Page 22 of Queen Isabella

For a moment she was thrown by the compliment he so easily gave out that she almost missed the explanation.

“They are not true generations,” Artifex continued. “Our queen mother passed before we emerged from our amnio sacs.” He gestured at everyone in the room. “The chrysalis chambercaretakers stopped tending all of our amnio sacs, so only some of us emerged.” He made a hand motion, like he was rubbing a ball, and she imagined an alien massaging a sac with a fetus in it. “We’re calling that the first generation. Toward the end of their life, they only allowed a percentage of hatchlings to emerge, and that’s how it continued, until you get to us. We really are all the same generation, just stretched over time.”

Amnio sac. Chrysalis chamber. Hive?!It sounded like the aliens were similar to bees or butterflies. The fact that they somehow slowed their unusual birth was strange and shocking. It also sounded like they were all siblings. Then again, the Vorto could turn to goo, so this new information wasn’t really any stranger than that.

“You look distressed again, my queen.” Bellator gripped her hand.

“I’m trying to understand everything.” Isa nodded, agreeing with his assessment. No doubt she looked confused as hell. “You probably noticed, I’m not like you.”

“We know.” Phara leaned down and kissed her shoulder. “Your features are very different, but attractive. Our queen mother was from the Nemus Hive, our neighbors. They are different. They blend in with the trees of their territory, instead of the mountains the way we do.”

The easy acceptance in Phara’s voice and the way he tenderly kissed her shoulder nearly brought tears to her eyes. The Vorto truly had accepted her into their tribe. It emboldened her to share more, even though spelling it out might change their minds about her.

“I don’t come from a distant territory on this planet. I come from a world far, far away,” she admitted, then held her breath, bracing for their reaction.

“You come from one of the moons?” Bellator looked at her in awe.

“No.” She shook her head. “Farther, much farther. Where I am from, there are a lot of females, one for every male.”

“You are teasing us.” Phara gave her a little squeeze.

“I’m not kidding you.” She shook her head.

“There is only one queen per hive,” Artifex said in disbelief.

“Not on my planet. They don’t think females are so precious. In fact, they weren’t kind to the planet, either. My world has too many people and they’re wearing out the resources of the plant.”

The aliens’ eyes widened, but she continued. In for a penny, in for a pound.

“So, the people in charge, rather than fixing our planet, decided to find a new one. They built a ship, put us in it, and sent us traveling in space to your world. They said this planet was uninhabited, but their research was as flawed as the ship they built,” she growled. “Something damaged our ship just above your planet, and we fell in the mechanical eggs, along with a bunch of other bits of our ship, I imagine.” She pantomimed falling to the ground with her hands, though she only remembered part of it.

“This ship was like a sky hive full of queens?” Bellator tried to understand what she was explaining.

She was as foreign to them as they were to her, and both sides were trying to find common ground with their culture and physiology.

“Long voyages are always dangerous. I can’t imagine a voyage among the stars. I am relieved you made it this far. You must have been very afraid as you fell.” Artifex took her hand and gently squeezed it.

She nodded. It was a miracle the ship made it this far.

“I hate that you are shaking. You are safe now.” Phara held her tighter, kissing the top of her head.

She didn’t realize she was shaking, but she was practically vibrating. Just talking about this made her mad, and sad, and betrayed, and many more emotions she couldn’t name.

“You said you were cast out,” Phara recalled as he held her close. “You did not choose to join the hive ship, did you?” He placed another gentle kiss on her head.

“No.” She breathed faster as she recalled how it all transpired. She refused to cry, though, she already cried so many times during this emotional roller coaster, and the poor Vorto didn’t need to be subjected to it yet again. “On my world, I study ancient people. I dug up a very old weapon. I was taking it and other really old things like cups and bottles to a place where people could study them.”

“You are part of the servitor caste?!” Artifex excitedly asked, a hint of pride in his voice.

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “I’m not really sure what that is.”

“The legionnaire caste guards, fights, keeps the rules, and deals with aggressive creatures.” Bellator rubbed the symbol on his chest. She was right about the marks and his occupation.

“The servitor caste is the largest because we are the caretakers of everything the hive needs. We grow, hunt and forage food, cook, build, heal, and many other skills,” Artifex explained.

Based on his description, she would be considered part of his caste.

“And then there are the consorts, like us.” Phara gestured from himself to the triplets. “It is our privilege to breed the next generation with the queen.” Phara buried his face in her hair and took a deep breath.

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