The Bee Dungeon

Finnakynne hovered over the Pit Trap with her arms crossed, looking down with a serious expression as Belissar manually triggered the Sticky Honey Trap at the bottom.

“Ohhhh, so, by honey trap pit you meant…a pit trap that uses honey…”

She sighed and shook her head.

“That’s…not what I thought.”

A moment later, she opened her eyes and tilted her head.

“Though…why do you have a honey trap at the bottom of a pit trap? That doesn’t seem like enough to drown them or anything…”

Belissar shrugged.

“We used to trap shades down there and set them on fire. The honey helped with that, and helped keep them down there, especially since we use the maddening honey. Well, recently most of the shades just crawl or fly over it, but we get one every now and again.”

Finnakynne began to snicker.

Belissar caught himself before nodding…though he wasn’t sure that was actually helpful given that Finnakynne already knew about it?

“Honey made from basic poisonous herbs. It causes intoxication, as well as paralysis in higher doses.”

Finnakynne smiled.

“Now that sounds fun! I want some next time I visit!”

After that, they made their way back to the nexus door. Belissar handed Finnakynne another piece of swirled honeycomb at her request. He furrowed his brow.

“And that will be enough?”

Finnakynne smiled and pointed to herself.

“Yep! Just leave mommy dearest to me, I’m sure she’s going to be surprised by this. I’ll finally get to see her shocked face, hehehe. You better get ready to make a lot more, Beely!”

She zipped back through the nexus door. Belissar glanced over at Tarwantrad.

“…can we trust her?”

Tarwantrad sighed.

“Honestly, I have no idea anymore.”

She shook her head and gave Belissar a smile.

“But well, handling the Compact should be our problem, not yours. We’ll figure it out, and if we can’t the Circle will help you regardless. I’ll let you know how it goes.” Ɍ𝙖₦ǑᛒЁṣ

With a final wave, Tarwantrad left too. Belissar wasn’t sure what to make of all this…so he shrugged. Both Finnakynne and Tarwantrad said to leave it to them, so that’s what he would do. It didn’t change what he ultimately had to do in the end: raise more bees and make sure his Tower could protect them.

A bit later, Princess Finnakynne hovered in the middle of a garden. Laughter filled the air as pixies of all sizes danced around her. In the center, an elf-sized pixie woman sat on a throne of flowers and vines, sipping from a cup of tea. Every motion she made, even the simple act of placing her cup down, was graceful and alluring. Even Finnakynne felt her gaze drawn to the woman. Specks of dust drifted around her and reflected the sunlight, making her seem like her body was twinkling with stars.

This was the queen of the pixies, Vanieskon, and Princess Finnakynne’s mother. After sipping her tea, she glanced over at Finnakynne and let out a light sigh.

“I’m disappointed in you, daughter. You’re telling me this human was foolish enough to meet you in person, invite you into his home even, and you failed to seduce him? You must not have even tried a glamour, not that you should have needed one in the first place.”

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Finnakynne gaped.

“Mother! He was twenty! Twenty!”

Queen Vanieskon shook her head and clicked her tongue.

“He’s human, Finnakynne. Twenty in human years is about two centuries in normal time. Besides, their simple and impulsive nature makes them hardly worth such consideration in the first place.”

She let out another sigh as she placed her hand on her cheek.

“I knew the restrictive environment of the Compact would be bad for your education but to think you were this…timid. In my day, any human would’ve been wrapped around my fingers had they made the mistake of an in-person meeting.”

Finnakynne rolled her eyes.

“And whose fault is that? I didn’t sign any Compacts you know!”

Queen Vanieskon shook her head.

“I’m well aware, daughter. So, did you at least verify if there was anything beyond our expectations?”

Finnakynne gave a salute with a grin.

“I sure did! Just honey and bees, if magical! There was nothing…bee-yond your expectations mother, all was as you predicted!”

Queen Vanieskon made an exasperated sigh.

“How many times have I told you, daughter? Puns are the crudest form of mischief and beneath us.”

Finnakynne kept grinning.

“Daddy likes them!”

Quenn Vanieskon shook her head.

“Your father would be the very first to admit he is no role model. I truly will need to reeducate you from the start, won’t I? Tell me you at least got a sample of the honey?”

Finnakynne nodded. Queen Vanieskon lifted her cup. Finnakynne puffed her cheeks and shook her head, but Queen Vanieskon just raised an eyebrow. With a sigh of defeat, Finnakynne pulled out the honeycomb, flew over, and scraped some of it into the teacup. Queen Vanieskon rolled her eyes as she stirred her tea.@@novelbin@@

“Tempting, but Nenavann should know better. I’ve tasted mana honey before, he’s foolish if he believes I will come at his beck and call for that alone when I could gain so much more from all this. I suppose we shall see how committed to this human he truly is, if the human was worth giving up one Heart of the Forest, then what is two? Or, perhaps the Forgemaster’s will is stronger? Ughlarer would stop at nothing to…”

At that moment, Queen Vanieskon lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip. She immediately froze…and then began to groan, drawing the attention of all the pixies in the area. Finnakynne began to snicker, clutching her stomach to try and control her laughter unsuccessfully.

It took a bit, but eventually Queen Vanieskon gathered herself and glared at her daughter.

“Finnakynne, what was that?!”

Finnakynne couldn’t help a smirk, despite knowing she would pay for it. Her mother’s reaction was totally worth it.

“Oh, that? Turns out our little bee dungeon master wasn’t content to stop at the usual mana honey. He and his bees are pushing the limits, evolving new types of bees as suits one blessed by the God of Bees herself. And, naturally, new types of bees means new types of honey.”

Queen Vanieskon slowly moved her gaze down to the cup in her hand. Her eyes opened wide and her hand started to tremble slightly. Finnakynne’s smug grin grew even wider.

“Get why I didn’t want to risk glamouring him now? So, mommy dearest, what kind of benefit do you think you want out of this whole situation?”

For the first time Finnakynne could remember, her mother was rendered speechless as she gazed down at the cup in her hand. She couldn’t help another snicker. Yep, this was totally worth it!

Nenavann sat in his office once more. Tarwantrad had returned to report on Belissar’s meeting with the pixie princess. Tarwantrad’s face scrunched up.

“So, she agreed to help but…she knew what our plan was from the start.”

Nenavann shrugged.

“Well, that was to be expected.”

Tarwantrad’s head shot up and she gaped at him.

“Wait, you knew that she knew?!”

Nenavann made a helpless smile.

“It’s foolish to think we can outmaneuver Queen Vanieskon just like that. I’ve never been a match for her in schemes or speech.”

Tarwantrad blinked and then frowned.

“Then…what are you going to do? Princess Finnakynne said she’d help but…I don’t know if we can trust her.”

Nenavann leaned back and let out a sigh.

“What indeed…”

Nenavann knew all this wouldn’t be enough to convince the pixie queen and she would know that he knew that as well. Belissar's honey might convince her to treat him as more than simple prey, but she would almost certainly want more. Nenavann would just have to beg for her help, nothing more complicated than that. Queen Vanieskon would now consider how she would best benefit from the situation, while Forgemaster Ughlarer would almost certainly make her a counteroffer once he became aware of Nenavann’s plea. So, he and the Forgemaster would now have to compete for the pixie queen’s favor, all while she toyed with them both.

The question then, was how would Nenavann convince her to side with him, as quickly as possible? His hand drifted to the hidden pocket in his robes and he looked up to stare at the ceiling. What would he be willing to sacrifice to ensure the Compact sided with Belissar before the humans arrived? He began to whisper to himself.

“Erynmor…what should I do?”

Risk her dream to preserve her memory and hope he could protect Belissar without the Compact’s help? Or give up one of the Hearts to someone he trusted least to ensure the one planted in the realm of mortals would endure? What would Erynmor want done with her legacy?

He was interrupted out of his thoughts, however, when one of his monsters sent him a message that he had a guest. He blinked as he saw who it was, even as he gave them permission to enter. Just a short time later, the doors of his office slammed opened, and Queen Vanieskon herself marched inside. Nenavann was left blinking, wondering if his eyes were working properly. Queen Vanieskon furrowed her brow as he was left dumbfounded.

“Nenavann, we need to talk.”