“She was not the Grand Queen. Bessachidia was my teacher. My mentor and one of the finest Queens ever to be created of the Hives. She was a Shaper Queen, a master of manipulating and creating the essence of which all Antinium are formed. She could weave forms as well as any but our First Queen. She might have even created something akin to one of the Centenium had she the resources and time.”
“Bessachidia. If she had lived, she could have brought all the war forms and images of our people to live on Izril, even alone. She could have created other Queens. And she could have fixed you in minutes, little one. I was meant to learn from her. Everything I have done now is based on the few lessons I learned. I, and the Silent Queen. But we were never Shaper Queens. We were just…”
“The Centenium were a hundred prototypes, Garry. Created by the First Queen, whose skill was unrivaled, even by Bessachidia or the other Shaper Queens who came after. Each one unique. We could copy their forms, but never their identity. And now there are three. Three, from a hundred. Can you imagine the loss?”
“It does not matter. You are precious. And you sing. If you did not, little Bird, I would never have cared. But you sing. Bessachidia sang. And you are Bird.”
At least. But also, ‘only’. The Free Queen could remember Queens who had left Rhir twice as old, and they hadn’t even been as old as Bessachidia, the Shaper Queen who had been oldest and greatest of the living Antinium at creation.
But after three decades, the Antinium were stalemated. And the Queens were aging, and no more were being made. Age, the issue of reforming bodies, creating new Queens, all of it would have been easy to Bessachidia. The Free Queen knew this, because she had learned from Bessachidia, along with the Silent Queen.
But after three decades, the Antinium were stalemated. And the Queens were aging, and no more were being made. Age, the issue of reforming bodies, creating new Queens, all of it would have been easy to Bessachidia. The Free Queen knew this, because she had learned from Bessachidia, along with the Silent Queen.
She was very agitated. The Free Queen remembered—they had been the students of Bessachidia, and thus responsible for remaking the Antinium Workers and Soldiers. The Silent Queen had been better, which was hard to admit, but she had been as conscious of her inability as the Free Queen compared to a proper Shaper Queen. Now…what was she thinking?
The two Queens began to chat. And the Free Queen was focused—and despairing still. This was good for her Hive. Terrible for her people. The Antinium were not united any longer. If Bessachidia had lived—
“That is Galuc the Builder, Strategist Anand. And he does not look like you. You were made in his image. He died before coming to Izril. But the great Shaper Queen, Bessachidia, saved his form that we were able to make you all.”
The Silent Queen was fascinated by everything and demanded constant updates. The Free Queen liked her, as a fellow student of Bessachidia, the last great Shaper Queen she had known. Even if the Silent Queen thought she was superior.
