Magic, it turned out, was a lot more complicated than Regina had thought. Just because she could memorize and fire off a Spell pattern did not mean the underlying processes or principles were simple.

It didn’t help that the System kind of did its own thing, in parallel and on top of what magic on its own meant.

For now, Regina was hoping to learn how to scry, like Galatea did. The ability to see far-off locations would be tremendously useful. The views the psychic link and her drones provided her were already a huge advantage, and this would add to that. She wouldn’t mind getting a Spell for it, although just learning to do the magic itself would be more than enough.

“It’s entirely possible to cast magic outside the System,” Galatea had explained to her. “It’s just prohibitively difficult, compared to simply picking a Spell from a helpful screen and then activating it whenever you need it. The construction of the System has done a lot to equalize powers and balance the strength of mages. But conversely, you used to study for years to become a mage. At least, that’s what I gather from what Leian said.”

Regina had been relating what she learned to Janis, who had enthusiastically taken up the challenge of trying to learn the ‘deeper mysteries’ of magic. She actually seemed to be making progress, as far as Regina could tell. Not that either of them were far enough for any kind of practical application yet.

Still, Galatea had also remarked that Regina showed a high level of talent, just like Janis. Regina supposed that made sense. Her kind was clearly designed in some way, so why wouldn’t they give Hive Queens a strong innate talent for magic? For that matter, the Hivekind could have been recruiting women with a high affinity for mana, too. I just don’t know.

Without the guiding hand of the System, mana was a lot more stubborn, prone to slip out of one’s metaphorical fingers if it didn’t just sit somewhere refusing to be moved. Shaping it the correct way required a surprisingly complex application of what was basically geometry. Only basically, though, since it kind of felt like you had to push and stretch things in ways that didn’t usually exist. It also relied a lot on getting into the right frame of mind. Beyond that, she wasn’t sure if having Spells basically linked into her mana pool might hinder the process.

Unlike Spells that were recognized from the System, you wouldn’t get an ‘imprint’ of this kind of magic. If you struggled to cast something the first time, you would struggle just as much the next time. Well, it would probably get a little easier due to practice, she supposed. So, while in principle this allowed one to cast a lot more spells than they otherwise could, in practice it was a lot more difficult. According to Galatea, most mages never bothered.

Time flew by pretty fast, between all the magic training, practice splitting her focus by talking to Galatea while she was watching drones or doing other things, and the continuing construction of her hive’s new base. It finally started to snow in what, to Regina, was the first week of December. December 3085 — at least Galatea had actually been able to give her the current calendar year.

Getting confirmation that she really was over a thousand years out of her own time left Regina a bit more shaken than she would have thought.

She tried her best not to dwell on those thoughts, however, and instead turned her focus to the work she had to do. Besides managing the hive, or at least leading it, that included what she was starting to think she might have to call ‘foreign affairs’. Not that there was a clear dividing line, of course. But she kept corresponding with Kiara Lyns and also tried to find information on what was going on beyond her range from other sources. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do except ask her allies or contacts, which boiled down to just the elves.

Except for Galatea, of course, who was surprisingly stingy with information. Regina got the impression that she could only scry one place at a time, and it probably took time, effort and mana. And she supposed there had to be more interesting things to look at, so Regina could hardly blame her.

The Cernlians did finally send a ransom offer for Whitor that week, at least. Regina was a little surprised to find that it didn’t come with an actual messenger, just a letter sent by bird. Maybe it got around that that’s a good way to reach us, she thought with a bit of amusement. Still, it was probably an indication of something.

The bird dropped off the letter, then turned and flew away. Regina realized with a stab of annoyance that she would have to deliver a reply herself, probably using a Swarm Drone.

Unless she just sent back Whitor himself. That was a thought, at least.

“They did finally send an offer?” Whitor sounded almost surprised when she finally found him to tell him about it. He stood a short distance outside the new village, which was still little more than a camp, looking at a bit of local flora. It wasn’t anything the System gave a name, so Regina didn’t know what he might be after.

Probably something related to food. He was surprisingly knowledgeable about agriculture. She supposed that was the difference between modern politicians and rulers in a basically medieval time, where securing food production was one of, if not the single most central administrative issue.

“They did,” Regina replied, glancing at the letter again. She’d asked Via to make a copy before she took the news to him, since the Attendant’s handwriting was nicer than her own.

“What did they offer?” he simply asked. He straightened up and turned to face her, obviously giving her his full attention.

Regina resisted the urge to make a face. It rankled her a bit to realize that one reason why this letter came so late might be because they didn’t know what to offer her and her hive. Which wasn’t wrong, she supposed; she didn’t exactly have a need for material wealth. While it would be nice to have some actual currency, gold and other precious metals seemed to work fine. And she didn’t exactly have a lot of options for buying things, anyway. She tried not to draw too much attention or put enough into circulation to affect the local monetary worth, though, so it would still be useful, since she’d have a ready-made explanation for how she got her money.

“They offered a range of options,” she answered. “Most of them were basically payment in kind, though. I’ll be square with you, there are some that could be useful, but nothing we would find vital.”

He frowned slightly. “I see, so you intend to drive a hard bargain?”

Regina smiled. Now the bargaining would start.

"I’m sure you understand why the security of my people needs to come first,” she said. “Your county is on our northern border, and I need to make sure it will not be used as an avenue to attack us.”

“The peace deal with the elvish state offers you protection,” he objected. “The king cannot break it without incurring their wrath.”

Interesting phrasing, Regina noted, but she only shrugged. “That may be, but I would be remiss in my duty to my people if I relied on it too much. Don’t misunderstand me, though, I’m not ruling out any option of returning you to your home. Just explaining why it will not be as simple as that.”

“Then what is it that you want, Lady Regina?”

“Having you here serves as a guarantor of safety for us, to put it bluntly. If I am to release you, I will need another guarantee.”

Whitor frowned. “I am not sure I can give you anything of equal value, then. I have faith that His Majesty will not break his word, of course, but it is not my place to stop him if he were forced to resume hostilities.”

“Your word is enough for me,” Regina assured him. “I believe in your honor, Earl. If you will swear to abide by the terms of a release agreement, to bind your earldom to its terms, then I will not treat it as a threat.” Mostly, at least. I can’t rely on him not to get ousted, after all.

Whitor slowly nodded. “I see. I assume you will still want a material ransom payment?” he asked with a trace of irony.

“Naturally.” Regina smiled. “A price paid mostly in coin will be fine, along with some trade goods.”

They spent the next ten minutes hashing out the details. Somewhat surprisingly, Whitor seemed more bent on haggling the cost of the ransom than the details of his oath. Perhaps he just realized that she would be less likely to budge on that.

In the end, they settled on an oath he would swear later in public, along with a signed document. It stipulated that neither Whitor nor anyone under his formal or factual authority, especially the county itself or any of its soldiers, could attack the hive or anyone under Regina’s rule unless they were explicitly attacked first. This included participating in any aggression led or organized by someone else. She also added the provision that he would not attack the elves — something that should have been assured by the Cernlian peace treaty, anyway — or any other allies of hers, unless there was a preexisting state of hostility between them.

She’d tried to get him to include Lyns, as well, or at least Kiara Lyns, but Whitor had flat-out refused. He’d assured her that he was very unlikely to march against them, considering the situation. Still, he simply couldn’t agree to a deal like that, promising not to fight his liege’s direct, current and dangerous enemy, without his lord’s permission.

Eventually, she watched him heading back with measured steps, speculating for a moment if he was wondering how much of a county he had still left to rule. He struck her as a competent guy; he’d do fine, either way. And if the northwest of Cernlia was occupied with its own matters, it wouldn’t gather itself to attack her.

“Divide and conquer,” Regina muttered to herself. She grinned wryly. It amused her how much her strategy in dealing with her human enemies basically boiled down to that. Not what you’d expect from a Hive Queen, or her abilities.

Although I guess I haven’t done much conquering, she mused absently.

She shrugged as she turned her attention back to her drones. They had sent a ransom offer, anyway, and a pretty large one. He was still the count of his province. In a society with a strong hierarchy like this, that was what mattered. And, hopefully, he would dissuade his peers from starting anything with her, too. She wasn’t entirely sure how well the confidentiality clause she’d tried to include would work, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t want people to know how friendly he’d arguably gotten with her hive, either.

Regina received her next level not long after that. She suspected the System might have given her experience for dealing with him.

That wasn’t what she focused on, though. Instead, she considered the next message she got.

It had been a while since she had last picked a Spell from the System. Regina was unsurprised to see nothing scrying-related in the list. That would have been nice, but she’d known it was unlikely her recent practice was enough for something like that. She quickly looked over the list of possible new options, but nothing really appealed to her. Water Manipulation seemed to have opened up a few, but they didn’t feel necessary. Beyond that, she’d seen Janis cast Magic Armor and Haste, and knew Physical Augmentation was similar. Good Spells, sure, but not the kind of game-changer she was looking for. And she wouldn’t know how they would work, scientifically, at all. So, Regina turned her attention to possible upgrades for her existing Spells.

Basic Conjuration was the first one she checked, of course. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel like she could choose an upgrade. It would probably take a lot of work to get something like Greater Conjuration. At least, from the way the screen reacted, she could see that it was possible, and she was hopefully getting closer to that unlock. Fireball also might have an upgrade, though she wasn’t sure, and she would definitely be quite a ways off from that. Water Manipulation seemed like it would get one, too, but she couldn’t access it yet.

When she focused on Basic Heal, it shifted and the characters spelled out Heal. Then, after trembling for a moment, they rearranged themselves into Greater Heal.

Huh. Regina stared at it for a second. Did I just skip a grade of unlocks and get access to a higher one directly?

After a moment, she shook herself and turned her attention to the War Drone by Galatea’s door, asking the ancient AI.

“Ah, that kind of thing happens,” Galatea answered when she told her what happened. “Usually when you have two or more possible directions for a Spell to take. From what I’ve read, you could take either. It’s something one needs to be careful about. Greater Heal is going to be more effective than the variant without a qualifier, but it is also going to take a lot more mana to cast. I don’t think you will be able to modulate between variants of the Spell’s strength as well as with Firebolt and Fireball, either. That’s not as much of a problem given the size of your mana pool, but others might be better served sticking with ‘Heal’.”

Regina nodded. “Thanks for the info. How much could it do?”

“I’ve seen Greater Heal used to cure someone who was practically at death’s door with one leg through it,” she replied. “It should also be useful for treating things like autoimmune disorders or cancer, for that matter, which most healing Spells can’t do much about. At least with you casting it.”

“That’s good to know.”

Regina frowned to herself as she looked at the options again, but it wasn’t really a hard choice. Her hive had other people who could heal now, so she wasn’t the only one anymore. But she was still the strongest and the one with the most expertise, and her hive was growing. This was objectively more useful for her, rather than focusing on combat spells, given her position in the hive. Her role was more that of a support, really.

Besides, if one of her sapient drones got hurt in the coming weeks or months and died because she hadn’t chosen to upgrade her healing Spell, she would be kicking herself, to put it mildly.

Regina exhaled and picked the Greater Heal option, wincing as a brief headache accompanied the shifting of her mana and new information within her.