Rythica bit into the thick leather gloves as hard as she could, but her teeth failed to penetrate the durable material. She tried clawing as well, but two of her arms were being held at an awkward angle, while the other two were as ineffectual as her expert chompers. She tried to aim for exposed skin, but the gloves went most of the way up the drone's arms, and her own appendages weren't long enough to reach the drone's pale fleshy biceps. Having been forced to wear uncomfortable clothing for several months already, the young vex was starting to understand the concept of how fabric worked. She made to put this practical knowledge to use on the gloves by pulling down the sleeves and exposing the tissue underneath but didn't get the chance. The great deceiver, likely noticing her increasingly close attempts to maul him, hurriedly placed her down in another cage.

  She hissed and buzzed her wings angrily. The wayward drone retreated, muttering something about a "feral beast." She wasn't satisfied with the lackluster victory, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She fumed. The high queen, protector of her throne, and all those under her command failed to enact her revenge on the usurper and master of the foul boxes. She would have to plan her strike better, it seemed.

  While the girl stewed in her vexation, the enemy moved over to a strange-looking panel and grabbed a stack of thin wooden squares. On one side there were colorful painted symbols, while the opposite face was blank. There were a lot of these strange flat blocks, but Rythica couldn't make out what they were for. She could only tell that there were a lot of them, and some of the tiles had the same symbol on them.

  Wait, after taking her away from her nest and trapping her in this empty cage, without a single other object nearby, was he seriously about to start playing with toys directly in front of her?! She gaped at the sheer audacity of it, too stunned to even buzz her wings. Did this monster know no bounds?

  Thankfully, it seemed he was not so far gone as to deny her so blatantly. He grabbed the stack of colorful squares and set them in a small pile outside of her cage. He then turned back and grabbed a large box-like thing with square-shaped groves in it. There were weird extended pieces directly above the tile-sized slots built into the strange board. The holes were lined up in a grid shape with a bit of space in between.

  "I had this thing custom-made specifically for you. You hear that, you little money sink? You should feel honored." He chuckled as he spoke. He plopped the board down next to the tiles.

  Rythica blinked at the strange new toy, ignoring the trickster's annoying sounds, but was already growing excited. Was she getting a new toy to play with?! That was amazing! Her current toys were starting to grow a little boring, so something new would be fun. She was even surprised that it was the "not-Julia" that was giving it to her. The "Julia" had given her many toys in the past, be she had never seen give her any. Was he attempting to make reparations for his previous slights? She pondered that. She didn't forgive his previous crimes, and while this was a step in the right direction, it was a far cry from enough to cover his accrued debt. She decided to accept his offering for the time being, but she'd still keep her eyes on him.

  She stuck out all four hands and made grasping motions toward the new toy, eager to get started. The nanny, standing nearby, giggled at the adorable queenling.

  "Oh? Excited?" She smiled mirthfully. The woman looked up at her counterpart. "This is... a memory game?"

  "Yes." He peered at Rythica contemplatively. "The rules aren't complex, but I'll likely need your help in explaining it to her."

  She stepped closer. "Of course, Master Randell. How may I be of assistance?"

  By this point, Rythica was getting worried. Why hadn't they given it to her, yet? Was it not for her? Then what was the purpose?

  The "Julia" knelt down so she was at eye level with the young one. "You want to play a game?" She glanced back at the other drone. "She'll be playing for treats, correct?" At his nod, she refocused on her queen. "Want a treat?" She smiled and pulled one out. "Let's play a game, okay?"

  Rythica had heard the word "game" before, usually before the nanny started throwing word puzzles at her, though occasionally she'd used that word when playing with Rythica's toys together. While she didn't truly understand the word, she got the gist. Do a task, and if she does it correctly, she gets a treat. Rythica's head flicked back and forth between the new toy and the treat in the minion's hands, attempting to make the connection.

  "......"

  The "Julia" nodded. "Yes, treat. Very good."

  The woman stood and waited for the potential toy bringer to explain how the device worked. The explanation was brief and absolutely all of it went right over the princess's head.

  The "Julia" placed her hand on her chin in thought. "Okay... How should I...?"

  She bent back down to the girl, pushing the board closer to the princess and grabbing a few tiles. Noticing the vex's wandering attention, she waved the treat at her again.

  "Hey, Rythica, look at me. Okay? We're going to play a fun game."

  Rythica was quickly growing annoyed with the teasing. First, they showed her the toy and not give it to her. Then, the drone she thought was her trusted servant kept promising a treat, but not delivering it. Apparently sensing the growing displeasure, the nanny sighed and dropped the treat inside the cage to hold the vex over. The man scowled, but both girls ignored him.

  "Okay, Rythica. Look at these."

  The board was lying flat on the table directly in front of the cage. The "Julia" picked up one of the tiles and slid it down into the hinge above one of the square-shaped slots. The square was held up vertically by the hinge. The colorful symbol on the tile was facing Rythica so she could see it clearly. Three more tiles were placed down similarly. In the end, there were two yellow triangle tiles and two red circle tiles. Then, making sure the child was looking, she lifted the back end of the board, letting gravity pull the tiles down into the grooves so the symbols were facing down, hidden.

  "Rythica, pick." She pointed at one of the tiles.

  Rythica, seeing the drone point at something, immediately assumed they were playing their usual word game, and muttered a garbled sound.

  "...ock..."

  The "Julia" tried to hide a smile. "No, not word games." She pointed at a tile again and lifted it, exposing the symbol. Then she pointed at Rythica. "You, point to it."

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  Rythica, now realizing the nanny was pointing at her, offered the correct word.

  "...Ra...ca..."

  The "Julia" sighed with mirth. "Yes, good job." She requested the gloves from the lesser drone and put them on. Opening the cage, she lowered the board inside so Rythica could reach the pieces manually.

  Rythica, excited to finally play with the new toy, immediately grabbed one of the tiles and pulled it out.

  "Wait, no-" The human took the tile back from Rythica and put it back.

  Rythica hissed as the block was taken from her and almost attacked her servant right then and there for daring to pull the object out of her hands.

  Instantly realizing her mistake, the "Julia" quickly pulled out a bribe and pointed back down to the tiles. "This is the game." She lifted one of the tiles, exposing the symbol. "Now you." She lowered the tile and repeated the action a few times, waving the tasty snack just outside of the cage, showing what was at stake.

  Rythica, still grumpy, was magnanimous enough to move on. She huffed and looked at the strange flat blocks. She hesitantly reached forward and copied the drone's actions, lifting the tile and lowering it again. And, as expected, her flawless execution was rewarded with a victory prize. A smug smile spread across her face as she grabbed the falling stick of honeyed jerky.

  Perfection.

  The nanny nodded, moving on to the new phase of her lessons. "Very good, Rythica, very good! Now, leave it up." She demonstrated by lifting one tile and moving her hand away, then focused on Rythica, waiting for her to copy the gesture.

  The young queen thought for a moment, before attempting to copy the action successfully.

  "Yes! Good, good!"

  There was no reward this time, but Rythica was only mildly discouraged. She pushed on.

  The "Julia" then raised the back end of the board, letting all tiles fall back down. She then reached down and filled up two tiles at once, the yellow triangles. "Now you."

  The vex hatchling once again repeated the actions and this time received a reward. About time.

  "Good. Now, here's the tricky part." She repeated the action, but this time she raised one yellow triangle tile and one red circle tile. "" She shook her head. She flipped them back down. Then she lifted the two red circle tiles. "" She nodded vigorously.

  Rythica tilted her head, confused. Wait, why was lifting tile both no and yes?

  The nanny, expecting the confusion, reset the board and started over, slower. She lifted a square and pointed at the image. "Yellow triangle." She lifted another and pointed. "Yellow triangle." She nodded again. "Yes, they both match." She lifted the snack. "Treat." She reset the board and lifted a tile. "Yellow triangle." And another square. "Red circle. They do not match." She shook her head. "No treat." She repeated the demonstration three more times before resetting the board and waiting for Rythica.

  Rythica thought for a while, focusing on the board like she was trying to solve the mysteries of the universe. Eventually, she slowly, completely unsure, lifted two tiles. One yellow triangle, and one red circle.

  "No." The servant shook her head, disappointed. "No treat. Bad."

  Rythica whimpered at the condemnation.

  The minion's expression was encouraging and she indicated the board. "Try again."

  The tiny vex, determined not to fail a second time, reset the board. She thought long and hard, before finally making her move.

  The "Julia" grinned wide as she cheered, dropping the reward in front of Rythica. "Yes! You did it, Rythica! You did so good! Come on, let's try that again." She reached back into the cage and pulled out the four tiles shuffling them and putting them back into the slots. She then pulled out another stick of jerky and held it up, waiting.

  Rythica, feeling encouraged by her victory, looked at the board once more. She looked at the tiles, which had been moved around, and tried to imagine why. She was starting to get an idea of what her goal was and made to test her theory. She then lifted the board and reset it.

  Once again, she was met with a resounding victory, scoring her well-deserved trophy and cementing her hypothesis. It was a matching game. She could do this. The "Julia" beamed with pride. Of course, that's when the killer of all fun and happiness had to go and ruin their good time by reminding the hive queen of his presence.

  "Alright, she understands the rules. Honestly, she caught on far quicker than I had expected." He tried to hide a worried expression before continuing. "Miss Julia, would you please place all of the tiles into the board now." He picked up his notebook and quill.

  The "Julia" reached back into the cage and pulled out the four tiles, much to the hatchling's confusion. The nanny placed the pieces back into the pile and crudely shuffled them up. She then started taking all 36 pieces and placed them back on the board.

  Rythica's jaw dropped. That... wasn't a small jump in difficulty. It seemed even her own loyal servant still wasn't immune to his cruel agenda. She immediately turned her glare on the fun killer, blaming him for ruining their game. Her glare bounced off. Gah!

  "Please instruct her to begin."

  Her servant's smile was strained when they turned their eyes back to Rythica. The greatest matching-game player of all time could sympathize. That drone really did want to ruin everything. The small bit of favor he'd earned by bringing her a new toy was instantly tossed away. She was a fool to lower her guard.

  "Okay, Rythica. You ready to play some more?" She pulled out another snack. "Go ahead." She nodded down at the board.

  Rythica glared for a few more seconds before trying to put him out of her mind. She to let his attempts at sabotage get to her. For, that's clearly what this was. He had forced her minion to drastically increase the difficulty of this game to make her slip and drive her subject to look down on her for her failings. No. Absolutely not. She refused to falter at this crucial moment.

  Rythica looked at the pieces. All of them. There were so many of them, now. She struggled to remember them all, but she tried her best.

  With a fierce, determined expression, she reset the board. She began to play.

  She was devastated. No, no, no! Such a critical blunder right out of the gate? How could she stumble so badly on her first move? She looked to her trusted confidant for support. The woman's smile was compassionate and encouraging. "Keep going, baby. You've got this."

  Rythica whimpered but pushed on. She would not be defeated. The tiles fell back down and she tried again.

  "Good job, baby! You did good!" Rythica's rock in the storm reached down and gave her a treat, before grabbing the two tiles and pulling them off the board.

  Rythica would have been drenched if vex could sweat. The pressure was immense. Her gaze flickered around the board as she dug through her memories for another matching pair.

  The sight was like a physical blow. She gritted her razored teeth, knit her brows in resolution, and tried again. This wasn't about the treats anymore. This wasn't about the prize. It was about winning; about proving herself. After all the treats she'd already had today, they didn't matter nearly as much as her pride.

  Move after move, trial after tribulation, she played. And slowly, oh so slowly, her pace increased. Eventually, she stopped eating the treats entirely, so focused on the next pair that she almost forgot they existed. The number of matches went up, and the number of failures dwindled. The pairs came easier and easier, until finally, only two tiles remained.

  The two tiles disappeared, and the board was cleared. Rythica fell back, the exhaustion hitting her all at once. She poured everything she had into that game. And, as she gazed down at the empty board, she felt proud. Despite that drone's foul intentions, she had prevailed in the end. She had proven herself the victor. She would not be defeated by this upstart queen wannabe!

  "27 moves to clear the board. That's..."

  Rythica didn't understand his words, but she understood the look on his face. He was taken aback by her overwhelming success. She had not only risen to his challenge but completely overcome it. And they both knew it.

  The "Julia" was practically vibrating with pride as she bobbed up and down, clapping and singing Rythica's praises.

  He lowered his book, giving Rythica another look. "Eight months old, and cleared the board in 27 moves." He began to scribble in his book, muttering to himself. "Greatly exceeded expectations for her age. Subject's mental capabilities... might be higher than originally predicted..."

  Rythica leaned back and reveled in her victory, eating all the treats she had placed to the side.

  It was good to be the queen.