Hello everyone! It's been just over two weeks since I last updated and I am truly sorry for the long wait, but it has been an intense period for me and I am truly exhausted. Now's the Easter break, so I hope you guys could drop a review by my story. It would be greatly appreciated if you guys could do that. Anyway, thank you to the following people who reviewed my story: A happy reader, FierceDeity24, SlyIntellect, .taylor, ArestheUnderlander, Clytuis, shadowofdarkness, Darklord, TheGreatAthlon5, MarbleSky, Thiazzie and last but not least HumanicHedgehog. You guys made these last two weeks infinitely brighter, so please continue to review!
On a side note, I have listened closely to whether you look forward to a battle between Ripred and Gregor. It seems to be pretty even at the moment, so I'm really not sure. I'll just say that I am keeping the plot of this story VERY close to my chest, so be ready for ANYTHING. That's all I am going to say.
This chapter could get a little bit complicated at some points, but I hope you don't mind. The themes I try to examine in this story can be complex, and this chapter does deal with democracy here and there. I didn't make it too deep or it'd literally become an essay, but I hope you guys are ok with it. This can be a really dark story, admittedly darker in tone compared to previous writers like Tytonic. I hope you guys don't mind, though. It's the Underland I have envisioned and if you dislike it, please let me know.
There's been a slight dip in the quality of my writing, but I hope it is not too noticeable. I have really been very tired.
This chapter is written from Luxa's second perspective.
Chapter 6: The Last Queen
Luxa stood on the High Hall alone, as the gates of Regalia were slowly drawn open to let them enter the lion's' den. She was going to bare her teeth and show them no mercy, because if she even showed them a spot of vulnerability, then everything was in jeopardy. The Fount was not going to show any sympathy to Regalia just because there was a time when they were like brothers and sisters- no, the Fount was an enraged, cornered beast which had lingered in the shadows for far too long. And they were definitely not going to pull any punches when they entered the battlefield.
A cold wind greeted her up in the High Hall as her skirt billowed in the unfriendly currents. It seemed only fit for the cold wind to rush forward in the presence of the delegates, and Luxa was going to greet them icily likewise. Aurora landed next to her as they stared at the contingent from the Fount being quickly surrounded by Regalian soldiers. "It does not have to end this way, Luxa," Aurora whispered, "We don't have to go to war."
"War," Luxa replied softly, "Is inevitable. I never expected us to fight with them, but they have pushed us beyond our limits. Our patience wore thin a very long time ago."
"YOUR patience wore thin a long time ago," Aurora corrected her, "I still have hope that we can maintain peace."
Ordinarily, if this was Gregor or Ripred, Luxa wouldn't have held back from lashing out at such comments. But she knew Aurora for much longer than either of the other two, and her trust and respect had only evolved as every year crawled by. And it was this respect which was now forcing Luxa to think about their relationship with the Fount. Was war truly the best option?
It mattered not. Luxa had chosen to walk down the trodden and heavy-beaten path of war and death- it ended up being less of a burden than Luxa had imagined, especially after all these years of declaring war on all these species. She was so entangled in a mess of chaos and darkness that she had long since given up on finding the once kind and affectionate side of herself. She occasionally revealed it to Gregor and Aurora, but those moments were fleeting. They were like precious jewels that she kept locked away until there was a day when she could finally bury the trauma of her city. It gave her great pride but also introduced her to immeasurable sorrow.
"They are coming," Aurora told her, "Shall we greet them?"
Luxa instantly banished any lingering sentimentality or sympathy she had in relation to the Fount as her expression slowly hardened to mask any weakness.
"You look stoic enough," Aurora remarked, clearly not very impressed by what was quickly becoming Luxa's favourite facade.
Luxa said nothing in reply as she regally strode forward and mounted up on Aurora. Aurora took off gracefully and began their slow descent towards the small square in front of the palace. The soldiers on the ground instantly saluted and the delegates from the Fount stared up in awe as Aurora hovered just above them for a while. Luxa was aware of her enormous shadow being cast over them, with the shadows appearing like the hand of a god. That was exactly what Luxa wanted- to be seen as a goddess in front of these people. She nearly jerked back in disgust when she saw Stellovet gazing up with her usual demeanour of casual arrogance, but Luxa was just about able to maintain her stone-cold expression. Only Stellovet could still appear to be looking down on someone even when that someone was the queen of Regalia and was hovering over her.
She was soon alerted to a new presence, as Apollo came soaring forward with Gregor riding on him. The both of them had gotten rid of their armour, but Gregor clearly understood the complexity and gravity of the situation, as he was dressed fairly well. The robes he wore was her present to him on his birthday, and while she was still smarting from that bitter argument with him, she was still glad to see him hanging around.
But when she looked into his eyes, all she saw was concern and fear. A vivid, savage fear that made Luxa's heart beat just that little bit faster. He looked worried and surprisingly vulnerable- but when she had stormed out of the council room he hadn't been in this state. Something must have triggered this new wave of uncertainty, and it frightened Luxa that Gregor was looking so frightened.
Then came a moment which made Luxa's heart nearly shoot right out of her mouth.
Stellovet gave a gentle wave and a flirtatious smile to Gregor, which infuriated the hell out of Luxa. But her anger was quickly replaced by curiosity- Gregor seemed to acknowledge it. Luxa struggled to find the words to describe it but… they seemed to have some… understanding, for each other. Gregor looked extremely uncomfortable, while Stellovet appeared to have a knowing look on her face.
Luxa was going to get down to the bottom of the whole matter, but first there were the formalities. "Delegates of the Fount," she called out, "You are welcome here."
"Some welcome," Luxa saw Stellovet mutter.
Once again, Luxa had to clamp down on the urge to draw out her sword and decapitate Stellovet, but she was better than that. A queen would never drag herself down to a pitiful, superficial level of arguing with an imbecile like Stellovet.
A tall, weathered man stepped forward and replied, "We thank you, queen Luxa, for accepting us into this city. I am he called Lorius. If it offends you not, I would like to comment that our relationship has grown distant of late. Has Regalian diplomacy ignored the Fount in its dealings?"
"We have much to discuss, Lorius," Luxa responded calmly, "I am sure we both misunderstand each other in some way, although the allegations against the Fount have deeply troubled us. That being said, I hope you have enjoyed the hospitality so far."
Damn. Slip of the tongue. Luxa silently cursed herself for being so careless. Never show the enemy a chink in your armour, and Luxa had just done that by giving Lorius an opportunity to attack her.
"The hospitality? I look forward to it!" he joked, earning a chuckle from the delegation, "Why the need to surround us by hostile-looking Regalians, your Majesty? We are quite safe, I can assure you. And of course, a meeting with the imperial monarch of Regalia would never be complete without an appearance from the triumphant legend of the Underland. How fare you, Warrior?"
"I fare… well," Gregor replied cautiously, casting a sidelong glance at Luxa.
"Many would agree that your influence in the Underland has become ubiquitous following the battle of Regalia," Lorius told him, "You are greatly revered and you have sealed your place in the Underland's history. In fact, one of our topics of discussion with queen Luxa today involves you."
"No surprises there," Gregor mouthed to Luxa, before replying to Lorius, "I look forward to the discussion."
"As do I," Lorius responded with a sly smile, before turning to Luxa and saying, "Shall we?"
"Lead them to the Council hall now," Luxa told the soldiers, "The Council members have already been told to assemble there. It will be a private meeting."
"Private meeting, your Majesty?" one soldier asked, unable to keep the shock out of his voice.
"Do as I say," Luxa replied firmly, "The public will not be allowed to witness this meeting."
The soldier nodded his head reluctantly and began to lead the delegates to the Council hall, leaving just Gregor and Luxa lingering on over the square.
Gregor was the first to hold out the olive branch. "Look, I'm sorry about just now," he said to her, "I didn't intend to hurt your feelings."
Luxa had no idea how to respond to that. The bitter fury and disappointment she felt against him was being coated by the unadulterated love she had for him. No matter how much she disliked him, it never slipped over the cliff and fell into hate. Hatred was the furthest feeling she had from Gregor. "I know," she replied as softly as she could.
Gregor looked just as unsure of what to say next as she did. In the end, he just shrugged and said, "We have a meeting to attend."
Apollo then started flying towards the Council hall, but Luxa called out, "Gregor! Is there anything you wish to tell me now?"
Apollo halted his flight immediately, and Gregor stared ahead for a while. Then he slowly spun around to meet her gaze, and that's when she saw it again. The intense fear in his eyes which made him look even more vulnerable and confused than Luxa had ever seen him in a long time. "Now's not the time," he told her hesitantly.
"Now is as good a time as any," she replied wearily, sounding a thousand years older than she actually was. She had endured so much and fought through so much pain. Whatever Gregor needed to tell her couldn't hurt.
Gregor opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a new presence. "Trying to mend your relationship in public? Not very tactful," Ripred said smugly as he sauntered forward.
"You're not helping," Luxa shot back at him with just as much dry wit as possible, before realising that Ripred was technically slated to be arrested for high treason. She quickly changed her throat and adopted a new tone, "Get to the Council hall now. I will not tolerate any defiance, especially not from you."
"Relax, darling," Ripred replied, "I know you're still angry with me. But perhaps you'd like to start behaving more discretely in public, hmm?"
Luxa glared contemptuously at Ripred, but she knew he had a point. As ridden with mortal sins and a dark past as Ripred was, he was almost never wrong. Now wasn't the time to behave badly under the watchful eye of the public. She was about to resume her stiff demeanour and order Ripred to go to the Council hall, until she looked right into Ripred's eyes and nearly jerked backwards in shock.
It was raw pain and fear.
If you stared hard enough, you could always find pain in Ripred's eyes. After all, his past was one elongated tragedy which had spawned the monstrosity which he was today. But coupled with fear… it was horrific. Ripred was trying to hide how broken he was, but even at that he was failing. Something was deeply wrong with him.
The fear and pain suddenly escalated quickly, and before Luxa realised it, his expression was dark and angry beyond words. Luxa took an involuntary step backwards, and asked, "What happened?"
The darkness and anger and pain and fear suddenly vanished, and was replaced by his usual haughtiness. "Someone's had a change of heart," he smirked, "Are you feeling alright, your Majesty?"
Was there anything? Had she seen what she had just seen?
"Go to the Council hall now," Luxa said quickly, trying to steel herself, "We can discuss this later. The both of you."
Apollo then resumed his flight to the Council hall while Ripred trotted off, humming a tune to himself. "Did you smell anything on Ripred?" she asked Aurora.
"The rat has years of experience," Aurora sighed, "Whatever emotions he had just now, he has long since found the solution to masking it. I smelled nothing but his trademark dry sarcasm."
"Did you see his eyes?" Luxa pressed, "Did you see the fear?"
"No," Aurora replied bluntly, "To be frank with you, Luxa, we can never truly read true emotions of others through their eyes. Most of the time, it is just a figment of our imagination."
"I saw it," Luxa insisted, "I saw it in both Gregor's and Ripred's eyes. Something is going on behind my back, and I HAVE TO get to the bottom of it."
"Not today, Luxa," Aurora said gently, "There is enough drama for today."
Luxa spotted Hazard just outside the Council hall gesticulating wildly at her, frantically waving his arms to get her attention. "Well," she replied, "I suppose you are spot on about the drama. It has not even begun to unfold yet."
Aurora shot forward and within seconds, landed right outside the Council hall. "The others are awaiting your appearance," Hazard informed her as she dismounted off Aurora.
"Is Howard here?" She asked him.
"Yes," Hazard answered, before adding, "Perhaps you might not want to be so harsh when addressing the Fount. Howard might not take it personally but take care not to offend him at all. He is possibly the bridge between the Fount and us."
"Thank you for the advice, little cousin. But I am afraid that we cannot afford to pull our punches here," she told him honestly, "The Fount must pay for its crimes."
"And what about us?" Hazard asked defiantly, "Are we not guilty of our own crimes as well?"
"This is the Underland, Hazard," Luxa replied coldly, "Kill or be killed. And we are losing our war against the schemers because they are willing to do what we could never do."
"They are our brothers and sisters too, Luxa," Hazard insisted, "Brothers and sisters do not kill each other."
Luxa just stared sadly at Hazard. The innocent flower in a barren landscape mired with brutality and corruption. Uncle Hamnet was right in teaching his son to avoid battle, but Hazard was the sole figure of hope in a world which had long since had it. "I'm sorry cousin," she said softly in response, "What has to be done will be done."
Wishing to end the conversation there, she quickly strode into the Council hall, and the guard hollered, "All hail the queen of Regalia!"
There was mild applause as Luxa made her way over to the throne, wincing slightly at the empty seat next to hers. It was times like these when Luxa wondered whether Conrad was still alive, and whether she wanted him to still be alive. A wave of emotion slammed into her, and she had to take in a deep breath before settling down on the throne, as the oppressive presence of the empty seat next to her heaped even more pressure onto her shoulders. She began by saying, "The Fount may speak their mind first."
Lorius instantly stood up and pretentiously strode forward with an aura of confidence, which made Luxa instantly dislike the man. He stood on the stage, cleared his throat and said, "I wish we had more witnesses here to discuss the issues at hand. But we will take it as it is today. Because today is a day where we will not be stopped in our agenda."
"Pray tell what your agenda is," one of the Council members asked fiercely.
"To right the wrongs that Regalia has inflicted on us," Lorius replied, "Earlier today, Regalian forces were spotted in a battle with the schemers near the Waterway, which was a five-minute flight from the Fount. Regalia was aware of this and yet they did not alert us of the threat, even when it was right at our doorstep. Is this some grandiose scheme conjured by your generals to mitigate the threat of the schemers all on your own? Why did you leave us out of the loop?"
"We saved your lives," Perdita snarled, leaping right to her feet, "It is Regalian blood that stains the soil, not yours! Your ingratitude is deplorable!"
"You are skirting the issue, general," Lorius answered calmly, "What if you had chosen not to battle the schemers at the Waterway? That would have left us free to be ambushed and we would have little strength in defending our city. The point is that Regalia has become far too powerful and assumed its position as a superpower that it has alienated its own allies in the process. This kind of fait accompli that you have demonstrated today has frustrated the Fount for far too long."
"You wanted us to protect you during the war with the schemers," Perdita pointed out, "So we have done so."
"Without telling us about it," Lorius countered, "What if Regalia had to defend an attack? Where would that leave us? You all have become far too arrogant to reveal your shortcomings, and you are jeopardising the rest of the Underland in doing so."
"Have a seat, general," Luxa told Perdita. She reluctantly bowed her head and took a seat, but not before shooting Lorius a hateful glare.
Luxa then turned to Lorius and said, "The breach of trust was initiated by the Fount, I am afraid. First you demanded war reparations from us, which is simply ridiculous considering we were fighting on the same side. Secondly, you have allied yourselves with the rebel gnawers. Tell us why we should keep you in the loop when you have been acting against us all this while."
"Acting against you?" Lorius scoffed, "We have always been on your side. The war reparations are not meant to punish you, your Majesty. But as a colony, you are responsible for our wellbeing. And seeing as we suffered catastrophic damage, we assume that as the superpower of the Underland, you would compensate for the damage."
"York has been pushing for the independence of the Fount for the past two years," Luxa replied, "The Fount better make up its mind whether it is a colony or whether it is independent. If it is independent, we will not pay you any money to rebuild your city. But even if we wanted to, our hands are all tied up. Regalia has suffered huge collateral damage itself and we have to rebuild our city too."
"With all due respect your Majesty, we are still officially a colony of Regalia even if in principle, we are not. That means you should have defended us when the schemers went to war against us. And as long as we are still officially a colony, it matters not whether we want to separate from Regalia or not- we still demand compensation as a colony. On the contrary, your husband actually knew full well of the schemers' plans to attack our city, yet he let them do it in exchange for his own safety," Lorius responded.
"My husband is not here for us to punish him," Luxa answered coldly, "Believe me when I say he will be trialled if he is found. But for now, we will not shoulder the blame for his deeds. And you still have to explain the schemers' allegations that they agreed to have a meeting with you about a possible alliance."
"What are you talking about?" Lorius asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"I have at least a thousand soldiers who will act as my witnesses," Luxa stated firmly, "The schemers told us that they planned to visit you for an alliance, not to ambush you."
"That is preposterous!" Lorius exclaimed, "We would never even think about it!"
"Like you never thought about allying with the rebel gnawers?" Luxa questioned, "It is certainly not the first time you have decided to ally with Regalia's enemies. By the way, you still have not explained your alliance with the rebel gnawers. And do not even bother denying it, we know it is true. We have evidence and information on our side, so you can forget about lying to us."
Lorius for once actually looked slightly shaken by the revelation, but he quickly shrugged it off and declared, "Our alliance with the rebel gnawers is not political. It is merely a peace treaty which prevents either side from going to war against each other. We are merely trying to preserve the peace, not agitate it."
"But the Fount is a colony," Luxa pointed out, "It is officially obligated to go to war with us, even though we have not enforced this law in recent years. But if you want to be technical, we can be technical too. So either you go to war with us against the rebel gnawers, or you don't get your war 'reparations'."
Check. Mate.
Lorius now looked well and truly stumped. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to make sense of the situation, before settling for a closed mouth. Luxa glanced over at the Council members, who were nodding their heads enthusiastically in unison. This was how Luxa bargained- with nothing held back, not even when she was dealing with her relatives.
Suddenly Lorius spoke up and blurted, "We have no need for war reparations. If the city of Regalia so wishes to go to war against us for being in a peace treaty with the rebel gnawers, then so be it."
Loud exclamations erupted in the Council. The cacophony of noise that now engulfed the hall was absolutely deafening and Luxa couldn't hear herself above the din. Suddenly, a high-pitched shriek cut through the chatter like a knife through butter, and Luxa couldn't help but grimace from the squeak. Ripred was on his feet, a rare look of grim determination plastered on his face. Everybody's heads swivelled round to face him as he boomed, "Regalia has no intention of going to war against the Fount no matter how bloody obnoxious they are. Lorius, am I correct to assume your issue today is that Regalia has too much power and is exercising its power in an authoritarian manner?"
"Yes," Lorius answered cautiously, "Yes, Lord Ripred."
"So there you have it!" Ripred declared triumphantly, "They don't want to go to war with us! Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we have a problem-solution mismatch. The Fount's issue with us is that we have grown too powerful beyond our own good. To be frank, it is true. But the problem isn't so much with those in charge as it is with the system. Therefore, I propose a change to the system."
"What do you mean, Lord Ripred?" one member of the Council inquired.
"It is very simple," Ripred replied earnestly, "We give everybody a choice. The choice to decide what policies we run, a choice to decide how we deal with threats and allies, and a choice to decide whether we want a monarch or we want a republic. Let democracy decide."
"WHAT?" Luxa exclaimed, springing to her feet. The air lit up with a frenzy of excited discussions once more, and it took yet another ear-piercing squeak from Ripred to shut the crowd up.
"You intend to turn our decision-making process into a popularity contest, Lord Ripred?" one Council member asked skeptically, "We have discussed this before. The people of Regalia are uninformed and do not have the capacity to make the right decisions, let alone choosing between the queen and a republic. That is the perennial problem with this so-called democracy."
"No," Ripred replied, "You are correct. Not everyone in this city truly deserves a vote in this age. So I suggest we turn to the purest and most original form of democracy as a start, and build our way up from there."
"How exactly?" the Council member asked.
"Give only the delegates and Councils from each species a chance to vote," Ripred explained, "We turn the Underland into a single republic in the process, and we can institute a constitutional monarchy in place if the Councils and delegates so choose. But if you elect to have all forms of absolute or constitutional monarchy removed, then we form a real republic from there."
"I oppose this change!" Luxa proclaimed, "And I demand that Ripred be arrested on high treason. NOW!"
The guards jogged half-heartedly over to Ripred, but a sharp hiss from him sent them back-pedalling quickly. "There's no need to act so rashly," Ripred sighed in a sing-song voice, "At the very least, please hear me out before you send the whole Regalian army here to put me behind bars. Lorius, what say you to this proposition?"
Lorius quickly made his way over to the rest of the Fount's delegation for a quick discussion, before walking back on stage and announcing, "We find that Ripred's proposal is satisfactory and is in line with the change that we have come to seek from Regalia. In fact, we would like to say that this is possibly the most ideal solution for all parties in the Underland."
"There we go!" Ripred responded cheerfully, "That's the spirit we're looking for. And how about you, Council?"
The Council members were in the middle of a fierce debate, but Daedalus eventually turned around and said, "We have reached a consensus. This plan is… certainly feasible and justifiable in our eyes, and it sounds like it could possibly be a solution to peace."
Luxa couldn't believe her ears. In the space of a few minutes, she had been on top of this whole meeting and had been hammering the living daylights out of Lorius. But within a span of minutes, she was now the one who was facing the guillotine. She didn't know how to feel as a grim whirlwind of emotions stirred tears in her eyes. Surprise, disappointment, anger, fury, betrayal, desperation, vulnerability… And most of all, fear.
She was being thrown from the mountain and was on her own when facing the hungry wolves. And as confident and arrogant as Luxa had been all her life, she stood no chance while standing so vulnerable in front of all these wolves. She might as well have sacrificed herself there and then- it mattered little. She could protest all she wanted, but no matter what she did, it would never ever be enough. She was a fool and Ripred was right- she was alone. And in that isolation, she had thrown away her most potent ally and turned him into the catalyst for her downfall. How ironic. How poetic. How tragic. It was almost as twisted as some of Sandwich's self-fulfilling prophecies. She remembered it all. Her father, hiding her mother away from the oft-scrutinised palace and putting her in that cave. But it was that action which allowed the gnawers to finally get to her and…
Luxa felt real tears welling up in her eyes now. She fought them back down as hard as she could, but she knew that she was broken on the inside. She hated feeling sorry for herself- but that was exactly how she was feeling right now. Luxa looked up into the eyes of the most ruthless and unforgiving rat in the Underland, hoping for some sign of pity. She found none. All she was greeted with was the cold, hardened expression of a rat who had played his cards right and exacted his revenge to perfection. It didn't take a genius to know that Luxa faced a losing battle. If she had learned anything from Gregor about the Overland, it was that people, when given a choice, would never choose a monarch. Not even a benevolent monarch could overcome the people's sheer desire for freedom, as blind and delusional as this desire for freedom could be.
And going to war with the most intelligent creature in the whole of the Underland bar the schemers was always going to be a bad idea. Luxa would never admit it openly, but choosing to fight with Ripred was a mistake. Threatening him was a mistake. When would she ever stop making mistakes? She wanted to yell out at Ripred, to overrule the idea. But that would only reinforce her authoritarian image and convince other people to organise a coup against her. If she was going to leave the throne, she didn't want it to be a violent abdication. Not when it involved her own people.
"One last thing before we call an end to proceedings," Lorius said, "It has come to our attention that our Lady Stellovet and the Warrior have been thinking about marriage. Lady Susannah has approved of the union and would be happy to let it happen. This an offer on OUR part to bridge the divide between Regalia and the Fount. A marriage between two people of both cities."
Gregor and Luxa both sprang to their feet and yelled, "WHAT?"
Stellovet blew a kiss to Gregor, and said, "Remember our night back in the Fount, love? When I fingered your scars? When we spoke to each other about our love for each other? When we nearly kissed, only for the arrival of the schemers to interrupt it? Remember?"
"No," Gregor answered coldly, "I remember none of it. I choose to remember none of it."
"Do not lie, my love," Stellovet purred in that high-pitched voice of hers, "Can you lie in front of the queen of Regalia that nothing happened in that changing room? If you truly love this city, would you lie that none of that happened?"
"I… I…" Gregor stammered, before keeping quiet.
Luxa stared on in horror as Gregor struggled with his conscience, and she could see him grappling with his emotions. "I cannot deny it never happened," he replied slowly, before quickly adding, "But-"
But that was all Luxa could bear to hear. With tears streaming down her face and her heart smashed to smithereens, she stormed out of the Council hall, unable to believe that the love of her life had left her in a dark pit of solitude. The last hope she had left was gone.
Luxa was on her own.
I hope I didn't leave you too depressed with the ending of this chapter, but it was always in the plan for Stellovet's interaction with Gregor in Regalian Bloodbath to come back to haunt him. I particularly hope you liked the complexities I tried to introduce in this chapter, and I hope that my story allows us to revisit these themes in the future.
Of course, favourites and follows are always welcome! Have a happy Easter everyone.
Question: I'm not going to ask a question about this chapter, but I'm going to carry forward last week's question. Would you like to see a Gregor vs Ripred fight? Why so? And who do you think would win?
Fly you high!