June Lyns stood leaning against the balustrade in front of her, ignoring the still slightly damp wood, as she watched the column of drones leave.

A thousand War Drones. It didn’t sound like very much, perhaps, but all assembled like this they did make for a decently impressive show. In eerie silence and perfectly synchronized, they marched away from the gate. She knew their pace would leave low-level human soldiers exhausted after a few hours, but they would keep it up all day.

They were not the only unit of drones leaving the Nerlian territories. The rising specter of war with the gnomes, to the south, had led to the Hive recalling many of them back to their core territories. They would be needed there, she supposed, and things were peaceful enough here, the Nerlians either cowed or convinced to work with the Hivekind to their eventual benefit. June herself would not have been permitted to come here if it were otherwise, she knew. Regina did take her obligation to ensure her safety seriously.

June frowned to herself. She would have much preferred to accompany her teacher. She had wanted to join her in her trip to treat with the Delvers, but the Hive Queen had been adamant. June would have suspected her master was ashamed of the arrangement — she was, after all, still a hostage — if Regina had not seemed genuinely concerned about her safety and the potential consequences of exposing her to the Delvers before they were truly allied.

As the last of the drones left her line of sight, June turned away, straightening her shoulders. A few War Drones lingered in the vicinity, evidently keeping an eye on her. She had yet to get used to that, but then, she had not been here and out of the Hive’s home for long, either.

Still, she appreciated the chance to gather her thoughts in silence, if not quite isolation, for a minute. She had rather a lot to think about, recently. And to worry, if she was honest with herself. I do hope Kiara is going to be alright. She clutched the sleeve of her dress with her opposite hand briefly before she let go. The hidden pocket contained the last letter she had received from her older sister. It was unnecessary, of course, but she felt better to be using it.

June was not as worried about her father, even if she knew quite well that if the situation escalated and took a turn for the worse, he might be in very real danger. Better than he did, she suspected; after all, she knew Regina and the Hive’s strength. If it did come to violence, well … But she simply didn’t feel as affected by thoughts of him coming to harm, she supposed. Not that she wished him ill, of course — but Kiara had always been the one to look after her if she got sick again, to demand her invitation to social events and make sure she received proper lessons. Her father had, well, not. Now that June had grown up and was putting childish longing aside, she recognized she would likely never gain his affection. Especially if he was still set on gaining a male heir. She supposed talking to Regina helped.

Another reason June had been so insistent on coming out here, she had to acknowledge, was getting away from her mother. Not that Lady Florance was not being a good parent, but it was simply uncomfortable and she felt caught between two fronts.

For now, though, she was away from it all, so June forced herself to focus on matters more immediately relevant.

"Lady June?” the knight escorting her asked. “Are you ready to depart?”

Sir Henry was a Nerlian, so he didn’t hold any real loyalty to the Hive. But he had been sent to both help to protect her and to give the Nerlians a look at what they were doing today. June was here specificially because the hive was opening a new school and she had been asked to help, or at least, that was the official reason. It wasn’t all she was going to do in this city.

“Yes, of course,” she agreed. “They should have moved all the materials by now.”

He offered her his arm, which she declined on the pretense of cultural differences between Nerlia and Cernlia (it would be a bit familiar, she said) and the Hive’s custody of her, and they walked back to the building.

This school had been built relatively close to the city wall, in the outer part of town. Of course, it wasn’t a particularly large settlement, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for residents to get here, she hoped. The space had formerly been occupied by a garrison building, which the Hive had apparently burned down at some point during the war. This was about how far their armies had advanced, she knew. Judging by the ruins that had remained before the War Drones and Workers had cleared the place, she suspected a bomb or several had been involved.

Building it had been an experiment in more ways than one, as the speed with which the new building had come to tower over the local area showed. Apparently, the drones had wanted to test a few new compounds, mostly made by Production Drones and their Evolved variants, as well as premade bricks and other measures. Actually erecting the walls hadn’t taken very long at all. The holes and accommodations for electrical wiring and pipes must have taken the most effort. Now, the house sported a rusty-beige color (she wasn’t sure how that worked, but apparently it did) which clashed a little with the surrounding houses, and the dimensions of the walls and windows and slopes of the roof were all subtly off. It did not look bad, though.

June greeted a few drones in the vicinity as she approached and entered the building. It was large, but still very open, lacking much furniture. A large part of it should be provided by the city itself, hopefully. She dismissed her escort, watched the Nerlian knight be escorted into the yard by a few drones, then wandered through the rooms for a bit, checking their contents and firming the layout in her mind. There were several relatively large class rooms, as well as what the drones called a lecture hall, which was on the ground floor but sunk into the earth somewhat, to allow for tiered seating like a traditional theater to descend further into the ground, creating more room than the blueprint would imply.

Of course, what they would be putting in this building was more important than the architecture itself, even the hidden tunnel whose entrance she was pretty sure she saw at the back wall of the auditorium. They would be buying paper, since the Hive’s production would struggle to cover everything needed for their territory, but would also use more sustainable methods like chalk slates and wax tablets for exercises. June was unsure how much the school would be teaching basic writing and counting, compared to actual scientific knowledge, but it couldn’t hurt. And there were a lot of other necessities required as well.

June had to admit she rather enjoyed the opportunity to put her skills to use in helping to set it all up. While her education was spotty compared to her sister’s, given her condition and the general disinterest her father had shown in it, she was still a lady from the Lyns family. She had been taught how to run a large household and much more. Accounting was not something she particularly enjoyed, by itself, but it was a skill she was competent in and which came to her easily.

“June?”

June looked up from the stack of papers she was currently sorting, blinking against the suddenly increased light. At some point, she had moved into one of the small attached offices at the back of the building and her work seemed to have migrated to spread over the desk while she balanced on the front legs of the chair. She pushed it back entirely and stood up, discreetly stretching her arms. “Tia?”

Tia shot her what she assumed was a concerned glance, although she still had a bit of trouble reading Hivekind expressions. They probably complemented them with information sent through the psychic link. “Yes. Thank you for taking care of this, but I think we’re just about done for now. Can you hand me those papers, I’ll make sure they’re put away? Then we’d like you upfront.”

June nodded and obligingly handed her the forms she’d currently filled out. She was essentially done, anyway. She left the room and closed the door behind her and Tia, before she turned to the drone again. “Is something up?”

“A visitor I think you should speak with as well,” Tia answered. She seemed a bit distracted.

June simply nodded and swallowed further questions. Instead, she fell into step beside Tia as the senior drone made her way to the entrance. She knew that Tia was one of the highest-ranking members of the Hive, one of Regina’s oldest children, the four who’d left their original hatching location with her in the latest monster wave. She was mostly concerned with military technology and the respective infrastructure, so June wouldn’t expect to see her here for long.

June paused for an instant as they stepped into the front yard, making sure to keep her expression even and hide any surprise. She would have expected another Nerlian noble; they wouldn’t be the first to come to look at this. Instead of a lord or lady in expensive fabrics and riding a well-bred horse, perhaps accompanied by a few retainers, she saw a man in rougher clothing and with stubble on his face. The sword at his side looked well-cared for and anything but cheap, though, and when she focused, she sensed magic from him as well.

Rodrick of Canae — Level ? Knight Commandant

“Commander Rodrick,” Tia greeted him. Was it her imagination or did she sound a little curt? “Nice to see you.”

He smiled and bowed. “Lady Tia. Lady June Lyns. The pleasure is all mine.” He nodded at the building behind them. “This is the school, correct? Your Queen was gracious enough to allow us a look at what you are doing, and I would love the opportunity to chat about the teachings that might be spread here.”

Tia smiled back. “So she told me. Do come in, please.”

I must have missed that, June considered, watching the Delver curiously. Not that either of them had said so, but it was rather obvious.

“I thought all of the Delver leadership was with Her Majesty,” she said quietly to Tia.

“You thought correctly,” Sir Rodrick answered, giving her a small smile when she glanced at him, startled. “More or less. I and a few others have already left on various tasks, though a significant part of our leadership is still with the Doctor currently.”

June nodded and thanked him for the information. Well, she was not a member of the Hive, she couldn’t expect to know about everything they were doing or planning.

“You are starting several of these schools, are you not?” he asked, looking around curiously as they passed through the first classroom.

Tia nodded. “Yes, although this one is something of an example and prototype for them.”

“I see. How many students do you think it will accept once it is operating at full capacity?”

They slowly walked through the school, while the Delver kept asking questions and Tia and occasionally June answered him. June was a little surprised by the contents of his inquiries. He was insightful, and a little less focused on zealotry or even pure knowledge than she’d expected. When the conversation paused as they reached the bottom of the lecture hall, she looked at him again, trying to read his feelings in his expression.

“You seem to be interested in not just the knowledge to be learned, but practical aspects as well.”

“We would very much like to sponsor a school of our own, in the town we call home,” he said.

So he was a leader of Cernlian Delvers, June noted. She’d assumed so, but it was nice to have it confirmed.

“Such a school would be open to the public, too?” Tia asked. “That seems a little out of character for your order. So far as I’m aware, you’ve always taught your recruits privately. There would have been opportunities to build such schools to spread knowledge before.”

Something flashed across his expression that June found difficult to identify. A feeling that left her with a bit of unease for a second. It quickly cleared away and he gave her companion a genuine smile. “Things have changed, of course.”

“Oh?” June took a book from a stack another drone had left on the desk, mostly to have something to do with her hands, and flipped it idly in her hands. Introductory Chemistry and Physics, which she’d read cover to cover twice.

“Of course. The Last Progenitor has returned to earth.” His eyes almost lit up now. “No matter what, things will change fundamentally. I am certain of it. And looking forward to the future.”

“I suppose that’s certainly true,” June conceded. She’d had the thought more than once that things were never going to be the same again. She just wasn’t sure what to make of the way in which he spoke of it.

“Some of us would kill for the opportunity you have, Lady Lyns, learning directly from Queen Regina.” He shook his head. “Metaphorically speaking, of course, you need not fear for your safety.”

“That’s very interesting and all,” Tia interjected. “Perhaps you’d like to take a look at the practical details?”

“Of course, I’m very eager to see the books you’re using, if I may.”

June handed over the book she’d been holding, which he accepted with a polite bow of the head and started flipping open. As he read, clearly mostly skimming, a smile started to grow on the Delver’s face. “Oh, yes,” he breathed. “This is going to work marvelously. This is only the first of a series?”

June really hoped Regina knew what she was doing by letting the Delvers have access to all this knowledge.

Of course, she supposed there wasn’t much choice. Her master had gotten the Delvers on her side, and perhaps to accept her leadership — she still wasn’t entirely certain of the details — by focusing on her status as a surviving Ancient and promising the knowledge and opportunity to bring back what she could of the ancient world. She couldn’t just use them to fight for her, especially since she was starting reforms in her territories, especially if she wanted deeper cooperation.

Besides, this was Regina. She was the Last Progenitor, as Sir Rodrick had called it. Of course her teacher knew what she was doing.

So June shook off those thoughts and concentrated on the conversation, discussing the contents of the book with the Delver and telling him all about the more advanced material contained in other volumes. He kept up rather well, and she found she quite enjoyed the discussion.