Humble Beginnings: A Prequel

I don't want to be awake. I wish I could just stay in the cold familiarity of Tilo's sleep spell. But I have a duty to the remaining members of the hive, and my friends.

It's been two years since all 43 of our Venator drones went missing, at the absolute worst time in their cycle to do so. The eggs had just been lain, and our Elders had all been killed by the rotting sickness only weeks before, when the mareshadow had appeared on the moon and the Night became dull. Never in our history have we seen such a disaster. Queen Giulia decided to send the previous First Branch to find some news of the missing Venators the week my friends (then still the Second Branch) were scheduled to ascend. We combined their celebration with the send off, in order to conserve energy until the Branch fixed the problem. It was as gay as all our other holidays, yet there was a tension in the air as my friends said their goodbyes to their mentors. Weeks went by with no word from the Elder Branch, but we still had faith them. It took an entire year of no communication with the group before we realized they weren't coming back. Everything happened very fast at that point. Our Elder drones were the first to go, despite their caretakers' best efforts. Soon groups began dropping like flies. We were not idle during this time. Giulia and I held council seemingly nonstop, trying to figure out how to handle the situation. There were no easy options. We could try to send the remaining First Branch out, but the chance was too great. They're our last defense against whatever was out there killing our comrades. Looking back, we were both influenced by the fear and paranoia that had settled over the hive.

I think, despite everything, the one who suffered the most was Somniatius. She was the only one who could find out what happened, but the only dreamvision she had, 8 months after the Elder Branch and Venators were declared dead, was of the Nightmare. It took her weeks to recover from her vision. She wouldn't leave her room, wouldn't eat, and from the screams we could hear every few days told us she was having nightmares. Only Odio was allowed to see her, and every time he came out he just said she needed some time. Yesterday, about 2 months after the Nightmare, Queen Giulia locked herself in Somniatius' room. I have no idea what happened in there, but when she came out she ordered us to never speak of the Nightmare again. I had been standing outside of Somniatius' room when the Queen emerged, and I caught a glimpse of Somni in her bed, sleeping soundly. I dare not broach the subject, even now that I am Queen...

Ah yes, that's what I'm trying to avoid. Oh well, there's not stopping it now. I must work through this if I am ever going to take up my responsibilities. Everything seemed a little better that day, now that we knew Somni was going to be alright. It was a small comfort, but we took what we could get. That changed, however, when Queen Giulia collapsed not an hour after her intervention with Somniatius. You see, the Queen loved her subjects very, very much. She could name every single Drone, Pupae, Larvae, and Egg to have ever been in her hive, and had talked to each of them in depth at least once in their lifetimes. So when we lost 80% of our population in the course of two years, she became desperate. She once told me her greatest fear was being alone. I believe it's this fear that caused her to go to such extreme measures for Somniatius. She knew that if anyone was going to survive, it would be the First Branch and I. We were young, strong, and still relatively healthy, until Somniatius had her Nightmare. As I stated before, she refused her daily ration of nectar. Odio managed to force feed her enough to keep her alive but she became emaciated and was quite literally on the brink of death. And so, when Giulia healed her mind, she also gave her enough strength to live. Which was apparently all of her remaining power. So she died. I became Queen. I cried alot. Tilo put me to sleep, and now here I am. A Queen.

I have dallied long enough. I must put the past behind me and act swiftly if my remaining subjects are to survive. I will not let them suffer any longer.