal for unity to heart, or maybe she just knew what would look good, since the small group that had evidently gathered to talk to her seemed to be composed of several camps of the Delvers’ political or ideological leanings. Not that she understood those very well, yet. But Owin as well as Egon Trito were there, which she figured had to mean something, as well as Commander Rodrick and a few others.

They all bowed to her as she appeared, and Regina waved them into a sitting room to talk more comfortably. She was glad that they had a building to use. She was also glad at the way they obviously deferred to her and didn’t seem to object to her deciding on the use of the space at all.

“Glad to see you all here. Have you come to some decisions about your stance on the events in Cernlia?” Regina asked, jumping right in.

The last time, they’d given her tentative agreement to fight with her, but Regina would rather have it confirmed a bit more explicitly.

They exchanged quick looks and Owin nodded. “Of course, Queen Regina. We have discussed it and the entire chapter of the order stands with you, even if that means participating in this war.”

“We do hope that Queen Kiara will recognize it and be the visionary ruler we know she can be,” Rodrick added.

Regina smiled a little and nodded. They were hoping that Kiara would favor the Delvers, in recognition of their contribution, and, more to the point, their ideology once she was queen of Cernlia. That’s fair enough, I guess. Especially with Regina herself taking leadership of the Delvers and the plans they had.

The racism was not something she would tolerate, of course, but she supposed the rest was fine.

“I am sure she will. I encourage you to speak to her about it, of course. But I know Kiara, and she is very interested in the progress we can make. I am sure she will be open to your contributions.”

“Would she also be open to granting us official control of the town our headquarters is based in?” Owin asked.

Regina tilted her head. It was probably not too big a concession, and they already had effective control of it, anyway, under the circumstances. “I wouldn’t want to speak for her, but yes. I’m sure you can work something out.”

They seemed satisfied with it. Regina suspected those requests (she couldn’t quite call them demands) were mostly token, so it wouldn’t look like they just bent to her every whim. She found it a bit amusing, but stifled the smile it evoked to not offend them.

“May we ask about your plans in a larger view, Your Majesty?” Trito asked. “I am sure putting Princess Kiara on the throne of Cernlia is not the only goal. Nerlia is, evidently, quite accommodating.”

“I do have something of a goal,” Regina said. “I will be approaching a few of you with details, in oder to get feedback and revise what I can expect. I am not ready to go public, so to speak, yet. However, I’m sure some of you have already guessed a general direction.” She paused, tilting her head. “I realize that the Delvers have always been set apart from kings and government …”

“That was before,” Gwen muttered.

“Changes are coming, as we have all said more than once,” Rodrick stated with a slight smile. “Previous … temporal powers … did not have surviving Progenitors.”

Regina tried not to show her relief too much. She was hoping to integrate the Delvers into her plans, and it looked like they weren’t too opposed. How separate they’d stay from everything would remain to be seen, and it was certainly something she should discuss with several of them.

“Good,” she murmured. “I appreciate the faith you place in me, and I will do my best to live up to it. We owe it to both my civilization and to the people today.” Then she shook her head. “Sir Trito, I heard you have some information for me?”

Trito straightened up and cleared his throat. “Indeed, Your Majesty. My report …”

Regina leaned back and listened attentively as he spoke. It was of a mix of information on different subjects, but she’d expected that.

Primarily, she was relieved that it seemed like the Delvers and her drones were working together well. She’d known about their efforts to set up cooperation regarding the gathering and transmission of information, but it was good to hear it from him. The military integration was also going well. And he even had a few insightful tidbits regarding Cernlia and the war.

All in all, it was almost a disappointment when Janis contacted her to remind her about Florance and Regina had to guide the meeting to an end.