Fp, fp.

  Ominous wobbling.

  Rythica stood alone in the small enclosure, admiring her work from her new vantage point.

  After feeding the young princess a nice, hearty meal, Julia had left the room, presumably to find her own sustenance. The book she had been reading remained visible on the table, the cover dispying a stylized depiction of a pair of bright blue insect wings in the shape of a heart. The children's story she had been regaling to the small bug girl was an epic tale about a creature known as a butterfly and the uncountable trials the being had endured to reach that point, from gathering food to finding a comfortable shelter. It was quite a touching story, even if Rythica didn't understand most of it. But her vocabury had improved enough over the past months that she could at least somewhat keep pace, if her drone read slowly. The pictures helped.

  The impromptu reading session was one of countless many that had been forced onto the unsuspecting hive queen by the overenthusiastic drone. The guardian had been hellbent on shoving as many words as possible into the poor girl's head, and these books were just one of several mediums used to that end.

  Fp.

  Excited chittering.

  But, like many of the times that Rythica found a cacophony of words prattled off in her general direction, she had found the entire endeavor beyond annoying at first, like a constant buzzing that she couldn't block out. After a time, the stories became somewhat tolerable. Then she would blink and find herself sitting just a bit closer to the nanny, the toys in her hands all but forgotten. Eventually, she was completely enraptured by the tales unraveling before her very eyes. The more words she learned, the clearer the meaning of the illustrations became. It was like a new world was opening up before her, one that had completely escaped her notice until now. And while she couldn't quite say she was eager to be beaten over the head with more of the countless nonsense sounds, she also didn't hate the idea, either.

  This most recent saga, something about a caterpilr, was what brought her to her current flurry of activity. She recalled the drawing of the rge, blue butterfly in all its majesty and fluttered her own wings in pure envy. The entire time Julia had sat beside the rge viewing window, continuing her grand tale, Rythica pondered. She had wings, too; why couldn't she fly? Her instincts hinted at it, but it was still vague in her mind, like she wasn't ready for that, yet. She wasn't old enough. She didn't understand why. What did getting older have to do with anything?

  Thinking hard, the first thing that popped in her head was her height. She had grown quite a bit since her st shedding. Had Randell been there to offer hard numbers, he would have said she had jumped from roughly sixty centimeters to around seventy-five over the past four months.

  Rythica was quite proud of her impressive growth and opted to immediately test her assumptions. Jumping in pce, fpping her wings as furiously as she could, she only succeeded in making her muscles sore. That led her down the obvious train of thought that she still wasn't high enough. By the time Julia had excused herself from the room with a pyful wave and a promise of a speedy return, a pn was already hatching before the fledgling flyer's eyes.

  "Want fly," she grumbled, her brow furrowed in determination.

  The small tower of toys she banced herself on teetered and shifted precariously, its foundations built upon blind faith and sheer willpower alone. Piles of blocks supported weight in ways they were never designed for. Tiles from the memory game wiggled and tumbled from the structure, cttering on the hard stone floor. The massive toy chest that supported it all groaned and creaked as the wooden lid beveled.

  "Am fly!"

  Rythica bent her knees, spread her wings out wide, and leapt.

  Bel enjoyed her job. It was simple and straightforward. The head maid was reasonable and didn't make Bel work harsh hours or pce unrealistic expectations on her. The pay was decent for her position. There wasn't a rge staff working the estate, only around a dozen sets of hands in all, but that was more than enough to maintain the declining household. All in all, it was a small, cozy job that required little thought and only the bare minimum effort, which suited her just fine.

  Her eyes flicked to the side before she quickly forced herself to resume her focus on the extravagant porcein bust before her. She waved her duster at it tentatively, and a thick cloud of dust wafted up, making her cough. She looked at the thick yer of dust bunnies that had accumuted behind the statue. Whoever the st person was to clean this section did a miserable job.

  ... Oh right, this wing was assigned to her.

  She gnced around and, ensuring no one was looking, slid the statue back against the wall, hiding the evidence.

  Just then, the door to the side, the very door that had pgued her thoughts and poked near-endlessly at her curiosity for the past year, opened. Her coworker stepped out and gently closed the door behind her. She dug around in her pocket for a set of keys.

  "Julia!" Bel skipped over, beaming. "You missed lunch! I waited for you for almost an hour." The bubbly dretris, or half-elf as the humans would say, scooped her up in a bear hug.

  The older woman ughed and hugged her back, forgetting about the keys. "It seems I did. Sorry for making you wait. I was caught up in something."

  "Well, don't let it happen again." Bel pouted, pyfully. She gnced at the door. "Wanna tell me about it?"

  Julia just smiled and gave her a small sigh of amusement, shaking her head. "Sorry, Bell. You know the rules."

  They exchanged a bit of banter for a few more minutes before the human excused herself to fill her rumbling belly. Bel picked her duster back up off the floor and moved on to the next art piece, a rather terrible painting of some old guy. The maid stared for a few minutes, criticizing the man's really weird-looking ears. She gnced at the name pte but swiftly moved on when she saw the lengthy text.

  She was about as good at reading as she was at math. Which was to say, not good at all. The poor dretris girl struggled with a lot of things, sadly. But that was okay! She was happy, and her friends were happy, and that was all that mattered.

  She moved on from the old guy painting and picked up a vase to inspect. While she was peering inside the small object, that was when she heard the crash and muffled screaming. Her head whipped towards the door, the vase falling and shattering.

  The scream of pain was undoubtedly inhuman, but that meant little. Even in the human-dominated city of Saltbrook, countless other species walked the streets. Even one of the seven major Houses was one of elven descent. And though the door would have blocked out nearly all sound to the average human, her half-elven ears easily picked up on the youthful cadence in the cry.

  Was there a child in that room? Why was there a child here? She gnced around, unsure of what to do. Julia had stepped out, and while Bel didn't know what was in that room, she knew Julia was the only one allowed inside. And if she was gone... Bel bit her lip. The maid didn't want to just leave a kid lying there, hurt, with no one around.

  Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she approached the reinforced doorway and grasped the handle. It was still unlocked. She twisted.

  Rythica let out a shrill shriek of pain as she hit the floor at full force, and there was a faint cracking sound in one of her left arms. The tower behind her tumbled over with a rattling cmor, sending pieces in all directions, though she barely noticed as the objects rained down on her.

  The vex girl curled into a shaky ball, whimpering and hiccuping in blinding pain. It hurt. It hurt so much. She had never felt such pain in her life. She didn't know something could hurt this much. The girl lost herself to that pain. A vex couldn't cry; they had no tearducts, but her meager Aura spasmed, an automatic distress call that could only be detected by a nearby vex drone. Of which, there were none.

  Rythica didn't notice when the door hesitantly swung open, a young woman's head peeking in. "H-hello?"

  The small bug kept her head buried. "Hurt..."

  The word came out choppy and inhuman, with slight clicks and a mild hiss as her mouth failed to form the sound properly. Nonetheless, Bel understood the meaning as clearly as if it was spoken from her own mouth. It reminded her of transtion magic, which was fairly common among those like merchants and innkeepers, where they had to not only frequently deal with foreigners speaking different nguages but also strange dialects, strong accents, and the slurred speech of drunkards.

  The servant girl looked down, finally noticing the small, highly distressed child whimpering on the floor. She didn't recognize the species, but that didn't matter. She rushed into the room and peered through the vitresteel window.

  "Hey, miss! Are you okay?!"

  Rythica, sensing that the voice wasn't one she recognized, finally raised her head. Her eyes locked on the newcomer and froze. A predator had come to take advantage of her weakened state! She scrambled to her feet, her fight-or-flight instincts kicking in. The white-hot pain faded to the back of her mind as fear for her life filled her. She held two of her arms out, trying to make herself seem bigger. She hissed and took a step back, baring her teeth and gring at the opportunistic hunter.

  The dretris held her hands up and took several steps back. "Oh! I didn't mean to startle you-"

  Rythica cut off the ramblings of the predator with another hiss and a loud cck from her mandibles. With great effort, she managed to hold in her whimper of pain. Her vision wavered from the agony, but she didn't dare show vulnerability in front of an unknown threat.

  Where was Julia? She needed her drone here, now. The queen was in no way equipped to defend herself. Rythica was just gd she had decided to set up her nest in this defensible location. Nothing got through those walls... That thought sted until she gnced at the enclosure door that Julia routinely used. Her borderline hysterical fear increased another notch. Her mind churned away, trying to think of a way to scare off the beast before it discovered the weakness in her nest and left the queen with no means of escape. She called for her drones as loudly as she could.

  "Help!"

  The creature covered her ears at the sound and shut her eyes. She muttered in a soft, uneasy voice, "Ah, not so loud, please-"

  Rythica screeched at the spineless, opportunistic hunter. She made a few cw swipes in the enemy's direction, the threat implicit.

  "Enemy!"

  "Little one, please, I'm just trying to help." The maid kept looking back at the door as if she was afraid someone was going to ambush her from behind. Good, she understood what was coming. Rythica relished the anxiety radiating off the intruder, reveling in images of her drone sughtering the savage beast. She could already taste the flesh on her tongue. Who would eat who first?

  Another wave of blinding pain spped her, and her hands shook. Adrenaline coursed through bckened veins, but the chemical stimunt could only do so much. She simply wasn't used to torment on this scale, and it was all her queenly willpower could do to keep on her feet. She clutched at her injury a little tighter, hunching over the arm ever so slightly.

  The dretris caught the motion instantly. "Are you hurt? I can help..."

  Rythica snapped at the intruder once more, fury and distress marring her features.

  Undeterred, with an undeniable look of sympathy in her eyes, the short human took another step forward, holding her hands up in a sign of subservience. "Please, calm down. Let me help you."

  But the vex was too far gone to recognize the expression for what it was. Her whole world was pain. She looked up at the predator, panic-stricken. Why was the predator still approaching? And where were her drones?

  "Bite enemy!"

  She paused. "I'm not your enemy! I'm a friend of Julia."

  The vex whimpered at her arm. Why did every slight twitch feel so horrible? She clentched her eyes shut, the pain warring with her reason. She needed to focus on what was in front of her! She was in danger. Her instincts railed at her blunder. She needed to stand up and fight, or she would surely die. Her instincts hinted at an option. A st-ditch resource she could spend for a chance at life...

  She made to reach for it, to burn it all, when her mind finally caught on a small detail. The predator had mentioned her drone by name. Why? How did this disgusting, murderous creature know of her minions by name? She clung to that. Maybe she could get out of this intact, after all. She swallowed, her mandibles wavering. She tried to open her eyes but failed and kept them pinned shut with a pained grimace.

  "J-Julia?"

  "Yes! I'm Julia's friend." The maid bobbed her head animatedly, cpping and bouncing on her toes. "Don't worry. I'm here to help you."

  Rythica only understood some of those words but figured out the gist of her message.

  "Is how?"

  The dretris narrowed her brow, trying to parse Rythica's perfectly reasonable question.

  "How do I know Julia? We're both servants here."

  "Is drone?"

  She held her finger up as if to protest but paused, then lowered it. "Yeeeahhh, you could say that."

  "Am queen."

  The woman smiled with amusement and gave a slight bow. "Yes, your majesty. Of course." She giggled.

  Rythica opened her eyelids a crack, studying the self-procimed drone. She wasn't sure where this new drone came from, but having another minion was never a bad thing. She stepped closer to the window and gave the being a deep sniff, her scent wafting through the tiny holes that dotted the wall. Much to her surprise, the creature before her did indeed smell a bit like Julia.

  Rythica decided to accept the potential new drone into her care with a command, as was fitting.

  "No hurt..." She pointed at the set of drawers off to the side where the healing potion was normally stored.

  "Oh? Is there something in there that will help?" The new drone moved to the drawers to investigate. Quickly enough, she retrieved the familiar potion bottle. "Oh! I see! Alright, I'm on my way." The new drone scurried to the enclosure doorway and, before Rythica could stop her, opened it.

  Rythica's heart skipped a beat. She had just met this unknown being ciming to be her drone. There was no way she was just going to blindly trust the potential threat. The young vex had assumed the being would pass the bottle through the food area. The princess realized her mistake instantly in not specifying and giving them the time to discover the secrets of her nest's defenses. Now, there was nothing between the maybe-drone and the queen. She trembled and scooted back. She readied her cws, aiming to rip out the being's throat if it so much as twitched in the wrong way.

  Thankfully, the woman slowed, seeing Rythica's clear hesitance. She spoke in a soothing tone. "Hey, hey. I'm not going to hurt you. Here, see?" She held up the bottle. When Rythica made no move, the maid sat down on the ground, cross-legged. She pced her hands in her p and waited, a wide smile on her face. "Want to be my friend, too?" She patted her p enthusiastically. "Come on! You're a cute little one. Here, show me your arm." She shook the bottle slightly.

  Rythica studied her thoroughly, before letting the tension ease ever so slightly. The potential predator made no move to come any closer, clearly acting in a submissive manner and waiting for the queen's decision. The new drone had a strange way of speaking, but it seemed that was a running theme among her drones. They were all so different. Why did that confuse her instincts so much?

  The vex took a small step forward, her cws still at the ready, just in case. Then another. Yet, the drone made no motion other than to strangely vibrate in pce, making weird cooing sounds while staring at her. The girl never dropped her guard but carefully presented the wounded arm, keeping her gaze locked on the potential drone. She stealthily positioned her hands out of sight and tensed her muscles. This would be the ultimate test. If the potential drone did indeed give her the potion and heal her, then the drone was indeed an ally. A predator wouldn't be stupid enough to actually heal their prey just to lure them in. But if the predator did make her move...

  Rythica was almost taken aback when the drone followed through and poured the potion on her wrist. The faint cracks that covered her chitin sealed in, and the pain faded to a distant, dull ache. She blinked at the new drone. So, they were one of hers after all. She nodded at the drone. Good, the drone knew their pce already. She lowered her cws and let herself rex.

  The maid giggled again and pced her hand on Rythica's head, ruffling her hair. "Aww! You're just so freaking cute!!! Head pats all day! And look at that cute little ring on your antennae! It's like a piece of jewelry! Aww! Truly a fitting crown for her royal highness." She beamed.

  The mildly annoyed princess recalled the presence of the annoying ring that adorned her antennae. She hated it; it just jostled the sensitive organ in all the wrong ways. But for whatever reason, her drones seemed to understand her commands better when she wore it, so she deigned to allow it.

  She remembered when Julia had presented her with the shiny piece of jewelry several months back. The glistening bronze circlet enraptured her attention and roused her appetite in equal measure. Julia was unreasonably upset when Rythica swallowed it, but it was the nanny's own fault, really.

  A week ter, the nanny had tried again to put the ring on her, taking time to coat the ornament in something that tasted absolutely foul. After some back and forth, the ring was pced on her finger. Or at least, that was the intention. Her chitinous cws were shaped very differently than a human finger, and the ring didn't fit at all. That's when Julia had the bright idea of putting it on her antennae for whatever reason. After another week of screeching, bickering, and shameless pandering of Rythica's pride, there the ring now remained.

  Rythica scowled and batted away the strange drone. She hissed. And why did this drone have to speak so fast?! Rythica couldn't keep up with this sickly-sweet energy. And this one had really weird-looking ears, too. She couldn't help but just stare.

  The woman pulled her hands away. "Ah, sorry, sorry. I just can't help it. You're so adorable."

  The petite human held out her hand towards the toddler, as if to shake. "I'm Bel!! Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

  Rythica hesitated, trying to figure out what the speedy drone was trying to communicate. Gah, this one was the hardest to understand of all three! Why did things have to be so complicated?

  Noticing the baby queen's confusion, she tried a different approach, pointing at herself with a wide grin. "Bel!!!" She pointed at Rythica.

  "... Rythica?" She chirped, hesitant.

  She cpped. "Nice to meet you, Rythica! That's a nice name. We're going to be the best-est of friends!"

  Rythica was already beginning to regret recruiting Bel when the reinforced door to the room swung open. Julia slowly entered the room and straightened her apron, then paused as she noticed the enclosure door swung wide open, with immature little Bel sitting inside, cross-legged on the floor, without any protection, next to Rythica. Bel and Julia locked eyes for a moment.

  The teenager paled.