Page 45 of Heart of Dawn
“Wow,” I breathed, in total awe.
The walls were crumbling honeycomb, lit by a strange milky light shimmering around the cavern from the ceiling. Not quite moonlight, something in the shape of a triangle up there.
I turned on the spot, taking in the dead beehive. “By the stars.”
“Welcome to my hive,” Wendy said, flying around a solitary log sitting on the edge of a hexagonal indent in the ground. “Sit here. Rest while I get to work.”
How would a solitary bee, albeit a queen, suddenly bring a dead hive back to life? Especially if she meant to help me quickly.
Rather than ask questions to slow the process, I perched myself on the log.
Wendy hovered before me. “There will be water to refresh yourself with shortly.”
The triangular thing began to lower. Wendy flew off to the center of the chamber then straight up to meet it. I watched her vanish into the milky light, her buzzing increasing in volume. The sound vibrated around the chamber, the grayness of the honeycomb flooding with a pale golden color.
“I’m back,” Wendy’s voice echoed around me.
The triangle burst open in an eruption of golden light. Pretty shards fell to the ground, sparkling in the dirt, leaving behind pools of molten gold.
“Stars…” I whispered, back on my feet to watch the spectacle.
Those little pools became rivulets, elongating into streams, joining together to form a hexagonal moat of golden water around the indent. It flowed in a continuous loop, two smaller strands of it breaking free to zigzag toward the center.
As this transpired, the chamber basked in the golden light of the honeycomb. Each hollow, hexagonal cell glistened, ready to be filled with honey.
Wendy appeared again, zipping back and forth, sprinkling glitter everywhere.
“Drink from the water,” she said, her voice filling the chamber in surround sound. “It’s like having a full meal.”
“Okay.” I didn’t argue, happy to receive any sort of nourishment.
The busy bee progressed from cell to cell, scrambling inside for half a minute each time.
I crouched by the side of the moat, making a cup with my hands to scoop up the golden water. It was warm, sweet-smelling. When I gulped it down, a heavy sweetness hit my tongue, the liquid sliding down my throat like sugary soup. Wonderfully warming yet strange, my body responded happily to it as if I were partaking in a huge feast.
Wow.
The more I drank, the more satisfied I became. Happy twinges went off in every part of me, my energy levels receiving a much-needed boost, my body hydrated.
“Our sugar water isn’t as famous as our honey,” Wendy said. “Isn’t it fabulous?”
“It really is.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, having taken my fill.
Three golden lights flared to life in the middle of the indent.
“Oh.” I watched three strands of gold crawl out of the mud. They coiled upward in elaborate twists, making pretty shapes like ornate metal work on palace gates.
Leaves formed along the strands, their tips swelling into buds.
“Flowers?” I asked.
I heard Wendy gasp, saw her take a pause in one of the honeycomb cells. “Y-yes.”
“Are you okay?”
The queen bee flew down to the water, taking a sip. She seemed so small against the moat, and I panicked she might get swept up into the current. But she took her drink and flew back up to her work.
“I’m just looking for the most viable cells,” she said.
