"What, Overlander? What?" said Ripred.
But Gregor couldn't speak his thoughts yet. The red pool of blood in Neveeve's office...The fleas gorged on blood...The empty plague container...brand-new...because the old one had broken. Not that day, or the day before. Neveeve had said it had broken months ago. She had had the plague months ago, before Ares had even gotten sick!
"Ares went...he went to the lab...for his bites...to get medicine..." he stammered.
"Yes, so what?" said Ripred.
"Neveeve, she had the plague there," Gregor said.
"She had the plague germs there, yes, to study them, to try and find a cure," said Nike. "After the plague started."
"No, I think...I think she had it way before," said Gregor. "She said a plague container broke months ago. Ares must have been there in the lab when it happened! That's when he caught it! And that's why I don't have it! Or you, Luxa! Or Aurora!"
And Neveeve — jumpy, twitchy, nervous Neveeve. She wasn't just stressed because there was a plague, she was stressed because she had started it!
"That makes no sense. What use would the plague be to the humans?" said Luxa dismissively.
"A great deal, Your Highness, if they had the cure as well. They could wipe out every gnawer, every warm-blood who displeased them, safe in the knowledge that none of them could die!" said Ripred. "Oh, that's a fine weapon indeed to be brewing up in your labs."
"'The remedy and wrong entwine, / And so they form a single vine,'" said Nike with an agitated voice.
"That could be Doctor Neveeve. She could be the vine. Both the remedy and wrong in one."
"This seems like wild conjecture to me," said Luxa.
"Really? It seems very plausible to me. But I suppose if we can't convince you, we can't convince the other humans, either. Think harder, boy! What else do you have?" said Ripred.
What else did he have? There must be something. Gregor was clutching the mirror so tightly it hurt his hands. The mirror! He thought of the hours he'd spent before the bathroom mirror, holding up the prophecy, trying to make sense of it. "The mirror!" he said holding it up urgently for them to see. "You know how you need a mirror to read the prophecy? You have to look in a mirror...and when you do, you see...What do you see?" He flipped it around and pointed it at each of them.
"Yourself, you see, yourself," said Temp.
"It was the humans. They had the plague all along!" spat out Lapblood.
"No, even in the worst times we humans would not create something so destructive to so many. Something that could turn against us," said Luxa defiantly.
"Turn...yes, 'Turn and turn and turn again,'" said Ripred, his ears sticking up. "That's it! Don't you see? It's like Boots's annoying little dance." Ripred glared into the field. "We started out heading toward the jungle looking for the cure. But if you turn..." He turned 180 degrees. "And turn..." He swung back around to the jungle. "And turn again..." He spun halfway around again. "You're not facing the jungle, Your Highness. You're facing Regalia."
CHAPTER 25
"I do not — I cannot believe this is true!" said Luxa.
"Hope it is, for all our sakes. And if the Overlander is right and you have the cure in your lab back in Regalia, I want your first action to be to send it to us," said Ripred.
"There is no cure in Regalia," said Luxa stubbornly.
"But if there is —?" said Ripred.
"If there is...on my word, the gnawers will be served first," said Luxa.
"All right then. Fly back to Regalia and straighten this mess out. Lapblood and I will head home to deliver our latest theory. I expect to hear from you very soon," said Ripred. He turned to Lapblood. "I think our best bet will be to follow the ants' trail back. It should lead close enough to the tunnels, and the plants won't have had time to recover yet —" Ripred noticed no one was moving. "What are you waiting for? Get on your flier and go!"
"What about Hamnet and Frill?" asked Gregor, not wanting to leave them lying there. But the soil was too thin to bury them. And Nike could never carry them all.
"They belong to the jungle now. Likely the star-shade will grow back here. So they'll be in a good place, right?" asked Ripred.
"I guess," said Gregor. But he did not really feel any better about it.
"On your bat now," said Ripred, nudging him toward Nike. Gregor and Luxa climbed on Nike's back. "Don't forget the crawler. He may have saved us all," said Ripred, scooting Temp up behind them.
"If he did, it wouldn't hurt if you spread that information around," said Gregor. Then maybe the warmbloods wouldn't be such snobs about the bugs.
"If he did, I will become the biggest bore in the Underland, as I will talk of nothing else," said Ripred. "Fly you high, boy."
"Run like the river, Ripred," said Gregor. And Nike lifted into the air up over the vines and headed out of the Vineyard.
It was a surprisingly short trip back to the pool in the nibblers' land, where Aurora had taken Hazard and Boots. They had barely touched down when the words were coming out of Hazard's mouth. "Where's my father? Where's Frill? Will they be here soon?"
Luxa gave Gregor a sad glance. It occurred to Gregor that no one knew better than Luxa what Hazard was about to face. She slid off Nike's back and took Hazard's hands in hers. "They are not coming back, Hazard. We had to battle to try and save the starshade. Hamnet and Frill died fighting the cutters. I am sorry."
Hazard just looked at her for a moment, uncomprehending. "But...they couldn't have," he said. "They wouldn't leave me here alone."
"They did not want to. I promise you that," said Luxa. "Only they could not help it. Sometimes, you cannot help the things that happen."
"Oh," said Hazard. His large green eyes filled with tears. "Like when my mother left me. She didn't want to go, either. But she had to." He tilted his head down, and the tears slid down his cheeks and onto the stones. Boots came over and tugged on Gregor's shirt. "Gre-go, he's crying." She was always thinking he could fix things he couldn't.
Gregor picked Boots up in his arms and gave her a squeeze. "I know," was all he could say.
Luxa knelt before Hazard and wiped his tears with her fingers. "The same thing happened with my parents. They both died, too," said Luxa. "My mother and your father were brother and sister. Did you know that?"
Hazard shook his head. "I don't have a sister."
"I do not have a brother, either. But I was thinking, that if you would come back to Regalia with me, it would be like I did," said Luxa. "Will you come?"
"To Regalia?" said Hazard. He seemed so lost. "I live here in the jungle."
"But who will you live with now, Hazard? Who will take care of you?" said Luxa.
"I want my father! And Frill!" said Hazard, beginning to sob. "They take care of me!"
"I know. I know. But they are gone," said Luxa. She wrapped her arms around the little boy, and he clung to her. "Oh, Hazard, Hazard. Please say you will come with me. It is not so very bad in Regalia."
"My grandfather...lives in Regalia. He said... I could visit...any time I wanted to," Hazard choked out.
"Oh, yes! Vikus will be very glad to see you," said Luxa, stroking his dark curls. "Everyone will."
"And you'll be my sister?" said Hazard. He looked over at where Gregor was holding Boots. "Like she's his sister?"
"If you will have me," said Luxa.
"All right," said Hazard. His tears didn't stop, but he wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Can I ride on your flier?"