Rythica scratched at her peeling skin furiously. Every inch of her body was tingling as the dead tissue flecked off. Or, in most cases, failed to do so. More than once, she had attempted to pull the dead layers off just to get it over with, only to whimper in pain as she accidentally tore still-living tissue along with it. The areas where her chitin was thicker were a little better, as those areas were far less sensitive, but only to a point. Even those areas were beginning to rapidly soften, preparing the way for her next growth spurt. For the most part, she was simply stuck, slowly suffering until the dead skin flaps were ready to fall away on their own. This was the fourth time she had shed her skin since the day of her hatching, even if she only vaguely remembered the first two times. But the itching was hard to forget. It felt like each successive shedding was worse than the previous, somehow.

  It was now a week after the battle with her arch-nemesis and the utter betrayal of her loyal minion. The memory was a sour one, and she pushed away to focus on the immediate crisis. In the time since, her shedding has been quickly approaching a crescendo, with the onset of those effects bringing misery unabated. The poor girl had gotten very little sleep the night previous. Even now, as her eyelids drooped, all four hands were working furiously to keep the prickling sensations at bay. She wasn't sure which was worse, the fact that none of her limbs were capable of reaching her back, or the bitterly irritating feeling against her delicate antennae. Rythica had been forced to resort to drastic measures; dumping a heap of toys onto the floor, and rolling around on the pile to try and make the slightest bit of difference.

  Not for the first time, she lamented the loss of her loyal servant. Grooming her in this time of need was a critical job for her drones, and yet, she was abandoned, alone. Oh sure, the drone had come to visit her every day as usual, but Rythica wasn't about to let that cruel individual near her. She'd rather suffer stoically than sacrifice her pride and accept aid from a traitor. Even if she hated the feeling of not having any drones under her command. It felt unnatural; like she was exposed and vulnerable in a way that her instincts protested almost as harshly as the small box.

  That was when, after trying to scratch a particularly bad spot under her ribs, she pressed a little too hard and her sharp digits scraped her, breaking the skin.

  The vex cried out in pain at the tiny wound.

  In her moment of weakness, she recalled the pathetically dull claws of her once-servant, nails that could never harm her in such a way, and wondered if perhaps she was being a bit too harsh. Her once-drone could surely help her, right? Thankfully, her pride quickly reasserted itself and she stamped down that feeble notion. At least, until a piece of discarded skin snagged painfully on the sensory hairs that covered her antennae, spending her mind back down a spiral of willful helplessness.

  The vex whimpered in the solitude of her darkened enclosure for several more hours before the "Julia" arrived to start the day, her resolve wavering the entire time.

  Rythica startled awake at the sound of the heavy, reinforced door creaking open, before clicking shut a moment later. Lantern lights flickered on, causing her to blink rapidly at the sudden luminance. She shuffled to her feet, exhausted and miserable. Peering through the window, she eyed the familiar figure.

  As was her usual routine, the "Julia" placed down her bag and began to unload its contents onto the small table. The "Julia" made several stealthy glances at the small being groggily glaring at her. When the drone realized the vex was not actively aggressive this morning, she smiled and waved. Rythica merely turned away, idly scratching another itch, causing the disgraced minion to sigh.

  "Good morning to you too." The tone was a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

  Rythica ignored her, as usual. She walked back to her nest of blankets and made to bury herself once more.

  The nanny's keen eyes instantly focused on Rythica as she moved away. More specifically, she honed in on the miniature dotted stains of black ichor that stood out like beacons on the light material of her dress. With a concerned frown, she approached and knocked on the glass.

  "Rythica? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

  The only response was a wide yawn that would have dislocated the jaw of any human, followed by more scratching.

  "Aw, baby, did you cut yourself again?"

  She withdrew a small potion vial from a nearby drawer. She quickly stripped out of her maid uniform and donned her borrowed leather armor. After a moment's consideration, she slipped the water mister into a pouch on her belt. She approached the door to the enclosure and softly opened it, keeping an eye on Rythica the entire time, just in case.

  "I know you want to go back to sleep, but I need to apply some of this potion first, otherwise the wound might get infected. I don't want you getting sick, okay?"

  Rythica had long since forgotten her existence and was halfway back to dreamland.

  The "Julia" had taken one step into the room, two steps, then promptly tripped and fell on her face. The noise rattled Rythica back to wakefulness. Taking in the scene, Rythica grinned, chirping with amusement. She had forgotten about that trap. The day prior, she had placed a bunch of blocks directly in front of the doorway, knowing the traitorous drone would be forced to come through when they usually rearranged and messied the princess's beautiful nest.

  The human was less than amused. She looked up and Rythica, scowling fiercely. She rose slowly, kicking the blocks out of the way and crossing her arms.

  "I'm going to hope, for your benefit, that that was an accident. Because if not..." She slowly pulled out the water mister.

  Rythica imitated her, crossing her arms and pouting. But, unlike the drone, she could cross her arms twice, which meant her pose was three times as powerful. Her mood soured at the completely unexpected outcome of this scenario. Why did her former drones have to always challenge her back when she disciplined them? It made no sense. She hissed at the caretaker in warning but slumped back into her nest. She was too tired to put up much of a fight. She scratched a few more itches.

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  The "Julia" studied her critically for a few moments before tenuously sliding the water mister back into the belt pouch. "Good." She nodded and continued her approach, but slowed once more as the queen gave a second, and final, warning. She held up the bottle for Rythica to see, then pointed at the apex predator's scrape.

  "Hey, none of that, now. I'm just trying to make the hurt go away, okay? Remember this from the last time you cut yourself?"

  Upon seeing the familiar bottle, Rythica's hand immediately went to her injury. She had briefly forgotten about it but whimpered softly once she recalled that she was supposed to be in pain. The severe, clearly nearly-lethal injury had caused her much distress. It was a wonder she was still alive. She had been so brave. She was truly worthy of being the queen. Several whole drops of blood stained her attire, a testament to her ceaseless tribulations. Rythica allowed the large maybe-drone to approach her, bracing herself. She fidgeted as she spared two of her crossed arms to pick at dead skin while the remaining two maintained their show of dominance.

  The woman knelt before the vex queen, bottle in hand. She shifted aside the girl's dress and poured some of the healing liquid on the wound. Within seconds, the liquid evaporated, leaving smooth flesh in its wake. Rythica checked to see if it still hurt when she poked it, but thankfully, it did not.

  The "Julia" smirked at the girl. "Better?"

  Rythica continued her investigation of the now-departed wound. Satisfied, she chirped. She resumed her work on scratching the itches that were starting to strike in force now that she was awake and moving around. Oddly enough, the area that had just healed felt extra itchy, the skin already starting to peel there mere seconds later.

  "Oh! Hold on, I brought something for that!" The maybe-drone raced out of the room, returning a moment later holding... something. She presented it to the queen. "It's an abrasive scrub. It'll help with your shedding. I would have brought it in sooner, but I needed to confirm with Randell if it was safe, first."

  Rythica warned her away once more. Making her debilitating injury disappear was nice, but it was not enough to wiggle her way back into the queen's good graces. The betrayal of her last loyal drone hurt the poor queen far more than she wanted to admit. Especially so close to the queen's shedding, when her chitin was soft and she was at her most vulnerable state. Now, as the sole remaining member of her tiny hive, she had to work extra diligently to maintain order. That meant not blindly trusting someone who had challenged her directly, especially for unknown reasons. Rythica was still confused about the entire exchange and wasn't sure what to think. First, her minion had attacked the great predator in her stead but then turned back and struck her on the head. Why? Was she competing for queenship as well? Her instincts told her the "Julia" was no queen. Same with the "not-Julia" one. So why did they both insist on acting like them?

  Were they queens? Her instincts said that wasn't how drones were supposed to act, either... What did that mean?

  The woman sighed. "I know you don't trust me anymore, but I'm just trying to help you." She began to reach out to the vex once more, but a claw swipe stopped her in her tracks. She withdrew her hand. She sighed once more, shaking her head. "Randell was right. You really do hold a grudge, little brat. Fine, I'll let you do it." She picked the scrub back up and mimed brushing it up and down her arms, maintaining eye contact with Rythica. "Look, use it like this." Whenever the girl looked away, the nanny whistled. For extra encouragement, she pulled out a treat before mimicking the scrubbing gesture a few more times. Finally, she tossed the scrub towards the vex.

  The vex girl considered ignoring it for a moment. She was too annoyed to care about stupid games. She was tired, itchy, and miserable. She looked at the treat, and even her middling hunger wasn't enough to immediately compel her to comply.

  Noticing Rythica's hesitation, the "Julia" pointed at the scrub, then mimed scratching herself with her nails, much like Rythica was currently doing. She then paused and rubbed the area she had just scratched with the palm of her hand, displaying an expression of exaggerated relief. She pointed at the scrub once more, then scratched, and repeated twice more.

  Finally, if nothing more than to get the human to leave her alone, she looked at the abrasive scrub on the floor before her. She glanced at the treat, then the gesture of "Julia" scratching herself while pointing at the scrub, and then, on a hunch, she glanced at her claws, flexing them. Her curiosity peaked and a growing desperation to stop the itching that was slowly driving her insane, she picked up the strange object. She opened her mouth.

  " Don't put it in your mouth. "

  Rythica gagged violently.

  There was an exasperated, pitiless sigh. "I warned you. Why do you always try to taste everything?"

  The queen scowled at the absolutely disgusting piece of material in her claws. It was, without a doubt, one of the top five worst things she had ever tasted. She almost hurled it across the room then and there. But she controlled herself, resorting to her backup plan.

  Pressing against one of her chitinous arms, she rubbed it. The rough material felt somewhat pleasant against the chitin plates, and it scratched that terrible itch in the right way. Hope blossoming in her eyes, she scrubbed down her arm furiously. Flakes of dead skin sprinkled down as the scrub chewed away at the peeling tissue. The drone watched with a small smile as Rythica, for the first time in , had an ounce of relief.

  Finally...

  The vex wished she had a scrub for each hand. It took some time, but before long she had scrubbed away most of the shed skin layers in the areas she could easily reach. It was bliss. She made to reach for her back... and failed. She cried out in dismay as she tried to address one of the areas that had been bothering her the most. High on her momentum, she didn't think, just acted. She tossed the scrub towards the drone and turned around, making clawing motions at her back, chirping in a mixture between a plea for help and a command from a superior.

  There was a laugh as the drone picked up the scrubber. "Oh? Suddenly trusting me again? Right when it's convenient for you?" The drone, still smiling broadly, approached the vibrating vex and began to aid her queen in this great time of need.

  Rythica chittered in pleasure as the itching ebbed away. It wasn't completely gone, but it was significantly lessened. Her drone ruffled the queen's messy, tangled hair, sending white flakes everywhere. "I need to brush this. I've been lenient this week and letting you skip out on baths, but you need one."

  Rythica tensed up and clacked her mandibles.

  "No, no. We've done this dozens of times. Stop being such a brat about it." She handed over the bribe from earlier. "Now..."

  The drone began to prattle on in strange words and sounds Rythica couldn't parse. The vast majority of it went over her head. Something about "reached level 10" and "caretaker" and "affinity went up", whatever those sounds meant. Rythica settled back down, letting her drone continue fussing over her.

  As annoyed as she still was with the unfaithful drone, she didn't like being alone in her hive. A hive needed drones to carry out their will, and drones needed their queen to guide them. Without both, was it even a hive anymore? And something about her drone being so close and fussing over her made her feel at ease, like a faint Aura that promised protection and care, a promise that she was there for Rythica no matter what. The girl couldn't quite explain the odd feeling, especially over the past weeks. That feeling had only grown stronger.

  Did she forgive the drone? No, of course not, not after her betrayal. Did she trust her? She wasn't sure, but she didn't think the drone intended her any harm. But most importantly Rythica was a very scared and lost queen. And a queen needed her servants as surely as she needed blood in her veins.

  So maybe, just maybe, she would let the drone back in on a probationary period. Punishments still needed to be dealt out, of course. And they would be. But perhaps pushing the drone away entirely wasn't necessary.

  Rythica still liked this drone, after all.

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