Inquisitor's Promise (Act Three, Chapter Nineteen)

The Holy League had been united, but the Grey Globe continued to move towards Earth. Aeneas and the members of his inner circle knew they had much to do and little time to prepare.

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Chapter Nineteen: The Swarm Queen

Lavinia woke up, all around her she saw a yellow-colored sky. Floating about the bizarre-looking sky were a series of moving images. One image showed a handsome older man with blue hair — her father the Grand Duke of Pacifica. Another image showed a man just as dashing but much younger and had dark hair — that man!

“Where am I?” Lavinia wondered.

“My Queen, you’re finally awake. This is good news.”

“Who…”

Lavinia saw a man approaching her, a hooded figure with a robe that reminded her of a monk. She was not sure what to make of the whole thing.

“I don’t blame your confusion. Every Swarm Queen felt the same way, my mother included,” the figure said.

“Lord Nineveh!?” Lavinia said in realization, she was surprised at how gentle her king sounded compared to when they had met back in Pacifica. “Where am I?”

“You are in the swarm network, or at least your mind is,” Nineveh explained. “Your body is in my hive.”

Lavinia did not say anything as she attempted to take in what Nineveh had told her, and what had happened to her ever since that fateful day:

After Lavinia and her swarm was banished from the Lepanto, they took the waterways that brought them to the Pacifica Duchy. Once she reached home, she fulfilled her promise to the Swarm King and became his Queen.

In becoming the Swarm Queen, Lavinia had become Nineveh’s wife. Not just practically, but also sacramentally as the deep one girl was also united sacramentally by the Church to the Swarm King.

Once the two were sacramentally united, Lavinia underwent a process in which her body was absorbed into Nineveh’s avatar. The two literally became one flesh.

For Lavinia, this was a dangerous process, potentially fatal. In order for a woman to successfully undergo a process to become the Swarm Queen, she needed to fully consent to it. Otherwise, the Swarm King’s flesh would reject her, and she would die.

But Lavinia’s heart was set. She was ready to let go of Aeneas. And Nineveh accepted his union with her. It was a very exhausting process and soon Lavinia took her extended rest. Until she woke up.

“You mean this isn’t really me, and that’s not really you,” Lavinia said.

“Strictly speaking, we are both deep inside Earth, in its mantle,” Nineveh responded.

“Wow,” Lavinia said. “Now what?”

“You are now the mother of the Swarm. Every single swarm creature born from this point on, human or otherwise, will bear your DNA. They now answer to your call, just as they do mine,” Nineveh explained.

“That’s quite the responsibility.”

“You’ll be just fine. I know you can run a very tight ship, as the surface men liked to say.”

Lavinia smiled uneasily. “Thanks, I think.”

“I know all this is a bit much to take in,” Nineveh began. “You never expect to become the Swarm Queen. I’ll guide you every step of the way.”

“Okay, Lord Nineveh,” Lavinia said, her face showing determination. The deep one girl was not one to back away from a challenge.

At this point, Nineveh motioned towards the moving images that she had been seeing. Lavinia couldn’t help but find them off-putting given how familiar they were.

“Do you know what these are?”

Lavinia shook her head. “No, how can I?”

“You should, they are your memories,” Nineveh said.

The deep one girl gasped in realization. “Now that you mention it. No wonder they look so familiar.”

There was silence between the two. Lavinia did not know what so say. Meanwhile, Nineveh looked like he wanted to say something.

“I must thank you, my queen,” he finally said.

Lavinia gave Nineveh a confused look. “For what?”

“Your memories had given me so much context. So many pertinent information,” Nineveh answered.

“Wait a minute!” Lavinia cried. “You’ve been looking at my memories? How could you!?”

But Nineveh did not understand why his Queen felt so violated. “When you agree to become my Queen, you have consented to give me everything but your immortal soul. Surely, you know this.”

Lavinia sighed, not sure on how to express herself. “I do, but you should ask for permission before looking through my memories.”

“Does your explicit permission really matter in all this?”

“Yes! You might not care, but human beings do.”

“That’s funny. I am as much a son of Adam as you are a daughter of Eve,” Nineveh responded.

“That’s not what I meant!” Lavinia snapped.

There was a brief pause, Nineveh was clearly taken aback. “My apologies,” he said. “I will refrain from doing so in the future.”

Lavinia did not know how to respond to the Swarm King’s apology. For all her life, she had seen the Swarm King Nineveh as this intimidating figure who’d stop for no one. And yet, here he was showing considerations for her feelings.

“My queen,” Nineveh began. “From the bottom of my heart, I want you to feel welcomed here. I will do all I can to make you happy, I just have one request of you.”

“What do you wish, Lord Nineveh?”

“For you to address me as your king. It is proper.”

Lavinia nodded. “Yes, my king.”

In truth, Lavinia felt very odd addressing her king as such, but she figured that she’ll get used to it eventually.

Lavinia was glad that Nineveh would respect her privacy, but she still had so many questions about what was going on.

“What is this place, really? What’s the swarm network?”

“It’s the home of both the Swarm King and Queen. Worry not, you will be able to interact with the outside world through the use of an avatar,” Nineveh explained.

Lavinia nodded in understanding, fully aware of swarm avatars. The cerebrates were known to use them. Though she herself had no such experience.

“You’ll have to show me how to use one, my king.”

“Worry not, it’s something that comes naturally for those in the swarm.”

Lavinia gave her king a sincere smile. She had expected a miserable life as the Swarm Queen, but Nineveh turned out to be a tender and considerate person.

“What are we doing now, my king?” Lavinia asked sweetly.

“Here, the Swarm King and his Queen worked together to help one another get to Heaven,” Nineveh answered. “That was the advice Patriarch Caius gave to the first Nineveh when asked of what to do with this construct of ours.”

“Patriarch Caius, huh? I guess I can’t let him down,” Lavinia said.

“As for something more specific, I have received a message from Lord Inquisitor Aquilanus. He asked for our help.”

“Aeneas?” Lavinia exclaimed. At this point, Lavinia grew sullen. “I want nothing to do with him.”

“I can understand your anger towards him and his House. I felt the same way too, but then I looked through your memories. Now I understand his actions,” Nineveh said.

“You mean you want to help?” Lavinia asked.

“I do,” Nineveh said. “But I will not do so without your consent.”

Lavinia was silent once more, not knowing what to say. She was glad that her king would not force her hand. But she was conflicted, nonetheless.

“Perhaps I can show you my memories, it might help you just as yours had helped me,” Nineveh offered.

“What will your memories do?” Lavinia asked incredulously. “You hadn’t even met Aeneas until that day we fought in Pacifica.”

“Not my memories, per se,” the Swarm King answered. “All of the memories of the Ninevehs. In particular, the memory of the First Nineveh.”

“I know our history, my king,” Lavinia said.

“Reliving memories will be much different than simply reading historical books,” Nineveh said.

“Fine,” Lavinia relented. “Let’s do this.”

Nineveh then took Lavinia’s hand. Suddenly, the place around Lavinia changed. She found herself at the edge of a lush jungle. In front of her was the ocean as far as the eyes can see. Lavinia recognized this place from her history books.

The homeland of the swarm, planet Mare Nostrum.

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