2
After the attempted coup, Regalia had lost many people from soldiers, council members, and generals to palace staff, citizens, and merchants. Anyone who remained was working double; therefore, Gregor no longer expected to be greeted when he arrived in the palace. He went straight to his quarters, which were now permanently reserved for him and his family, and washed up. There was a note from Luxa there explaining what had happened in the last few months. Gregor guessed she did not want to waste time explaining it if she could just write it.
Because the war was so large and included so many races, each side had named itself. The Regalians and anyone fighting to stay together were called the Allies. Stellovet and the other traitors called themselves the Isolists. It was believed that the Isolists were located in Spinner territory. There had been no major battles, but the Isolists had several ambush parties attacking any Allies traveling between the territories of the different races. Gregor noted the irony that the strength of the Isolists was that they could stay close together and the weakness of the Allies was that they were so separated.
Apparently there were also Isolist spies who sent messages in code about Allied plans or further instructions. The Allies were having a difficult time finding the spies, but they could occasionally find the messages. They just had no idea what the messages said. Gregor worried that they would want Lizzie to help break the code like she did during the war with the gnawers. Gregor decided he needed to talk to Luxa about this, and left to find her.
He walked to her quarters, and the guards informed him that she had left. Next Gregor checked around the palace asking about her with no luck. He had become close to Hippolyta lately, so he decided to ask her for a ride to the arena to see if Luxa was there. When they got there, Mareth greeted them, but said the queen went to her quarters to rest. Gregor sighed. It was times like this that he missed his phone. Hipp gave him a ride back to the palace.
"It would seem the Overlander thinks I am a travel service," she said. Gregor knew she was joking, but he still felt bad.
"Sorry, Hipp. It's just a pain to find people down here. I mean, who would think it would be hard to the queen?"
"It is good she is difficult to find. Then her enemies cannot find her either." Gregor hoped that was true. He was always worried someone would try to kill her.
When he finally got back to Luxa's quarters, Gregor was relieved that she was there. The guards let him in, and he found the queen leaning over a map on a table. He walked over to her.
"So you finally remembered to return," she said dryly.
"Yeah," he replied, trying not to sound annoyed. "Just like how I remembered to take care of all my responsibilities at home too." She did not reply, but walked to the sofa and sat. Gregor looked at her. She looked more rested and just healthier in general. He wondered what the change was. "So how is everything?"
"Did you not read my note?"
"I did, but I meant more along the lines of how are you feeling? How is the family?"
"I feel fine, and my family is a bother." She was still cold, so Gregor decided to try to lighten her up. He plopped down hard next to her, making her bounce on the sofa. She gave him a dirty look.
"Well family is supposed to bother you," he said smiling. "How exactly are they bothering you?" Luxa did not look excited to talk, but spoke anyway.
"Vikus continues to insist there is a peaceful solution even though we are clearly at war. Howard is a hypocrite. He tells me I must rest constantly, though he works continually as both a captain in the army and a doctor. We finally made an agreement to both rest. Hazard insists on helping in the war effort despite my objections. Then of course there is meeting after meeting after meeting." She heaved a sigh, and Gregor was pleased to hear some hostility left her voice.
A thought crossed his mind, and suddenly he wanted to put his arm around Luxa. No, that was stupid. She is a queen. She does not need that. But she does look tired. It would show his support. But what if she took it the wrong way? He held his breath and put his arm on the back of the sofa behind her. Luxa closed her eyes and tilted her head back onto his arm, and Gregor felt his stomach tie into a knot.
"Well," he started, then cleared his throat nervously. "Well, Vikus is always like that, and Howard is just worried about you. And your deal with him must be working because you look… uh. You look healthier." She looked at him funny, so he pushed on. "And as long as Hazard is not fighting, it should be ok. Right?"
"I suppose. You have been looking for me today. What was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Well I wanted to see how you were," he admitted. He slid his arm down around Luxa, then continued, hoping she would not notice. "But also, I saw you mentioned a code to break. Were you going to try to get Lizzie's help?"
"We are not sure," she said. Luxa eyed his arm, and Gregor quickly pulled it off her. He felt his face grow hot. "Idiot," he thought to himself. "Perhaps we can speak of this another time. I would like to sleep now."
"Yeah. Sure. Of course," Gregor said as he stood up. "Just uh. Let me know when you want to talk." She gave a weak smile, and Gregor left feeling like an idiot.