Page 22 (1/2)

Chapter 22

So Gregor sat and waited as the seconds went by Not with the urgent ticks he had heard so often since the war began, but with slow deliberate ones that had long silences between thees They couldn't afford to be idle no matter what the circu on, fell asleep on a pile of blankets Teor, Ripred, and Vikus seemed suspended in time as they waited for word of the aor "Or there was a fight and Solovet, Marcus, and Horatio were able to hold their own and escape" Why not? They were on bats and were excellent soldiers But whenever Gregor sneaked a glance at Vikus's ashen face, he felt that this would not be the case He wished he hadn't said that thing about not liking Solovet He didn't, though How could he after her involveeon, and Ripred's warning that she would never let his fao? In a way if she died it would probably be easier for Ripred to get his fa in power after the as true, Gregor was sure she would send his farandlad he still had Ripred's promise as a backup

Solovet No, he could not pretend he liked her Still, there had been h When he'd landed in Regalia she'd been the first person to reach out and touch hienuine She had protected hi he be trained, and now he knew that if she hadn't he would be dead And she'd given hi of how she was under attack without it At least he had tried to go after her, despite his feelings for her He hoped whoever broke the news to Luxa would mention that Maybe she wouldn't hate him quite so much

After a couple of hours, Heronian said quietly, "We have received word All three humans and their fliers were killed in the aonal scar on his face "Well, I have this to reiven Ripred that scar When? During a war between the hu ht about how Solovet had left all kinds of scars, on rats, on her family, on the Underlanders' frail attempts at peace

Ripred turned to Vikus "That's the way she always said she wanted to go"

"Fighting" Vikus's lips for Not on some sickbed but with her sword in her hand," said Ripred

Gregor tried to think of soood at this stuff Hoas, Luxa was, but all of the words he came up with seemed trite and empty It was even more difficult because while he knew Vikus must have loved Solovet -- they'd probably been-- he also knew they had fought a lot Their ideas on how to handle proble for force, Vikus for working things out When he discovered his wife's role in the plague, Vikus had been crushed But he must have loved her, because he was utterly stricken now

Hazard ca his hand into his grandfather's Vikus gave it a squeeze but didn't say anything

"Sorry about your grande that "You okay?"

"Yes In truth, I do not kno to feel Solovet rarely spoke to me I don't think she cared for me Perhaps it was because she and my father hated each other so much," said Hazard with his usual frankness

The words were simple and without malice, but their effect on Vikus was i Solovet and Hamnet All of the awful faedy at the Garden of Hesperides, Haer that passed between the Hae sound in his throat His hand went toward his cheek, then fell to his side "Vikus? You all right there?" Ripred asked Vikus tried to answer but the words that caarbled "Doctor!" Ripred called at once "Get a doctor in here!"

Ripred continued to talk to Vikus, pushing his nose right up into his face, urging him to stay calm In less than a minute a doctor had flown in, taken one look at Vikus, du down his throat, and had hi on the doctor's sleeve "What's wrong withan attack We alia," said the doctor

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Gregor His voice sounded alone slack and Gregor realized he couldn't or didn't want Vikus to leave him He didn't want to lose the one Underlander whom he knew had always had his best interest at heart

"We will do all we can," said the doctor, and the bat took off

"A stroke," said Ripred "I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner This last year has been murder on him"

"Was it what I said? About my father?" Hazard asked worriedly

"Goodness, no It would have happened with or without your words Now you go back and, I don't know, see if you can't help with the code, okay?" said Ripred Hazard obeyed When he was out of earshot, Ripred whispered to Gregor, "Probably not the best tiht up all that business with Ha about it, anyway"

"People recover froor asked

"Some do With time," said Ripred He didn't seem to want to continue the conversation

The cave seemed very vacant without Solovet and Vikus "Nohat?" said Gregor

"Now I need a hualia" said Ripred He sent for Perdita When she arrived, he got right to the point "Solovet's dead Vikus is disabled You just beca head of your army"

Perdita looked shocked and then conflicted "There are others with more seniority"

"I don't want them I want you," said Ripred "I need soo over the battle plan with Perdita, leaving Gregor to deal with the double tragedy on his own First Solovet, then Vikus Although Vikus hts turned to Luxa again He slipped the photo of them in the museum from his pocket and tried to think of happier ti her face at the eon He couldn't stand that being the last thing between theot a strip of code and asked Lizzie for awith a quill and ink "Thea red one out of her backpack "You et the tip wet"

Gregor spat in the cap of the marker, closed it, and let it sit a ht about writing it in the Code of Claw, but if the rats intercepted it, they would knoas broken He settled on using the marks from the Tree of Transmission That would make it seem a little more private somehow After a couple of minutes he opened the ible He wrote:

LUXA

/ \ |// \ / \ / | | | / | \ / // /||// | / | \ | / / | | \ / / / \ | | / | / \/ | | // | \ / / | | \ \ \

"Go ahead," he thought "Write it You'll be dead before she even reads it And anyway, it's true"

/ |\ / | / / | | \ \ \ | | | / | / / / /

GREGOR

The last feords were too hard to read Gregor nicked his index finger on his sword and wrote over them with a thin, smeary line of blood There