"I demand a duel for honor" said the crossbreed authoritatively.
"What!?" Shouted Quirrel.
"!!!" Hollow also seemed upset.
The two took the queen and separated her a moment from the meeting, to the dissatisfaction of the mantis, who at each moment felt more contempt for this queen who allowed herself to be handled so easily. They were not even close to imagining the delicate condition she was in.
"Hornet you can't do that!" The pill bug whispered altered. "Remember what the midwife said"
"I know what she said, I was there."
".........!" Hollow expressed his point of view with that silent communication that only Hornet, his siblings and partially Quirrel could understand.
"I feel good, I can do it."
"But you won't be able to fight with your maximum potential. They will beat you"
"I'll be fine"
".........!"
"What do you suggest we do genius?"
"Perhaps there is some way to fix this peacefully?"
"Quirrel," she sighed tired. "Not even you think that's possible"
"But I don't want something bad to happen to you."
"And I don't want anything bad to happen to you, nor to any of the members of my people. But we are in numerical and terrain disadvantage, if we all get into a fight we will most likely lose, and more than one would end up dying. On the other hand, duels for honor are rarely to the death, the loser must simply recognize that the winner is right"
"......... "Hollow looked upset.
"Under normal circumstances my defeat would question my leadership, but there is no other spider in the kingdom that can dispute my throne, so there should be no problems."
"But your people could lose confidence in you and that would make your reign difficult." Quirrel looked extremely worried.
"Well, I'll make them trust me again. I don't care, my priority is to protect my people. This was the best solution that occurred to me, now if any of you have a better suggestion, I am all ears" They both looked at each other without saying a word, none knew what else to do. "I though so. We have no other option. Anyway, Quirrel" She stared at the pill bug that looked at her scared. "If I lose, I want you to escape as fast as you can. My defeat means that they would be right and in their eyes you would have the status of inferior creature. If they decide to kill you I won't be able to do anything, or even complain about it"
"But...."
"Stay close to the exit." That were the last instructions of the crossbreed before heading to the Lord Mantis.
She stood in front of the ladies and looked at them proudly, just as a queen should be. Even when they were on the heights of their thrones and their sizes were much higher than hers, Hornet was not intimidated, at least this made the mantis devote her a minimum of respect.
"Did they give you permission to fight?" Lily tried to provoke the queen.
"A queen does not need to ask for authorization to defend her honor." The spider took out her needle getting ready for combat.
"We were just discussing the best battle strategy." Quirrel appeared next to Hornet with his sting prepared for combat.
"Quirrel..." Hornet tried to hide the best possible her surprise. And before her confusion made her commit any indiscretion, the pill bug resumed the word.
"Being the main one affected by your offense, I also have to participate in this fight along with my queen"
"We don't object to your participation" Lavender said solemnly. "But we doubt your ability to play it. We have never heard of a warrior pill bug"
"It wasn't just because of my pretty face that Hornet chose me as her mate" He answered confidently.
That answer seemed to satisfy the mantis, because they jumped off their thrones ready to fight... or at least two of them did.
"Orchid!" The older sister shouted. "What the hell are you doing?"
The younger sister suddenly woke up from her reveries and looked down in shame with her red face. Again she had let her mind pay more attention to Hollow than to the meeting. Why was it so difficult to resist the charms of that bug? Just looking at him was already a delight, but she didn't have time for that. They required her presence.
The truth she was not very aware of the situation, but seeing her sisters on the mainland with their weapons was enough to know what she had to do. She joined them and waited to see what happened.
"Choose your judge spider" Lavender as always took the lead in regards to official things.
Hornet turned her gaze to the servant spiders she had brought with her, but she was interrupted by Hollow's signs trying to get her attention.
"...!"
"No Hollow, you don't serve to be a judge"
The mantis blinked in surprise, the queen could understand the silent knight. They always thought that he could not speak, it never occurred to them that he simply had another form of communication. Although it was difficult to deduce it. In all their previous encounters he had never done anything but look at them penetratingly. Did that mean anything in particular? Anyway they had to admit that with his sister nearby, Hollow seemed much more communicative. Would he be a shy guy?
Orchid looked at the crossbreed with envy. She wish she could understand the knight too. With a more fluid dialogue, maybe she could convince him to go with her to some nice corner of Fungal Wastes and do... Many things they was not supposed to do...
The mantis hit her face trying to remove those shameful thoughts, that behavior of course caught her sisters' attention.
"Today you are very strange Orchid" Lily looked at her with concern.
"I'm fine, don't worry"
"Focus on the battle, don't make us look ashamed" If she hadn't known her for a lifetime, Orchid would have been angry. But she already knew that her sister had that acid and impertinent personality, there was no point in arguing with her.
"I designate Ania as my judge" Hornet announced.
The mentioned spider stepped forward and made a respectful bow.
"It will be an honor" she said in a squeaky voice.
Lavender then looked around at the members of her tribe present, trying to decide who was the fittest. Until she finally decided on one that stood out for being extremely observant.
"Chris, I designate you as our judge."
"I am honored by your choice" the insect replied also with a bow.
Both teams were placed on different sides of the battle arena, and the judges aside to observe the combat. According to the law that governed these duels, they should have a judge of each team to make everything more transparent. Once everything was ready, both bugs gave authorization to start the fight.
The mantis were the first to launch into combat, taking the unsuspecting enemy was part of their strategy, along with a swift and ruthless offensive.
In a blink the deadly trio vanished in front of them and a few seconds later, one of the Lords appeared behind them to attack them with her boomerang blade. Quirrel dodged with a speed that rivaled that of the mantis, while Hornet chose to jump. However, instead of performing an elegant and acrobatic jump, she felt awkward and heavy, as if the strength of her legs were not enough to support her.
Ania, the judge of Deepnest could not help but let out a little cry of anguish, which did not go unnoticed by someone as observant as Chris. This of course caught his attention. He would have expected a growl of rage, or an expletive, but not that look of fear and concern. Was the queen sick?
His suspicions seemed increasingly true, with each passing minute it was more noticeable that the queen was not well. He couldn't know what kind of problem she presented, but something had to do with her belly. He could tell it by the way she shrink herself on it every time she received an impact or made an abrupt movement.
Luckily for Hornet, her husband was fighting like never before and trying his best to protect her, which if Chris could not see it with his own eyes, he would believe it impossible. A pill bug was blocking the mantis's attacks and fighting like a warrior. It didn't seem like he had the ability to defeat the lords, but it wasn't going to be easy to make him fall either. Meanwhile, the poor queen was limited to enduring as she could and to try to make some attacks at a distance with her needle, but the apparent suffering she endured made it difficult to hit a blow.
The viewers of Deepnest were increasingly worried, especially Hollow who, under his stoic attitude, hid a growing fear for the health of his sister. With every blow that the crossbreed received, he could not help but want to scream. Of course that was beyond his means, with the years of practice he had been able to learn to emit sounds, but they did not go beyond simple whispers, because it was painful to emit, better not to think about screaming.
Hornet was at the center of the battlefield, Quirrel was a little away from her fighting blade to blade against Lily, the other two mantis were not in sight. It was an extremely complex situation for her, because Hornet's senses and perception were cloudy because of the pain she felt. It was hard for her to repel or dodge the two mantises that seemed to have focused on her when she saw her as the weakest.
Hornet looked everywhere trying to predict or perceive an attack before it reached her, even with her daze she did her best to battle decently, but this seemed to be beyond her means. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of something from the corner of her eye and moving as fast as she could, she turned just in time to block an Orchid's attack, but the lord instead of retreating quickly as she had done so far, she kept in place by pressing her. The mantis had already noticed that the queen was at her limit and chose to finish her once and for all.
Orchid remained on the offensive while Hornet resisted as she could, using all her willpower to stand up, even when her legs were shaking. But if she barely endured an opponent, she couldn't with two. Lavender appeared behind the backs of the fighters, and got ready to throw a boomerang blade. Hollow from his place could not take it anymore and lost his composure externalizing all his anguish.
"Hornet!" Cof... Cof... "The cough stifled his scream.
That soft, whispering voice caught Orchid's attention. She couldn't help looking at her silent warrior. Had she heard him speak? Was that melodious voice his? She noticed how Hollow coughed annoyed as he put his hand around his neck as if that way he could relieve the burning he felt. Poor thing, apparently he could speak, but it caused him tremendous suffering to do so. How she wished to alleviate him, surely a bit of the nectar from the Singing Flower could help him and she would gladly give him a little drink... Using her mouth...
Orchid had to hit herself mentally. She was doing it again, she had lost herself in her reveries, if she did not concentrate, her opponent could take the advantage.
And that happened.
Hornet taking advantage of the distraction of the mantis, climbed on top of her and tied her with her thread, then with a subtle movement made her fall. Lavender was forced to cancel her boomerang blade when she saw this and narrowed her eyes in rage. But what a stupid oversight!
Hornet chose not to wait for anything else and began beating her enemy with all her might, but each blow seemed to hurt her as much as the mantis. She was already running out of breath because of the effort and her attacks were losing power, however she noticed that she had already made her opponent lose consciousness. Orchid would not rise again, she was defeated, one of the mantis had fallen. Now would they have more advantage? She was wrong, because a small uproar made her turn her eyes and notice that Quirrel and Lily had fallen, both of them no longer had the strength to continue. She and Lavender were the only ones left standing, but given her deplorable state, it was obvious that Hornet could not win.
"Please... Please..." Ania whined from her place, looking at Chris pleadingly.
The mantis maintained a serious attitude while pondering the situation. Hornet had managed to endure until the end even given her precarious circumstances, the pill bug had shown that he was more than he appeared in that fight, and there was no honor or joy in the defeat of a weakened enemy. Considering the circumstances, he made a decision.
"Stop the fight!" The mantis shouted, the spider next to him sighed in relief.
Both warriors looked at the judges waiting for an explanation.
"The reason for this fight was to defend the honor of the pill bug present here, accused of being weak and insignificant.
"But the same pill bug through his combat performance was able to prove himself," Ania continued, understanding the logic of his argument.
"Taking these facts into account, we see no need to prolong this fight and we all agree to recognize that Quirrel is worthy of being considered as an equal before us.
Lavender looked around. She noticed Lily unconscious on the floor next to the insect that was in the same conditions. Not really many of his own tribe would be able to defeat her sister, she should give him credit for that.
"I accept the verdict" she said solemnly.
"I-I-approve the decision" Hornet replied in a trembling voice.
Once the result was decided, the members of both tribes went to pick up their fallen warriors. Hornet stood with her proud attitude, even when her legs were shaking, she was only allowed to be helped to walk by a male spider on which she leaned in a sneaky way.
There were no more exchanges of words or speeches, the mantis were not much talkative. Spiders were somewhat more communicative, but they also did not wear out in useless talk without any purpose. The last thing said was a message from Queen Hornet before leaving through the door that led to Deepnest.
"There was no agreement at this meeting, but it won't be the last thing you know about me"
It was not a threat, just a simple message that made it clear that she had not yet given up on a trade agreement.
When the door that connected to the territory of the mantis finally closed behind them, Hornet allowed herself to demonstrate the weakness she had been hiding during the entire fight, then she dropped to the ground overcome by pain where she later lost consciousness.
By the time the crossbreed opened her eyes again, she was enveloped by the pleasant heat of a liquid that surrounded her, the pain had subsided and a pair of arms held her by the waist. The latter made her panic, she didn't know who was the one who had her captive but she couldn't get caught, fortunately her paranoia was quickly dissipated by her husband's soft voice.
"Take it easy Hornet, it's me"
"Quirrel." An immediate relief swept through her and she stopped struggling.
He let out a sigh and let herself be embraced by the blue bug. Now everything was fine, she could relax and rest.
Already calmer she observed her surroundings, they were in a hot spring, probably the one that was in the way to Deepnest. She saw some of her servants enjoying the magic liquid, while others were watching nearby. Hollow was near the shore playing with Ania.
She shook her head in resignation, so many years had passed, he had grown so tall that he was now taller than her and he was still behaving like a child who liked to play with water. Of course, his childish behaviors were something he only showed in front of those with whom he felt confident, for the others, he was a silent, proud, serious insect and a great warrior. Who imagined that the captain of the royal guard of King Big would be so childish?
In Deepnest he was already like of the family and they were used to dealing with the crazy things that occurred to him every time he visited them, but sometimes he was tiring. Hornet had to deal with a lot of pressure lately for the responsibilities of her kingdom, sometimes she envied the worry-free life his brother had.
"Hornet?" Quirrel's voice pulled her out of her thoughts." How do you feel?"
"I'm fine, thanks, it doesn't hurt anymore. I think I can walk home"
"Personally, I think it would be better if you avoided that, let one of the larger males carry you"
"What? Of course not! I'm not going down to something like that, I must show strength."
Suddenly Hornet felt the arms that held her tighten her grip on her, then she heard the voice of the angry pill bug.
"Hornet... Don't you think it was enough to play the strong girl? You need to rest! Those were the midwife's instructions after you laid your eggs"
"But I can't, I'm the queen, I have duties to fulfill."
"One week Hornet! It was only a week!" Finally Quirrel exploded "All you had to do was stay a week resting! You didn't even need to stay in bed! You just had to avoid fights, complicated hunts and long trips! And you couldn't stand three days!"
"I have many responsibilities to fulfill!" The conversation happened to be shouting.
"Your main responsibility now is to take care of your health!"
"It was a delicate situation and you know it! There was no other way out of that predicament!"
"We would have avoided all this if you had postponed the meeting a week as I told you!"
"In a week it will be more complicated and you know why!"
"Well, then the meeting should not have been held in the first place! It was not so urgent!"
"For me it was!"
The two were so focused on their quarrel that they forgot that there were other spiders present. They feeling somewhat uncomfortable began to withdraw silently to wait for them outside the hot springs, however the majority before leaving gave a look to Ania that clearly said 'do something'.
The spider sighed something annoyed. As Hornet's personal assistant, she always had to solve those kinds of problems, it was good that they almost never fought, but when they did they could be terrible. She was about to walk towards them when she noticed that Hollow was getting ahead. So without warning he took Hornet and mounted her on top of him, with his larger size he now had no trouble doing that.
"Release me Hollow! I already said that I don't want to be charged!"
"............."
"I'm going to..." At that moment a slight dizziness forced Hornet to cling to his brother's back.
"You see it? I told you that you were not well" Her husband rebuked her, who hurried to walk with the brothers.
"But if a moment ago I felt good"
"Because you were in the hot springs, but now that you leave it your energy starts to falter. Please Hornet, for once in life, follow our advice"
The queen growled annoyed and did not say a word all the way home, partly because of her anger and partly because after a while she fell asleep, to the relief of others. She didn't know when they reached Distant Town, nor did she wake up when she was gently climbed to the highest house in the village, or when they laid her on her bed. She just began to react when the midwife began examining her. Although she had a small scare when she woke up and found the millipede on top of her, she quickly calmed down when she recognized her.
"Wow, it seems that someone has not followed my instructions" the creature said in her old voice. "This is definitely not right."
"What does that mean?" Hornet asked cautiously.
"Exactly what I said, this is not right. I told you that after laying eggs you would be somewhat delicate and would need to rest, you did the opposite. Not only did you avoid rest, but you also struggled to the extreme. A little more and your matrix would have broken"
"And that...."
"You would have lost the possibility of laying more eggs." A shiver ran down the queen's back at the thought. "You are young, you have a long life ahead, it would not be good if you lost something so valuable yet. Not all children reach adulthood and you know it, that's why it is always better to have abundant offspring to make sure."
"I understand..." Hornet looked down and squeezed the sheets on her bed. "I will be more careful from now on"
"Oh, of course you will, I have instructed you not to get out of bed, this time you need strict rest"
"What!? I can't stay in bed all day! I have many things to do!"
"Several of them can be done from your bed, Hornet." Quirrel approached the bed to try to reassure her.
"But there are some projects that I need to supervise"
"Delegate them. Ask for a report and then review it from here"
"But... But... But what happens if a problem arises?"
"All is well Hornet." Quirrel took one of her hands, trying with all his might to calm her. "Things have been going very well in the kingdom lately, we are in a time of peace and prosperity and that doesn't have to change soon, much less in a week. Everything will be fine, no problem will arise, you just rest, you deserve it after how hard you have worked"
"Okay, I guess you're right..."
But unexpectedly, a spider ran into the room, he looked very exhausted and made a bunch of nerves.
"Emergency my Queen! A giant centipede is wreaking havoc on..."
But the spider could not continue his speech because he was interrupted by the midwife who appeared before him staring at him.
"How sweet, you sure have come very quickly to inform the queen of the problems that afflict you" A chill ran down the spider's back, feeling that what was following was not something very positive. "Would you mind leaving the message to me?"
At that moment the midwife opened her mask revealing her hidden face, the messenger spider paled with fear and ran away being chased by the millipede.
"Wait," Hornet shouted. "Don't go, I want to know what..."
Hornet made the move to get out of bed but was immediately held back by Quirrel who threw himself on her, however the small body of the pill bug was not enough to restrain her, especially considering that Hornet had always been physically stronger than him. Then Ania and Hollow who were also present in the room, threw themselves on the couple wanting to support the pill bug.
"But what do you do! Let me go!" Shouted the furious queen. "And I didn't expect this from you Ania! Traitor!"
"I'm sorry, my queen" the poor spider was sobbing, "but this is for your sake."
"....."
"They are right Hornet, listen to them."
"Quirrel, did you understand something Hollow said?"
"Not really, but if he is helping us, I assume he agrees with us."
Hornet snorted annoyed and continued to struggle a little more, but she gave up when she began to feel a slight pain in her belly again, she was definitely not in a position to fight. She calmed down a bit and only then they released her. Ania accommodated her affectionately in her bed and then left the room announcing that she would bring her the papers from her office that needed to be taken care of. On the other hand, Hollow also left the room with intentions of going to get a tea and maybe something to eat, so that Quirrel and Hornet were left alone in the room.
"Hey... You don't need to take care of me" Hornet looked quite discouraged. "Now I am a hindrance but that does not have to affect your work. You have to prepare the classes for your students and as I recall you were in the middle of an important investigation. You can leave me if you want"
In response Quirrel placed his hands on both sides of her face and kissed her. That was a sweet, deep and passionate kiss, full of affection,. It was his way of showing her unconditional support. Hornet's mind clouded and suddenly she couldn't think of anything else, drunk with pleasant sensations, she only managed to reciprocate the kiss and hug her husband.
Breaking the magic of that intimate contact was difficult, they both longed for that after all the stress experienced, but it was not the time for that. Quirrel finished the kiss abruptly, then, without removing his hands from his wife's face he looked into her eyes and spoke softly.
"Don't say again that you are a hindrance. You needing to rest for a week does not make you useless. Relax Hornet, and forget about the idea of getting out of here when I'm gone"
"What? How do you..."
"I know you Hornet. So be a good girl and stay in bed resting as the midwife said. If you do I'll prepare your favorite stew"
"But... But..." Hornet seemed to be fighting with herself, but after a few moments she leaned on her bed with an annoyed expression. "Why do you always bribe me with food?"
"Because it works"
"Touche"
"I'll be back in a little while" said the pill bug as he left the room. "Do you want some dessert after the stew?"
"Quirrel... You shouldn't spoil me so much." The crossbreed looked at him angrily. "I'm going to get fat!"
"And sure fat you will still be lovely"
"Quirrel!"
"Just kidding. Don't worry about it, Hornet. With how restless you are, even if you gain a little weight, you will lose it right away as soon as you can get back out of bed"
Hornet replied nothing more, so her husband finally left the room leaving her alone. Absolutely alone with her thoughts, and that was what she feared most.
It was true that she used to overdo her work and often rested so little. but she had never exaggerated as much as now. And that was because staying busy kept her from thinking about her worries.
The crossbreed rose from the bed and went to a hidden room behind a curtain. She supposed that they would not scold her for going to see her little ones, it was not something that required too much effort.
The room was completely covered by a tangle of threads so intricate that only a spider could enter, this was the reason why Quirrel had not been able to see the eggs she had laid, but that was the custom of spiders. She simply could not sleep peacefully if she didn't have her eggs tightly held in a nest of thread.
Using her four limbs, she moved through the threads until she reached the bottom of the room, where there was a silk cradle suspended in the air. Inside, wrapped in a soft white blanket were three gray eggs, the Hornet's offspring.
The future mother approached the nest where she proceeded to take one of the eggs to groom it. This was extremely important to prevent them from rotting and dying and should be done every day.
While Hornet was cleaning the little balls, she was assaulted again by those doubts that had been tormenting her since the day she was finally able to plant the seeds of new lives. What would come of these?
As queen she had many obligations to her people, and one of them was to grant them an appropriate heir, and it was understood as appropriate, that they were something minimally similar to a spider. The people would not accept a pill bug as their queen, unfortunately as her husband and the children's father was a pill bug, the chances that their offspring were, was also high. And considering that she herself was a crossbreed half spider and half worm, the opportunity to give birth to a spider fell even further. Basically what would come out of the eggs would be a mystery. There was even the possibility of a creature incompatible with life.
But they had already warned her that if that spider did not come out of these eggs, she would have to copulate with some thoroughbred male to conceive one, and she definitely did not want that, she wanted all her children to be from Quirrel. In addition she was very bothered by the idea of having to be intimate with another. This was the concern that had bothered her the last three days and the worst thing was that it would be weeks before she regained her peace or regretted her destiny. She hated not being in control of what was going to happen.
She looked at the egg in her arms, she didn't care what came out of it, she was going to love them the same, but she couldn't help desperately wanting a spider. At that time she often thought about her own mother, it was also difficult for her to bring her into the world. As far as she knew, Herrah did not like the Pale King, and having to copulate with a male who she despised surely was horrible. Hornet could at least choose someone she liked. she sighed regretfully and hugged the egg in her arms.
"Please... Please... Only one. At least one of them must be a spider, is all I ask"