A few months ago, Era received a message from her spy network. Her roots weren't as deep or as far-reaching as she would have liked; information traveled slowly and almost never contained enough details in the first exchanges to satisfy her needs, but it was still effective enough in the end and didn't cost too much of their family's precious lifeblood of coin to maintain. The message was a simple dossier on a tavern brawl that occurred many moons prior. Needless to say, Era had been confused as to why her network had decided this information was relevant to her in any way. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tavern brawls broke out every day across the city. It was nothing special.

  Nonetheless, she continued reading, quickly discovering the fight was between two high-level individuals, a former adventurer swordswoman with a golem arm and an unknown pugilist. She scanned through the documents, seeing eyewitness accounts of the proceeding scuffle alongside public documentation detailing the detainment of one of the combatants. The woman had managed to escape capture and was ter discovered to have joined a caravan headed north as a hired guard under Montenwell's banner. The man was arrested, and in a quite showy manner too, seeming to insist the guards were "more illusions" and making quite a scene before he was taken down.

  Then, she noticed a critical detail. The man, despite breaking numerous ws, was given an official pardon by the city lord only four days into his sentence. That was interesting. The city lord held little power of his own in the city. While he was given domain over enforcing the city's ws, pardoning criminals was outside his jurisdiction unless it directly pertained to a council-ordained decration of military intent. In other words, the man was hired by the city to deal with something that was considered a threat. It also only took a few more pages of reading to notice that his css and level had been stripped from the logs and repced by a basic low-level drunkard css. By w, any individual imprisoned within the city would have their csses and levels archived at the time of the arrest. Having it repced with something that contradicted witness accounts so significantly only further cemented his involvement with the city government.

  Eager to capitalize on this nugget of information, she started sending out nets across her spy network, fishing for any reted information she could dig up. Another month ter, she managed to catch something. Another arrest had been linked to the man's name, though in this instance, as the accuser. The ordeal ended with the public execution of a merchant woman for the possession and sale... of a vex egg.

  The document fell to the floor, and her gss of wine spilled as she colpsed back into her chair, her face pallid. The city was already looking for them.

  She had long suspected it would only be a matter of time before someone got suspicious. But there was a world of difference between "this is going to bite us in the ass one day" and "they are actively looking for us at the very moment." And the worst part was she had no idea where the hunter was now. How much time did they have left?

  Era was forced to once more consider removing Rythica from the city by force but ultimately dismissed the idea. Not only would that irreparably create a divide between her and her brother, all but ensuring the downfall of the House, but she would be sacrificing an incredibly valuable opportunity in the worst possible way. Likewise, keeping Rythica locked away was bound to cause further complications. Attempting to keep the vex completely hidden would draw more suspicion than a pusible half-truth. The minor noble had pnned to let Rythica grow a bit more before taking those steps, but with an uncertain timeframe now looming so closely, they needed an alibi established immediately. She needed to move now if she wanted to control what the city would see when the curtains were pulled aside.

  Plus, getting the girl exposed to more humans early on would likely make transitioning to human customs that much easier. The further Era could make Rythica appear from her true heritage, the better. She needed the girl to be seen under just the right circumstances to make any cims believable.

  From then on, Era got very little sleep. She worked her fingers to the bone and spent coins like water through a sieve, trying to push her pns along as fast as possible. Another month ter, the foundations were in pce. As far as the city was concerned, Rythica Sinfreed was now an officially adopted member of the House. Paperwork was all up to date, delwin passed around, and the city now had logs for a new sapient species called a vaneguin from off-world. A few fake profiles made their way to the Travelers Guild, with some more financial grease to speed things along, having them vouch for the existence of the fictional species. The thing about portals, one never knew what wonderous creatures would pass through, so a sapient, white-chitin insectoid species didn't sound too unreasonable compared to the countless other things that had walked through. How many sapient species lived in this city alone? How many sub-species of each? It could get quite overbearing to vet all newcomers, one would think. The multiverse was a very big pce, after all.

  It made for an excellent alibi. For now, at least.

  Era took one good, long look at her work, seeing the countless ways this could go wrong, before deciding a few more safety nets wouldn't go amiss. And perhaps a few more backup pns for when those fell through. And an escape pn or two couldn't hurt, right?

  She didn't manage to fall asleep that night either.

  Of Rythica's three teachers, Julia was the most superior one by far. She made learning fun, providing ample praise for success and heaps of comfort and reassurance for failure. She turned every lesson into a game and broke things down into easily digestible pieces. Her drone did an excellent job of turning lectures into interactive experiences that were enjoyable. Even after Rythica finished memorizing all 34 letters of the Pilfirian alphabet, Julia continued to surprise the small vex with random tests, pulling out tiny pieces of paper with symbols on them and asking Rythica what she saw, rewarding her with treats and pandering to the queen's humble ego.

  Randell sometimes taught her things as well. It was rare, of course, but it did happen. Rythica only saw Randell maybe once or twice a month. Rythica was convinced the old drone had been avoiding her, given how rarely he came to her nest. And for a while, it seemed like that might have been the case. However, over the st half year or so, the man had been steadily making more frequent visits and imparting knowledge in ways that made her want to weep from boredom. Seriously, how could someone teach such interesting topics in such a passionate tone and yet still make the whole experience feel like staring at a wall for hours on end? Sure, his instructions were insightful, expining to her new concepts like time and basic mathematics. She could now count to 22 reliably if she used all her fingers and toes. Apparently, she was 18 months old now, which took up most of her chitinous digits. Though, she was still a bit iffy on what a month actually was.

  Then, there was the third teacher and one Rythica disliked the most.

  Era stared down at Rythica, her gaze intense. "Repeat the rules back to me."

  Rythica's antennae twitched with annoyance as she reluctantly obeyed the big queen's orders. "I no say am queen."

  "Why?"

  The small vex trembled in fury as the woman trampled on her pride. Day after day, they had this same lecture, beating the same rules into her head over and over and over, demanding that Rythica deny her pce as leader.

  "Cuz if say, I hurt hive."

  Era smmed her palm down on the table, making Rythica twitch. "What did I say about using the word 'hive?'"

  The vex gritted her teeth, seriously considering biting the other queen, even knowing how stupid of a decision that would be. Unlike Julia, Era's punishments were much harsher. Era didn't hesitate to lock Rythica in the "time-out box" for an hour or make her go to bed without a meal.

  Rythica didn't forget those cruelties, of course.

  "I no say hive. Hive is House."

  "Better. What's the next rule?"

  "I no say drone. Drone is servant."

  "Good." Era nodded. "What else?"

  Rythica had no idea why Era was forbidding her from saying these words. Julia had taught them to Rythica without any issues, but Era cimed that if she said those words, the hive might be hurt? It made no sense. And then, after Era's lessons started, even Julia had warned her not to say those words, leaving Rythica floundering in confusion.

  "I no punish dro-... servant."

  Era stared at her, judging her for the minor slip-up, but ultimately let it slide.

  "Correct. Continue."

  "I am only leave nest with you. I am stay close."

  "Good." She looked Rythica up and down, pondering on something. The small vex remained silent, waiting.

  "Still not quite ready, but it'll have to do," she muttered under her breath. "At least any slip-ups will be seen as a child pying pretend."

  Era sat up, addressing Rythica directly. "Now, let's move on to today's lesson pn. This will be a different kind of lesson." She smiled. "Today, I'm going to let you meet the other servants of this House." Era pushed forward the potion bottle that had been sitting on the table for the st ten minutes. "First, drink this."

  Rythica scowled at the potion bottle on the table before shoving it away. "No!"

  "You have to drink it before you can meet the other servants, okay? Otherwise, I'll never let you out of this tiny room."

  "I no hurt, no need drink!"

  Despite the container being vaguely reminiscent of the healing potion Julia kept on hand in case of emergencies, the color and texture were completely wrong. And that was nothing compared to the absolute vile smell wafting off the strange, syrupy gunk. If the big queen expected Rythica to drink whatever this stuff was, she had another thing coming. And besides, weren't healing potions supposed to be poured on the wound, not drunk? Well, actually, there was that one time Bel drank it directly after ciming to have some really bad cramps, so maybe it depended on the type of injury?

  "It's not a healing potion. Drinking this will change your colors to something new."

  No, no, definitely not. She was quite happy with her current colors, thank you very much. Once more, Rythica pushed the bottle away. "I no want change."

  Era closed her eyes and visibly calmed herself. "Okay, let's try a different approach." She pced her elbows and the table and steepled her fingers. "You are a queen, yes?"

  Was this a trick question? Rythica nodded, hesitant.

  "And a queen's first duty is to her hive, yes? Even above herself?"

  Of course. A queen was nothing without her hive. A queen lived to lead her hive. Without it, a queen's life had no purpose. Rythica nodded again, more firmly this time.

  "What if I told you that your selfishness and childish behavior are actively destroying the hive?"

  Rythica flinched like she had been spped. "I am good queen! I no hurt hive!" Rythica began to hiss in fury at the very insinuation.

  The lesser noble suddenly stood up, bringing herself to her full height and looking down the bridge of her nose at Rythica. "Then listen to me closely, girl. These rules I've been teaching you? These strange lessons I've been teaching you and making you do? I am trying to protect this House, and if you can't follow them, then you'll be the one dragging it into danger."

  The small vex was stunned at the sudden reaction. Era did have a bit of a short temper a times, but she was usually in control, at least outwardly. Rythica had never seen Era in such a vocal outburst thus far and wasn't sure how to react.

  "This world is full of dangers you couldn't possibly understand. There are predators lurking around every corner, and they are hunting us."

  Rythica shrugged. "Hive eat."

  Era stepped over to the smaller figure. "No. Not even close. They'll eat us."

  She strode over to the bookshelf and scanned the titles avaible. Frustrated at not seeing anything useful among the children's stories that lined the child's shelf, she walked out of the room, leaving Rythica alone in her nest chamber for a few moments. When the once-more composed elder returned, she pced a book on the table and flipped it to a random page.

  Rythica wasn't sure what she was looking at for a moment. The drawing on the page confused her and was unlike anything she had seen in the books Julia had shown her. Era noticed her confusion and began pointing and expining the immensely detailed map. She slowly, methodically expined what a map was and why it mattered and touched on concepts of scale Rythica couldn't possibly fathom after spending her entire life within a single room. She drew a map of Rythica's nest as an example, then drew a map of the area outside of her tiny enclosure, a map of the Sinfreed House estate, blowing the young girl's mind as she peered beyond the veil for the first time.

  As a hive queen, Rythica had no desire for adventure or to see the world. A queen remained deep within their hive, sitting comfortably within their nest all day long, safe, with many yers of dirt between themselves and the outside world. She would much prefer to satiate her curiosity by sending drones out and having them bring those marvels of the world back to her, building her own little hoard of treasures and wonders.

  She was still iffy on the whole map thing, but when Era made a tiny dot on the page, "This is our hive," and then circled the city as a whole, "And this is the predator's hive," Rythica was able to put enough pieces together to feel a shiver of fear. That was a very, very big hive.

  "You understand now, don't you?"

  Rythica's gaze remained locked on the map, still trying to understand the magnitude of enemies they faced. Her mind simply couldn't compute it.

  "Do you wish to see?"

  Rythica finally looked up, tilting her head in confusion for an instant before rapidly shaking it. Why in the world would to expose herself to that madness?!

  Era smirked and gestured at the potion once more. "If you drink that potion and follow the rules I gave you, then the predators can't find us."

  Rythica was unconvinced. She was quite happy here in her well-defended nest.

  "I thought you wanted to be a big queen as well." Era offhandedly shrugged. "If you want to give up so soon..."

  "What?! No! I am want be big queen!"

  "Then you'll need to do as I say. Drink it."

  Rythica remained unsure, staring at the nauseating liquid with more than a little trepidation. She gnced at the map with barely suppressed fear of what may y beyond these walls.

  "Your House needs your help, little one. Are you going to deny your duties?"

  A queen's duties were to her hive, first and foremost. And any queen who denied her hive was no queen at all.

  Rythica, unsure, looked for reassurance in Era's gaze but found little help in piercing the artificial expression.

  "If you want to be the best queen you can be, you'll need to understand the House. And you can't do that locked away in this room."

  She looked at the potion bottle and slowly firmed her resolve. The princess didn't understand why her tutor was so insistent that seeing the rest of the hive was important for protecting the hive, but if Era said it was important, then it must be. She refused to be the reason for her hive's peril at the hands of so many enemies. Rythica would simply have to trust her queen. And Era was a very big queen indeed; she led the hive.

  For now.

  Rythica was a good queen. One day, she would be the greatest queen, leading the best hive there ever was and ever would be.

  The small queen pulled the potion bottle close and moved to pry off the cork. She struggled for a bit, quickly realizing her far-less-dexterous cws were ill-suited to the task. She handed the bottle to Era, who wordlessly opened it in her stead. Taking the bottle back, Rythica's head rolled as the smell hit her in the face, full force. Her antennae folded back in an attempt to get as far away from the stench as possible. It was a hundred times worse than her chamber pot after she was sick! Rythica dry heaved, slightly worried that this might be a genuine assassination attempt.

  Rythica did not miss Era's struggle to hold back a smile. Rythica was over here, fighting for her life, and Era had the audacity to smile at her expense! Rythica seethed but kept her focus. She brought the potion to her lips and dumped the liquid into her mouth. She instantly choked, the foul fluids coating her chin and mandibles, but enough managed to fall down her gullet for the potion to take effect.

  Within seconds, Rythica felt a strange tingling sensation all over her body. Her muscles spasmed for an instant before rexing, and her vision blurred before returning. There was a sensation of coldness under the surface before that, too, faded. Apparently, Era had pulled the bottle away from her at some point to prevent her from dropping it, as it had been once more returned to the table.

  Era had not been lying; that was no healing potion. Rythica had never felt anything like that before. The uncomfortable sensation only sted a few seconds, but that was more than enough to render the experience one of her more unpleasant ones. What did Era say this potion was supposed to do again? Something about colors?

  Rythica gnced down, noticing that something did indeed change about her colors. Her previous amazing, dark grey chitin had turned feather-white, with faint marbled cracks of muted off-grey in small patches across her skin. She stared in horror at the sight, checking all her hands, arms, then her feet, and legs. Everything had changed for the worse. Rushing over to the vitresteel window of her enclosure, she stared at the faint reflection. Her purple eyes had turned pitch bck, and her beautiful raven hair had shifted to a weave of polished silver and gold. She looked nothing like her previous self. In her thoroughly unbiased opinion, it was beyond appalling, and she could only stare at the damage to her image. Her royal pride had been shattered.

  "Oh, don't give me that face. You honestly look completely fine." Era sighed and muttered under her breath, "Prideful little-" she cleared her throat. "Now, you look like a proper vaneguin. Don't worry; the effect only sts a few hours. It'll fade over time, and your old colors will return. You'll need to drink this whenever you leave this room. Understand?"

  The princess was only slightly mollified at hearing the effect was temporary, but the thought of being seen like this...

  "When you look like this, the predators don't see you. They see a vaneguin. They don't eat vaneguin, so you'll remain safe from their endless hunger. You're doing this to protect the House, remember? You want to be the biggest queen, you said?"

  Rythica slowly nodded, not breaking her staring contest with the reflection. After a long, long moment, she finally huffed and broke away from the window. In the end, her hive came first, even if it cost her a bit of pride.

  "Come now, let me show you what a simple drawing cannot." Era held Rythica's wrist, pulling her towards the door. "Let's go get you dressed up like a dy so you can meet the House properly."