Maria opened her eyes to the midday sun. She rolled over to see that Michael had his back to her. A winning start to her first day as a married woman…

“Michael, are you asleep?”

“No.”

“It must be almost noon.”

“It’s after noon.”

“No one has beaten the door down yet?”

“If they did, I slept through it.”

“Michael?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think I can face anyone.”

“Yeah, me either, but I don’t really think we have a choice.”

“Let’s run away.”

He snorted, “To sea?”

“No, let’s go to the plantation.”

“Kyle is probably more angry than anyone.”

“True, but he won’t spend hours discussing it with us – he’ll just yell for three minutes and that will be the end of it.”

“Amazingly, I think you might have something there.”

“We could take something with us to occupy him…”

“What?”

“Tess.”

“If you took Tess, then you’d have to be around her. The whole point is to avoid everyone.”

“Tess probably won’t even mention it. And, don’t forget, we’ve concluded that we learn more when they’re together than when they’re apart.”

“Good point. I can’t believe I’m considering this, it’s the coward’s way out.”

Maria cleared her throat and did her best Liz impersonation, “Ahem, ‘The engagement was ridiculous, but to think you would even consider marrying someone you do nothing but argue with’…”

“I’ll go pack.”

“Good boy. I’ll send a note to Tess, hopefully we can pick her up without seeing any of them.”

***

Kyle watched the carriage approach, and deepened his scowl. The note had arrived two hours before. Closing his fist he crinkled it and threw it to the ground.

If it weren’t for the fact that they were bringing Tess…

The vehicle stopped, and they were all three standing in front of him.

“Hi,” he said, to none of them in particular and turned to walk into the house. Tess walked at his side.

She had smiled at him, but it wasn’t her usual carefree grin. He knew she was going to break it off. It had been clear from the beginning, she was only in it for fun. He was just something (or rather someone) for her to do until she had to return to Nacedo, which (despite what everyone else said) she seemed sure she would have to do.

The housekeeper looked confused, but complied when Maria instructed that her own things be taken to Michael’s room, and when the woman called her ‘Miss’ Maria at the end of the conversation, Maria didn’t correct her.

He stood with Michael watching Tess and Maria walk up the stairs, going to change out of their traveling clothes.

“Study.”

“Kyle…”

“ Study…”

Michael closed the door behind them and took a seat behind Kyle’s desk.

“All right, let me have it.”

“Is she pregnant?”

Kyle wasn’t surprised when Michael jumped to his feet.

“ How dare you?”

“How dare I? How dare you? I never should have backed down that morning, I had a feeling, but I told myself that you were my best friend and that I could trust you.”

“You sure as f**cking hell should have backed down. Just like you’d better back the f**k down now,” Michael’s voice was cold, deadly calm.

Ignoring Michael’s words, Kyle moved to stand in front of him.

“If you hurt my sister,” Kyle pointed a finger in Michael’s face, “if you make her shed so much as one tear, I will make you pay. She’s not some society hussy for you to play with.”

“ Kyle,” Maria’s voice came hissing into the room, as she entered and quickly shut the door.

Glancing at her, Kyle said, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“No, you won’t. Stop this. Now,” Maria stood in front of him, eyes blazing.

“Don’t think I hold you blameless here, missy. Not that you had much of a chance against this lothario-.”

Maria interrupted her brother with a slap to the face.

“Kyle, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Michael has been the best kind of friend you could ever ask for in every regard – especially this one. He married me to keep me from social ruin, probably more for your sake than anything, and here you are, accusing him of- of- it’s unspeakable! Can’t you see that the man thinks of me as more of a- a- sister than anything else? Not only did he never touch me before, he’s never touched me at all! And you, you hypocritical bastard, owe him the biggest apology you can muster!”

Having finished her tirade, Maria left the room in a whirl.

Kyle was about to brush off her words, when he turned around and saw the look on Michael’s face. There was no more rage, not a trace of anger. He looked strange…

“Michael?” Kyle was more than slightly confused. An hour ago, even if someone had convinced him that Michael hadn’t taken her before the marriage, he never would have believed…

His friend didn’t answer, instead he sat down again behind the desk, leaning his head into his hands.

“Is that true? Michael, I-I didn’t know…I mean, I appreciate it – and, you know… Look, I’m sorry. Y-you don’t have to feel obligated not to, uh – w-well, you’re married now, it’s perfectly acceptable for you to-.”

“Shut up, Kyle,” Michael said wearily.

“Yeah, all right,” Kyle sat on the sofa shaking his head. “My father was soooo wrong.”

Michael’s head snapped up, “What?”

“When he told me last night, he said it looked bad on the surface but that underneath...He…Well, he thought that you wanted- er, that you felt-.”

Cutting him off with a nod, Michael sighed, “Yeah, I wondered if that’s what he thought.”

“S**t. Why did you do it? This is awful. So, now you’re both stuck in this marriage…Well, you could always annul it, you know if you really didn’t-.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Kyle, shut up!”

“Well, I’m just saying, ah- I guess I feel guilty – you know, if you did this for the sake of our friendship…”

“I didn’t do it for our friendship,” Michael sat back slowly in his chair, his voice had a hard edge – almost sarcastic. “I’ve never been that honorable.”

“I can’t help but feel respons-.”

“It’s what I wanted, Kyle. I did it because I wanted to.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your father, what he thinks – he’s right. I’m the one who should feel guilty, not you,” Michael smirked. “Everything that she just said about me being such a great friend to you? That’s total rubbish.”

“All right, I’m confused. Now are you saying that you did seduce her?”

“No.”

“You just wanted to marry her?”

“Yes.”

“And, my father’s right, about the way you feel? You’re-.”

“Yes.”

The pieces were finally starting to fall together for Kyle.

“All right. So, why is she under the impression you think of her like a ‘sister’?”

“I would imagine it’s because she thinks of me as a ‘brother’.”

“She told you that?”

“No, not in so many words. I can just tell. I-I don’t really want to discuss this.”

“Wait. Let me get this straight. When you tried to - uh, you know – she refused your, uhhh, advances?”

“There were no advances.”

“None?”

“No.”

“Ever?”

“That’s it,” Michael declared, rising to his feet. “I can’t believe I’ve let this go on for as long as I have. We’ve established that I’m an ass who has been lusting after his best friend’s little sister for years – though I have never acted on it, and we’ve established that she wants nothing to do with me. Unless you’d like to hit me, or challenge me to a duel for the betrayal of a lifelong friendship, I’d like to consider this the end of the discussion – forever. I never want it brought up again. And, I swear to God if you tell her a word of this…”

Kyle shook his head slowly in response to Michael’s unvoiced threat and watched him leave the room. Obviously his father was right about Michael’s feelings for Maria, but was he right about Maria’s feelings for Michael?

***

“I can’t hear anything. Don’t they ever talk?” she whispered.

“I don’t know, Maria.”

“Shhh…I hear something…”

They both leaned their ears against the wall to be greeted with Tess’s voice moaning Kyle’s name.

Maria jumped back, and Michael made a face before moving away slowly.

“This is pointless,” his whisper was barely audible. “Let’s get some sleep. If we don’t they’ll disappear in the morning before we’ve even awake.”

He stood and began folding the blanket he’d been wrapped up in. They’d been sitting on the cold floor in the bedroom adjacent to her brother’s listening through the wall for the last three hours.

She stood and stretched, moving so that her short camisole lifted to show her midriff. Something about the incident at the stream made her think it might be a good idea to try sleeping in the attire she’d preferred when she was younger: a button up white cotton camisole and tight white cotton sleeping pants that ended in simple ruffles just below her knees.

Michael extinguished the single candle they’d been using for light and poked his head out into the hall. Satisfied that no one was present, he motioned her to follow him across to his room.

Once inside, he immediately laid down in the bed, sighing contentedly. She moved to her side of the bed and slid beneath the covers. It was wonderful to lay on the soft bed after sitting on the floor for so long.

“Are you sure can’t just ask him?” she pleaded.

“Why can’t you ask him?”

“Maybe I should ask her.”

“I don’t see why she’d tell you, but if you want to…”

“She wouldn’t tell me.”

“Just go to sleep, Maria. It’s been a long day, what with the ride out here and the eavesdropping.”

She looked at him, the moonlight shone softly on his face. His eyes were closed, he looked peaceful.

“I did have one other idea.”

“What is that?” he asked drowsily, not opening his eyes.

“Well, I was talking to Isabel, and she mentioned that she can go into people’s dreams-.”

Michael’s eyes flew open, “Oh?”

“Yes. So, I thought what if you did that with Tess and-.”

“I have no idea how to do that, Maria.”

“How do you know? Have you ever tri-.”

“I.Don’t.Know.How.”

He gave her an angry glare, and turned his back on her.

“Be a jerk, why don’t you?”

He rolled back to her and tightly said, “Sorry.”

“Well…all right. I just don’t understand-.”

“I don’t understand either, I don’t understand half of what I can do,” his tone was more explanatory than angry. “Max says we don’t all have the same abilities. It’s just not something I like to think about. And, I really don’t like talking about any of it.”

She nodded slowly and he watched her for a moment before rolling over again.

Mulling his strange behavior over in her head, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

Suddenly, she was in a field of waving green grass…

“Hello stranger,” she didn’t need to turn around, she knew he was there.

He was back, it had been so long…

“Hello.”

“What brings you back?”

“Why do you dream about me, Maria?”

She smiled and dug her toes into the cool grass.

“Why do you ask?”

“Just answer me,” his voice was irritated, impatient.

“I don’t dream about you, you just appear.”

“If I appear in your dream, then you are dreaming about me,” his tone was condescending.

She turned to face him, shaking her head slowly, “No, I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you dream about me, Michael?”

He was gone. She didn’t have time to see what expression her question brought to his face, he had simply vanished. Well, maybe it was a stupid theory…

***

Kyle was awakened by a low moan in the middle of the night.

Tess was thrashing in bed next to him. Nightmare.

“Shhh…” he put a hand on her forehead to calm her, “Tess, calm down.”

Hearing his voice her eyes flew open and she looked at him. She was crying.

“It’s all right. It was only a nightmare,” he kept his voice soft, trying to soothe her.

She shook her head violently and threw herself into his arms, crying harder.

He didn’t know what to do. Whenever he had a nightmare he felt better after he woke up, not worse.

“Do you want some warm milk or something?” he asked her.

“No,” she said quietly.

He realized that this was the first time she’d let him hold her.

“Is there anything I can do?”

At his words she stiffened slightly, and pulled out of his embrace.

“I have to go.”

“Go where?” he asked, confused.

Tess looked away from him and moved off the bed. She retrieved her nightgown from the floor and pulled it on over her head.

Moving to his side of the bed, she leaned down and kissed him softly. One of her tears fell and hit him on the nose, he could taste salt on her lips. When she pulled away from him she trailed one hand on his cheek, her eyes held regret.

Something was wrong.

“Goodbye, Kyle,” her voice was steady, despite her tears.

“W-what do you mean? Where are you going?”

She turned and started toward the door. He was on his feet in an instant, moving himself into her path.

“Tess! Where are you going?”

Her eyes were widened slightly in surprise, and she stared at him curiously before stepping around him to the door.

“No!” he grabbed her arm, his voice becoming desperate. She couldn’t look at him like that, kiss him like that, and then walk out the door.

“Kyle…”

“You’re going back to Nacedo, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Why? No one else is. He won’t take you unless you’re all together.”

She closed her eyes and tears slid down her cheeks, “I have to try. Hopefully when he sees me he’ll decide one of us is better than none.”

He didn’t want her to go. She’d said all along that she would, but she hadn’t said it would be so soon, “Why can’t you stay like the rest of them? I don’t want you to leave.”

“Kyle…”

“No! Why does everybody else get to be happy? Why can’t I be worth staying for?”

“I didn’t think you’d care if I left,” her eyes searched his.

“I care. So, don’t go,” he felt relief, she seemed to be softening.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be in contact with you soon,” she sighed and removed his fingers from her arm.

“What? Tess, do you want to go?” he asked.

She shook her head, “No.”

He was angry, “Then why are you leaving?!? If you don’t want to go, you should stay!”

There was a soft tapping on the door, and he heard Maria’s muffled voice, “Kyle?”

“Go away,” he growled.

Tess moved to the door and opened it. Maria stood blocking the path to the hallway, and refused to move when Tess tried to step past her.

“Please, Maria,” Tess’s voice was pleading.

Maria put her hands on Tess’s shoulders and slowly nudged her back in the room and then stepped in herself.

Michael was behind her in the hallway, “Maria don’t-.”

Maria cut Michael off with a look over her shoulder.

Sighing, Michael stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

Kyle was irritated, he didn’t want them interfering. He also wasn’t thrilled that his sister had seen Tess in his bedroom, “Maria, get out of here, this isn’t any of your business.”

Maria ignored him, “Tess, you’re leaving?”

Tess nodded her head slowly, avoiding Maria’s eyes.

Kyle wasn’t sure what Maria was doing, but he had the strange feeling she knew something he didn’t.

Maria removed her hands from Tess’s shoulders and spoke softly, “Are you pregnant?”

Slowly, Tess moved her head in ascent, then began to sob softly. Maria wrapped her arms around the girl and made soothing sounds.

Kyle couldn’t believe his ears. Pregnant?

Fury swept over him, “You were just going to leave?!?”

Maria glared at him over the weeping girl’s shoulder and whispered, “Not now.”

She led Tess over to the bed and sat on it next to her. Tess had quieted and was wiping at her tears with her hands.

“You were just going to leave?” Kyle asked, his voice lower, but still angry.

“It’s the only way,” Tess whispered. “It’s not simple. These bodies are not like those of the people on our planet, they’re part human. Nacedo and Serena have told us all along that reproduction would be complicated. We’ll need help.”

Michael cleared his throat, glancing once at Kyle and then looking at Tess, “Isabel told me she thinks we were made with the intention to reproduce with humans.”

Tess nodded, “Yes, that is what she thinks. Obviously it’s true, or this wouldn’t have happened. But, the problem is the gestation period. It’s only a month, and these bodies will have difficulty with it, I’ll need their help. I’ve been starting to feel badly over the last few days…”

“So, Nacedo knew you’d need to come to him,” Michael said slowly. “He knew you were pregnant that day. Maria was right. That’s the reason he said he’d only take us if we were all together, he knew you’d need to come back to him – now he can force all of us.”

“I won’t let him force you. A few moments ago Serena came into my dream, then Nacedo came as well. Serena told me she would convince him to help me.”

“Then why were you so upset? I thought you were having a nightmare,” Kyle couldn’t keep the suspicion out of his tone, if she hadn’t told him about the baby she might be lying about other things as well.

Michael’s tone was grave, “He refused, didn’t he? You asked him to help you, and he said he only would if we all came.”

Tess nodded slowly, “But, before he was there, Serena told me she would help me. There is some hope.”

“Will she rebel against him?” Maria’s voice was strained.

“I don’t know,” Tess didn’t sound hopeful, “but it’s the only chance I have.”

“So, you’re going to leave – with my child,” Kyle’s resentment was clear. “Will I ever see you again?”

Tess didn’t look at him, instead focusing on the wall, “You won’t see me, but I will send the baby to you. Nacedo will never allow me to keep it when he finds out...”

“That Max isn’t the father,” Maria finished for her.

“Yes,” there were tears in Tess’s voice again.

“What will happen if they don’t help you?” Michael asked.

“I won’t live.”

“Can you get rid of it?”

“I was going to try, but it’s – well, I can feel it’s presence, and I can’t. I couldn’t do it.”

“If you think Serena would help you, then we’ll go get her. Nacedo can rot for all I care,” Michael spat.

“We can’t. Serena won’t leave him, and she won’t let us hurt him either, she’ll protect him.”

“How can she, if he’s so cruel?” Maria asked.

“It’s complicated. Serena was only a crewmember on our ship. She had no authority, and she’s never really stood up to him. Nacedo is our protector. Also, they’re, you know…”

“Figures,” Michael rolled his eyes. “Well, can’t we force them to help you? There are four of us and two of them.”

“No, there are two of us and two of them. Max and Isabel were born royals, they have the royal seal. In order for the protector to feel confident that he can guide them through their education, without fear of repercussions, he is given a special mark. No one with the royal seal can hurt him, and he can’t hurt anyone with the royal seal.”

“And that leaves you and me.”

“I’m already weakening, and will only get worse as the pregnancy progresses, so it would be much more accurate to say that leaves only you.”

“I’ll try, Tess, I’ll take you to them and I’ll make them help you.”

“Michael…” Maria’s voice was barely more than a whisper.

Michael pretended not to hear her and continued to stare directly at Tess.

Tess shook her head slowly, “They’ll capture you. I don’t think they would kill you, but they’d take you. Make you a prisoner in your own mind. Force you to produce offspring with Isabel, then kill you when they had what they wanted.”

“So, we have no choice, we’ll have to go to them.”

“No, Michael, I’ll go alone.”

“They won’t help you.”

“I can try-.”

“They won’t help you.”

Tess sighed, “Probably not, but I won’t force everyone else to go with me.”

“Can Max and Isabel do anything to Serena? She’s not the protector. If they kept her at bay, maybe I could stop Nacedo from interfering.”

“Nacedo is very powerful.”

“How powerful?” Michael asked.

“ Very powerful.”

Michael sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Kyle knew how much Michael hated it when he couldn’t find a solution to a problem.

Kyle cleared his throat, “You have healing powers. If the baby hurts you, can’t you just heal yourself?”

Tess shook her head, “I’m not very good at healing. Max is, and Isabel isn’t bad. But I think it would take more than that. To be honest I’m surprised I’m not in worse shape than I am, technically I’m halfway through my term.”

Maria looked at Tess, “Maybe it’s because the baby is half human. That might lengthen the term. Michael and I discussed that.”

“You’re having children?” Tess asked.

Maria blushed and Michael sucked in a breath, “No, we discussed it in reference to you.”

“How did you know?” Kyle asked.

The couple glanced at one another, and Michael spoke, “We guessed. We weren’t sure until now.”

“Thanks for telling me,” Kyle remarked snidely.

“Not now, Kyle,” Maria hissed.

“Oh, no, of course not now,” Kyle smiled sarcastically. “I don’t have any right to react to all of this. The woman I love, who happens to be pregnant with my child, is leaving me forever – I certainly shouldn’t react.”

“You love me?” Tess’s voice was soft, as her eyes met Kyle’s.

“W-well…”

Michael cleared his throat, “I suppose this can wait until morning. We’ll figure something out. There has to be a way.”

“Yeah…” Maria agreed, moving to the door.

Kyle watched them leave, and moved to sit by Tess on the bed.

“You could have told me.”

“I didn’t think you would understand. Since the beginning I told you I didn’t want anything emotional…”

“Well, Tess, I’m sorry, but it definitely got emotional. And, if you for one moment thought that I would abandon you, you were dead wrong.”

“I knew you wouldn’t. That’s why I knew I could send the baby back to you.”

“I don’t want you to go.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“We’ll find a way. Michael is working on a way…”

“It doesn’t matter, I will still have to go.”

Kyle took her in his arms and as the tears began to fall, he wasn’t sure which ones were hers and which were his own.

***

Michael opened his eyes slowly in the morning. It had been a long night.

He turned to look at Maria. She was staring at him. It seemed she was in exactly the same position she had been the night before. Had she slept at all?

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Did you sleep?”

“No.”

“I think I should go see Max.”

“That might be a good idea.”

“Why didn’t you sleep?”

“Couldn’t.”

“Oh.”

“Michael?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think you’ll have to go?”

He didn’t answer right away. How could he answer her without letting her know that it would kill him if he had to leave her?

“I don’t know.”

“I’d like to go with you, to see Max.”

“Fine.”

***

Max didn’t wait for the carriage to stop before jumping out.

“Max!” he heard Alex call behind him.

He flung the door of the plantation house open.

“TESS!!!”

He glanced into the sitting room and didn’t see her.

“Teeeesssssss!”

“Max!”

He turned to see Maria running down the stairs.

“Maria, I need to see Tess, where is she?”

“She’s still upstairs-,” Maria stopped mid-sentence when she saw Alex, Isabel, and Liz walk in the front door. “Uh-oh.”

“Well, well, well…If it isn’t our new sister, Liz,” Alex said with a smirk, “You remember, the one who didn’t have the guts to show her face after she eloped during my engagement party?”

Maria grimaced, “Hi, Alex…”

Max started up the stairs as Maria greeted her in-laws.

“Tess!” he called into the upstairs hall.

Michael peeked his head out of his bedroom door, “Max?”

“Hi.”

“Uh, hi. What are you doing here?”

“Looking for Tess.”

“Oh, um, she’s in her room I think. I was going to come see you today…”

Max walked to Tess’s door and knocked. She opened it cautiously, “Max?”

Barely able to keep his voice calm, he said, “I need to talk to you now.”

“I was just dressing. Give me five minutes and I’ll be downstairs.”

She looked nervous, and he took it as confirmation that she knew why he was there. Leaving her still leaning out her door he turned on his heel and walked downstairs.

The group was still in the entryway, and Liz was mid-sentence, “…hope that you realize how silly it is to make this kind of decision so quickly…”

Maria rolled her eyes, “Yes, Liz…”

Alex said firmly, “Well, she is right, Maria.”

Turning to him violently, Maria raised on eyebrow, “Excuse me? Did you just say something Alex? I could have sworn I heard you say something.”

Blushing, and looking at the ground sheepishly, Alex smiled, “Yeah, all right, I have no room to talk.”

Isabel was laughing.

“Uh, yeah, I should say not,” Maria glared at him.

Max was irritated. He’d awakened them all before dawn, and explained what had happened in the carriage on the way. How could they laugh and joke when so much was at stake?

He glared at Isabel and she smirked at him.

Michael’s voice sounded from the stairway, “Max? You wanna’ tell me what’s- oh s**t.”

He’d spotted his brother and sister.

Liz put a hand on her hip, and opened her mouth to speak, “ Michael! How could you?”

Max couldn’t listen to anymore of this, “I’ll be in the study. Send Tess in when she gets downstairs.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Isabel mocked him.

He ignored her and walked into the study as Liz began her lecture to Michael.

A few minutes later, Isabel and Alex joined him in the room.

“Done joking around?” he directed his gaze to his sister.

“Max, can we at least wait to see what the truth is before we jump to conclusions?” Isabel said haughtily.

“Sure, we’ll just sit back and wait for our lives to spin out of control.”

“No need for sarcasm.”

“No need for apathy.”

“All right, all right,” Alex stepped between the siblings. “Max, I agree with Isabel. We need to talk to Tess, that’s not apathy it’s common sense.”

Max nodded slowly. He knew Isabel and Alex were right, he just wished they were as worried as he was, if this was true it would mean the end of everything…

Maria and Liz walked into the room arm in arm, and Michael followed behind them, looking properly sullen after his sister’s lecture.

Then Tess walked in.

“Tess,” Max began, remembering that he needed to remain calm. “I got a disturbing visit from Nacedo in my dream last night.”

“Oh?” Tess asked softly.

“Yeah. I don’t suppose you’d know what I’m referring to?” he asked her pointedly.

“Come on, Max,” Isabel said disgustedly, “just ask her. Tess, are you pregnant?”

“Uh, yes.”

Max was stunned. Even though he’d expected it, actually hearing the words come out of her mouth rattled him. Isabel was not similarly affected.

“What?!?” the girl raged. “How could you do this?”

Kyle walked in the door, “It’s not her fault!”

“Not her fault?” Isabel snorted.

Kyle blushed, “Well, I mean it is, but it’s my fault too. She didn’t know, she wasn’t even sure it was possib-.”

“I’ve always told you it was possible,” Isabel looked at Tess coldly. “How could you consciously do this Tess? To deliberately jeopardize everyone’s happiness like this, it’s inexcusable!”

“What do you mean, Isabel?” Maria looked at the girl strangely. “She only fell in love, the same as you did. She didn’t intend for this to happen.”

“I’m guessing it’s Kyle you’re in love with?” Max asked softly.

Tess nodded.

Isabel walked up to Tess, “I want an answer, Tess, how could you do this?”

Maria stood to defend her friend, “Isabel, it could just as easily be you-.”

“No, it couldn’t,” Isabel said quickly. “She wouldn’t have gotten pregnant if she didn’t want to. We have control of it.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Tess said softly, “I don’t know how it happened. I didn’t make a conscious decision.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

Tess looked at Isabel defiantly, “It’s the truth!”

“Do you realize what this means to the rest of us, Tess?” Max asked quietly, feeling as though the floor had fallen out of the room.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Tess said slowly, “I’m going to them alone.”

“He told me it was all of us or none of us,” Max said.

Tess looked upset, “Serena said-.”

“Serena?” Isabel scoffed, “She won’t stand up to him. You know that perfectly well.”

“So, we need to go to them?” Michael asked.

His words caused an uneasy silence to fall over the room.

“No!” Isabel said. “I can’t leave Alex. I won’t. I won’t leave him. No.”

Max sat down slowly on the sofa. He felt Liz slip her hand into his.

Michael spoke, “Tess explained the Nacedo situation to me. She said that she and I can challenge him.”

Tess slowly shook her head, “I told you, Michael, I’m weak. Very weak.”

“Of course, Michael!” Isabel’s eyes lit up, “He can stand up to Nacedo. We could get Serena away from him, and she could help us.”

“You think I could do it?” Michael asked Isabel. “Tess didn’t think…”

“I know you could. You were the warrior, Michael, the book said you were the most power-.”

“Those are your own translations, Is, we don’t know that’s true,” Max said.

“Well, I believe it’s true,” Isabel said. “The only problem is that he doesn’t know everything we do. And he’s probably never done anything that requires the kind of effort this would-.”

“Yes he has,” Kyle said slowly, looking at Michael as though for permission – Michael shrugged and Kyle continued, “He kept a ship at sea. For six days. Beaten, listing in a storm, the mast broke and before it fell he sent it upright again. Kept the water out of the hold, when it had been rolling in.”

They all turned to stare at Kyle.

“We all would have died. I did. Fell below decks, broke every rib in my chest. He saved me,” Kyle finished his disjointed litany with a sigh. He looked Michael dead in the eye, “Now I have to ask again…”

“You don’t have to ask me.”

“That only makes it worse,” Kyle grimaced.

Michael sighed.

Max looked between Michael and Kyle, “We could try. But, I have to warn you, if we fail-.”

“Tess already filled me in, Max. I want to try. I’ve never had much control, but Kyle’s right, sometimes when it counts I can do whatever I need to.”

“If you fail, can’t you just leave after the baby is born?” Maria spoke, her eyes red-rimmed.

Max turned to her and shook his head, “He’ll have Tess and Michael bound, in their minds. He’ll use them or someone else to keep Isabel and me in line.”

“How are we going to do it?” Isabel asked.

“Nacedo will be here in two days. He’s worried, he thought Tess would be in terrible shape by now,” Max answered, raising his eyebrows slightly as if he wondered the same thing.

“It’s half human, it seems to have changed the timetable,” Maria told him.

“Two days?” Liz spoke softly for the first time. Max turned to her, she seemed so strong, during the incident with the young maid she had been perfectly in control. They’d never spoken of it since, and she’d never pulled away from him since.

“Are you certain that Nacedo won’t harm the child, when he finds out it isn’t Max’s?” Maria’s voice broke the silence that had settled over the group.

“Isabel and I can make it part of our conditions. I don’t think he wants us to be hostile. He just wants us under his control,” Max told her.

“So, we plan to stop him, but prepare for the worst?” Michael asked.

Max looked at Isabel and she nodded. He turned to Tess who was looking at him sadly, then looked back at Michael, “Yes. I would be prepared for the worst.”

Tess started to cry softly into Kyle’s shoulder. He rose and led her from the room.

Alex stood suddenly and left the room, obviously upset, and Isabel followed after him.

Max turned to Liz, she smiled softly, he was shocked to see so much understanding in her eyes.

“I need to go back to town,” Michael said, as though nothing were wrong, “I’ll need to see my father.”

Max nodded, “That’s just as well, Nacedo is meeting us there. He refused to come back here again. I’ll try to come up with a plan. We can discuss it tomorrow night, we’ll all come into town.”

Michael nodded and moved to the door, “I’ll see you tomorrow then, in town?”

“Yes.”

“Liz,” Michael looked at his sister, “I think you should…” he let his voice die down as he looked at her, hand entwined with Max’s.

“Michael, I have to stay.”

Max could feel that a great deal was being said in those words.

“Liz,” her brother’s voice was stern, but his eyes were soft.

“Michael, it’s my decision to make.”

For a moment, Michael looked as though he would argue, but then Maria rose and walked to him, “Don’t do it. Let them be.”

He stared at the blonde as she stood determined before him, and then looked back at Liz. Slowly, he swallowed and nodded his head, “I don’t have to like it.”

Liz smiled sadly at him, “I’ll see you tomorrow too, Michael.”

Nodding, he gave Max a very pointed look and left the room.

Maria briefly gave them a smile and softly closed the door behind her as she left.

Max turned, “Liz-.”

She stopped his lips with a kiss.

It wasn’t fair…They’d only had a few days…

***

Michael knocked softly on the door of Kyle’s bedroom. His friend answered the door looking disheveled.

“I’m going into town, I have to see my father. If there’s a chance that, you know…”

“I understand,” Kyle said slowly. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say. I wish there was something I could do…”

“There might be. Can we talk for a minute?”

“Yeah, hold on,” Kyle turned to whisper something to Tess before stepping out into the hall.

“Study?”

“Right,” Kyle said.

They had barely walked in the door before Michael locked it behind him.

“I have a feeling we will be gone for good. I’m sorry, I know that this is difficult for you, with Tess, but I need to ask you to do something.”

Kyle nodded slowly, he didn’t look surprised by Michael’s assessment.

“I’m going to make it look like I was killed. It will be easier that way. She can re-marry, do whatever she wants.”

“All right, so we need to fake your death?”

“No, I’ll take care of it. I think it would be best to come up with something for Isabel, too. Maybe something with a loophole in case she ever is able to come back.”

“I know Alex wouldn’t think so now, but years down the line he might be glad.”

Michael nodded, “I’m leaving everything to Maria. Well, nearly everything. I’d like to leave plenty for Liz and Alex as well, but the bulk to Maria.”

“You don’t need to, I could take care of her, you could leave it to your brother and sister.”

“No, I want it this way. They’ll have plenty. I don’t want her to need to rely on anyone. She’s going to want to be with you, to help with the baby, I know it – that’s just the way she is. And, that will be good, a baby should have a mother-type figure,” Michael sat wearily on the sofa and rubbed his eyebrow with one hand. “Here’s the thing, she’s in love with someone – I don’t know who. It’s someone she danced with at the Landon’s ball – Liz might be able to narrow it down for you. Anyway, I want you to find out who it is and see if you can’t help her with him. She says he doesn’t feel the same way, but I can’t imagine anyone not…”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, just promise me you won’t let her coop up with you and the baby. She gets depressed, extremely depressed. You know, she snaps out of it - she’s Maria - but…I just want to make sure she doesn’t…Well, I want someone to know about it and to watch her. She’d hate it that I told you, so don’t ever let on that I did.”

“Michael?”

“Yeah?”

“You want her to be happy, that’s what you’re trying to tell me.”

“Yeah, I want her to be happy. Whatever it takes. If this guy won’t come around, then convince her to keep looking. You know, maybe you should take her to London, she’s been hinting about it. I was going to surprise her and take her next year…”

“I understand.”

“She can be happy, someone should be. Maybe it’ll give Liz and Alex - and even you - some hope.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Michael?”

“Hmm?”

“Why don’t you tell her? You don’t have anything to lose. My father might be right…”

“Kyle, I told you, your father was right. I do, you know, I’ve always…”

“Yeah, I know. I meant that he could be right about her too.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Michael. He was right about you, it’s possible that he’s right about the way she feels. That she’s in love with you.”

“Your father thinks she’s in love with me?” his question was barely more than a whisper.

“Yeah, we’ve been over this, Michael.”

“Uh, no we haven’t. You told me your father suspected with me, you didn’t say a word about Maria,” Michael’s eyes were wide, disbelieving.

“Oh, well, yeah…He thought the same thing about her.”

“He-, I mean, well- he…he has to be wrong, right?”

“No, didn’t you hear me? I said he could be right.”

“Do you think so? Have you seen something?” Michael almost hated himself for sounding so hopeful.

“No. I’m just saying, it turned out he was right about you, he might be right about her as well. Haven’t I repeated this about twelve times now?”

Michael didn’t know what to think. Jim had been right about him, if he thought the same about Maria…

“Kyle…”

“Look, Michael, all I know is that my father thinks she is acting like a woman in love.”

A woman in love. She is a woman in love. A woman in love with someone else.

Why had he let himself hope? How could he be so gullible as to let the idea take hold?

“No, he’s wrong. He’s right about her being in love, but wrong about who it is…”

“I still don’t see what it would hurt for you to tell her.”

“You wouldn’t,” Michael said wearily as he stood. “So, you’ll make sure she gets out and tries…?”

“She is my sister, I want her to be happy too. You don’t have to worry.”

“I’m asking you to take a pro-active role.”

“I will. I’ll push her.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you.”

“I suppose I’ll see you, tomorrow…”

“Yeah. Michael? If we don’t get a chance to talk then, I want you to know…You, what you’re doing – what you’re all doing – for Tess, and the baby…I’m grateful, words can’t express...She’s-, well, she’s so…”

“I’ll watch out for her.”

“Thank you.”

Michael could see his friend’s emotions written all over his face. Agony. He understood, and let his eyes say so, before leaving the room.

Maria was at the front door standing by his bags, with her own alongside them, and she was wearing her men’s trousers and shirt.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“With you, like I told you this morning.”

He didn’t want to spend the next two days with her, knowing every moment was one step closer to good-bye. It would be so much easier to avoid her, to run. Not to let her body tempt him, not to let her eyes call his name…

“That was when I thought we were going to see Max. Everything is different now, you should stay and come into town with the rest of them.”

“No. I don’t want to be stuck here with all of them. They won’t even notice I’m alive. I’m going with you, I’m not asking – I’m telling.”

He didn’t answer, he just walked past her out the door and hopped on his horse, hers was next to his and he didn’t wait for her to mount before he started on his way. She caught him, so he set a faster pace, but she stayed by his side.

Michael tried not to look at her. Tried not to notice the determined set of her chin as sweat and the dust of the road settled on her face, tried not to see that she was everything he’d ever wanted.

***

He was nearly out the door when she caught him. They'd only walked into their house a few minutes earlier. She’d barely had time to change her clothes and wash the grime off her face before he had announced he was leaving again. Though there hadn’t been a chance to glance in a mirror, she knew she looked a mess. It didn’t matter

“Don’t leave without me,” she hissed as he started to move out the door.

“I have to see my attorney, Maria, you don’t want to come with me.”

“Yes, I do.”

Every moment, every second. She had so little time left, and she needed to be with him. There was so much left to do…

The crease that appeared at the corner of his mouth when he smirked at her, she had to memorize it…

It was difficult to capture precise details of his hands, she needed to study them…

And, the thing she could never remember when she closed her eyes, the way his lips moved when he said her name – this was an image she had to burn into her mind...

“You’ll have to wait in the carriage for me.”

“Fine.”

“Come on, then.”

He stood aside for her to climb in and then followed her.

She wished that he would look at her, just to look into his eyes…

“Michael?”

He still wouldn’t look at her, “Yeah?”

“Do you want to go?”

That got his attention, his eyes met hers, exasperated, “No. Of course not.”

For a moment he held her gaze, then he turned to look out the window.

“I don’t want you to go,” she said softly. Not caring how he interpreted her words.

“Maria…” his voice was low, exhausted.

“Michael,” she wanted him to look at her. To see what she felt, she didn’t care if he felt the same.

The carriage stopped and he climbed out quickly. Before he shut the door he cast a glance back inside, though not directly at her, and said, “This will only take a few minutes. I only need to give him instructions about some papers I need drawn up.”

She nodded as he walked away and was nearly slumped back into her seat when she saw someone stop Michael on the street. Lady Margaret had her hand on his arm and was speaking to him with a smile on her face. He gestured toward the building he had been ready to enter, and Margaret shook her head and laughed, delaying him.

Maria couldn’t stand it. If he couldn’t even look at her, then he sure as hell wasn’t going to have a chat with Margaret Sheldon.

She was out of the carriage and by his side, before she had time to think about it. The other woman didn’t even pause in her conversation as Maria slipped her arm into Michael’s.

He didn’t look at her, just accepted her arm as if it were the most natural thing for him to do.

Finishing her sentence, Lady Margaret raised an eyebrow at Maria’s claim on Michael’s arm. Maria opened her mouth to speak, but was beaten to the punch.

“I believe you know my wife?” he said evenly at Margaret’s silent inquisition.

For a moment, the other woman looked stunned. She stared at them in disbelief, and then a wry smile crossed her lips, “Your wife? Well, I suppose this was her father’s condition of allowing your brother out of his engagement? You had to step up to take his place.”

Maria was fuming, but could say nothing – the woman was right. She felt the heat rising on her cheeks.

Nothing could have prepared her for what Michael did next.

He was laughing, as though Lady Margaret was telling a joke, “Oh no. It was a stipulation of General Valenti’s. When I asked for her, he told me we would have to wait until Alex announced his engagement to someone else. And we did, I believe we were married about an hour later. Isn’t that true, Maria?”

Smiling, he looked down at her, and he took her breath away. The look he was giving her…it was as if he were enthralled with her…as if she were the love of his life…

Maria wished she could see the look on Lady Margaret’s face, but that would mean she’d have to turn away. Vaguely, Maria heard the woman murmur something, and then heard a rustle as she walked away. The moment she was gone, Michael tore his gaze from hers, smirking in the direction of the retreating woman.

“Be sure to tell that story when you get to London,” he said, staring after Margaret, “you’ll be the toast of the town.”

It had been a farce. A show he had put on for a woman he hated. Nothing more.

Slowly she began to breathe again. Even if he hadn’t given her the look for a good reason, he had given it to her. It was hers, and she would lock it away her catalogue of memories. ‘The time Michael looked at me and made me believe, for a moment, that he felt the same…’

“Will you wait in the carriage?” he asked, almost politely, as he released himself from her arm.

She nodded slowly, watching him walk away from her.

***