But how was she ever supposed to choose? At random? That wasn’t very queenly; she was supposed to ensure that her offspring would be the strongest, most successful changelings possible. That meant picking the best drone she could, somehow finding one out of the entire hive.
Yeah, right.

Just make an Battle Royale.
Last Drone standing wins.

There was a pregnant
STOP THINKING ABOUT IT
pause.

Forget the throne, forget all of this – Ocellus was going to leave it all behind. Thorax’s story may have been an attempt to convince her, but all it had done was give her a plan.

Smart. She would make an good Queen...
Ocellus: "Shut up!"

There were loud cheers at that, and a little surge of guilt rose up inside Ocellus at the sound. They were all so hopeful, so relieved, and she was going to stomp all over that. But then that guilt was replaced by cold anger, as she chided herself for even feeling that way. It was their fault, not hers, as they tried to force her into a life of mating and laying eggs, nothing more than a tool for the hive. Ocellus didn’t want to be queen if that’s what it meant. She refused.