There was only one person who called by na in this world.
"Amby!"
I turned to her just in ti to catch her in my arms—she flew toward so fast, she almost crashed into my chest.
"Necty, you've returned," she said, stopping in place. "I've already heard about your latest victory, and it was as great as any other one. Too bad we couldn't gather materials from the latest giant you killed."
As she spoke, Ambrosia's hands reached to my face and waist at once, groping and poking all over. I giggled when she poked at a ticklish spot.
"Amby! What are you doing?" I tried to pull her hands away, but she was insistent and her attempts to get under my clothing—incredibly distracting.
"Ensuring that your recklessness didn't injure you," Ambrosia said with unbreakable self-assurance, and finally released . "Everything seems good so far, but I will need to make a more thorough check later. Under your clothing."
Unlike her, I had the decency to blush.
"Amby, we are in front of the children!"
Ambrosia nodded regally.
"Yes, I know. It's alright, it's not like we are kissing or hugging or holding hands right now."
With a corner of my eye, I saw several onlookers, including my own bodyguards, nodding in agreent.
'Aaaaah, this is impossible! How can bees be so uncaring about sex, but look away and grimace when anything romantic is ntioned? They probably won't bat an eye if Amby and I began to make a new brood of sisters right here—NOOO, I don't want to think about having sex in front of the entire hive!'
I hid my face in my hands and tried to not die on the inside too much.
It took a few seconds to recover ntally, but when I did, I felt much lighter than before seeing Amby. The weight of decisions I had to make didn't feel so heavy when I was surrounded by all my adorable girls, including my wife. Even if they were total… bees.
"Let's go inside, anyway, Amby. We shouldn't keep talking in the doorway—and I can tell you all about the rescue mission. The sight of the ground from Scourge's back was inspiring—I *told* you that dragons were amazing! And it sure was interesting to see the village of green giants with my own eyes…"
***
Worriesgone, now responsible for culture-related things including morials and celebrations, organized a morial for Assault-9 by this evening.
According to the burial traditions established by in the past and then refined as the Bee Empire developed, Assault-9's body was buried near Hive Supremo to "feed the earth so earth would feed us", as I explained it to my daughters.
In the past, bodies of bees were dismantled for bones and stingers, but now we had so much bone that bee bones beca near-useless.
There were plenty of stingers from living bees, too.
Now, instead, the dead could be put into the ground. Because of the storms, building graves that won't be destroyed overnight was near impossible—but I thought that letting bodies peacefully beco compost was pretty good, too.
Very nature-friendly. Not that nature deserved it.
Most of the bees in attendance were Warriors. First, there were Assault-9's brood sisters, forr classmates, and mbers of her thousand. Among them stood Malevolence's hundred—most of them were from the sa brood.
Then there were brood sisters and comrades of other bees that fell in a battle near Hive Rich—those were much fewer, since most of them were in Hive Rich with Commander Warrior Bloodimina's forces.
There were also other bees who knew the dead Beemarines in passing or just wanted to watch and didn't have pressing duties.
In total, there were around ten thousand bees, which wasn't the grandest celebration for a beehive, but was more packed than an average music concert!
And this all was made on a short notice. Worriesgone was doing incredible work—although I was sure other Advisers helped.
They all stood next to , watching solemnly as Assault-9's grave was covered with earth by several volunteer Beemarines.
When it was done, I flew several ters in the air to better see the crowd and cleared my throat.
"Beemarine Assault-9, a 9th bearer of the proud 'Assault' na, died yesterday. She died while trying to do the most heroic and honorable thing of all—while trying to *live* for the Empire. Her death was as unfair as they all are—but I avenged her and killed Assault-9's killer."
I paused, watching silent anger on the faces of my daughters. They were even more angry than I was. Furious.
"She was avenged," I repeated. "And so were the others who died fighting the giants. And so will be anyone who will die in the future. But for now, we must focus on those who are still alive! Instead of being angry at the murderers, appreciate the sisters who are still with you. Dance, have fun, and enjoy life for yourself and every dead bee!"
I raised my hands in the air, and my daughters erupted in cheers. So of these sounded very much like, "Let's kill all giants!" instead of, "Yes, let's dance!" but I took what I got.
Soon, following my command, a group of Artists started playing music, and Foren gathered bees into groups so they could dance without trampling each other. Food was brought and the best parts went to the survivors of the kidnapping.
I gave a *lot* of headpats this evening and then tried to teach Ambrosia how to dance a waltz despite only knowing how to do it from a single historical drama I watched.
***
Next noon, I gathered the Empire Council. By then, Invincible-13 had successfully brought my Beehounds from the village again, and I gathered their detailed reports.
Now, I looked at the Advisers that shared the table with with a heavy gaze.
"The first topic of today's council—the green giants again. You won't like the news I got, I bet…"
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