Janis glanced at her queen riding through the aftermath of a recent victory, frowning contemplatively into the distance, and wondered how things would turn out.

It was still strange for her to think of Regina that way, but she knew it was accurate. Regina had made a more momentous choice than she perhaps knew, by showing her power in front of the marquis and demanding a royal address. She was sure the implications were still trickling through the Cernlian nobility’s parlors and conferences. Other ones, as well, maybe.

It wasn’t like Janis minded. While she was not a ‘mud-grubbing peasant’ - as the daughter of reasonably successful adventurers and the grand-niece of a knight, who even unlanded did, after all, count as lesser nobility - she was not someone great lords would usually waste a second of thought on. Well, perhaps because of her magical talents or even her elemental blood. Still, she’d seen enough of how things worked to have a pretty good idea, and she hadn’t liked most of what she’d seen.

Regina was different. Obviously, the Hivekind were far from human, and the way their society worked reflected that. Still, though, Regina had been human once, and she hadn’t exactly hidden the fact that she thought of all of them as backwards barbarians. But her contempt was directed at the system itself and perhaps the nobles, not, primarily, the common people.

I suppose it’s better to be thought of as a victim than as a resource barely better than cattle or a worker inherently less worthy than your betters, Janis mused.

She herself wouldn’t have entertained these thoughts before she’d met Regina, she knew. But experiencing strange cultures might just have a way of getting you to contemplate your own, and the hints she’d picked up about Ancient times were pretty tantalizing as well.

Max had once suggested she had a chip on her shoulder from being stuck in a backward village for ten years. He might have a bit of a point, but Janis was confident there was a little more to her feelings. She didn’t know what Regina would do. And while that was a bit frightening, it was also exhilarating. Curiosity had always been Janis’ weak point. Right now, no pack of Lionits was going to get her away from Regina’s side. Well, metaphorically speaking.

Besides, Regina had never actually had much to do with common people before, and Janis was pretty interested to see how it would go when she would have to deal with them.

Right now, most of the villages they’d passed were under occupation by Hive drones, and some further away from the border had started to see people fleeing before they reached them. That implied there was at least a little bit of an alarm system in place, not that Janis was surprised. No messenger, even on horse, would have traveled quicker than them, she was pretty sure. At least not enough for this. That meant magic or maybe tamed monsters, most likely a system meant to warn of monster incursions in normal times.

“How much further?” Max asked quietly.

Janis glanced at him. He’d been pretty quiet recently, and he was watching their surroundings closely. Probably looking for threats. This was the first time they had fought anything like a field battle during their advance, although it was still only a skirmish. A few hundred drones against less than that in human men-at-arms and what she suspected were adventurers. Some tradespeople, as well. The few Hunters or Butchers might have been effective, but most of those hadn’t.

Janis tried not to think of what she’d seen through the psychic link. The drones had already cleaned up all but bloodstains at the side of the road before they traveled through.

“We’ll keep going until we catch up to Ace’s group,” Regina said. Her tone was firm, commanding, even though she slumped in her saddle with obvious tiredness. The Drone Mount given the privilege of carrying her (and she was pretty sure the drones did consider it one) picked its way cautiously along the dirt path they were following, clearly careful not to jostle her. Regina barely seemed to notice, gaze half-lidded as she looked at many things happening at once, few of them here.

“And then we’ll get to assault a castle,” Ira noted, sounding almost cheerful. Janis wondered if she was doing that deliberately.

“Probably,” Max agreed after another quick glance at Regina.

Janis closed her own eyes for a moment and searched for the right connection in the psychic link. She found one, passing through a threshold and looking through a Swarm Drone’s eyes at the castle in question. It was a big one, deserving of the term fortress, probably even more so than Forest’s Watch. Instead of a river, it stood surrounded by a moat leading up to a great curtain wall, dotted with towers and an imposing gatehouse. The keep reached high into the sky, built with the telltale openings of an eyrie. No flying monsters were currently in sight, though, the defenders likely keeping them back to avoid giving their enemy a good look at what they had up their sleeves.

Janis didn’t think it was going to be much of a challenge.

The Hive had already gathered a host of around ten thousand close to the castle, although it was still technically split into several sections kept somewhat apart for easier logistics. Their current group was bringing another thousand in reinforcements. And among those, hidden among the throng, was a very high-level group. Of course, they were intended primarily as Regina’s bodyguards and wouldn’t be taking the field themselves, but they’d be there in an emergency. Not to mention that if the Nerlians did catch sight of them, they’d have to account for them in their deployments, honor the threat of Regina unleashing them against their ranks.

Janis was aware that Max was still unhappy about Regina being here, across the border in Nerlia, in the first place. She appreciated his concerns, but didn’t think he was quite right. This was probably the highest concentration of power the Hive currently fielded anywhere, even including their home base. And if anyone was going to attack Regina, she thought the middle of a swarm like this would probably be a much harder target to hit than her rooms in the very stationary hive whose location was well-known by now. Not to mention they were actually farther away from the bulk of the enemy’s troop strength here.

“It really is all about positioning, I guess,” she muttered to herself.

“Your lessons with Ben and the others appear to have been going well,” Ira said, drawing Janis out of her thoughts.

“I think so,” she replied. In truth, those were less lessons than sessions where they talked things out. Brainstorming, Regina might call it, although there was a bit more to it than that. The hive’s commanders might have good instincts, but they still lacked knowledge of the world outside their territory in some ways. Janis was happy to fill in the gaps, and pick up more knowledge on strategy and military considerations along the way. She found the subject more fascinating than she’d thought previously. And besides, the hive didn’t mind if she wanted to become a commander in addition to being a mage or diplomatic advisor (no question which was last on her personal list), as long as she could prove herself competent and be useful. Considering the sorts of things she’d been doing for Regina already, it was probably only prudent.

Janis chatted with Ira for a while, then turned most of her attention to the psychic link. A few of the Keepers had started setting up the equivalent of a digital library mixed with a ‘multimedia archive’ in the psychic link devoted to tactics. There was a lot there Janis didn’t think would be very useful to her, at least for now, but quite a few things they would probably put into practice soon, as well.

The sun moved through the sky, and they caught up with the units led by Ace, then soon joined the gathering around the castle. It was clearly a siege camp, and from what she could tell, had been deliberately set up in a way to make that clear to everyone. The ditches and palisades might have kept the War Drones busy, but she didn’t know how helpful they would actually be. No reason not to do it, though, she supposed. It wasn’t like they lacked the manpower to get the entire castle encircled with at least basic fortifications.

Their arrival caused a bit of a stir, which she’d known it would. Regina smiled at the sapient drones milling around, but didn’t stop to talk to them, and instead headed to a small hill where they’d be able to have a good overview of the area, while Janis and the others followed. Ada and most of their senior officers were already there.

“How soon can we start?” Regina began without preamble.

“Technically right away,” Ben replied. “I don’t think that would be a good idea, though. Ada?”

“The humans have holed up and prepared for a siege,” Ada reported. “We’ve caught glimpses of several different giant birds, but no hard numbers - our best estimate is between twenty and forty, perhaps more if they’re smaller or lower-leveled than I think. Our own preparations are proceeding at the projected pace, though.”

Regina nodded. “This is going to be our first operation of this kind, which, to be honest, is half the reason I’m here. We need to know how easy or problematic it’s going to be. I also want the lord alive.”

The gathered commanders nodded.

“You could offer terms of surrender after doing some damage,” Janis suggested.

Regina cocked her head. “Maybe. I suppose that would disincentivize him from throwing his life away.”

“I mean, we are going to keep half our tools in the proverbial bag,” Max said, “but it should not be that much of a challenge anyway.”

“We’re not facing the majority of the actual Nerlian army,” Ira muttered. “The real fight is going to come after they turn back. Assuming they do.”

“It’s going to be a very different type of war than against the gnomes,” Ben said quietly, his gaze sweeping across the others. “I want all of you to keep that in mind. We will be losing much of our natural physical advantage, except for the additional limbs. We will not be fighting in tunnels, or mountains. And we’ll be on the offensive, instead of the defensive. Getting bogged down here is what we must avoid.”

“I have faith in all of you to see this through successfully and effectively,” Regina said.

Janis could sense the faint stir of pride and happiness that coursed through the psychic link at her words.

“We will present you this land on a platter, my Queen,” Zoe said with a grin showing sharp teeth.

It wasn’t really about the land, Janis knew. Well, maybe it was about that, too. She was talking with Hivekind, after all. Territorial was their base mindset. This was about winning the larger war, though.

They started with siege engines. The hive had built a few catapults, and she knew they’d gotten a bit of help with the plans for trebuchets from Galatea; even if they were hastily assembled, she wouldn’t bet against their effectiveness. From what Janis knew, there were mostly minor improvements compared to conventional designs for siege engines, but those could add up.

The siege engines, manned by War Drones and overseen by Drone Craftspeople, Engineers or Combat Engineers began firing rocks. Janis watched as they arced through the air before striking the walls. In ideal cases, at least. They had to adjust their aim somewhat. Then the bombardment continued.

Just as the defenders must have finished redeploying and started getting used to it, the bombardment changed. Instead of rocks, there were other surprises mixed in now. Janis knew this was mostly an experiment, testing what worked and what didn’t. Most of this ammunition had been Conjured, so there was a limited supply and they couldn’t afford to rely on something that wouldn’t be worth the investment.

Some of them fired simple metal balls, made of uncommon metals like Titanium. Janis watched them, but she couldn’t really tell which ones were better than others. Tia and her team would be keeping a sharp eye on that, though. She’d muttered something about the distribution of mass and momentum the last time it had come up when they talked. Others were, to no one’s surprise (except hopefully their current enemies), filled with explosives. Those made for some nice impacts. Regina had also tried a few more exotic options, although Janis didn’t think this was really the best ground for gas canisters. It might be why some were clearly thrown beyond the walls, though.

“What do you think?” Regina asked.

Janis almost jumped a little. She’d been too caught up in watching the battle to notice the Hive Queen coming up beside her. Janis was still standing on the hill they’d held an impromptu war council on, but further forward now, a few meters from Ben and most of the others. Max hovered behind Regina even now, and the others were engaged in discussion.

“It’s impressive,” she replied, then snorted. “Of course, pretty much everything’s been impressive since I joined you. This is a bit different than exploring Ancients’ ruins, though. It’s what I’ve been told of but haven’t seen, mixed with your own particular spin.”

“Our hive’s spin on it,” Regina responded, sounding thoughtful. Then she smiled. “Would you be very sad to miss the end of this siege?”

Janis raised an eyebrow, watching her with a touch of wariness. From what she understood, this wasn’t intended to be much of a siege. They might just start storming the walls soon, assuming they were still intact in a while.

“I would mind missing the battle a little, honestly,” she answered. It would be a good source of Experience, aside from her curiosity. “But if you’ve got something else for me to do, I’m not going to object.”

“I’d like you to go to Whitor’s county,” Regina said.

Janis frowned. That wasn’t entirely unexpected, but … “I thought you’d send one of your senior officers to lead the drones you’re sending there?”

“I think you’re the better choice, to be honest,” Regina said. “Ben agrees you’d do well, if it comes to that. Of course, we’ll still send Warriors along. It’s been pointed out to me that having a clear chain of command is a good thing, though.”

And she wanted her to be at the top of it for this particular mission, Janis understood, for more than simply reasons of military tactics. Cernlian nobles or knights probably would respond better to someone who at least mostly looked like a human. And Regina wasn’t exactly swimming in experienced diplomatics, either, especially people who’d met the Earl before.

“I’d be honored,” Janis answered simply, inclining her head. 

“Ben and Dan are preparing a detachment already,” Regina said, “now that Len’s units are almost here. I’m sending Dan as well, and probably Ivy.”

Janis nodded. That detachment was going to be rather big, as such things went. Not that she would mind.

“We’re splitting up quite a bit,” she muttered.

“I know, but needs must,” Regina replied seriously. “And we have a larger hive than ever. We can actually project power now. We need to seize the advantages we can.”

Janis nodded again, silently. She glanced back at the castle, which was looking decidedly worse for wear, and found herself smiling. It wasn’t a particularly happy expression, maybe even a bit solemn, but Regina didn’t comment on it. She didn’t know if the other woman was also thinking about the people killed in there, though, although somehow she doubted it.

That didn’t worry her as much as it, perhaps, should.