| Secrets In The Past |
| ___________________________________________________ First here is an pronunciation key for my alien words Croath = crow-ah-th Plinoria = Pl-in-oh-re-ah Eirya = air-ya Sininndor = sin-en-door Yilln = yi-l-nn Jannar = jah-nar Bradol = br-uh-doll Vannos = von-ohs Nilpya = nil-pe-ya Durton = dirt-on Lillyah = lilly-ah _________________________________________________ |
| Chapter 27 ______________________________________ �The beginning is probably the best place to start. Antar is geographically different from Earth. Instead of oceans dividing the continents there are numerous lakes and rivers. None are large enough to divide an entire piece of land from another. The global climate is very much like that of England. It rains often but the humidity level is always high so the water table never over flows to separate the land. �Terrestrial beings evolved much the same way they did on Earth. As they gained knowledge and evolved, they formed tribes and countries, very similar to Earth. The difference is because we are not separated by water you can traverse the whole planet. Our people have been in existence much longer than humans. We are much more advanced in technology, language, science, and so on. However, no matter how far we advanced we were never able to over come one thing. The thirst for power, global domination. There were always times of tentative peace lasting sometimes decades but they always gave way to war. To put it in Earth standards it would be like having a World War every ten or fifteen years. �Roughly two hundred years before we were born, on Antar, there was another planet, Croath, not in our system that was dying. Their life star, their sun, was burning out. A large colony bent on preserving their race came to Antar and took over the second largest province, Jannar. They chose our planet because the climate and atmosphere was very similar to their own. You know this race as the Skins. They wear husks on Earth because they can not adapt to your atmosphere but their true forms are just as dependent on a cool, wet climate as their husks. The refugee Croathians completely over powered the entire government and people of Jannar. The Antarians that survived were forced to move to other provinces. �In the short term this actually worked well for the people of Antar and all its provinces. The governing houses took in the displaced people and made them parts of the communities in the other provinces. It taught unity and tolerance and acceptance. Of course there were still power hungary people in charge but the wars died down to skirmishes over the two centuries between the take over of Jannar and our births. �Any questions so far?� Everyone shook their heads. Gwyn looked around the room to gauge their reactions so far. Max and Liz, as she expected, were riveted. The consummate students, ready to gulp down any piece of information she was willing to give them. Michael, Kyle and Alex looked a little bored, waiting for the part that contained themselves and their friends. Isabel was on edge gripping tightly to Alex. Tess and Maria were hard to read. They didn�t look disinterested but they were not particularly fascinated either. �Ok, roughly two hundred years after the Skins came to Antar King Vanos came to power in Bradol. Bradol, where we are all from, is the largest province. It was a time of peace so he came by the throne through inheritance not war. King Vanos, your father,� she gestured to Max and Isabel, �was a great man. After only a short time in power he managed to negotiate a global peace treaty between all the provinces. He was even able to get a rather reluctant Jannar to sign. Anyway, moving away from them for a moment. Vanos brokered peace between all the provinces. It was the first step to becoming a global Utopia. �Vanos was declared the planetary sovereign by unanimous decision. For him it was not political, all the people loved him and knew what a great and fair man he was. It was obvious that under his rule the planet would prosper and thrive. �He was not an absolute ruler, he knew that could lead to unrest. The government was set up so that in addition to the monarchy each province had an appointed governor. It was a lot like the system in the US of a president and governors for the states. The planetary seat remained in Bradol and Vanos remained governor of Bradol. As his reign continued so did the prosperity. There was no hunger, no poverty, no war. He negotiated trade and exchanges of information and eventually cultural exchanges between Antar and the other four planets in out system. It was truly a wonderful time to be alive. �Time passed and Vanos married Queen Nilpya, your mother, who ruled right along side him. We were all born, Rath and Lillyah came to live at the palace. Things were wonderful. I, Eirya was my Antarian name, came to live at the palace when I was ten. My parents were good friends with the King and Queen. They were given one of the first ambassadorships to Plinoria, another planet in our system. You�ve met Larek, that�s his home planet. I didn�t want to move to someplace new so the Queen offered to let me come live with you all because Vonnie and I were the same age and were good friends at school. So, I came to live there while my parents and my baby sister went to Plinoria.� Her eyes drifted momentarily to Tess before continuing. �That�s basically how all five of us grew up together. Not as siblings but as friends. �When we were teenagers rumblings started that things in Jannar were going south. They had a newly appointed governor who was very young and very conniving. Over the previous century most of the skins had inter graded into Antarian society. Accepting our customs, marrying into our race, bringing their families to live in Jannar. The province eventually became quite diverse. Unfortunately there were still many of them that held on to their old beliefs and when Sininndor, the new governor, took power they were only too happy to support him. He slowly but surly began to dismantle all the hard work Vanos and previous Jannarian governors had accomplished. �He systematically depleted the province�s resources and funds to throw lavish parties and live in the height of erotic luxury. Jannar began a steady decline while Sininndor blamed the monarchy for the poverty and starvation his people were suffering. With the obvious goal of dethroning the king he started several campaigns to help turn his people against Vanos. He planted anti monarchy propaganda through out the province. He orchestrated murders at the border to make it look like there was rampant lawlessness. �This continued for several years. Sininndor never attacked anyone or made any threats. The only thing he seemed to be doing was aggravating his own people, at least that�s what it looked like. �Growing up all of us were involved in the daily political affairs of the palace. Even Lilly and I were included though we had no official office to fulfill when we grew up. Both Zan and Valondra were groomed to be the head monarch and whoever fell into the roll naturally would take over for Vanos when the time came. Rath was to be the head to the military as his father was. �We were moving towards a completely peaceful society so the role meant more than commander of our armies. We still had them but they were basically for show. Rath was taught all the security for the planet and was to be heavily involved in the relations with other planets. Lillyah, Vonnie and I spent great amounts of time with the Queen, learning what her roll was. She had as many responsibilities as the King if not more. She governed along side him, both having a say on every discussion. While ruling the planet and the province she was also in charge of all the Kingdom�s social function, the households, and so on.� Gwyn paused for a moment before going on. Taking a deep breath she turned to Isabel but addressed the whole group. �Before I get any further I need you all to know that who you are now is not who you were then. None of you were bad people you were just victims of poor choices and circumstance. In this lifetime none of you are exactly as you were. For one, your donated DNA made changes in your personality. Your experiences here, being human, knowing humans, being raised as humans, those things all make you different people than you were on Antar. What some of you,� she held Isabel's gaze for a moment then turned to Max �are going to learn about yourselves will be very upsetting and I�m sorry. Just keep in mind that you are different people now.� Isabel closed her eyes for a minute. Gwyn waited for her before beginning. The whole group was painfully aware that she had been addressing Isabel but only a couple of them caught the pointed glances at Max. �Does anyone have any questions before I get to the next part?� �Yeah, I have a question.� Kyle raise his hand. �Ok� �Not to sound ungrateful for the history lesson but you have mentioned all four of them but where�s Tess, I mean Ava?� �Kyle...� Tess hissed at him at hit his arm. �It�s ok,� Gwyn smiled at Tess, �I�m sure you were wondering the same thing. I�m not leaving you out you�re just not in that part of the story. You were on another planet until after Lilly died and at the point in the story I�m at I think you were only twelve.� Tess knit her eyebrows in confusion �Oh.� was all she could say. �Anybody else?� No one made a peep. Apparently unless she started a story herself, Gwyn was only able to answer in anything but riddles. �As we got older we started to become more and more involved with affairs of state. Over the last few years Vanos had talks on and off with various officials in Jannar about the the horrible state of the province. Coming up with a new idea, Queen Nilpya decided to go on the next diplomatic mission herself and take Lillyah and Valondra along with her. Sometimes a little female charm goes a long way. Everyone loved Lilly and Vonnie was extremely skilled in getting what she wanted. �Valondra had quite the reputation. Nothing out of line, but she was quite the wild child. She had more boyfriends than Lilly and I had hair ribbons. She was also extremely beautiful which didn�t help much. The Queen thought bringing her along would be a good idea because she was currently not speaking to the King. She had been caught in an affair with a rather unscrupulous official from Yilln, another planet in our system. There had been rumors that he was using their relationship to get a foot into the palace. Of course, the King didn�t take it too well and had him exhaled from the planet. �Valondra agreed to go not only to get away from the palace but because she really did enjoy the political side of things. She was very smart when it came to negotiations. She knew how to read people and their weaknesses and of course, how to get what she wanted. She didn�t like the whole head monarch thing. Too much having to be proper in the eyes of the people and parading around, she would tell me. Needless to say, it was decided early on that Zan would succeed Vanos and Valondra would become an advisor. �So, Lillyah, Valondra, and the Queen go to Jannar to meet with their officials. For some reason Sininndor and his equally power hungry brother Durton attended the meeting. Usually Sininndor felt any attempt on our part to help his people was beneath him. He attended this meeting though and was extremely charming. Valondra told me she found him intriguing. That someone rumored to be so bad could seem so sincere was a curiosity she wanted to explore. �The month they were there Sininndor secretly began to court Vonnie. He was charming and in control and above all dangerous. All things that thrilled her to no end. Our party returned to Bradol with out a single clue about what had happened. Of course I don�t know too many details except the noticeable changes in Vonnie. We think they carried on their affair in secret for almost a year. �Unfortunately Vonnie was not the only one who came away from those negations with a new love. Durton was absolutely taken with Lillyah. He attempt the entire month to gain her affections. Giving her gifts, offering her lavish meals and parties in her honor. Unlike Vonnie, Lilly found Durton disturbing. He would slip descriptive love letters under her door and sneak up on her when she was alone. I remember when she came back she was so upset. She didn�t go on another trip for almost year and Rath and Zan had to make sure neither was gone at the same time. She would never say but something about the whole trip had left her shaken and insecure.� Gwyn took a breath and looked around. Isabel seemed to be holding up ok so far. �Is everyone still with me? Any questions?� �How old were they?� Max looked pretty tense. Gwyn noted that his demeanor all night had been pretty much identical to Zan�s when it came to Lilly. She thought it was odd that Liz did not quite respond in the same manner. She was not even sitting next to him now. She was on the couch between Maria and Michael while Max was in a recliner by himself. It was clear to Gwyn that he loved her very much but what was up with Liz? Surly in the month she had been gone they had straightened out the whole future Max thing. �Lilly was twenty and Vonnie was twenty three.� she answered. �Anything else?� she looked around he room. �No� Max answered for them all. �After the trip things started to change around the palace. Valondra was very secretive. She would disappear for days on end saying she was visiting friends or vacationing in nearby towns. Trade and relations were growing with the other planet so Rath was called away often. Lilly and Zan started to spend more time alone together. She had become distant and quiet after returning from Jannar and Zan helped to bring out the old Lilly. �A little over a year after they returned King Vanos came down with a sudden malady and after a brief convalescence, passed away. Zan was crowned straight away to great fanfare. It was widely know that Zan was just like his father and his reign promised to be even more fruitful than Vanos�. �Zan was very insecure at the beginning, especially with the absence of his sister. Vonnie had lost all interest in the post of official advisor she was to have assumed. Not having someone he trusted to help him make decisions weighed heavily on Zan. Rath was away often so that was not a possibility. While he put off appointing a new one he began to bring Lilly in to all his meetings. He trusted her implicitly and the extra time he got to spend with her was an added bonus. �Zan had been in love with Lillyah for as long as I can remember. He kept it well hidden but all of us close to him knew except Lilly. He worshiped her but she was completely oblivious. Anyway, he began involving her in all of his official business. She had a calming effect whenever she was in a room that helped greatly whenever talks got heated. Without Vonnie and Rath there the two started spending lots of time, both business and pleasure, together. After awhile everyone started noticing the quiet dinners on the terrace and strolls in the garden.� Gwyn was staring off into space with a dreamy look in her eyes. It was like she could actually see them holding hands and whispering in a darkened corner. �When they were in a room together it was like the air shimmered and crackled. I had never seen either so happy. It was infectious, when they were in a room together you could not help but smile. It was the true fairy tale. He doted on her hand and foot. The only time they left each others sight was to sleep or bathe. She was there for all the important decisions just as his mother had been for his father.� �Ahemm� Michael clearing his throat brought her out of her dreamy narrative and back to the room. She glanced around and the smile slid from her face. Everyone looked beyond uncomfortable. Alex and Isabel were staring intently at the floor. Kyle was holding on to Tess�s arm tightly, she wore a horrified expression and was trying to leave the room. Max was sitting forward in his chair, his face in his hands. Over on the couch Liz was clinging to Michael, practically in his lap. Her face was buried in the crook of his neck, the occasional shiver passing through her body as if she were crying. Maria was patting her back while Michael stroked her hair. Over Liz�s head he was sending Gwyn the death glare. She cocked her head to the side in question. Why were they all so upset? This was on of her favorite parts. It had been such a happy time. �I think you should move on to the next part of the story.� Michael told her in a low tone. �umm Ok.� she answered, showing her obvious confusion. �Let�s see I guess I�ll skip ahead about six months to when things started to get bad. Talks to rectify the situation in Jannar were not going well. Zan was starting to get impatient with Sininndor�s lack of cooperation. Every time he came to the table he wanted something different, more land, greater economic subsidies, a higher status in the monarchy. Zan was about to threaten to have him relieved of his position as governor. It would involve gathering all the governors of all the provinces to remove an elected official but Zan was running out of options. Sininndor was running his province in to the ground. �Out of the blue Sininndor proposed an alliance. He offered marriage to Valondra and Lillyah to himself and Durton. He argued that he had fallen in love with Vonnie and likewise for his brother and Lillyah. They would treat them like the queens they were, he said. Of course �love� was not the only reason for the proposal. He wanted to merge to two provinces and co rule with Zan. Zan, not being a complete idiot, flatly refused. Infuriated, Sininndor broke off the talks and left for Jannar that afternoon. �When Valondra found out Zan had refused on her behalf she lost it. They had a huge shouting match right in the middle of the court yard for the whole palace to hear. She insisted that she loved him and he loved her. Unable to reason with her that Sininndor did not love her but her access to power, Zan had her confined to the palace until she calmed down and saw reason. He didn�t want to but he didn�t have a choice. �Things went back to normal for a while. Vonnie calmed down after a couple months or so we thought. She was quiet, kept to herself a lot. We thought she was just getting over him. In reality she was still conducting her secret affair by correspondence. Sininndor was turning her against Zan. Filling her head with thoughts about how happy Zan and Lilly were together and how selfish and self centered he was to not want her to be happy as well. �As expected Zan asked Lilly to marry him and she accepted. Everyone was ecstatic. They were the ideal couple.� Gwyn was going to elaborate on what a wonderful pairing Zan and Lillyah were but stopped when Michael once again caught her eye. � So, yeah. They were getting married and it was good. Lilly was going to make an excellent Queen. Umm... Oh Rath and Vonnie, right.� she tried to move on despite how flustered the heavy tension in the room was making her. �Zan continued to worry about his sister. She had not exactly shown good judgment over the years when it came to men. He wanted to make sure she was matched with a good man. Someone who would take care of her and Lilly if anything happened to him. He turned to Rath, his best friend and soon to be brother in law, and asked him to marry his sister. Rath agreed out of loyalty to his friend and the crown. He was not in love with Valondra but cared a great deal for her and promised to take care of her. �Ok, I�m about to get to the part you are all a little familiar with. I understand if some of you don�t want to listen. Now would probably be a good time to leave if you want to. I will try to tell it as objectively as possible but it was one of the worst moments of my life so its a very difficult part to tell. I think Liz and Isabel both need to hear this, so they can know what truly happened but if any of you want to leave that's fine.� Max reached out and squeezed his sisters hand �I�m staying.� Michael pulled Liz a little closer to his side �So am I.� Maria grabbed Liz�s hand �I think we should all stay.� No one objected. �Why don�t you continue when your ready Gwyn.� Liz told her with compassion. This had to be hard for her. When they had talked in the kitchen Liz got a little glimpse of just how hard living through the war with out her best friends and family had been for her. Gwyn smiled gratefully at her and was once again struck by just how much Liz was like Lillyah. �After the Jannar talks broke up Sininndor was a very busy boy. In addition to poisoning Valondra against her brother he was working on his own brother. Durton was never what you would call stable. When he found out Zan refused his proposal he was livid. He would show up at the palace in Bradol threatening people until he saw Lilly. He would send her gifts in the mail and generally be a persistent pest. She was absolutely terrified of him even though he never seemed very threatening. It was actually some what of a joke that he seemed like a little wuss who talked big but had nothing to back up his words. �When the engagements were announced neither brother took it too well. Sininndor used the news to further his brothers obsession with Lillyah to his own advantage. He convinced him that Lilly was at one time in love with Durton but Zan had turned her against him. Sininndor planted the idea in his head that Lillyah would be better off dead than with Zan. He let that fester in his screwed up head for a while before they hatched a plan that would benefit both their causes. �Their plan was to take place the night of the big garden party. It was to be held out in the main garden just off the great hall. There were huge floor to ceiling windows in the gallery and adjoining ball room that would allow for people to loiter around the grounds or dance and still know what was going on everywhere. It was the official party to celebrate the engagements and Lillyah was to be crowned princess. She would be coronated as queen during the wedding. Representatives from all the provinces and the other four planets were going to be there. Apart from the impending nuptials it was the event of the season. �This part is a little sketchy, no one knows exactly what happened. Minutes before the guests were to begin arriving one of Vonnie�s hand maids told Lilly she wanted to see her in the garden for a moment. Lilly excused herself and went to find her. She got out there and when Valendra showed up to meet her she brought some friends. �Zan had been on edge all day. He was convinced something was going to happen. We all thought it was cold feet because he wanted everything to be perfect for Lillyah. When he could not find her or Vonnie he and Rath went into the gardens to look for them. They stumbled upon the scene. Valondra was standing to the side with Sininndor and Durton had his had on Lillyah's wrist and was yelling at her. They yelled for Lilly and started running to her but stopped dead in their tracks when Durton pulled out a dagger and yanked Lilly to his body. �As guests started to arrive and trickle into the gardens and the gallery they were treated to the sight of the soon to be Queen of Antar with a knife to throat on the landing connecting the palace to the gardens. There was nothing we could do about the guests but try to keep the women and children inside. In hindsight I remember seeing all these men trickling in to the garden that I did not recognize but at the time I was too upset to register it. �Zan and Rath tried to negotiate with Durton to release Lillyah but all he did was yell about how Zan had turned Lilly against him. They pleaded with Vonnie to do something, anything to stop him just get him to let go of the knife and make a deal. She and Sininndor just stood by watching with disinterest. Zan was even ready to join the provinces to save her but the way Durton�s plan went there was nothing that could save Lilly. Looking back I can see what all the yelling was about. He was waiting until Sininndor�s army was in place. He had been security building and training his army to go to war with us for at least five years. All the talks, all the partnerships, they were just to put cracks in the foundation. This was to be the first blow. Sininndor was a brilliant strategist, we just didn�t know the lengths he would go to until it was all over. �When he saw that his men had taken up their positions, posing as guests, Sininndor gave the signal to Durton to do as he wished. Then everything was happening at once. Four men had stationed themselves behind Zan and Rath. Several more at all the entrances to the palace and more casually surrounding the landing. Durton turned Lilly towards him and looked into her eyes. He mumbled something about loving her in this life and the next then plunged the dagger into her little body. Everyone screamed. Zan and Rath were held back so they could not get to her. No one could get past the goons guarding the stairs and no one could get out of the palace to help her. Half the kingdom watched with their noses pressed to the glass as he repeatedly stabbed our poor Lilly. I don�t know whose screams were worse, Lilly�s or Zan�s. �Minutes passed but it felt like an eternity. Screams turned to grief stricken sobs as Lilly stopped struggling and slumped in his arms. Blood was every were. Splattered on the walls and windows, soaking his shoes, flowing down the stairs into the grass. He dropped her now lifeless body to the ground said something to Zan that I didn�t hear and turned with Sininndor to leave. Their guards surrounded the three of them and had them to the Jannar border before we could even assemble our army.� Gwyn turned her glassy eyes to Isabel. She was shuddering with Alex�s arms wrapped protectively around her. �If it helps any I don�t think Valondra knew what was going to happen. When Durton started to hurt Lillyah I noticed and Sininndor had a very firm grip on her wrist. I think he just used Vonnie to get Lilly out of the house. She probably thought they were going to talk to her about marrying Sininndor instead of Rath. I don�t believe for a minute that Vonnie would have done something like that to Lilly knowingly.� Isabel nodded weakly before turning her face into Alex�s chest. �I don�t know about anyone else but I need a minute to stretch my legs and get a fresh soda. Why don�t we sit back down in fifteen minutes. Is that all right with everyone?� �I think that�s a good idea.� Max told her, everyone already standing to stretch. �I�m going outside for a minute,� he said as he walked to the door, �fifteen minutes, guys.� They came back quietly after fifteen minutes. Not having the full story yet everyone was avoiding eye contact with someone. Once they were all settled again Gwyn proceeded. �Ok, so we�re up to the murder. I�d say that�s at least half way through the story. Unfortunately now we get the depressing half. After Lillyah died nothing was the same. Vonnie never came back from Jannar. Rath was very angry and hostile all the time and Zan... it probably would have been kinder if Zan had died along side her. He was distant, unfocused, completely consumed with grief and eventually obsessed with revenge. Two weeks after her funeral Zan declared was on Jannar with the people�s support. All his advisors told him not to, but he would not listen. Lilly was the only person he had listened to before and she couldn�t tell him what to do now so he acted on impulse. �The whole kingdom was devastated by Lillyah�s death. Hoards of people from all the provinces signed up to fight to defend their Queen�s honor. But waging war so early was a poor and hasty decision. Our military was so ill prepared. We had been a peaceful society for almost a century now. Everyone who could fight had never seen a war, while Sininndor had been preparing his people for battle for five years. We were no match for them. To make things worse Zan insisted on leading the battles himself with Rath as his second. �I�m not sure if it was because he wanted die or he wanted to please Lilly even in death. Whatever the reason no one could persuade him to do otherwise. Rath was too loyal and lost with out his sister to stand up to Zan and tell him to get his ass off the battle field. �Things did not go well under Zan�s command. He made poor decisions based on grief and revenge. He refused to look at logic. He was constantly sending our troops into battles we had no chance of winning. We would lose half a regimen in a day. It was a horrible time unlike any alive had ever known. While we were off dying, Sininndor was weaseling around and started to make alliances with corrupt officials in the other provinces. Before long he had treaties from three more strong provinces stating loyalty to Jannar. With all Zan�s poor decisions and all the losing battles the people were starting to have doubts. People and officials were starting to question his stability and his ability to lead such and endeavor himself. Sininndor used this to his advantage planting his people throughout loyal states to plant subtle doubts in the people�s minds. �A year into it squabbles and fights were breaking out within the war over loyalty. In an effort to give the perception of stability and unite the people again Zan was advised to take a wife. He resisted staunchly. He said he would only ever love Lilly. He could never betray her like that. His advisors eventually convinced him it would not be for love but for his people. They needed a queen and they needed to see that Zan was stable and capable of finishing what he started. He reluctantly agreed. �When the war started all the ambassadors and their families came back from the other planets. My family came to live with me and my fiancee at the palace. It was safer and I wanted the company. I was the only one of the five of us still living in the palace at the time. It was proposed that Zan marry Ava, my younger sister that had been living on Plinoria until recently.� There was an audible gasp in the room when Gwyn spilled that little piece of trivia. �She understood that it was an arrangement for the good of the people and took her duty very seriously for one so young. Zan was very kind to her and let her have whatever she wanted as long as she knew his heart would always belong to Lillyah. Ava never questioned it or pressured him for something he didn�t have to give her. I think she found him a little old for her tastes anyway.� �I�m sorry but I have to interrupt.� Maria jumped in on Gwyn. She looked over to her. Gwyn liked Maria. She said what she thought and didn�t apologize for it. It was very refreshing. �Sure, what did you want to ask?� �Just how old were they when they got married.� She pointed to Max and Tess who were avoiding each other�s eye line at all costs. �Zan was twenty six and Ava was sixteen.� Eight jaws hit to floor. No one said it but it was pretty obvious that it had been a marriage of connivance not love. Poor Tess, mortified did not even begin to describe how she felt. �Anyway, moving on. Ava and Zan were married in an effort to unite the people or so it was intended. Instead of uniting them it infuriated them. The war had basically begun for our people over Lillyah. Now it seamed the Zan was turning his back on the cause and forgetting her. In reality nothing could have been further from the truth. The fact that people believed he could move on from Lilly killed what was left of his spirit. �After that it was a helpless affair. We fought valiantly but the kingdom fell within two years. Those that survived and did not escape underground were enslaved and Sininndor declared himself absolute ruler of Antar. �About six months into the war myself and a group of scientists believed things would not turn out for the best. We were afraid that Sininndor could capture the Granolith if he took Bradol. Using technology we were working on with the other planets we genetically recreated Lilly as human and imprinted some genetic memories and codes for the Granolith in her chromosomes. We secretly sent her and the Granolith to Earth for safe keeping. I will go into more detail about it and the arrangements at a later date when you are not on information overload already. �When the rest of you died we sent you along as well. We adjusted you maturation rate so you would all be roughly the same age. We also gave you powers the human brain was capable of to help in your survival and ability to defeat or enemies. Again I�ll go into your differences later. Its not so important right now. �We�ll that�s basically my whole story, give or take a few details. Question, comments?� �Yeah, tomorrow can you go over some of the science things with me. I have a lot of questions like how did I come out of the pod at six months and survive, that I would like answered.� Liz told her �Of course, and I�ll answer that on right now. You had a protector from earth that watched over your pod until you were hatched. Next please.� �I want to know how I, how we died.� Max asked somberly. He looked around the room to make sure that was ok with everyone. The group looked little uncomfortable but no one objected. �and how old we were.� �Ok.� Gwyn fiddled with her hands a little. She didn�t like talking about this stuff. �Valondra was poisoned during dinner in her home in Jannar. She was twenty nine. Zan was captured and publicly executed in the main square of Bradol�s capital. He was twenty eight. Rath was killed in the last battle trying to defend the palace. He was also twenty eight. Ava was caught in the riot when they burned the palace. She was eighteen. I don't think I said before but Lillyah was twenty three.� It was quiet for a few more minutes while they tried to digest everything. �Ok since no one is going to say anything I have a question.� Maria abruptly broke the silence. Michael eyed his girlfriend suspiciously. She wouldn�t ask what he that she was going to ask , would she? Ha ha. This was Maria, of course she would. �Maria, don�t. Not right now.� He warned. �Michael, you want to know, I want to know, and I know Max and Liz and Tess want to know. None of you can get up the nerve to ask so I�m going to do it for you.� She turned to Gwyn. �I don�t get it. If Zan and Lilly were so in love on Antar and Ava was a marriage of convenience then what�s with all this destiny crap? Even the prophecy said they would find each other again.� Gwyn stared blankly at Maria for a moment �Excuse me? I don�t know what you�re asking.� Maria rolled her eyes and sighed �What about destiny?� Gwyn cocked her head to the side and drew her brows together in confusion �What destiny?� Chapter 28 _________________________________________ �What destiny?� �What destiny?� Maria narrowed her eyes at the redhead opposite her and laughed bitterly. �What destiny she asks. WHAT DESTINY?!� �Maria calm down.� Liz placed a hand on her shoulder. Maria turned to her incredulously. �Of all people, Liz, you are the one who needs to know the most. This ruined your life and almost sent you to the nut house, so don�t tell me to calm down. She knows more than anyone we have ever met, even Nesado and River Dog, and you expect me to believe that she doesn�t know about destiny? I don�t think so.� She turned back to Gwyn. �don�t try to avoid it girlie, you spill right now.� �Maria I don�t know what your talking about. I�m really sorry.� �Fine I�ll elaborate for you. Destiny. Mom-o-gram. Giant hologram of their mother telling them about their mission. Max and Tess are supposed to hook up, same for Isabel and *my* Space Boy. There is never a mention of Liz or Lilly or prophecy.� Gwyn closed her eyes and pursed her lips. �Your talking about the orbs aren't you?� She asked. �Yeah, Liz and I found one of them out in the desert and we got the other one form the FBI.� Max answered, wondering what exactly was going on now. Gwyn slapped the heal of her hand to her forehead. Standing, she began to pace. �I don�t believe it! I simply do not believe it. I swear if they were not already dead I would find a way to get my butt back up there and kill them myself. �I told them the altered memories were enough. They didn�t need the hologram, too much could go wrong. Did they listen? *OH NO* They wanted to be sure.� She continued to pace around the living room, eight very confused sets of eyes following her rant. �I said �put them in their pods�, it leaves less to chance. �No Eirya� they said �this will be better� they said. �what if the memories weren�t enough� they said, They needed a contingency plan. Contingency plan my ass. �I said it. I did. I told them there were too many chances it could go wrong. And what happened? It all blew up in their faces.� Something else clicked into place for her as she stalked around the living room. All the things that had come up in conversations about Max and Tess. Tess left because she thought she was supposed to be with Max. �Oh my God!� she exclaimed even louder, startling the group. �How stupid could you be? Yeah, nice contingency plan, morons. It a miracle you all aren't dead by now. Oh and lets not for get about that pesky little bit about the world ending and Liz almost losing her mind. Lovely! Just lovely.� Liz gasped at Gwyn�s slip. She had to do something. Gwyn was rambling and not thinking about what she was saying. �Gwyn. Gwyn!� she shouted at her but got no response. �Eirya!� she tried. Gwyn spun round to face Liz and returned to the planet. Stalking back over to chair she fell into it with a huff. She took a deep breath before looking at everyone. Her eyes came to rest on Max. She knew this had affected him and Liz the most. �I am so sorry and you have to believe me that I had nothing to with this. I tried to stop them from doing it.� �From doing what?� �Those orbs, they were not meant for you.� There was a series of horrified gasps and coughing fits. When Max was able to speak he asked, �who were they for.� �The decoys.� �The decoys?� �Yeah, I think you met a couple of them at the summit, right?� �The duplicates?� Michael asked Gwyn nodded her head �yeah. See we thought that the skins might eventually get wind that we sent you here so we made a spare set. A decoy. They are very different from you.� �This much we know.� Isabel said flippantly �We altered them to basically be survivalists. Their only purpose was to lead our enemies away form you and if possible destroy them with out you having to lift a finger. We let them keep their memories but altered some of them.� �What do you mean you altered them and why don�t we have many memories?� �We erased your memories because we wanted you to have a clean start. Be influenced by your environment and make it easier to blend into the populous. We didn�t want you starting out new lives only to be driven by grief, pain, and guilt. We let them keep their memories but altered a lot of them. We erased all traces of Lillyah. There was only one Lilly, no decoy. We needed to keep that set as far away from you as possible. We knew if Zan remembered her he would look for her, putting the rest of you in danger. To further help the cause we planted memories that they had been couples. The destiny was a cover up to steer the decoy Zan away from Lilly and towards Ava. �I told the scientist that were working on the project that the orbs were not needed but they didn�t listen. They wanted to be sure that they followed their �destiny� and kept the skins, FBI, whoever, away form you. I said that too much could go wrong. Especially with the tracking device. �There was a universal tracking device that was set off when the orbs were activated. It was intended to draw enemies towards the decoys and away from you. I said we should actually put them in their pods but they said no.� No one knew quite what to say. Even Maria was stunned silent for a few minutes. �Are you sure that we aren�t the spare set?� Tess asked quietly. �Yes, for several reasons. You don�t have memories.� �But we have all had dreams,� Michael interrupted. Max looked to Tess who was playing with her hands, not looking at the group. Hadn�t she told him that she remembered things about her past life? �That was expected. The dreams are like echoes of your memories. They will probably come up either as portents or under extreme stress. Just like repressed memories do. The other reason I know you are not the decoys is because Lilly is here. I know Liz is Lilly and she was drawn to this group not the the other.� �Then how did we end up with the orbs.� �I�m not exactly sure but you better believe there will be a full investigation. My first guess is that you all got mixed up in the crash. That was a huge disaster. We lost track of all of you after that.� �Ok well what about Nesado? He drilled all this destiny crap into Tess� head until she didn�t know which way was up.� Kyle had some major contempt for the shape shifter that had done this to his girlfriend. �Nesado? Is that an earth name?� �It�s what River Dog called him, it means visitor.� Max told her. �you don�t know his Antarian name?� �no� �he was pro destiny but he had your Tess and Liz said that he took you away from the pods, away from the others?� Tess nodded. She had so many emotions swirling through her it was all she could do to keep her gag reflex in check. �Well, I can�t be sure obviously, but making some big assumptions I would guess something went really wrong. Both sets were to have had protectors. I wonder if somehow they also got confused. There are numerous possibilities. Someone could have died in the crash, one of the pods could have been damaged, he could have gotten hurt in the crash himself and hit his head or something. I�ll contact Justin and have him put some people on it to see if we can�t find out what happened.� �Since we aren't going to get any farther on that right now can we please get back to the whole destiny thing for a moment.� Maria was getting frustrated, she wanted a straight forward answer. �Sure. I guess what I am telling you is that for you there is no destiny. You make your own destiny.� Liz�s eyes grew wide hearing the words future Max had said to her. �We can be with whoever we want? Human or otherwise?� �Yes, Isabel, you can be with whom ever you see fit.� She grinned at the group. Max�s eyes went slowly to Liz. There was no destiny. Wa-Whoo! He could be with Liz and still lead his planet. There was nothing to stop them now. The elation he felt quickly gave way to fear when he saw Liz. Her eyes were wide and wild with fear. She was trembling and digging her fingers into her legs. �Liz...� he said slowly. Everyone turned to look at her. �No.� she said shaking her head. Her eyes came to rest on Gwyn. Raising her hand, she pointed at her. �N-no. You...you�re wrong. We...we�re not supposed to be together.� She gestured to Max but kept her gaze trained on Gwyn. Max was not the only one who could hear the crystal sound of his heart breaking all over again. He didn�t understand what she was doing. Why did she keep doing this to him? He thought they had been making real progress over the last day or two, even with all the commotion. So why now that it was ok for them to be together, not that he needed someone�s approval, was she trying to break them apart again? She looked genuinely scared of the idea of being with him. Did he really frighten her? That idea was the most crushing of all. �Shit,� Michael cursed under his breath. It was becoming obvious that his sister was just as thick headed as he was. Liz was going to lose it and this time for no good reason. They had to get her to let go of this thing. Maria was silently cursing herself as well. She should have seen this coming. Liz may have let Max help her with the Lilly stuff but it would take a lot more for her to give up this secret. Liz rose off the couch and continued to shake her finger at Gwyn. �You�re wrong. They- they have to be together.� She pointed to Tess. Maria got off the couch slowly and took Liz�s pointed hand in hers. �Tell her Maria,� she pleaded with her. �Tell her she�s wrong.� �No Liz, its ok now,� she told her in a soothing tone. �They don�t have to be together.� �Yes, yes they do!� Tears started to slowly spill from her eyes. �They have to. Don�t you see? I-I.. after all I�ve done, all I was asked to do, after everything I did to him... it would all be for nothing Maria.� The room around them faded away while Maria gently tried to talk Liz down from her emotional state. �It can�t be true. It just can�t.� �Liz you�re wrong. It wasn�t all for nothing. You fixed it. That was then and this is now, Liz. They didn�t know then, Tess didn�t know. I don�t think he knew either. If he had I don�t think he would have asked you to do this. He didn�t know about the mistake, I don�t think they ever found out about it. If you had not done what you did we would not know either. You would never have found out about yourself or about Michael.� �No, no it still doesn�t matter. He said they had to be together. He said.� �But he thought they had to be together together Liz. He didn�t know about you two. He didn�t know about Lilly. He couldn�t have. Gwyn never would have found you if you hadn�t done what you did this time around. You did it Liz, you saved everyone. Now you get your reward. Don�t you want what is yours Liz? I know he wants it and I think he would have wanted you to tell him at this point. Liz he would not have wanted you to go through this if he could have prevented it.� Liz didn�t look quite convinced so she tried one other line of attack. �Liz you heard what happened after Lilly died. Do you want another visitor telling you that now its your fault. Do you want him to come back and tell you that he gave up and we lost again because this time it was you who walked away.� Liz gasped, �Do- do you really think that could happen?� �Yes.� Shaking her head a little to clear it, Liz noticed she was still in the living room with all her friends. Everyone had heard her and Maria talking. She closed her eyes for a moment. Opening them back up to Maria she nodded slowly �I uhhhh... I just need a minute. Excuse me.� Not looking back she fled into the kitchen to collect her thoughts. Michael stood to go after her, Maria placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. �Just give her a minute. She needs to put a few things together.� She turned to the group to see faces reflecting everything from confusion to complete desolation. Well, it was going to come out now whether Liz wanted it to or not. Kyle stood narrowing his eyes at Maria �Can I assume this has to do with her little charade?� Maria sighed, �kind of.� �You know the whole story don�t you?� �Yes.� �And you let her carry on like this since October? What kind of friend are you?� �Excuse me? Don�t you lay a guilt trip on me here Kyle. You don�t know the half of what is going on.� �Well then why don�t you enlighten us?� �Because its not her secret to tell.� Michael came to her defense. �You know too don�t you?� �Yes, I do.� Just catching up Alex blurted out the worst possible thing he could say at the moment �Does this have something to do with Liz making Max think she slept with Kyle?� The was dead silence in the room while all eyes turned to him. �OH. MY. GOD.� Maria finally exploded �Kyle, I am so going to kill you. You have no idea what you are messing with here. Its a good thing destiny is fake because by telling him that you could have gotten us all killed.� �What are you talking about?� �Yeah, I�d kinda like to know about that too.� Max said softly from his chair. �Crap! Kyle do you see what you did. Now he knows. Liz should have been the one to tell him. Nice, anything else you would like to spill?� �Maria calm down.� Michael took her hand trying to cool her down before she spilled anything else. �Its not Kyle�s fault. I was the one who told Alex.� Tess spoke up. �Michael, get me my cedar oil.� He got it and after a couple whiffs Maria continued, �Ok, everyone who did not know about this until today please raise your hand.� Only Max held his hand up. �Are you happy? Now it looks like all his friends and the girl he loves betrayed him. Not to mention how he�s going to feel when he finds out what really happen-� Michael clamped his hand over Maria�s mouth. She glared up at him. �No, you are not speaking until she gets back. You are only making things worse.� He turned back to the group �Now everyone sit down. Liz will be back in a few moments and I don�t want her anymore upset than necessary.� Everyone sat in silence for a few more minutes waiting for Liz. No one would have known what to say anyway. That little melt down of hers was so cryptic and unlike Liz. She pretty much ripped out Max�s heart in public. Their thoughts were halted when she reentered the living room. Maria smiled. Liz was back. Her eyes held that gleam of absolute control they would get when she had a plan. Her stride was full of purpose and she had a slip of paper that no doubt contained a list. This whole nightmare might just be coming to an end. She came to stand at the front of their lopsided circle. Nervously she tucked her hair behind her ears before beginning. �I�m really sorry for my little outburst there. There have been a lot of things going on and I kinda freaked out. I�m sorry if I made anyone uncomfortable or hurt anyone�s feelings.� She paused for a moment fingering her list. �Liz,� Max stood up, �do you think I could talk to you for a minute?� Liz looked into his sad eyes from across the room. She struggled to swallow over the lump in her throat. �In a... in just a second. I umm, need to ask a couple questions and then I think I need to tell you something.� Max nodded solemnly and sat back down. �Ok,� she turned to Gwyn. �You said earlier that you had only known where we were for about six months. How did you find us?� �At the summit. We knew where the decoys were from previous contact but we didn�t know where you were. Larek has been a major player in our cause. He saw Max at the summit and since the emissary confirmed him we knew it was really him. Larek contacted Justin right away.� �That�s what I thought. Max,� she turned to look at him but avoided direct eye contact, �if-if you had not seen what you saw the night before we went to Copper Summit and if I had gone to the concert and we subsequently got back together would you have gone to the summit?� Max thought about it for a minuet. Would he have left Liz to go with the dupes and brought Tess along? No, he hated to admit it but the major reason he decided to go was because he was upset with her and with Isabel. If he and Liz had been together he probably would have told her about Isabel then they would have all worked it out. �No, I don�t think I would have.� Liz smiled a little and exhaled. Finally she turned to Tess. �Tess, do you remember when I made you promise to stay in Roswell, to stay with the others?� �Yeah, I remember.� �Before then, if Max had not asked you to stay that night in the park, if he had not asked you to go to Copper Summit with us and to New York with him, would you have stayed?� She looked down sheepishly, playing with the strap on her sandal. �umm, no. When I came upon him in the park that night I was on my way back to the house to pack my stuff.� �Do you- are you going to leave now?� She smiled shyly, glancing at Kyle from under her lashes. �No, two very important people asked me to stay.� Liz closed her eyes in relief. Her lips curled up and a few tears escaped her lids. �Ok, thank you. I- I have some stuff you guys need to know.� she paused thinking for a moment. �Maria, Michael do you think you could tell everybody else? I think I should tell Max alone.� �Of course, you guys go upstairs and Michael will handle this end.� �OK, I�ll fill in any gaps later.� She looked at Max and he stood to follow her upstairs. When they were almost out of the room she stopped and grabbed Max�s arm. �Hold on for just a sec. Kyle, could you come here.� �Sure what is it?� She lead him out into the hall, Max following. �Kyle what they are going to tell you guys is going to be really hard for Tess, I just want you to be there for her, Ok?� �Liz, she already knows about us.� �No this is something else, just promise you�ll take care of her ok?� �Sure Liz.� �Thank you, for everything.� she squeezed his hand, then he returned to the living room. She turned to Max and took a deep breath. He took her hand and silently led her up the stairs. Chapter 29 ________________________________________ As soon as they walked into Max�s room the enormity of what she was about to hit Liz. This was it, the moment she had been dreaming of for months now. The moment she thought would never come, not in her wildest dreams, and she was scared to death. Reluctantly, she dropped his hand and walked to the window. Looking out into the night she remembered the last time she had climbed through it. She shuddered as the conversation replayed over in her mind. �I may love you, but I don�t want to die for you.� Sighing, she drew the curtain in an effort to block the memory. Turning back around, she found him standing in the middle of the room watching her intently. His face was completely impassive. His eyes showed almost no emotion. If she didn�t know better she would think he was angry. There was only one other time Liz could remember when Max had been outright mad at her. Another memory she wished she could erase. Still, it was not the worst she had ever seen from him. She had seen him when Michael pushed him to the breaking point and when they had been threatened by their enemies. Max was the gentlest soul she knew but there was a streak in Max that she hoped would never be directed at her. Max had the ability to be absolutely terrifying. Liz fidgeted for a moment trying to get a handle on what she wanted to say. The way he was watching her was making he uneasy. Something wasn�t right. Chastising herself for being paranoid, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She was just nervous about what she was going to tell him. Running both hands through her hair and tucking it behind her ears she tried to met his eyes. �I-I�m sorry. This... I never thought I would be able to tell you this. I have been over it thousands of times in my head but now that I really can I�m not sure where to begin.� She thought she saw a small, sympathetic smile play across his lips. Max moved towards her, he was going to squeeze her arm in a gesture of reassurance, but Liz moved back a step to avoid him. She knew that if she let him touch her right now it would be all over. She would crumble at his feet and never get this story out. He dropped his arm limply at his side when she backed up. She saw the hurt expression settle over his face and she instantly regretted the move. He nodded slightly, as if her actions confirmed something for him. He turned away from her and moved across the room. He spoke before she could explain. �Why Liz?� he asked in a soft but cold tone. �Max, no I-� he interrupted her again �Don�t. Don�t bother, I already know. I just don�t understand why. Did you want me away from you that badly? Was it really necessary to go to such lengths?� �Yes.� she answered softly. How much did he know? She couldn�t really remember what all she and Maria had said down stairs. �but Max, you have to understand why I did it.� He turned back to face her again. His face was devoid of all emotion to the point that it was almost scary. But his eyes, his eyes were stormy with anger. �You know, I had forgiven you. You said it was a mistake and I believed you. I moved on and I tried to be your friend. I thought that maybe if we were friends, if I tried hard enough, was good enough, you could maybe learn to love me again. Now I can see the flaw in my logic. You never really loved me at all.� �No, Max! That�s not true! You don�t understand. You have to let me explain what happened. There was a reason, I swear. Just let me explain.� �There is nothing to explain. I was a fool. I deluded myself into thinking that you loved me half as much as I worshiped you. You were my dream girl Liz, now I know that�s all it ever was. That�s all it ever will be. A dream.� Liz could not believe what she was hearing. He was refusing to let her explain. He had heard two fractured conversations and now he thought he knew everything. How dare he insinuate that she would string him along like that? How could he ever think that she would do something like this without a damn good reason? �Max don�t you ever say that. I gave up everything. Everything. I gave up my entire life so that you could have yours. I gave up you and my perfect future with you. So don�t you tell me that I never loved you. I have given up more for you in this life time than you have in three.� Max laughed bitterly �You gave up? You gave up what? Your jerk boyfriend? Your boring little life? You rep as the perfect Lizzy Parker? You gave up on *me* Liz. You were supposed to love me. You gave me up to a destiny that didn�t exist. You didn�t even fight for me, for what I thought we had. You were content to repeatedly rip out my heart while I threw myself at your feet begging for mercy.� Liz�s hands were shaking at her sides. Convulsing with the urge to slap him to the other side of the moon. She tried to reason with herself that he was not thinking rationally. He was angry but he was being such a stubborn mule. How could she fill in the blanks for him if he would not let her complete a sentence and those she did he twisted into something dirty? She was so angry and hurt that he could say these things to her she was having a hard controlling her own tongue. �You want to know what I gave up? I gave up the only man I will ever love to save the planet. I ripped out my own soul so that he could have the life we all thought he was supposed to lead. I gave up my wedding, a perfect romance, making love to the only person I ever want to touch me. I teetered on the edge of sanity for months. I gave up every chance of being happy because of you.� He smirked at her. �Being a little melodramatic aren�t we Liz?� �I�m deadly serious Max. Everything I have done since that day in the Crashdown has been for you.� Was he smirking at her? This was one of the most important things she had ever done and he was belittling it. It was all for him and now he didn�t even care. The anger and deep heart ache from his cutting words spreading through her veins was crippling. �Ok, you keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. No, you know what? I hope it doesn�t. I hope you carry around the guilt of lying to me, of tearing apart my soul, of making me the laughing stock of our friends. They all know Liz. Did you know that? They all know. I was sitting down there listing to them fighting about it. They must have forgotten I was there. Do you know how much it hurt, how humiliating it was to find out like that? I thought it was bad when you had slept with him. Finding out you set me up is so much worse.� �Max, I�m sorry you found out that way but you don�t know the whole story.� Her voice was defiant now, attempting to shut out the pain. If he was going to act like this she didn�t want him to know how much he was hurting her. Not that he cared anymore. She would not demean her sacrifice by begging. �I don�t care, I don�t want to hear it. Nothing will make this better. Did you have to make it so public though? I mean you could have just told me you didn�t want to be with me. You did not have to make that whole scene about Gwyn lying about destiny. You don�t need an excuse Liz, you could have just told me.� �Max, you are not listening to me. I don�t need an excuse because I do want to be with you. I just couldn�t do it if it meant everyone was going to die. At the time no one knew the destiny was a mistake. When you came back you didn�t even know.� She didn�t even realize she was saying things he would not be able to understand. He was turning everything around on her. Twisting everything she said until every act was an intentional betrayal, a deliberate act to maliciously hurt him. Even if she spit it all out before he could cut her off, the chances of him believing her were slim to none. He was too far gone, ridding the wave of hate he felt for her now, to comprehend what she had to say. �Even if there was a destiny no one would die from us being together. Your just making excuses again.� �No I am not. Your not listening to me.� Liz tried to keep the hint of desperation out of her voice. She was not going to beg. After what she did she was not beneath him. She did not deserve the things he was saying to her. She wanted to believe that, really she did. �because you have nothing to say that I want to hear.� �Damn it Max! I had to do it. It was the only way. I had to make you fall out of love with me so Tess would stay. We need her Max.� �Well, then its a good thing your plan worked. I fell out of love with you and Tess is staying. Congratulations Liz. You get everything you wanted.� Liz gasped. No, he didn�t just say that. He didn�t. �I�m done with this. I need some air.� Before she could stop him he was out the door. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Downstairs... �Wow� Alex broke the silence that had been hanging in the air for the past few minutes. Michael and Maria had told the rest of the group what they knew about the future Max fiasco. There were a few gaps of things Liz had not told them but nothing too important. They all got the basic gist of things. Liz had given up Max, her life, and almost her sanity to save the rest of them. Namely Isabel and Michael. �So this happened back in October? Right before we went to Copper Summit.� Isabel asked �Yeah, it was the day before.� �My gosh, no wonder the two of them were so uncomfortable.� Isabel shook her head in amazement. Liz was the strongest person she knew. She was trying desperately to push back the knowledge that she had helped in her murder and how horribly she had treated her before Max came back from New York. �I can�t believe this went on so long and no one knew. I mean we knew something was wrong but this...� Alex was amazed it had not taken longer for Liz to lose it. She was an incredible person but he had seen first hand what lying to people did to her. �Tess, are you OK?� Mara asked softy. The girl had not said a word since they told the others about her part in this whole scenario. �I don�t know. I don�t really know what I should feel right now. She did this all because of me. It was all my fault because I was blindly following something I didn�t even really understand or want.� Kyle put his arm around her and brushed her hair back. �Its not all your fault Tess. At some point we all played a part in this.� �I don�t think I will ever be able to make this up to her.� she said sadly. �You don�t have to,� Maria told her, �Liz doesn�t blame you. As twisted as it is she blames herself more than anyone else. That�s just how she is. She takes on the weight of the world without question. Both literally and figuratively.� �Still, I... I don�t know.� �When things settle down a little you should talk with her. She likes you, maybe you guys can come to an understanding on your mutual feelings of guilt.� Tess nodded but didn�t say anything more. Silence fell over them once more. No one really knew what to say. They were lost in their own thoughts of how blind they had been. How strong their friend was, how much they owed her. �I have a question?� Kyle asked �yeah� �I�m a little confused on one point. You said that Tess left because Liz and Max got married when they were nineteen. Tess said she was going to leave that night she found Max in the park, which coincidentally was the night Max came to Liz�s window. That all doesn�t quite fit.� �I think she was trying to keep a few things private. Liz didn�t exactly say it, but I think it was that particular night that was the catalyst. I�m not positive but from what she has said I think that night was supposed to be their first time. You know, together.� Isabel gasped, �and she knew? God, poor Liz.� �I don�t understand why she didn�t tell any of us. After awhile it should have been obvious things were changed.� Alex lamented �I tried to get her to tell him but we would have these circular conversations about how she had promised Max she would not tell Max. She was not exactly thinking rationally. The only reason she told me was because no one was speaking to her at the time. Max got mad and took Tess to New York. Michael and Isabel were mad at her for what she had done to him. Kyle didn�t want anything to do with the whole situation because of Max. You were in France. I had pretty much screamed at her for not telling me she slept with Kyle. I guess she just could not take it if she didn�t have one person to talk to.� Michael already knew the whole story but that didn�t make it any easier to hear. He had a tremendous sense of guilt for the way he had treated her before. She was his sister, he should have recognized her. Knowing she had done all this, saved his life, suffered through it alone, made it all the more worse. He had been quiet up until this point, letting Maria tell the story. He had been focusing on Liz�s emotions. Over the past month he had learned to turn the feelings he got from her up and down. He could turn them off if he wanted to but he usually left them as a light hum. With things being so hard on her lately it was the only way to keep constant tabs on her. He turned up the volume when she had gone upstairs with Max. It had been about forty five minutes and her emotions had been all over the board. Something was starting to nag at him that it was not going well. She should be done telling him now. He had expected to be feeling joy and relief form her. Instead it was sadness, irritation, and anger. �Michael are you ok?� Isabel asked. She had been watching him with growing interest. His head was cocked to the side and her was staring intently at the ceiling. Before he was able to answer her, Michael was hit by a wave of what could only be described as complete and utter desolation. What the hell was Max saying to her? His jaw set and his brow furrowed, he stood to make his way upstairs. �Michael, where are you going?� �Somethings not right. She�s too upset.� Maria grabbed his arm before he could leave the room. �What do you mean she�s upset? Can you fell her Michael?� �yes, we can talk about it later,� he told her hurriedly, trying to get out of her grasp. �I need to get up there.� Everyone turned to the entryway when footsteps thundered down the stairs. Max blew past them, not even looking into the living room. Isabel and Michael raced into the hall. �Max!� she called out �Max, were are you going?� He ignored her. Grabbing his keys, he stomped out to the Jeep. �Maxwell, you get your ass back in this house.� Michael called after him. �Max, please. We have to talk about this.� He paused in the driveway a moment. After briefly meeting her eyes, he turned back to the Jeep. �Max, no. Come back.� �Its ok Isabel. Let him go.� They heard Liz�s soft voice from the top of the stairs. They turned to see her at the same time the Jeep squealed out of the drive and roared down the street. �Liz...� She slowly descended the stairs. Isabel didn�t think she had ever seen any thing so sad in her life. What did her brother do to this poor girl? Liz�s shoulders were slumped forward, she walked slowly with her eyes cast down. As she came into the light you could see the deep hollows of her cheeks and the dark circles under her eyes. She looked so tired, so weary, as if she had aged. Surprisingly, she wasn�t crying. There was just this deeply haunted look in her eyes. Like she was resigned to her soul being ripped out and her heart to shreds. �Its ok. He just... he needs some time I guess.� Michael moved forward trying to pull her into his arms. He didn�t know what had just happened but whatever it was Max was going to pay for putting that look in her eyes. Liz brushed off his arms and turned to go into the living room. She really didn�t want anyone to touch her right now. Walking into the room, Maria went to her as soon as she saw her. Liz stepped away from her arms as well. In contradiction to her actions, she wrapped her arms around herself for a little comfort. �Listen guys,� she addressed the group. Ignoring their looks of concern and curiosity, she tried to make her voice as even as possible. �I know you probably have some questions about this whole thing, but its late and I�m really tired. If its ok with you we can continue this tomorrow?� �Sure Liz, whatever you want.� �Thanks,� she nodded her head to Maria. �Do you think I could stay with you tonight.� �Liz I thought you were staying here.� �Thanks Isabel, that�s really nice of you but under the circumstances I don�t think that�s a very good idea.� �What circumstances Liz? What happened with Max just now?� Shuffling her feet, Liz sighed in defeat. She was really hoping to get out of this but that didn�t look like it was going to happen. �Umm... Max didn�t take it so well. Not that he would really let me explain anyway. He�s-he�s really angry with me.� You could hear a pin drop in the shocked stillness of the room. �I don�t know why I�m so surprised. This was what was supposed to happen. I just thought... I don�t know what I thought. I didn�t think he would yell at me.� �He yelled at you?� Michael asked, the anger dripping from his voice. She nodded. �Yeah, Its ok though. I understand, well not really, but this was suppose to happen. I knew it could never be. It was a mistake to get my hopes up like that.� �No, Liz don�t say that.� Isabel came to her side �Knowing Max he�s probably angry with himself. When he finally realizes what he�s done he�ll feel even worse and you can milk it for years.� �I wish that were true. He doesn�t even really know what happened. He just kinda snapped, I guess. He wouldn�t let me finish telling him about what happened and everything I did say he twisted around.� �Liz, I�m sure he was just upset with the situation. He�ll be back soon and you can explain the rest to him. He loves you, he�ll be back.� Liz looked down to the floor, this hurt to much to be real she thought. �No, no he doesn�t. He doesn�t love me anymore.� she said quietly. �Yes he does. He�s my brother Liz. I know he still loves you.� Liz was getting upset, she didn�t want to talk about this to begin with. �No he does not. It was my goal to make him fall out of love with me and I succeeded. Yea me.� �Liz, you didn�t. He�s always loved you and he always will.� �He said it all right. Is that what you want to hear? He said it.� �He said what Liz?� Tess asked her when Isabel could not respond. Liz rolled her eyes. �He said he didn�t love me any more. I believe his exact words were �then its a good thing your plan worked. I fell out of love with you and Tess is staying. Congratulations Liz. You get everything you wanted.�� Nobody knew what to say. How could Max do something like that? Sure Max got mad sometimes but that was just plain cruel. And after all Liz had done and all she had been through, it was inexcusable. �So please. I have had a really hard day. I just want to go to bed and I don�t want to be here when he gets back.� Gwyn stood and walked over to her. �You can stay with me tonight. My house is big and empty without Justin. It would be nice to have the company.� Liz smiled faintly at her. �Thank you.� �I�m coming with you.� �No, Michael, please. I just want to be alone for tonight. Please.� How could he say no after what Max had just done to her? Besides, this way he could stay here and beat Max to a pulp when he returned. �Ok, but call us if you need anything.� He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. �Are you ready Liz, I got your bag.� Gwyn was waiting for her by the door. She wanted to get her home before she fell apart. �Yeah.� Liz left without even saying good bye. Back Next |