Path of the Hive Queen

“Watch out up ahead!”

June Lyns rolled her eyes a bit but took a step away from the track. It didn’t stop her from leaning forward, eager to see everything she could of the engine now chugging forward on the crudely laid rails.

It was a rather ugly thing, she had to admit. An experimental prototype by nature, no thought had been spared for aesthetics or even much for convenience. It was a mass of metal with a chimney sticking up and some heavy wheels, and screeched and squeaked uncomfortably on the metal rails. The volume of metal in all of this alone would have cost a good amount of coin, if the Hive’s drones hadn’t been able to Conjure it out of thin air.

Still, June was not sure how practical that would be for long-term construction, if they truly wanted to cover and connect all of the Empire. For now, the question was a bit simpler, or at least less a matter of logistics. It was all about the engineers finding a design that worked.

“I think you did it this time, really,” she commented to Mia.

The drone, who stood beside her, a bit further from the tracks, shrugged. “It’s not like we didn’t get this far before,” she noted. “We’ll have to see how well it holds up in a longer timeframe.”

June nodded, although she hadn’t been here for much of the previous work. Her duties — and whims, she would admit — took her to many places. And while Mia might have many projects to oversee, she could watch them personally from afar with the psychic link. Not that June would be much help here.

The current locomotive used steam power. June knew that her master wanted to get away from that power source as soon as possible, but apparently, she couldn’t countenance not exploring it in this regard. Personally, once you had the tracks and an engine, June thought a magical power source might work just as well. And if not, electric trains were apparently very common for a long time. For now, however, it pumped a thick column of dark smoke into the sky as it chugged along, with a characteristic sound pattern she finally recognized from what some drones had mentioned.

“It’s going to be really sooty in there,” she finally said, her enthusiasm for seeing more of the project up close a bit dampened.

Mia frowned a little but nodded. “It’s going to get hot in the cabin, too,” she said. “But we knew that. I’m more interested in evaluating its functions.”

“As long as the brakes work,” June said with a smirk, stepping back a bit further and staring at the locomotive as it accelerated.

Mia groaned. “That was one time, and we managed to slow it down easily. You weren’t even there.”

“Sure,” June said absently, then glanced at the surrounding crowd. There were fewer people than she’d expected, although she supposed other drones could be watching remotely.

Regina had insisted on a certain degree of operational security for developing their railways, which was one of the reasons this project was located close to the Hive’s base by Forest’s Haunt, though not directly by the village. Human workers stood around together with Hive drones, although they did tend to form clusters according to their background. Still, the atmosphere was companionable, one of shared excitement.

June wondered how long it would take for tracks like these to be a common sight. Apparently, they pretty much needed steel for these things, which made them expensive and even a bit harder to produce for magic-using drones. Who did also have a lot of other demands on their time and mana.

As she understood it, they could use rarer materials Conjured by the hive, but that would be running risks since they might not be able to finish all of them, and it was better to keep things unified rather than some patchwork of different materials and methods.

“On the other hand, if we can properly utilize their Conjuration ability, it should be pretty easy to power these trains,” June muttered.

“You’d think so,” Mia agreed, sounding a bit amused. Then she sighed as she looked at the locomotive, which was coming back around the curved test track. “I think we’re all expecting to transition to electrical locomotives pretty quickly. Mother certainly would prefer that. But designing these is still not as simple as getting a bit of info from Galatea and then whipping up a working model.”

“I have faith you’ll manage it well,” June said a bit more cheerfully. “You and your siblings have managed to meet every challenge so far.”

Mia snorted a little, then bumped her shoulder affectionately. June took a hidden pride in getting that gesture just like another drone. “Sure. Thanks, June.”

June smiled. She had been spending most of her time away from the capital these days. While that meant being away from her teacher as well as her family, she found she enjoyed it. And this might be one of the projects she enjoyed the most. Getting to see the Empire’s institutions rising from the ground up was interesting, and overseeing it on occasion a rewarding challenge, but there was something about technical challenges and progress in something whose application was clear and useful that felt good. Like she was helping, doing something that mattered, which people could point to and be amazed by. Although she wouldn’t give up patronage of the new schools they were founding for anything.

Speaking of which, a few people from these new institutions were here as well as those affiliated with the new schools and colleges. Their conversation swelled as they debated the new version of the locomotive and what it meant, splitting into two groups, one conversation about the technical details and one about the financial and logistical aspects. It was pretty clear to see who came from where, just by that.

“Thaumaturge?” June asked.

Derrek Zephyr glanced over from where he stood with a group of other mages and scholars, then took a step towards her. “Milady?”

“I’m curious about your opinion on this topic,” June said. “You’ve been rather quiet so far.”

In truth, she wasn’t sure why Zephyr was here. He wasn’t really part of the initiative to broaden the Empire’s education system and technical knowledge base and the various scholars who’d come out of the woodwork to support — to profit from, or in a few cases, oppose — it. She’d almost suspect he was here for her, but she’d largely been left alone for most of her trips and she didn’t really think Kiara would send her highest-leveled mage just to babysit her. Maybe if he was just checking up on her.

Zephyr shrugged, seeming almost dismissive. “It’s certainly a nice contraption, but it will never reach the speed of a flying beast.”

“Of course,” June agreed, and forewent further comment on his noted love of wyverns. He’d actually shown up with a new one she hadn’t seen before today. “Did you see what you expected to see?”

“More or less, I suppose.” He glanced at her, then seemed to decide to humor the conversation further. “I was wondering if incorporating enchanted artifacts might be useful.”

“Oh? That sounds fascinating.” June smiled at him and gestured with her arm. “Would you join me for a little walk so we can discuss it?”

He regarded her for a moment, then gave a short bow. “It would be my pleasure, Your Highness.”

Good. June was not going to ignore an opportunity to learn something from a high-level mage. To be fair, she would probably have more such opportunities in the future, but still. She parted from Mia with an apologetic nod and then had Zephyr escort her a few meters around the track.

“As I understand it, the issue is that permanent enchantments that would stand up to a large amount of strain would be prohibitively mana-expensive,” she noted.

“True enough, Princess. They would also not be easy to cast.” He shrugged and glanced at a few of the arguing mages with a bit of disdain, if she read his expression right. “No, I was more thinking along the lines of installing existing magical items.”

“Ah. I can certainly see the use for auxiliary purposes. Perhaps even supporting the main operation. A variant on range-fingers, you think?”

They delved into a deeper discussion of the topic, which quickly absorbed her focus. Zephyr did know his stuff. From talking about communications, sensors and brakes, they somehow took a tangent and arrived at a discussion of rituals. Those seemed more versatile than June had realized, although they had their own limitations.

“Perhaps you could give me a primer on the basics of ritual magic?” she asked hopefully. “It’s a fascinating topic and I’ve heard little about it.”

“Of course you wouldn’t have. I mean, it’s not very common in Cernlia. But with the Hive’s ability to Conjure materials, perhaps that will change, I suppose.” He seemed thoughtful, then shrugged it off. “The first thing you should understand, Princess June, is that rituals are much more demanding than System-supported Spells or even the usual freeform magic, both in terms of time and preparation necessary …”

In truth, June had to admit to herself as the conversation continued, the information he gave her wasn’t something she’d really had a chance to learn before. It felt disloyal to her master to think it, but Regina’s own education in magic was rather eclectic, and focused on her own spells and what applications and principles Galatea had taught her. Those were far-reaching, to be sure, but different from the broad base someone like Zephyr had accumulated. And despite all her excitement at new ideas, June did want that, she wanted to be that kind of mage, too.

So, she soaked up every bit of information she could, and started to consider how she could get regular lessons from Zephyr as well. Under older traditions, educating the younger family of the king in magic would have been part of the court mage’s duties, anyway, so it wasn’t like she had no grounds to work with.

When she dropped hints in that direction, Zephyr seemed thoughtful, but not averse to the idea. Finally, he seemed to have settled on something he wanted. “I would assume you’re familiar with the southern expedition being prepared, Your Highness?” he asked.

June nodded. “Of course. It’s quite exciting.”

“It is. While I wouldn’t expect to be allowed to go, although I’d certainly like to, I’d be delighted to see what may come of it. Establishing a secure route to the southern realms would be quite the boon. Current paths are rather circuitous, caravans would have to go on quite the detour, especially since the Gnomish Confederation closed its borders. I’ve heard they have some spells and theories on magic that would be difficult to find here.”

“It really would,” June sighed wistfully. She glanced at Zephyr, then decided she might as well admit it. “I would love to go, but although I asked, Regina wouldn’t let me.”

“Unfortunate, but quite understandable, Princess. No one likes the thought of you being hurt.”

June suppressed a snort and waved a hand dismissively. “Sure. Either way, I’m sure a mage of your expertise will be called on to consult on any discoveries or writing pertaining to the subject of magic that they will bring back.”

“I hope so,” he muttered, then shook his head with a smile. “Who is already set to be going?”

“Tim, I think, as the Empress’ Champion. A few other drones, but I think they’re still sorting it out. Some Delvers, but my sister and maybe the Nerlians will also be filling a few spots. And a number of Swarm Drones in the escort, of course.” June frowned for a moment, thinking. Having Zephyr being away for an unspecified time would mean he couldn’t teach her, of course, but he still seemed like a good choice for this. “I’m sure your skills and power would be welcome, as well. You would make a good addition to ensure their chance of success. I’ll suggest it, but you realize it will depend on if you’re trusted enough for the role.”

“Of course, Princess,” he agreed.

The conversation turned to the magical disciplines popular south of the Mountains, and then to stories from abroad. June was almost surprised, and a bit disappointed, when they had rounded the track and came back to the group of watchers.

“Princess!” One of the newly recruited Magistrates called, waving to her.

She tried not to look bothered as she nodded to Zephyr and then turned to the group. “Yes, gentlemen? And ladies.”

His actual title was a Commissioner of Finance, she recalled, attached to the newly instated Ministry of the Economy. The new offices and titles would take some getting used to, for everyone. If she recalled, this one was not a noble but had been a successful merchant factor before the war drove his business into ruins. He didn’t seem to have a problem speaking with or for the group, some of which were minor nobles. That was good.

“We were debating the costs and requirements of this project and were wondering if you perhaps had further insight, Your Highness,” he explained. “How many tracks will Her Majesty wish to build?”

“Ideally, a net that spans the entire Empire,” June responded matter-of-factly. “We will need to scale up production for it. That is not an immediate goal, however.”

A few of them looked a bit daunted at the prospect, but the Commissioner only nodded. “Import and export regulations may need to be adjusted in the service of meeting these requirements,” he said, taking out a notebook.

“We can always build on the forges around the barony and expand with another complex,” another man put in.

June smiled a bit as she listened to their argument, mostly letting them talk instead of interrupting. It was nice to see that the mood seemed to be optimistic. No doubt there were many challenges ahead, but they really were putting the requirements in place to meet them.

For now, she waited until a few of the drones came over to join the conversation and it turned more animated, with some finer points on the use of Conjuration to create materials being discussed, along with the requirements for building modern forges and metal works. Zephyr took his leave quickly, and she couldn’t blame him, but it was still a good sign to see them all working together so well.

Shared projects, she figured, might just help integration along quite well, not just whatever Regina had said about shared enemies.