The routine faded from novelty to reality. He would train, sometimes helping instruct the recruits, before finding something else to do around town. He learned a lot about life in the Underland every day, but Gregor always made sure to separate out a little bit of time for himself.

There were plenty of places to be alone in the city. Rooftops, alleyways, small outposts. On the day Gregor saw the fliers, he had found a little platform mined out of the rock at the very top of the Fount, by the reservoir. He was thinking about where he would go for lunch (there actually was a difference which dining hall one attended in the city). Debating whether he wanted to eat cabbage two days in a row, he sensed a pattern that had been conditioned into his ears quite a while ago: the flapping of wings.

Gregor stood, straining his ears. And then, the largest formation of fliers he had ever seen came zooming over him. Hundreds of large bats- enough air being moved by wide wings to ruffle his hair as they passed. He took it as a sign. He would return to Regalia alongside the bats. The news he was getting from the few couriers indicated that something big was about to happen there, and for once it wasn't a war.

The council had been making requests for an entire set of things that hadn't been seen for a generation- certain decorations, foods, and fabric. An especially ardent supporter had flat-out told Gregor that they were almost certainly preparing for a royal wedding.

And having already read up on the traditions and requirements, Gregor knew that he would be needed soon. The ceremony happened right after the marriage was approved by tribunal. If he passed his examination, Gregor would go through the ceremony only a few doors down from the tribunal hall. A brief appearance at a reception and then the newly married couple would be shooed away so the guests could start the real party, while the newly-wed were expected to 'consummate, with all proper haste'.

Regardless of how the written law expected them to proceed, Gregor knew at least the formal parts of the marriage were supposed to be rushed. The humans of the Underland were in a precarious situation, and he understood that any amount of delay could get either part of a couple killed. Even love itself would have to move fast, in a race against death.

Gregor would meet that challenge himself. Seeing that the fliers were landing on the beach, he started to head down there. It wasn't until he jumped right over the heads of a crowd of people on the stairs that he realized he was running, faster than he ever had before.

Luxa had only managed to steal a couple of hours away from her duties, but she decided to make the best of it. Aurora had been requesting a brush-down, a relative rarity for bats, who naturally had short coats.

"I am glad you could struggle your way into this," Aurora said. "We so rarely can meet unburdened."

"You speak it true," Luxa said ruefully. "But at least ours is good work."

She started brushing her bond, only having to lightly comb through the fuzzy fur. Despite the short length, Luxa supposed it at least felt somewhat like a massage. Vikus had been a large proponent of them, especially combined with regular gymnastic conditioning. Even after his nerves had been damaged, Vikus had tried his best to return to normal. By the end, the only part he could secure was a massage.

"Peace, Luxa," Aurora chided in her low voice. "We are at peace."

Luxa realized that she had been pulling too hard and slowed down. She was not sure that peace was here to stay. The enemies had been routed, but there were no treaties, and no proof that they were entirely eliminated as a threat. She needed to see them gone with her own eyes. She could not afford to be surprised again- to be taken from her blind side.

"Is it truly the right time? Luxa asked Aurora. Perhaps asking herself too.

"Forgive the over-used phrase, but there is no time greater than the present," Aurora said. "Hesitating even a moment could result in it never happening."

Luxa hugged Aurora tight around the neck. The flier was speaking from experience. She had lost a mate suddenly in battle, and then her unborn pups soon afterward.

"You will not try again?" she asked her bond.

"I could not imagine it."

The fliers had very particular ideas about loss. Even as bonds, there were facets to it that Luxa could not fathom. Even so, Aurora was right when she said there was no benefit to waiting now that things had reached this point.

Midway through a brushstroke, Aurora's hair stood up straight as needles and her head swiveled.

"Sorry," Luxa said. "I did not know that was painful."

"No, I heard something. Many things, actually."

Luxa had heard nothing herself. It must have been flier-talk.

"What do they say?"

"We are home."

Luxa and Aurora barreled out of their room, trying not to skid on the stone as they got in position to take flight. Her newest guards followed, giving her a respectable amount of space. In the air, Aurora headed directly to the source of the sound. They did not even exit Regalia proper before the origins were made visible. There were hundreds of fliers returning to their bonds in Regalia, a mottled cloud of shadowy color sweeping into the city. Luxa could not hear the words they chattered eat each other but she could imagine the joy they felt in that moment.

Or at least she thought she could only imagine. But she saw someone on the back of a flier passing by and did not have to imagine anymore. He sat alertly at one flier, his dark eyes searching the area around him alertly, before locking onto her own. Gregor had surprised her by appearing before she could even send the official summons, and his smile was part teasing and part earnest.

Even Aurora was surprised, and it took all of Luxa's willpower not to hop off of her back and leap to Gregor. By the time Aurora had looped back and pulled alongside him, Luxa sufficiently regained the Queenly affect she needed in public, especially at a moment as historic as this.

"Greetings, Gregor," she said, wanting to reach out to him, despite the distance between them. "We are gladdened to see you and the fliers return."

"Hey," Gregor said. "Good to be back." He understood the requirements of the situation.

While many of the rescued fliers had split off earlier in the journey to return to their ancestral home, there were still plenty of bonded nats arriving in the city. They left the humans who had assisted them on the expedition, as well as a few mice who had served as scent-guides.

Gregor's flier was one of those that had to descend and let him off on a rooftop. She was going off to look for her bond. Below them in the streets, Regalia had suddenly come alive, crowds of people pushing out into the open, trying to get a view, trying to see their old friends.

Already, some soldiers on the walls were being reunited with their old life-partners. Their reactions were absolutely ecstatic. It was as if they were seeing their dearest friends revived before their eyes. Luxa had remembered the heavy curtain of dark that had pulled around Regalia when so many of the fliers were found to have been vanished, or killed. Against all odds, the survivors had been found and returned.

Aurora landed at the building Gregor had been abandoned at. Under the watchful eyes of her new guards, Luxa could only offer her hands to Gregor for the briefest greeting. Just touching her fingers to him seemed to make them shake.

"How was the Fount?" she asked. "The last messenger said there had been fighting."

Gregor turned and she saw the blackened wound that had been ripped open on the right side of his head. She found herself seizing him by the shoulder and turning his head so she could get a better look at it.

"Ow," Gregor said. "I'm still in recovery."

Luxa could not immediately find her words. It had only been a tear, by the looks of it. Even still, any blow to the head was capable of snuffing one's light. Gregor had been a hair's breadth from death, but he showed nothing for it now than an uneasy smile.

"It's not as bad as you think," Gregor said. "I barely even felt it."

"I know you did not," she said, releasing him. "That is what concerns me most."

Bein reminded of the source of the wound, Gregor's face suddenly went still, as it did sometimes. Luxa did not know exactly what caused it, but she suspected he was being pulled away into a world of nightmarish recollection. It had happened at least once a day when she was with him. Knowing that they were not positive memories, Luxa always tried to head his lapses off.

"Would you do me the pleasure of dining with me?" she asked, stepping closer and speaking just a little louder.

Gregor's eyes refocused on her, leaving the reverie behind.

"Tonight?"

"Yes, along with the council and some of our friends."

His smile was back.

"Sounds special," he remarked.

"If whatever peril occurred at the Fount has not changed your resolve, it will be," Aurora said.

"Is this the Declaration?" Gregor asked. "You already introduced me to the council?"

"Know you each step of the Code?" Luxa was surprised. "I may not have to explain much to you."

Gregor held a finger in the air as if trying to recall something.

"First, the presiding Royal presents a potential candidate to the council. After the council approves the choice, the formal declaration occurs in which all parties confirm the plan. Then the tribunal occurs, and if I pass that then the presentation, along with exchange of rings, followed by the celebration event..."

Gregor's words trailed off as his mind went to what would come after that. Luxa smiled at the one place he seemed to hold back on.

"Soon," she said, wanting to touch him once again, to reassure him with her own hands that he was not the only one who was thinking of it.

The amount of fliers circulating around the city was only increasing. It seemed that the fliers who had once sequestered themselves underground were now taking to the air. Through the swirl of flight, Luxa could see a concentration of bats forming near the High Hall.

"I am needed, Gregor."

Gregor turned, seeing the arches of the palace mobbed by the returning bats.

"Wow," he joked. "Looks like one hell of a traffic jam."

Luxa found herself laughing. Her time in New York had been brief, but it had been more than enough to understand just how aggravating the congested streets could be.

Checking to make sure that her guards weren't looking too closely, Luxa pecked Gregor on his cheekbone before saying farewell.

"Fly you high," Gregor said, as amicably as he could under the circumstances.

Aurora took off for the High Hall. Luxa kept her eyes on Gregor as he stood alone. Was she selfish in taking him away from his home? He seemed isolated on the roof, and Luxa felt no small amount of guilt.