The dragons clearly didn’t want to be near five hundred bees. We scared them as much as they scared us.
"Vile beasts…"
"I bet their hides will make fine armor."
"I won’t question Father’s decisions, but if the black hunters give us a reason to fight, I will be the first one to put a spear through their eyes."
"Only if you can fly faster than me, Crusher!"
I turned to the whispering Beemarines and saw only stoic faces with eagerness gleaming in their facetious eyes.
Correction: we scared them as much as they scared *me*. I doubted Beemarines were afraid of *anyone*!
Thankfully, the dragons didn’t understand bee language. After observing Beemarines for a couple minutes, one of them finally dared to steal a piece of a caterpillar from the ground, then jumped away to eat it at a safe distance.
A moment later, its two friends followed, and within five minutes, the entire hoard of food was empty again.
"Great!" I said, pumping my fist in the air. "Now we just have to repeat this until the freeloading dragons know they are tamed!"
’Or until a dragon tries to attack us. Can’t trust the vile beasts!’ I could read on faces of the Beemarines.
I chuckled to myself.
If my Empire Council was near, I bet Amby would’ve had a lot of skepticism toward the entire idea… Ah, I missed her sass already.
I and the bees in Hive Supremo were exchanging letters and reports, but it took two days to get an answer. I’ve already sent a letter about the taming plan, but expected to only get a reply and the extra personnel I requested by tomorrow.
At least the siege was going according to the plan.
The hornets were buzzing inside of their nest, but every one that tried to leave was killed.
Their hive was going to die within weeks.
***
Next day, my answers from Hive Supremo arrived, together with 12 very special bees who, instead of jugs and sacks with extra provisions, carried sacks with wax tablets.
"Archivist Knowall, I have arrived at your request, Father."
"As did I, Father. I’m Sergeant Researcher Explanatory, and this is my assistant group."
I smiled at them.
"You’ve got the brief, right? Your mission might be risky. Even without the fact that we are in an active combat zone. Hornets have barely been a problem lately."
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Explanatory’s eyes flashed with keen interest.
"We aren’t afraid of risks done for the sake of knowledge. It’s my honor to be here, Father."
"I am yet to understand your unfathomable reasons for calling me here as well, but I will do my best to catalog the results of Explanatory’s research," Knowall said in an absolutely flat voice.
She looked as unenthusiastic as Explanatory was eager.
Those Archivists really were homebodies, weren’t they?
"That’s the spirit, Knowall!" I said, reaching out to aggressively ruffle her hair.
Knowall’s eyes flashed with panic and she tried to dodge my hand, but I was faster. Head? Patted. Hair? Ruffled. The girl herself? Almost pouting.
I gave her a broad smile. This was a much better look than the drywall-expression she had earlier! I didn’t miss Explanatory’s sympathetic glance at Knowall, though…
"I’m sure you and Explanatory’s team will crack this puzzle egg in no time, Knowall."
"I hope so as well, Father. When will we start?"
I looked toward the dragons’ feeding place. They already were circling over the area. Still only three of them.
"We can start now."
***
Today, the dragons were less afraid of Beemarines. Of course, they didn’t even notice 12 extra bees among 500.
From this protected place, the team of Researchers and one grumpy Archivist was studying the dragons with greedy interest.
"It’s hard to imagine that we could use those creatures like aphids. Aphids are so stupid that they are barely more than plants, but from what you said, dragons are almost as smart as the stupidest of bees!"
I shook my head.
"Yes, so they can learn how *profitable* it is to work together with the Empire. But the taming will be much easier if you can decipher their language."
The dragons were exchanging their guttural calls all the time. If bees with 3 intelligence could have a language I could understand, why not dragons with 56 intelligence?
Maybe animals had a language all along, even on Earth, and humans just didn’t bother to learn it. But I was going to change that.
"If there’s a pattern in the noises it makes, we will do my best to find it, Father," Explanatory said.
"And submit the findings in a written form," Knowall added.
***
Next two days, I didn’t see the dragons at all.
Marital duty called me away from them, and I had to trust the people I placed in the head of the dragon-taming project to not muck things up at least for two days.
The reunion with Ambrosia was long-awaited and heated. The argument afterward was even more so, because it happened during the Council session.
"But if you stay near the siege site, how will you give me your seed? The reproduction will stop!" Ambrosia folded her hand over her chest and gave me her patented ’you are being unreasonable’ look.
"Father, the bees in the hive miss you flying around," Things-Things added.
Bloodhero was, perhaps, the most despondent.
"But surely the siege doesn’t need you much by now. *I* am the Military Adviser, I…" She fell silent, stoically swallowing the rest of the sentence.
Yet, even faced with such pressure, I was resolute.
"My girls! My advisers! This hive—this empire—must learn how to function without me. A house that stands on one leg will fall whenever someone kicks it! You must adapt to my absences, in case I will be needed elsewhere in the future. I will still visit often, but duty calls me back. This project is too important."
One by one, expressions of my daughters turned pensive, then flashed with realization of my great thought.
All but Ambrosia’s.
"Nectus, answer me—do you just want to tame these dragons so much?"