Ellyn crouched low by the edge of the meadow, her honey-colored hair catching the late afternoon sun. She watched the bees with careful intensity, following their path from flower to flower. In her hands, she held a basket of wildflowers, though most of them had been forgotten as she observed the tiny creatures she so admired.

“They dance,” she murmured to herself, a soft smile touching her lips. “They tell their secrets in the air.”

The hum of the bees was soothing, a melody she found herself returning to again and again. She had heard the tales of the King of the Bees and his golden hive, hidden somewhere in the hills beyond the reach of men.

As she stood, brushing dirt from her skirts, a voice called from the distance. “Lady Ellyn! You’ve been at it all day. Are you coming to supper, or are you planning to marry one of those bees?”

Ellyn laughed, turning to see her father's guard standing at the path. “Perhaps I will,” *she teased back, her voice light. “Better a bee than some dullard with no sweetness in his soul.”