Luxa stirred and awoke only to glare at whatever was prodding her wounds. She would have gladly stabbed the thing that pressed into her bloody shoulder and various battle scars, but it didn't feel like her sword was with her, and it was cloth that made her wounds sting so much.

Her eyes opened into slits; even torchlight was a little too harsh for her liking. Her head both spun and throbbed, but she could make out the incredibly thin hooded figure with a bowl of water and a roll of bandages, dabbing at her shoulder.

"N-Nerissa?" Luxa moaned. The hooded figure looked up from Luxa's shoulder enough to look into her cousin's eyes.

"Do not…" Nerissa cleared her throat. "Do not move."

"Oh, Nerissa, what have they done to you?" Luxa made to reach for her cousin's hand, but the searing pain in her shoulder kept her from moving an inch. She hissed. "Nerissa, are you well? Are they keeping you hostage? Where are Howard and his siblings, and where is Vikus?"

Nerissa shushed her. "They are all alive and well—except for Vikus, but I imagine you have heard that while on your travels." She smiled slightly; she knew what Luxa had been up to. "Stellovet and Solovet knew that I would be better off under their control. And after all, I foresaw this dungeon."

Luxa became aware that she was lying in the middle of a cold, dark room with a single torch and a large machine that took up half the room, towering coldly and imperiously above her.

"They and I are the only ones who know how to get in and out of these dungeons," Nerissa said. "Solovet spends much of her time in the chambers beyond this room, chambers that Stellovet secretly built for her. And I live here doing menial tasks."

"Nerissa, that is not right. You should not be here."

Nerissa shrugged slightly. "It is far better than what would happen if I left. I worry more for you, cousin."

Luxa eyed the machine. "Why? What is to happen to me?"

"I have seen Solovet test the machine. It is meant to threaten the enemy, interrogate, and kill—if necessary," Nerissa added in a hurry, as if Luxa was afraid. "Luxa," she went on, "I have seen what it does. I could kill you now, if you want. You would thank me, Luxa."

Luxa shook her head. "I can handle torture."

"Do not let your previous experiences with death blind you. One may survive the jungle, but no gnawer nor flier nor human ever survives the machine."


Gregor had collapsed upon returning to Regalia, determined not to remember Luxa and the torn look in her eyes as he flew off with Stellovet. Besides, if he was really lucky, he might have a dream about the Underland and the adventures that Luxa had told him about. He'd had weird dreams before, full of giant animals and darkness. So it felt like dreams would be the best place to start.

He didn't have any luck the first night. Instead, he woke up from a completely blank sleep and was told by a servant that Vikus had died.


"Oh, and now you're going to play the 'it's just a dream' trick on me, right?" the Reader asked.

The Writer shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I didn't exactly have Gregor pulled from the Waterway, if you'll recall. But if this wasn't a dream, how would I get the girl who's going to boo him down here?"

"Wait, who's going to boo?"

"I really wish you'd ask these questions in your head and let me get on with things."


The rest of the day passed by in a blur as Gregor spaced out, trying to remember if he knew Vikus. Regardless of whether he did or not, Stellovet and Gregor would have to get married that day so the humans would still have a king and queen. So Gregor spent his time standing still, combing his memory, and half-listening as various servants measured him and shuffled him here and there and explained things that went right by him. Wouldn't a name like Vikus stick out to him? Did his family ever say anything about a Vikus? Gregor frustrated himself to the point where he was standing at the altar and glowering as Stellovet came down the aisle.

Of course, he put on a brave face for the wedding and tried to look happy. The wedding dissolved from the High Hall, and every guest moved to the throne room to see the king and queen crowned. The deed was quick, but Gregor had never felt anything heavier than a crown meant for Luxa.

He stood up, smiled, and waved at the applauding delegates and royalty standing before him, with Stellovet at his side. As they took each other's hands, the group before them (standing in a room packed to the brim) erupted into cheering. Except for...

"Booooooooo!"

It came from the back, towards the door. While Stellovet's smile froze, Gregor frowned and waved his hand over the audience with a signal to cut it out.

"Booooooooooooo!"

"Who's doing that?" Gregor called out. The very full audience managed to clear a path as a young girl came up to stand before Gregor. Though he towered above her with his crown and his position at the top of the stone steps, this girl intimidated him with her glare.

"Booooooooooooo!" she crowed and folded her arms. This time, the call echoed.

"…Boots?" Gregor's knees suddenly felt weak. His little sister, hardly old enough to be in middle school, had somehow gotten to the Underland. "Boots, what are you doing here?"

"I can't believe you!" she said indignantly. "Boooooooooooo!"

"But…I'm the king. What's wrong with being the king? Why are you booing me?"

"You're the king, but she's the wrong queen!" Boots pointed an accusing finger at Stellovet, whose smile had melted away to be replaced with a steely look. "How can you hold her hand when Luxa's hands are bleeding and sore all because of you?"

"She didn't have to go after me—"

"But she did, because she loves you, and she's loved you since before you can remember!" Boots threw up her hands exasperatedly. Her classmates had begun to act like teenagers, but Gregor had never seen her imitate them until now. "I can't believe you, Gregor, taking the crown when Luxa should have it with you!"

"She's gone now—"

"She's alive, but you're marrying the wrong queen even though she lives! That makes you the king of nothing, and that's what you'll be! The king of nothingness and emptiness and lovelessness! Booooooo! Booooooooooooo!"

It was about here that Gregor jolted awake in his bed. Vikus, he knew, was still alive, and Boots was probably still safe in Virginia with Mom, Dad, and Lizzie. But Gregor didn't like the sound of her tone, dream or no dream. It was like she wouldn't let him marry anyone but Luxa.


"Well duh…"

"Oh, be quiet," the Writer said. "You're getting a bit too smart, what with you knowing that this was a dream. If you're so smart, you can do this."


Gregor, come to think of it, completely agreed with his sister. It was with this attitude that he stomped through the halls, continuing to get lost until he stumbled into Stellovet's chambers.

Stellovet sat up from her seat at a desk (with several rolls of parchment spread before her) and smiled at him sweetly. "Why Gregor, what a pleasure it is to see you looking so well after your—"

"Forget it, Stellovet," Gregor said. "I just now realized that if there's anyone I'm going to marry, it's Luxa. I love her, and I think I have since before I've known her. If you want to kill me for getting out of our engagement, you're going to have to try and catch me first, because I'm going to fight my way out. While I was being kidnapped I learned that I'm a rager, so I'll take on any guards you send after me and kill every one of them."

"But Gregor, you do not care to kill the innocent."

"Anyone keeping the real queen from her throne isn't innocent to me."

Stellovet considered him for a moment. "Very well. Luxa is somewhere in the Underland, lost to all allies we have. If you will write four copies of a letter, I will send the four fastest fliers in different directions. Should we find Luxa, we will deliver your letter to her in peace. If your letter persuades her to return to Regalia, I will step down from the throne and allow you both to ascend it as the king and the rightful queen. However, if Luxa cannot be found or if she denies her love for you, our engagement and marriage will proceed as planned, and we will rule with no interruptions."

"What's in it for you if you step down from the throne?"

"The pleasure of knowing that you are in love and content."

Gregor said a word that Stellovet didn't understand, but he said it in a mean enough tone that she decided he didn't believe her.

"Gregor, I…I have grown rather fond of you." She stepped up towards him with a shy smile. "Your kidnapping has made me aware of just how much I care for you. I would not have another king beside you, so regardless of your wife, I wish for you to be on the throne. Even if I cannot be beside you."

Gregor blinked. "…Yeah, well, I'll write those letters." He turned to leave, trying to pretend that he knew the way back to his room.

"Oh, and Gregor?"

"Yeah?" He turned.

"How did you come to remember the Underland?"

"I didn't remember. But I love Luxa too much to not believe her." He left Stellovet's chambers, and at nearly the same, Solovet appeared by Stellovet's elbow. Little did Gregor know, but grandmother and granddaughter had been talking the minute before Gregor's loud footsteps had echoed through the halls.

"That is quite an extreme offer you have made," Solovet commented. "I would be upset that you would give up the throne so readily, if I did not know that Luxa would never be found."

"We are in luck that he still does not remember the Underland, or else he might actually start looking for her," Stellovet said. "And how are your experiments working, Solovet?"

"Luxa cannot let the machine out of her sight. Hopefully she will be curious enough to submit willingly to it when I begin."

"When has Luxa ever let curiosity overcome her determination to survive?"

"True. We shall just have to experiment on her without her cooperation, then."

"See that you do. I feel Gregor will not rest until I provide the body of his beloved."

"Do you not want to accompany me?"

"You know that I would love to, but I am afraid I have a wedding to plan, an Overlander to murder, and the gnawers to frame for it. I am too busy."

"You know, it is Luxa's fault that Gregor is not yet dead."

"Give her an extra round with the machine for me," Stellovet said in a way that dismissed her grandmother.