Chapter 10:
Getting Closer
While Nameless and Milly languished in the bath Cordelia found herself in Paul’s drive, and once more she was at a loss as to where she was supposed to bring the pie she carried.
She had only seen the hive from the air, and at the time she was more concerned with not dying. But she was pretty sure that it was somewhere near the cottage, so she set down the trail once more.
For some reason that she couldn’t account for she was quivering with nerves, the memory of the queen’s arms around her was still fresh in her mind and she was feeling decidedly conflicted about it.
As she caught sight of the bridge a few minutes later she heard buzzing from overhead, and looked up fully expecting another ambush, but the Hornets she saw were all flying to the left side of the trail. So with a frown she walked closer to the bridge, and began to pick up on a steady buzzing through the trees.
It was pretty obvious that she had found the Hornet hive but now the problem was getting to it, she considered the thick underbrush, and then her dress and shoes.
With a curse she began to force her way in, battling the dense bushes with one hand while she protected the pie with the other.
After a couple minutes she caught sight of the dome and the swarm of girls working to build it. But in her struggles, her foot caught on a root and she fell into the clearing.
Her hands fumbling to break her fall, the porcelain pie plate broke in the mud with a deep cracking noise at the same time as a horrible tearing sound split the air.
Her dress had caught on a snag and ripped all down one side.
“Oh fuck you trees!” She whined out in exasperation as she lamented the dress and the ruined pie.
Several Hornets shot over to her as she got back to her feet and vainly tried to wipe the mud off of her bare legs; mercifully they were not pointing any weapons at her this time. Instead their arms were full of shallow clay dishes, inside which an amber liquid swirled.
Face flushed from the effort of pushing through the undergrowth, Cordelia blew a strand of hair out of her face and glared at the Hornets around her.
“And fuck you bees! If you’re going to order a pie at least give me proper directions!”
The Hornets watched her carefully as she examined the damage to her dress with an exasperated groan. The split was along the seam all up the right side and past her panties, her naked thigh and waist now exposed to the cool air.
One of them stepped forwards, a smear of her bowl’s contents on her cheek. Her eyes were distant and she spoke with great uncertainty.
“The quee-… Oldeera would… like it very much… if you came inside to get cleaned up.”
Cordelia face reddened even more and she nearly screamed at the monster girl, but she let out a breath and got control of her temper.
“Yeah, fine, where is the door?”
“There are no entrances at ground level, to make it more difficult for attackers without wings to gain entry.”
The Hornet’s response was matter of fact and caused Cordelia’s eye to twitch.
“So the only way into your big dumb house is to fly? Because, then, who needs a fucking driveway right?!”
She waved her hands at her ruined dress and her ruined pie as her words came out in a hysterical shriek that caused the Hornets to wince.
More buzzing sounded and Oldeera herself came out of the hive and landed before the bedraggled girl, once again clad in a flimsy negligee.
The two women stared at each other for a moment.
“Why don’t I help you inside honey? We can get you cleaned up, and have your dress mended.”
Once again Cordelia drew in a deep breath to speak her mind, but hesitated as the queen also winced.
For some reason, the sight of the beautiful woman worried about what she might say deflated Cordelia considerably, and so she merely nodded her agreement.
The voluptuous Hornet took her in her arms, scooping her off her feet while Cordelia’s hands circled her neck.
“We won’t be aloft for long, I promise.”
Feeling the strength of the warrior queen’s arms around her further mollified the tempestuous girl, and just as Oldeera had said they were inside the dome within seconds of her wings buzzing into motion.
Once Cordelia had been set back on her feet it was an awkward walk into the hive; Oldeera seemed to think her guest was about to either shatter or explode, and she was treating her as such.
Whereas for her part Cordelia was feeling like an asshole, because when they were inside the hive again she distinctly remembered the Hornet promising to have one of her girls pick up the pie from the bakery in the afternoon.
Which made this whole stupid trip, and every stupid thing that happened since, entirely her own stupid fault.
So the young girl scrambled to make small talk as they walked deeper into the hive, something she wasn’t very good at.
“How do you not get lost in here?”
Though the mazelike structure was lit by glowing solar lamps, she was completely turned around.
Oldeera shrugged.
“Instinct mostly. That, and every hive my sweets have ever made for me was laid out pretty much the same, where terrain allows at least.”
They emerged into her bower, where a wingless Hornet was setting out a steaming bowl of water on a low table beside some neatly folded wash cloths next to the bed.
“Wait, you have running water?”
The Hornet queen chuckled.
“No but we have a kitchen on the upper levels, with a stove and plenty of buckets. We did have running water in the city though.”
Cordelia considered the water and the Hornet who had just set it out and was now leaving.
“Thank you.” She called after her as she exited the chamber.
She shot the queen a questioning look.
“Don’t fret, she lost her wings in battle, but she can still serve.”
“Right, battle.”
That thought stymied her for a moment. And the constant, if faint, sound of Hornets working to build their new home filled the silence of the room.
She wondered at the effort it must take them, not only to build the structure as quickly as they had but also to… battle.
“Why did you leave?” She asked suddenly.
The queen was adjusting the bowl of water on the table until Cordelia spoke.
“Orders. My hive is pledged to serve the Aegis. I’m afraid I can’t say more than that. Now then, if you’ll take off your dress I can have my girls see that it is mended.”
Cordelia coughed.
“Sure, is there somewhere that I can…”
Her voice trailed off and she began to feel stupid again, she could clearly see that aside from some translucent fabrics hanging around the bed in the room, there wasn’t anything in here designed for privacy.
The Hornets were all working so hard to build a new home, and she was already an asshole just for being there.
“Are you alright?”
Her cheeks turned pink as she had another realization, one that deeply conflicted with her desire not to be a bother.
“Yeah, just, um, I’m not wearing a bra, so...”
She didn’t really need one for support and the apron dresses she typically wore tended to have thicker fabric in the front so she rarely wore underclothes for her chest.
“Of course, I’ll get you a towel.”
“Thank you.”
The queen left for a moment and came back with a fluffy yellow towel, she turned her back and Cordelia slipped out of her dress, standing nude save for her panties for a moment before wrapping the soft fabric around herself.
She coughed again, feeling decidedly self-conscious as she watched Oldeera’s wings on her own naked back, at this point neither of them were wearing much.
“You can, um, turn around.”
The wingless Hornet was gone, having left her queen to tend to her guest. And Cordelia was keenly aware of the fact that there was just the two of them alone in this bower thing.
Oldeera turned and took up her ruined dress, folding it neatly over her arm before once again leaving the room for a moment, no doubt to hand it off to another Hornet.
When she came back, she offered the nervous girl a smile.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.”
She was on her knees before Cordelia could object and took up one of the clothes by the steaming bowl, wringing it out before proceeding to wash her muddy legs.
The baker’s daughter discomfort grew at the sight of the proud queen on her knees before her. The feeling of the warm damp cloth running up and down the smooth skin of her calves quickly brought to mind their intimate encounter from the previous day, and the stern rebuttal she had leveled at the woman before her.
“Here, you don’t need to do that, I can do it.”
She awkwardly reached down but Oldeera waved away her protests.
“It’s alright, I don’t mind. You are my guest after all.”
Guilt washed over her, guilt for every harsh thing she had said to this monster girl that she barely knew.
“But-”
Misunderstanding the source of her discomfort, Oldeera sighed as she wrung out the cloth and looked up into the wide-eyed face of Cordelia Loskins.
“You don’t need to worry honey. You’ve made your feelings perfectly clear to me.”
Though she hid it well, there was a hint of pain in her voice that Cordelia picked up on, and the uncharacteristically sensitive young girl’s guilt reached a peak.
She found herself blinking back tears.
“I don’t think I did though.”
“Honey?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever made my feelings clear to anybody in my life.”
When Oldeera saw the sudden tears, the surprised monster buzzed to her feet and pulled Cordelia into a bosomy hug, nestling the girl’s cheek just below her jaw while cradling the back of her head with one hand.
Cordelia sobbed and tried halfheartedly to push her away.
“I’m sorry for being such a pain. I’m being so stupid! And I d-don’t even know why I’m crying!”
“It’s alright, really!”
“No it isn’t! I mean, yeah sure you kidnapped me that one time, but you said one of the Hornets would pick up the pie and I forgot and just burst in here like an idiot while you’re so busy setting up your home, and you’re being so nice to me and I’ve been such a bitch, I’m always such a bitch! To everyone even when I try not to be!”
It was as if a floodgate had opened and all of her insecurities flowed out of her. She felt a gentle buzz from Oldeera as she held her while she babbled on.
“Honey, you are not a pain, and you are certainly not a bitch either. I should never have had my girls grab you, it was like you said: this isn’t Garland. I should have just gone to your father’s bakery and ordered a pie, without putting the moves on you like I did.”
Cordelia sniffled, and then hiccupped.
The queen leaned her head back to consider the volatile girl that so fascinated her.
“Better?”
She sniffled again before nodding, but then she pulled her face off of Oldeera’s clavicle and furrowed her brow as she met her warm gaze.
“Why did you put the moves on me like that?”
Oldeera clucked her tongue as she thought for a moment.
“The truth? Because when I had you brought here, you didn’t let me get a word in edgewise. You reminded me that though I am a queen, I am not your queen. And that… vexed me.”
The towel had fallen down Cordelia’s back during their embrace, the only reason it stayed up now was because it was pinned between their breasts.
“Vexed you? Why?”
Oldeera trailed her fingers absently down the young woman’s naked back, causing her to shudder, that same flutter in her belly back with a vengeance.
It felt good to be touched so tenderly.
“Because normally I can snap my fingers and get whatever I want, and yet twice in as many weeks I have gone after what I wanted and been denied, both by you and by… another.”
“So is that the only reason? You came after me because you thought you couldn’t have me?”
The sting of that thought hurt the vulnerable girl, but not for long as the queen shook her head and tightened her embrace.
“No! Certainly that was part of the initial draw, but even with the short time we’ve spent together, you have fascinated me. You have a fire in you that is intriguing. What happened before, I regret that, both having you brought here against your will, and being so forceful with you. I didn’t realize that you had a man already and-”
“Brandon is not my man, not anymore. So if you want to have your Hornets kick his ass again I could care less!”
In her vehemence, Cordelia leaned back slightly too far and the towel that separated them slipped to the floor. With a squeak she pulled herself back into the Hornet queen’s arms, naked now save for her panties, her perky breasts smooshing against the other woman’s through her thin negligee.
“Perhaps it is you being too forward now, Miss Loskins?” Oldeera all but purred as she once again stroked her naked back.
Cordelia hiccupped again, their flesh jiggling together from the sudden motion.
“Um, any chance you could turn around again?”
“I could, if you really want me to.”
The queen tilted her head and pointedly directed Cordelia’s eyes to the bed.
She swallowed her nerves as their eyes met again, looking up into the queen’s face, their lips inches apart.
“Weren’t you just apologizing for coming on to me?”
The queen chuckled.
“Yes, but that was in your family’s bakery, in full view of the public, not in my bedchambers. Where you are already undressed and in my arms.”
Her tone was mocking, but inviting nonetheless, as she traced her nails up her spine.
That flutter in Cordelia’s belly had spread, warmth radiating out from her groin, up her arms and shoulders and to her neck and face.
The heated possibility of the moment filled her; she knew this experienced woman could show her mysterious and possibly wondrous pleasures, and would gladly help her to explore the other side of her sexuality that a freckle-faced sheep had woken in her so many years prior.
But the reality was, she was just a village girl, who loved to bake and gossip with her sisters, while before her stood a warrior queen, servant to the Aegis and protector of the innocent.
Cordelia may have been emotional and even volatile, but she was also pragmatic.
So despite this strange new hunger, she couldn’t help but see the vast gulf that separated their two lives.
And to imagine all of the different ways this could end really badly for her.
When she spoke again it was with great reluctance.
“I think… that would be a mistake.”
Oldeera tried in vain to hide the disappointment on her face, but Cordelia’s fingers reached between them and settled on her lips to still her as her mind continued to work through the possibilities.
“If I were to go down this path, I think one step at a time… would be safer than just a headlong dive between the sheets. I’ve never been with someone like you, and as I have displayed on multiple occasions now, I am kind of a mess. Me and Brandon, well, he was always so selfish, and for a long time I convinced myself that either he would eventually grow up, or he was just the best I was going to get. And to be honest I don’t know if I even know how to be with, with someone like you. Someone… better.”
Oldeera licked her lips, trying now to hide her excitement as her breath quickened.
“But you are not… uninterested?”
Cordelia swallowed as she focused on her emotional and physical response to the woman whose arms were still wrapped around her.
She spoke with even greater care.
“Without getting anybody’s hopes up, but while still being honest? Yeah you’re-”
Her throat closed with desire and her eyes welled from the heat of the admission.
The Hornet queen’s eyes hooded.
“Then perhaps, I could offer, just a slight taste?”
Oldeera was already tilting her head down, her lips inching forwards, but they did not complete the journey, instead hovering just out of reach, her nose faintly brushing Cordelia’s cheek as she waited on her response.
The feel of the Hornet’s sweet breath washing over her face fanned the flames that burned in Cordelia’s loins and it was too much to bear.
She let down her guard and folded herself into the warrior queen’s arms while lifting her face the rest of the way and pressed their lips together.
The heat from earlier blazed even hotter and had her rubbing her thighs together as she reached her hands up, her fingers slipping into Oldeera’s short hair to cradle her head while they kissed.
Her last kiss had been during a moment of weakness with Brandon, his mouth demanding and his tongue invasive. But this was her experience with the Lambda all over again, soft and sweet.
Even when the queen slipped her tongue out and into Cordelia’s mouth, it wasn’t a forceful intrusion, but a gentle visitation, or even an invitation.
An invitation the passionate young woman accepted as her own tongue lashed out to grapple with the exotic monster girl’s.
The suckling sounds their lips made as they made out echoed around the silent chamber, the Hornets outside having stilled in their work as their queen basked in the embrace.
Their hardened nipples brushed against each other’s through the thin fabric of Oldeera’s negligee, the sensation causing Cordelia to moan softly into the Hornet’s mouth as their kiss deepened.
The queen’s slid her knee between Cordelia’s legs and her hand dropped lower to grip one cheek of her succulent ass, pulling her closer as her leg shifted ever higher, until Cordelia found her legs parted and her panty covered mound pressed tight to Oldeera’s thigh.
Then the Hornet buzzed her wings and Cordelia melted.
She let out a sharp cry of pleasure at the smooth contact and the sudden vibrating sensation, but that same cry also caused her to snap out of the moment and she wrenched herself away from the intense embrace.
All but falling to her knees, Cordelia scrabbled to pick up the towel and hold the fabric in a bunch to cover her exposed breasts.
When she stood again on shaky legs, her wide eyed gaze met the queen’s smug expression.
“Too much?”
Cordelia swallowed as she dwelled on the incredible sensation, however brief, of the Hornet’s thigh vibrating on her groin.
“Way too much.” She nodded, but offered the woman a nervous smile; “But in a good way?”
The two girls were both flushed and breathing heavily, Oldeera using both hands to daintily fan her face.
“Whew, I must say honey, you are a very talented kisser!”
The shift in her tone was enough for the heat between them to die down, albeit gradually.
Cordelia blushed and couldn’t help but feel a little smug as she slipped the towel around her back.
“Thanks, you’re… pretty amazing at it actually.”
Oldeera drew back the hangings around her bed and sat down.
“Long hours of practice, honey.”
She tilted her head towards the entrance where the wingless Hornet was blushing while bringing in a tray of drinks and snacks for the suddenly ravenous Cordelia.
The girl watched the silent Hornet, who set the tray down on the low table and very deliberately wriggled her tushy and winked at her before she left with the wash basin and cloth.
She gaped.
“Wait, you mean you… with them?”
The queen took up a little cookie from the platter and nibbled at it delicately.
“Every day. It is in all of our natures to crave the touch of others. And for a Hornet queen her hive is an extension of herself, though they do have a certain degree of autonomy. I suppose… you might consider it a form of masturbation?”
She gave a saucy wink as she nibbled at her cookie some more.
Cordelia felt another wave of heat take her and plopped down on the edge of the bed next to the queen; it was a heady thing to think about.
“Wow, just wow.”
Oldeera giggled as she served her some tea.
“Yes, my sweets are so very devoted. As you may yet learn, hopefully soon though, because if you kiss me like that again without following through, I might catch fire!”
She shifted her hip on the bed to bump against Cordelia’s teasingly.
They sat together for a time, making small talk and waiting on the Hornets to return with her dress.
It wasn’t long before Cordelia found herself relaxing and laughing with the queen, who she discovered had a wicked sense of humour.
“-and then, and then he said ‘please just let me go!’”
They were leaning against each other as they laughed themselves silly at Nameless’s expense; Oldeera had revealed that he was the last one to rebuff her advances, but rather than be jealous Cordelia found the whole encounter hilarious as the queen recounted it.
“I was baffled! He thought he was like, my prisoner or something!”
This being just the latest of Oldeera’s stories, Cordelia flopped onto her back on the bed with her arms over her belly and tears streaming down her cheeks, her sides hurt from having laughed herself giddy.
Eventually they had mostly recovered their wits, with only the occasional giggle when Cordelia goaded her with a nudge of her elbow.
“So then what happened?”
But the queen’s mirthful expression faded and her smile became slightly fixed as she looked away.
“Ah, well. I sent him back to his bond-mates and that was the end of that.”
Cordelia sat up, adjusting her towel again as she reached out and placed her hand on the queen’s shoulder.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
She tried to play it off, but Cordelia wasn’t having it.
“Please, Oldeera, you can tell me.”
The Hornet stared at her with a grave expression on her face, before pursing her lips and nodding.
“I suppose I can at that. Please understand though, there is much I cannot say.”
The girl nodded quickly, her concern growing by the second as the queen’s eyes grew distant.
“Her name was Kar Brael, she was an Amazon who served the Aegis and was very close to him. She died protecting him from… harm.”
Cordelia’s stomach dropped and her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped at the revelation.
“Did, did you know her too?”
“Yes, my hive worked with her team a number of times in the past. I remember that she smiled a lot and was always cheerful. From what I learned afterwards, I believe that she loved him.”
Cordelia felt a lump form in her throat as she processed the new information.
“That’s awful! Was it some kind of accident or something?”
Oldeera’s face shifted into a stormy scowl, the warrior queen emerging for a moment.
“No, it was not. It was… murder, honey. Forgive me, but I cannot tell you any more, the Aegis keeps many secrets, some I think are quite silly, but most, including this one, they keep for very good reasons.”
The young girl’s eyes were wide as she nodded, the jovial mood completely gone as she considered that single word.
Murder. Nameless’s friend was murdered.
No wonder he held such sadness in his eyes.
They sat silently together for a few minutes, until the queen stood and extended her hand to help Cordelia up.
“Anyways it seems that the local seamstress is finished with your dress.”
“Seamstress? But I thought-”
The queen smiled and helped her to her feet.
“You thought my girls were fixing it? No, they have many talents, but dress repair is not one of them. They took the garment to a woman in town, Linda?”
“But it normally takes a few days for her to get a dress back!”
The queen’s face was artless as she responded.
“Oh does it? Well, my sweets were perhaps a bit more insistent than her average customer.”
The wingless Hornet came in then, dress neatly folded over her arm and once again the queen turned her back as Cordelia dropped her towel and pulled it on.
But Cordelia felt the now familiar heat as she pulled her hair over her shoulder.
“Um, Oldeera, can you see where the rip was at all?”
The Hornet turned to see the girl’s back to her; Cordelia’s face was looking over her shoulder and her cheeks were flushed.
“Let me check.”
“Thank you.”
Her gratitude came out in a whisper as she felt the queen move behind her.
Oldeera, a self described opportunist, traced the fingers of both hands over the fabric and down the muscles below Cordelia’s shoulders.
The young girl cast a frown behind her at the liberties the queen was taking.
“The rip was on the right.”
The wandering hands were flush with her back now as they drifted lower, the heat of the young woman’s skin radiating into the Hornet’s palms.
“Just being thorough, wouldn’t want to miss anything.”
She shifted her hands over her lower back, then apart and over her waist just above her ass, then to her sides and down her thighs as she sank to her knees.
Cordelia’s breath caught as the queen’s hands finished their journey, resting now on her naked calves just below her knees.
Then they shifted upwards as the Hornet bit her lip, her wrists were bunching the dress above them as her hands slid over the smooth skin hidden beneath.
Soon most of the skirt was gathered together halfway up Cordelia’s thighs and the queen leaned in to press her lips just above the swell of her butt, kissing her through the fabric.
“Oldeera.”
Another kiss, this time a little higher and to one side on her sensitive waist, though still through the dress as her arms pulled the skirt up ever farther.
“Oldeera, please.” Cordelia’s voice hitched slightly.
The queen’s hands halted on the outside of her upper thighs.
Her skirt was hiked up enough that if Oldeera were to drop down onto her own thighs she would see the edge of her panties cupping her luscious behind.
The temptation was overwhelming.
With a groan the queen let her hands drop as she buried her face against Cordelia’s tushy.
“You make it very difficult, frustrating girl, to control myself.”
She rose to her feet with a quick buzz of her wings before Cordelia could complain about her burying her face in the pliable flesh of her bum.
“You’re not exactly making it easy yourself you know. I mean we hardly know each other, and this is all really new to me and I don’t want to-”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I don’t mean to push, but you have captured my interest in such a way that has honestly never happened before.”
Cordelia threw her hair back over her shoulder and smirked.
“Oh really, what about Nameless?”
Oldeera waved a hand dismissively.
“That’s different, he’s an Emp-” She coughed suddenly as her eyes widened; “H-he’s an empty-headed boy! Sweet to be sure, but I want someone with more wit.”
Fortunately Cordelia was smoothing out her skirt and didn’t catch the slip.
“I wouldn’t call him empty-headed.” She protested slightly; “He seems pretty smart.”
It was Oldeera’s turn to smirk.
“Oh if only you knew, ask any of the girls around him and they will tell you that he is an incredible dumbass.” She pursed her lips in thought; “Except maybe the Amazons. Actually for your own safety, don’t suggest that he is stupid in front of them.”
Cordelia absorbed the advice as Oldeera led her back through the halls and to one of the many openings in the side of the dome.
“So, do you know how that all happened? I mean the Valkyrie and the Amazons and everything? All that anyone in town seems to know is that he saved her somehow and then something bad happened in Garland…”
Her voice trailed off as she remembered the queen’s story from earlier.
“I know some of it, but I don’t know the finer details. You would have to ask them. Now, to avoid causing you further grief I believe it would be best if one of my sweets took you back into town?”
“Um, just back on the path would be fine, if my dad sees me being brought home by another Hornet, he won’t leave me alone!”
Oldeera waggled her eyebrows below her crown, her antennae dancing along with them.
“Ooh, but you and I could cause such a scandal in this little town!”
Cordelia giggled.
“Not really, since your neighbor currently has every rumour mill in town working overtime!”
Two of the Hornets were waiting patiently to carry her back to the ground, but there was an awkward moment where she vacillated about leaving, the Hornet queen watching her with an indecipherable expression on her face.
Then Cordelia quickly leaned in and kissed her on the lips, just a quick peck, nothing too intense but it was enough to make them both flush with desire again.
“Well, I should go. I still owe you a pie!”
She all but fled into the arms of the Hornets who quickly flew her away.
Queen Oldeera watched the impetuous girl depart, two fingers on her lips.
“I’m very much looking forward to tasting it, honey.”