Title: Untitled
Authors: Domino and Anne
Email: zahfat@yahoo.com and
partypooh@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Not ours…
A/N: Alternate Universe
Summary: A fairytale, in the kingdom of Antarra, a prince, a bodyguard, a Ball…
Chapter 4
The King stood at the end of the room, staring out the window, deep in
thought. He was in his private chambers, and free from all interruptions. Only
family was allowed in here. Deirana walked in, her footsteps silent on the lush
carpets that covered the huge floors of the room. She stood behind her husband
and reached out, wrapping her arms around his waist, leaning into his back,
comforting him.
He smiled slightly. It was enough. She was enough, she always was. “I missed
you,” he said softly, turning his head slightly to kiss her on the forehead.
“Mmmm,” Deirana replied, her voice muffled as she buried her head in his chest
while he turned the rest of his body around and enclosed her light frame with
his arms.
They stood there, drawing comfort from each, a routine, one built upon years of
marriage. She waited for him to tell her what the matter was. He would, in his
own time. Michael was like that as well. Only when they were ready would they
talk, and not a second sooner. She was the same.
“I wish I had your confidence,” Tebram said, breaking the silence.
Deirana leaned back to see his face, reading his expressionless face, so like
her son’s, with the ease of years of practice.
“Things will be fine, ‘Ram… you’ll see.”
“We are running out of time. The confrontations are getting worse,” the King
turned back to the window, but continued speaking, “Its only a matter of time.
Khivar is determined there will be war.”
“He can't declare war. He would lose. And he will lose this fight as well,”
Deirana said confidently. Her faith in Antarra, and her family was without any
doubts.
The king smiled at her tone. “He will try to cause more trouble. There…” he
trailed of, unsure of whether or not to tell her.
“What? What happened?” she knew he was hiding something from her.
“Nothing. Nothing that can't be fixed.”
“Tell me!” she demanded.
Reluctantly he began, “The Royalists are acting up again. I think Khivar is
spurring them on.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maria,” the king said flatly, not needing to explain.
Deirana looked shocked for a second. This hadn't occurred to her, despite the
fact that the political party, the Royalists, had been a thorn in the side of
the Royal family, that they claimed to follow, for years.
Then she smiled. A smug smile. A self satisfied smile. A secretive smile.
“What? What do you know? You know they are going to make a fuss about her. She
isn't royalty or of noble birth – they will crucify us with Khivar egging them
on, when Michael marries her,” Tebram stopped suddenly, when he realised he was
adopting his wife’s habit of assuming Maria’s entry into the family as a
foregone conclusion, “What am I talking about? He just met her. If Michael
marries her.”
“When Michael marries her, which we both know he will, everything will be fine.
Trust me,” Deirana said.
“Don’t you feel the slightest bit guilty for setting them up?” the King asked
amused.
“No, she’s good for him, and he’s for her. Besides so far I haven't done much of
anything. They met all on their own,” Deirana replied.
“Please, you think I don’t know about the bed?” Tebram looked at his wife
knowingly.
“What bed?” Deirana replied, feigning innocence.
“The bed. The wedding bed. The one that has been in the Royal Family for
generations,” the King explained, going along with his wife’s claim.
“Oh, that bed. Well I just thought it might be nice to pass it along to our
son,” Deirana said calmly, unrepentantly.
“You didn’t give it to Michael. You gave it to Maria.”
“Same thing,” and she smiled.
“True,” the King mused, “He’s going to be mad when he finds out though. And I
dread to think of her reaction.”
“They’ll be too happy to care,” Deirana insisted. And both were silent for a few
minutes.
Her face had clouded over, losing the smug happiness that had been so prominent
only seconds earlier.
The King saw it, and again wondered what she knew that he didn’t. “Are you going
to tell me or not?” His tone was impatient, which was belied by the gentle touch
on her arm. His wife continued to be mysterious.
“Deirana?”
She ignored the order in his voice from a lifetime of living with him. She would
tell him when she was ready.
Slowly, gathering her thoughts together, “It just so happens I know something
about Maria which will solve all your problems, and shut the Royalists up.
Annoying busy-bodies. Forever interfering in our lives, like we’re public
property or something.”
“Honey, we are public property. Remember. Now stop getting distracted. Tell me
already.”
“I did some checking up on Maria’s background,” Deirana began. She saw the look
of shock on his face.
“No, I wasn’t investigating her. It was just…something about her reminded me of
someone. Something familiar. I felt it the second I saw her, and when she
speaks, it’s like I have loved her forever. Liked she’s been part of the family
for ever.” Deirana looked at her husband, “You know what I mean. Isabel too.
There’s something about her that just fits.”
Tebram nodded. He did know. He waited for her to continue.
“I wasn’t going to say anything yet. I don’t think Maria herself knows, so…” she
trailed off, and walked to the window the King stood in front of. She stared
outside, remembering a previous conversation at a window as she decided how to
tell him.
Tebram was silent, knowing his wife as well as she knew him. He waited.
“Tana Ellie phoned me today,” she announced, her decision made. Ellie wasn’t a
relative of the family, but she was descendant from one of the original four
Royal Families, giving her position second only to the current Royal family. In
addition, she was the best friend of Deirana’s mother’s and had been an honouree
part of her family since she was a baby. More importantly than any of that,
Ellie or Elanora as her full name went, knew everything there was to know about
everyone in the kingdom. What she didn’t know she could find out. The King
wasn’t surprised at the call.
“Makes sense, if anyone would know it would be Tana Ellie,” the king commented,
also using the nickname his wife used.
“This wasn’t a usual call. It was distinctly unusual. It can be either a good or
a bad thing, actually,” Deirana began ambiguously to Tebram’s frustration.
“Do you remember me telling you about my best friend, Ameria?”
“Tana Ellie’s daughter? She died before Michael was born,” the King replied,
stating what he knew about the woman he knew his wife still missed.
“Not exactly. She died after.”
“But I thought…”
“I know. Me too,” Deirana interrupted, “It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got time,” Tebram said.
“She’s Maria’s mother,” Deirana said, turning from the window to look at him.
“Oh,” What else could he say? The ‘Oh’ was loaded with questions.
Deirana decided to start from the beginning, “Ameria and I were best friends
from the time we were in cradles. We did everything together, knew everything
about each other. When we were eighteen quantres, Tana Ellie decided Ameria was
to marry a man she had chosen.” Deirana eyes were far away, on a distant memory
– an unpleasant one.
“Ameria hated the man – he was…cruel, but Tana Ellie wouldn’t listen to her. She
didn’t believe her. They had a huge fight, and it was decided that Ameria would
be sent away for the summer. To think things over,” the Queen finished on a
sarcastic note, “That was the last time I saw her.” She paused and stared out
the window, before continuing her story.
“For a while we wrote each other. I told her about meeting you, getting engaged
and she wrote to me about the man she met. The one she loved – Brinan. Tana
Ellie didn’t know about him, obviously since she had promised Ameria to another
and Ameria was torn on how to tell her mother. It was particularly difficult
since they hadn't really spoken since the fight.
The moon after we got married they eloped, Ameria and Brinan. She wrote to her
mother to explain, and to me. Everything was fine for a while. Tana Ellie had
finally forgiven her, and Ameria was supposed to come home in time for Michael’s
birth,” a tear rolled down Deirana’s face, and Tebram lifted his hand to gently
wipe it away. He knew this was when Ameria was supposed to have died – he
remembered his wife crying for suns in the days before Michael’s birth.
The queen took a deep breathe, and determinedly pushed on. “The day Ameria came
home, I was ordered bed rest so I couldn’t go and visit her. She was supposed to
come over and introduce Brinan. She never got here, and Tana Ellie told me there
had been an accident and both of them had been killed.”
“It wasn’t true?” the King asked his wife gently, giving her time to get her
emotions under control.
“No. The man Ameria had been promised too – she was right about him. He became
obsessed with the idea that she belonged to him. But because Ameria had eloped
and was away he couldn’t find her, that obsession grew and the day she came home
he…came in and attacked them. Brinan was killed protecting his wife, and her
mother. And when Ameria was falling apart, Tana Ellie grabbed Ameria and they
ran.
The man was powerful, and Ellie despite her own status knew they had little hope
of defeating him. So Tana Ellie placed Ameria into hiding and told everyone she
had died. That the two of them had been killed in an ambush. Ameria was hurt
pretty badly in the attack, and it was touch and go there for a while. Tana
Ellie said that Ameria didn’t want to live, after she lost Brinan, but then they
discovered she was pregnant.”
“Maria,” the King stated softly.
“Yes, Maria. And then everything changed. Ameria found her reason to live. She
got better, and 9 moons later Maria was born. They moved around a lot and stayed
in hiding. Tana Ellie was afraid of what he might do to Maria if he ever found
out about her birth. He was crazy and would have seen Maria as a proof of
Ameria’s betrayal. To make sure that he never found out Tana Ellie began to
watch him, covertly. It was how she developed her reputation for knowing
everything that went on in the kingdom. And how she kept Ameria safe. If there
was the slightest bit of danger, Tana Ellie sent word and had Ameria move.
And so Maria remained a secret. She was taught self defence from the time she
was little, on the chance she would be caught unaware. But most of all, her
identity was kept a secret. When Maria was seven, Tana Ellie who had never seen
her granddaughter, organised a secret trip to visit her daughter. Unfortunately,
as much as Ellie had been watching him, he had been watching her.
She planned it all, the secret meeting – it was to be the first time the two
were to see each other in 7 years. Then all hell broke loose. He followed them
to the meeting place, and …” again her voice broke.
“Ameria ordered Tana Ellie to take Maria out, she always had an escape route,
Maria led the way. Tana Ellie said that Maria was calm, until she realised that
Ameria wasn’t coming with – she had been shot, and this time she wasn’t going to
wake up. Maria refused to leave her mother then, and Tana Ellie had to grab her,
kicking and screaming to get out of there. They had to leave everything behind,
except a single painting Ameria had painted of the two of them standing on the
cliffs of one of the places they had lived before. Maria had that in her hand,
and refused to let go of it.”
“What happened next?” the King asked softly. His heart went out to the little
girl who had to watch her mother die.
“Ellie blamed herself for Ameria’s death. She had led him directly to them. And
now he knew about Maria. He had transferred all his obsessions on to her. She
was desperate, so she called her late husband’s second – he was the man she
trusted most in the world, and the only one who knew the truth. She gave him
Maria, and gave up all rights to her to protect her. Selias DeLuca became
Maria’s grandfather, in all ways. She took his name, and they moved to a small
place called Locknad, where the cliffs in the painting were. It was where Maria
chose to live. One of the few places where she and her mother had been truly
happy and carefree.”
“No one ever told Maria the truth, did they? She doesn’t know that she is 4th in
line to the throne as Ellie’s granddaughter. That she has a grandmother, that
Max is her cousin, or…” The King began, anger clouding his voice as he thought
about all the girl had been through.
“No one’s told her – no. Ellie has been trying to protect her from him. She
watched from afar, made sure that Maria had all she needed, that she could
protect herself if needed,” Deirana interrupted. “Maria joined the Royal Guard,
when her ‘grandfather’ died. It led her here, and for the first time in 16 years
Ellie will get to meet her granddaughter at the Ballina de Rosa. And I got to
see my best friend again in her daughter’s eyes.”
“This is going to come out. Who is he? Whose the man Ellie is so afraid of?” The
King asked as he started pacing. Someone had threatened someone in his family.
He was not happy. “Does he know Maria’s true identity?”
“Ellie doesn’t think so. If he did he, he would have…”
“Killed her already. That’s what you are saying, that’s what it comes down to,
doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” the Queen answered softly.
“He…you haven’t said his name yet, ‘Rana. Tell me who he is. I know him, don’t
I?” Tebram felt his heart tighten.
Deirana nodded solemnly. “Yes. His name is Khivar – heir to the neighbouring
kingdom of Lasara.”
“Oh my stars. He … he was supposed to marry Ameria,” the King said, shocked. “ I
remember hearing a rumour about joining the two Royal Families together back
then, but nothing came of it so I had forgotten.”
“That was when relationships between Antarra and Lasara started to deteriorate.
But this is the first time he made overtures of War towards us,” Deirana said,
nodding.
“Both of them are in danger then. Khivar can't find out. And the Royalists can't
find out.” He announced it decisively
“I think we should tell Maria,” Deirana said, her voice soft. “She deserves to
know.”
“I am not sure that is such a good idea right now, she has had enough emotional
upheaval in her life. And we just threw Michael at her. He isn’t easy on
anyone.”
“Ellie is going to tell Max. To ask him to keep an eye out for her.”
“That is a good idea. But the less people know, the better,” the King said.
“Ironic, isn’t it? The girl we chose for him is exactly the girl he would have
been bequeath to, had Ameria lived.”
The King laughed softly, “Even more ironic, the girl we made Michael’s bodyguard
has more of a threat to her life than he does. “
“That is funny. They will protect each other, though. Maria is the best at what
she does, and everyone knows Michael is one of the kingdom’s greatest warriors.”
“I am glad we found her, ‘Rana. She deserves a home. We are going to give it to
her. An entire kingdom. All hers, and this time, nothing is going to take it
away from her,” the King said, his voice sure and confident. He gave his wife a
reassuring smile.
“Did I ever tell you that I love you?” Deirana asked, walking towards him and
wrapping her arms around his waist. She marvelled that after all these years she
loved him even more now that she did when they got married. It was what she
wanted for her children. A lifelong love and happiness.
“Once or twice,” Tebram murmured before leaning down to kiss his wife.
~*~