8

Before you can do anything else, the bees insist that you rest for the night. You gather that Queen Acma does not want you wandering as she attends to the latest batch of grubs. Workers provide you with a mound of fruit and a jar of fresh, sweet water. They lead Alexius to his own chamber.

Your hexagonal chamber proves comfortable and spacious, though it's located deep in the hive. After so many nights under the stars or in the loosely constructed houses of the River People, it's strange to be completely indoors. You light a battered brass lamp.

Sorting through your equipment, you consider what to do before you fall asleep.