When outside the hive, there was a buzz of excitement in the air as Vladimir led Saphira to the group of wraith outside. Simplicity and Cynthia were there with the commanders, Loroy and several guards. Saphira looked around and noticed Tobias had not flown the dart out yet. She felt her nervousness grow and she nibbled at the nail of her right thumb upon arrived at the group, the sound of her gnawing at her nail caught their attention. Loroy frowned and walked over to her to pull her hand from her face.

"That doesn't seem very nice," He stated, glancing at her hand. "You could hurt yourself."

"It's not that…I am…well…nervous," Saphira said, glancing down at the ground.

"There's no need to be," Simplicity said. "I assure you, that if this test fails, you will be able to continue working on it. I understand that you are afraid of being punished, but you have thrown your motivation into this project without hesitation. I do not doubt that you will continue to work for us in the future."

The high queen's reassurance was nice, but Saphira still did not calm down. She looked up when she heard the sound of a dart and saw one leaving the dart bay from the side of the ship. She watched it fly towards them before landing in a clearing nearby. Saphira smiled and took the console from Vladimir before walking towards the dart. Tobias climbed out of the dart and walked over to her. He took the console and winked at her. She was surprised, not sure what the wink was for, but she felt her heart flutter a little from that.

"We will now test this device," Tobias said, addressing the queens behind her. Saphira turned to look at them. "And today, we will remember that this came from the creativity of a human who has brought us joy that we have not found before. I am pleased to be trailing this today. Observe."

Saphira watched Tobias face the dart and placed the console onto a boulder nearby. He placed his hands on the console and she turned to look at the dart. She clenched her hands together tightly, digging her nails in a little as she watched with anxiety. She did not realize she was holding her breath until she heard the dart turn on, she breathed out deeply with a surprise gasp after. So far so good, this is how far she got on the planet before. She watched as the ship began to lift from the ground, excitement filled her core and tears began to fill her eyes. It was working, and the ship began to manoeuvre around the trees gently. Tobias was not pushing the dart so quickly, but Saphira squealed in excitement.

"It's working!" She exclaimed loudly. "It's working!" She giggled and jumped in excitement, landing on her ankle a little too hard. She stumbled slightly into Vladimir's arms. "Ouch! Maybe too much."

"Don't get too hurt again Saphira," Vladimir said with a smile. "Loroy is giving you the stink eye for that."

Saphira looked to Loroy. "Sorry, I am just…" She sniffled as tears fell from her eyes. "I can't believe it works." She looked up at the dart before turning and hugging Vladimir suddenly. "Thank you for this opportunity."

The wraith had stiffened from the hug, he was not expecting her to hug her. She certainly was not afraid of close contact. Saphira than walked over to Tobias to hug him, he was almost distracted by her but he did nothing. And finally, she walked over to Cynthia.

"You are most welcome," Cynthia said as she hugged Saphira before she did. "And now we can look at building pods to connect with all darts and build new ships."

"And more," Saphira said, this caused Simplicity to look at her in surprise. Saphira pulled away from Cynthia to face her. "I may have found a natural substance on an abandoned settlement world that could be used as a power source to create shields for your ships."

The high queen rose and eyebrow, surprised this was not brought up. "Why did you not bring this up before?"

"I told her it was not needed yet," Cynthia said, which made Simplicity frown. "I apologise, but I felt Saphira needed to prove herself first. She had already told me about it."

"And I am not sure if it is even useful, it was a yellow dust in some old mineshaft or something that had warmth coming from it when every other rock was cold," Saphira said. "Which was partly the reason why it was not mentioned, because it might just be a dead end."

"Well, are there any other secrets you wish to tell me before I leave than?" Simplicity said with a slight hiss in her tone. "I am not impressed with being kept in the dark of this knowledge."

"There is nothing more, and I am sorry, I don't want to give any false hope to you that is all," Saphira said, bowing her head in submission to the queen. "Perhaps at some point, I can be escorted to the world to get samples."

The high queen was silent as she stared at Saphira. She breathed deeply and softened her expression. "Very well, but only after the first pilotless pod has been made. And we will start designing new fighters that are specifically for pilotless fights. Most hives will accept this, except for the ones who voted against you. It'll be their loss of course, but we cannot force them to take these advancements."

"I suppose I understand, they think it makes them look weak if a human gives them ideas for their technology," Saphira said with an understanding nod. "Tobias and I will work hard on the pod design, it'll be similar to the cockpit of a dart so it should not take a long time."

"Good," Simplicity said with a smile. "I trust to hear about it soon and come back to observe this myself." She turned on her heel to return to the hive ship. "I will be here for a few more hours, you and I have a little bit to discuss Cynthia."

Cynthia sighed deeply. "Very well." She placed a hand of Saphira's shoulder with a smile. "Do not doubt yourself again Saphira, you did a good job."

She walked away from them and Saphira turned to see Tobias landing the dart so he could get inside. She smiled as she was so happy this worked. She looked forward to creating the next part of the project which is the pods, and Tobias likely will continue to make more connections for the ships to be able to operate them from the pods.

"We should head back," Vladimir said, picking up the console to carry back in. "You and Tobias won't need to do anything more today. A feast will be prepared later as well before Simplicity leaves, so you should look forward to that."

"I am glad, I kind of want to get straight into the next project though," Saphira said. "I like to get straight into things like that."

"I can tell, but patience is something we have mastered," He chuckled. "And humans have not. But you can wait a day can't you?"

Sighing deeply, Saphira shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"Let's go," Michladen said, taking Saphira's arm gently. "You will likely be able to roam the ship freely after today too."

"Couldn't I before?" Saphira frowned in confusion.

"Not completely, but you might be able to now," The junior commander said with a shrug.

She sighed deeply, there was always some small detail she missed. Loroy followed behind them as they head back to the ship, she noticed that Nicholae and Victor must have followed Simplicity back to the ship. She had a feeling Simplicity was mad at Cynthia for not telling her about the natural substance Saphira had found. There was not much to say really. She did hope to talk to Simplicity alone though, she wanted to be sure of a few things before it gets out of hand. Once back in the ship, Loroy felt it was good to check on Saphira's ankle since she jumped on it and it was hurting a bit. Luckily, her ankle was fine, she just needed to not jump on it again.

"I hope you will relax your ankle now," Loroy said gently. "I do not mind having a bit of work, but you should try to prevent future accidents from now on."

"I will try Loroy," Saphira said, standing up gently with a smile. "I think I will go have a shower and get into something nicer for dinner."

"That's hours away," He commented with a frown.

"I know, but getting my hair done is going to take a couple hours anyway," She said with an innocent shrug. "I don't have makeup at least, though I would not mind some maybe."

"That could be arranged, but it's not a promise," Loroy said thoughtfully. He sighed deeply and brushed a strand of his black dread from his face. "I will not keep you longer now, you should go and shower before time gets away."

Saphira nodded and left happily. She had to take it a little easy as she was still a little unsure of where she should go to get back to her room. But she spotted Simplicity and her commanders walking with her, likely back to her quarters.

"Simplicity," She called out to the high queen. The wraith stopped and looked at her with a smile. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, is there something wrong?" The high queen asked, her face changing to concern.

"I am not sure, but can I talk to you privately?" Saphira asked, glancing at the commanders. "I want to ask this question before things might get messy."

The high queen did not understand, but she nodded. "Very well, follow me to my quarters," She said, gesturing for her to follow. "Victor, Nicholae you both will remain outside my quarters while we speak."

"Yes my queen," They both say in unison with respectful bows.

"Should I be worried by this question?" Simplicity asked curiously.

"I am not sure, which is why I want to ask privately," Saphira responds, she couldn't stop the nervousness lacing her tone.

The high queen was concerned and walked to her quarters quickly. Once there, she closed the door behind Saphira so no one would disturb them. She sat on a couch in the room and invited Saphira to sit next to her.

She grabbed her hands gently. "Now, tell me what is on your mind child?"

Saphira hesitated, her breath was shaky as she wanted to ask the question, but she was scared of the response. "Um…this is going to sound so stupid."

"I doubt it will, are you being mistreated by the wraith on this ship?"

"No, it is nothing like that," Saphira reassured quickly. "It's actually me." The high queen frowned in confusion. "Is…is it natural for me…um…" She paused as she felt her cheeks heat up with a blush. "I might be…a little…well, attracted."

"Attracted? What do you mean?" The queen questioned. "To a worshipper?" Saphira shook her head. "Any human that was culled?" She shook her head again. Simplicity thought for a second before widening her eyes. "You mean, you're attracted to wraith?"

Saphira looked down ashamed at the question. "I…I think so. I don't know why. We are different. I am sorry if it is forbidden, but I wanted to tell you before something happens."

"Oh my dear Saphira," The queen said sweetly, placing a finger under Saphira's chin to lift her face to hers. Saphira was surprised to not see anger in her expression. "I am not mad. There really is not a law that says we cannot have a relationship with a human. The main problem is that we are a predator, and if one were to have a relationship, they could accidentally feed on a human during moments like kissing. As feeding is often so natural sometimes we don't notice we are doing it. But you are immune, if a wraith reciprocates your feelings they likely will express their own."

Saphira's eyes were wide, she was not expecting the wraith queen to tell her this. She was not sure how to feel about that now. "Even if it could be more than one wraith? What if…" She paused as she placed a hand on her stomach.

"Multiple partners is not uncommon in humans," The high queen said with a smile. "And if one or more wraith attract you, then you should not be shy about that. And if you are worried about pregnancy, it is highly possible my dear. Wraith and human have similar DNA, and it does make us compatible when it comes to pregnancy."

Saphira breathed deeply, she was not sure if it was from relief or simply more anxiety regarding how she felt about the wraith. She knew her attraction to Tobias and Vladimir was there, she had none for Loroy and Michladen, but it made sense when Victor kissed her hand that the queen did not flinch at all.

"I…I am glad I asked," Saphira said with a nervous smile. "I was not sure about this particular issue."

"I understand, and it was wise to come to me before pursuing anything," She said, the wraith queen could sense Saphira's nerves and she hoped they would relax. "But if you really are not sure, taking your time is the best way to avoid anything in the future Saphira. I will warn you, there is always the chance of losing wraith. While humans don't pose a huge threat to us, a lot of us have and can still die at their hands. You know this. And if you bond with a wraith in that way, it will hurt."

"I honestly think I will be heartbroken even if a wraith was just a friend," Saphira said, pulling her hands from the wraith's hands. "But I am afraid it would be no different to having a human boyfriend or husband. They could end up culled and fed upon, so I guess it's no different. But thanks for the heads up anyway Simplicity." She stood up with a deep sigh. "I should get ready for dinner."

"If you ever need nicer dresses and makeup, contact me directly," The high queen said, handing Saphira a long-range communication device. "I do not give these out very much, but I feel you should have that. And I can ensure you get the best of anything, I feel you deserve it."

"Thank you," Saphira smiled at her. "I don't need anything right now, but I may take your offer."

"Good, now run along and get ready," The queen said, standing up and walking to the door to open it. "And there might be a surprise in your room. I made sure of it."

Saphira looked at her curiously by what she meant. The queen just chuckled and Saphira left the room feeling relieved and anxious. She was sure Tobias had picked up on her emotions by now, before he was not sure of her feelings, but even he has caught onto her attraction. She did wonder if he noticed before since she has seen him shirtless several times, even if they were not deliberate. Saphira smiled to herself as she made her way back to her room. She may yet go through with her feelings for the wraith, but she felt going slow might be best at the moment given she isn't even sure of them yet. Or simply, is not yet ready to admit them to herself.