Disclaimer:
These characters do not belong to me, but to the writers and producers
of Roswell
Spoilers:
After Chant Down Babylon, changes happening where Max is successfully rescued,
and Michael was the one who broke up with Maria.
Pairings: You’ll have to wait and see!
Pronunciation Guide: gàarish:
(ga – RISH) rolling ‘R’ – (noun)
scum, rabble trash
Author’s notes: Queen Fadilia
Kedar: Max/Isabel’s mother
King
Alaric Kedar: Max/Isabel’s father
Andaria: Tess’ mother
Radim:
Tess’ father
Kedrans: race from which Royal Four descended
Iturians: race from which Khivar descended, and
overthrew and killed Zan and the Kedrans
Cerideans: special core ops of the Iturian army, mostly
psyonics and telepaths
Kaptar’s
Jewel: constellation in the
Antarian’s star system
***
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
-
John 14:6
***
“I haven’t seen you for a while,” Maria chirped as she
handed Brody his regular sub with pepper jack cheese.
The skinny owner of the UFO center shrugged. “I could say the same,” he replied with a
smirk.
Maria leaned against the counter and sighed. “Yeah, well a lot of things have been going
on, and not all of it good.”
She had hoped Michael would pull out from under the clutches
of the ‘witch’ and drop by, at least for a decent farewell. After a night of hoping and praying that
this wasn’t really happening, she had finally accepted Michael’s choice to
return to Antar, deluded as it was.
Maria knew Tess would only bring death.
“Hello?”
Maria blinked several times and found Brody waving a hand in
front of her eyes. “Uh,” she stammered,
embarrassed that she had zoned out like that.
“Sorry about that.”
Brody shook his head, his expression - understanding. “No problem. I’m sure I’ve done that to people,” he dismissed flippantly. A sudden gleam flashed in his eye. “In fact, I’m sure I’ve done it
before.” He laughed.
Maria joined him.
“Well, it was still rude of me,” she protested.
Brody opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing
came out. Maria frowned. “Brody?”
The familiar customer tilted his head as if listening to
some inaudible voice, before furrowing his brow and staring up at Maria. “Excuse me,” he said stiffly.
Maria watched Brody rise stiffly from the swivel stool and
walk toward the door. She hadn’t seen
him act this odd since his unexplainable absences a year ago. Those occurrences were explained by the
appearance of an unknown being named Larek, who had been using Brody as a host
body for a few years, and had shown up in New York. Suddenly, like someone had turned on the lights, Maria rushed to
the glass doors before Brody could exit.
“Larek?”
Brody stiffened and glared at her, as if she were some
stranger. “To whom are you
speaking? I am Brody.”
Maria knew she had struck gold from the tone he took with
her. “I know you’re taking Brody as a
host,” she hissed. “Now tell me why
you’re here.”
Brody, now Larek, tilted his head. “This is none of your concern. Maria, is it?” He paused
awkwardly, turning his gaze to the bustling street before him. “I must take my leave,” he turned and looked
Maria in the eye. “Kindly excuse
yourself.”
Maria was taken aback.
He showed no sign of emotion.
The being was like a robot – a Borg from Star Trek. Without so much as a thought, Maria stepped
aside, allowing Brody access to the world.
It was like waking from a trance. Maria watched numbly as ‘Brody’ got into his car and drive
away. ‘This is none of your
concern’. His haughty tone brought her blood to a boil. “The hell it isn’t,” she muttered under her
breath.
Maria ran to her locker and grabbed her car keys. After telling a whopper of a cover story to
the other waitress on shift, she ran out to her car. Brody’s car wasn’t in sight.
“No problem,” she said out loud as she started her Jetta. “I know exactly where you’re going.”
~~~
“Who are you?” Tess asked the dark Asian man standing in the
hallway. She held the door slightly
ajar as she sized up the conspicuous visitor.
“Meet us at Blunder’s Bluff in one hour,” he said solemnly.
“What…?” Tess was at
a loss.
Before she was able to question the man, he was halfway down
the stairs. Tess was left to
contemplate who the mystery man was, and whether to follow his cryptic
directions.
“Who was it?” Michael asked, appearing from the hallway.
Tess turned to face Michael, who had been finishing the rest
of his packing. “An Asian man. He told us to meet ‘them’ at Blunder’s
Bluff, and then he walked away without another word.”
“Do you think it was contact with someone from Antar?”
“I have no clue,” Tess admitted. “I couldn’t read anything from him.”
Michael creased his brow.
“You tried?”
Tess nodded. “There
was something about him, Michael,” she sighed.
“I just couldn’t pinpoint it.
“The more she struggled to pinpoint the nagging feeling, the more it
faded.
“So you’ve heard from Nalder?” a new voice asked.
Tess noticed Michael’s demeanor darken, as her own body
jumped from the startling voice. When
she turned around, Tess found herself staring at a slim man, his face shallow,
and his skin pale. Her mind whispered
within, reminding her that the man looked familiar…she had met him a lifetime
ago.
“Brody, what are you doing here?” Michael hedged. He hadn’t
attempted to meet with him since the incident at the Center. Michael wasn’t even sure how the older man
knew his address.
Tess watched the human bow quietly, and reverently at his
waist. “Queen Ava, it has been many
seasons.” His voice held a trace of
elegance and familiarity in his words.
“What are you doing?”
Michael asked cautiously.
“Larek?” Tess
remembered where she had seen the face before.
The human had been a host for an old acquaintance. “Is that you?”
The man’s head remained bowed, as he nodded. “Yes, Your Highness.”
“Do you have news?”
Tess’ hand flew to her throat.
“Is it my mother?” Once she
recognized the messenger, her thoughts quickly turned to Andaria. The images continued to race through her
mind. Tess could not bare the thought
of losing her, not now that she had just found her.
“From our sources, Khivar has placed them in Ithilis,” Larek
replied matter-of-factly. “He has not
killed them…yet.”
Yet. The thought
sent a chill down her spine. Tess
focused on Larek’s face, trying to perceive if he was withholding any
information. There was nothing.
“You mentioned a ‘Nalder’ when you came. Who is he?”
“Munan,” Larek informed.
“He is a watcher for the Munans.
You saw his Earthen form.”
“So Munans can shape shift too?” Michael interrupted, recognizing the race, but not quite
recalling everything about their physiology.
“Or was that a host body?”
“Neither. They’ve
developed the technology to manipulate their physical features to human sight,
so they are visibly more human. It is
all quite harmless. The instrument
works more like a hologram, than anything else,” Larek explained.
“And this meeting…what is it about?” he asked.
Larek slowly glanced at each one of them. “You’re leaving for Antar today.”
~ * ~
Three pairs of eyes turned on her as she noticeably stumbled
into the apartment. “What?” Maria managed to catch the most important
part of the conversation, at least in her opinion.
“What are you doing here, Maria?” Michael cried in dismay.
“Yes, indeed.” Larek
looked onward in disdain. “I informed
you, this is none of your concern.”
Maria narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “Listen buster! Michael leaving definitely concerns me,” she spat. “Especially when he’s leaving with a
murderer.”
“I’m warning you, Maria!”
Michael clenched his teeth at the dig.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Maria glared defiantly. “Tell the truth?” She took a step forward, staring up at him. “Wake up, Michael!”
Michael glanced quickly at Tess before warning Maria
again. “You don’t know everything,
Maria!”
“She’s got you wrapped around her little alien finger,
doesn’t she?” Maria declared in disgust.
“I don’t have time for this childishness,” Larek hissed. He turned and glared at Maria. “I would consider my words more carefully,
when you refer to Queen Ava.” He took a
step forward and looked contemptibly at her.
Larek turned abruptly, his focus now on Michael and
Tess. “You know where to meet?”
“Yes,” Tess replied distractedly.
Michael pulled Maria aside, while Tess escorted Larek out of
the apartment. “I’ve told you this
before, butt out!” He didn’t want to
have to hurt her, and he knew Tess detested the idea of telling anyone else
about Alex’s death.
“Are you insane?”
Maria freaked. How good of a
mind job had Tess done?
“She’s a killer, Michael!” she cried, pressing her index finger
into his chest, hoping it would stab some reason into his dense brain.
“And I’m saying that you don’t know everything,” Michael
said, exasperated. “You don’t know the
whole story.”
“You were there, Michael.
She admitted it!” Maria was
dumbfounded. It was like she was
speaking with an entirely different person.
He had always been skeptical and untrusting of everyone, and now he
trusted Tess completely.
“Well, I didn’t know everything that I do now,” he
said vaguely.
“And that reality is?” Maria retorted. She couldn’t wait to hear the lame excuse.
Michael was about to change the subject, knowing he had no
right to reveal Tess’ secret. But he
didn’t have to.
Tess came up behind Maria and swallowed. There was no point in hiding it now. She and Michael were going home. “That I didn’t kill Alex.”
~~~
“Is
she ready to talk?” Khivar demanded a
swift answer from Nicholas.
The cowering right-hand man lowered his
eyes in anxiety. “No, Your Highness,”
he cringed. “Either she is using some
device, or she does not know anything about the Loyalist camp.”
Khivar’s gaze fell upon the wisp of a
man. He was revolted to have to subject
himself to the minion, but he was observant and smart. Two things Khivar used.
The lowly Antarian had no backbone, hiding
behind Khivar’s power, but nevertheless, he was useful. “You are a fool,” Khivar glowered. “Do you think the old matron has nothing to
hide?”
He turned around and peered into the
sealed room, which held the somewhat crippled nurse. Khivar’s mind continued to churn as he tried to piece together
the connection between Maia and Ava.
The woman was clever though. She
left few clues for his agents to link her with any major member of the House of
Kedra.
Suddenly his gaze turned to the weary
butler who had attacked him earlier.
The corners of his lips began to twitch in pleasure. “Place Maia in the same chamber as the old gàarish,” Khivar barked. “We’ll just
see who outmaneuvers the King.”
“Your Highness?” Nicholas looked questioningly at the order. “Is that wise? Could that not leave a visible opportunity for them to arrange
something?”
Khivar turned on his heel and toward the
archway, leading out into the tunnels of Ithilis. “Exactly.”
~~~
Andaria clawed at the red metallic halo
cinched around her neck. It constrained
her breathing to shallow breaths. As
she glanced over her shoulder, Andaria studied her faithful servant. Medgio had been thrown into her chambers
quite unexpectedly. It was a move she
would not have predicted, but it was clever.
Khivar had been poking, prodding, and
slowly tearing away at her defenses.
She suspected he was growing increasingly frustrated by her seemingly
innocent defenses. Once Medgio arrived,
Andaria knew Khivar’s patience was wearing thin. And now, once this strategy turned up empty-handed for Khivar,
she knew it would be the last straw.
But Andaria was ready. She knew
a physical attack was the next logical step.
It was inevitable.
It was silent, for the most part, in the
solid chamber. Andaria knew every word
she spoke and thought was being monitored.
The steel halo stifled her mental thought projections, and she was
unable to devise plans with Medgio, or even to just find release in simple
conversation.
It was exhausting to maintain Maia’s
façade, and every time she had to fend off Nicholas’ probes and tests, drained
her resources immensely. And conscious
of this fact, Andaria kept her movements to a minimum. Keeping a still form of her counterpart
managed to preserve precious reserves of power.
“Get up!”
Andaria found herself held at staff point. The hum of the sleek, smooth Iturian weapon of choice pulsed
within her ears.
“And what is it now?” Andaria asked, her
voice crackled with age. She feigned
exasperation at the absurdity of the accusations.
The muscular officer remained
emotionless. He motioned for her to
step into the dark corridor. Before the
magnetic field resumed its task of keeping prisoners captive, Andaria noticed
Medgio had awakened, and his expression of anger worried her. Just as he allowed himself to be wounded by
Khivar at Tel Edrei, Andaria was apprehensive that Medgio’s loyalty to her
would be his down fall…or hers.
~~~
"Ahhhh!" Liz felt her stomach churn as her heart
seized in her throat. The wind rushed
past her face, and her screams were lost amide the symphony of sounds.
"I
told you this would be fun!" Kyle yelled happily in LIz's ear. He rested his arms against the metal bar,
which hugged his waist.
Liz
managed to take a deep breath as the metallic cart rattled straight ahead on
the high, seemingly unstable rails toward their final stop. "I can't believe...I let you talk me
into going on the roller coaster," she gasped. "I haven't been here since the seventh grade." The ride stopped with a sudden jolt.
Kyle had
surprised her with the unlikely destination.
While he drove, Liz began rambling off all the possibilities she could
think of, but the only response he had was a mischievous grin. Once they arrived and walked through the
gates of the mid-sized fair, a few miles out of Roswell, Kyle dragged her to
the Ferris wheel and several stomach-churning rides. They had not a care in the world.
"It's
been a while since we've been able to do any of these things, " Kyle
replied, as the operator lifted the bar over their heads. "And I think this is the most I've seen
you smile, in one day."
She felt
her face flush. Her cheeks hurt from
smiling and laughing so much at Kyle's crazy antics in the middle of the
midway, and his unabashed carefree attitude.
Liz smiled gratefully at Kyle, who helped her onto the wooden
platform. "Yeah. I guess so," she said breathily.
"It
feels good doesn't it?" Kyle ran his fingers through his hair. It looked like someone had stuck his finger
in a electrical socket. He smiled. It felt like a weight had been lifted from
his shoulders when he stepped through the hot pink, and baby blue painted
gates.
Liz
glanced hesitantly at Kyle and nodded silently.
Kyle
tilted his head as he fixed his gaze upon the petite brunette. "Did I say something wrong?" he
frowned. "I do have a tendency to
stick my foot in it."
"No!"
Liz exclaimed horrifically. She had not
intended to make Kyle feel bad. She
stopped him midstride and looked him straight in the eyes. "You know how great you are for doing
this for me?"
Liz
wished her life was as uncomplicated as the children running about her. ‘Why couldn’t Max be uncomplicated?’ she silently
sighed.
She meant
it. Liz hadn't expected Kyle to ever
speak to her again once she broke up with him a couple of years ago. But now, here they were, laughing, having a
great time. Friends.
"It
was for my benefit too. I'm not a
saint," he scoffed. Kyle wished it
was like it had been; before he knew all about hidden aliens and intergalactic
beings. But part of him knew that he
wouldn't be the person he was, if he hadn't experienced so much.
"Oh,"
Liz smirked, turning her attention to the present. "Right. I forgot
that you're such a selfish person!" She rolled his eyes and hit his chest playfully.
"I
am. And don't you forget it!" he
pouted.
"Right."
"Just
for that, I'm making you buy me the cotton candy I see two stands down,"
Kyle declared as he dragged her toward the bright, crowded concession stand.
Liz
laughed freely, as they let go of ‘reality’ for the night, and entered a world
that didn’t hurt.
~~~
Max sat in the dreary, olive green hotel room, contemplating
the past several hours of revelation and decision. He had the weight of an entire world resting on the choices he
made in the next few days. It was
almost too much to bear. If he only had
one more ‘road marker’, just to assure him he was making the right choice. That saving a world wouldn’t be the biggest
mistake he ever would make.
After sitting in silence for the past half an hour, Max
reached over to the nightstand for his watch.
As his fingers grazed the elastic metal band, it fell into the drawer,
which was slightly ajar. When he
reached in, his fingers grazed a textured hard cover.
Peering into the drawer, Max found a navy Bible sitting
there. He stared at it for a moment,
debating whether there was a point in picking it up. However, it was as if his hand was drawn to the book. After flipping through the pages of the
‘divinely’ written text, Max finally settled into a passage of the 2nd book of
Corinthians.
"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you."
"I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and
daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
6:17,18
The words jumped off the page at him. It startled Max, since he hadn’t expected to
find anything in the acclaimed ‘Word of God’.
The passage spoke to him in a way it never had before. He had never bothered to immerse himself in
the Bible; he had thought it waste of time.
But after today’s events, it was as if his eyes were being opened.
Max closed the haunting book, tossing it as if the pages
would burn him. The disquieting book
landed down at the far end of the bed.
He didn’t know what to make of this.
Once more this ‘Unknown’ spoke, charging him with the weight
of a world; and it was not this one.
~~~
“We’re here for Jesse Ramirez.”
Diane had answered the melodic chime of
the doorbell, announcing the unexpected visitors, with a smile. Her brow furrowed as she studied the two men
standing before her. One was dressed in
a sleek, navy suit, and the other, as well groomed as the first, wore a light
grey three-piece. Both were tall and
imposing, but one was fair and the other dark.
“Jesse?” she said curiously.
“What do you need Jesse for?”
The older man in grey nodded, and
smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m John Firth. Several of our associates mentioned Mr. Ramirez as someone who
worked with our co-workers recently.
And some unexpected tragedies have occurred,” he explained
demurely. “We just need to speak with
him.”
Diane thought about the gentleman’s
explanation and nodded, motioning the strangers to wait in the foyer. “I’ll see if he’s here.”
~~~
Jesse tried to focus on his briefs, but
found himself staring at one of Isabel and his more recent photographs, taken
in New York. His arms were wrapped
around her waist, as they stood atop the Chrysler Building. They had been so happy back then, before
they returned to this God-forsaken town.
“Jesse!”
Diane’s voice called out.
As he swiveled around in his chair,
Diane’s smiling face peered into his makeshift office. “What is it, Mom?”
“There are two gentlemen asking for you?”
Jesse frowned. He couldn’t imagine who would possibly be dropping by.
~ * ~
“…And you’ll explain to your in-laws that
you have to return to New York on emergency business. If you don’t, they’ll find out exactly what kind of monsters they’ve
been housing,” the blonde agent whispered.
“And that would lead to an unfortunate accident for Mrs. Evans, here.”
Jesse nodded stiffly.
When Diane had led him into the foyer, he
had no idea what danger awaited him…or her.
After she had excused herself, the polite, mild-mannered strangers
disposition changed into one of malice and intimidation.
“We’ve seen your handiwork Ramirez, and
let me inform you that Patch and Watts were not the only ones looking out for
our planet. The FBI may be incompetent
dolts, but the NSA is quite a different story,” the man known as John Firth
informed Jesse. “You and your alien
family’s days are numbered.”
“Jesse?” Diane poked her head around the
corner, startling Jesse and the agents.
“Would you or your friends here, like a drink?”
Jesse shook his head fervently. “Uh, no Mom. We’re fine,” he hedged.
Turning around to face Diane, Jesse smiled half-heartedly. “It turns out that the firm has an
emergency.” Jesse glanced hesitantly at
the two NSA agents, who watched him carefully.
They nodded slowly, their faces expressionless.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, and I have to fly out
tonight.” The excuse seemed plausible,
which frightened Jesse. By the time
anyone figured out that he had not returned to New York, he could be six feet
under.
“First Isabel and Max, and now you?” Diane sighed incredulously. “Does he really have to leave?” Her hazel eyes asked imploringly.
“Yes.
I’m sorry to disturb your time together,” Agent Firth apologized
sweetly. “Maybe your daughter and son
will return to you soon, so you won’t be alone?”
Jesse tensed at the mention of
Isabel. His subtle inquiry hadn’t been
lost on Jesse. “Diane doesn’t know
where they are, or when they will return, do you, Mom?”
She seemed put-off by his rude tone. Her hand fluttered to her neck. “I have no idea,” she smiled kindly at the
two men, “when they will be back. But I
don’t think it will be long before they return.”
Jesse watched anxiously as the men
murmured to each other. Agent Firth,
who appeared to be the one in command, shook Diane’s hand. “Well, we have to be leaving,” he announced
abruptly.
The blonde agent jabbed Jesse in the
side. He stifled a groan, clearing his
voice instead, and smiled. “Well I’ll
call you when I get there,” Jesse informed Diane. “Tell Isabel that I’m glad that we
‘worked’ things out before I had to leave.”
The agents glared at him. “You
can also tell her that my friends from my internship have whisked me off for work.”
Diane frowned at his peculiar
behavior.
Jesse hoped she would relay his message to
Isabel. If she did, then she and Max
would possibly have a chance to understand that he had been kidnapped. He sighed tiredly.
He had gotten her into this mess, and this
was his chance to make amends. If he
could just mislead these oafs, Isabel might have a chance to get away. He just hoped in the end, he was alive for
her to appreciate it.
“Aren’t you going to take anything?” Her tone was one of confusion.
The agents looked at him tersely. They were not going to let him out of their
sight. Jesse was on the spot. He had no idea Diane was so astute.
“Uh,” he stammered, while the agents
looked on; their hands slid underneath their suit jackets as a warning. “The clothes I’ll need are back home.” He hoped the explanation was satisfactory
for his mother-in-law.
Her lips rounded, forming an ‘O’ shape in
recognition.
“Remember to tell Isabel what I said,”
Jesse reminded her urgently.
Meanwhile the secret agents ushered him
out into their polished black sedan.
Jesse watched as Diane waved happily from the front steps of the house. His chest began to tighten, as if
constricted in some way.
He had cheated death once, but Jesse had
this ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach.
He wouldn’t get out of this one so easily.
~~~
‘“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the
LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and
a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen
to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I
will be found by you," declares the LORD , "and will bring you back
from captivity. I will gather you from
all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD ,
"and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into
exile."
You may say, "The LORD has raised up prophets for us in
Babylon," but this is what the LORD
says about the king who sits on David's throne and all the people who remain in
this city, your countrymen who did not go with you into exile-’ Jeremiah 29:11-16
As Isabel approached the narrow hotel that
ran down half the stretch of the beach, she couldn’t stop the words from
flashing before her. Had she been put
into exile? She had been forced to hide
from her people and raised among a race that would dissect her like an insect,
if they knew she was not fully human.
Hell, they had tried several times already.
Clutching the black book, Isabel entered
the dark room. She hadn’t expected to
find Max sitting alone in the paid-for room.
And she certainly wasn’t expecting to find Max, sitting on the bed,
surrounded by a small pile of papers.
“Max?”
~ * ~
“Isabel!”
Max turned around to see the remnant of the day’s light stream into the
otherwise dark, empty room. His fingers
twitched as he listened to the thin pages crumple underneath them. With each contracted muscle, Max felt some
release.
“What are you doing?”
Max turned back and looked around
him. He didn’t remember retrieving the
navy book, and definitely didn’t remember tearing the almost tissue-like pages
from its home. It was like he had
blacked out and couldn’t recall the past five minutes. “I…”
Isabel closed the door behind her, and
searched for the room’s light switches.
Once she illuminated the room that now, seemed possessed by the
impending darkness of the night, she rushed to her brother’s side. Worry filled her.
“Max what happened?” Her fingers curled around her brother’s
shoulder, as if her touch would bring Max back to reality. “Are you all right?” she asked.
Max stared numbly at his sister. She had been through as much pain and
suffering as he had been. Did she
know? Did Isabel suspect that their
world was about to be shaken and possibly torn apart?
“I’m fine,” he managed to say somewhat
reassuringly. “But things have been
changing, Isabel…” His thoughts began
to trail.
Isabel peered anxiously into Max’s
eyes. She nodded. “I know,” she said awkwardly.
“Do you?”
His tone was angry and skeptical.
Isabel sat down amidst the crumpled balls
of text. “Things have happened while I
was away too. I was told things…” She wasn’t sure how much to reveal, with Max
in the condition he was.
Max searched behind those worried dark
eyes. They always held a coldness in
them. It took a lot for Isabel to let
anyone in. To an onlooker, they saw a
brash and confident woman, but Isabel was never one to voice her concerns or anxieties
easily, especially when it came to their alien heritage. Both she and Michael nurtured that same
weakness. Behind all the impatient
glares and angry declarations, Isabel and Michael had never known where they
belonged. They fell apart at the seams
– one fell into despair at a drop of a hat, the other came out of the ring
fighting – two sides of the same coin.
Max, he was the glue that held them
together. It wasn’t ego; it was just a
simple fact. He never asked for the
job, but it was a price he was willing to pay for those he loved. The silent revelation brought him a measure
of comfort. He would
pay the price for them.
“We have to talk,” he said, steeling
himself once more to the uncontrollable forces that pressed in on him from
every side. He had to regain control of
himself.
Isabel saw the strength return to her
older brother, his face hardened and his eyes, focused.
“But not here?” Her question mirrored his thoughts. Max nodded. He stood up
and grabbed his backpack, dropping a $20 on the bed for the mess he had made.
“I have to talk with Tess,” he said
resolutely. “I have some answers to
get.”
Isabel rose from the bed and followed
suit, grabbing her backpack and walking out the hotel room. As she slung the bag over her shoulder,
Isabel could hear the rise of low tide, crash against the previously sun-soaked
beach.
She prayed for both Max and her sake, that
the answers they received would be the ones they wanted.
~~~
Isabel slept sporadically during their
trip home. As she stared out at the
night sky, she seemed to fall into a trance.
“Why do you listen to the gossip of the court?” Rath growled.
“And you do not think there is validity in their statements,
Rath?” Vilandra challenged.
His eyes glowed as he confronted her. His strong hands gripped her shoulders in a
vise-like grip. “I asked your father
for your hand not in duty,” Rath said firmly.
“You know that.”
“Do I?” Vilandra
pulled away. “How can I believe
you? Every time I see you, you run in
the opposite direction! You talk with
Zan, but you talk of me.”
“I do not!” Rath protested.
Vilandra reached up, in weakness, and caressed his strong
chiseled face. How many years had she
dreamed of Rath noticing her? As a
child, she tagged along with her brother in hopes of spending time with his
strong, brooding friend, and confidante.
Even now, Rath’s presence made her catch her breath.
“You do,” she said softly.
Her hand fell limply to her side.
How could she be betrothed to a man that didn’t love her? Vilandra turned to leave.
“You are more than that,” Rath said reproachfully. His fingers gently grasped her wrist.
Vilandra closed her eyes and with bated breath, waited for
the words of declaration that would make her fears subside. Rath spun her around until she faced
him. He pulled her close to him. She could feel his warm breath against her
cheek.
“What am I to you?” Vilandra murmured vulnerably. Her heart raced as she waited for his reply.
She felt one hand cup her face, as she looked up at him
through the veil of her dark lashes.
“I…” He shook his head,
seemingly at a loss for words.
“What?” Vilandra
whispered, gazing longingly into his dark eyes. “Tell me so I can believe you…”
Rath closed his eyes and turned his head away. “I don’t know how to tell you…”
Her heart sank.
“Oh.” Just as she was about to
flee, before her tears could be released, Rath pulled her back against
him. With his index finger, he tipped
her chin up so that her eyes met his; in a blink of an eye, Vilandra felt his
lips press softly against hers. His
arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
Vilandra’s heart pounded against her chest. It kept in time with Rath’s heartbeat. She had never experienced such a rush with
the other boys. But Rath wasn’t just
‘anyone’.
His lips caressed hers as he deepened the kiss. She could feel her skin tingle, and every
part of her body awakened under his touch.
When Rath pulled away, Vilandra searched for the meaning of
the kiss behind his brooding eyes. For
a moment, Vilandra thought she had seen something in them – a flash of
emotion. But as quickly as it had
appeared, it vanished, leaving her alone – again.
“I…I have to go.
Your brother is waiting for me,” Rath said hesitantly, glancing at the
door. “Is everything sorted now?” His attention was now elsewhere. It was as if the kiss took place, just to
satiate her doubts about him.
Before she could say anything, Rath apologized quickly and
disappeared behind the sliding steel doors.
And once again, the words she needed from him were left unsaid.
~ * ~
“So you received the same message I did?”
Max asked as he kept an eye on the road.
“Hmmm?” Isabel didn’t know where that flash came from, but she knew it was
a memory from her past.
“You saw the same flying man?” Max asked
again, a little agitated.
Isabel turned and frowned, while trying to
focus on Max. “Uh, yeah,” She nodded.
“It felt like it was giving answers to questions we had when our powers
first emerged.
“So do you think you need to do what it
told us to do?”
Isabel had been torn in the beginning, but
the more this day went on, the more certain she was it was the right
thing. “I think,” she paused, “it would
be less complicated if Jesse wasn’t involved.”
Though morality wasn’t at the forefront of her mind, Isabel had made
vows. She always believed a vow or
promise should never be broken. God,
himself, would have to agree with her on that.
“I know what you mean,” Max replied. “I know my duty, but Liz…”
Isabel made no comment. She had never experienced that all consuming
obsession with loving someone, even Jesse.
And now was not that time to add to the pressure Max was already
feeling.
“Why do you need to talk with Tess?” Isabel decided to change the subject to one
that had been nagging at her.
“It’s occurred to me that I don’t think
Tess told us the whole truth about everything,” Max replied. “I tried to fit the pieces of what happened
the past year, when she came, together with the night of Alex’s death. And looking at the big picture, it doesn’t
make sense at all.”
“So now you’re inclined to believe
Michael’s line…about there being more to that night?” Isabel said stiffly.
“Yeah,” he admitted uneasily. The more he thought about it, the more
convinced he was that Michael was trying to tell them both something. Tess was a good liar, but even her lies were
beginning to not make sense. “I think
there’s more.”