Transmigrated To A Beastworld As The Lazy Wife Of The Fox Lord

Chapter 263: Thieves in the night.

Ali’s question bothered Sienna. Her daughter would be sad if the bee was taken and would Eli. He was looking at Red queen with wide fascinated eyes, not daring to blink or move, like he was worried that any movement would scare the bee.

She patted her daughter’s back. "I won’t let it happen. Even if the king comes in person, we won’t give her away. If anyone tries to use the law or power, I will tell Honey Thunder to hide away Red queen in a place where nobody but us knows."

By dinner time, most of the phone calls to the house were going unanswered. The environment in the house was warm and comforting, no drama, no loud noise, no tension. Everyone seemed to be getting along quite well.

Elias was eating and working from the living room, with his father and grandfather. That mountain of paperwork Sienna had seen on his desk had been cut down significantly.

Sienna was eating while reading up on crimson bees when Shalin delivered a platter of small honey cakes baked with the red honey. Ali was the first to grab two, fearful that everything would be gone by the time she finished one. She wasn’t wrong, the platter was emptied within seconds.

Distracted by her reading, Sienna missed out on the red honey cake marathon, but she still heard the loud appreciative sounds coming from those who grabbed them quickly.

"Is it true that the honey of crimson or red bees can cure the worst coughs and breathing illnesses. Even poisons!" She waved her phone, "it says so in this copy of ’Wild Beasts and Where They Live.’ It was an online text book Elias had recommended to her. It had knowledge on wild beasts that lived in forests, mountains and bodies of water. "No wonder Honey Thunder kidnapped it. It is very valuable."

Elias tilted his head, looking her way. "You sound proud."

Sienna shrugged. "My daughter did a great thing. How can I not be proud? This book claims crimson bees went extinct four hundred years ago. Honey Thunder just proved them wrong. She has made the discovery of a century. The King and Queen should show up here with a banner and give Honey Thunder a noble title and a million beast coins."

Ali giggled. "Mama, that’s silly. Bees don’t need money."

"And she is already a queen, she doesn’t need a human royal title." Mira, Sienna’s step sister chimed in.

Sienna read from her text again. "Records say that crimson bees went extinct because they were hunted to extinction. It was because their honey was too valuable as a medicinal ingredient. Maybe I should get Honey to take me to the forest, or mountains tomorrow and show me where she found Red queen. There could be others."

Eli gasped. "Mama, maybe Red queen should start her own live stream so that more people can see her."

"No." Elias and a dozen other adults barked the same response.

After they explained to the boy how valuable Red queen was, Soren tapped his glass with a fork. "Sister, I have a parent-teacher meeting tomorrow. You promised to go with me. You can’t go crimson bee hunting tomorrow."

Sienna blinked, startled out of her already traveling imagination. "Ah! Yes, the dreaded parent-teacher meeting, I did not forget about it. We can go to the market fair in the city after your school ends." She tucked her phone away.

Some people chuckled, because she had obviously forgotten about it. The market fair idea sounded like fun. The conversation spiraled as it always did. Ali asked silly questions about bees, while Eli took notes. He was watching the hives from his phone. Liman had connected him to the home cameras.

"There was a time when the extinction of a species meant danger." Grandpa Corven said, out of the blue.

The conversation spiraled again. Each family member answered in their own tone--skeptical, dismissive, hopeful. Dinner turned into a live debate.

Eventually, the meal wound down. Plates were cleared, lanterns dimmed. Sienna put the children to bed and kissed them goodnight. By the time she slept off, Elias had not yet come to bed.

Sometime in the middle of the night, he joined her and she opened her eyes. For some reason, she was restless. The compound had settled into silence, but she had learned not to trust silence in this world. If her instincts screamed something was wrong, then it was. She lay awake, listening to Elias’s steady breathing. It didn’t take long for the first alarm to come--a sharp cry from a guard on the outer wall around the compound.

Within moments, chaos erupted. Three separate groups of thieves had come calling in the dark. Even though they belonged to different organizations, they chose to strike at the same time, slipping through shadows and scaling walls.

Elias left the room quickly. Sienna rose, heart pounding, and peered through the window. She saw figures darting across the courtyard, in dark cloth, their movements quick and professional. They reminded her of ninjas.

She heard reports coming in over the open line used by the guards. The first group was heading directly for the bee hives, no doubt hoping to snatch one or both queen bees. Guards were already clashing with them in a flurry of blows, bees buzzing angrily as hived were disturbed.

The second group was aiming for the food storage, planning to steal all the honey and other valuables within. They were met by a team led by Liman, Marius and grandpa Corven. Snarls were very loud on their end.

The third group, bolder than the rest, headed straight for the house. They had come for the bee keeper, Sienna. If they had her, they could use her to find bees. Elias intercepted them, with no weapons but mental strength. Their groans were more desperate than those of the other groups.

The smell of blood was heavy in the air. It worried Sienna so much that she went downstairs and gathered the children who were huddled with their grandmothers. Linera, Mija and some guards were already in the room.

Ali launched herself into Sienna’s arms, small body trembling. "Mama, I smell blood. A lot of blood," She whispered, tightly hugging her mother.