A Queen and her maid

The two Vex’ess slept through most of the next day to no great surprise. Meli indicated that she’d slipped them both a sedative once Trea’k had opted for sleep - the scans indicating that what both of the survivors needed most was rest. On the second day after the battle however, Dustin received a call from Emely. He’d allocated each of the crew a shift spending time with their passengers to make sure that they weren’t left alone during the journey; they’d both undergone serious trauma and he wanted to make things as easy on them as possible. The Feliax’s call was straightforward enough - the two Vex’ess were up and she had just finished moving them into their own quarters. For the time being the crew of the Solar Ascent had decided to let the guests bunk down in the officer’s wing; given the three women were all too happy to share the ambassador’s suite with Dustin and the small size of the crew compared to what the ship was intended to carry, there was plenty of room.

On arrival at the temporary guest quarters, Dustin thumbed the doorbell. A moment later the door slid back revealing Emely smiling up at him and behind her the queen settled on the bed. Yril’k was standing a little warily in one corner, eyes periodically darting to Trea’k as if checking she was still there. “Ah, ambassador’k. Thank you for coming so quickly’k.” Trea’k began as Dustin walked in. “Emely val Smith’k, Dustin Smith’k, as representatives of both Earth and house Val Smith you fulfill the requirements for witnesses’k.” Then the queen turned, and Yril’k’s eyes widened. “No. Nononono your majesty I couldn’t possibly’k.” One thin arm shot out, catching the handmaiden by the throat just below her round face. “Yril’k of my hive, you have served beyond your station’k. Were we able to do so safely I would have done this’k when we were fighting’k. Would not have needed witnesses’k.”

The queen’s voice was harsh and predatory, setting Dustin’s hairs on end as she continued. “You served the hive’k. You served me’k. You did more than your duty and for that my Yril’k… I offer you a kiss’k.” The handmaiden’s eyes were wide as her queen leaned forward and ran her mandibles down the woman’s face. For a moment, Dustin was pretty sure he saw something flicker rapidly out of the queen’s mouth, and then she pulled back - dropping the other woman to the floor. Yril’k sat blinking at her hands for a moment, before reaching one up to shakily wipe her mouth - her palm coming away with the red streak of blood.

Looking up, she stared at Trea’k. “I’m not worthy’k.” Yril’k said before suddenly shivering. “I decide worth’k. Change, in what may be my last royal act’k.” Trea’k half-whispered down to her handmaiden as the plump woman slowly curled up into a ball on the floor. “What’s happening to her?” Dustin asked, worry tinging his voice. “Do not worry, ambassador’k.” The queen said, leaning down to tenderly stroke Yril’k’s head even as the other woman began to sweat a sticky blue liquid. “She is undergoing evolution. In an hour she will be fully within her chrysalis, and then in a day she will return to me promoted and ready to take on her new duties.”

Dustin spent the rest of that day with his comms officer and the Vex’ess queen. The insect woman answered his questions with care - she seemed happy enough to talk about her species, and he certainly had a lot he wanted to know. Apparently, the ‘promotion’ was a form of **** evolution, uniquely an ability of queens. They grew a stinger of sorts within their lower mandible that could inject a DNA payload into a suitable Vex’ess host. “It is similar to how we adapt to other species’k. Our envoys take on some’k… characteristics of their hosts’k. It helps as not all like the appearance our hive-forms’k. Or are compatible’k.” Emely had giggled at that - learning that the Vex’ess not only warped their DNA for different jobs but also to better fit in with the rest of the galaxy struck Dustin as odd. But then, he was currently engaged to a Velca, married to a Feliax and had the first stage of marriage to a Rabyth formally tattooed on his finger. Who was he to judge other species on their idiosyncrasies?

The following morning, the entire crew gathered in Trea’k’s quarters. They were in a weave jump when Yril’k was due to emerge from the large blue cocoon she had formed around herself, and as such Dustin decided it was safe to all gather to welcome her back. The appointed time ticked down, and Trea’k gestured for them all to stand clear. “Queensguard promotions’k can be a little harsh when they emerge’k.” She said by way of explanation, a moment before a long scythe-like blade stabbed straight up out of the pod. A second joined it a moment later, then they rotated and slid downward, splitting the evolutionary husk in two as the figure inside stood up.

Gone was the plushness of body and roundness of face. The woman who emerged gave a cursory glance around the room seemingly to check for danger, then strode to a nearby mirror to look at her new form. Her face had retained some of the humanoid appearance - rather than the larger bug-like head of the queen Yril’k’s looked more like a thin human one. Albeit a thin human with mandibles where the jaw would be and a chitin helmet merged with her flesh. The rest of her body was lined with chitin plates, and had noticeably slimmed down. Two thin legs now with three grasping claws on the end had replaced four previously thick limbs ending in mammalian looking feet. The missing legs had seemingly moved up her body, adding a second set of arms which along with the original pair had toned up significantly. The most striking feature however was that she had gone from six limbs to eight; over each shoulder she now flexed a pair of great mantis like arms each tipped by a scythe blade.

The result of all this was a woman that looked extremely battle-ready and dangerous. Dustin and the others flinched slightly when she pivoted away from the mirror, spinning rapidly on one foot and darting over to her queen. Dropping to one knee in front of Trea’k, she paused for a moment then spoke. To Dustin’s surprise, while her form had changed the voice was still the softer tones of the handmaiden. “Your majesty’k… I am not worthy’k, but I live to serve’k.” Trea’k lifted the other woman’s chin with one hand and smiled. “Of all the Vex’ess I have met’k, you are truly worthy Yril’k. Serve well’k.”

With that, the crew offered congratulations to the newly promoted queensguard who seemed rather bemused by the entire affair. Eventually, Dustin managed to have a quiet word with her while Trea’k was discussing things with the others. “Obviously it’s a honour to be promoted, but are you ok with everything? It looks like a big change for me as an outsider?” He asked after making small talk for a moment. Yril’k paused then nodded. “I am ok with everything’k. At least right now’k. When we get home’k… I do not wish to leave my queen’k. But if she is demoted then as I am now’k - I will not be able to stay with her’k. That is all that upsets me’k.”

Dustin pondered that statement and later on the way back to their quarters raised the question of if the queensguard could be attracted to her queen. All three of his women had laughed at that suggestion. “Dusty, you say the weirdest things” Rye had managed between wheezing. Meli came to her aid and explained “What I believe our engineer is trying to convey is that Vex’ess literally cannot feel the kind of attraction you mean unless they are reproductive - and neither the handmaiden nor queensguard phenotypes are. What you have observed is the bond between hive-mates. Imagine a friend that is close enough you consider them part of your family. That is what we are talking about here, and why Yril’k is worried about what will happen when we arrive at the prime hive.”