Chapter 34: The Biggest Stinker

I followed just above Leah, and I was a bit worried.

"Leah, I don't want you to kill any of them if you don't have to, but I also will not have you getting hurt. Just get her out of there, but Bee mindful of what might be going on," I explained to Leah as she marched over.

"I will be fine, and I won't kill any, but if they start acting rowdy," Leah said, leaving the sentence unfinished.

I know that, and that's why I want you to be careful; I wish we had the boys with us. They could be having a meeting, but something tells me that it might be more than that," I said, trying to keep the worry out of my voice.

The heat of my anger had cooled, but I was still upset. I needed to get my emotions into place; this could all be a misunderstanding.

Leah approached the group, and we immediately had the crowd turn to us. None of them looked angry, and I was thankful for that; the crowd even parted for us.

This was a relief, and I had spoken too quickly earlier in my anger to Leah. Now I lowered down to stand in front of her.

I looked around at the people who were all being silent and waited. Then they separated and made a long open path to the large hut.

What surprised me was how all the people bowed to me, like I was a real Queen. Something about that made a rod go into my back, and I stood up straight and proud.

I guess that I didn't need to have a large castle to be still recognized as royalty. I was thankful that we were able to get inside quickly and no problems.

Leah pulled aside the hanging grass door, and the two of us entered. I wasn't sure if knocking was really going to do anything, and if they saw me do it, they might think I was judging the quality of the building.

Inside was a group of ten Skunk Folk, and Miasma was standing in the middle on a small stage. Everyone had stopped talking when we entered, and Miasma ran over to me from the stage.

"My Queen! You returned just like you said you would!" Miasma said as she hugged me, Bee-ing careful of my wings.

"Of course I have! I did tell you that I would be back, and I was surprised and worried when I couldn't find you," I told Miasma as we pulled apart a bit but still held each other.

"I am sorry, but someone told me about those black Bees I had seen, but they also told me a problem," Miasma said as I stared into her purple gemstone eyes and barely heard what she said, but I shook my head in a yes anyway.

"Hehe, so that's why you talk about her differently, but I can see the attraction," joked the deep and hearty voice of the biggest stinker, I mean skunk of them all.

"This is Ashia, Queen of…" Miasma started to explain but trailed off at the last part, looking to me for help, but I just shrugged my shoulders and let her go to formally introduce myself.

"I am Ashia, a Queen Bee, and not really the Queen of anything at the moment, but I am working on that. I hear that you have a problem, and that problem is becoming other peoples, the Nightmares specifically," I explained to who I assumed had to be Malodor, the Chief; they were always the biggest, most of the time.

"Hmm, Queen of Nothing, you say? The rest of the men were just joking about how hard it was not to bow our head to you when you just walked in here like you owned the place, hahaha! I am Malodor, Chief of this smelly lot!" Malodor said while smacking his fist to his chest like he was stabbing himself.

"Sorry about that, but you still didn't respond to my statement. The one where I implied that you were dumping your waste into the river and poisoning the Nightmares drinking water?" I asked while stepping forward to the group of far large men, but they didn't intimidate me; it was the reverse.

When I stepped up to the group, all but the Chief stepped back, and something told me that he was forcing himself not to do the same. I didn't let that affect my mood, and I floated into the air with the soft buzz of my wings.

I wanted to be at eye level with him, and looking up like that would make my neck sore, or I could get a kink. None of those things sounded like a good time, so floating a foot off the ground was the better option.

"Yes, we have been dumping our waste in the river, but we have a reason, temporary fixes, and we are working on a solution, but it's not as easy as it sounds. Our spray, as I am sure that you already know, can dispel magical effects, but what's leftover is very harmful," Malodor explained, but I gave him one of those, "oh really, you don't say?" looks.

"So you know it's harmful, but you still put it in the drinking water of the Nightmares?" I asked with incredulity.

"No, No, I found a rock a long time ago that is able to suck the poison out of the water, but it can't completely purify the water. Are you in a hurry?" Malodor asked me, but I shook my head no. "Good, come, little niece, let's show your little Queen the Burned Gorge."

"What is that?' I asked, turning to Miasma.

"It's the place that we used to dump our waste. No words can really explain it properly without actually seeing it for yourself," Miasma said with a tired look.

Burned Gorge? What was in the spray? I had a feeling that this was not going to help me figure anything out, but they were trying to explain their reasons to me, and I was in no hurry.