While they brought it up in the first place, I’m too occupied with conversing with the king and Lady Carina about our culture to be able to eat anything.
One thing I learned in my manners training was that you don’t stuff your mouth if you intend to say something.
Eventually, I run out of topics I deem to be safe to tell and so the talk slowly concludes.

Finally, I get to try one of the smaller pastries served on the next table.
It looks scrumptious.
Truly, the eye eats as well, and whoever made this concentrated a fair bit of their expertise around how to arrange the icing into the symbols of Tarsona.
I first give it a slight sniff and then, after a small bite, relish in the taste.
The nectar is heavily diluted but perfectly accentuated.
I miss a little that it isn't as sweet as pure nectar, but this might be good as otherwise there'd be a certain overweight factor to consider for everyone who eats this.
This and that my craving for the sweetness might be a pure Formicea thing.
Anyway, aside from this one factor, in terms of consistency and looks it certainly wins.

 

"Kyska, why don't you try one as well?" (E)

 

I'm still trying to prove to Kyska that humans can make quite a lot of interesting things and although a pastry isn't the greatest invention ever, I wouldn't mind having them in the hive.
Yet maybe with a bit more nectar.

 

"If you wish so, princess." (K)

 

She takes the one I'm holding towards her and separates a small partition with her mandibles.

 

"I need to admit, that the way these humans incorporate the nectar is ingenious." (K)

"You said it. As long as we don't sell ourselves too short I'm sure the swarm can profit from this ingenuity." (E)

"If you say so." (K)

 

It's actually quite the challenge to get a real taste of all the sweets in front of me without looking bad as the one who clears the plate.
The nobles here would certainly have no sympathy for the fact that I have to fuel all the eggs in my body.
So I have to inconspicuously take one after the other if I want to enjoy them.

After I'm somewhat sated, I look around the hall for the others in my group.
Be it to assure myself that the girls are alright or that Honiu isn't going around stinging the guests, it's certainly better to check up on them.
Reassuringly, I find them all somewhere on the sidewall, not too far away from the guard.
The girls as well as my mum are supposed to attend Honiu, so they're not going to move too far away from her.
Also, the former have no intention of bravely mingling with the nobles.

It seems that Lady Carina chose her as her next victim and has already engaged in a full-blown conversation.
Though, she does seem to do most of the talking.

Honiu meanwhile is surprisingly listening, but from what I see and receive from her, not because of the wish to be a good conversational partner, but rather with the same morbid scientific interest with which Toris used to observe small insects.
While it does still seem peaceful, I should go to ensure that it stays that way since I know that it could take a sudden turn.

 

"Lady Carina, I see that you're getting acquainted with Princess Honiu." (E)

"Princess Erys! I'm having a great time. Princess Honiu is such a pleasant partner to talk to." (C)

 

Well, nice for you but occasionally it might be an idea to let the other party say something.

 

"It's fascinating. She claims one thing after the other about me but won't wait for me to confirm a single one of them." (H)

"Ohohoh! Then please enlighten me. I'm curious about so many things. Are you truly the leaders of this whole nation? You came here with all these troops. Do you command all of them, just like the ancient warrior princesses?" (C)

"We princesses have formal control over our respective partitions, but the true power lies with the queen. Even most of our escort troops were provided by her." (H)

"The queen? Certainly a special individual. So if there's a queen, is there also a king to this?" (C)

"No, males aren't really a thing in the swarm." (E)

"Really? But what about those?" (C)

 

She points at my royal guards.
It's understandable that those huge warriors with all the extra muscles may confuse the unintroduced observer.

 

"Drones don't have a gender. Aside from the queen and the princesses, there are no beings with a gender." (E)

"This isn't entirely true. In the ancient days there were males among our kind." (H)

Really? Now she chooses to speak solely to disprove me?

"So there were?!" (C)

"Naturally. And they served an essential function. They would wander around and scout the underworld for suitable locations for the princesses of that time so they could place their offspring. And then return to them to prepare for the act." (E)

"The act, huh? Now we get to the juicy part." (C)

"Honiu, I don't think that's a suitable topic." (E)

 

It wasn't particularly mentioned but I'm rather sure that insect mating is none of the topics one should talk about with nobles.

 

"Why not? It's an important part of our history. If she's interested in us then our origins are of importance." (H)

"Okay, okay, but what happened when the male would return to the female?" (C)

"The female would consume the male. Through this process, she was not only able to extract the information regarding necessary adaptation to the encountered creatures and environment, but she would also gain the necessary strength for the coming act of breeding." (H)

 

I have no idea what to say here.
Lady Carina is the first to regain her composure.

 

"Well, this was not what I expected, but I certainly can't say that the answer was below my expectations." (C)

"When we manage to establish a steady exchange, I'm sure there will be many more fascinating things to show." (E)

"Absolutely! I can't wait for it to happen. Times will become a lot more entertaining." (C)

 

Since she looks content I excuse myself to look for the girls.
I can already feel how nervous they are from here.

 

"Hey, are you two alright?" (E)

"Alrieght? Sure, ief you don't count my bodiely stAte, all thee weeird stares I gEt, and that I have no ideea why wee are eeven heere, thEn we're peerfEctly fine." (Alea)

"I mieght be able to give an answer to the latter." (F)

"Reeeally? I'm all eears." (A)

"Honiu inteends to have you perform in your roles. Millie, she wants you as her pErsonal nurse. As such you'll inevietably get caught up in her antics. So it's bEtter to get used to this. And you, Alea, are supposed to be a mEssEnger. And the point of having a human mEssenger is that you're best-suieted to interact with humans. As such, thies kind of event is a great traiening for both of you." (F)

 

When mum addressed her I noticed that the nurse-girl grew increasingly uncomfortable.

 

"Is everything okay? You can tell me." (E)

"Mmy tonshh feelsh a bit nnumbh and my thhroath ish shhore! B-but itsh okay." (M)

 

That doesn't sound like it's okay!

I should try helping her.
Or rather I call one of the servants over to do so.

 

"Excuse me, would it be possible to bring some juice for the young lady?" (E)

 

I hope this might help her throat a little.
While the man looks a bit surprised at me and the girl, who looks not a bit like all the nobles here, he immediately obeys.
I guess none of the servants would dare risk offending us.
Since he's for this reason fairly motivated, it only takes a moment for him to return with a full glass.

 

"Is this fine for you?" (E)

 

I have a bit of a soft spot for these young children and want them to have a somewhat nice time.

 

"I-it shmellsh nish and shweet." (M)

 

She starts to sip and from the way she leans the glass more and more toward her I'd say she enjoys it.

 

"Slurpshh"

 

Suddenly there's a loud slurping sound coming from the girl like you'd get it when you pull far more air than liquid inside.
Quite a number of people start looking in our direction, but the one who's the most appalled is the girl herself, now clawing at her throat.

 

<Scre-scriekiek!/I, I think I just sucked the juice through my tongue!!> (M)

 

It seems insect speech is still working.
But what did she say?
With her tongue?
That would mean she could draw the liquid with it, which means it's hollow, like a, like a...

Oh my god, I get really disturbing flashbacks!

 

<Screoh!/Millie, are you okay?> (A)

<Scriekuh!/I-I'm not sure. It feels so strange. I can feel it running down there. But not really my throat, but different.  Is this bad?> (M)

 

Promptly mum comes running over.

 

"No, no. It's... You don't need to worry. It might only be a bit strange at first but you're still healthy." (F)

 

Yep, aside from the elongated tube tongue with which you can now intentionally empty your stomach there's nothing unusual here.
Yet the other guests don't seem to see it this way and begin to talk.

 

"Tsk, did you hear this?"

"It was hard not to. Who even brought these children?"

"The first one was bad enough, but did you hear the other sounds? Just like them."

"Are they even human? Maybe they only look like this from the outside."

 

One particular noble extra comes close so the girls hear him.

 

"They certainly shouldn't be here!"

"Swish"

 

Suddenly a stinger stops directly in front of his face.

 

"How did you just now act towards my brood?" (H)

 

General outrage and panic ripple through the crowd.
I quickly step between Honiu and the other nobles before this situation gets out of hand.

 

"Ehk, Princess Honiu is very infatuated with those children. So I wouldn't recommend treating them poorly." (E)

 

If you don't want to die that is.
She might treat them like her expendable brood but if she's going to put their lives against a human's, they'll always come first.

 

"What is the meaning of this?!" (G)

 

That voice, it's that man from house Zion if I'm right.

 

"I-I was just threatened!" (noble)

"Is that so? Because from what I could gather, Sir Lindon, you offended direct subordinates of someone this country worked hard to achieve an agreement with, sabotaging all the effort put towards this purpose! Even more, you intentionally chose to antagonize them at a banquet which your very liege prepared in their honor. If I didn’t know better, I'd say you're working hard on ruining your own standing." (G)

"Wh-what? I, I, I..." (L)

"Since it seems you don't know how to proceed from this point, let me help you. These men will guide you without fail out of the palace. For everyone else, I hope you'll see this as what it is. A bad example for all of us!" (G)

 

And with this, all the nobles quietly look away while that person is brought outside.
The one who's responsible for this, meanwhile, turns towards us.

 

"I'm very sorry that you had to see something so unseemly. I hope you know that this isn't the conduct we expect from our guests." (G)

 

While it sounds nice, I also realize that he's heavily taking our side since we went first against the etiquette of this event, which he doesn't even mention.
I guess those are the perks of being the favored party.

 

After this, things calm down.
The girls are naturally still uncomfortable, but at this point, everyone knows what will happen if they even think of showing ill behavior towards them.
Also, not long afterwards, Aaron and the king show up and calm any waves which might still exist.
Just when I think that it's over, Lord Zion, or however he's to be referred as, approaches me again.

 

"Princess Erys, Would it be possible to talk with you in privacy?" (G)

"Why not here?" (E)

"It's a delicate topic and there are too many ears, you understand?" (G)

 

Huh, what could he tell me that no one else can know about?
Well, from what I gathered in my time here, this man is involved with most of the inner affairs of the palace so it might be important.

 

"Fine, I'll just call my guard over." (E)

"If you deem this right." (G)

"You can be assured that my attendees are loyal beyond doubt and would never say a word about what we're discussing." (E)

 

"I understand. Then please, let me lead the way." (G)

 

We move to the next wall.
A team of my guards moves first through a side door that leads into a small open square garden.
It looks rather quiet and peaceful here.
I guess this should be remote enough, although the party is still in full view from this place, nobody should be able to sneak up on us and hear what we're talking about.

 

"So, what did you have to tell me?" (E)

"That I'm deeply sorry for what is about to happen. NOW!!!" (G)

 

Suddenly many pots are thrown from the balcony above us.
The moment they shatter on the ground a strong smell spreads everywhere.
I'm getting nauseous, it is so intense.

Directly after this, several armed men stream from all sides, but much more concerning is that those on the upper ranks now point many crossbows at us.

I look behind me and see that the door is now closed.

 

"What is the meaning of this?!" (E)

"Screak!" (Miru)

 

What is going on?!
I can't understand what she's saying!
Is it the oil?

 

"Protect, mother!"

 

Despite the communication difficulties, the other royal guards of this group of ten at least manage to gather around me while Kyska positions herself in front of me.

 

"Get rid of the guards!" (G)

 

And so they shoot one volley at us.

The bolts hit hard but this much is not enough for my royal guard.
Although some penetrate through their carapaces they keep standing.

 

"Shoot!" (M)

 

Yes, Miru can speak human words to a degree and the others understand it.
It only makes sense to switch to this kind of communication.
At her order, the royal guard raises their claws and releases all their hidden hand spikes.

 

"Splshh"

 

They get propelled at the crossbowmen on the upper rank to great effect, taking many of them down.
However, they still outnumber us two to one.
That doesn't even take those on the ground into account.

 

"Charge!" (M)

 

Miru spreads her wings and flies to the crossbowman above us, but they were waiting for this, and before she reaches the balcony, they throw nets over the fliers.
Unable to move their wings, they crash hard on the ground.

The crossbowmen shoot again.
This time to much greater effect since my guards can't intercept the bolts like this.
The armed men on the ground start to engage the other half of my guards who stayed by me.
The humans immediately suffer severe losses, the weapons of my soldiers slicing effortlessly through their defenses, but then the next volley of bolts hits them from behind.

MY CHILDREN!!!

 

"YOU!!" (E)

 

I'm gonna kill him!

 

"Damnit, when is it going to show effect?"

 

That's what a man next to that Zion asshole says yet I can't dwell on this now.
I step toward this traitorous bastard, ready to slice him into pieces with my blades but suddenly feel weak and stumble.

 

"Finally! The paralyzing poison really took its sweet time. Soldiers! Secure the door! Don't bother with the guards. If they break through we have far greater problems." (G)

 

A new group of hostiles with fierce halberds enters from behind Lord Zion.
Those don't even have to really fight at this point.
Instead, they move directly to me, but Kyska manages to somehow keep herself upright.

 

"Stay, away, from, my, princess!" (K)

They point their weapons at her.

"No, take that one as well. We'll need it." (G)

"SKREEEK!" (K)

"I’ll give you a bit of friendly advice. You can cease your struggle now and accompany us to ensure that this girl stays well, or die for no reason." (G)

 

Kyska looks back at me.
Even without being able to feel her thoughts, I know how conflicted she is.
I want to stand up, but simply can't find the strength.

 

"Fine." (K)

"Good that we could come to an agreement." (G)

 

The man roughly shoves her to the side and pulls me up.
I want to fight but realize that it's pointless.
I'm far too weak and wouldn't be able to make much of a difference.

 

"Sir! The door won't hold much longer!"

"Keep it shut!" (G)

 

The men carry me to the other side of the garden, apparently knowing the way even without instructions. From behind me, I hear the man from before approach Lord Zion.

 

"Sir, as you ordered, the way to the secret passage is secured and the coach is ready."

"Good. Then close the door." (G)

"But sir... The men..."

"Will buy us time! Every second is of the essence. Let the other units stay behind as well to protect our retreat." (G)

"As you command."

 

While I'm carried further my consciousness slowly slips.
Just why did this happen?