"KISMET...!" Henry winced as the cry vibrated the walls around him before realizing it originated from his own mouth.
He was not in control of his body when his legs somehow lifted his weight from the floor and carried it over to her, before his strength left him and he collapsed, barely registering his face was pressing into bleached out, light grey fur.
She'll... get up, he thought, clutching her fur so hard his fingers began to hurt, she'll... get up any second now. She's resting, she was badly hurt, she has to... has to...
"G... get up", he mumbled without raising his gaze, and tightened the grip on her fur. "G... get UP!" Was he shaking her? Or was he trembling so hard she trembled with him? "G..."
Henry winced and let out a sharp cry as someone placed a paw on his back. "K... Kismet?" He twirled around, half expecting to see her face, the misted eye and the scar, and hear her...
"I'm... afraid not."
Henry held Ripred's yellow gaze for a full five seconds before registering it was him, and not – "Kis... met..."
His eye darted back over to her slumped over figure, he barely saw her in the dim light. She was not... breathing. Henry fixated all his senses on her, he focused until his ears rang and hurt and his head began to spin, yet there sounded only two heartbeats in the cave, two sets of breathing, two... two... why was it two? Henry reached to touch her, to shake her until she would wake up, wake up so that...
The few seconds that passed stretched into seeming eternity before a voice behind him at last spoke, loaded with more bitterness than Henry had ever heard. "She is... not getting up."
It was like something in him snapped, like a lock seamlessly falling shut into place, shackling his body and mind with its much too perfectly reasonable truth.
Henry opened his mouth yet not a single sound escaped it, he barely registered his own tears hitting the ground as he remained frozen in place, bent over her, despite what his senses told him, reaching to check.
There... was something wrong, his mind managed to process. This was not supposed to have happened. Something had gone wrong, something... someone had not done their part well enough. His plan had been so fool-proof, Henry thought. His plan had been fool-proof, if everything had gone as planned, why was this... why was she...
A jolt ran through his body as his gaze met his own trembling hand. He had seen them, Ripred and Kismet battling the Bane, the Bane who... Henry instinctively squeezed his eye shut as the image flashed before him, of the Bane and his claw in her throat. He had been there, seen it. He and... Ripred. Yet they had... his gaze met the puddle of Kismet's blood that had now spread to where he cowered, soaking the fur on his boots and the fabric of his pants.
They had... he had... done nothing.
"NO!" Ripred was far too dazed to dodge as Henry spun around, hitting him directly in the face with the back of his hand. "NO! NO! NO!" Henry rose to his feet and began lashing at the rat violently with bare fists nearly at random. "YOU!", he cried and disregarded the growing pain in his own joints and fingers, "YOU! YOU! YOU DIDN'T –!"
It took Henry several seconds of violent struggle to register Ripred had gotten a hold of his arms and held them in place so that the exiled prince could only writhe in his grasp, but not hit him anymore.
"Y... you...", he whimpered and at last seized fighting when the shaking of his own body overwhelmed him and he could barely keep himself standing. "You didn't..."
I didn't either, he thought, and the thought burned like salt in the fresh wound. I didn't do anything either.
His face was pressing into fur again. Fur drenched in tears, in blood. Fur that was not light grey – it was dark. His arms wrapped around Ripred so tightly he was certain the rat must have difficulties breathing, yet Henry didn't care.
He didn't care about what still went on outside this cave, about the Bane, the battle, the possible danger of someone finding them, not even about the future he cared in that moment – about what would happen next, about how they would carry on, how this would affect their plans, the outcome of the war – all he did was weep, desperately weep into the fur of the rat he had once attempted to stab in his sleep.
It was not Ripred who had failed, who had not acted as he should have. It was Henry. It was Henry who had stood idle, gawking at the Bane, while Ripred and Kismet had fought. While Kismet had suffered the consequence.
"I... I... I should have...", he barely managed to mumble, yet Ripred heard him regardless. In the blink of an eye a paw had closed around the fur collar of his vest and lifted him up, until his face was dangling before Ripred's. The rat wanted to seem stern, Henry thought, yet his face was drenched in pain. "You could not... have done anything."
Ripred's words hit Henry like a blow to the face. He blinked once, then opened his mouth to protest, but the rat screamed before he could utter a single word – "YOU COULD NOT HAVE DONE ANYTHING!"
"B... but I..." He could always do something. Henry dared peek a glance back at the lifeless shape of light grey fur behind him and clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms. "You can always do something", he mumbled, "always... always... if you assume you can't do something, what's the point in anything then?" His voice trembled yet he held his gaze on Ripred.
"Not this time, lad..." The rat slowly sat him down. "Not... this time."
"No."
Ripred's gaze rose to meet Henry's as he spoke. His jaw clenched so hard it hurt. "No. I don't believe that."
"Henry..."
"NO!"
Ripred winced, but Henry darted forward, latching onto his fur, shaking the rat so that he almost lost balance. "NO! NO! NO! Move your FAT ASS and DO SOMETHING! TELL ME what... what TO DO...!"
It was what she had taught him. He flashed back to her stern yet compassionate gaze after she had fished him out of that lake, to times when she had been the only thing between him and death. To what she had always preached, whenever his own apathy had overwhelmed him – keep doing, Henry, her voice whispered in his ear and he squinted, keep doing something, whatever it may be, or you might as well never do anything ever again.
Henry stiffened as Ripred's claws once more closed around his arms. "Something?" The rat's gaze darted behind, to meet the lifeless, light grey body, before fixating on Henry again. "Do... something. We will do... something, alright." Ripred's eyes darted over to the entrance of the cave and only now Henry heard it too – steps. Breaths. Someone was approaching, and by his echolocation it was a rat. No, two of them.
"What did you call it, back then?" Ripred nudged the hilt of Henry's sword. "A... ground coiler?"
Not a single of the rats had time to react, let alone put up any kind of fight, all the two who had by now reached the entrance to the cave perceived was the glimmer of a flaming blade, that darted at them like a fiery tornado, striking both down before they could bat an eye.
Neither Ripred nor Henry watched for where they struck, not this time. The exiled prince felt like he could almost be back in the Vineyard, where they had first performed this maneuver. Back before he had even met Kismet, before Hamnet's death, before... before he and Thanatos had worked out their trust issues.
Henry gritted his teeth harder. Perhaps it was best to remain in the here and now after all.
His foot dug into Ripred's side and the rat clutched his arm so hard it almost hurt as he spun like a frantic spinning top. The world around Henry was a confusing blur, his echolocation didn't work properly when he was moving this fast, but he thought he didn't need it now. He closed his eye, allowing his spinning blade to strike.
Screw the prophecy, he thought, gripping the handle even harder and attempting to suppress fresh tears – should I spot the Bane now, he dies on my sword. My sword and Ripred's claws.
It was only when the rat slowed his spinning when Henry began thinking again. He opened his eye and lowered his blade, supporting himself on Ripred until the world around him stood still again.
"They are retreating", Ripred mumbled, and Henry indeed saw what had formerly been a battlefield had cleared, only occasionally a rat ran past him, disappearing into a nearby tunnel opening, some towards Regalia, some in the opposite direction. Oh well, the Regalians could handle them, he thought and panted heavily from the fight, rubbing his aching eyes angrily to get the dried tears out, and extinguished his sword before raising his gaze to meet Ripred's. "It's... over?"
The rat nodded. "The Bane's army is retreating. What about your party?"
Henry hesitated. "I sent Howard with Twitchtip, Nike, and Thanatos ahead to the city, they're more useful there. But I –"
"– TWITCHTIP?!", Ripred froze in his tracks. "You couldn't just have said Twitchtip!"
"I... I did, we rescued her and Lapblood with Sixclaw from the Bane's prison, Splintleg, who had originally been tasked with guarding them, ended up helping us as well, but I'll explain in detail later." He sheathed his sword and climbed a small ledge to have a better view.
"Splintleg and Lapblood BOTH helped you?" Ripred scoffed, "how in the world did you manage that? Those two could never even be in the same room together, so much they hated each other's guts."
"It wasn't me, it was –" Henry broke off as his gaze met the entrance of the cave where he could, if he focused, still make out Kismet's... Whitespur's body.
"... of course." Ripred glanced at the floor, like he regretted asking. "Of course", he repeated, "it was always..."
Henry cut him off. "Lapblood and Splintleg will be gathering their own forces somewhere. But where is Luxa? Did you see where she went after –" He bit his lip, reliving the moment she had struck the Bane in an attempt to save Whitespur and Ripred.
The rat's tail twitched and pointed in a direction ahead. "She was driven further in, I believe. Let's go."
Something about the way he said that left Henry feeling he had wanted to add ...save someone we still can save, but the rat remained silent as he led the way. Neither of them felt the need to reiterate what fate had met the last member in Henry's party either.
They moved for maybe a minute before Ripred stopped so abruptly Henry nearly ran into him. "I can not believe this...", the rat mumbled but before the exiled prince could ask, Ripred pointed ahead to where the tunnel mounded into a large cave. The opening was high up in the air, maybe ten feet, and when Henry crept closer his eye widened in shock – below he saw the flickering of a torch, a torch in the hand of a human.
Yet when he had processed the scene fully, Henry's surprise only grew. In the middle of the cave below stood not one but two humans, face to face, from what he could make out staring at each other in bitter defiance – Luxa and Solovet.
"It is not on you to decide which path we take in this war."
Luxa only silently stared at her grandmother's stern face. "I am still the queen."
"Not yet. Not before you have turned sixteen. And if I recall correctly, your sixteenth birthday is not for another two years."
Luxa visibly clenched her jaw. "Yet you are not the queen either. And I am not a child, I recognize a contradictory command when I see it." She narrowed her eyes and Henry nervously teetered at the edge, attempting to distinguish a good moment to intervene.
Solovet will not leave her alive, Ripred's words rang in his ears, or so she will try. You can not allow her to succeed.
Henry had closed his hand around the rim of the opening so tightly he felt the stone dig into his palm. Ripred had not explained what reason Solovet could have to want Luxa dead before he had taken off, yet Henry had a feeling he already knew. An informant, Twirltongue had mentioned. A well-informed one, too.
"A contradictory command, you say?" Solovet scoffed. "I fail to see in what way it was contradictory to call for retreat, yet it hardly matters now." A shiver ran down Henry's spine at the ice in her stare. Yes, Solovet had always been stern, yet never... like this.
"You called for retreat despite the fact we were winning", Luxa shot back. He only saw her back yet Henry sensed unease radiating from her.
"Do not bother yourself trying to grasp the reason behind my commands", Solovet spat out, "You claim you are not a child, that you are fit to lead, yet your mind and heart are weak. They only follow you because you've been born with privilege. Had you been born to any other mother not a single of them would regard you with so much as a look."
"I –" Luxa took an involuntary step back, "I will not deny that I have been born into this role, yet all my life I've worked to become worthy of it. It... it saddens me you seem to not believe in me."
"Pah!" Solovet's jaw clenched and she took a step forward, "You've certainly tried, child. Yet from what it seems, you have not what it takes."
"And you think you do?"
Both granddaughter and grandmother winced and spun around to unbelievingly stare at the figure up in the tunnel opening. Henry lingered for a few heartbeats before finally dropping down.
"They've promised you a throne, have they not?" He almost casually strolled forward. "Surely you aren't fool enough to believe they will deliver it."
Luxa visibly tensed at the so familiar seeming words, yet Solovet only laughed. "They've promised many things, yet I am not by any means fool enough to believe they have any intention of delivering them. Not like... you, at the time, right, Henry?"
Now it was Henry's turn to freeze, yet only for a moment. "When have you recognized me? Back on the wall?"
"You may look different, but not as much as you believe, not to a keen eye." Her stare was condescending and cold. "Yet I am not surprised. You had always far too much confidence in yourself."
"Overconfidence has saved my life countless times, you know?"
"Fine." Solovet's gaze darted back and forth between Henry and Luxa. "And you allow him to fight for you?", she finally addressed her granddaughter, "after all he's done?"
Luxa moved not an inch, only stared past Solovet at the wall.
"Hah, and you truly wonder why I claim you to be weak? You can not do what is needed, you never could. It is not your fault, not really", she sighed, "it is they who have raised you to be soft-hearted, as soft-hearted as they all. Not a single of the weak-minded fools in this wretched city has the strength to do what has to be done!" Her eyes narrowed and she was nearly shouting, "Of peace they talk, of peace and making amends and helping who is supposed to be our enemy!"
Solovet took a step forward and raised her hand to grip the hilt of her sword. Henry saw it was shaking.
"It was perfect – the plague, it was the perfect weapon to eradicate the gnawers from the face of the Underland, yet none of you had the strength to use it. No, you went so far as to SEND THEM THE CURE! To APOLOGIZE! To CRAWL BEFORE THEM ON YOUR KNEES, begging for FORGIVENESS!" Henry stiffened under her sharp stare. "To condemn ME for CREATING IT!"
"It was not fair", Luxa mumbled, and Solovet let out something like a mix between a laugh and a scoff. "Fair? FAIR? Only a naive child would talk of FAIRNESS when faced with war. What have I ever done?" It was only for a short moment but Henry thought he spotted a spark of madness in her eyes. "What have I ever – all I have ever done was serve who I regarded my people. Yet they – you – do not want my services, apparently. You were to WEAK to use them."
Henry prevented himself from raising his own hand to the hilt of his sword. Had I heard this speech two years ago, would I have agreed? The thought he most likely would have, unsettled him greatly.
"It was easy convincing them I was on their side. That I hated the fools of Regalia as much as the gnawers, because it is the truth. The silver one, she believes herself so smart it is hard to bear", Solovet shook her head. "But what good is an unreliable ally? I hardly have to tell you though." She shot a glance at Henry.
"Whitespur's appearance posed a temporary issue, but I believe that to be resolved now."
A wave of fresh anger shot through Henry yet before he could begin yelling at her, or ask how she knew of Whitespur's fate, she continued – "Once the Bane is killed by the warrior the war will be won. And once the war will be won the gnawers will learn their place. The humans will be the one and only strong civilization of the Underland, of that I will make sure. An era of glory awaits, I am all but saddened you will never live to see it."
"You will have them, the gnawers", Luxa mumbled, "chased to the uncharted lands?"
"Maybe", Solovet scoffed. "Or maybe that is what those with softer hearts would do."
Henry exchanged a glance with Luxa. "You... you can't be serious..."
"The uncharted lands can be returned from. The problem will only be solved if the gnawers vanish from the face of the Underland – for good. How did that saying go?", she tilted her head, "The Underland is not big enough for humans and gnawers. Only for one of us."
A few seconds of shocked silence followed her words, before Henry had collected his thoughts enough to speak. "You're tricking the trickster rat, honestly, were it not such a heinous plan I'd be impressed."
"You should be", she narrowed her eyes at him. "You of all people should be. You know, I've always thought you were the one who could perhaps grow to be strong as well. You, and Hamnet before you. You both had strength in you, yet you both in the end succumbed to your own weakness. Perhaps there is no worthy successor for me after all."
"Hamnet was not WEAK!" Both Henry and Solovet winced as Luxa stepped forward. "Strength does not equal ruthlessness, compassion and the will to forgive do not make you weak!", she continued, and Solovet's eyes narrowed. "Certainly YOU think so."
"I think so too." Both of their heads turned in Henry's direction as he spoke, grimly holding Solovet's gaze. "I'll admit it took me... a while to figure that out, but where would we really be, without those we consider weak?" He tugged at the rim of his shirt. "Where would we be without silk from spinners, without wares from crawlers, without the alarm system we can thank the flutterers for – even the shiners are useful occasionally, with their light. It can be hard to believe, I know, but I've learned everyone finds a way to contribute. And I've learned it the hard way."
Solovet's eyes were mere slits. "You disappoint me, Henry. Yet it hardly matters." She turned back to Luxa. "This is not personal, believe me, had you been of low birth, I would not wish you any harm – but the queen can not return to Regalia."
Henry's hand was at his sword in a heartbeat. "You would kill your own granddaughter? It is the crown you want – well, how many of them do you think would follow a queenslayer?"
"Me?" Solovet shifted before retreating a few steps and pulling something from her back pocket. "Oh no. It was... a tragic incident. I had tried to protect her, but the gnawers had gotten to Queen Luxa before I have. Being the monsters they are, they of course took her life."
She raised what Henry only now recognized as some sort of whistle to her mouth. "Goodbye, Luxa – rest assured you will be missed. I truly wish it would not have to come to this, but as I know you, you would never abdicate. Never allow what needs to be done to be done. Nothing personal."
Henry had drawn his sword before the long, high-pitched sound of the whistle permeated his ears. He instantly registered movement from all sides, and it took the rats mere seconds to begin streaming in. He leaped in front of Luxa who had also drawn her sword now – "Ignite it!", he yelled and ignited his own sword before swinging it at an attacking rat, wishing he had drawn Charos instead. Yet to his horror Henry perceived Luxa shriek as the blade was knocked out of her hands only seconds later.
"Get behind me!", he yelled and swung his sword around frantically, before turning to spin in a circle. His eyes searched for Solovet, yet she was not participating in the battle. She stood with her back on the wall and though the rats were not attacking her, she oozed nervousness. Henry squinted and focused his hearing – yes, she was yelling something. He focused to make it out against the cries of the rats – she was yelling for Ajax.
I can't take them, not all on my own, Henry thought as he forced Luxa back to a different wall and positioned himself before her. He could barely think as he fended off rat after rat. Where is Ripred, he managed to ask himself, had he not meant to –
A large, dark shadow darted out of a tunnel opening and above their heads, for a second Henry rejoiced thinking Ripred had finally arrived with the fliers, yet when he looked closer he saw rust-red fur, not black or golden. The flier scooped Solovet up instead, to carry her away and out of sight – and with her, her torch.
His heart instantly sank as they found themselves in absolute darkness and he felt Luxa's grip on his backpack tighten. She was shaking. "I've got you!", he yelled, his echolocation illuminated the room perfectly, yet he sensed Luxa's unease as she ducked behind him. "Don't leave –" In the same moment a rat tackled and threw him to the floor, and for a moment he lost sight of Luxa. "LUXA!", he screamed, drawing Mys and slicing the throat of his attacker in the same heartbeat. "LUXA!"
There she was, a couple paces ahead. Her scream permeated his ears and Henry sprung to his feet the moment he perceived the rat leap.
A jolt of sharp pain ran through his lower body in the same moment as he heard a familiar cry. Ripred made it, he thought as he desperately clung to Luxa whom he had shoved to the side so hard she had nearly stumbled into the wall. Then the pain numbed his mind and he slipped into the oblivion of unconsciousness.
Henry registered the dull yet imminent pain before he registered the soft light, coloring the ceiling above his head in ghastly, dancing patterns. It's water, he thought, the light must originate from some sort of water body. Only when his head had cleared so much he could use his echolocation he processed he heard two heartbeats.
He cried from pain as he jolted up and fell backward again, clenching his stomach. As he removed his hand from what he now identified as a bandage it was colored red from blood.
"I thought it had killed you."
Henry's head darted around and he froze as his eyes met those of Luxa – large and round. She stared at him from where she sat, a couple feet away, with her legs pulled to her chest. "I really thought it had killed you", she repeated and finally averted her gaze. She sat on a shallow stone and behind her, Henry made out the glistening light of...
This time he combatted the pain and rose in confusion, thinking he was dreaming. "We're... here?"
Luxa nodded. "It was surprisingly close. Ripred set us up for this. He gave Aurora directions, and said we'd be safe here. That you have to rest, away from battle. No matter what you say."
Henry unbelievingly stared at the Spout that stretched behind Luxa and then looked up to see the opening of the secret tunnel. "Here...", he mumbled before lying back down.
"Here", she replied, and he registered she was still not looking at him.
For a moment they remained silent, and Henry closed his eye, thinking whatever had her talking to him, he would not disturb it. But then his curiosity won over – "Where... is Aurora, actually? And Ripred, and Death?"
Luxa shifted. "Aurora is here, she is out keeping watch." She glanced around, as if in search of her bond. "Back after we had gotten you out of immediate danger Ripred asked Thanatos to help him with something. They would catch up soon, he said. I... I had to get you further away from there, from the danger."
Henry raised his hand to touch the bandage. "Did you...?"
"Howard once showed me how", she mumbled. "I... I did the best I could." She kneaded her hands almost nervously.
"You...", he hesitated before averting his gaze and lowering his hand. "You really bothered? And that even though it would have been better for us all, had I stayed dead?"
Luxa notably winced. "I... I didn't... I..." Henry knew he could make things easier for her, but at this point he didn't know why he should bother. "It is what you said", he simply stated, "and honestly, you're probably right. It would have been better for you all had I stayed dead."
"That's not true."
Henry's head jerked around to her, even though she had spoken so silently he didn't know if a human with normal hearing would have understood.
She was resting her chin on the top of her knees and her hands were firmly locked, yet her eyes were on him. In a long time she hadn't looked at him with so much clarity.
"Had you remained dead... I would have died, back there." Her words, though silently spoken, rang in his ears like she had screamed them. "No, I would have died back in the trap. Or perhaps, in the Vineyard of Eyes. No –", she raised her head a little, "Had you stayed dead, Aurora and I would have fallen to the... serpents."
Henry's hand automatically darted up to cup the right side of his face and Luxa took a deep breath. "You know what I asked myself the most, over the course of however long it's been since we've last met here? Why I refused to pursue the idea further that you might be the Death Rider? I've been thinking... I...", she sighed, "It wasn't because I couldn't recognize you, not after you've appeared to our aid in the jungle. I always thought it was because I didn't want to recognize you."
"Yeah, I get it." Henry shut his eye.
"No, you don't", she called, "You don't! Because the thing that had me wondering most, the one inconsistency that made it so hard to believe, was that I could for the life of me not understand... not wrap my head around... why! Why you... YOU... would come back to me in such a manner. Why YOU would play your part as the Death Rider, to give me a reason to... to...", she swallowed, "to trust you again!"
Henry's eye flung back open and he stared at her helplessly slumped over figure and her large, pleading, and much too tired eyes.
"You... what?", he thought he must have misheard, but no. "You... THAT was what made it hard to – wait, I don't understand..." Out of all the reasons her denial episode could have had, it had supposed to have been...
"Yeah, I don't get it." She averted her eyes and her tone hardened. "You... you chose to betray me, back then, so why would you go back on that now? Come back to... to... haunt me, even after I've somehow managed to come to terms with the fact you had supposed to have decided it was your path to betray me. So why?" She looked back at him and in her eyes he saw angry defiance. "That's all I want to know. All I've... ever really wanted to know."
Henry's mouth stood agape as his mind reeled. "You... wait, you think I..." She was the first to avert her eyes to the floor. Hadn't he seen it glistening in the glow of the water, he would have missed the tear that rolled down her cheek.
"Luxa, I –" The familiar desire to just hug her overcame him and he clenched his fists before rising carefully. "I never... I didn't... didn't do that because I wanted to hurt you." The moment the words escaped his mouth he realized how stupid they sounded. "What I mean is...", he hesitated, attempting to find a way to say it truthfully yet also possible to comprehend. "I didn't betray you because of something you did wrong."
Luxa looked back up, her eyes shone with tears and Henry bit his lip. "Look, there were many factors that played a part in why I decided to do what I did, and I know this sounds somewhat silly, but I never meant for you to get hurt. It had nothing to do with you."
He felt a swell of guilt overcome him as he recognized in her eyes she had so far felt responsible for what he had done.
"Look, I... I don't know how much this will help, but if you want, I can tell you the whole story. From the beginning. With all the how's and why's and when's and but's. Okay?"
Luxa hesitated for a moment, then she nodded. "Okay."
"Huh, looks like sending the two of you ahead had a positive side effect." Both Henry and Luxa instantly jerked up at the sound of Ripred's voice and the exiled prince realized he had not paid attention to his surroundings.
"You could say that", Luxa mumbled before she rose from where she had lied next to Henry. His arm she had clung to felt empty after she had let go.
"You two finally gotten to talk stuff out?" Thanatos appeared on his other side and Henry briefly leaned his face against that of the flier. "Yeah. We've had... stuff to talk about, alright." He smiled in her direction.
Luxa had not interrupted a single time throughout his tale, she had taken in his first encounter with Tonguetwist, her promises and tales, how she had then brought him the proposition from Gorger to deliver Gregor to them in exchange for peace, and how he had believed the rat king like a fool, and then paid the price.
And all she had done after he had seized speaking was lie down beside him, to cling to his arm like it was a lifeline and quietly weep, for as long as she had needed to. He had let her, of course he had.
So many things he had still wanted to say – mainly how he was sorry, how all he had done in his time as an outcast had been to make amends, that he would give his life for her in an instant – yet somehow none of it had needed to be said. They had never needed many words, he thought, and maybe they wouldn't anymore again, from now on.
"I'm glad. Also that your injury is not keeping you down", was all Thanatos responded and Henry smiled, until he noticed what the flier was carrying.
The exiled prince released a sharp breath and his head began to spin again. Even Luxa's suppressed shriek he registered only on the side.
"I could not leave her there", Ripred mumbled as he lied Whitespur's body out on the beach, close to the water.
"H... how...", Luxa stammered and fell to her knees between Aurora and Henry. The golden bat stared at Whitespur with large, unbelieving eyes as well. "She... no..."
Henry felt himself beginning to shake again. "It's not... fair", he mumbled before falling forward, towards her. Luxa caught his arm and he buried his face in her shoulder. Yet as aghast and sorrowful as they all were, none grieved as Ripred.
He sat next to her, side by side, for what amounted to full ten minutes, staring out onto the glowing Spout. None of them spoke, Henry and Luxa had huddled together, their bonds had settled with their heads on their laps. The exiled prince was painfully aware this was the only quiet moment he'd get to truly grieve in this chaotic, uncertain time, and he allowed it, allowed the searing pain to permeate him, allowed the tears to flow.
It was Luxa who broke the silence at last. "I think we should..." She carefully untangled herself from Henry and Aurora and stood up. "Should put her to rest here."
The exiled prince took a deep breath and wiped his tears before he followed her. "Yes. It's a good place to... to rest."
"I only wish I..." Luxa stood before Whitespur now, "I would have gotten to know her better. All I can say is, that in the short time I've known her, I've... I've... grown to trust her." There was no higher compliment from Luxa's mouth than that.
"You and I both", Aurora behind her mumbled, "she saved your life, and I will never forget her for what she's done for us."
"You should have gotten to know her better." Henry put an arm around Luxa's shoulder as he stood by her side. "You'd have had so much fun together. She...", he wiped at his face to suppress more tears, "I sought her out to be my teacher, more than a year ago, but she was so much more. She... without her, I would have died more times than I can count, without her I would have never gotten over the loss of my eye."
He held his gaze fixed on her as Thanatos at his side spoke – "She had so much wisdom, so much skill, I had grown to admire her greatly. I never expressed it, yet now I wish I would have. We shared... pain of similar kind, and somehow that made it better." He paused for a moment, "She never wanted the crown, but she would have deserved it."
"She wanted to make peace." It was all Ripred said, and somehow it was all he needed to say.
It did not take long to discover a fitting cave, right by the beach. Thanatos carried her body over and lied it out, then Luxa and Ripred began filling the entrance up with loose stones. Henry they ordered to lie down to go easy on his injury.
Within minutes the cave was sealed. The exiled prince stared at the freshly erected wall for a moment before he slowly rose from where he had watched, despite the sting in his stomach, took a step forward and drew Mys.
"It'll serve as reminder", he stepped back again and stared at the crossed scythe he'd carved into a large stone in the middle of the wall. "Here lies Whitespur", he mumbled, "she who sought to make peace."
They remained in front of the grave for another minute before Ripred moved. "We must not linger any longer", he mumbled and turned away. "There is still a war going on, and still a decision to make." He regarded Luxa, "whether you can even afford to set foot in Regalia, with what Solovet announced earlier."
Luxa's jaw clenched. "I will go to Regalia and I will publicly announce her betrayal. She can not hurt me from within a prison cell."
"Hey, easy, easy", Henry put a hand on her shoulder, not without ending up supporting himself on her before finally sitting down. "Who says you can get to the council before whoever is working with her can get to you? We currently don't know anything other than that Solovet has betrayed us. Maybe it's best for you to remain out here until she is dealt with."
"I agree", Aurora sounded behind her, "we can not trust anyone except the few we know we can trust, right now."
"But I can't just –" Luxa gazed at Henry defiantly, "I can't sit idle and watch her drive my city into ruin!"
"Sometimes it is best to wait, and act when your action is guaranteed to have an effect, Your Majesty", Ripred sounded. "Maybe you and Aurora should stay out here with the lad. Be our eyes on the outside, so to say."
"I'll keep her safe", Henry assured and Luxa ignored Ripred's "well actually, aren't YOU hurt?" and instead fixated on him. "You... and me? Out here? Just like –"
"Just like old times", Henry managed a grin and this time she returned it, before turning back to Ripred. "You will handle things for me in the city? And send for me if you need something? You should also maybe get that scratch looked at", she pointed at his face and Ripred mindlessly brushed it. "Oh, that's whatever."
"About the others", Luxa hesitated, "about Gregor, I..."
The rat chuckled. "Don't worry, I've got you covered", he waited not for Luxa to interrupt him, "And I'll have an eye on your other loved ones too if you have an eye on the lad here for me. So that he doesn't overexert himself again. Promise?"
Henry lied while Luxa, and Aurora silently sat beside him on the beach, before Whitespur's grave, and watched Thanatos with Ripred on his back flying higher and higher circles until the rat could reach the entrance to the turtle tunnel. He heaved himself in and had disappeared within seconds.
"I want to say I find it hard to believe that Solovet would...", Luxa pressed her lips together before glancing down at him, "do you find it awful of me to not be surprised?"
Henry shrugged. "No. Honestly, I... I used to greatly admire her but... one of us grew up, I guess, while the other... grew down? I'm not sure how to describe it."
Luxa giggled a little. "It is so much easier than I imagined it would be. To... to laugh with you again."
"I'd honestly given up hope, at this point."
"You do make things easier for me", she pondered as she dug her hand into the sand. "It won't be hard convincing the council to pardon you, once they've heard the story you told me earlier. The fact that you've spent two years in exile already should also help. They can hardly sentence you to more, for attempting to make peace between our species. Granted, it wasn't the best idea ever, the way you did it, but it's the effort that counts." She smiled. "Had you told me about it, I would have told you you were an idiot."
Henry wanted to laugh with her, but he suddenly realized as easy as she thought things were now – there was still something else he needed to tell her.
Thanatos landed in the same moment as Luxa reached for her backpack. "I'm... sorry I took this without permission", she mumbled before rummaging through her bag and stretching out her hand in his direction – "Though... you did offer it to me, a while ago."
Henry blinked and stared in surprise at the item in her hand. "My... dagger? Wait – YOU took it?"
"I...", she averted her gaze to the floor. "I thought it would make things awkward to say I'd changed my mind, so I just..."
Henry finally managed a smile, though pushed her hand back. "You keep it. I have Mys now and... you've earned it, honestly. Maybe, if you so want, you can remember me through it."
Luxa's head shot up. "Re... remember?"
This time it was Henry who had to avert his gaze. "Luxa... I'm not going back to Regalia with you."