I opened my mouth, but Ambrosia cut off with a frown and a raised hand.
"Daughter, you should choose your own na. You are a Queen, after all."
"My na is B9284!" a Nurse Bee piped in.
"B10385!"
"B666666. I ca up with it myself!"
I zeroed on the Nurse Bee in question.
Even though I gave bees numbers instead of nas, I wasn't here to na *every* single bee. I was glad they were coming up with nas themselves, even if this one was kinda satanic. Good for her that there was no religion in this hive!
"That's a nice na, B666666."
The Nurse Bee smiled happily.
"Thank you, Father! It's six sixes, because our honeycomb cells have six sides. I can't wait to be a Builder Bee and make them!"
I raised my eyebrows. That bee was unusual—she could go far.
The young Queen folded her arms over her chest.
"I don't want a na with numbers. But I don't know how to make nas. All the words I know are already nas for sothing else. Even yours, Mother!"
Ambrosia shook her head.
"It's *my* na if I say so. But it's also food, if you talk about food." She shook her head. "I can co up with a na for you, if you are really lost…"
"Mmm! Mmmmm! MMMMMM!"
"Nectus?" Ambrosia glanced at . "Why are you making these sounds?"
"I have a na! I've been thinking about it for a long ti." My eyes shone as I stared at my little princess's grumpy face. "Pollenia! Or just Polly for short. Pollenia Stingprince! Or Stingprincess, if you like."
Ambrosia shook her head.
"Pollenia… That's the sa na as mine," she said. "Ambrosia is made from pollen, after all."
The gears of my mind ground to a halt.
"No way… No way… All this ti?!" I pulled on my hair. "I was eating *bee bread* all this ti?"
"You were eating ambrosia. Where do you think I took my na from? Stupid."
I waved my arms in despair.
"Stupid, indeed! I can't believe I was eating *bee spit* all this ti! They told it was just pollen! I just didn't want to think about anything elseeee!"
I actually believed that in this world, bees ate pollen raw instead of making ambrosia, or so-called "bee bread" from it.
Bee bread was just packed pollen fernted with enzys from bee saliva. Most bees couldn't digest raw pollen—it was like eating raw oatal. But I thought things were different in this world!
Now my innocence was irrevocably lost. Never again I was going to eat pollen…
"Father, why are you whining? I like this na!" my daughter Queen suddenly said. She nodded to herself. "Pollenia. Like Ambrosia, but Pollenia. Without the second word. I want this to be my na!"
〔Queen Bee〕 〔Ally〕 〔Progeny〕
〔Na〕: Pollenia
I exhaled and let go of my angst.
"Congratulations on getting a na, Pollenia! Now, there's only one small thing left to do—a gene transfer."
Ambrosia beca rigid as a statue. Her facetious eyes bore into with an intensity I've never seen before.
"A *gene transfer*? You were *against* this idea earlier, Nectus."
My eyes widened. I felt as if a bucket of ice water fell over my head.
"Shit! No, no, no, that's not what I ant! Not the incest thing! I ant *vertical* gene transfer! Please, don't think about this way, I would never—and I thought *you* were for it, anyway! How can you bla now, Amby?!"
Ambrosia's shoulder relaxed. She spun away from ; I swore she was blushing.
"Yes, I… don't know what ca over , Nectus. Must be your head-illness." She straightened again and leveled with a calr look. "But what did you an if not incest?"
"Incest?" Pollenia cringed. "What are you two talking about? I won't do anything like this!"
"No incest, *nothing*! But, look—if you drink so of my blood, you will beco much stronger than you were, and your future children will be stronger, too."
I raised my palm and paused. Bee claws were sharper and tougher than human nails, but piercing skin with them would still take much effort and pain. Sa went for the knife spikes on my bone helt/crown.
"Soone, bring a stone knife, please. And an empty jug."
"Will do in a mont, Father!" a Nurse Bee said, flying off.
A minute later, she returned with a curious Craftsman Bee in tow and the items I needed.
"Here!"
"Thanks, girls."
I put my hand on top of the jug.
"Ambrosia, Pollenia, look."
I clenched my teeth, closed my eyes, and made a sharp cut over my palm.
〔You deal 1 damage.〕
"Ouch!"
Several bees around us gasped.
"Ah, Father!"
"What are you doing?!"
Blood from the cut fell into the jug. I bit my lip and stoically ignored all questions until the flow of blood from my palm stopped bleeding.
It took very little ti—the jug had barely half a glass worth of blood inside. That 'Faster Regeneration II' gene was proving its worth.
"Here." I gave the blood to Pollenia. "Drink until you feel yourself stronger, then give the rest."
"Alright, Father."
Pollenia scrunched her face over the jug, but drank obediently. A couple gulps in, she shoved the jug back at .
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