POBee 99.1 - Dangerous Activi-Bees
The First of the Fifth glanced through the mana of her communer, allowing her to see through the eyes of her scouts. It was her turn to arrange the karnuq watch today, and she was glad that it was. The King made his way to them, exposing himself to harm once more. But the First of the Fifth would be on guard and would not allow anything to befall him.
Particularly not by the hands of these karnuq. She knew the King had welcomed them in but she could not help but dislike them. They blended with the King’s noble form with the features of a creature her instincts knew as honey-stealers and hive destroyers! Sure, they hadn’t stolen honey or destroyed a hive yet, so perhaps the resemblance was superficial, but that did not mean the First of the Fifth trusted them, least of all with the safety of the King!
Especially the one who talked to him now, the one carrying mushrooms and plants. The First of the Fifth heard she had attempted to pounce upon the King before, and that only the King’s intervention stayed the Conduit and the soldier bee armies’ stingers. The word of the King was law, so it could not be helped, but the First of the Fifth swore she would not allow this one to threaten the King once again. She would watch her with extra vigilance.
The dangerous one grunted and growled in the manner that their people did…though as the King had accepted them his mana now converted their noises into intelligible language. Their voices were coarse and rough and irritating, nothing like the soothing warmth of the King’s. The First of the Fifth would have ignored them if they were not speaking to the King, but her vigil required her to analyze their words for any hint of deceit.
The dangerous one…was speaking about some new mushrooms and plant. So…that one was supposedly extremely toxic, that one possessed an unusual bioluminescence, and the last one cause blindness? Interesting, especially as the King absorbed them all with the intention to spread them about. The First of the Fifth did not trust the dangerous one’s assessments, so she would have to confirm the characteristics of these new resources herself. But if the dangerous one spoke with any truth, there could be an opportunity to develop new honey types…and new types of bees as well.
If that occurred…well, at least then the karnuq would have been good for something. It was the least they could do as they invaded the King’s home, ate his food, and threatened his person.
The First of the Fifth had to calm herself before her hive started preparing for war again.
So, yes, new plant types would be a start. Not enough for the First of the Fifth to tolerate their presence, much less approve of it, but a start. If the dangerous one could be trusted. Which was a big if.
And then, she heard the dangerous one speak yet again.