Chapter Summaries

Carlos confronted Medises after following him and Su Lin, struggling to explain his anger over Medises taking Su Lin as a servant. Su Lin began work in the neglected library aboard the spaceship and discovered it was filled mostly with human books about Zerg.

• Carlos admitted to himself that he had followed Medises and Su Lin because he was upset, and he noticed Su Lin's pheromones and servant bands.
• Carlos told Medises he had only come out for air, while Medises explained that he had delayed the meeting to escort his timid new servant.
• Carlos resolved that Su Lin would return to him and vowed not to force or humiliate him as Medises had.
• Su Lin sneezed in the dusty library and found its crooked shelves held mostly human books, including sensational stories about Zerg.
• Su Lin found himself starting work in the library without realizing it.

While organizing the library, Su Lin discovered an illustrated Zerg history about the Primordial Mother and became absorbed in its account of the Zerg’s origins. A gentle-looking young woman appeared and said Carlos had told her about Su Lin, asking to speak with him about humans.

• Su Lin sorted the books and accidentally opened a Zerg tome that told the story of the Primordial Mother and her seven males.
• He learned that the Primordial Mother had brought different Zerg colonies together by allowing males from seven colonies into her nest during one breeding cycle.
• Su Lin studied the illustrations of the seven males until he noticed a young woman standing nearby.
• Su Lin greeted the woman, who apologized for startling him and said Carlos had mentioned him.
• The woman told Su Lin she had come to ask him about humans because he had once lived in the human world.

Su Lin awkwardly answered a curious Zerg girl’s questions about human life and corrected her misconceptions, then asked whether she liked humans. Her unsettling answer left him wary as she approached him.

• Su Lin became flustered when the Zerg girl asked him what she could ask about the human world.
• The girl questioned Su Lin about human customs, reproduction, and schools, drawing on wildly inaccurate human-Zerg stories.
• Su Lin stammered through corrections, explaining that humans did not want Zerg to lay eggs inside them or interact with them in their original forms.
• Su Lin tried to ask the girl’s name but instead asked whether she liked humans.
• The girl said she did not like humans as a species and walked toward Su Lin, making him shiver.

Su Lin discovered that the Zerg girl he had briefly admired loved an unseen human and planned to marry him, despite knowing nothing about his identity. Medises rushed into the library and addressed the girl as Saint Ariel, revealing her high status.

• The Zerg girl told Su Lin she loved a human lover and intended to marry him, leaving Su Lin heartbroken.
• She explained that her lover had vanished after she told him about a flaw, and Su Lin suspected the human was deceiving her.
• Su Lin questioned whether she had ever met her lover or knew his real identity, but she insisted that his love was genuine.
• Medises burst into the library and became tense when he saw the girl with Su Lin.
• Medises bowed to Saint Ariel and apologized for failing to welcome her, explaining that Su Lin had recently been rescued and lacked etiquette training.

Medises rushed to the library after sensing Ariel had blocked his connection to it and found Ariel standing before Su Lin. When Ariel asked to take Su Lin as his nectar source, Medises refused, revealing how important Su Lin was to him.

• Medises sensed that an entity had blocked his access to the library and hurried there, where he found Ariel facing Su Lin.
• Medises called Su Lin over, but Ariel stepped into his path and asked Medises to give Su Lin to him.
• Ariel clarified that he wanted Su Lin as his nectar source, not as a servant Zerg.
• Medises resisted the urge to reveal his original Zerg form and refused to give Su Lin to Ariel.
• Medises straightened as his antennae and mouthparts emerged, while Ariel wondered why Medises was so possessive of Su Lin.

Ariel confessed his feelings to Su Lin but left when Su Lin rushed to Medises, then revealed that Ariel was a male Zerg and the next king insect. Medises held Su Lin tightly, appearing shaken, while Su Lin put his arms around him and stroked his back.

• Ariel felt hungry when he sensed Blood Wing but decided not to attack, thinking about how Su Lin might dislike a fat partner.
• Ariel told Su Lin that he liked him, but left after seeing Su Lin's fear and watching him rush to Medises.
• Su Lin learned from Medises that Ariel was male, and that he was the next king insect.
• Medises pulled Su Lin into a tight embrace and whispered that perhaps he should still do something, then fell silent.
• Su Lin sensed Medises's unusual tension, put his arms around him, and stroked his cold, hard back.

After Ariel threatened Su Lin, Medises reassured him and promised to protect him. Sensing danger from Ariel, Medises ordered the Security Committee ship to abandon negotiations with the Pale Calamity and flee by an indirect warp route, while Ariel stirred deep beneath the Empire’s central planet.

• Medises released Su Lin and said he would keep him away from Ariel after their encounter.
• Medises explained Ariel’s danger, and Su Lin thanked him and pleaded for his protection.
• Medises ordered the Security Committee ship to end negotiations with the Pale Calamity and leave its tractor range.
• Medises cut communications and led the ship away, suspecting Ariel would return and cause danger.
• Deep beneath the Zerg Empire’s central planet, Ariel stirred.

Ariel separated part of his body to pursue Su Lin without eating Blood Wing, while Su Lin woke from a nightmare and discovered that his wing sacs had begun secreting honey. Medises entered the bathroom as Su Lin tried to hide it, and the honey’s scent triggered a sharp reaction in both of them.

• Ariel realized he could avoid gaining weight by killing Blood Wing without eating him, then sent a lighter mass of his body into space.
• Su Lin awoke from a nightmare of yellow lights and writhing flesh after the Security Committee ship broke from the fleet’s force field.
• Su Lin discovered sweet, milky liquid on his pajamas and realized it was honey secreted from the roots of his wings.
• Medises entered the bathroom and caught Su Lin amid the steam and honeyed scent.
• Su Lin’s wings began trembling as the scent of Medises intensified his reaction, and more honey trickled down his back.

Su Lin’s wings began secreting honey, and he feared the change would expose him as a prematurely matured Zerg Queen. Medises examined him and concluded that he was fusing.

• Medises rushed to Su Lin’s bathroom after his wristband detected an elevated heart rate.
• Su Lin saw honey leaking from his wings and begged Medises to help him hide or stop it.
• Su Lin worried that the Zerg would keep him from returning to the human world if they discovered he was a Zerg Queen.
• Medises entered the cramped bathroom and examined Su Lin’s swollen, hot wings.
• Medises caught Su Lin when the touch made him nearly fall and said that he was fusing.

Su Lin learned that Zerg genes were beginning to fuse with his own and asked Medises to help reverse the process. Medises restrained his hunger for Su Lin’s honey, but after Su Lin washed, the scent still left him struggling with his desire.

• Medises explained that the stronger Zerg genes in Su Lin’s body could transform him through fusion, frightening Su Lin.
• Su Lin begged Medises for help, and Medises withdrew his exposed mouthparts and promised to take care of it.
• Su Lin secretly watched Medises’s distorted reflection return to a human outline and pretended he had noticed nothing.
• As Su Lin showered to wash off the honey, Medises licked a trace from his fingertip and savored its sweetness.
• Su Lin came out of the bathroom, and Medises found the lingering honey scent difficult to endure; Su Lin felt uneasy at his pale, inorganic gaze.