Path of the Hive Queen

It was the first time Galatea visited this shrine, which, upon reflection, was surprising. After all, she got on well with Iseis. She’d even go so far as to say they were forming a friendship. Working together (in a sense) to try and save Janis from the curse had probably helped. And Iseis was an interesting partner to research soul magic with. Aside from her, it also wasn’t like Galatea had any reason to fear Leian or avoid her temples.

She supposed she’d just seen no reason to seek this space out before. Whatever the complexities of their friendship, she certainly didn’t worship Leian as a goddess. Not that she doubted her ‘godhood’, she just wasn’t her goddess.

But she’d been looking for Iseis today, and it had led her here, naturally.

The old priestess was currently collecting burned-out candles in the shrine, scraping off any wax and replacing them with new ones. The stumps were tossed carelessly into a basket, while she kept the new candles unlit. There was a broom leaning against the left wall, Galatea noted.

“Give me a moment, Galatea, I’ll be right with you,” Iseis said absently.

“Are you really doing all the cleaning and tending the shrine yourself?” Galatea asked curiously.

Iseis glanced at the broom and then shrugged slightly. “It is my job,” she said. “I wouldn’t know how to let someone else do this. It’s hardly a big temple. Although, now that I think of it, I suppose a few people have volunteered.”

“Perhaps you should give them a chance,” Galatea suggested.

“You just want me to have more time available for doing research with you,” Iseis answered, but there was an undertone of amusement in her voice.

Galatea didn’t dignify that with a response. Instead, she looking around again as she came closer. “How are you handling this transition with worship of your goddess becoming a real faith for people? I imagine it’s an adjustment.”

“A ‘real’ faith? Ha, thank you so much.” Iseis sighed, placing the last of the candles and dusting off her hands as she turned to face her. “You’re not completely wrong, though. Ever since I came north, I’ve been playing a different role than before. Becoming a court priestess wasn’t in my plans. And it’s only gotten stranger the last few months. I don’t mind it, though.”

Galatea nodded. That made sense. It was good that Iseis wasn’t upset; for an old woman, she seemed pretty adaptable.

“But you didn’t come here to ask me about that, did you?” Iseis asked. “Can I do something for you?”

Galatea crossed the room again, glancing at the altar. “Mostly, I wanted to check if you had heard anything from Leian. Any information on our enemies would be helpful. Or anything else, really.”

“Unfortunately, nothing very useful,” Iseis sighed. “You already discovered the army they sent, and I think Leian is looking into how our enemies managed to hide them, but it’s probably a combination of distributing their recruitment over a wide area and help from Etainas. I think she’s more interested in what the gods are up to than details of their armies’ movements; that’s the kind of thing you can find out without help.”

“I guess so,” Galatea said. “Thank you, anyway.”

It was true that she had been scrying, and although she felt like she’d failed to detect this enemy army in time, at least she had detected it. She had also found several places where more troops were being assembled, far away from Esemen or the Western Confederation. It wasn’t always easy to tell if those soldiers were actually intended to join this war, or were just being raised because of local conflicts, though. Still, she could keep an eye on them. And she was confident their enemies hadn’t hidden any major armies anywhere close to the Empire.

“I am no general, but I believe we have still got some time before they directly impact the war,” Iseis said. “Which is perhaps a good thing. It seems we might have a few things to sort out here.”

Galatea nodded. She paused for a moment. “Did Janis speak to you?”

“Briefly. And why do I get the feeling you were planning to ask me that, Galatea?”

“She’s talked to a few people, and I’m pretty sure she sent a few letters to Tim and a few others, too,” Galatea said. “I assume you know why.”

“Well, the recent tension between the empress and the princess has been noticeable, at least if you are familiar with them,” Iseis acknowledged. “I’m not surprised you’re concerned, although I wouldn’t worry too much about it. They’re bound to disagree occasionally. Really, that it hasn’t happened like this before is remarkable.”

“Hm, I suppose you have a point. This is the first time they’ve had such a political fight.”

“Yes. What I’m more curious about is where you stand on the matter.”

Galatea stayed quiet at that question for a moment. Not because she was hesitant about whether she could trust Iseis, of course — even if the old elf went and told Regina everything she said, she’d just laugh, and it wasn’t like anyone else could be offended. No, it was simply because she was a little conflicted herself.

“In principle, I’m inclined to agree with Janis,” she finally said. “There needs to be more actual democratic participation in the Empire, and while it is still at war, I think it might be best to establish some things now, rather than wait until we have to deal with the aftermath of the war. If we lose, it might not matter, but if we win, it would be good to have some experience establishing local councils and parliaments that they can use for new territories. And it will go a long way to calm down the gnomes. There’s also the ideological aspect to consider. But Regina is right that it might be disruptive, and we really need to be unified right now, so the two of them fighting about it is bad timing.”

“You’re not concerned about Regina’s willingness to follow through with such democratization?” Iseis asked casually. “Do you think Janis is?”

Galatea hesitated for a moment. “I trust Regina, she’s my friend. But, there are a lot of sayings about how absolute power corrupts. It’s hard to give up power once you have it. So …” she sighed. “I don’t know. If Janis was indeed starting to question Regina’s willingness, I don’t think you could blame her. But I don’t think we’re really at such a point yet. The two of them are still family and they love each other deeply.”

Iseis nodded. “Maybe someone should remind them of it,” she said softly.

"Is that a hint?”

She shrugged. “If you want to take it that way. How does Queen Kiara stand in all this?”

“Good question,” Galatea mused. “I think she wants to support Janis, but doesn’t really agree with her on the matter at hand. She’s mostly kept quiet so far, but if this does develop into a real political fight, I expect she’d be on Janis’ side.”

“And the Hive wouldn’t undermine their Hive Queen, regardless,” Iseis mused.

Galatea chuckled. “Yes. I know some of them have their own opinions, but they’re not going to intervene or do anything that could be construed as being against Regina. And they don’t feel like it would change things for them, anyway; the Hive will keep being ruled by Regina. I don’t think they’ve even realized that they’re Imperial citizens and they’ll have the vote, too.”

It was a little ironic that the Hivekind were, arguably, ruled by an autocratic monarchy. Of course, they weren’t humans or elves, and their social organization was different, and not really comparable; they were too alien. After all, they were actually sort of a hive mind, even if not the kind that precluded individuality. But she’d seen them reacting to Regina’s emotions, even subtly. And Galatea suspected Regina was also more influenced by their collective emotions than she was necessarily completely aware of.

“Perhaps not the champions of democracy that this world might wish for, though perhaps the ones it deserves,” Iseis agreed with an amused smile. “Now, if you don’t have somewhere else to be, you could participate in a little thing I have planned.”

Galatea paused, surprised. A ritual? She’d never done that sort of thing before, or expected Iseis to invite anyone. “Sure, I have time. But what did you have in mind? Some ceremony or ritual?”

Iseis grinned, a quick flash of teeth. “Communing with the undead.”

She walked off and Galatea stared after her for a moment, surprised. Then she followed her, curious what Iseis was going to do.

It seemed there was a hidden staircase in the small chamber adjoining the main shrine room, concealed behind a wall hanging that had seemed fixed to the floor. Galatea watched curiously as Iseis opened it and led her down. There was a domed vault beneath the shrine, round with a slight incline of the roof — it looked like a hidden ritual room, she realized. And the mana of the place was noticeable, too; there were protections built into the walls, ceiling and floor. Being underground as well, this would probably make it almost impossible to scry into the room. Maybe even for the gods? And that was if one knew it was there. She hadn’t looked for it, so couldn’t say whether she’d have found it if she had, but the magical concealment was still impressive.

“Did you make this?” Galatea wondered.

Iseis shrugged, smiling slightly. “I had help.”

She took out a few items from a shelf and started quickly laying out a ritual circle. Galatea watched, interested. It didn’t look like a particularly complicated setup, actually, and she recognized most of the elements. It was definitely some kind of magical ritual, instead of a religious ceremony. (Though with Leian, she supposed it was possible it might be both.)

“So, are you doing necromancy, or just speaking to a certain dead spirit?” Galatea asked.

Iseis gave her a look. “As if I could do actual necromancy even if I wanted to. I don’t think that would be a good idea. No, the latter.”

Well, she was probably right about that, Galatea thought. There were also no corpses to animate if it had been that kind of necromancy. Good thing, too.

Iseis placed the last few objects, pulled mana into the ritual circle, and tossed in some dust — was that bone dust? Hopefully not. She said a few phrases in a language Galatea vaguely recognized; hesitating enough to make it clear this wasn’t something Iseis was used to, she noted.

The actual effect of the ritual was a bit underwhelming. The mana dissipated, some of it flowing into a circle around them, and then there was a soft popping sound. She suspected that might have been purely aesthetic. And now, Berren hovered inside the ritual circle, slowly drifting out of the inner circle.

“Iseis,” he greeted her with a nod, then paused and nodded at her, too. “Galatea. An unexpected pleasure.”

“Likewise.” Galatea gave Iseis a look. “Have you done this often?”

“No, this is actually the first time. Although he did tell me I could do it.”

“Your mastery of basic local rituals is, at least, competent,” Berren noted. “That’s good.”

“What exactly did this ritual do, if I may ask?” Galatea asked. “It didn’t seem like much more than a simple discharge of magic and an attempt to hide what is happening here?”

“That’s right,” Iseis said. “It’s mostly for secrecy, to hide our conversation, and a simple beacon to summon Berren. But it didn’t transport him here; I assume he did that on his own.”

“Indeed. Now, for what reason did you ask me here, priestess of the One Remaining?”

Iseis visibly braced herself, straightening up and setting her shoulders. Galatea watched as Berren slowly drifted through the center of the room a few centimeters at a time. He didn’t make any pretense of having a physical body. She found it interesting because, while she could vaguely sense his mana, it was a very different construct from what made up her own form. She tried to focus on seeing his soul, but it was not something she had gained great proficiency with, so it would probably take her a little while.

“I did have a few questions, Lord Berren,” Iseis said, then hesitated for a moment. “To start with, has there been any progress in determining where our enemies got knowledge of soul magic? Have you or Leian found any clues regarding what they cast on Janis?”

“Nothing I am at liberty to discuss,” Berren replied.

Iseis frowned, and Galatea felt like doing the same. “What? This is important, and we should be kept informed. It concerns our friends and allies.”

“Still, this matter is not something that should be handled casually,” Berren said. “I cannot tell you. You are working for a psychic, surely I don’t have to explain information security to you two?”

Galatea stepped closer to Iseis and gave her a look, trying to tell her to drop the question. She was pretty sure Berren couldn’t or wouldn’t say anything else.

She also kept metaphorically looking at him. Galatea finally managed to see his soul; it did seem easier than with a person who had a flesh-and-blood body. Surprisingly, it didn’t look that different from a normal human’s soul, though. It was definitely Berren, and she saw the tether that connected him to Leian. He was also clearly aware they might be looking at his soul, and its surface layers were surprisingly static, hiding the quick flashes of movement and ‘color’ that could inform a watcher about someone’s state of mind. She was pretty sure that was a technique and not something about his nature, given what Iseis had described previously.

“Fine, I understand,” Iseis finally said. “But if there was something that directly affected us and put us in danger, you would tell us, wouldn’t you, my lord?”

“I’d try,” he agreed.

That’s probably the best we could hope for, Galatea reflected. And it seems like there probably is something. They must have made at least a little progress. Otherwise, he would have just said there was nothing, right?

“Is there any other news we should know?” she asked. “Any enemy armies we have missed, for example?”

“Perhaps,” Berren said with a slight smirk. Then he looked at Iseis and sighed, in a theatrically put-upon way. “Fine. I haven’t noticed any, though this doesn’t rule out enemies that are particularly well-hidden. I haven’t made an effort to search for them.”

“That’s still good to know, thank you,” Galatea replied politely.

“Did you really call me here only to ask me questions like this?” he complained.

“Well, I had a final question,” Iseis said, smiling slightly. “Unsurprisingly, I’m sure. Could you teach us more of soul magic? Particularly anything that would be useful in the war, or to fight … our enemies?”

Berren crossed his arms and seemed to consider her for a second. “My mistress might be cross with me if I handed you dangerous knowledge,” he said after a second. “Even if you had earned it.”

“Leian trusts me, I believe, and Galatea is her friend,” Iseis answered calmly. “We’re not asking for the keys to life and death.”

“Perhaps,” he said, audibly skeptical. “And have you earned such a boon?”

“We’ve made quite a bit of progress, with our own experiments,” Galatea said.

He waved dismissively. “That’s not what I meant. Have you done anything truly worthy of reward? Have you any reason why I should give you something you want?”

Galatea would have rolled her eyes if she had them. “Ah, I see. Well, Iseis became a Champion of a god. You could consider it a congratulatory gift? And I am a self-willed artificial organism originally coded by a fallen civilization who is now a living being made of mana. I’d think that’s worth something. Don’t you want to see what I can do?”

Berren looked at her for a moment. Galatea wished she was psychic enough to tell what he was thinking. Then he smiled. “Well, I suppose that is a worthy enough cause.”

He waved a hand, and a book appeared in front of them. She sensed the spatial magic and wondered if he’d teleported it. It looked small; more of a thin diary than a massive tome.

“There is some basic information regarding the soul and innate magic of various entities in here,” Berren said, tapping the book. “As well as perhaps one or two ‘interesting’ tidbits, if you can gather them. Have fun. I expect you to put some effort into studying it, or this will be the last gift of mine you receive.”

Iseis smiled widely. “That is more than I expected. Thank you, Lord Berren, we won’t disappoint you.”

“We’ll see about that.” Berren nodded at them one last time, and then he was gone.

Galatea looked at the place he’d been, considering the spatial magic he’d left. It was interesting. She wasn’t entirely sure, bu shet could venture a guess that he’d teleported to another place in this ‘plane’ rather than returning to the Mirrored Halls.

Well, that was it. She returned her attention to the book, which Iseis had already picked up — Berren had let it drop from the air, probably on purpose, he was a jerk — but it didn’t seem damaged. She was smiling again.

Galatea was just as excited. This could be very interesting, even if it didn’t help them with any practical skills. And she wouldn’t back down from a challenge.