Path of the Hive Queen

Armin rode his overgrown salamander mount beside and slightly behind Madris, arms crossed, and watched the Loyalist delegation with keen eyes. The other dark elves to his sides faded from his awareness as he scrutinized the enemy across from him, looking for signs of deception, considering their strength and how it stacked up against the Reformist group.

In fact, he recognized many of them from the Gathering of the Councils. There were many politically connected and influential matriarchs who had attended it and were now among the leadership of the Loyalist faction in this civil war. He hadn’t spoken much with any of them, though. They were accompanied by some aides and guards, and what seemed to be some high-ranking members of the military; he recognized some of them, too. From the reports, Armin knew that the split of the central army was a lot more even among the top than among the lower ranks, who’d mostly defected to the Reformists (or helped form that faction, really, if you looked at the Brotherhood). But most of them were still on his side. Just not much more than half.

Considering the sizes of their respective delegations and, more importantly, the fact that neither side would trust the other not to try and ambush or gas them if they met in an area they controlled, they were meeting on ‘neutral ground’. It hadn’t been easy to settle on that. But this cavern was about halfway between the headquarters of their respective forces, wide enough to allow space for everyone, and very long with no branching side tunnels, so it could be secured and no one would be able to send ambush forces without being discovered.

(Armin was one of only three non-dark elves present. There was a gnome with the Reformists and, surprisingly enough, a dwarf with the Loyalists, both women.)

Both sides reined their mounts in with about ten paces between them. “I see you won’t bow before your Sovereign, as would be proper,” Eminent Mistress Anevien spoke up.

“Our backs don’t bend easily,” Orfin called back.

“Could have fooled me,” she replied coolly. “You certainly spent enough time serving the Eternal Dark capably, as you should have kept doing, soldier. The rest of you, as well.”

Sarkol shrugged slightly, with practiced disdain. “Well, what can I say? It gets old. I’ve heard we’re too stupid and short-sighted to make strategic decisions of worth. So we decided to revolt and get a seat at the table. That’s what they call falsifying a hypothesis, I believe.”

Armin couldn’t help but smile at the quick retort. It was amusing. He noticed the Hegemon’s gaze slide past, lingering on him for a moment.

“It’s truly astounding that you let your own soldiers speak like that. Truly no wonder your army is a disorganized mess,” she said, speaking to the nobles and ignoring the soldiers present pointedly. Her gaze stopped on Madris. “So, you are back, Ulaven.”

“That I am,” Madris replied pleasantly. “So nice to see you’re still afraid of me. I suppose the more things change, the more they stay the same … especially down here.”

“You must be delusional,” Anevien replied. “Has the surface cooked your brain, what little of it you possessed?” She put enough unconcern and derision in her tone to show her feelings, without being overdone. Nothing about her looked afraid.

Armin wasn’t sure if Madris was telling the truth, or just trying to discredit her enemy; either way, he had to acknowledge that the Hegemon was not an easy opponent.

Of course, this was the woman who had not hesitated to string up dozens of people from her own house, including kin, for suspected sympathies with the revolt.

“Perhaps we can stop sniping at each other and move on to the true point of this meeting?” Mistress Epiren suggested.

“Certainly, let us not draw out this farce much longer,” Anevien responded. “I will be direct: You are all in rebellion against the lawful governance of the Eternal Dark, and thus traitors to our people. If you had concerns, you should have brought them up at the Gathering.” Sarkol and a few other scoffed, but she ignored them. “However, in light of the situation and to avoid further bloodshed, I am willing to pardon you. Recognize my authority and see the rule of law restored, and you will be punished, but keep your life. If you keep fighting us, I won’t be as merciful going forward.”

There were a few angry mutters from the Reformist side, and Madris held up her hand slightly. “What exactly are you planning?” she asked. “Say we accept, what will you do and how could we trust your promises?”

Anevien nodded slightly as if acknowledging the point. “I will publicly swear to this promise in addition to signing the pardons commuting your sentences. Your houses will also be allowed to retain some of your private troops. You, Madris, will be exiled, along with those few people who are your followers,” she glanced at Armin again for a moment. “Your house will be dissolved, but you can go back to whatever you were doing; I would assume you can be content with that. Anyone of your allies who chooses to may also follow you. The rest will lose their positions in the councils and those who formed your governing council will serve short sentences. After twelve years have passed, your children may take up leadership of your houses and regain your customary positions.”

Armin glanced at the Reformist leaders. He could see several of them looking thoughtful. It was a fairly generous deal, by his estimation. It looks like she really wants to avoid a battle, I suppose? he mused.

“And us?” Alve asked. “Will you demote us? Kick us out of the army?”

Anevien’s gaze was noticeably cooler as she looked at him. “By rights, I should hang you all for mutiny,” she said. “But you can count yourselves lucky. Ordinary soldiers will be reintegrated into the army. Officers will be demoted or discharged, pending an evaluation of their actions. The ringleaders of your ‘Brotherhood’ may choose between exile, and imprisonment before returning to serve their houses in other, non-soldierly capacities.”

“If you have honor, you will choose the second option,” another Loyalist mistress Armin didn’t know added.

The soldiers ignored her, but by the slight tightening around Sarkol’s eyes and Orfin’s slight shifting, he could tell they’d heard it. It was still honestly more generous than Armin had assumed she would be; it was rather obvious she considered the Free Men of Elasetiahval (he still wasn’t entirely clear on what that name referred to, but was starting to think it was an inside joke) more offensive than her fellow nobles fighting her.

“I am afraid we will have to refuse, despite your generosity,” Tedis Oliren said. “I appreciate the effort, however; it was surprisingly reasonable.”

“Don’t answer me just yet,” Anevien responded with another haughty look. “Take some time to think. Perhaps reason will prevail. But if I have not received a messenger from you within two days, I will assume you reject my generous offer.”

“Fair enough,” Vares replied, quickly silencing a few others who’d also tried to speak. “We will see each other on the battlefield, unless you choose to stay behind.”

Anevien inclined her head just slightly, then turned her mount around. Her escort shifted as well.

“Well, that was quick,” Armin muttered.

Vares, who had made her own salamander mount step back a bit and gotten closer to him, chuckled. “About as much as I had expected.”

Their group turned to leave as well, with a few of the soldiers staying to watch for nasty surprises. Armin remained quiet as they started on the way back. It hadn’t been quite what he had expected.

“They are trying to divide us,” Vares said after a minute.

“Well, obviously,” Madris replied. She glanced back, and she and Vares exchanged a look that Armin found a bit difficult to read. Then they both smiled slightly and Vares inclined her head a fraction.

“We haven’t even lost any major battles yet,” Armin pointed out. “Why would any of our allies want to simply give up now, even if she offers generous conditions?”

They had fought before, of course. Even here, clashes between the Loyalist and Reformist forces were almost constant, though they’d trailed off in the lead-up to this meeting. Both sides had been hesitant to commit major ‘force concentration’ to the battle yet (according to Sarkol), but they’d certainly bloodied each other’s noses. And this wasn’t like a conventional army battle up on the surface; given the Eternal Dark’s underground tunnels they operated in, assembling a single large force for a pitched battle just didn’t make sense. Maybe if it was a major open space housing a city, but that wasn’t really the case here. Instead, it was all a network of forces positioned at various tunnels and caverns, which they would try to strike at, hold or take from the enemy. Positioning was the key thing. Coordination between different but dispersed parts of their forces was also really important. And the Reformists hadn’t done too badly with all that, so far.

“Some people are cowards at heart,” Vares said disdainfully. “They might have only now realized what they have gotten into. But it’s not just about the immediate situation, Armin. This offer will linger in their thoughts. Eventually, if we start losing, people will be tempted to start defecting to Anevien. After all, how bad could it be?”

He grimaced. The reports they had received suggested the answer to that could be ‘very bad’. But he understood what she was saying.

“She’s treated women from prominent houses rather well so far, by all accounts,” Madris added. “Maybe she hopes to establish herself as the ‘proper’ option to defend their interests. And it will encourage people with second thoughts. On the upside, I believe that the officers will be much more aware of how little goodwill they can expect with her, not to speak of the common soldiers. And they have a cause to fight for.”

“Will you be able to tell if and when people start having these second thoughts?” Vares asked Madris.

There was a pause, Madris staying quiet before she responded. “Yes and no. I will not go digging into my allies’ brains without good cause. At least not enough to sense more than momentary plans. And while I’ve been gone for a while, it’s obvious that anti-psychic measures haven’t entirely declined. You have rather good mental shields yourself. And many of our fellows seem to be disciplined enough to hide deeper goals and intentions from casual detection.”

Vares smiled, inclining her head. “I will take that as a compliment. Thank you. I suppose you can still at least confirm it when we have reason to accuse someone?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, yes.”

They kept riding in silence for a minute. Armin looked around. Their delegation had dissolved into different small groups, speaking to each other on the way back. Ferdis was slowing down to catch up with Sarkol and a few other soldiers. Tedis was deep in discussion with Orfin, though.

“I did notice that there are remarkably few psychics around,” Madris said.

“As we’ve discussed, we are trying to recruit those we can and send them to you for further instruction,” Vares replied. “I am aware they will be lacking by your standards, but surely there will still be some strong potentials?”

Madris hummed noncommittally. Armin glanced between them. He knew what she had been getting at.

“What happened to the others?” he asked.

Vares hesitated. “I believe a few were assassinated,” she admitted after a moment. “Powerful individuals with little connection to the big families, and ones who might go digging up buried secrets rather easily — Well. Those may live dangerous lives in the Eternal Dark. Plus, Madris may have established an idea of what a powerful psychic could do, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some Eminent Mistresses took it upon themselves to nip potential ‘second comings’ in the bud.”

“That’s …” Madris sighed. “I suppose I already knew, but it is still disappointing to have confirmation.”

“It’s not your fault,” Vares assured her. “Your actions in the last war may be the reason the government didn’t collapse. Or that half the Eternal Dark isn’t ruled by dwarves right now. Don’t take this on your shoulders.”

Madris gave her a deadpan look. “I was going to say it was shortsighted and self-destructive. For our people as a whole, most of all. But thank you for the encouragement.”

Armin looked around at the other dark elves in the group again, noting who was talking to whom. A few people, those closest to them, were looking over, but they seemed to decide to stay out of the conversation. Sarkol smirked slightly at him when their gazes met.

“What are your plans now, Madris?” Vares finally asked.

“Plans?” Madris shrugged. “I intend to help the Reformists win this war. What else?”

“That almost sounds like you don’t consider yourself one of us; a Reformist,” she noted.

“No, I suppose I am one, for all intents and purposes.” Madris frowned slightly. “I am just unsure if I will remain here in the future.”

“You’re going to leave again?”

“I am not sure yet, as I said.”

Armin glanced at Madris again. They hadn’t really talked much about that. But it didn’t surprise him to hear it, anyway. He’d noticed the way she looked at things.

“And you, Armin?” Vares asked, smiling at him. “Will you stay with her? Or even stay without her?”

“Maybe for a while,” he answered after a moment of consideration. “I don’t think I will stay long-term in the Eternal Dark, but I don’t feel any urge to leave just yet. Beyond that, we will have to see.”

“Of course,” she muttered. “Well, my door is always open, regardless.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“Open for what, I wonder?” Madris muttered, raising an eyebrow and giving him a look. “Please don’t give me any details.”

They laughed. Vares smiled back at Madris, although it was a bit more of a smirk. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Even if I did, it’s not like Armin would stop sleeping with you if he didn’t want to stop,” Madris replied. “And his affairs are his business, not mine.”

“Shame, I was thinking if you might like an invitation …”

“Vares!” Armin reached over to push her, only just managing to get her shoulder; he didn’t have the reach for a real punch like this. “Besides, we haven’t even done anything since we returned …” he muttered.

“Alright, that’s my cue to speak to Tedis. I will see you later.” Madris nodded at Vares, then spurred her mount on slightly to catch up to her stepmother and another group further away.

Vares neatly filled the space she’d just vacated, smiling — more like grinning — at Armin. What was it with everyone being so expressive today. “I think I might have some free time tomorrow if you want to visit. Or maybe we can work together; I’ve been considering applications of shadow magic, and there are a few tests I’ve been wanting to try.”

Armin ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “Of course. Sure.” He paused. “As long as it’s still just fun.”

“Of course,” Vares murmured. “I hardly think we would have a future, anyway. Especially since you’re planning to leave. And not to be offensive, but I don’t think I would want to marry someone with a much shorter lifespan, anyway — although I suppose yours isn’t as short as some random human peasant.”

“Wow, thank you,” he muttered, sarcastically. “I won’t turn decrepit any time soon, don’t worry. But that’s good. I’ve been wanting to see if you’ve come up with a new song, anyway.”

“I’ll play one for you tomorrow,” she promised.

Armin smiled again. He supposed it was nice that even in the middle of a war, life went on.