Chapter 52: Counsel and Deli-Bee-ration
Belissar stood in silence in front of the Bee Memorial, gazing up at the names on the pillar. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He had panicked at the thought of meeting the Tower Lords. He could still remember the smell of smoke and blood from that day. He could still hear the screams of people he had known his entire life as the soldiers cut them down. He could still feel the pain from when the arrow pierced his back. He reached to scratch at his back, though he couldn’t reach the exact spot.
He had rushed in his panic and bees had died as a result. If he had spoken with the bear people from the very start, he would have learned that he had plenty of time. The bear people hadn’t even heard of humans, much less Tower Lords. Who knows how long it would be before he met one again, or if he ever would?
So...was there a reason for these bees to have died? Did he truly need to grow as quickly as he had? Couldn’t he have waited? Couldn’t he have learned magic first, and then participated in the fight directly? Or maybe traded with the bear people for one of their bows, now that he remembered they had archers. Couldn’t he have done more?
He opened his eyes and then reached up to touch the names. But as he did, the bee carvings moved, and one of them flew as if to land on his finger. His eyes widened. His heart burst in his chest as his vision began to blur.
He rubbed his eyes and then glanced over to the beehouse as he heard a crackling noise. He saw the wounded soldier there, stirring up her mana. A wing made of yellow lightning appeared on her back. She tried to swing it around like she did her original wing, though she did not manage to take flight.
Belissar took another deep breath and closed his eyes once again.
“Right...”
He reminded himself once again that the bees did not regret their sacrifice. In the case of the soldiers, fighting and, if necessary, dying for the hive was what they were born to do. And though the cost was high, the Tower and the bees had grown through this. Belissar only needed to look up into the skies of the Flower Meadow to see the soldier bees practicing new movements and formations in response to the latest battle. He could look to the flowers where countless worker bees continued their tireless gathering. He could watch the newest queen as her hive took shape, as workers from a nearby hive arrived to assist her.