Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane - 2 by Suzanne Collins Page B
Authors: Suzanne Collins
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Brothers and sisters, Animals, Siblings, Friendship, Missing Persons, Imaginary wars and battles, Quests (Expeditions), Prophecies
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didn't admit that what he said was right, but she didn't deny it, either.
"So, what's the deal with who gets to be king and queen here?" Gregor asked after a while.
"My father's family has been on the throne for some time. As his only child, I am to rule next. If I have children, the oldest will follow me," said Luxa.
"Even if it's a girl and she has brothers?" Gregor thought that girls only got to rule if there were no boys in the family.
"Oh, yes. Girls have equal claim to the throne," said Luxa. "If I have no children, the crown will go to Nerissa. But she is the last in our line. So if she dies, or abdicates without children, Regalia will have to choose a new royal family."
"And Stellovet thinks it will be her family," said Gregor.
"She is probably right. Vikus and Solovet will be the most likely choice. Their oldest child, my aunt Susannah, would follow. And then her children, my Fount cousins. Howard is the eldest," said Luxa.
"Sounds like Stellovet's a long way from being queen, anyway," said Gregor.
"Not as long as you might think. Not in the Underland," said Luxa.
The bats, who had been out flying around, came in for bedtime. Mareth put Howard's red bat, Pandora, and Ares on guard. Gregor had a feeling he wasn't going to be assigned that duty for a while.
Twitchtip was restless. "Something's not right," she said. She lifted her nose into the air, and her head made an involuntary jerk to the side.
"Is it more squid?" Gregor asked, looking into the deep.
"No, it's not animal. But something's not right," she repeated.
"In what way?" asked Ares.
"With the water," she said.
"Is it tainted? Frigid? Filled with debris?" asked Howard.
"No," said Twitchtip. "I'd recognize those things. It's something I don't have a word for."
But she could not explain further, so there was nothing to do but settle down to an uneasy sleep.
A few hours later, Gregor awoke to the sound of rushing water and Howard's frantic voice screaming the word that Twitchtip didn't have:
"Whirlpool!"
***
CHAPTER 14
Whirlpool? The only thing Gregor could think of was that game. His cousins had an old, round, aboveground pool. All the kids would try to run around in a circle and make the water swirl around so there was a sort of funnel effect in the middle. He knew there were real whirlpools in the ocean, but he'd never even seen a picture of one.
Gregor jumped to his feet and tried to make sense of the situation. Everyone was up, but they were confused, too. The Underlanders usually faced an emergency with precision, as if they'd drilled for the crisis a million times. Gregor had a feeling that none of them had ever dealt with a whirlpool, either...and that they had no emergency response at the ready.
Photos Glow-Glow and Zap were burning at full brightness, but there still wasn't enough light to see far out into the water. Gregor pulled out the biggest flashlight he had, one with a wide sweeping beam, and clicked it on. What he saw took his breath away.
The boats were on the outer edge of a huge vortex. The whirlpool must have been at least a hundred yards wide. The water was rushing at a dizzying speed, grasping at anything in its reach, carrying it around and around until it was sucked down into a black gaping hole in the center.
Howard and Mareth were shouting at each other across the rope that tethered the two boats together.
"I am cutting loose!" Howard yelled as he began to hack away at the rope between them.
"No!" Mareth cried. "The fliers will carry us out!"
"They can only take one boat! Do it, Mareth! Pandora can come back for me!" Howard shouted, and the rope severed under his sword. It was just in the nick of time. The lead boat containing Howard, Pandora, Twitchtip, and Zap was snagged by the outer ring of the whirlpool and carried off into the maelstrom.
It was only a matter of seconds before the second boat would meet the same fate. Gregor lunged for the stern for Boots, who was
"So, what's the deal with who gets to be king and queen here?" Gregor asked after a while.
"My father's family has been on the throne for some time. As his only child, I am to rule next. If I have children, the oldest will follow me," said Luxa.
"Even if it's a girl and she has brothers?" Gregor thought that girls only got to rule if there were no boys in the family.
"Oh, yes. Girls have equal claim to the throne," said Luxa. "If I have no children, the crown will go to Nerissa. But she is the last in our line. So if she dies, or abdicates without children, Regalia will have to choose a new royal family."
"And Stellovet thinks it will be her family," said Gregor.
"She is probably right. Vikus and Solovet will be the most likely choice. Their oldest child, my aunt Susannah, would follow. And then her children, my Fount cousins. Howard is the eldest," said Luxa.
"Sounds like Stellovet's a long way from being queen, anyway," said Gregor.
"Not as long as you might think. Not in the Underland," said Luxa.
The bats, who had been out flying around, came in for bedtime. Mareth put Howard's red bat, Pandora, and Ares on guard. Gregor had a feeling he wasn't going to be assigned that duty for a while.
Twitchtip was restless. "Something's not right," she said. She lifted her nose into the air, and her head made an involuntary jerk to the side.
"Is it more squid?" Gregor asked, looking into the deep.
"No, it's not animal. But something's not right," she repeated.
"In what way?" asked Ares.
"With the water," she said.
"Is it tainted? Frigid? Filled with debris?" asked Howard.
"No," said Twitchtip. "I'd recognize those things. It's something I don't have a word for."
But she could not explain further, so there was nothing to do but settle down to an uneasy sleep.
A few hours later, Gregor awoke to the sound of rushing water and Howard's frantic voice screaming the word that Twitchtip didn't have:
"Whirlpool!"
***
CHAPTER 14
Whirlpool? The only thing Gregor could think of was that game. His cousins had an old, round, aboveground pool. All the kids would try to run around in a circle and make the water swirl around so there was a sort of funnel effect in the middle. He knew there were real whirlpools in the ocean, but he'd never even seen a picture of one.
Gregor jumped to his feet and tried to make sense of the situation. Everyone was up, but they were confused, too. The Underlanders usually faced an emergency with precision, as if they'd drilled for the crisis a million times. Gregor had a feeling that none of them had ever dealt with a whirlpool, either...and that they had no emergency response at the ready.
Photos Glow-Glow and Zap were burning at full brightness, but there still wasn't enough light to see far out into the water. Gregor pulled out the biggest flashlight he had, one with a wide sweeping beam, and clicked it on. What he saw took his breath away.
The boats were on the outer edge of a huge vortex. The whirlpool must have been at least a hundred yards wide. The water was rushing at a dizzying speed, grasping at anything in its reach, carrying it around and around until it was sucked down into a black gaping hole in the center.
Howard and Mareth were shouting at each other across the rope that tethered the two boats together.
"I am cutting loose!" Howard yelled as he began to hack away at the rope between them.
"No!" Mareth cried. "The fliers will carry us out!"
"They can only take one boat! Do it, Mareth! Pandora can come back for me!" Howard shouted, and the rope severed under his sword. It was just in the nick of time. The lead boat containing Howard, Pandora, Twitchtip, and Zap was snagged by the outer ring of the whirlpool and carried off into the maelstrom.
It was only a matter of seconds before the second boat would meet the same fate. Gregor lunged for the stern for Boots, who was
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