Chapter 150: Woe Bee to the Vanquished
Belissar just watched the soldiers throughout the Tower with his tower sight, smiling as he did. He didn’t know if he had made the best choice, but it certainly felt like the right one. He returned his sight to normal.
“Ok...I think that’s all for now. Let’s get back to work.”
Most of the queens saluted, but then the First of the Fifth crawled forward.
“King...First of the Eighth has a question. Can ask?”
Belissar broke out into a wide smile as he nodded.
“Of course. You all can always ask me anything!”
The First of the Fifth did a quick “King is best king!” dance before catching herself and dancing towards another queen, one with purple stripes. The Apiary’s maddening queen, the First of the Eighth apparently, flew forward and performed a salute dance, then launched into her question.
“King...workers found human alive in pit when filling honey trap. What should we do? Should sting?”
Belissar froze.
“What?”
He zoomed with his tower sight to the Dirt Tunnels and quickly found the problem. There, in the final pit trap in the Dirt Tunnels’ exit corridor, was one of the Tower guards, coated in maddening honey with the remnants of a dirt bridge scattered around him. He frowned as he rubbed his chin. There was a lot going on in the fight but he guessed he vaguely recalled someone falling into a Pit Trap on the initial charge?
Well, he guessed no one else recalled either since the bees didn’t set it on fire. He was about to give the command on reflex, but the words caught in his throat.
The man was groaning. He appeared to be trying to speak but his face wasn’t moving. The rest of his body stayed still, save for the occasional twitch of a finger. His eyes were somewhat unfocused but began to quiver any time a bee approached.
Belissar crossed his arms. This man, while one of the Tower Guards, was no longer a threat. He had most likely, and still was, paralyzed from being drenched in maddening honey. He couldn’t even move.
He was one of the Tower Guards, one of the men who burned his home and slaughtered his village. He had come along with the Tower Lord’s son to attack Belissar’s new home, resulting in the deaths of many bees. And yet...now that he was lying completely helpless at the bottom of a pit, Belissar hesitated to give the order to just end the man’s life. Not when he had an alternative method of dealing with him.
He heaved a sigh and turned to Chief Rohsuak.
“...would you be able to handle a third prisoner?”
Chief Rohsuak saluted.
“Of course, Sacred Den Master.”
Belissar nodded at her.
“Thanks.”
And then he turned back to the bees.
“Let’s get him out of the pit, then, and take him to the karnuq. Oh, um, don’t kill him, unless he starts moving and attacks or something.”
The bees saluted.
“Sacred Den Master, I do have a question on that topic.”
Belissar turned to Chief Rohsuak and nodded for her to continue.
“Do you have any plans regarding these prisoners? In particular, we are not able to speak with them, so we may need your assistance depending on what you wish to do with them.”
Belissar tilted his head.
“You...can’t speak with them? Why? Are they refusing to talk?”
“Is he...?”
Belissar shook his head.
“We found him in one of the pits. He’s alive.”
The young man slowly nodded. At first he moved to sit back down, but paused as Belissar remained. He slowly straightened himself.
“Do you wish to speak with us, Tower Lord, sir?”
Belissar scowled.
“Don’t call me that.”
Even Belissar was surprised at how he spat the words out. Niobee, who was sitting on his head, and the soldier bees began to buzz their wings in response. The young man took a step back with his hands held up and bowed his head.
“I apologize.”
Belissar took a deep breath.
“It’s...look, I’m not fond of the Tower Lords. Not anymore. Call me Tower Keeper, or Sacred Den Master, or any other name for it. Just not Tower Lord.”
The young man’s face fell and he nodded.
“I understand, Tower Keeper.”
Belissar sighed once more.
“Ok...then, I have questions for you.”
The young man slowly nodded.
“I figured. What do you wish to know, Tower Keeper?”
Belissar narrowed his eyes.
“I need to know how you got here. How did you find me, how far did you travel and from what direction? And how soon can we expect more of you?”
The young man turned his gaze down to the ground and let his shoulders droop.
“You shouldn’t expect any of us.”
Belissar paused at that.
“What? What do you mean?”
The young man took a deep breath.
“We weren’t intended to survive. After what happened in your village, the lord of Starami Tower was really upset. I heard the Conclave got involved too. We were sent out as the first wave with an intentionally small force. We were supposed to die. So...I don’t think any of them care about following us.”
Belissar was processing this when Metsaitti suddenly grunted.
“Sacred Den Master, the man in the back flinched. I think he knows something.”
Belissar turned his gaze to the old man, who had tried to go back to leaning against the wall. But his eyes were focused now, and he was averting his gaze.
“You there. What do you know?”