A HENRY STORY 3: Covenants Of The Fallen Prince

X. Desperate Measures

Gregor sat in loaded silence, listening intently for any signs of danger. His head was spinning, his stomach was churning, and right then, all he wanted was to be back home. Back with his family, back in Regalia. Or in New York. Anywhere but here, on this stupid quest, and definitely not anywhere near Luxa.

Maybe she had been right. He tightened his grip on the handle of his dark flashlight. Maybe she wasn't the kind of girl he would ask on a date. Gregor's dating experience was very limited, but even he knew that a basic requirement should be that she didn't attempt to resolve her issues by declaring war.

When he and Ares had brought back the injured mouse, who had introduced himself as Cartesian, Howard had attended to his injuries and sedated him, wrapping him in Gregor's travel blanket. Shortly thereafter, he had announced that he would probably survive. For one moment, Gregor had felt relieved . . . Yet then, Luxa and the Death Rider had returned, and with them had come an explanation for the strange vow. For what they had done.

Howard had been unhappy with Luxa's decision to go to war, but he had become furious when she had revealed that she and the outcast had done it together. Do you not realize what you have done? Are you utterly mad?! Now you have tied your fate to his, and that without so much as knowing his identity or true motive!

Gregor shuddered. His hand fiddled with the flashlight's switch, but he refrained from flipping it. Personally, he didn't care much about that part. What bothered him was the fact that she had actually started a whole war, just like that.

Even though the camp lay in a heavy silence now, Gregor could still faintly hear the echoes of their intense argument. He had chosen to stay out of it, not because he had no opinion, but because he didn't want to cause Luxa more pain. Just the memory of her desperate expression and fervent defense of her actions haunted him. When the Death Rider had tried to break up the argument, Howard had attacked him too. It was enough fighting, thought Gregor grimly. It wasn't as if he or anyone else could change anything anymore, anyway.

Instead, he sat there, having taken the first watch. The Death Rider had seemed appreciative, and the others had shown little interest. At least the others were all sound asleep now, thought Gregor with a sigh. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see were images of that pit. Shiver after shiver ran down his spine, and Gregor thought it would be a while before he could sleep peacefully again.

He clenched his hands together, digging his nails into the handle of his flashlight. Why did they all have to fight? Why was there more fighting . . . There would be more fighting, and it wouldn't remain just shouting. Because now there would be a war. At least they hadn't been fighting; Gregor sniffed. They . . . their group. Their team. Hadn't they just sat together, laughing? Confirming to the Death Rider that he was part of them?

Gregor shoved the thought that he wanted to be miles from here aside. He was here, and complaining about it was pointless. In the light of Zap's bottom, which flared and dimmed periodically as she slept, he spotted Luxa curled against Aurora's side, looking almost haggard. Gregor stared at her, trying to make sense of this decision in light of the Luxa he knew. She had never been overly aggressive or malicious, not even when they had first met. Then why . . . war?

Well, in a way, it was obvious why. Despite himself, images of mouse corpses flashed before his inner eye. She thought it would put an end to whatever the rats were doing to the mice, and so did the Death Rider. To Gregor's astonishment, that surprised him too. The outcast was by no means a pacifist, but . . . he was an optimist. If even an optimist thought that there was no other way . . .

There had to be, thought Gregor grimly. Something less . . . violent. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything. Not when he considered what he had witnessed and where all this seemed to be going. His mind went back to the heaps of corpses in the pit time and time again, and he couldn't stop shuddering. Maybe Luxa had just been . . . desperate.