Tamosmed was somewhat less enthusiastic upon arriving at the bog but marched through the mud to meet with the First of the Fifth’s Seventh Daughter. She was even less enthusiastic to meet him, if the stingers shaped from slime poking out from her golem hive were any indication. Belissar was able to calm her down, though, especially after explaining that Tamosmed would teach her about more advanced golems.
For today, Tamosmed just observed for a bit, smiling as he watched slime workers dredging the bottom of the bog. That was apparently something regular slimes did too, confirming that the slime bees resembled them in that regard. Afterwards, Tamosmed left to clean up, promising to meet the Seventh Daughter on drier ground later, as well as to visit the karnuq smith.
Belissar was just cleaning the mud off his own feet when he saw a queen bee flying straight towards him, distorting the air around her. The Third of the Sixth didn’t lose any speed as she pulled straight from her charge into a flying dance.
“King! Queen of All Fire wants pick blessing! What pick?”
It took Belissar a moment to process that.
A bit earlier in the day, as Belissar was discussing golemcraft with Tamosmed, Chief Rohsuak met with the Third of the Sixth in her home lava field. She took a deep breath of the burning, sulfurous air, letting out a breath full of sparks and smoke. The heat resonated with the God of Fire’s blessing and the Fire mana flowing through her, granting her a surge of energy that was rare these days. She was glad she had the opportunity to visit the room.
Now that the situation with both the sigmaka and the fair folk had begun to settle, Chief Rohsuak could devote herself entirely to new bee disciple. And it was well that she could, for she found this task trickier than she had first assumed. She watched as the Third of the Sixth stood right in the middle of a bonfire, occasionally pacing about with her antennae twitching. Eventually, the bee began to dance.
Chief Rohsuak took another deep breath as she considered the question. It turned out that her primary methods of training new disciples of fire wouldn’t work here. For a karnuq, exposing oneself directly to the flames was an act of great will, a sacrifice to the element of fire. An experience of the flames that would carve itself into their memory as well, assuming it didn’t traumatize them outright.
“What do you think of them?”
The Third of the Sixth barely slowed down as she danced her reply.
“Amazing! Incredible! Can be like Beero! No tiny lightnings, though. Or can make more honey! Not as much as First of the Fifth, though. Or can fight like karnuq queen! But…am queen? Not supposed to fight!”
The Third of the Sixth paused for a moment.
“How karnuq queen fight? Why workers let?”
Belissar had to pause at that question.
“Hm, you see, karnuq are different. The…queen, as you call her, isn’t the only karnuq who can have kids. All karnuq woman can…I think. Well, until they get too old…if they’re the same as humans that is.”
The Third of the Sixth hovered still in the air before bursting into a dance.
“All karnuq queens?! Then…where workers?! Who work?! Who fight?!”
Thus followed a very confusing discussion where Belissar tried to explain some of the differences in the division of labor and reproductive strategy between karnuq and bees. Not made easier by the fact that Belissar himself was no expert on any of that…and was assuming that the karnuq were the same as humans. Or, at least, assuming they were closer to humans than bees. He decided to let Chief Rohsuak clear up any misunderstandings if it turned out he was wrong on that point.
By the end, the Third of the Sixth was swaying about, clearly confused. Niobee tried to intervene but she had apparently also gotten confused. Belissar decided to try and bring things back onto easier topics, like the blessings of the gods.
“Ahem…you can just think of it . Karnuq…hives have more than one queen, so it’s fine if some of them do dangerous things.”
The Third of the Sixth immediately began zipping about.
“Oh! Like Fourth of the Seventh and First of the Fifth’s First Daughter’s hive!”
Belissar decided to just nod along.
“Sure…I think. Um, in any case…what about the last option?”
The Third of the Sixth picked up even more speed.
“Amazing! Incredible! Give fire to workers, soldiers!”
“That does sound amazing.”
The Third of the Sixth stopped immediately.
Belissar blinked and had to hold back a sigh. He had apparently expressed too much opinion.
“I…think they’re all great. But yes, I do like that one. A queen of fire sounds good for a queen, right?”
The Third of the Sixth resumed her full speed dance.