Chương 29: Chapter 1.29: On Beeing and Non-Beeing

Favius snarled in frustration as he again shoved the queen bee through the recently drilled hole. The poor creature had either died or decided that playing dead was her best chance of survival about an hour ago. He put the wood down on the workbench far too hard and growled.

"This isn't working! The holes those drills make are not consistent!" Beren nodded in agreement.

"It's a matter of the wood, and drills have to be sharpened regularly."

"But—" Favius shook his head and groaned.

"How can we make a separator if we can't create consistent holes?" Caliga picked up the drill and studied the bronze device before handing it to one of the other workshop slaves to sharpen it.

"Well," the woodworking beekeeper replied, "we use the drills to make holes for splints. This separator plate with holes—never heard of anything like it." Favius leaned against the wall and studied what the others were doing. While he had been breaking his head on the separators, they had worked on the frames. The wood is slightly uneven, but the strings are keeping them stable. It'll give the bees an opportunity to build their honeycomb.

He observed the two of them talking quietly while they put several frames into a hive. The separation between frames was based on the ruler Favius had carved after measuring the distances in the broken hive. Two other estate slaves, one of them a child barely older than himself, were carving the frames with knives and cutting them out of a larger log using an adze. Caliga frowned and played with one of the frames.

"How will the bees know to build in the frames?" Favius glared at the failed separator plate before turning to her.

"It's the most convenient location. And we'll use string to bind some empty honeycomb into the frames." She hummed, then walked over and grabbed one of the bees using a piece of cloth. She let it run through one of the holes of the failed separator plate.

"Why do we need holes?" she asked. Favius narrowed his eyes.

"Why do we need holes? Haven't I explained it enough?" He took a deep breath. I shouldn't be snapping at her. But if this isn't working… If Serran doesn't take me seriously with future proposals…

"You know, so we have the upper honey section where the queen bee and drones can't enter, but the workers can. That way—" Caliga cut him off with a gesture.

"No, I know you want to keep the queen out, but why won't a slit or a grid work?" Favius stared at her. He groaned and chuckled.

"Fucking h—" He swallowed the word. He stood up slowly, shook his head, and hugged his sister.

"You're brilliant, Caliga. I need some fresh air. Be right back." He left the workshop and found himself chuckling through gritted teeth. Told my sisters about not focusing on the wrong problem in the lesson with Cassian. And then here I am overfixated on an issue. He stepped outside, and a man walked by him. Favius blinked.

"Stop," he said. The man froze, and they studied each other. It was—Beren. But— Favius took three steps back and looked into the workshop. Beren was inside the workshop as well.

"What? Who? Oh God." He laughed as he realized why the man in the workshop had been confused at how familiar Favius treated him.

"You are the real Beren." He pointed at the man who had just walked across him, and his guilty smile turned into a grin.

"I am indeed, young master."

"Then that is—" He looked into the workshop, where Caliga was staring while absolute silence had settled over all the other slaves.

"That is my twin brother, Veren."

"Ah," Favius groaned and shook his head before Caliga burst out into laughter. Soon he and the twins, alongside the other carpenters, joined in. This is not my evening. A new separator was constructed. It was a simple matter of spacers and planks. Keeping them straight was the only issue. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Until Veren, the true woodworker between the brothers, pointed out that they could just glue several of the thin planks on top. The slits turned into a grid, which would keep them stable should they deform under humidity. As sunset took away the light and he walked toward the estate's main building with Caliga, she poked him in the shoulder.

"Seems like you're losing your edge, younger brother. All those brilliant ideas, and you couldn't even figure out that you should use slits." He poked her back.

"Who's the little one here?"

"Well, I'm older," she said with all the smugness a sibling could muster. Favius looked from side to side. Sadly, there isn't a convenient pond to push her into. He shook his head as he soon found himself in his room. Between heavy breaths, Favius reflected. On his failings in life. This day had such a promising start, and now this. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Under the next day's noon sun, Favius groaned as Brutus gripped him by the arms and pulled him up.

"Drink." He turned his head away, grumbling. Yet the cultivator pressed the cup of wine against his lips. The fruity, astringent taste of the normal wine wasn't too bad. The fizzy spiciness of the diluted spirit wine, however— He drank, cringed, and retched, but Brutus slapped him on the back.

"No, no, none of that, boy. Have you any idea how valuable this spirit wine is? I went through a lot to procure an entire bottle for you all." Favius gagged. He muttered under his breath.

"I'm going to kill you. Once I'm no longer about to keel over." Brutus ignored the comment.

"Now, boy, how might endurance be perceived?" Favius pressed his eyes shut, focused on keeping the spirit wine down, and reflected. Like he had done the dozen other times before after he managed to run up the hill, he considered how endurance could be perceived, practicing the perspectival knowing that Brutus considered the third step in understanding a cultivator's insight. Caliga flopped on the floor next to him, and Brutus stared over at her.

"Get up," he growled. Favius spat out an answer.

"Relentlessness. Someone who has truly mastered endurance will never back down, never give up." He got out the words between heavy, gasping breaths. Yet somehow the burning orange sun of this world didn't allow him to get any cool air.

"To endure, you just have to have more than your enemy. You have to push on, and that way you seem inexhaustible."

"Good. Meditate and get your breath under control." Favius stumbled off to the side and sat down on a meditation bench, closing his eyes and gasping desperately to get his hammering heart and pumping blood under control while Brutus administered spirit wine to Caliga. Meanwhile, Urania was struggling up the hill below. As his body regained some energy, Favius's thoughts blurred together. Endurance. What is it really? Before he could relax, Brutus screamed at him.

"And down you go!" He ran, huffing and puffing, and soon, all too soon, he was at the bottom of the hill and sprinted upward. Can't be too slow. Can't have Brutus send me down again. Once he reached the top, Brutus again pulled him up and dosed him with a few more gulps of diluted spirit wine. Favius managed to get out a few words after he swallowed the burning liquid.

"This bullshit... I thought..." He let out a moan and grasped his stomach.

"Cultivation was about meditating, not about fraternity hazing rituals." The bearded cultivator laughed out loud as Urania made it up the hill behind Favius.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, boy, but consider this. How might one see endurance in a social context?" Favius pressed his eyes shut, but Brutus shook his shoulder, forcing him to answer. With a deep sigh, he replied. At some point, hours later, Brutus proclaimed the training was over, but Favius merely stumbled toward the estate. Over or not, what does it matter? He felt sick and nursed a pounding headache. Urania was crying somewhere behind him, and Caliga pulled her along.

I should help her, but fuck this. Brutus can carry her if she's too weak. He stumbled into the baths and barely noticed how the grit, dirt, and sweat were scrubbed off by a slave before he settled into the pool. The cold water welcomed him, and he slid down and bubbled water out through his mouth. Now I can finally die. Yet the day wasn't over. All three of them fought through a long, hazy lecture by Cassian, which was over in a short time that seemed far too long. Maybe he was screaming at us at some point.

I really don't care. Favius collapsed into his bed, and his eyes fell shut immediately. He woke and noticed by the unaltered light and his condition that less than an hour had passed. Brutus grabbed him.

"Get up, Favius." Favius groaned and turned his head toward the wall.

"Go away." He saw that the cultivator was accompanied by his two sisters, who were competing for the most miserable look in the room.

"That's me. I'm the most miserable here," he murmured. Brutus picked him up like a kitten, and Tiro brought in the beekeeper outfits.

"The beekeepers have finished the first hive. Serran wants you to be present when the first swarm is migrated."

"Tomorrow," Favius grumbled, but began putting on the beekeeper's equipment. His mind slowly cleared in the cool evening air as the sun neared the horizon. Serran and Tiro joined them, and they soon found themselves near the beehives, where the twins were already smoking a hive out. The atmosphere feels strangely heavy. Almost as if we are performing a ritual.

Serran turned his head, which was covered by the same kind of veil the brothers and his siblings wore, but decided not to speak as he saw Favius's expression. Without any more words, the siblings broke open a hive and started carving out honeycombs, binding them in place in the frames, much to the displeasure of the bees. But one by one, first the brood frames, then the honey frames were moved. The brood frames were placed in the lower part below the separator grid.

The second part of the box was put in place, and a few honeycomb frames were placed within. Favius was about to say something, but he saw that Veren was already opening the separator, and Beren placed the queen in the lower section alongside all the other bees he scooped out with his leather-gloved hands. The heavy buzzing of the swarm created a surreal atmosphere alongside the electrical charge that Brutus kept emitting. But slowly, a smile spread over Favius's face. This—this is it.

I've managed to put an innovation into this world. He narrowed his eyes. But the system—there's no tingling, no bells. So maybe it isn't widespread enough? He shook his head and allowed himself to get lost in the mood of the moment. They all stood there in silence as the bees hummed and buzzed around the new hive. The sun painted the skies in reds and pinks, and for a second, he felt an odd tingling in his chest. It feels like—Brutus's electricity, but— He shook his head.

I'm tired and I've been in his aura the entire day. Must have been my imagination.