The Banished

Chapter 8

"You look of ill health."

"Thanks."

"I say it more as a question," Luxa said she looked over her guard that had just entered. "Are you okay?"

"I haven't been getting much sleep, no."

"And why is that, do you suppose?"

"I have spent much time with that child. I-"

"Oh, Overlander." She turned back to the table in front of her, shaking her head. "You need not worry about him any longer."

"No?"

"No. The orphanage will care for him."

"The orphanage."

"Well, yes. Who else would?"

"The orphanage overflows as it stands now."

"And would one child cause the whole structure to collapse?"

"Quite possibly."

Gregor had found Luxa seated in her dining hall, unaccompanied other than Hazard, who was seated across from her, and Aurora, who fluttered her wings in the corner at the sound of them fighting.

"You are a woman in many aspects, Overlander. Overly dramatic to the bone."

He just stared at her. "You cannot tell me, Luxa, that there is not a problem with orphans currently."

"There is, I do not deny. There always has been. Orphans are quite frequent here. Your parents go off to war and, should they return, lucky you. And if they should not, the they died fighting for a cause much greater than us all."

He shook his head at her. "It's still not right."

"Did you hear the word right out of my mouth or any form of it?" Luxa took a moment to eat whatever it was on her plate before look back up at him. "I grieve for those children, I do, but I cannot rescue them all. When they come of age, many will join the military and be taken care of that way. Until that time, they must deal however they find fit."

"Luxa-"

"You were late," she told him then. "We ate without you. Come, take a seat. And hurry. There is much to accomplish today."

Sighing, he headed over to the table, taking his seat next to Hazard out of habit, his plate awaiting him there. When he was scheduled to be with her early in the morning, Luxa always scheduled for him to eat with her and her younger cousin before they began. Requesting an extra plate at a meal was of no big deal, as Hazard was a teenage boy; many would just assume it for him.

"What do you think of it then, Hazard?"

"Overlander-"

"Do you think that we should send him to the orphanage?" Gregor spoke right over his queen, focusing his eyes on her cousin instead. "Or do you think there is a better solution?"

"I was an orphan, Luxa, and you took me in," Hazard pointed out.

"We are blood, of kin. I cannot just take in every young boy that is in need of a family."

"Maybe the boy is related to Gregor," Hazard said then, tone even as he stared at his cousin. "You told me the child is a Halflander, yes?"

Gregor knew what Hazard meant, but he also knew how Luxa took the statement. Hazard only meant that as he and the child were both Overlanders, there was a possibility that they shared lineage somewhere down the line. An aunt or uncle. He thought of the world above as the world down under. Everyone in the Underland knew each other in a roundabout kinda way.

Still, Luxa was her own person entirely. She took it as a quip about him possibly fathering the child, which of course set her off. As Gregor and Hazard watched, she stood from the table, tossing a cloth napkin down at her plate.

"Luxa-"

"Come, Aurora," Luxa said then, this time getting to be the one to speak over Gregor. "There is much to attend to today. When you are finished, Overlander, I believe you have patrol duty."

"I do not. I'm supposed to-"

"Things change," she told him simply as she and her flier disappeared behind a curtain.

For a moment, both boys at the table were silent. Then Hazard looked to Gregor.

"I did not mean to upset her. I only intended to-"

"You know your cousin," he said with a shake of his head. "It's always something with her. And she calls me the woman. Name me then, Hazard, the last time I stormed out of a place?"

"I cannot. Luxa, however, does it quite frequently when dealing with the two of us."

"Yes. A trait from her childhood, perhaps, as I am sure she has done it for a long time to many more important people than us."

"A Halflander and an Overlander," Hazard said with a shake of his head. "It is not hard to find more valuable people down below."

"Not hard at all," Gregor agreed with a solemn shake of his head.

"So are you going to patrol then? As she suggested?"

"She did not suggest. She ordered." He shook his head. "However, if no one, but her knows of it, I basically have a free day, yes?"

Hazard grinned. "A day off."

"Exactly."

"Then can we-"

"Finish your breakfast, Hazard," Gregor told him, moving to do the same with his own. "You need much energy to sneak out of a palace."

"But Gregor," he protested then. "I have many studies today."

"That is why it is called sneaking, Hazard. We will not use a flier. We will find our own way out and then both have a free day."

"Won't Luxa find out?"

"It is a gamble, granted, but one that we have taken before and won."

"One that we have taken before and lost."

"Then do you wish not to go? You can go attend to your studies if you wish. I shall not stop you."

"No, I want to go."

"Then we will go," Gregor said then, nodding at the boy. Hazard just smiled back at him, moving to stand. "After we finish eating, Hazard."

"But if we leave now-"

"I am already sneaking you out of the palace," Gregor pointed out. "I do not wish for her to be on my head about your eating habits as well."

"Are the streets of the Overland like this?"

Gregor glanced around, taking in the livestock and dirty people milling around. "Uh, not where I live. Or lived. But in other parts of the world, sometimes. And in the old days, everything was this way, I am sure."

"Oh." Hazard walked even pace with the guard, taking a moment to admire the hilt of Gregor's sword, the light shining off it just so to attract his attention. "You have no idea how lucky you are, Gregor. Luxa wants you to fight."

"She does not want me to fight, Hazard, as much as she knows that I must. And if I must fight, why nto it be for her?"

"My father was a great general," Hazard said then. "Do you not think it is in my blood then?"

"Fighting is in your blood for many reasons," Gregor said slowly, thinking not only of Hamnet, but also of Solovet. "But you know what is also in it?"

"What?"

"Peace."

"Is not."

"You have as much of Vikus in you as you do his wife."

Hazard shook his head. "I never quite liked Solovet."

"It is not right to speak ill of the dead."

"And why not? They are dead, are they not? What can they do to stop us? Arise from their graves? Solovet has no grave. And if the gnawers were smart, her body is in so many pieces, it could never be put back together."

"That is your grandmother."

"My grandmother was a horrible person."

"Not horrible," Gregor sighed as they walked along through the crowded streets, a Halflander and Overlander easily recognizable. "Just…driven."

"Driven."

"Solovet was driven to do her job. At all costs. Even her own life. And though that is not a quality that I would want in myself, it is still respectable. If only a little."

"You disliked her as much as I."

"And what do you remember then, Hazard? Of those days?"

"Much."

"I find it unlikely. You were sprung into this world after living in the jungle for much of your life. I am certain that it is all a blur."

"And I am certain you would be wrong," Hazard argued, as he so frequently did, "You were introduced to Regalia suddenly. Do you remember it?"

"I was older than you."

"By very little."

"By enough to count."

The teen shook his head. "You are almost as bad as speaking with Luxa."

"Almost?"

"Almost."

Grinning at that as he sidestepped a woman in his path, Gregor said, "You give your cousin little credit."

"You give her too much."

"Perhaps," Gregor agreed. "Bt she cares for you greatly."

"You as well."

"Yes, of course," Gregor said with a nod of his head. "But you more."

"She only wishes for me to do exactly what she says, when she says it."

"Luxa wishes for us all to behave that way, Hazard. She is queen. She believes it is her right to tell everyone exactly what to do and then watch it get done."

"And isn't it?"

It was then that Hazard took notice of the path upon Gregor was leading him and looked up at the older man with hope in his eyes.

"Are we headed to the east wall?"

Gregor made a face, staring at him. "We are not. Nor shall we ever together. If I wished to be murdered by the queen, Hazard, I would find a much more subtle way to go about it."

"I am a man," he said then, puffing out his chest. In the Underland, he very much was. "If I wish to go, I can."

"Then go, Hazard," Gregor said. "I will not stop you. I will not join you, but I will not stop you."

"Okay then."

"But know this. It will be on your own money."

That got the teen to groan. "Gregor, you know that I have no money."

That was true enough. Hazard's every need was met at the palace, as were Luxa's orders. By the same token however, that also meant that he had no need for a job and never found a true means to support himself.

"And whose fault is that?"

"You have money," Hazard said then, nodding at his friend. "You can lend me some."

"You have no job. With what expectation would I have for you to pay me back?"

"Then you could give me the money."

"You are easily recognizable," Gregor pointed out then. "When it works its way back to the queen that you were there, it will eventually come out where you got the money from."

"It would be none of her business. She cannot judge me. Not when she does what she does with you."

"I do not pay her and she does not me."

"So?"

Gregor groaned. "Maybe another time we can discuss this more, yes? Right now though, we are at our destination."

Hazard frowned as they came to a stop in front of a tiny shop. "Are you buying something?"

"Not exactly," Gregor said before setting off inside. Hazard was quick to follow, though all he found on the inside was what he had expected to. A shop. They sold many market items, like fruit and vegetables.

"What are we doing here?" Hazard asked the older man. "Gregor?"

Ignoring him, the older boy headed towards the back of the shop, where Hazard saw a curtain partitioning off another room. Tossing a coin of some value to the shop owner, Gregor headed back there without a second thought. Hazard was quick to follow.

The excitement Hazard had about some kind of woman being back there was broken up when he found only men. Other guards, it appeared. There was a spot opened at a table and Gregor quickly took it. It only took Hazard a moment to realize what was going on.

Gregor was gambling.

Rolling his eyes, Hazard took a better look around the darkly lit room before finding a chair over in the corner to sit in. So much for a fun day.

"Come now, Overlander," one of the men said as Gregor was dealt into whatever kind of game they were playing. Hazard couldn't tell from where he was sitting. "The queen let go of your cock long enough for you to come by?"

Hazard frowned at the vulgarity of the words, but Gregor hardly paid them any mind.

"I am off duty, as the rest of you are," he said simply as he reached into his pocket, quickly producing a pouch full of coins. The royal guards were paid handsomely in comparison to many in Regalia. Still, most of Gregor's money went to waste, as he hardly had any use for any of it. He was much like Hazard in the sense that Luxa took great care to his needs. He ate and lived for free inside the palace walls. There was little need for him to spend any of his money. Apparently, this is where it had been going.

It wasn't like gambling was banned in the Underland, no more than the activities at the east wall were. During the times of many male kings, they were more or less flaunted around, the prostitution and gambling, as it was typical for the king to partake in them as well. However, under the rule of Luxa, things were slowly being brought back down. It was one thing for there to be a queen; it was a complete other for her to be the only ruler. Historically speaking, it was very often that when a queen came to power and did not wed quickly, she would put bans on many things, including gambling, prostitution, and alcohol consumption. So far, Queen Luxa had left all of those things the same as they were under her father's rule, but many found it best not to piss her off with them, as not to flaunt around just how much of the Underland currency was spent on such things. So far, she had made no notion of making any cutbacks, but still. Things went just as smoothly beneath the table as they did on.

"What do you mean, bringing the boy here anyways?" one of the guards asked then, frowning over at Hazard. "Is he not of royal descent?"

"He is not."

"Not technically, no," the guard challenged. "But you understand my reasoning."

"He is not a boy. He is a man. If he wishes to accompany me, how am I to stop him?" Gregor glanced back at Hazard before shaking his head. "Do you fear Halflanders then, Fleance?"

"Well, no."

"Then leave him be." Then Gregor smiled. "And I will teach you that it is Overlanders you should fear."

"I fear no man," the other guard told him. "Ever."

"We shall see about that."

The game went on in such a manner for some time. Though many were rude to Gregor when in the palace, they seemed to be alright with him at the moment, or so Hazard observed. It wasn't until Gregor's pouch was filled even more than when they arrived that he left, much to the banter of the men he had been playing with. Still, this bothered Hazard as they walked down the streets of Regalia and he quickly questioned the older man.

"When we are protecting the queen, they thing I am weak. That I do not understand their ways nor customs," Gregor told Hazard simply. "We are all men, however, in that room. And all men understand the greed of money."

"Even Overlanders?"

"Even Overlanders." Gregor smiled at him then, reaching into the pouch to pull out a few coins before dropping them in the younger man's awaiting hands. "Here."

"What's this for?"

"For coming out of the palace with me," Gregor told him. "Do with it what you would like."

He grinned at him then. "Meaning?"

"You must learn to make your own choices in life, Hazard," Gregor told him as he set his path towards the palace. "Luxa cannot know everything of your life and therefore cannot shelter you from everything. Do with it what you like. I do not care. But whatever trouble you encounter is your own. Remember that."

It was from there that Gregor and Hazard parted. Gregor only shook his head as the teen headed the opposite way of him, not particularly caring one way or another where he was headed. For all of Luxa's business it was not, it was also not his.

"And where were you this afternoon?"

"I was patrolling. As you said for me to do."

"Then explain why I did not see you."

"Easy. I was patrolling outside the palace."

Luxa just stared at Gregor for a long moment before taking a sip of her wine. "Sit."

"I do not-"

"Sit."

Gregor had found his way back into the palace easily enough. The more time he spent in it, the more secret passages he discovered. Luxa had shown him a few as well, though they mostly just led down to the streets, usually so far away from anything that they would be useless to either him nor her. He just wished he could find one that led to the arena, to save him either a long walk there or having to find a flier. That would be awesome.

Upon his reentrance to the palace, Gregor had quickly been summoned to the queen's dining room, Gregor found her alone and once again drinking. No, there was no chance of prohibition working its way into Regalia. Not on Luxa's watch.

"Across from me," Luxa told him with a sigh when he moved to take a seat at the far end of the table. "Honestly, Gregor."

Sighing, he moved to do as asked, smiling at her once he was settled.

"What's up, Luxa?"

She just stared at him for a long moment before taking another sip of wine. "Do you have thirst?"

"I don't like that stuff," he told her, making a face. "You know that."

The Underlanders had their own way of making wine. As grapes needed much sunlight, they found many other fruits to make it from. Even vegetables, Gregor found out once when Luxa let him try some potato wine. That stuff literally made him gag.

Luxa shrugged slightly. "You drink ale just fine."

"I do."

"It is harder to produce."

"Is it?"

"I do not know. I am only making conversation. I do not keep up with every little thing ever made." Luxa took another gulp of her wine. "Tell me then of your day."

"My queen, I-"

"Do not lie to me."

He took a deep breath. "If I were to tell you that I spent it gambling away my money, that would be a lie."

"Would it?"

He nodded slightly. "I won much."

"I am a queen, Overlander. Your money does nothing for me."

"It is not for you."

"You are well taken care of. Your every need met, room and board, free food. What use do you have coins then?"

He shrugged slightly. "It is merely a thrill for me."

"For a man that has spent his life fighting the most devilish of things, I suppose I should just revel in the fact you don't take killing up as a sport." She sat her cup on the table before looking at him. "I was informed that Hazard did not show up for his meeting with Purvox."

"Who?"

"The spinner teaching him to speak their language. And since apparently you decided to take an unprecedented day off-"

"It is not my job to keep track of him."

She made a face. "Overlander-"

"He is a man, Luxa. He-"

"He is not a man. He is-"

"At your age, you had your coronation. I dropped out of school to become your guard around that time. Do you remember? What makes him so different?"

"Because he is Hazard."

"Because he is the closest person you have currently," Gregor corrected. "And that's not a bad thing. You love him. But still, he's not a child. Should the war come, he-"

"He will never touch a weapon."

"He wants-"

"His wishes are of no more my concern than yours."

"Luxa-"

"Where is my cousin anyways?" she asked then. "Gregor?"

Try as he might, Gregor couldn't keep the slight stumble down. "I-I don't really-"

"Where did you take him?" Luxa raised an eyebrow. "Honestly?"

"I didn't take him anywhere. I just gave him some coins and-"

Her face set then, rather hard. "Where is he?"

"We were just walking around and talking. He…" Gregor looked off then. "He just went off to…"

"If my cousin is hurt in anyway-"

"Oh trust me, he shall not be."

"Overlander!" She slammed her cup down after taking a long swig. "I am not amused."

"Am I your jester then? Lux?"

"Do not call me that here."

"Lux."

"Stop it."

"Lux."

"You only further to annoy me."

"You did send for me."

"I did."

"Was it only to discuss Hazard?"

Luxa shook her head then. "It is more about your…obsession from this morning that brings us here."

"My obsession?"

Nodding slightly, she said, "It is not that I do not wish to help the child, Overlander, but rather-"

"Oh. That." Gregor shook his head slightly. "Lux, it's really not-"

"I cannot save all children, Overlander. Do you not think I do not visit the orphanages? I do. You have accompanied me before."

"I have."

"I have funds that go there, that care for them. All rulers before me have."

"You spend more on their care than many," he told her softly. "Many renovations have been done to the orphanages."

"Many more are needed."

"Many do not care."

She nodded slightly as she swallowed. "I lost my parents young."

"Lux-"

"Had it not been for the crown upon my head, I, Henry, and Nerissa would have been sent to one," she told him. "Do you not think I know this?"

"I didn't mean to-"

"Times are hard for many. It is easy to forget behind the palace walls, but they are. No one wishes much for children, other than to help around shops or the fields. It is a sad, hard truth, but it is part of life."

Gregor let out a long sigh. "I just feel bad. Someone left him there."

"Someone. Not us. It is not our job to-"

"I found him, Luxa. I keep going to visit him because I feel bad about that."

"He would have died had you not. Not many go out that way."

He shook his head. "Still. What if he had woken up alone?"

"He did not. You were there."

"I was. And now I want to be there until we find out-"

"They searched the land. There is no one to be found."

"Still." Gregor shook his head. "I don't…know how to explain it."

"Then do not," she said as she lifted her cup once more. "If you wish to care for him until another more permanent place is found, fine."

Even though he was not asking her permission to begin with, her blessing was nice. "Thank-"

"But know this, Overlander. It will be on your dime. He will need constant care. Child care. Which you will pay for."

"I-"

"Meals as well. He is quite young. I recall Boots eating much at that age."

"Well, yes, but-"

"And then housing. I suppose he can stay with you, but-"

"Luxa-"

"My wine is done," she told him then as she sat her empty cup down and stood. "And so is this conversation. Do as you will, Overlander, but it will all weigh on you. And should it interfere with your work, well, I will not have that. Perhaps that gambling of yours will finally pay off, yes?"

He held his tongue then, knowing he had won. And that in itself was something.

"You're gonna have to tell me how you got there eventually, buddy. It's starting to look like that is the only way I will find out."

The child continued to munch on the cookie that Gregor had given him, smiling at the man as he spoke. Since he had awoken, the child had been very mild. No more screaming fits or the sort. He mostly just laid on his cot, only perking up when his doctors or Gregor came in. Then he would make noises at them, but so far, no words.

"What kind of parents do you have, then, that did not teach you to speak? The doctors tell me there is nothing prohibiting you to." Gregor shook his head from his chair, next to the cot. "Though, given the woman I have in my life, a mute would be a nice addition."

The child giggled then, smiling over at him. As had become the custom recently, Gregor was ending his night in the hospital, looking after the child, hoping his presence would be a comfort that helped drift him off to sleep. He had been told that in the coming days, he would be able to take the child with him. Now that Luxa had given his blessing though, Gregor felt more anxious than anything. It was a valiant idea, taking care of a child. But valiant ideas usually have great consequences.

"First thing we'll do is get you a haircut," Gregor told the boy, who shook his long locks around in response. Smiling, Gregor reached out to pat him on the head. "I had better go soon. The queen awaits me, I am sure."

After making sure that the child was okay, Gregor headed out of the room, his destination then the royal wing. It was then that someone approached him.

"Overlander, I am glad I caught you." The nursing student came to a stop in front of the man. "The doctors told me to alert you and the queen."

He came up short then, frowning at the young man before him. "Yes, what is it?"

"It is the queen's cousin. Nerissa."

He swallowed hard, expecting the worse. "What about her?"

Taking in his expression, the student shook his head. "It is not what you think, Overlander. I do not come bearing ill news."

"Then what is it?"

"The queen's cousin, she awakens."