I hate this!
I absolutely hate this!
Mum was just brought away from her place at work by some insects and no one knows where they've left to.

I want to help her.
If only I wasn't in the middle of laying eggs!
I already feel lighter, but at the same time pressing these eggs out is exhausting.
Even in this state I wanted to rush to my mother's help but wasn't allowed.
I wasn't allowed!!!

Kyska and Miwa even pressed me back on the throne.
Not very difficult, since I without any strength left in my body couldn't do much against this.
They weren't forceful but like this, I could just proceed.
I feel like an egg-laying machine.
I am not even allowed to move when it matters.
However, what I could do was to give the order to find her.
I don't have thirty hunters for no reason.
I could barely perceive what happened, as fast everyone who could in this situation was suddenly gone.
I just hope they got the "alive" part.

One hundred.
One hundred eggs of considerable size.
Ever pressed out one-hundred eggs in a row?!!

My waist feels completely numb and sore at the same time.
The only positive part is that my belly started directly to shrink back, as if it was made to go through such an extension, without suffering from any lasting effects.
With this, I feel so much lighter now.
Yet at the same time completely empty.
Not that I liked my stuffed state but now it feels like all my innards got removed.
And would you believe it, I still cannot move!

This whole session took all my energy, which makes it impossible to stand up again.
Kyska made sure to direct her responsibilities so she could be here when the laying started.
Suki was during that time in charge of the courtyard, while Kyska managed the horror that transpired in this room.
I could just manage to convince Miwa and Kyska to relocate me to a bench, away from that dreaded throne.

Does this thing have to stay there?
It's like a symbol for something I seriously don't want to be reminded about.
At the moment, I can just lie on my side on that bench and try to massage my stomach somehow, without scratching it with my rather sharp nails.
Did I ever mention that they grew, as my nurses abstain from shortening them?
And this has to be done actively, as they are presumably of the same insect carapace material and like this extremely durable.

However, at the moment I don't feel like addressing this in my condition.
It's anyways a little difficult at the moment with Kyska, since she schemed quite a bit against me recently.
Naturally not with ill intent.
The moment I started this royal guard thing it was already a set event.
Nonetheless, I made sure to tell her that next time I want to be informed in advance about stuff like a throne in my room or this whole setup to put me on this thing during my sleep.

You're asking why I'm collected enough to think about stuff like this when my mother was abducted?
A short time after I gave my order to the hunters to bring her back this instant, a messenger came to inform me that Liseti found her and is on the way to bring her back.
I was asked to revoke my order to the hunters, mostly to prevent bloodshed, as they were rather committed to fulfilling their task.

Naturally, I did so.
Liseti is basically my friend, if that concept can be applied here, and I can for sure trust her to bring my mum back to me.
So letting my hunters rip them apart would be the wrong course of action.
All's well that ends well.
Just need to get rid of that feeling as if my stomach collapses to the inside.

 

<My princess, your mother has reached the courtyard.> (Sk)

 

If I could I would directly rush to her, but my legs are too wobbly for this.
All I managed to do was to get up on this bench and order me a blanket to cover my body so I can properly welcome her.
It's not really hard to notice their arrival, as Liseti along with her escort makes more than enough noise to notice.
Yet the first ones to enter are Suki and Kyska.

 

"My princess..." (K)

 

What is with her?
She looks so dejected.

 

"What is wrong?" (E)

 

I am starting to feel uneasy.
It's rare to see Kyska troubled by something and Suki doesn't look any better.

 

"Your mother..." (K)

 

The words hit me badly.

 

<Screeak!/What is with my mum?!> (E)

 

Didn't Liseti say she would be brought here?
Isn't she alive?
Did something happen?
Was she dismembered?
Disfigured?
Mortally wounded?
What is with my mum?!!

 

"Please, my princess. You have to calm down." (K)

 

She talks intentionally in human language to soothe me, however...

 

<Don't tell me what I have to do!! I want to know what is with my mum!> (E)

"Please, my princess, you emit too strong pheromones. It's agitating..." (S)

<Scrieek, Skreeeek!/What do I care who is agitated?! What is wrong with my mum?!!> (E)

"W-we will bring her in." (K)

 

They'll bring her in?
So she's well enough for this?
Then Liseti enters, accompanied by two messengers and... mum!!
She looks well and healthy, yet she is practically cowering behind Liseti and I don't know why.
She looks almost afraid.
I inspected my body and nothing looks too unusual.
So why does she hide from me?

 

"M-mum? What is wrong? I was so worried! I still don't know what happened. Are you fine?" (E)

 

She looks at me, but her gaze is unsteady and wavers sometimes back to Liseti, who herself seems slightly unsettled.
Which unsettles me even more.
Then mum moves a very short distance in my direction.
She seems to contemplate what to say.
But ultimately she makes a decision.

 

<Hi Ery. A lot happened and it became complicated but... I, I'm mostly fine./Crik, creeek!> (F)

"You are alright? God, I'm so relieved. You..." (E)

 

What was that!?

 

"C-could you please repeat that?" (E)

<C-creak./I... Something happened. My throat. I cannot speak.> (F)

 

I panic.
Mum can't speak!
Even more, I can feel how much this weighs on her.
Wait! I can feel it!?

Pheromones!
Mum is emitting pheromones!
Why? Why is that so?
Everyone is so serious!

Is that permanent?
Am I the reason?
Is all of this my fault?

Mum starts to cover her head with her hands as if she is totally devastated.
She also retreats from me.
So it is my fault?
Is she angry with me?

 

<Criek, craek!/Erys, you have to calm down. The pheromones of a princess are many times stronger than an average drone's and cannot be ignored. And you tend to scream especially intensely in your agitation. You put a terrible burden on your mother.> (L)

 

I, I am hurting mother?
So this was why she held her head?
She is already in a bad state and I am screaming everything down.
But why can she feel this?
Only Formicea should be able to sense pheromones or emit them or talk in creaks.
Just what happened?!

 

<I can explain the situation. Shall we converse now or should we first bring your mother away?> (L)

 

This suggestion might sound cruel, throwing mum out while she is in that state, but the intention is reasonable.
Liseti's point is that, as agitated as I am I will just make everything worse for her.
And she is right.
I can barely contain myself.

 

<Kyska! Suki! Please attend to my mother. Do everything she wishes for and what you deem necessary.> (E)

 

I can't help it that my tone turns dark.
I really have to strain myself here.

 

"Immediately my princess. Miss Farrah, would you accompany us?" (K)

 

She nods.
Probably because she doesn't want to speak.
I wait till they are out.
Then I turn to Liseti.

 

<Scriik!/Now please tell me who is responsible for that.> (E)

 

             

 

I know that my mind can barely keep up, while I wait for Liseti to start explaining what lead to my mother's state.
From the looks alone, I can assume that she wasn't involved.
Mum even clung to her during my prior outburst.
She wouldn't do that to the one who harmed her.
This means someone else is at fault.

 

<What happened? Who did this to my mother?> (E)

 

I don't even bother anymore with human speech.
It feels like my fury wouldn't get through.

 

<It was Honiu.> (L)

 

Okay. I have a name.
Not that it would help me in any way to direct my rage.

 

<And who is that?> (E)

<I once told you, that this hive housed two princesses before you came. She is the second.> (L)

<A princess? But why mum? Why did she do this?> (E)

<Simple curiosity. She formally oversees the nursery and through this came into contact with your mother while she worked there.> (L)

<But... If someone this dangerous was there, why did you let my mother go to this place?> (E)

<A misjudgment on my side which I'm deeply ashamed for. Princess Honiu is in general not active. She almost never leaves her district and just concentrates on her production. I never would have thought that she would take interest in anything other than this.> (L)

<She hurt my mum because she was in a mood?! Where is she? Tell me!> (E)

"What will you do with this information?> (L)

<I will, I will...> (E)

<Yes? What are your intentions? To challenge her? While I value our alliance and am indebted for my mistakes, I won't support you in a swarm war! And on your own, you will lose. She is far more powerful and that her brood exceeds yours is a given.> (L)

<I don't know! I just want her to know she was wrong. Maybe slap her. Shout at her! Whatever I can.> (E)

<This might actually amuse her. Honiu has nothing in her life she values. But if she finds something interesting, this distracts her from her boredom.> (L)

<She has nothing? I thought she has control over the nursery.> (E)

<While this is true, the nurses are self-sufficient and can easily maintain order on their own. She might even have thought that your mother is an irregularity the nurses can't deal with themselves. Like this, she wanted to make her fit in, performing some adjustments towards that goal.> (L)

 

The most terrible is that it reminds me so much about what the queen did to me.

 

<How could a princess do this? How could she change mum? I thought just the queen was able to change people.> (E)

<While the queen is superior to her, you should be aware that a princess is a being that could, if the necessity arises, at any time become a queen. If you think about it, a princess is a small queen and we all carry all the hereditary information of our species. These minor adjustments Honiu invoked are nothing.> (L)

<Is there any way to help my mum?> (E)

<I'm sorry, I doubt it. It's already unusual to influence another species like this. It's the same with you. You were given a part of us. Influenced by our hereditary information. Reverting means not just taking away but it has to be replaced. Yet we cannot give something we don't have. Yet I need to admit that my knowledge about the actual process is limited. Honiu is far more proficient in this. Especially if you consider that she is old.> (L)

<Old?> (E)

<I don't know her exact age, but it should be more than two-thousand cycles. Maybe even three-thousand. She lived through the whole swarm wars and with both her age and the things she's seen, she has become a being that isn't interested in her surroundings anymore, aside from initial curiosity, which always soon diminishes.> (L)

<How can someone become like this?> (E)

<Do you remember when I told you about different ways to treat a princess? Honiu is a product of this. She just laid eggs in her old hive, just focusing on this sole task. Until our forces broke through and claimed her. But this was a harsh experience. She lost something. After she was claimed she was used as a hostage to subdue her brood. Drones cannot act if it would mean risking harm to their broodmother. So she witnessed how her whole brood was slaughtered and her old swarm perished. All her efforts came to waste. This made her apathetic. Since then she just lays eggs as she has always done, because she has nothing else.> (L)

<The swarm claimed her? Like a prize?> (E)

<You sound as if you would condemn this, but it's simply the way things are in the swarm. During the swarm wars, an enemy princess was either killed or taken. In the end, all swarms went for the latter. This way our ability to produce future generations was secured. A princess may be a special existence, but she belongs to the swarm that controls her. She has to produce brood and is not free to choose.> (L)

<But, but did they really play along? Forced to support their former enemy?> (E)

<Most of them. If they didn't die immediately they complied. A princess is her function to lay eggs, nothing else. This is her sole reason to exist. Just because we are granted preferred treatment you shouldn't forget that we have a set role. And because of that, I cannot allow you to cause havoc in the hive because of something like a personal grudge.> (L)

 

This is no nice thought.
In general, it seems like a princess is just a facility to them.
She shall have no thoughts of her own and can just like this be taken and installed at another place.
And this while they told me my wishes would be respected.

 

<You told me my family would be safe and now this! What is if this Honiu repeats what she did? At next becomes interested in my little brother and abducts him? This is all so terrible!> (E)

<While I apologize for my lack of foresight, I wouldn't say that they're not safe.> (L)

<Not safe!? My mother is...> (E)

<Unharmed and in good health.> (L)

<How can you say she's unharmed?> (E)

<While she can now receive and emit pheromones, this shouldn't negatively affect her. For her throat, albeit it was changed, this isn't dangerous to her life. She can simply live on.> (L)

<She cannot speak!!! I don't know how to tell dad.> (L)

<Aren't you more than able to speak human words? Like this, it should be manageable to recover her speech.> (L)

<That's not it! It's very hard to form the words!> (E)

<But not impossible. The changes on your mother are negligible compared to yours. Rather than going to Honiu, you should help your mother. You know better than anyone else how to adjust now.> (L)

 

Helping mum or getting killed by the hive's soldiers for insubordination.
Not really a choice.

 

<At least... Promise me that this won't repeat. To anyone! My family must be safe!" (E)

<I will pursue this as much as I can.> (L)

 

She won't lie to me.
Yet this isn't as assuring as I had hoped for.
It meant if she can't help it then she can't.

 

<Right. Now excuse me. I have to go and help mum.> (E)

 

With this, she leaves and I head to my mum.