The Bee Dungeon

King Ratuatapi came home to a meeting of the queens. All four of them appeared anxious as he took his spot in the center, all of them had wanted to accompany him on his meeting with the Tower Keeper. King Ratuatapi had convinced them to let him meet with Belissar alone by pointing out that if he brought his queens, Belissar would in turn bring Chief Rohsuak, and their meeting would shift from a social event between rulers to a negotiation between their advisors. First Queen Nyoyanke conceded that dealing with Belissar directly would be more advantageous than dealing with the wizened karnuq chief, not least of all because of the reports regarding Chief Rohsuak’s rejuvenation.

But though she had conceded, the first queen clearly hadn’t liked sending King Ratuatapi off unsupervised. She barely let him sit before she began.

“My king, may I ask how your meal went?”

King Ratuatapi smiled.

“Better than I could have hoped.”

First Queen Nyoyanke did not seem relieved. In fact, she narrowed her eyes at him.

“In what manner? This was to be a purely social visit, wasn’t it?”

King Ratuatapi turned to meet her gaze. In all honesty, it took all his resolve not to flinch under her eyes. First Queen Nyoyanke had been hammered into his mind as the authority both in his personal life and for the sigmaka as a whole. She was his guide, his advisor, his instructor, and his steward. To defy her was nearly unthinkable.

But he wanted to do the best for his people and on this matter he disagreed with her. So, he considered the man he now called his friend. Belissar had been far lower than him, a mere peasant at the very bottom of human society. And yet, he had now stood up to and defeated the Tower Lord who once ruled him, all for the sake of protecting his people and his allies. If King Ratuatapi could not address his own queens without fear, then how could protect his own realm?

King Ratuatapi, ironically, drew upon the lessons First Queen Nyoyanke taught him for dealing with Belissar and steeled his expression, regardless of his inner turmoil.

“I decided otherwise. I decided to trust Tower Keeper Belissar and brought to him our concerns.”

First Queen Nyoyanke took on a disapproving frown, while the other three queen’s eyes widened. Third Queen Penaseconza paled, Second Queen Berbiya furrowed her brow, while Fourth Queen Pezuya perked up. King Ratuatapi nearly fell under the first queen’s disapproval, but he just about managed to stand firm…and in doing so, noticed the slight quiver in her eyes.

“My king, that was not what we agreed upon. To make such decisions without counsel and consideration is hasty at the very least. I must admit…I am disappointed you would do this without us, that you would go back on your word to us. Please, let us address this matter together from now on. Now, tell me, what exactly did you agree to? We will need to move quickly if we are to recover…”

King Ratuatapi could not help a smug smile.

“Nothing.”

First Queen Nyoyanke paused. King Ratuatapi did what she had drilled him in and seized control of the conversation while she thought.

“Tower Keeper Belissar extended an offer to make us his sworn defenders but does not require us to make the decision now. He said that, should anything happen that we cannot handle, he will allow us to retreat into his Tower and take up the offer at that time. Until then, he has said he will help us as best he can.”

First Queen Nyoyanke frowned.

“Better than I feared, but still a disadvantageous situation, my king. The Tower Keeper is now aware of our weakness and has us at his mercy. If he wishes to bind us to his will, all he has to do is let through a threat that will force us to take up his offer. Even if he doesn’t go that far, he now knows he has leverage over us in all future negotiations. He can demand whatever he wishes from us and we will have little choice but to accept!”

King Ratuatapi frowned right back.

“Tower Keeper Belissar is not that kind of man. He heard of our struggle and has only offered to help, he has not attempted to take advantage of us.”

Fourth Queen Pezuya nodded along.

“The Tower Keeper already knows of our weakness, First Queen. He has seen it firsthand on the field of battle, and in the wounded sigmaka that his bees now care for. That tunnel has long since caved in. If he wants to take advantage, he already can and there is precious little we could do to stop him. Better to deal with him honestly and trust him to do the same, as he has already done so far.”

Second Queen Berbiya rubbed her chin.

“What’s done is done. We cannot take back King Ratuatapi’s words, and to reject further cooperation with the Tower Keeper after this conversation would likely insult him and make him suspicious of us, at which point he will use his leverage against us. We don’t have much of a choice but to proceed. What we should consider now is how to gain the Tower Keeper’s aid and what we might do with it. Particularly…we never finished our negotiations with the fair folk on the details of our alliance besides the military aspects. Perhaps the Tower Keeper might be convinced to aid us in future negotiations?”

Third Queen Penaseconza grit her teeth.

“Those tricksters wish to steal our home right out from under us. They pretend they are generous, inviting us into their compact, and then dare to call things equal when their representatives outnumber us a dozen to one.”

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Second Queen Berbiya’s face turned grave.

“And that is the bigger problem. While we may debate whether or not Tower Keeper Belissar will take advantage of our apparent weakness…is there any doubt that the fair folk will?”

The entire room fell silent at that. First Queen Nyoyanke slumped and took a deep breath.

“…it appears our hand is forced. King Ratuatapi, tell us everything you spoke of with the Tower Keeper and every word he said in response. Let us try to salvage at least something from this…and pray to the gods that we have not doomed ourselves to enslavement…”

King Ratuatapi, however, had a smile on his face.

“Believe in me, my first queen, my mentor and advisor, for you taught me how to act as a king and how to identify those who would take advantage of my inexperience. Tower Keeper Belissar will do no such thing…because he has had it done to him and now hates it. It is for that reason he fights against his own people, because he does NOT want to be a Tower Lord like them. If you can’t trust that he won’t enslave us because he is good…then trust that he will never do it to spite the humans that would.”

He made eye contact with the first queen and she stared back for a moment. Eventually, she let out a soft sigh.

“Let us hope you are right, my king.”

Over in the Conclave, the Dragon Banner Army was preparing to march for the City of Light. But before they did, General Rippotis took Raklasi, Queen Vanieskon, and Tower Keeper Belissar’s bees, and then flew ahead. His Tower’s territory was near Heigiosa’s to begin with and they had set up external shortcuts as close to each other as possible, so he was able to travel there in short order.

The traitors had patrols on the lookout for any reinforcements from his Tower, of course, but with the pixie queen at his side they weren’t an issue.

And so, General Rippotis now found himself stepping into the Tower of Light. He saw Heigiosa waiting for him and a big smile grew upon his face. He had already known she was alright, but it was still a joy to see her unharmed.

Heigiosa, however, did not smile. Instead, she pointed a glowing staff towards him.

“By the light that illuminates all deception, purify all wickedness!”

A column of light descended on General Rippotis from above, bathing him in the most powerful Light mana Heigiosa could call upon. Raklasi growled, but General Rippotis simply stood in place.

After all, the light did him no harm.

Heigiosa glared at him as the light faded. Once she had fully examined him, she finally relented and smiled.

“Welcome back, General Rippotis, I am overjoyed to see you well. I apologize but…given your company, I had to be sure there were no enchantments upon you.”

Heigiosa glanced at Queen Vanieskon, who made a sly smile and waved with the fingers on one hand. General Rippotis just nodded.

“It was the right call, I would have asked you for it if you hadn’t done it yourself. Still, now that we all have our assurances, we should greet our ally cordially.”

General Rippotis stepped aside and motioned to those he brought with him.

“May I present Queen Vanieskon of the Pixie Court, signatory of the Calwaskon Compact, and the bees of Tower Keeper Belissar, our allies in this conflict and the reason I was able to make it home in time.”

Heigiosa drew herself up, light shining around her.

“I am Heigiosa, Oracle of Light and High Councilor of the Conclave of Tower Lords. I welcome you all to the Tower of Light and I thank you for your assistance.”

Queen Vanieskon’s sly smile grew.

“A pleasure to meet you, Oracle of Light. We are all too happy to help you address your little rebellion.”

Heigiosa glared at the pixie queen but gave her a nod.

“So long as you hold true to your word, you are welcome here, queen of the pixies.”

Then the bees flew forward.

“Am communer of First Queen of Fifth Spawner’s First Dynasty’s First Daughter’s hive. Can let talk with hive of hives and King. Nice to meet!”

Heigiosa smiled at them.

“Welcome to my Tower, children of the God of Bees.”

Heigiosa had her acolytes lead Queen Vanieskon and the bees elsewhere, to let them partake of the hospitality of her Tower. Or so was her excuse. Rippotis raised an eyebrow as she led him to a private room.

“It’s unlike you to rude to a guest, much less an ally, Heigiosa.”

Heigiosa sighed.

“I am happy that your mission has apparently been a success, general. That you even secured their help in this coup is nothing short of miraculous and I am grateful they returned you to us with all due haste. But…of all the fair folk who you could have brought back, the pixie queen is the most problematic. Can we really trust her?”

Rippotis nodded.

“That is fair, but for now we can. I’ve already agreed to hand over some of the traitors’ Towers to her and her allies when this is all said and done. The easiest way for her to get what she wants is to help us as best she can.”

Heigiosa’s face darkened.

“…that is already unfortunate, but under the circumstances it could not have been helped. Still…is that wise, general? Will she not warp the minds of our fellow humans?”

Rippotis shrugged.

“I expected her to. I’m honestly surprised she didn’t take over Stadvolous and his army, that would’ve all but ended this war right then and there.”

Heigiosa’s eyes widened and she stared at him in shock. Rippotis made a self-deprecating smile.

“I’ve established terms on the innocent people living underneath the Towers she will take, she will not be permitted to do with them as she pleases. But at present…I do not feel any strong desire to extend that consideration to our enemies.”

Heigiosa took a deep breath and sighed.

“Even so…well, I suppose if anyone deserves it, it’s a Sorcerer King. Still, I don’t like this, Rippotis. And neither will the rest of the Conclave. If they see her at our side, they might believe us to be under her influence. The traitor could take advantage of that…perhaps it would be best to keep her involvement quiet?”

Rippotis, however, stood firm and looked Heigiosa in the eyes.

“I considered that. However, after meeting with Tower Keeper Belissar and learning how the Conclave has treated him, I’ve come to believe we have done humanity a great disservice by concealing the truth. Moreover, the God of Light herself wishes for every living thing in this world to unite against the Hunger, does she not? If we are to right all of our wrongs and if we are to fulfill the God of Light’s desire, then we must be willing to openly stand by those we do not wish to. Even if it makes things harder.”

Heigiosa crossed her arms.

“…that’s not fair, Rippotis. Using the God of Light's words against me.”

Rippotis chuckled. Heigiosa stared at him.

“…fine. I’ll follow your lead, general. And…if we are done concealing the truth…then there is one more matter we should discuss, before we begin all the work ahead of us…”

Heigiosa then stepped forward, grabbed his face, and pulled him into a kiss. The General of the Dragon Banner Army lost his composure and his eyes went as wide as they could go when she finally released him.

“Heigiosa?!”

She smiled at him.

“You were devoted to your war, I was devoted to breaking the God of Light’s silence, and we agreed not to be too close lest we unbalance the High Council. You have been sent on a mission to make peace, I have heard the God of Light and learned her silence had nothing to do with our wrongs, and thanks to the traitor there is no longer any point in considering the High Council…if there ever was. And even if it were not for all that, to see you now, after the betrayal, after you stuck far away and alone…I would not have held back any longer. So don’t tell me we will conceal this while we reveal the pixie queen, of all things.”

She paused, then blinked, then made a scowl.

“Unless, of course, I am mistaken about our feelings?”

Rippotis replied to that by pulling her in for a kiss of his own.

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