I awoke on a branch near my hive, and my whole body hurt. There was no protection here and I just passed out, leaving my egg that is going to hatch soon without guards.

  I got inside wobbly and felt spikes of pain through my body every step I took, but at least I could tell that my leg wasn’t broken again, just painful as hell. This outing had been a big mess, but at last I had finalized my plan. Now the undead would kill them. Still, I had to finish the nest first and make sure it was protected, because I wasn’t sure how long I’d been unconscious, but it had been too long.

  I ate some honey. It might have been in my head, but I felt somewhat better before falling asleep.

  When I awoke again, I wasn’t healed, but I did feel a little bit better.

  Then I remembered the inspection screen, and if I just questioned it the right way it might say something about the honey.

  So as long as I ate some, it should heal me a little.

  I looked at my stats. I hadn’t gained a level or anything, just that my HP was 5 / 16.

  Shit. I must have been worse off than I thought.

  I started working on building my hive, and this part, this little nook, will be my queen’s chamber.

  I will make it bigger and better than any other. I stood atop my throne clump and declared it so. And it felt a little silly with how wonky the throne is, so first I have to fix the throne.

  What would the other queens think if they knew it looked like this.

  As I worked on it, I realized I couldn’t reshape the clump. It was much harder than any of the other wax. That flower’s nectar was really amazing. So I decided I would build my throne on top instead. As I got into the groove of it, I felt the urge to check on the egg.

  When I got there, the egg began to shift, and I froze.

  I don’t know why, but I expected it to go pretty quickly. As I remembered when I was hatching it had gone by fast. Probably not fair to compare it to my greatness, but still it took some time before even a crack showed. And I shouldn’t think like this but it was boring. I can see why Mother had servants that did this. I need some of those too.

  When it finally cracked, a head popped through, and of course she was adorable. She waved her head back and forth, looking around, or probably smelling, since she didn’t have any eyes. She turned toward me and started clicking, and I helped her out of the egg.

  I nuzzled her with my face and antennae. I couldn’t understand this lazy girl, but I figured she was hungry.

  Wow. So she only needed to hatch. That’s neat. Would I gain levels faster if I just hatched eggs, or was it accumulated from everything? It felt like I was only gaining more questions, never actual answers.

  No matter. I needed to feed this lazy girl.

  I lifted her and my whole body screamed in agony. The pain had become a constant background noise that I’d almost forgotten.

  Almost.

  I stilled and put her down.

  Shit, that hurt.

  Why don’t I just bring the food to you instead?

  I brought the bee bread I had made. She squealed in delight as she ate, and I puffed up my chest.

  I did all of this.

  “I made our home. I made you. I made the food. I made everything. You see that, lazy girl? Your mother queen is amazing.”

  I danced it, not expecting her to understand. Even if she could, the dance had been so wobbly that any other bee would have a hard time understanding it too.

  After watching her eat for a while, I just accepted how boring it was. It was somewhat exciting when she hatched, but now she wasn’t doing anything interesting, just eating.

  I went back to working on my throne. As I finished my masterpiece, I heard a

  My mind flooded with memories and concepts. For the first time this happened, my head hurt. It was too much information.

  There were details about scale and the technical removal of impurities, but there were also shapes and patterns that didn’t really make sense, like channels for something.

  Patterns and shapes that worked naturally in different hives. Different hives and designs had different channels and structures. I saw jungle hives, underground hives, tree hives, cave hives.

  But it felt like there was information missing, and as my mind started to hurt it started to feel like my body got jealous and it came with a vengeance.

  And when it was over, I was hyperventilating, feeling like I was about to pass out. I went and ate some honey, then looked at my throne and realized it was too wide and not tall enough.

  The scale was way off.

  That was my last thought before I passed out beside my larva.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I awoke to something rubbing against me. I looked and saw my lazy girl nudging me. I wasn’t sure, but I thought she might be worried about me.

  That was nice. Even if it was just in my mind, it made me happy. No one had cared in a long time now.

  Why don’t I name you, little lazy girl? Your name is… hmm…

  I thought, and then without knowing where it came from it felt right.

  Esme.

  It felt a little too human, but who cares.

  “Hi, Esme,” I buzzed.

  Days went by. My healing was progressing, but slowly. After two days, my HP was at seven, just two points higher. Either I was getting used to the pain, or I was actually feeling better. Probably both.

  I could fly out again to gather nectar and pollen. The lazy girl was a glutton, she just ate constantly.

  She was useless when it came to gathering or building, but she made an excellent cuddling pillow. I’d been sleeping better with her warmth pressed against me.

  Well, some of the emptiness I had felt since that night eased and my boring days became more bearable.

  Today I would need to go farther to gather and it was not just an exercise of exploration. The great reason was that the nearby flowers felt tired and as a great benevolent queen I needed to take care of my garden. I wasn’t sure if that was real or just instinct, but it felt right.

  Before leaving, I put the finishing touches on my future chandelier. Atmosphere mattered. A queen’s hall shouldn’t feel dull.

  I considered using my gems instead of candles. What was even more tempting was using the glowing stones, but it was too dangerous without a way to deal with undead.

  As I worked, my thoughts circled the same problem they always did. I had questions, and every answer seemed to require risking my life. Servants who could fight, scout, and investigate would solve much of that, but not all.

  Bees weren’t predators. We lacked instincts others took for granted. How to fix that, I didn’t know. I had some control when laying eggs but some things were just outside what is possible, or at least for now. The system was no help.

  I tried explaining some of it to my wayward daughter, but it was pointless. Complex ideas didn’t translate well. I needed what my last caretaker had done, clear communication, almost telepathic. But I needed to be able to do it even at a distance.

  Not my most urgent problem. I had no one else to talk to anyway.

  As I flew out and looked over my small kingdom, I thought about my garden. Bees pollinate, but what if I controlled where and what we gathered from? The best flowers. The richest nectar. The most luminous pollen.

  Without really deciding to, I flew toward the brighter flowers deeper in the forest. The ache in my body faded behind curiosity.

  The moment I landed, the pain came back with a vengeance.

  I collapsed beside the flower, shaking. This had happened before, but never like this. Something was wrong.

  There was nothing I could do. No healer. No doctor bee. No witch doctor. I lay there gasping, unable to move.

  I’m a queen. I should have servants doing this. Guards, soldiers, and a cheerleader and maybe a bard and a dancer or two making a show.

  Shit, I have gone too far. Making this trip dozens of times wasn’t possible.

  I gathered what little nectar I could and turned back.

  When I reached my nest and saw a bird with its beak inside the entrance, I froze.

  I hadn’t thought about predators here. Most things avoided this place.

  Every instinct screamed at me to flee.

  Then fury burned through me.

  I am a queen. I bow to nothing.

  I couldn’t kill it. I couldn’t outrun it. I just needed an opening long enough to get inside and move us deeper.

  I imagined stinging its eye, too risky. Especially with how my body was feeling, I was feeling my heart and mind racing. Then I remembered something else.

  Bird wings were sensitive. And the liquid in my stinger, it wasn’t just pain. It was venom, at least I think it is.

  I flew faster, ignoring the screaming in my body. I couldn’t hesitate.

  I landed unseen on its wing and drove my stinger in, forcing everything I had into it, and felt something move inside me.

  The feathers resisted but then whatever force that moved went into my stinger. It noticed me.

  But it was already too late.

  The bird flapped wildly and I felt all my venom empty and released myself. Nausea hit me hard. Pain followed.

  I forced myself to fly home.

  Inside, my larva was shaking where I’d left her. My body started trembling too. I crawled to her and pushed her away from the entrance.

  I ignored it.

  I curled around her behind my throne, barely aware of the noise outside.

  Eventually the pain dulled. I heard soft squeaking. Felt her rubbing against me.

  The bird was gone.

  The entrance was ruined. Wax scraped away. Peck marks everywhere.

  I couldn’t deal with it.

  I fed her what little bee bread we had left, ate some honey myself, and slept.

  When I woke up, my HP hadn’t changed.

  This wasn’t working.

  I lay there and planned.

  The entrance had to be reinforced. The area had to be enriched. Better nectar. Better structure.

  I couldn’t leave eggs unprotected. When she evolved, I’d lay more. Build a vault beneath the tree, like humans did.

  I needed gatherers. Soldiers. Maybe twenty for a bird. Hundreds for bigger threats.

  We would have to evolve into something stronger like super bees or giant bees.

  I picked up my larva and gathered nearby flowers with her in tow. I couldn’t leave her alone.

  “My little one,” I buzzed, “we need helpers. A lot of them. Your mother queen is not enjoying this.”

  We returned and made bee bread. It took longer than before.

  Somewhere along the way, I gained two levels and one in Leadership.

  But I hadn’t gotten a knowledge dump or anything like that. It felt kind of strange, almost like I had gotten cheated out of it. Like it had slipped away because I hadn’t been able to fully process it.

  This system was really starting to piss me off.

  Enough distractions.

  It was time to build my hive properly.

  All side projects could wait.

  Let’s finish my quest.

  I spent several more days flying with my larva, getting used to the pain while healing at the same time. The nearby flowers were clearly suffering because of overconsumption of nectar, but it’s not like we couldn’t go farther while she still couldn’t fly and it hurt enough to just fly and with her it was worse.

  We saw birds from time to time, but none attacked us. Still, I stayed alert.

  One day, I found myself staring at her cocoon resting on my beautiful throne.

  I knew she was my daughter, but where had she gotten the idea that my throne was an acceptable place to evolve?

  I had spoiled her too much. This lazy girl.

  Did she think I was going to move her?

  She was almost grown. I couldn’t baby her forever.

  I couldn’t decide whether to go out or stay and watch the process. I had grown far too used to taking her with me everywhere.

  I glanced at the damaged entrance beneath the cocoon. My HP was up to eleven now. I felt better, but she should really be the one fixing it.

  I can’t do everything. That’s not how a beautiful queen should live.

  I rolled around for a bit. It was calming. Relaxing.

  But I have had enough rest now.

  I tried making the entrance smaller but the wax was too weak. A bird wouldn’t even slow down for it.

  After a day, I gave up and focused on gathering nectar and pollen instead. I needed enough to lay eggs.

  Twenty seemed like the limit that would fit near my throne.

  It took two days for the cocoon to finish.

  Lazy.

  I stood by as she emerged.

  I waited for more.

  Nothing.

  I turned back to my adorable little daughter as she wriggled free.

  So small.

  She was smaller than my other workers and smaller than me.

  I opened her servant screen.

  I’d forgotten I’d named her.

  How did she have levels already?

  And why did she have a name when I didn’t?

  I really needed to name myself. And the hive.

  Maybe later.

  We looked at each other and danced.

  “All hail Queen Mother.”

  All?

  I looked around.

  It was just the two of us.

  Maybe she is slow.

  “Welcome, lazy… Esme. Build hive. Become strong.”

  That would have to do. Gods, this was exhausting.

  I fed her and flew out. She followed.

  “Need nectar. Stay. Eat. Be back.”

  “Protect queen. Protect mother.”

  Cute.

  But she was a worker.

  “No. Eat. Gather nectar.”

  “Protect.”

  This went on for a while until she simply followed me.

  Shouldn’t she listen to orders? Queens ruled.

  She was clingy. Annoyingly.

  And the worst part?

  She was better at gathering than me. Faster. More efficient.

  The only thing she lacked was the ability to see glow. She didn’t know which flowers glowed and which didn’t. I had to stop her constantly.

  So I did my queenly duty to lead, and she somewhat followed.

  Even if she’s bad at following orders.

  It took a few more days before we had enough honey.

  I laid ten workers.

  And ten warriors.

  As I did, I focused on the mana flow, trying to move it like I had when I stung the bird.

  I thought it shifted.

  But I couldn’t be sure. I haven’t been able to replicate it since then, and I’m not even sure if I did it or not at this point.

  I didn’t have a skill for it, but that wasn’t new. The system was a selfish ass.

  I could feel how my body changed by making eggs again, but I truly felt the effect when I roused.

  The bite on my ass had scarred over and looked smaller now, but that was only because it had become larger again.

  Shit.

  How am I supposed to fly like this?