Chapter 128: Responsi-Bee-lity

    After that, Belissar and Chief Rohsuak discussed further details. Peace and trade was great and all as an overall goal...but it turned out there was a lot more to be considered for a discussion like this than Belissar thought.

    First of all, there was no guarantee that King Ratuatapi would agree to that sort of relationship. If he refused to trade, would Belissar try to convince him or let him be? If he made demands of his own, would Belissar consider them? If he claimed the Underway beyond the rot cap field, what would Belissar say? What if he claimed land above ground that Belissar’s Tower had purified? What if King Ratuatapi demanded access to Belissar’s Tower? What if he wanted to become a sworn defender as well? What if he claimed authority over Belissar’s Tower?

    And if none of that occurred and King Ratuatapi agreed to trade...then there was whole new set of questions. What was Belissar willing to trade? What would he never trade even if asked? What prices would he accept? How often did he want to trade? What would he do if King Ratuatapi attempted to cheat them?

    And then, finally, the question arose of what Belissar would do if the talks broke down and came to blows. If this King Ratuatapi became hostile, how would Belissar respond?

    Belissar could listen in and even speak with the karnuq when they went to talks, but Chief Rohsuak pointed out that most of this should be determined ahead of time. It would leave them at a disadvantage in the talks if they had to stop and discuss everything that occurred...and they may not have the chance. In the case of trade, it would be wise to bring some samples of what they could offer, which therefore needed to be prepared ahead of time. And in this case of talks breaking down and turning violent...well, the karnuq wouldn’t have the chance to calmly ask Belissar what he wanted them to do.

    And, of course, while Chief Rohsuak was willing to offer advice, it was ultimately Belissar that had to answer all of those questions.

    For not only was he exhausted, but he was distracted by his thoughts as well. He could not help but worry about this new development. He had been fortunate so far in that the karnuq had been very friendly...but there was no guarantee that would be the case with these new people. There was every chance that tomorrow could end up in a fight...or even a war. Belissar knew very little of war, besides the general war against the Hunger. Even that was taken care of by the Tower Lords back when he was a peasant, so war was something distant and unknown. Tower Lord doctrine stated that humanity had experience countless wars with itself in the days of the wicked kings, but had since united after the Hunger appeared. He had no idea if that was true or not but he did know that he had never experienced war between people himself.

    He took a deep breath and frowned. No, no he did not wish a Tower Lord was here. He had a feeling that no Tower Lord would have built a Tower like this. And perhaps they would have made something better...but it would not have been the Bee Tower he had grown to love. This was his Tower, his bees, and his people.

    His heart settled. Because Belissar now knew what he wanted and what he would do. Come what may with these new people, he would protect this Tower and all who lived in it.

    The next day, another karnuq expedition made their way to the Underway, this time led by Chief Rohsuak herself. She was accompanied by a squad of soldier bees and sprayers, each of them accompanied by a digging worker bee. Unfortunately, the digging queen had only recently begun delivering honey to the battle meadow queens, so there were no digging soldiers just yet. Chief Rohsuak, however, had pointed out that this could work in their favor, as people living in the Underway might perceive digging soldiers as a threat. They had even ruled out bringing lancers or bumblebee soldiers for that very reason.

    The bees hovered close to the karnuq and their light crystals...which upon reflection Belissar realized he should have asked about. For now though, it was the only source of light to help the soldier bees fly, though the digging workers riding on their backs would help them if they got separated from the group.

    The group made their way to the rot cap field once again, where, thankfully, the stink bug numbers had not recovered from yesterday’s sweep. This time, they found people waiting from them in the field proper, around a stone table flanked by light crystal tipped poles. Most of the people were dressed like the one from yesterday, completely wrapped in black cloth save for their eyes. However, there was one standing before the table who dressed differently, giving the group and therefore Belissar their first glimpse of who exactly they were meeting. She was a woman wearing a blue dress made of silk. She had pale skin, black eyes, and round ears on the sides of her head covered in black fur. Most striking was her hair, which blended into fur going down her neck and back and under her dress, until it emerged against as a large and bushy tail. Most of it was black, but the hair on the top of her head was white, splitting into two strips of white fur down her neck and shoulders, until the white and black blended together on her tail.

    Belissar tensed and narrowed his eyes. It was a color pattern he could not forget. More than once he had driven away a skunk trying to feast on his hives...and suffered the consequences whenever he did so poorly. And as the karnuq approached them, he could only hope that these skunk people did not take after their animal counterparts when it came to bees...