The mother and her brood stood shoulder to shoulder in front of Queen Chrysalis, save for Ichabod who was only now regaining consciousness and making sounds akin to that of a whale call. Changeling commanders and assorted guards stood at-hand, ready to react in case someone got the bright idea to attack their queen or run, in addition to a host of normal changelings.
Chrysalis looked the group over, having seen the fight. They were certainly varied in appearance, but she stopped in front of the one that truly interested her: the mother. Chrysalis looked her up and down, trying to recall if she had ever learned of something with her description. After a few moments of thinking, much to the woman’s annoyance, Chrysalis backed up and addressed her.
“Who are you?” she asked curiously.
“My name… is Thaegan,” was the reply. “I am the sorceress Thaegan.”
“Thaegan…” the queen repeated. “I do not believe I’ve ever heard of someone by that name, and considering the power of your spells that you displayed in the fight with my servant I would think you would be quite famous.”
Thaegan remained silent.
“If you don’t mind me asking… what are you, exactly?”
Thaegan seemed surprised. Surely she was joking…?
“I’m a Human…” she said. Did this hole-proliferated unicorn bug really not know what a Human was?
“I’m afraid I don’t know what that is…”
Of course.
“But…” the queen continued, “my servant, the Devourer, told me something. These… the, uh…” The queen seemed to lose the word she was looking for as she looked awkwardly over the mixed crowd before her. “…they… are your children?”
Thaegan looked over her brood, all who looked back at her with worried expressions. Normally they were only scared of her previous master, the Shadow Lord, or their brother Ichabod when he got out of control… but now they were in an unfamiliar place, being held captive by unfamiliar creatures. They were afraid, and that was something that was highly uncommon for them. She sighed.
“Yes,” Thaegan said. To her confusion, the queen’s eyes lit up. What was…?
A loud groan interrupted the conversation. Ichabod began to stir and sit up, and the Devourer, who had been standing behind him through the conversation, backed up a bit in anticipation.
“Miss Thaegan, will your son here be a problem? I think you should speak to him before he does something…” Chrysalis said, staring at Ichabod as he shook his head.
Thaegan quickly approached her waking son and called his attention to her, so he wouldn’t spot the Devourer first.
“M… mommy?” he said confusedly when his vision cleared. He seemed a bit dazed still.
“Mommy’s here, Ichabod. It’s okay now,” she replied soothingly.
“Did I get ‘im? Are you okay? What about my brothers? And my sister?”
“They’re okay, Ichabod, they’re okay.”
Ichabod sighed with relief and leaned down to hug his mother. In the middle of the hug, he opened his eyes and saw where he was. He looked around at the changelings that surrounded them, thankfully not spotting the Devourer behind him.
“Ichabod, I need you to listen to me,” Thaegan said, placing a hand on each side of Ichabod’s face.
Ichabod nodded in response.
“Right now, you can’t start a fight. You cannot fight any of these creatures, and if you see the one from before you can’t even fight him. Do you understand?”
“......I didn’t get him, did I?” Ichabod said sadly.
Thaegan closed her eyes and smiled. “You kept us safe, my child, and that’s all that matters.”
Thaegan turned to Queen Chrysalis again. Strangely, Chrysalis seemed to have been enraptured by the conversation with Ichabod. When they made eye contact, Chrysalis briefly shook her head before saying anything.
“Well…… it’s good to see that your son won’t be causing any problems,” she said after taking a moment to find her words.
“Just be careful. He has…” Thaegan turned to look at a sheepish Ichabod for a moment. “…temper problems.”
Chrysalis closed her eyes and nodded. “I understand, we’ll be sure to keep it in mind. But now, for what I was speaking of earlier.”
Chrysalis cleared her throat a bit before continuing.
“You and your children appear to be from a foreign land, lost in our own. You use a different type of magic than any we’ve seen, and you are all creatures that are alien to us. But it’s obvious to me… that you love your children dearly and you want no harm to come to them.”
Thaegan looked confused. Where was she going with this…? If they wanted them gone, wouldn’t they have just thrown them out already?
“Thaegan, I am Queen Chrysalis. All of the changelings you see here are my swarm, my children. I understand your concern for your childrens’ safety, and the love between you is intense. Thaegan… since you are lost in a dangerous land, I am to presume that you have nowhere to stay right at this moment?”
A look of surprise appeared on Thaegan’s face. Was she really…?
“Sorceress Thaegan… would you stay here in the hive with us, at least until you are ready to leave?”
Thaegan’s expression of surprise turned to shock. She had been thinking that this was where Chrysalis was going, but to hear it out loud and so bluntly…
“We have a small library of books that may help you get up-to-date on this land. We have full food pods, and feeding fourteen more won’t exactly be a major strain on our food supplies considering that I have several hundred children!” Chrysalis laughed, motioning to the many changelings that surrounded them.
“And of course you’re safe here!” she continued, pointing to the Devourer. Ichabod began to stand but relaxed when he felt his mother’s touch. “The Devourer is a magnificent protector, and past him there are many, many more than capable guards… and myself, of course, a queen has to know how to fight.”
“We can more than accommodate for you and your children… will you at least consider it?” She finished.
Thaegan thought about the proposition. They did indeed need somewhere to stay, and if they were to join these “changelings”, then they would indeed be very well protected. They had been offered shelter, food, knowledge, and safety in a land that they knew nothing about… she looked over her children, which were already looking around the room and inspecting the architecture. They were obviously anticipating the answer that she was moving towards.
Thaegan sighed. “I… I suppose we shall—“
“WONDERFUL!” Chrysalis interrupted. “Thaegan, you will not come to regret this, living among my swarmlings will be a unique, wonderful experience!”
“But,” Thaegan interjected, annoyed. “I must ask something first.”
Chrysalis calmed down. “Of course, what do you want to know?”
“Are we to answer to you? Are we to be treated as your servants?”
Chrysalis became quiet for a moment. “…you will have to answer to me… but I will ask very little of you. The only thing I ask of you is to get along with my children and keep your own under control. If you wish to make a major alteration to the hive or to leave it for a significant amount of time I need to be informed, but otherwise you have free reign.”
Thaegan had heard the “ask very little” thing before. One time in the past, she had been asked to simply keep a gem safe, and recalled how it had led to her death when a group of adventurers came for the gem and killed her. Granted she would have attacked them for being in her territory anyways, but all the same… she looked across her children again, all of whom were looking back at her expectantly. They wanted to stay.
Thaegan sighed. “We will stay,” she said after a long pause.
There was a large round of cheering in the crowd around her. She looked about and noticed a few of her children cheering as well. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad.
Chrysalis smiled broadly. “Now then!” she said. “Would you care to introduce your children to us? I cannot introduce all of mine, sadly, for obvious reasons…” she chuckled.
Thaegan nodded and then walked to one side of her line of children. She called out their names as she walked back past them while the noise died down.
“Their names are: Hot, Tot, Jin, Jod, Fie, Fly, Zan, Zod, Pik, Snik, Lun, Lod, and of course my wonderful Ichabod.”
The swarm and Chrysalis paid close attention to the names, memorizing them and matching them to each child’s unique appearance. When she was done, Thaegan approached Chrysalis again.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“Now,” Chrysalis replied, “we get you and your children some food! You may not know the food of this region… tell us, what do you usually eat?”
Thaegan slightly smiled before replying. “Do you have any… birds?”
“We do, do you wish for a certain kind?”
Thaegan’s smile widened.