All her life, Lily feared bees.
She had the right to. After all, she was deathly allergic to them. Or so she's been told, anyway. Just the sound of them buzzing would make Lily feel absolutely nervous.
"If any of them sting you, you'll die."
That was the warning her mother gave her.
Lily took serious heed of that warning. Kids made fun of her throughout elementary school. In high school, there was a mix of understanding with some teasing. She wouldn't even dare touch anything made with honey. It didn't help that her father was a bee keeper.
Then one day, at the age of 22, Lily had come by the house to visit her parents. Both of them weren't home, neither any of the hand maidens. She remembered the maids were explicitly instructed to keep her far from the bee boxes. Any bee that came within less than a meter would be swatted. Looking back on it, that seemed a little overkill—but her life was on the line
"I told them I'd arrived at noon." she sighed, shaking her head. "Maybe they're out in the yard."
On her little venture, she stepped one foot too close to the bee farm. The collective buzzing noises swarming about the sound spectrum caused Lily to go pale and take 3 steps backward. Her heart began thumping incredibly hard within her chest and she started sweating.
"If you don't bother them, they won't bother you."
She repeated this mantra her father taught her if she ever got caught in a situation where there were bees close by. Usually they don't attack unless provoked, so that was good. She had no interest in provoking any of them.
Still stuck on repeating that mantra, she hardly noticed a lone, gentle buzzing sound blzz pass her ear as a tiny bee landed upon her shoulder. A thin, high pitched voice arrested Lily's attention as the bee spoke these words—
"Your Majesty, what are your orders?"
Lily froze.
What the hell did she just hear?
Shifting her eyes to the right and slowly turning her head, her mouth dropped and she immediately covered her mouth to muffle her internal scream.
'A bee, it's a bee, ON MY SHOULDER!'
"My Queen, what's wrong?" the bee inquired, flying off her shoulder and floating in front of her face. "You look unwell. Shall I fetch you some honey?"
"But I'm allergic to bees…." she muttered. "I can't eat honey."
The little bee tilted its head in confusion. "But my Queen, we have harvested all this nectar for you. We have waited to share our sacred honey with you."
"Why do you keep calling me Queen?" Lily asked nervously.
"You, Lily, are the Queen Bee of the Lillian Hive!"
Now she was greatly confused. Queen Bee of the what now?
"Eheh, sorry but uh… you must be mistaken, I'm not a bee, I'm a human."
"The Lillian Hive has always had a human Queen. From the bloodline that rescued our nest from obliteration! Thus, we owe our lives to the first Queen and her offspring. We, Honey Lily, are at your service."
The little bee gave what seemed like a bow. This was all a shock to Lily. No wonder her parents told her she was allergic; they were keeping her from ruling over the hive!
Well, that ends now.
"I've never tasted honey before. Bring me your best comb."
This was her first command.
"As you wish, Your Majesty."