The Banished

Chapter 20

The Fount was much as Gregor remembered from his few visits. He never really got to explore the place much. He always would just land in the High Hall, speak to York about whatever was going on, and then be on his way. It was only about an hour or so flight from Regalia, so the flier that took him never really needed any rest once they got there. He never found a reason to stay long.

Now that he knew how it was though, how great it was, he was never leaving.

Gregor was concerned when they first made it to the Fount about guards and things, but they were waved right through. And in the High Hall, they were greeted with much joy. He knew, of course, that things in the Fount were much more laid back. This was mostly due to the lack of an immediate threat to anyone. The chances of a gnawer attack were nearly nonexistent and nothing else would ever wish to come so far up. Not when you would have to bypass Regalia to do so.

Nike was immediately taken to be examined by medics while Gregor and Aurora were allowed to bathe before being taken to a dining hall where they were immediately lavished with food. There was really no meat up there, expect for fish, but the Fount made up for it in its rich pastries and desserts. If you had asked Gregor in that moment, he would not have wanted to ever leave!

"I was told you were here and yet I doubted it. We received reports of your disappearance. The queen is none too happy with you currently."

Gregor grinned real big when Susannah entered the room. "I staged a rescue."

"And for that we are all grateful. Nike means much to my oldest son."

"Nike means much to us all," Gregor told her, standing then as he sat his fork down. He was only a guard, after all. It seemed improper to stay seated when she entered the room. "I am sorry. I should have greeted you first. I-"

"Sit, sit," Susannah sighed, coming further into the room. "I am not as formal as my sister's daughter. You should know this, Gregor."

It felt good, having someone just call him by his name for once. It really did.

He smiled at her before taking his seat. Susannah said something softly to one of the guards in the room who immediately gave some kind a signal to the others. Once they vacated, it was only Gregor, Aurora, and Susannah left. The woman said something to the flier as well, who was enjoying some fish at the moment. Then she headed over to the table, taking a seat across from Gregor.

"They tell me my husband was most worried about you," Susannah said. "I have not seen him, of course. Not since he left for Regalia. He sends me messages frequently, as he always does when he leaves."

"The last I heard of him, he was headed to the fliers' lands, to speak with Queen Athena," Gregor told her slowly.

"And of my son? Howard? He does well, yes? York seems to forget to mention him and Howard is too busy to write much."

"I saw him last time I was in the hospital."

"Were you alright?"

Gregor nodded slightly. "York and I were sparring. He…knocked me unconscious."

"Well," Susannah sighed, smiling slightly. "My husband does have a love for violence. And ale. He loves his ale. He gets much of one here, but not the other."

Shaking his head, Gregor moved to begin eating again. "Then do you have news of what goes on in Regalia now?"

"Only what has been told to me," she sighed. "Their queen has arrived and currently meets with ours."

"What?"

"It is set to happen in two days," Susannah told him. "We shall have you home by then. We have already sent word of your arrival here. As asked, we have kept Nike's located out of the note."

"I thank you for that. No one can know where she is. Especially not those in Regalia."

Susannah laughed slightly. "The Fount suits you well, Gregor. I do not know why you do not visit more."

"I am the head of the royal guard," Gregor said with a slight shrug. "I cannot leave Luxa's side."

"And yet you do so frequently."

"Everyone deserves a vacation."

"Mother, are you in here?"

Both Gregor and Susannah looked up as another person entered the room. Gregor tried his hardest not to let his distaste show on his face when he realized who it was.

"Yes," Susannah answered her oldest daughter, turning to smile at her. "And look who has turned up here."

"The Overlander," Stellovet said, her overly pleasant voice easily coming off as fake. "My cousin will be most rejoiced when she finds you are here. Why, I hear that she has sent men out to look for you."

"Not too many, I hope," Gregor said slowly. "I was only on a mission."

"A mission," Stellovet laughed before looking again to Susannah. "Your presence has been requested in the war room, Mother."

Susannah shook her head, reaching out to grab a pastry from the center of the table before standing. "When my husband leaves, Gregor, I am expected to take his place. It is not fun for me."

"Not all of us have a knack for such a thing," Gregor told her slowly.

"I would ask you to accompany me, but I would almost be certain you would tell me something silly, about how you're only a guard or something of the sort."

"It is the truth."

"Truth is what we wish it to be, Gregor," she told him as she headed out of the room, patting her daughter on the cheek when she passed her. "Stellovet, you can show Gregor and Aurora to their room when they have finished eating, yes? And then escort him to the hospital wing, should he wish to check in on poor Nike."

"Of course, Mother," the woman said, nodding her head at the older one. It was only once she was gone that Stellovet entered the room further, her dress flowing in her wake.

"I see you are well, Stellovet," Gregor said slowly as she came over to the table.

"Yes, Overlander, I am."

He glanced at Aurora before looking back at the plate in front of him. "You have not visited the capital as of late."

"There is not much need to," Stellovet told him as she looked at the table with distaste, as if food were a sin or something. "There is nothing there for me. Yet."

"Yet?"

"There is a man there that father is meeting with."

"For?"

"I am of age. It is time for me to be married," Stellovet said offhandedly, shrugging slightly. "I do not rather like the idea of leaving the Fount, but we do what we must." Then she looked at him, straight in the eyes, and shook her head. "Well, some of us do."

He took that in stride, instead asking, "What is wrong with all the men in the Fount?"

"He wishes for me to marry a specific man."

"He did not ask you if you wanted to?"

"It is different here, yes?"

"York seems very understanding."

"He is," Stellovet assured Gregor. "If I tell him I do not wish to marry this man, he will listen. He might not be pleased, but he will listen."

"What's the man name? Perhaps I know him."

"I have not been told it yet," Stellovet said with a shrug. "Or perhaps I have forgotten."

"Perhaps," Gregor said with a sigh. He honestly didn't care who she married or did not marry. He was only trying to make conversation, after all. "Shall you take me to my room then?"

"If you are finished, yes. And then to the hospital wing. As it is Mother commands."

They walked in silence down the hall. All the people they passed greeted Gregor, some even taking it a step further and giving him a slight bow. Aurora and Nike weren't kidding about that respect stuff.

After showing them to their rooms, they headed further into the miniature version of the Regalia palace, stopping once they made it to the hospital wing.

"I am sure that you shall find her easily," Stellovet told him and Aurora. "I have things I must take care of. There are hardly ever people here. Only the sick and the dying. Should I not see you before you return to the capital, it was nice seeing you again, Overlander."

"You as well," Gregor told her, more as a courtesy than anything else.

She was correct though, about finding Nike that is. Even though they had only been in the Fount for an hour or so, the striped bat princess looked better than she had the last time Gregor had seen her. All of her fur had been washed and her wounds had either been sown up or covered. She was also in a more energetic mood than she had been before, though Gregor could tell she was still weakened.

"They are taking good care of you, yes?" Gregor asked as they entered the room, a doctor in the room smiling when she saw him. "Nike?"

"It is quite a treat, a visit from the two of you," Nike said as the doctor continued with what she was doing. "I feared you had already left."

"Of course not," Aurora told her as she entered the room. "We did not spend all that time saving you just to leave you behind."

"And yet you must stay," Gregor told them both. "You do realize this, yes? No one must know you are here."

"And no one shall," the doctor assured him. "It shall not leave the Fount."

"I thank you," Gregor told her. "For all that you have done."

"The whole Underland has thanked you a thousand times over." The doctor smiled at him before looking at Nike. "I shall be back when your guests depart, yes?"

"It is you that I must thank again, Gregor," Nike said as the doctor left the room, closing the curtain behind her. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"I did not do it alone. In fact, I could not have done it without Aurora. Not to mention, Ripred played a larger role than one would assume."

"He always does, it seems."

"Yes," Gregor laughed. "He does."

"Tell me what it is, Overlander, then," Nike said, "that I can do to repay you."

"You do not-"

"There must be something. Everyone wants something."

"The things I want only God himself could bring to me," Gregor told her with a shake of his head. "And besides, you do not owe me anymore than I owe you. We are friends. That means that we do things for one another."

"You have saved my life, Gregor. I only-"

"If we kept count of the lives we saved, I think both of us would find a lot of people owe us a lot of things. I don't think either of us will get a chance to cash in on any of them any time soon."

Gregor left the fliers alone after awhile, figuring they would rather spend time with one another than him. It was while he was on his way back to his room that he was stopped, this time by a group of men.

"Ha ha! We were told you were here." The man leading the group, a big burly guy, patted the hilt of the sword he wore. "It has been a short time, and yet we have planned quite the party, Overlander."

Gregor stared at the men in front of him in the hall for a long moment, only knowing, maybe, two of the ten or more in front of him. Slowly, he took a step back.

"I do not understand," Gregor said slowly. "What-"

"It's rare that we have a hero grace us. Sometimes Barrett will come, sometimes Mareth, but never, never the warrior," one of the other men said, straightening his own sword belt. "Come, come, Overlander. We are not as…rigid as your comrades in Regalia. Any chance for a party, yes?"

Gregor glanced around at them again before smiling slightly. He knew when he got back to Regalia that Luxa would have him back on full duty, no doubt working him to the bone as a form of retaliation for him leaving without permission. He hadn't gotten drunk in so long…

"I am still not certain that I deserve such a welcoming," Gregor said slowly. "But should you all insist, then I do not see how I could decline."

"Believe us, warrior," one of the Underland men said, grinning widely. "It would be our pleasure."

"It is rare that we get York out of the Fount these days," another one of them told Gregor as they then headed down the hall as a group. "Parties with him are all the same. All."

"Drinking and war stories," another said with clear disdain. "He is a man of many talents, but accepting change is not one of them."

"He enjoys a set list of things and that is all he enjoys," the guy who originally spoke to Gregor said. "He seems to think that we all only care for what he thinks. And he invites himself to everything we do."

"Is his right, of course," another spoke up. Gregor was walking in the center now, random men clapping him on the shoulder. He really felt good there. He really did. "He is our governor, of course. I am sure that the queen goes to all events, yes?"

"Most," Gregor said slowly.

"And as head of the royal guard, you would be upset if they partied without you, yes?"

"They do so frequently," Gregor told him.

"Ah," an older one told him with a shake of his head "Regalians are filthy, they are. So self-absorbed. Spend some time down here. You would see what real living is."

Gregor had known for a long time, of course, that there was a slight rivalry between those of the Fount and those of Regalia. It stemmed mainly from the fact that those in the Fount had no threat to their lives. Ever, really. So when a big war broke out and men from the Fount were drafted to Regalia to assist in battle or just with the day to day things, the Regalians never stopped themselves from mentioned that fact. He had seen it many times in the past.

Those in the Fount though had their own pride. They were skilled in the art of making weapons, after all. They frequently told the Regalians that without them, most of them would be dead. They also taunted the others with how uptight the Regalians are. And oh, are they uptight. Gregor knew that first hand.

"Ale, desserts, fish. And women galore."

They had made it to the room then, a relatively big one. A table in the center was filled with different foods, as well as mugs of what Gregor assumed was ale. He didn't see any women though.

"Tell us then, Overlander," one of the men said as he went over to grab a seat. "Of your adventures in the Dead Lands."

"There is not much to tell," Gregor said slowly, still looking around the room. Slowly, he took a seat as well. "I do not think I was there long. A day or so more."

"But surely you did something." One of the men handed him a mug. "I fought with you once. Do you remember me?"

Gregor shrugged slightly, shaking his head. "Sorry. I-"

"It was long ago. Prophecy of time. You were a boy then," the man told him as he took a seat as well.

"A long time ago," Gregor agreed before taking a long drink from his mug. "This time though, it was hardly an adventure. A mission more. A recon mission."

"Recon?"

"Reconnaissance," he said. "Go in, investigate, get what you need, get the hell out."

"Ha ha! My kind of a mission."

There was time, for awhile there, where Gregor listened to the other men converse. Learned their names and how he knew some of them. It was while they were speaking that the women arrived. He knew immediately why York was apparently so dead set against them.

It was not like he didn't assume there was some form of the east wall in the Fount. It was more that he didn't think about it much. And even in Regalia, he had been to a few…parties where women were more of entertainment than anything else. The men he knew were mostly guards, after all. Guards and soldiers. There wasn't much else to interest any of them when peace prevailed. Still, there were no secrets between him and Luxa…mainly because she forced it to be that way. Now, here he was in the Fount without her, finally on his own.

"Tell me then, Overlander," a man he now knew as Gerald, said. "What kind of a woman do you prefer then?"

He let out a slightly laugh then as the women easily found their places in the laps of some of the other men.

"Look better up here than they do down there, ah?" A burly guy, Jameson, laughed before pressing a kiss to the big chested woman in his lap who giggled, batting at him. "Regalia's full of filth."

"Aye," Gregor said slowly. "Yet I-"

"York is a man of strict morals," Harold, the oldest of them all and brother to Gerald, told Gregor. "Has a woman he's devoted to."

Gregor let out a slightly laugh, more nervous than anything as a woman found her place in his lap. Revolting against Luxa was good in theory, but fell flat in practice. Though he prided himself on his skill in battle, his trials with women were often short and to the point. Being with the same person since you were twelve did that to you.

"Uh, I'm just…" Gregor shifted as the woman wrapped an arm around his neck. He was laughing again, but it was still full of anticipation. It wasn't like he really thought anything else was going to happen than what was going on currently, but he was still pretty jumpy. "I just, I, uh, don't have someone, but, I am not-"

"Off the boy then," Harold told the woman before patting his other knee. "And come over here."

Gregor's tension didn't die when the woman got off his lap, more or less because he knew what was coming next. The same things that would happen in Regalia. They would ask and then taunt. They would get angry with him and he would have to leave. He-

"Oh, don't toy with us, Overlander," another one of the men said as he slugged back some of his ale. "We know."

"Know?"

"About you and the queen. You think things like that stay in Regalia?"

"I do not-"

"You do not understand, Overlander," Jameson said then before patting the stomach of the scantily dressed woman in his lap. "We do not care."

"What do you mean?" Gregor was about ready to just leave then, honestly. He didn't see things ending well. "You don't care?"

"We do not care," Harold told him with a laugh. "We mean what we say. None of us care what you do with Queen Luxa. Down here, in the Fount, it is merely marital duties."

"M-Marital duties?"

"Long live the king, eh?" Gerald elbowed Harold, who sat next to him.

The men had a good laugh at that, some of the women as well. Gregor just watched then, trying to find malice or taunts in their words, but he could find none. But they couldn't be serious…could they?

"To King Gregor, huh?" Jameson held up his mug then, the others not hesitating to smash theirs against his. Gregor only stared for a moment, not speaking. Then, slowly, he began to smile.

He was never going back to Regalia. Never ever.

Gregor was beyond drunk when the party was finally broken up for the night. Given what he had had to put up with as of late, it was good for him, to finally be able to cut lose. And should he have been at the palace in Regalia, he might have stood a chance at making it back to his room. As it stood, however, he was in the Fount and completely turned around.

Needless to say, it gave him the shock of his life when he was suddenly grabbed from behind on his aimless amble down the hall, the scream the person also gave out scaring him slightly.

"Overlander!" The man quickly moved to grasp the smaller one's head in his hands, staring down at him. "I am so overwhelmed in seeing you, why, I could almost kiss you!"

"Please don't," Gregor groaned, blinking sleepily up at the man before him. "Seriously, York, I'm liable to just vomit on you."

The bigger man continued to stare down at him though, his look of surprise evident. "When you went missing, we all assumed you in the fliers' land. But when Mareth and I went and could not locate you…and there were all those banished people around…"

"I had some stuff to take care of."

"Such as? Why are you here? What- Are you drunk?"

Gregor just shook his head slightly as the other man let him go. "They threw me a party. I am a king here. A king."

"A king, huh?" York stilled just watched him, wearily for a moment or two. "The message they sent to Regalia said only you were here with my niece's bond. Tell me, what were you and Aurora doing out together? And why have you turned up at the Fount?"

Drunk as he was, Gregor was still a pretty solid person when it came to keeping information to himself. "I had a…mission to attend to."

"Overlander, you are not making-"

"If you could…could…take me…to…I need…"

Gregor hit the floor almost, though that was more of the fault of York, who had previously been holding the younger man up. He let him go suddenly though and headed off down the hall. It was only after finding his own footing and looking over his shoulder that Gregor found out why.

"They did not tell me you would be coming home," Gregor heard Susannah say as he husband rushed to her side. "You usually send at least a days notice. What-"

"Ah." York easily lifted her up with one arm in some sort of a hug when he reached her. "In my worry of the Overlander, I forgot is all. Your sister's child has been most intolerable since he has been gone anyways. I was charged with making sure he was okay and that the Fount hadn't been taken over or that our messengers had not turned their backs on the queen."

"And she trusts you?" Susannah asked. "The drunk of the Fount?"

"Her judgment is not always absolute, no."

"Put me down, York."

"I have only missed you greatly," he told her as he did as she asked. Gregor, who was then using the wall to hold himself up, looking around, was shocked to find them alone in the hall. How late was it then? God, he needed to get to bed.

"I have you as well. It feels longer and longer, the days you are gone, the older we get."

York placed a chaste kiss against her cheek then before looking at the Overlander again. He made a face though, shaking his head slightly.

"The boy can't handle his liquor, I see," he remarked sullenly.

Susannah only smiled, patting her husband's belly. "Not everyone is as strong as you, dear."

"No," York sighed. "I suppose not."

"Could you take him back to his room then, dear?"

"And leave you? Once I have only just been reunited?"

Susannah laughed again, which only gave Gregor a worse headache. Why was he with them again?

"I assure you," she said, running a hand down her husband's arm. "I shall be here when you return."

"Off we go then, Overlander," York said, coming over to him. "Do you remember where you are staying?"

"Uh…The Fount?"

"Oh, son," York sighed as he grabbed him with one arm and helped him stand more upright. "It is going to be a long night, yes?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Gregor mumbled as the older man led him down the hallway. "And Luxa…?"

"What about her?"

"Luxa is fine?"

"Luxa is in need of her head guard," York told him. "I still do not know why you decided to run off. Surely the pressure did not get to be too much, no?"

"No," Gregor groaned, shaking his head slightly. "I just…had to…save someone."

"A noble act," York told him with a nod of his head. "Tell me though that it was not another woman."

Women. Bleh. He had had his fill of those for the night.

"They tried to trip me up, but…they did not," Gregor told him. "Loyalty."

"My men got you drunk then?"

"Aye. A party, we had. With…women."

"Women are good for young men," York assured him. "And you are far from home. However, I remind you, that it is my niece's bed that you shall be crawling back into when you get home."

"Loyal."

"You had better be."

York eventually located the room given to the man, mainly because Aurora was already in there, awaiting him. York merely deposited the young man on the bed in the room before greeting the flier.

"I am sure that you will see to him, yes?" York asked Aurora who merely fluttered her wings. "Then I shall be off. It is no offense to you, Overlander, but I have been away from my wife for a number of days. You understand, yes?"

Gregor only shifted on his bed to get more comfortable, letting out a slight moan of understanding. With that, York was off, leaving the two of them alone.

"Oh, Gregor," Aurora sighed as she settled back into her spot in the corner. "I am here if you need something, but I do not know how much help I shall be in getting it."

And so they were for some time. Gregor fell into some sort of unconscious state while Aurora went to sleep. Silence befell them, other than Gregor's snoring and Aurora's occasional rustling of wings. That is, until another person entered the room.

Aurora, being an animal and having such instincts as one, awoke at the first sound of the curtain moving. Gregor in his drunkenness slept right through it of course, continuing to snore softly.

"Overlander," the person whispered, not noticing the flier in the room. It was pitch black in there, after all. "Overlander, are you awake?"

Not really. Still, he was slightly more conscious than he was only moments before. A groan escaped his lips then, though he didn't make any words. Aurora was on full alert then, as she always was when she was woken up by a disturbance. Spending your life bonded to the queen would do that to you.

"Come now, Overlander. Awaken. Surely you wish to see me, yes?"

The voice wasn't easily recognizable to Gregor, but Aurora knew it immediately.

"Eh?" Gregor opened his eyes slightly, letting out a long moan. "What is it? Luxa?"

He was clearly out of place then and Aurora felt the need to intervene.

"Do you mistake me for my wretched cousin then?" Stellovet was over by the bed then, reaching out to lay a hand over Gregor's chest.

"I believe that you are mistaken about your surroundings," Aurora spoke up then, starling the woman in the room. "Perhaps you have confused his room with another's, yes?"

Gregor was mostly awake at that point, the woman's touch far too cold to be Luxa's. Hers was cold, but not overly so.

"What are you doing in here?" Gregor frowned at Stellovet before struggling to sitting position. "This is not…decent. What did you need? What-"

"I believe it would be best that you leave now, yes?" Aurora asked. Gregor only stared in shock at the girl, too afraid to speak. Even in his drunken state he knew that Stellovet was York's daughter. Not even factoring Luxa into the equation, he was already in major trouble should anyone find her in his room. And for not even doing anything!

"I-I only meant…" Stellovet, as all Underlanders, had one hell of a blush. Even in the darkness Gregor swore he could see the red tint of her plate flesh, covering her body in its entirety. She turned then, rushing from the room. Gregor still only laid there, too shocked to speak.

"Sleep now, Overlander," Aurora told him softly. "I am sure that you shall not have any more visitors."

"But-"

"You must sleep off this…intoxication that you have forced upon yourself, yes?" She sighed then, rather audibly. "Humans. They are the only creature that would enjoy being in the state you are currently."

He was too drunk to take offense. Too intelligent as well, he was sure. What she said was not meant as a slight, but only a truth. And truth was truth, no matter how hard it was to hear.

It started the next morning. At first, it was rather funny. Then it got to be rather solemn.

"All hail the king."

"And a good morning to you, King Gregor."

"Leaving so soon, King Gregor?"

It was finally York that said something. After about the twentieth King Gregor, he really had no choice.

"What is this then?" York asked Gregor as they walked down the hall, headed to the High Hall for his departure. "My own men do not greet me and yet they refer to you as-"

"They say it merely in jest."

"Jest? It sounds not."

Gregor shook his head. It was more than just the men from the party. Apparently, the whole thing had spread to the other men. The guy that had led Gregor to the bathing area that morning even bowed to him! He knew though, that it would be a culture shock when he arrived back in Regalia, where he would be treated with rude looks and men who said Overlander as a curse.

So what if he was soaking up his time in the Fount? Who would fault him?

"Merely a joke at the party then."

"You do not need to explain yourself to me, Gregor." York clapped him on his shoulder. "Save your strength. For it is when this finds it way back to my niece that you shall need to do some explain."

"It was not me," Gregor told him. "They started it. I did not-"

"King Gregor. Has a ring to it, yes? …No. I am thinking of King Gorger. Yes. Gorger is the name that has a ring to it."

Gregor made a face at the bigger man before repeating, "It is merely a joke."

"Jokes are funny," York told him, his tone taking a softer octave then. "And that mutual…joke that we have stationed here in the Fount shall remain unheard until it is the right time."

"I thank you," Gregor said, nodding his head.

"My wife told the joke to me," York told him, nodding his head. "It was a rather good joke. I am dismayed to hear the version of it that found its way into the mouths of the banished."

"Yes, well, we can only be glad that it is back in the mouths of those that which it belongs."

"This is true, son," York sighed, clapping him on the top of the head then, as if he was a child. "This is very true."

Aurora was awaiting them in the High Hall, as Gregor knew she would be. They had not spoken on the night before and Gregor did not plan to bring it up. He knew once he made it back to Regalia that other things would find themselves preoccupying his time and his mind would soon forget the day spent in the Fount. He was certain though, that the next time he were to take a trip there, he would have it last a week. At least.

"I am the only one seeing the two of you off then," York said as Gregor and he walked over to Aurora, who was waiting. "It is quite early in the day, after all."

"My hangover knows this," Gregor said to which York laughed again, this time giving him a hearty pat on the back.

"Off you go then, Aurora," York said to her once they were close enough. "Back into the clutches of my niece."

"For now," Aurora told him softly, ruffling her wings. "Rhea is here. I see that she had not abandoned you in your time of need."

"Some bonds, as I sure you know, are very hard to break. Even when duty and honor get in the way."

Gregor shook hands with York then before moving to get onto Aurora's back. "It has been a nice visit, York. I thank you for it."

"What is a visit wasted when it is for the king, ah?" He grinned at both of them. "Fly you high then, Overlander, Aurora. And do not get yourselves killed while you are gone."

"You either," Gregor said simply as Aurora took to the air. Then, softly to the flier he was on, Gregor whispered, "Let's go home."