Bloodhero and Workharder saluted me in unison (the saluting habit was spreading, I noticed). Things-Things trailed behind them, waving at me with shy pride.
"Father, the Great Purge of Hive Supremo and Hive Hornet's Nest has been completed!"
"Everybody has been given a Purge Mark to show their cleanliness, but I've given out instructions to keep the checks for mites every morning as bees report to their superiors!"
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
Indeed, from what I could see around us, the Great Purge has ended already! The bees were still gathered around, but nobody was picking at each other's tails.
"We've been just about to search for you, Father," Things-Things added. "You need a Purge Mark, too! I already made you the prettiest one out of something that shines, like a pretty bug's chitin!"
Things-Things showed me a small pendant carved out of iridescent green chitin. It was round with a crude image of a sun carved in a center: a circle with rays stretched outward. A leather cord was already attached.
"Aw, thank you, Things-Things! Yeah, Ambrosia already checked me for mites, just in case. Even if they can't bite through to me, they can use me to travel to other places."
I took the pendant and put it on. It really looked nice despite being so simple… I smiled adoringly at Things-Things and patted her head.
"Why did you choose a sun as the Purge Mark?" I asked my gratefully blushing daughter.
"Oh… It's because of that well wish in the Council Chamber. One where you pat everybody's heads. It's too complicated to copy the entire well wish on a small mark, so I copied you in a simplified form. It's so easy to carve—most bees could just scratch the Purge Mark on the other side of their job pendants themselves!"
I was still smiling, but on the inside, I began sweating bullets.
"I… see… That's very ingenious of you, Things-Things. Ah… But I'm not the sun, right? You won't forget it, right? You won't… start worshiping me as an actual sun god or something, right?"
I've read certain books, I knew how that would end! First, they worship me as a god, next someone will start a cult, then there will be heresy—or maybe not. Maybe even if they consider me a god, as long as I actually stay a *good* father and not an asshole who treats his children like a resource…
"Father, of course you aren't the sun! The sun is tiny, yellow, and far over our heads—you are large, orange, and right in front of us!" Workharder exclaimed.
"Do you want us to, Father?" Bloodhero asked. "I'm unsure what 'god' is, except that you say this word sometimes. But if you teach us, we will listen!"
Things-Things nodded in agreement.
I exhaled with relief.
My bees haven't invented a religion while I wasn't looking. Blessed be the ignorant mind! All problematic thoughts just slid off their smooth brains!
Except overly self-sacrificing ones…
"Ah, that's just a word. Forget it! It's not important at all. Better tell me—what's with that gathering?" I gestured at the bees near the hive's entrance.
"The able-bodied bees are preparing to move out and purge the Subjugated Hives 1 to 20 from the mites, Father, as per the plan!" Bloodhero saluted again. "We were just about to ask your permission to move out."
"So you've already made—"
Things-Things untied something off her rope belt. What seemed like just a decoration or a roll of rope on the first glance turned out to be a very primitive bolas: just a plant rope with small rocks on both ends.
"We got instructions for making them a while ago from Researchina. Foremen Bees use them, too, against wasps and other flying hunters, so it won't be a waste if your original plan succeeds, Father."
"We just still don't think it will," Workharder said bluntly. "Those other bees are stupid. They won't realize that we are all a part of the same family, no matter how loudly we shout or how hard we shake our tails! And their Queens can only convince this many at a time."
"If they resist the purge, we will capture those bees alive and pick the mites off them by force!" Bloodhero declared.
This was the best plan the Colony Council came up with. And it was incredibly risky! Even with bolas and nets to capture prisoners, it was too easy for someone to get injured. Not to mention how complicated it was to track who was checked and who wasn't without their cooperation!
…The pupae in the subjugated hives were yet to be checked, too.
"Alright," I said. "Then this means your father has to do his part, too. Are my guards ready?"
"Always, Father!" Bloodhero gestured for a squad of Warrior Bees in the distance.
In no time at all, I was all ready to set off.
This was a mission I was best suited to, I believed. As a Drone Bee, I had free access to other hives, even if the bees inside decided to not follow the commands of their Queens!
'The worst they will do is kick me out… But they won't!'
I was going to take a brisk flight to the nearest hive, Rulia's, and see if a more peaceful agreement can be achieved after all, and also how bad the situation truly was there.
In the worst-case scenario, the local bees could be too weak to even resist a purge!
Which would also mean them useless for much else.
Together with my 22 bodyguards, I flew out of the Hive Supremo toward the sun that was still low in the sky.
As I turned to look back, I saw my Advisers waving me from the entrance.
"I will come back in a couple of hours! Unless I fly right to another hive… But I will send you a messenger. Don't do anything rash, girls!"
Soon I was going to find what my Queens were up to *besides* dutifully following my quarantine instructions to the best of their ability.