The Banished

Chapter 15

"So what did he look like again?"

"I've told you a thousand times, Matthias, that he just looked like a normal Underland man. He had longer hair though. And a sick beard."

The younger man frowned. "He was ill?"

"No," Gregor groaned, shaking his head. "I merely mean that his beard was…impressive, should you find beards as such. The king of all beards."

"Yet king of little else," Luxa told them with a shake of her head. Her two guards just ignored her though. Luxa was trying to take care of some business, but she shouldn't have been expecting much, requesting both Gregor and Matthias as once. When alone with only the queen, they took to talking much, focusing more on conversation than their actual jobs.

"And he was older, you say?"

"No older than Mareth, I would assume," Gregor told him with a slight shrug. "What says you, Luxa?"

"I say that I am about to go request two different guards."

Gregor only shook his head when Matthias looked concerned. "She speaks in jest."

"I do not," Luxa told him with a frown. "I mean as I say. The two of you, why do you even ask for duty should you choose to spend it causing me more bother than actual support?"

"You need no support," Gregor told her with a shake of his head. "You need only to sit there at your desk and look over old scrolls. Why, I do not know, but-"

"I am looking through records of those banished. To familiarize myself with a few. I should need it, yes, am I to deal with these…people?"

"Surely you have someone else that can do this for you," Gregor said.

"And surely I have other guards that do not require such guidance."

"And what good will it do you then, Luxa, to know these men? Do you plan to appeal to their senses? They have none," Gregor told her with a shake of his head. "They only plan to force you to either abdicate or die. Either would do for them, I am sure. Death is much more absolute, however."

"I do not wish to get into another war, Overlander. I have told you this."

"This would hardly be a war. A tussle compared to some of the things that we have been through"

"And I wish for us to go through no more. There is no need for us to, is there?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then why do you insist on arguing with me over this? For what purpose? I am queen. You shall not dissuade me. I will not fight until they have drawn blade first."

He patted his chest then, standing in front of her desk. "They have drawn blade and you sent a rat and a moron to rescue me."

Matthias cleared his throat then, though neither looked up at him. "Should I-"

"You shall stay," Luxa said with a shake of her head as she looked back down at the scrolls in front of her. "The Overlander will be on his way."

"My way where?" Gregor asked her, frowning. "Huh?"

"It is nearing midday. No doubt Zander is bored of the nursery. He has yet to make any friends there, I am told."

"And who do you speak of about him to?"

"What concern is it of yours? Go, do something with him. You did not rescue him merely to have others care for him, did you?"

He gave her a long look before heading out of the room, leaving his young friend behind. It never ceased to amaze him how quickly he and Luxa could go from banter to hatred. No time flat, it seemed.

Only a day had passed since the men first arrived at the gates of Regalia, but so far, there had been no move made by the opposition. There was also no word of their queen's arrival. So, in accordance to Luxa's commands, they were all just to sit and wait. Wait for an attack is what she told them. This seemed mighty foolish to Gregor and others, but she was queen. Not them.

His walk to the nursery would have been a long one, had he not ended up having to go there after all. It was when he was halfway there that someone came rushing up to him. It was not a royal guard, but just a normal one. A woman. Cantena, he believed.

"I have received word from York that he wishes to speak with you immediately," the young woman told him. "He says that it is of most importance."

"Where is he currently?"

She hesitated. "He is in the arena, practicing with the other soldiers. He is quite…"

"Drunk?"

The woman nodded slightly. "There is a flier that awaits you in the High Hall."

"I thank you," he told her more as an afterthought as he walked around her and headed that way. He was more thankful for the fact that she found him wandering the halls as oppose to in that argument with Luxa only minutes prior.

It was not Nike awaiting Gregor in the High Halls, but rather Andromeda, Mareth's bond. She greeted him kindly enough. It got to Gregor at times, the embarrassment in the fact that he very well could have killed her his first night in the Overland, nearly a decade ago. Still, both she and Mareth had been very kind to him. They acted as if it never happened and he always found it best to follow suit.

The flight to the arena was fast enough. And when he got there, Gregor quickly saw what the problem was.

"Finally, the Overlander. A worthy adversary."

York was currently sparing with some of the younger soldiers and, more than likely, humiliating them horribly. The arena had been cleared out for the day, being used only for war preparations. Apparently, York had disrupted those.

"There is much to get done, York," Mareth was saying as Gregor walked through the circle of men that had formed around York and his now downed opponents. "Watching you and the warrior fight would no doubt entertain, but it would help little otherwise."

"Nonsense," York said, grinning as Gregor approached. "It shall give them many good tips. The only thing better would be if that gnawer were here. What is his name, Gregor?"

"Ripred," he said as he drew his own blade. "And as it stands currently, he is out fighting our enemies for us."

"For Luxa then?"

"Well, more for himself. But it gets what we need accomplished, yes?" Gregor assumed a certain stance causing York to let out a loud laugh. When Mareth opened his mouth to protest, he said, "It shall not take long."

"If he gets to use his weapons, then so do I." York drew one of his broadswords, swaying slightly. "A good time has finally been found, yes, Overlander? Though I know that should I injure you, my niece would come after my head."

"As she would mine should I harm you," Gregor agreed. "So let us draw no blood, yes?"

"Yes," the man agreed. Then after a thought, he said, "Maybe only a little."

Mareth shook his head before taking a step back, towards the circle of men. "Fight then. Get whatever pride it is you are hoping for out of this, because it is doing nothing for the rest of us."

Gregor took a step to the side, sizing up York for yet another time. They sparred with one another quite frequently when they were together. York considered Gregor a great opponent and Gregor was hard-pressed to find those willing to actually do battle with him, pretend or not. He wasn't exactly sure that it was the time and place for such a thing, but it was best to just appease York until they got him back to the palace to sleep off his haze. He always seemed to take the time away from his own city as a vacation, never seeing it fit to do any work in Regalia. Only drink. Especially on occasions such as it was, when Suzanna and the children did not accompany him.

"Do not run from me, Overlander," York warned, taking a pretend swipe at the air with his weapon. "I do not like having to chase my prey."

"I do not," Gregor assured him, holding his own blade in a diagonal way across his body. "I remind you that I am a rager."

"We all have rage in us," York told him. "You and Ripred and men like you with this rager business annoy me to no end. You talk as if you cannot control your actions. You know what we call that down here, Gregor? Insanity."

He only shook his head. "You do not know the definition."

In true York fashion, when he leapt at Gregor not a moment later, he let out a loud yell. It was an easy move to avoid, which Gregor no doubt figured York wanted. After all, had the blow landed, he would have surely split the younger man's head in two. That would not do for their no blood rule.

"You said you wouldn't run, Overlander."

"Evasion isn't running," Gregor told him. "Draw your other blade if you find the fight unfair. Even it up."

York took a good hack that time, Gregor just barely jumping back, out of the way. "The score is more than even currently."

"You know," Gregor grunted when their blades finally made contact, York using his own to defend against the younger man. "Most sword fights end in seconds. One person makes a careless move and…well…"

He had to duck then as York withdrew his sword only to hack again. It was blatantly obvious to Gregor that the man had more than his share of ale and was too inebriated to be in such a fight. Still, there was no way out of it for Gregor at that point. It was best to just end it.

It was the next time that York stumbled, that Gregor slammed against him from the side, using his already lost balance against him to cause him to fall to the ground. The man let out an oof noise as he hit the ground, Gregor quickly moving to place a foot in the man's chest, holding his sword over his face. York just looked up at him, blinking in surprise.

"And so I win," he said then, smiling slightly. "Come. Now that this is done, we can-"

"It's not over, Overlander," York said, bucking up suddenly, causing Gregor to lose his balance and fall over, cracking his skull against the ground in surprise. "Until it's over."

And then Gregor blacked out.

"I tell you to go get Zander from the nursery and somehow you end up here once again. Why is that, Overlander?"

He only grinned at Luxa. "I'm okay, if that's what you're worried about. I was only out for, like, a minute. Mareth is the one that made me come here, to get checked out."

"It was he that insisted I come as well," York said stiffly from the other side of the room where he sat on the edge of a cot as his own son wrapped a wound he had acquired to his upper arm. "Gregor and I, we're not normal men. Hospitals are for the weak."

"Aye, Father," Howard agreed, not looking up as Luxa came into the small hospital room. "You sure have developed a mouth here in Regalia without Mother."

York grunted at that while Gregor only continued to grin at Luxa. "If it's any consolation, I saw Hazard and had him get Zander."

"It is not, I assure you." She leveled her gaze with his. "You and my uncle slaughtering one another in the arena while soldiers are to be training there is not an adequate use of your time. Either of you. And you, York, drunk in my capital? Honestly?"

"What she says is true, Father," Howard added from where he stood. "Mother would be most disappointed in you for behaving this way. It is unbecoming of a leader."

"These two," York said to Gregor with a shake of his head. "Couldn't even get them to play together when they were children. Now, here they are, agreeing on such a silly things such as this. It is honestly a miracle."

Luxa sent him a sharp look. "You will do to remember, York, that I am not only your niece any longer. I am the queen. You-"

"I have fear of you, Luxa," he assured her as his son finished bandaging him up. "You do not need to tell me of your many accomplishments. I know them and I know them well."

Still, she kept her long glare on him. Gregor was somewhat relieved that it was finally off him.

"You know, uncle, perhaps it was unwise of me to leave the Fount so unprotected. These people possess fliers. Should they take a few up there, why, I do not know what they would do without you. Perhaps it is best to send you back today."

York stood at that, walking over to his niece. Though she kept her glare on him, it was harder, as she then had to stare up at him, as he towered over her so.

"You are cute when angry, my niece," he said then, cupping her cheek though Luxa turned away from him. "You always have been."

"Go then. Go back to the Fount. You are unwanted here," she told him with a frown.

"I shall not be leaving, Luxa."

"You dare defy me?"

"I more than dare it," he told her as he went to retrieve his two broad swords from their spot on the floor. "I am doing it. Leave you when there are men outside your walls that wish to kill you. Rape you. And you consider me your uncle?"

"I consider you a subject. And you-"

"Stubborn, this one is," York said with a shake of his head as he sheathed both swords. "Thank you, Howard, for bandaging me up. It will do Mareth good to see me follow his orders, I suppose. Why else would he hand them down, huh?"

"And yet you cannot follow mine," Luxa said with evident disdain. "Perhaps I should rethink who governs the Fount, yes?"

"Oh, Luxa," York laughed heading out of the room then. "If you only knew how many times your father threatened that, you would laugh. You are Lennox. More so than anyone else ever has been."

He clapped her on the shoulder then, though she quickly jerked away from him. York only laughed, calling out an apology to the Overlander once more before leaving.

"Your father is-"

"Aye," Howard agreed with his cousin. "But he always has been. You cannot teach him anything new by this point. It is truly a lost cause."

Luxa shook her head before looking back at Gregor. He just stared at her, figuring that fake smile would do him no good anyhow.

"Then how fares you, Overlander?" she asked. "I feel that you spend far too much time here."

"I do," he told her.

"And many time for your own foolish mistakes."

"And many times for yours."

She clicked her tongue at that before turning on her heel. "I have already gotten rid of one general, Overlander. Do not make me add a guard to that list."

Howard shook his head after she was gone, going to stand next to Gregor.

"You are free to go. You did not suffer a concussion," he told him. "It would serve you to be more careful next time. And where was your helmet, anyhow?"

"I have misplaced it."

"You had best find it," Howard told him. "Before the queen adds that to the lists of reason to get rid of you."

After he left the hospital wing, Gregor headed out to locate Luxa. And hopefully his helmet. He had been unable to find it that morning when he awoke and hadn't seen it since. His first stop though, was the royal wing. He doubted Luxa would be there, but figured it best to go ahead and cheek in on Hazard and Zander.

"Hi, Gregor."

And his sister.

His mother had sent a reply down the grate, telling Gregor to keep Boots. This was more out of frustration than anything else. The girl had apparently been running his mother ragged and she needed a break. She said that Boots had been suspended for a few days and it was best for her to just stay away for that time period.

Gregor only nodded at the teens as he came into the sitting room. Hazard and Boots were seated across from one another on the two opposite couches in the room. Between them, Zander sat on the floor, playing with a vast number of toys., most of them being Overland things Gregor had found in the museum. For all Luxa was trying to hide the boy's presence, it would be blatantly obvious to anyone that took a look around the royal wing that a child was at least staying there part time.

Zander giggled as Gregor went to stand next to him, reaching out to hold up one of his toy cars.

"Thank you," Gregor told him, taking it. Zander just went back to playing, still giggling away. He was a happy child if he was anything. A stark contradiction to the crying baby he found out in the fields. "Have you seen Luxa, Hazard?"

"No," he said, shaking his head though he didn't look up from the scroll in his lap. "And I'm kind of busy. Can you take Zander?"

"Why?" Boots asked, frowning. "He's not doing anything wrong. He's just playing. I'll watch him God, Hazard. You sure are annoying today."

Hazard only grunted, not looking up. Gregor smiled before setting the car back in front of Zander.

"I can take him if you want, guys." Gregor reached down, lifting the toddler into his arms. "Just clean up his toys, huh?"

"Luxa doesn't like his toys," Hazard told him absently.

"Right now, Luxa doesn't even like me," Gregor said before turning to walk away. Zander was extremely wiggly though and Gregor sat him back down before they even made it out of the royal wing.

"Follow me," he instructed the boy, who just began to toddle along. He stumbled a few times, but kept up pretty well. He was more concerned with looking up at the faces of the Underlanders than anything else. A few would smile at him or look down at him, but most would just ignore him. There was a lot going on, after all.

"Keep up, Zander," Gregor told the little boy when he stopped to pick up something someone had dropped on the floor. Giggling, the toddler rushed after the man, smiling the whole way. "You gotta stay with me, huh?"

Gregor found Luxa in the war room, though she was seated for once, staring down at the map in front of her. After a quick check around, Gregor found her to be alone and entered the room.

"Is it safe?"

"It is always safe, Overlander," she told him with a sigh. "Come. Sit."

"Zander's with me," Gregor told her as he headed over. He stood behind her chair however, not thinking it a good idea just then to take a seat. "What are you doing?"

"Just…thinking, I suppose. There is so little time to do that these days, no?"

"There is for me," he told her. "But then, I'm not royal."

"No," she sighed as Zander rushed over to her to stand by the chair she was in. "You are not. And what of you, Zander? You are not royal either."

The boy giggled when Luxa reached down to gently poke him in the stomach. She only sighed however before reaching down to pick the boy up and set him in her lap. Gregor made a face at this, shaking his head slightly.

"You wished for me to send him to the orphanage. Now look at you."

"He is merely growing on me," Luxa sighed. "It will be a shame."

"What will?"

She glanced up at him then. "When we must give him away."

"Give him away?" Gregor frowned. "Give him away to who?"

"To a family, Overlander," she said. "You knew that from the beginning that we weren't planning on keeping him."

"Maybe you weren't, but I-"

"It was part of the deal, Gregor."

"What deal?"

She sighed as Zander reached up to pat her cheek. "The deal I made when I let you keep him."

"You didn't let me do anything, Luxa."

She only shook her head. "I let it go, Overlander, keeping him for some time. Until this whole war business dies down. But we both knew that we weren't going to keep him forever."

"We're not doing anything," he reminded her.

"Oh, but we are," she said, making a face at him. "And what, Gregor? You will keep him then? Without any of my help?"

"Yes."

"Oh don't kid yourself. You are no more fit to parent than I. Neither of us are in a place currently to care for him. He deserves a real family. One than can care for him."

"I can care for him."

"You are the warrior, Gregor. You shall die young. I am a queen. Hopefully, for my sake, I die young as well. And then what? I can never claim him as my own. And when you die, your value will be nothing. He will be alone. Is it not better to find him a family now than have him searching for one in a year or so?"

He shook his head at her. "He's mine, Luxa."

"He is no one's," she sighed. Zander just sat up straighter, trying to reaching for the crown perched on her head. Grabbing his hand to still it, she said, "I know this feeling, Overlander. For many years I suffered the same affliction. And you know what I did? I dealt with it internally and kept on with my life."

"Not everyone is as strong as you, Luxa."

"No," she sighed as the boy took to leaning against her instead. "But he is. I can tell. He will do fine with his new family."

"I'm not finding him a new family," Gregor argued. "He has a well enough one as it is."

"Does he? Honestly, Gregor? He has nothing."

Still, the man only shook his head. "Then I shall not search for one for him."

"What?"

"I won't. I'll just keep him and-"

"It is not your search that matters. I have already started my own." She stroked the child's face then. "I do not like this anymore than you, Gregor. But what must be done shall be. We are not parents. We have no children together. And we never shall."

"Did you ever think, Lux, that I didn't want children with you?"

"You should not," she told him. "It would be a foolish want. A worthless one. Should you choose to stay with me, you shall father no children. I promise you that."

Zander whined then, nuzzling his head under Luxa's in a vain attempt to snuggle against her. Luxa stilled at this for a moment before hugging him against her. Zander wiggled then, giggling some more.

"I have to go," Gregor said, shaking his head then. "Give me him back."

"You must go," Luxa told him. "Yet he does not. He will stay."

"You don't even like him. Or want him. You're going to make me give him away."

"I'm going to do something good for him," Luxa corrected. "Give him a chance at a real life. This is not a real life, the one you and I lead. It would only confuse him."

"What's so confusing about this, Luxa?"

"Everything." She looked back at the map on the table as Zander reached out to pick up a marker that laid on it. Stilling his hand, she shook her head. "Leave us then, Overlander. I have the child. Go do whatever it was that you felt the need to. I care not. He behaves better when he's with me anyhow."

Gregor left her then, figuring it was best for the time being. The last thing he wanted to do was blow up at her when there were enemies right outside their walls; you never know when it'll be the last time until it's the last time.

"We eat mostly fish up in the Fount," York said as Gregor sat down at the table with the man. "Down here, they kill small game. Something of a treat for me. You know I like my meat."

Gregor just sat his plate down on the table, sighing as he looked around. The mess hall was mostly cleared out at that point, soldiers no doubt in strict training or patrolling around the walls of the city. Picking at his own food, Gregor grunted.

"You look rather down, Overlander and I doubt it is our quarrel earlier," York said before slinging back some more of his mug of ale. "What troubles you?"

He just sighed before glancing up at the older man. "Your niece."

"Ah. The qualms of many young men, I fear." York grinned at him then. "Though you are a special case, yes?"

Gregor took a good look around before shrugging. "She wants me to give up Zander. When everything's settled, she's going to find a family and just give him away."

York's face fell, though only slightly. Then, in a more hushed, serious tone, he said, "Man to man, Overlander. Tell me, that is not truly your child is it?"

"No," he said, frowning. "Why-"

"It is a Halflander, no? I only fear for what you might do to my niece." Reaching across the table, he patted the young man on the shoulder. "And I am certain it is not hers. The chance of you…fathering a child with another though was unlikely given your character, but still a possibility. I only mean to protect her, yes? And I've told you before, I like you, Gregor. But I love my niece."

He only shook his head. "I merely wanted to help the child. I thought Luxa wanted the same. Now she says that she does, but that sending him away is for the better."

"Perhaps it is," York said with a shrug. "Or perhaps it is not. Who is to know?"

"Luxa, apparently." Gregor stared down at his plate, sighing slightly. "It seems recently that she is intent on making me miserable."

York took a moment to eat before taking a look around himself, to make sure they were still alone. Once he was certain, he leaned slightly closer to the man before saying, "Do you know how I met my wife, Gregor?"

"No," he said. He honestly didn't.

"It was a political movement by her mother and my father. I am skilled in battle, yes, but my father? Even you could not match my father. Solovet and Vikus have always been very high class here, you must understand. My father before me ruled the Fount for the good King Peter. I was to take over after him, yes? It helped to join our families. That is the same way that Lennox and Judith were wed."

"If you are trying to-"

"I try nothing, Overlander," he assured him. "I only tell you a story of the past. I knew of my wife for many years before my father told me I was to court her. I resisted. I was young. I did not wish to marry. I could have the pick of most all women, yes? And there he was, telling me who I was to marry. I did not like it."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Duty," he told him simply. "And now that I am with my wife, I would not trade a year of it. I have never laid with another since I said my vows. I was told to take Susannah and I did. It turned out well for me. Lennox and Judith were to be married from the time they were of age. Forced, almost. And that turned out well, yes?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

He let out a long sigh before slugging back some more of his ale. Once he finished of the whole mug, he sat it down on table before taking a moment to think.

"Luxa is getting older, Gregor. I only fear for the realm, nothing more. I do not expect her to marry any time soon. There are a few good men, soldiers, that I think would make for a nice husband. And I have been elected to suggest you remove yourself from the race."

"What?"

York shook his head. "Many heads of things here are…tired. Tired of this. They know that I have always been good to you and thought that while I was here, I might tell you it is time you retire. Both from the guard, the Underland, and…my niece."

He stared into York's eyes then. "You think I should leave then?"

"I did not say that, Overlander." York let out a long sigh. "I do not even know what I mean to say exactly anymore. I am forever indebted to you. In a perfect world, there is no one I would want to take into my family. You put up with more than any other man ever would. You, Gregor the Overlander, are the best man for the job and yet I cannot pick you. Luxa cannot pick you. It is a travesty, yes?"

Gregor shook his head. "I wouldn't want to be king anyways."

"Curse your tongue," York laughed, though he was still pretty serious. "Do you know how many men would kill for it?"

"Yet you do not."

"Hmmm?"

"Had you killed Luxa, Nerissa, and Henry, you would have most definitely been king. Right after your father-in-law. And the stress of that would have likely killed him. Solovet would have run Regalia into the ground, no doubt-"

"Watch it, Overlander."

"-and then you would have been king," he finished off. "And it wouldn't have been hard to kill Luxa, Nerissa, and Henry. Especially if you had done it right after her parents were killed. It-"

"Not hard," York said slowly. "You, the man that could not kill a rat pup, tells me it would not be hard to put a sword through the bellies of your own kin?"

"I mean it would be simple in theory, not in mind."

"I would kill for my niece, Overlander. You know this."

"I do."

"Not to mention, I govern the Fount. You believe that I want this headache? Ha." York shook his head. "I do not wish to ever be king, Gregor, much less have my children be anything more than they are. Howard, a doctor. Makes his mother proud every day."

Gregor held his tongue, knowing the next in the line of York under Howard was someone that he nor Luxa particularly liked. Still, Stellovet was York's daughter. There was no way he would understand feelings of contempt.

"Then what?" Gregor changed the subject. "You will tell them that you spoke with me and then what? Because I am not leaving."

"And I do not wish you to. I told you this before." York shrugged. "I shall merely tell them we spoke. Should I remember. I am quite inebriated as it is, Overlander."

"Yeah. Luxa hates that."

"My niece hates much and loves little. And yet you are one of these little things," York told him softly. "Her love for you has grown the longer you have stayed, the more you have given up for her. People think you can just walk away, go back above, live there. You cannot. They think that she can just let you go, move on, marry someone more suitable. She cannot. We are not in a winnable situation, my son, but never forget that no matter what, I am on your side, yes?"

Gregor stared at him for a long moment before sliding his untouched mug of ale across the table to the bigger man. "Yes."

"They still stand out there?"

"Aye. They have made tents."

Gregor nodded slightly. "And their queen does not arrive yet?"

"No," Mareth told him with a shake of his own head. "I care more for you. You took quite the fall before. You are fine now?"

"York and I both are."

"I do not care for York. He is quite…large. It would take a lot to harm him. I see him outliving us all, actually."

"Right behind Vikus and Ripred."

Mareth smiled at that as they walked down the hall, side by side. "York is a good man. I do not know him well, but what I do know, I like."

"He has always been kind to me, considering."

Mareth grinned at that. "Considering."

"York decided to have a…discussion of sorts with me an hour or so ago."

"A discussion, you say?"

Gregor nodded. "About our mutual…complication."

"A complication is it now?"

"Today, most definitely. Maybe it will be better tomorrow."

"I find that doubtful," he said with a shake of his head. "You have had this…ailment for many years now. Things such as that do not clear up."

"You do not have such an…illness," Gregor pointed out. "You do not understand how to deal with it."

"Aye, but I have had many…minor ailments in the past."

Gregor glanced at him before smirking. "I have heard of such things."

"Have you?"

"I have."

"I am not one to speak of my…problems frequently."

"Aye, but sometimes," Gregor told him, "problems speak for themselves."

Mareth's grin grew. "Those who do truly do not keep my interest for long."

"Has there been a problem that's kept your interest long?"

"None," Mareth assured him. "I am better at solving problems than keeping them."

"I'm not so sure there's a way to solve mine."

"Believe me, there is not."

They both shared a grin at that one, though it didn't last long as it was then that they saw Perdita walking at a fast clip towards them. Her eyes were locked with Mareth's though.

"Tactics room," she said, coming to a stop in front of them. "Now. Both of you."

Mareth hesitated. "What is it?"

"Nothing good." She looked him over. "I know you were training in the arena today. Are you well enough to-"

"What is it you see in me that leads you to believe I am so weak?"

"I do not, Mareth," she assured him with a sigh. "Come then, if you are so strong."

"I am a general, after all."

"For now."

"Meaning what?"

"I believe that both of us know exactly what that means."

"I assure you that I do not."

She gave him a long look before shaking her head. "Come, Gregor. Mareth. There is much to do."

"And why is that exactly?" Mareth asked as he and Gregor turned to follow her.

"It is the queen."

"Luxa?" Gregor frowned, quickening his pace then. "What is-"

"No," Perdita said with a shake of her head. "It is Queen Athena."

"Athena?" Mareth repeated. "Is she…dead?"

"Worse," Perdita sighed.

"What is wroth than death?"

Perdita glanced back at him. "Queen Athena, she has changed."

"Changed what? Perdita-"

"Her alliance," Perdita told him. "The queen of the fliers has decided to side with the banished."