Gregor looked at the victims. "We'll come back and help," he said.
"You do not have to," said Luxa. "Aurora and I can manage."
"We will come back," Ares said.
Gregor and Ares delivered the barely conscious mouse to Howard and returned to the base of the cliff. One by one, they checked each body. Some were obviously dead. Some it was impossible to tell, so they felt for a pulse or listened for a whiff of breath coming from their nostrils. There were no other survivors.
Back at the campsite, Gregor scrubbed himself at a nearby stream, but he could not seem to get the smell of the dead mice from his pores. And the images of those bodies ... well, he knew those would revisit him for a long time in his dreams.
Howard worked long and hard over the injured mouse. One of his front legs was broken, so Howard set the fracture. He put a salve on the mouse's raw and bloody paws. After about an hour of periodically getting him to take spoonfuls of water, Howard made a thin gruel of fish, bread crumbs, and broth and got the mouse to eat a little. The water and food revived him enough for him to speak a few words, starting with his name, Cartesian. Howard was able to ascertain the extent of Cartesian's injuries better now. The mouse had badly bruised ribs, although they did not seem broken. He'd received a blow to the head. Dehydration and hunger had also taken their toll. It was not enough information to find out exactly what had happened to Cartesian, but it was enough to treat him. Howard made a poultice for Cartesian's head, gave him some painkiller and a second medicine to reduce swelling, and continued to feed him.
Boots wanted very badly to help, so Howard gave her the job of singing the mouse to sleep. She squatted down a few feet away and softly sang little tunes she knew from home. These were mostly theme songs from preschool shows she watched on TV. Then she launched into her Underland repertoire, which included the songs about the spinners, and the fish, and the bats.
"Bat, bat,
Come under my hat, i will give you a slice of bacon
And when I bake, I will give you a cake,
If I am not mistaken. "
Then she sang the stanza from the one about the queen and the nibblers and pouring tea, because she thought, as a mouse, Cartesian would like it best.
"Catch the nibblers in a trap. Watch the nibblers spin and snap.
Quiet while they take a nap.
Father, mother, sister, brother,
Off they go. I do not know
If we will see another. "
Cartesian slowly drifted off to sleep, and Howard praised Boots for her excellent singing job. Enamored with her newfound talent, Boots went around to everybody trying to sing them to sleep. Half the party were so tired they genuinely fell asleep; the other half pretended until Boots dozed off herself. Then Gregor, Luxa, Howard, Aurora, Nike, and Ares gathered for a consultation in the glow of Photos Glow-Glow's bulb.
"Well, as tragic as our findings today have been, at least we know we have kept to the nibblers' trail," said Howard.
"It is not much to our credit," said Luxa. "We chose this path because it was the only way out. We can be sure that we follow them to the far side of Hades Hall."
"And then?" asked Gregor.
"And then what?" asked Luxa.
"And then you're going to keep following them, aren't you? Instead of going back to Regalia," said Gregor. She didn't answer, but he knew he was right. She wasn't going home. Not after she'd kneeled on the ground and said that stuff over the crown.
"We cannot do that. We have injured who must be returned home," said Howard. "And I believe there is enough evidence to make a case before the council, now that we have Cartesian for a witness."
"The rest of you will go back. Aurora and I will continue after the nibblers," said Luxa. "Someone must stay on their trail."
"But it will not be you, Cousin. I will drag you back to Regalia before I would leave you here alone," said Howard.
"She made some kind of oath," said Gregor. "Back at the cliff."
"Oath?" Howard looked at Luxa and his face fell. "Not 'The Vow to the Dead'?" he said in a hushed voice. Luxa nodded. "Oh, Luxa, what have you done? You are not even of age. You do not reign. The army does not move at your command. How mean you to fulfill it?"
"The only way I can," said Luxa. "I will go after the nibblers, and the council will send the army after me."
"They didn't send an army when you got caught in that rat maze," said Gregor.
"Because they thought she was dead," said Howard. "They will now. They must. Especially if she has said the vow."
"How will they even know?" said Gregor. "It's not like the humans have scouts in Hades Hall."
"Do you think only human ears matter?" scoffed Photos Glow-Glow. "The fliers heard her; that nibbler heard her; Zap heard her and has already told me. You are in Hades Hall, not the Dead Land. Who knows how many other creatures sat in the dark listening?"
"A lot," thought Gregor, remembering the strange noises that had followed Luxa's vow. That's why she had smiled. She had wanted them to hear.
"Half the Underland will know she said it in a matter of hours; she cannot take it back," said Howard.
"Nor would I if I could," said Luxa.
"But you're only, like, twelve," said Gregor. "Does it even count?"
"In this case, it counts," said Howard. "By the time word of the vow reaches the council it will already have reached our enemies. There will be no way to call it back or deny it. And given the circumstances, we will have only one option."
"What's that?" said Gregor.
Luxa gazed at him evenly. "I have just declared war on the rats."
CHAPTER 15
"So this is how a war starts," thought Gregor.
Not with two armies facing off, waiting for the signal to charge. Not with a wave of rats invading the avenues of Regalia. Not with a formation of bats swooping down on an unsuspecting colony of rats. It begins much more quietly. In a room, on a field, in a remote tunnel when someone who has power decides the time has come.
"No," he said. "We have to find some way to stop it."
"It is too late," said Luxa. "It is ironic. I could never start a war in Regalia. I can barely get leave to go on a picnic. But here, away from my city, I am free to make momentous decisions."
"Then maybe they should keep you locked up in your city, if you're going to go around declaring war!" said Gregor.
"Did you not see the bodies?" exclaimed Luxa. "What would you have me do, Gregor? Sit by while my friends are driven to their death?"
"We do not know exactly what plans the gnawers have for the nibblers, Cousin," said Howard. "But we do know they have a history of moving them from place to place. Perhaps the majority of the nibblers have already reached their new home in safety."
"That they were forced from their old home is not acceptable!" said Luxa. "That hundreds lie dead from the journey is not acceptable!"
"Okay! But maybe you might want to consider some other options besides waging war!" said Gregor.
"As in?" said Luxa.
"I don't have any off the top of my head," said Gregor. "But I bet I can come up with something a little less extreme."
"Well, when you do, I would love to hear it," said Luxa. "I am sure it will dazzle us all." She was mocking him. He might as well have been talking to Ripred. Gregor stared at her a moment. "It was pretty easy, starting a war," he said.
"It was not difficult," said Luxa.
"I wonder what it will take to get out of it?" said Gregor.