Path of the Hive Queen

Tim had usually wished he was back in the capital or with the others of his ‘generation’ of the Hive for simple, selfish reasons. Wanting to be within the psychic link, speak to those closest to him, that kind of thing. He’d never wished to go back this fervently because he was feeling completely locked out of the loop, unable to even react to what was happening in a reasonable timeframe, let alone give any inputs on the decisions.

When he’d first gotten news, at first he’d thought the messenger was playing a prank on him or there was something wrong with the message. These Mesen, the people who’d originally attacked the world the gods and all other races but humans came from, were here? What the hell was he supposed to do about that?

Well, not panic, follow his orders, and make sure he was prepared to deal with what was coming; that’s what. He still really wanted to go back, but Tim knew he was probably needed here, with this army, even more. He had to anchor the Empire’s eastern flank.

And also figure out how to stand down to a more defensive posture. Apparently.

Not that he didn’t see the logic; with a potentially apocalyptic threat on the horizon, or at least extreme danger, trying to preserve as much of the Empire’s armies as possible made sense. Especially if they might still come to a truce with their enemies, though the last news he’d gotten made that seem unlikely. He still wasn’t completely sure everyone else understood the scope of the situation and their reaction. Even June had seemed annoyed and irritated at the change, and probably not as fearful as she should be. Not that he wanted her to be afraid.

So Tim redrew their plans, concentrated his forces a little more, increased garrisons and patrols, and left just enough forward elements to make sure that they didn’t leave their enemies any openings to take advantage of their ‘repositioning’ and attack them. It was stressful work, but at least they weren’t completely unprepared.

Being honest, the momentum of this campaign had probably been winding down anyway.

His and Owin’s armies were too enmeshed by now to completely separate, even though the split made some things harder. He was currently deeper inside Esemen, while the main concentration of Owin’s troops was more to the east, holding the ‘disputed’ land around their borders, keeping the way open for the army and for getting reinforcements to the current fighting. Besides the possibility of levering open a corridor to the Eternal Dark depending on how that little trainwreck turned out, this also left the human Delver to take point in dealing with the independent nations in the east (and potentially the dark elves). Him and June, Tim supposed.

Still, all things considered, he really didn’t mind getting a bit closer contact from the capital, rather than entirely feeling like the Empire’s central command was trying to make his job harder. Even if closer contact came in the form of Janis visiting, which he was happy about, but also a bit uncertain about how wise that was.

Of course, Janis didn’t simply show up here. They would have probably had to make her trip public anyway, at least if she was to travel with enough guards, so the others had apparently decided to lean into it instead of trying to hide her presence. Which meant she got a ceremonial welcome and would be touring the army in her capacity as Imperial crown princess. Tim didn’t mind that. For more than just him, it was a sign that they hadn’t been forgotten, a connection to the capital. It would raise morale, a boost he found pretty welcome. He made the necessary arrangements and smiled at the muted excitement he could sense from some of his officers and soldiers when they learned about it.

Janis looked good when she finally climbed down from her mount in the middle of an honor guard of soldiers, but tense. Tim stepped forward, bowing shallowly because of the public spectacle, and allowed her to embrace him briefly.

“Welcome to Esemen, sister,” he said. “I am glad to see you, and the army is honored by your presence.”

She didn’t bat an eye. “Thank you, Tim, it is wonderful to be here. You have done great work in the past few weeks, and I am touched to be welcomed so enthusiastically by your soldiers.” She turned her head, looking at the crowd, and smiled. “I am looking forward to speaking to them.”

They hadn’t exactly been speaking quietly, so those words received a muted cheer. Janis waved at the surrounding people as they stepped through the double line of elites standing ready to welcome her. Tim glanced at the other people in her party, whose flying drones had touched down as well. He noted that no one with a very high rank had come along, but instead the sort of people who would probably benefit from speaking directly to local officers, mostly members of Max’s general staff and several government departments. There was also an escort of Imperial guard, of course.

It still look a little while until he could actually talk to Janis more privately. First they had to go through an official welcome and a reception with key officers and a few civilian notables. The trip must have taken several hours, but Janis showed no sign of it, smiling and ostensibly in her element.

Tim wondered for a moment about Regina sending Janis to speak for her. She had to have, or Janis wouldn’t be here, of course. But last he’d heard, there had been more tension between them, and now Regina was subtly reinforcing Janis’ position as crown princess and sending her to do things she probably wished she could do herself in her place. Tim supposed it was a good thing.

“My Prince,” someone interrupted his thoughts politely.

Tim turned, quickly examining Sir Willard. He was one of those people for whom he wasn’t entirely sure why they were included. Not that he couldn’t think of a few reasons.

“It’s good to see you again, Sir Willard,” he responded. “How have you been doing lately?”

“Rather well, Your Highness. It feels as if I should still be fighting at the front, but we all serve in our own way.”

He supposed that was true. “Did you have words for me?”

The knight flashed a brief smile. “Indeed, Prince Tim. Princess Janis wanted to ask about Lady Margaret; is she not here?”

Right, he should have guessed it would be that. “She is still with the army, and I’m sure she’ll be here in a moment,” Tim replied. “If Janis wants to, we can definitely arrange a private meeting, too.”

Willard nodded. “That is good to hear. I will make sure Her Highness knows.”

Tim looked at him for a moment. From what he knew, Sir Willard was still primarily serving Kiara, but given her and Janis’ close working relationship, both euphemistically and actually, it made sense he’d accompany her. Still, it seemed like maybe Janis was getting more comfortable working through others. And not just the Hive.

He watched as the knight disappeared into the crowd and worked his way toward Janis, sliding into place beside her. Then Tim turned to talk to a few other people he’d been meaning to touch base with as well. It wouldn’t do to waste the opportunity.

One of the people he spoke to was June, of course. Not that they didn’t talk a lot anyway. Her being a psychic was handy like that.

“It should be about time to close this soon,” she commented. I’m sure you’re eager to speak to her.

Tim smiled slightly. Are you planning to go back? he asked over the psychic connection she’d established. This would be the opportunity to do it.

June hesitated for a moment, shaking her head. I have been here for a while, and perhaps my skills could be useful elsewhere, she acknowledged. But I don’t intend to ask for reassignment. Though I wouldn’t mind going back for a short visit if possible.

Tim nodded. He sympathized with that. It would be nice to go back and meet the others, but he also didn’t really want to leave things undone here. His subordinates were competent, of course, but he still didn’t like the idea of handing command of the army over to someone else.

At least they finally got the chance to talk to Janis in private after the reception was over. Tim had arranged a break in the official schedule that should leave them some time to catch up. He pulled Janis into the parlor he’d had cleared as soon as they were out of sight of most of the other people.

“Is it good to see you again, Tim,” she smiled. “You as well, June.”

“Likewise,” June returned. “What is this I hear about potential invaders from outside the world, Janis?”

Janis hesitated for a moment. Tim wasn’t a psychic, but he knew her, and he recognized the look in her eyes and the tension in her shoulders. Janis was more affected — maybe even afraid — than she was willing to show.

“I don’t know much more than what I’m sure you’ve already heard,” she finally said. “But several people I trust to know what they’re talking about seem certain that they are either coming or already here. And — well, you should’ve seen Galatea and Iseis. They’re not afraid of shadows. Which makes sense, if these are the people that originally pulled the mana from Haven and caused all this …” She shivered slightly, probably at the idea of mana being ripped from the world.

“Have we gotten any further in identifying potential avenues this threat might come from?” Tim asked.

Janis shook her head. “Not so far. The gods are still searching; or at least Leian and Alianais are. We’re taking precautions, but …”

“I understand,” June said, frowning. “What can we do?”

“Gather information, for one. Have either of you seen anything that could potentially point us to them? Anything off that could be their influence?”

Tim considered the question for a bit, going through his memories, and glanced at June. They shook their heads. “No, I don’t think so,” he replied. “The Esemen have adapted to our tactics and come up with a few tricks, but I don’t think it’s anything that shows outside influence. And the civilians my people have encountered are pretty much as expected. We’ve only had sporadic contact with the dark elves, and nothing that really stood out as unexpected, either.”

Janis nodded. “That’s pretty much what I expected, but thanks.”

“You’re not just here for that, are you?” Tim asked. “We’re supposed to stand down to a defensive stance. We’ve made plans, but it would be good to coordinate more closely with home.”

“Yeah. Let’s see. What are your main bases right now?”

They spent some time discussing the strategic situation and how to proceed. Janis was pretty familiar with their positions and plans, but Tim had expected that. She did have some good insight, but overall, he knew he would still have to do most of the actual planning and organizing.

“There is one other thing,” Janis finally said. “One other reason I wanted to come to touch base with you is to get some advice and to take someone with me. I’m going to head south and oversee our … efforts to protect the southern base and deal with the city-states there. I want one more strong psychic to help.” She glanced at June. “I know you’re probably busy here, June. If you wanted to come, that would be great, but you don’t need to. I’m not sure who else I can or should steal from you, though.”

Tim snorted. “That figures,” he said. “Well, there are a few options. They’re all useful here, but to be honest, we haven’t dealt with as much opposition from enemy psychics recently as I’d feared. Right, June?”

“It’s been manageable,” June agreed. “I managed to hit one of Sazatore’s specialized students when we took the border city a while back, that might have helped, made them more cautious. And at this point, it’s pretty clear their senior psychics are probably further north, bringing their new armies into play. They could return at any time, though, so I wouldn’t want to get too complacent.”

“Unless they’re now occupied searching for the Mesen,” Tim mused.

“Yes, but we can’t exactly count on that, can we?”

"That sounds like you are planning to stay, June?” Janis asked. “I think it would be good if you went back for a short visit, in that case. You can talk to Regina about the situation and the training of the other psychic students.”

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea,” June replied with a wry smile.

Tim hummed, considering her options. Lianne would probably be the strongest, but if Janis was going to do anything morally questionable, which it sounded like she was, she might not be the best choice. There were Peter and Suse, but he still didn’t really know them well enough to be completely certain how trustworthy they were. If either of them even agreed to go. Perhaps they would. Tim also didn’t really have a good idea of their power or skill level compared to other psychics; they hadn’t been trained by Regina or in Madris’ tradition and he’d never seen them have to actually go all out. Then there was Fred, probably the weakest overall, but also a member of the Hive.

“I’m not certain who you should take with you,” he admitted. “Even if they all wanted to go. We could probably manage without any one of them, though.”

“That’s fine, I can ask them myself and consider my options,” Janis answered.

They discussed it for a little bit, but he could sense that both of their attention was probably elsewhere. They did have a lot to worry about, Tim supposed. For that matter, there were a lot of things he wanted to talk about, too; this was barely scratching the surface.

Finally, June glanced between them and seemed to come to a decision. “I’ll go talk to Lianne and see if Marianne is there yet,” she said. “Janis, can you make time for me in the evening?”

“Of course, always.” Janis smiled.

That smile faded as soon as June left them. She hesitated for a moment, then stood and stepped closer. Tim slid down the lounge he was sitting on and shifted so Janis could rest her head against his shoulder. They were quiet for a moment.

“Something else you needed to talk about, Tim?” Janis finally asked.

“Not really,” he denied. He twisted a bit so he could see her properly. “But I was wondering how things stood. You seem to be doing a lot in Regina’s name right now, did the two of you work things out?”

“Somewhat,” she admitted, shifting a bit. “We didn’t really come to a consensus, but we talked. Arguing over the parliament now would seem foolish, you know? Regina did say she would let me take up some things, since she wants to spend more time training and improving her personal power, in case it’s needed.”

Tim nodded. That sounded sensible. “If there’s anything else I can help with, let me know,” he said. “I know it’s annoying that I’m this far from the capital …”

“She’s not considering calling you back yet,” Janis assured him. “I can’t say that won’t happen, though. But thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Tim shifted his arm to give her a side-hug. “Whatever you need, Janis,” he said seriously.

“I know … dear little brother.”

Tim growled playfully and tried to tickle her briefly, but she ignored it.