Warning: Contains femslash and slash as well as some cross-dressing.
Ecnecsednacni
"I'll have you checkmated in three moves, Spock." Kirk said with a smile as he moved his pawn forward one square. He could tell that his first officer was distracted and had every intention of taking advantage of it. "It's a... nice planet, isn't it? It almost reminds me of Vulcan with its higher temperatures and thinner air. I can only hope that this time I won't have to fight my best friend to the death."
Spock lifted an eyebrow. "Illogical. The circumstances in this situation will not allow for us to become engaged in such an activity. We should not have to visit the planet's surface again." he moved his bishop and took Kirk's pawn. "Check."
This produced a quick laugh from Kirk, and in response he took Spock's bishop with his queen. "If I am so illogical, then how can I beat you at chess?"
Spock glanced at the chessboard and realized that his captain had been speaking the truth. In not placing his entire focus on the game, he had allowed Kirk to gain the upper edge. "It seems your estimate was inaccurate, Captain. You have achieved checkmate in two moves." Spock said, leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms.
"How about another game, Spock? I still haven't figured out what's on your mind."
Wordlessly, the two men started to reset the game board.
They were interrupted with a message from the bridge.
"Captain, Queen Kareesha of the Cressidyes wishes to beam up a gift for you and Mr. Spock in return for your help in restoring peace between her people. Do you wish to accept her gift?" Uhura asked.
"Yes... tell Mr. Scott that we'll be right over."
Kirk turned back to Spock and the chess game that they had yet to begin. "Well, Spock, I guess our game will have to wait. Come on, let's go see what Kareesha sent us!" both he and his first officer then exited his quarters and started for the transporter room. Kirk was eager to discover if he'd been given a piece of the Cressidyes' masterful artwork, many examples of which he had seen integrated into even common household objects all over the city.
Scotty greeted them excitedly. "Captain, Mr. Spock, you won't believe this!" he said, stepping toward the transporter. A few security guards were standing close around some large object. Upon noticing Kirk and Spock, they moved aside and revealed a work of masterful creation indeed.
It was a mirror. The surface shimmered with a sheen of incandescence over its surface, which seemed to behave similar to glass except all of the colors that entered it were made more vivid, the highlights brightened and the shadows deepened. Kirk barely managed to tear his eyes away from the beautiful reflection of himself and Spock, moving his gaze to run along the ornate edge that framed the glass. At first appearance it seemed to be a depiction of the natural occurrences of the world. Storms, plant life, even a pair of feral eyes that nearly glistened, prominent yet hidden amidst carved foliage at the top center. Moving in closer, Kirk realized that forming these things were really thousands of minute images, the bodies of warriors interlocking in the midst of battle, spears raining upon a hoofed beast with its head lifted in a desperate call for others of its kind, even a flock of winged creatures soaring into waves. Closer still, and the detail only grew more intricate.
"It's amazing. How is this even possible?"
"I do not think that your own species can create such delicate work, Captain, even given the knowledge and means of their methods." Spock said.
"And your species can, Spock?" Kirk looked away from the mirror to see Spock's reaction.
"Only the Cressidyes can achieve this level of detail. What Vulcans can and cannot do is irrelevant." Spock said, raising an eyebrow.
"Let's get this to my quarters. I know just where to display it!" Kirk exclaimed, forgetting that it had been a gift to both himself and Spock. At his words, the security personnel present each grasped a side of the mirror and lifted it into the air, finding it surprisingly lightweight.
It fit perfectly just where Kirk had wanted it. He and Spock stepped over to examine it again, the chess game all but abandoned. Then Kirk remembered that the mirror was not his alone.
"Oh, sorry, Spock. It belongs to you, too. Do you want it in your quarters instead?"
"I do not have a preference. It would take more effort to move it now, and I am content to enjoy it here."
"Thank you!" Kirk said, placing a hand on Spock's shoulder. Inevitably, his eyes were once again caught in the reflection in the strange glass. It steadily drew him nearer until his face was mere centimeters away. The mirror world seemed so real, everything it contained made more beautiful. Kirk leaned into it, getting closer and closer to this delightful world of color and intensity. Suddenly, he pitched forward and found that there was no longer any glass in front of him at all.
The Enterprise was gone.
Kirk was falling. Air was rushing past him and roaring in his ears, ripping away all other sounds. A hand grasped his own and he held onto it tightly, recognizing Spock plummeting to the unknown ground alongside himself. For a long time they fell, clouds swirling about them, a spiral dance in a dawn-colored sky.
Then, suddenly their movement was slowing, then stopping, and earth was beneath their feet again. Kirk stumbled to the ground, dizzy. He knelt there for a moment as the world spun back into place.
"Captain...? We do not seem to be aboard the Enterprise." Spock said from Kirk's left.
Grass rustled in a light breeze. Kirk glanced all around him and found that they had entered a meadow of some sort, green and warmth surrounding them. It was beautiful. Almost the incandescence of the mirror world. "Spock, have I ever told you that you have a way with understatement?" Kirk couldn't help but reply, feeling strangely at peace. "But, I do want to know where we are and how we got here."
"Captain, though it may be illogical, I believe that the evidence suggests that we somehow fell through the Cressidyes' mirror and into this world."
"If that's true, then I don't know how we're going to get back. There is no mirror on this side."
"There seems to be a path, Captain. It may lead us somewhere or to someone who can explain what this place is."
"What path-" Kirk started as he turned toward Spock. Stretching across the meadow was a winding dirt trail, something that Kirk had been sure that hadn't existed before. "Oh. That path." He noticed a glimmer of amusement in Spock's eyes and gave an answering grin. "Well then. Shall we, Mr. Spock?" he asked, gesturing toward the uncertain end of the trail.
In response, Spock started forward, reaching for the tricorder that was not at his side. Upon discovering that it wasn't there, he hesitated, then resumed walking. "Captain, I regret not bringing a tricorder. It would have been useful to check for life form readings."
"Then before you look into a mirror next time, Mr. Spock, you can bring your tricorder. But I'm afraid that we'll have to do without for now."
The trail seemed to go absolutely nowhere. It brought them over a small hill, wove a bit, then went behind another hill, and still all that could be seen was the grass rustling in a phantom wind that neither Kirk nor Spock could feel.
"Captain, I believe that we should attempt to follow the path in the opposite direction." Spock said.
"Why? There isn't anything that way. It would be illogical."
"I have a theory as to why this path does not have a destination."
"Then we'll turn around." Kirk said, grabbing Spock's wrist as he switched directions.
There was figure standing on the path in the shadow of a hill. It appeared to be clothed in a long gown, the folds of which occasionally lifted into the wind behind it. A humanoid. Kirk pointed at it and Spock nodded once to acknowledge that he'd seen it, too. They quickened their pace so to reach it faster.
"So, is your theory correct?"
"I am unable to ascertain-" Spock started before being interrupted by a woman's voice.
"We've been expecting you. Come, this way." the figure said as she turned around to reveal her face. Kirk frowned when a wave of recollection washed over him only to fade as swiftly as it had arrived. She wore a white dress that nearly reached the earth, her ears delicate and tapering into a point. Soft brown eyes gazed back at him.
"Where are we?" Kirk asked. "Who are you?"
"You are where the wind moves the grass and where the path winds forever. And I am the White Queen." she said, her voice devoid of emotion. "But that is not important. Come, we must leave. Your arrival has been much anticipated."
"Spock," Kirk muttered, leaning closer to his first officer. "What do you make of that? It sounded like nonsense to me. And what is she? Is she human?"
"It is my personal opinion that we should follow her. Captain, I don't think she is human. If we were not on this foreign planet I would almost say that she is... Vulcan." Spock answered quietly.
"What? A Vulcan? Are you sure? Then I think we should trust her. Vulcans are incapable of lying, after all."
"This way." The White Queen said, pointing down the path. She gave no inclination of having overheard their conversation, though with Vulcan hearing it was unlikely that she hadn't heard it. Trading a glance, Kirk and Spock started after her.
It soon became apparent that the path was taking them somewhere this time. Meadow began to give way to forest, which just as swiftly enveloped them. Bird-like calls could be heard, ethereal and haunting, they reverberated within Kirk's body and rose the gooseflesh on his arms. The White Queen payed the strange sounds no mind and kept her eyes focused on what came before her. As the minutes wore on, Kirk found himself relaxing as he realized that there wasn't any danger.
Then the forest opened up and the path spilled into a large section of empty earth overlooking a cliff side. Seated upon a stone bench beneath a willow-like tree was another woman. She had features similar to that of the white queen, but her hair was of a lighter shade and shorter. She was clothed in a red dress.
"You have brought them here? Good! Now the game can begin!" She said, smiling as she got to her feet. Kirk felt another, weaker rush of recognition that passed quicker than it had the first time. No, he had never seen the two woman before, he was at least sure of that. With mild surprise, he watched the White Queen approach the woman clothed in red and coldly press her lips to the other woman's cheek.
"Who are you? What game?" Kirk asked, interrupting the strange moment that had woven into being between the woman.
"I am the Red Queen. You are pawns. Now, shall we play?" She asked, still staring into the White Queen's eyes. "I grow impatient. Let us start soon!"
"No." Kirk said. "I refuse to play your game. What happened to the Enterprise, where are we, and-"
"You will play. How else do you expect to find your Enterprise?" The Red Queen interrupted, her eyes narrowing. "You are where you should be, and that is the only thing that matters."
"Spock, she doesn't seem Vulcan."
"That is because she is not. The Red Queen appears to be Romulan. Our two species share the same ancestry, but unlike Vulcans, Romulans do not follow our philosophy of logic." Spock said.
"The rules are not complex." The White Queen spoke, turning to face the valley beneath the ledge. "You will play the role of two pawns, one on each side, and whoever wins shall get his wish."
Kirk followed her gaze, stepping closer to the edge to look over it and see what game he and Spock had been coerced into playing.
Chess. A large patchwork of land sprawled out across the valley, dappled with the shadows of clouds. Each square must have been at least an acre across. Two pawns, one on each side. Kirk froze as he realized what those words had meant.
"Spock! Chess. They're going to force us to play against each other, not only that, but as pawns. What are the odds of one of us being able to sway the game enough to win?"
"The odds, Captain, are-"
"Enough!" The Red Queen spoke, interrupting Spock. "You will play the game and get your wish, or you will not play the game and get returned to where we found you. Make your choice."
"We choose to play." Kirk said, meeting Spock's eyes.
"Captain, we may improve our odds of our survival as well as increasing our influence in the game if we become queens." Spock said quietly.
"Then, Spock, we must become queens. Do whatever it takes, but you must reach the other side."
They leaned in close and tried to develop a loose plan of strategy, not realizing that the White and Red Queens were also holding a conversation behind them.
"They wish to become queens?" The White Queen said, contemplating the idea.
"I believe that can be arranged. What do you say, my lady?" The Red Queen muttered with amusement. "I am quite fatigued at holding this position for so long, anyways. It's about time someone else had it for a chance."
"I, too, grow weary of it. It is logical to grant them their wish." Was the soft reply.
"Very well." The Red Queen said louder, ending Kirk and Spock's conversation. "The day only grows longer. We should best be getting started."
Kirk opened his mouth to speak, then suddenly found himself in a different terrain entirely with neither the Queens nor Spock in sight. He examined the area around him, but could see no other players. His mind formed an image of the currently reset board and somehow he was able to determine which of the pawns he was, almost with a strange sense of intuition.
And so the game begins. he thought. On impulse, he felt his body move forward, suddenly aware that it must be his turn. Has Spock moved yet? he wondered, concentrating briefly to bring the image of the chessboard to his mind again. There was a pawn directly ahead of him that had moved as well. I should be approaching him soon. Kirk thought as he ran across the square of red grass and started traversing a patch of pale, wheat-like plant life. He seemed to be crossing the land at a quicker speed than physics allowed as possible. Somehow, in a strange world like the one through the mirror, it didn't seem at all out of place.
"Captain! Jim!" Spock's voice called from ahead. Kirk quickened his pace and suddenly found himself only a few meters away from his first officer, who was standing upon scarlet grass. He went as close to the edge of his own square as possible.
"Spock. Neither of us can move forward for now. We'll have to wait until another piece passes by us to attack and move into the row next to this one." he said, making his thoughts audible.
"Jim," Spock said sharply. "what will happen to the piece that we attack? Does it occur to you that we may be expected to take the life of another in order to claim its square?"
Kirk paused, summoning his mind's image of the chessboard. He watched, his heart pounding, as one of the white knights moved and took a pawn. The image of the pawn simply disappeared, erased from existence.
"Yes, it has..." he breathed, feeling a cold horror clench his body. "But it is the risk we must take if we want to get back to the Enterprise. Maybe the life forms here are just apparitions of our mind, illusions created by a higher being wishing to toy with us?"
"Or maybe they are not illusions and are as real as you or I. They, too, could be prisoners of this world. We may be sending innocent life to its death just to win a single game of chess."
"Spock... I don't know! Everything is at stake here. The Red Queen implied that one of us has to win personally to get our wish. And for that to happen, we'll need to become queens. Maybe we could just attempt to render our opponents unconscious, a Vulcan nerve pinch, possibly. It's worth a try."
"Jim, I believe there is a white pawn approaching my starboard side." Spock interrupted, his body tensing.
"Yes, there is. Now!" Kirk called, sprinting to the diagonal intersection between his square and that of the white pawn. It barely took a moment before he passed the boundary and found himself in the center of the patch, facing a figure clothed in a white cloak.
"Who are you?" He called, readying himself for attack. The pawn did not respond. It simply stood there staring into the distance, its face obscured by a large white hood.
Kirk went to it, lifted his hand, curling it into a fist, and delivered a shaking blow to its back. Beneath his hand, its body was warm and soft, easily crumpling to the earth.
Kirk stood over it, shuddering. The white cape disintegrated into ash that was soon carried away by the phantom wind, sighing through the wheat-like grass. The white pawn was revealed to be a man, young and with a handsome face, all of his youth stripped away with the approach of his death.
"What have I done?" Kirk said, his voice hollow. With the strength that had taken him years of experience as a starship captain to develop, he composed himself before the disgust of the murder at his own hands could overwhelm him, and simply walked away, starting toward the edge of the square to speak with Spock one last time to confirm their fears.
"Spock..." he started. "I have occupied this square now."
"And what of its previous occupant, the white pawn?"
"He's dead. The blow I gave him turned out to be fatal. Either that or his death was the result of me entering his square as an attacker and whatever I did didn't matter."
"Then we must kill if we wish to win this game."
"No, we must kill if we wish to win the Enterprise back."
"How is that any different?" Spock said, his voice betraying no emotion though Kirk could see an internal conflict shadowing his eyes. "This time the only future jeopardized is our own. Is that worth the lives of however many others?"
"As the captain of a Federation starship, I feel like the answer I should be giving you is 'no', Spock. But as James Tiberius Kirk I'm not sure if I can say that entirely truthfully." Kirk's voice dropped into a whisper, his own words making him feel ashamed enough to turn away so that he wouldn't have to see Spock's reaction.
"Then I hope that James Tiberius Kirk will make the right decision when he must." Was the only answer he received before Spock started walking away to pursue his own advancement.
Kirk closed his eyes and counted the other side of the giant chessboard only three squares away, his passage through it all but clear. Spock's path, too, appeared to be open.
What happened? Kirk wondered. Where did all of the pieces go? Did they wipe themselves out already, so easily? His mind was beginning to formulate strategies to checkmate the white king, finding it altogether far simpler than it should be. This is too easy. There must be some sort of catch, some obstacle that will arise later.
His thoughts were interrupted by the strange urge that was telling him that it was his turn to move another square closer to his destination. He obeyed it, waited, then moved again. A short while later and it was again his turn. Kirk started forward, entering the final, pale square that marked his change in position.
As soon as he did, however, he found himself once again stepping onto a completely different patch of earth unlike either the red or pale, wheat-like grass. Again, he was standing on the ledge with the Red and White Queens and Spock was just a few paces away, also seeming bewildered, though he kept his face a careful Vulcan mask.
"Congratulations. You are both no longer pawns." The White Queen said.
"I grow weary of this clothing, my lady." The Red Queen sighed, crumpling a corner of her skirts in her fist. "And don't you think this game would be much more... entertaining... without it?" the corners of her lips drew upward into a smirk.
"This dress does seem to be most illogical."
"Then, by all means let's get rid of it."
Kirk and Spock stared on in confusion ans the two queens faced each other and the White Queen's hand slowly lifted from her side to be suspended in a Vulcan salute. The Red Queen's own hand rose to brush their fingertips together, her delicate fingers then sliding down the length of the White Queen's. Kirk and Spock both felt as if this wasn't a sight meant for their own eyes and turned away, wearing a slight blush in red and green respectively.
Suddenly, there was an odd light enveloping Kirk, blotting out all other things surrounding him, including the queens and Spock. He felt the weight of his clothing disappear, only to be replaced with the silken whisper of gossamer threads streaking over his skin, weaving around each other, moving faster and faster until whole folds of fabric were billowing out of nothing more than air and settling onto his body. Before he could comprehend what was happening, the light cleared as abruptly as it had come and Spock was again visible and standing just across from him.
Spock was wearing a dress. It was similar to the White Queen's, though it appeared to be tailored exactly to someone of Spock's proportions and festooned his body in a way that was not displeasing to the eye.
Kirk at last managed to drag his gaze away from his first officer to examine his own new garment. To his utmost displeasure, his starfleet uniform, too, had been taken and replaced with a dress. Scarlet, as the Red Queen's had been, it was distinctively feminine and reached his ankles. Kirk sunk his fists into it and turned to face the Red and White Queens to demand to know why he had to also suffer this humiliation in addition to all that they had put him through.
He found himself back on the giant chessboard, wheat-like grass whispering against the fabric of the dress, alone again. He let go of the excess material forming his skirts and felt it slide back against his skin, smooth and caressing like the finest satin. It was not uncomfortable, despite being unpractical, and he figured that it would be bearable, if it was what it took to be a queen instead of a pawn in this twisted game of chess.
Time had apparently passed in the game since Kirk had been whisked away. There weren't many pieces left, and of those that remained, there weren't many options for Kirk to achieve checkmate, even with the maneuverability of a queen. On the white side, Spock's side, there were three pawns, one rook, the king (castled and protected by the rook), and a knight too far away to be much of use. On Kirk's own side, the situation was similar: again three pawns, one rook guarding the king (castled), but there was an additional red rook instead of a knight.
Whatever choice he made, he knew that he would need to be closer to the rest of the active pieces, and so Kirk started across the board, the red dress fluttering in his movement. It nearly felt like flight. He stopped on one of the pale squares, the exhilaration of his new speed carrying over and sending a rush of adrenaline coursing through his body. He closed his eyes to enjoy it, then concentrated reluctantly on the game.
Spock was moving. Kirk opened his eyes and found himself meeting the Vulcan's gentle brown gaze, Spock only a few paces away.
"Captain. At this point, there is only one way to manipulate the game so that you, personally, can checkmate the white king and earn the Enterprise back." he started. "Jim, do you see it?"
Kirk knew. He knew the moment Spock stopped at the square adjacent to his own. "Spock, they'll kill you. You can't do it, I won't-"
"Jim. You must move quickly, already both of our sides have taken a turn." Spock interrupted. "It is the only way back to the Enterprise. As your friend, I ask only of thee to heed my words now, as thyself has stated so earlier. My life is worth the happiness of thine own."
His body knew what he was going to before his mind resolved itself. The formality of Spock's words, how that, in turn, affected their meaning.
And again, he found himself in almost-flight, his new-found freedom allowing him to move as he wished.
Upon stopping, he went to the edge of the square and waited no time at all for Spock to reach his side again.
"Live long and prosper, Jim." Spock said, staring at him with years of tenderness and affection in his eyes.
Kirk was trembling as he exchanged the final salute.
Then, suddenly, the red rook was there, raising his arm to claim the square from Spock. In one fluid motion, he brought down his hand and Spock fell upon the crimson grass, Kirk watching as those eyes closed for the last time, unable to tear his own gaze away. What have I become? His breathing was labored. What have I done?
As if following the scattered threads of fate, the white rook from the other side of Spock's square emerged from the distance and in turn struck down the red rook, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, leaving Kirk to claim the final victory.
He didn't feel himself defeat the white rook, or even feel his own body move. All he knew was that he stood there bathed in the ashes of defeat, his heart turned cold, his tongue immobile.
"Checkmate." He forced out, already drifting over to where Spock's body lay.
His legs crumpled beneath him and he found himself kneeling at Spock's side, his hand touching the Vulcan's face. "Spock..." he choked.
The price had been too high. With Spock's death at his hands, he did not deserve to have the Enterprise. That thought cleared away any last doubt about what he was about to do.
"Red Queen. White Queen. I won. I personally checkmated the white king. Now you must grant me my wish. And my wish is to have Spock back." He called out.
There was a warm breath on his fingers as they stroked Spock's skin. Kirk paused in surprise, then in joy, and a broken smile formed on his face. Spock's eyelids fluttered open, and Kirk lifted him into a sitting position, hardly daring to breathe. Then he couldn't resist it any longer and flung his arms around the Vulcan, no longer caring about his emotional controls now that he was no longer captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise and nor would he ever be again.
He was free to love and to mourn. And Kirk did, finding that the tears were coming like he had never allowed them to before, and that Spock was reciprocating his embrace, calmly holding the last connection to the world they had both previously known.
"I... I lost her, Spock." Kirk said as the sobs silently shook him. "Forever."
"Jim, you are not alone. I grieve with thee."
They sat together for a short while until Kirk's tears subsided, and then he reluctantly pulled away. Spock was still close enough for the heat of his body to be felt on Kirk's skin.
"Well, now what do we do? It seems that we have a new world to explore, to seek out new life, and new civilizations... " Kirk said, trailing off at his last words.
"Why, you attend the coronation celebration, of course." The Red Queen said, approaching them. She wore a simple dress now instead of the elaborate outfit of a queen. At her side was the White Queen.
"Coronation?" Kirk had composed himself immediately upon the appearance of the Red Queen, already finding it too easy to slip back into the persona he held while on duty. He had allowed himself just a moment of human weakness knowing that he'd needed it. Now he was going to figure out why this world behaved so oddly and how he would have to survive in it.
"Your coronation. Yours and his. You have become queens, but there has yet to be a celebration for it. Come! You don't want to be late to an event that is being held in honor of yourself!"
She and the White Queen began to walk away and Kirk and Spock started after, each trying to calculate what this new advancement meant.
"But, we were only queens in the chess game. 'Queen' is simply the name of one playing piece." Kirk said, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.
"You were pawns when it all started. Is that not an adequate representation of what you were?" the White Queen said. "You did not wish to play the game, but you did. Because we wished you to play. Were you not our pawns?"
"It would seem that our position was accurate, Captain." Spock said. "And a physical change did come over us when we reached the opposite edge of the board." he glanced at Kirk and swept his eyes briefly down the length of Kirk's dress, then glanced down at his own. "We have been outfitted appropriately for someone with the position of a queen."
Kirk had forgotten that he was no longer wearing his uniform. He eyed his skirts distastefully as they moved over his legs, wishing that he resembled the Starfleet captain he had once been more than he did now. Not even the last dignity of his old uniform was he spared. Kirk thought back to the moment's impulse that had allowed him to embrace Spock. Maybe he had been able to show his affection in such an obvious, personal way only when they had both been forced into wearing female clothing and he no longer felt as if he had any masculinity to assert.
Amused by such a thought, he glanced at the Red Queen and met her sparkling eyes as she looked over her shoulder at him.
"Does this world lack any social laws prohibiting males from wearing the garments of the females?" Spock asked him, referring to the seeming normality of two men being dressed as and crowned as queens in a mere chess game.
"I would assume yes, but aside from the White and Red Queens and the other players in the game, we haven't really encountered anyone else. For all we know, they could be a minority and simply forcing their whims on us."
"We approach the castle now." the White Queen said, ending the conversation.
Nestled between two hills, the castle seemed rather small for what it proclaimed to be, almost modest when it was juxtaposed to the eccentricity of the rest of the world. It gave the illusion of nearly folding in on itself, the walls forming a rhombus. All of the classic structures were there: turrets piercing the sky with reddened points, a trickling moat wrapping around its base like a dog at its master's feet, even a drawbridge, though it appeared too dainty to be of much protection if the castle were to be sieged.
Kirk wondered where it had came from. Barely any time at all had passed since he and Spock had walked away, alive, from the giant chessboard, and already they had to have traveled a large distance away from it.
"The celebration will start very soon. We must quicken our pace." the White Queen said.
It did not take long before Kirk found himself crossing the little drawbridge, unsure of what to expect beyond the walls as the elaborate hinges slid against each other and the decorative second doors parted. He found himself in a courtyard. A fountain was at its center, from which the entire event seemed to extend, blanketing the grounds except for a long carpet presenting a clear path to the water-spitting sculpture. Somehow, the Red and White Queens had stepped behind him and Spock and it occurred to him that they expected him to lead.
As Kirk neared the heart of the courtyard, Spock evenly keeping pace at his side, all conversation faded into curiosity. The guests of this celebration were, more often than not, of no discernible species. All were humanoid, none seemed hostile, and Kirk was content to let the situation take whatever turns it may.
"We have come here to recognize two new queens." the Red Queen's voice filled the area, amplified by the enclosed space and by the natural power of her diction and speech. "Today they were crowned, and today they shall be honored."
She flickered her eyes toward Kirk and he realized that she wanted him to add some of his own words to her own. At a loss of what to say, he found himself glancing at Spock in desperation.
"We are glad to be welcomed with such hospitality in this land." Spock said with flawless improvisation. He offered all of the usual formalities then bowed his head to acknowledge his and Kirk's gratitude and both men looked again toward the Red Queen.
"Then, seeing as there is no longer any reason to postpone the night, the celebrations may begin. Refreshments will be brought out as soon as the music starts and the first dance is held." turning away from the crowd, she spoke to Kirk and Spock alone. "As the guests of honor, you will be expected to lead the first dance." she smiled and took the arm of the White Queen, walking her onto the cobblestone.
"What? Lead the first dance?" Kirk started to say, growing irritated at the newest irrational turn in his situation. "But who are we to partner with?" he was at a complete loss as to what the social rules, both the hidden and the unhidden of this place, were.
"Jim, if I may request, it seems logical that we partner together, seeing as-" Spock said only to be interrupted with a quick 'yes' from Kirk. Kirk hadn't had time to process the offer before he spoke without thinking and accepted it.
"Seeing as you asked," he started, continuing Spock's sentence. "you can lead." With his old grin finding its way through the muddle of confusion in his mind, Kirk took Spock's arm like the Red Queen had taken that of the White Queen and led him onto the stone.
Of course, he and Spock ended up surrounded by a ring of onlookers, facing each other and unsure of what to do. Before there was any time to contemplate it, a low drumbeat started. Other instruments soon wove through the sound, each played with a masterful hand and filling the rapidly darkening daylight with the audible sensation of beauty.
Dancing with Spock was a fascinating experience. It was more delicate than fighting, but still quite similar, each reading the other, adjusting their every movement with minute observations of each corresponding movement. It was harder work then the strenuous exercise they put themselves through in the gym, requiring of each of them the utmost trust and agility.
Kirk didn't notice the Red Queen and the White Queen follow after them, launching all of the coupled guests into their own dances, nor did he notice as the first song came to an end and the next started.
It no longer mattered that with each dance drawing him closer to Spock, he was all but fraternizing with the crew. He wondered why it had ever mattered, why he had convinced himself that the Enterprise could only be his if he allowed no one to share it with him.
Eventually, the music began to pound relentlessly in Kirk's head and it caused him to develop a headache. With the movement of the dance still swirling about him, he and Spock made their way to the farthest side of the courtyard. Carving a path through the swaying guests, they found the refreshments table tucked into a corner, abandoned yet displaying an abundant array of delicacies on raised platters and bowls. Kirk reached out and selected a red berry.
"There is an old Earth myth concerning the eating of fairy food. They once said that should a person wander into the land of the fairies, if he is to swallow a single drop of sustenance, he will never leave to see his home again." Kirk murmured, rolling the berry about in the palm of his hand. "In another myth, the Greek goddess Persephone devoured only a few pomegranate seeds in the underworld and for each one she ate, she was unwittingly consigning herself to spend another month of the year as Hades' wife. It's not logical, but for some reason this feels the same." he glanced down at the berry.
On impulse, he slipped it into his mouth, savoring the texture of its flesh with his tongue before letting his teeth split the skin and sending its juice spurting free, only to be recaptured as he relished in the sensation of its lingering sweetness.
"I chose you over the Enterprise, Spock. Was that logical?" Kirk turned away from the tempting foods on the table, not really expecting an answer to his question.
"No, it is not logical." Spock said. "But humans are not logical beings, so it would be illogical for them to act logically." Kirk had never heard him say anything with similar implications before.
"Then would it be logical for you to act illogically on occasion, Spock?" he teased.
"Sometimes the illogical solution is the logical one."
Kirk smiled, feeling a strange sense of euphoria come over him. The urgency that had always been there, calling him back to the Enterprise with its siren's song, seemed to be fading into something else. In a way, it left him cold, lost, adrift in this foreign world.
"Let's just walk. The interior of the castle seems to be open, I want to learn more about this place." Kirk said.
The corridors danced with long shadows, cast in moonlight. Pausing to glance out a window, Kirk and Spock saw a giant moon, luminescent and ethereal, keeping watch over her kingdom. Something didn't seem right. Kirk followed the shadows with his eyes and discovered that another source of light was coming from an opposite window. As he approached it, his gaze was caught by another moon, as large and as bright as the other. Back and forth, he shifted his eyes from one to the other, their positions mirrored in each opposite sector of the sky.
Spock touched his shoulder and a shiver went through him, though he was unsure of its source.
As he had always done, Kirk suppressed it and continued on.
They soon found an opening that spilled into a balcony. An aroma became apparent, drifting over from an unknown source outside. Following it, Kirk found himself leaning over the balcony's edge and staring at the most peculiar flowers he'd ever seen.
Glittered with specks of light, the petals seemed to be forming a rose. They swayed a slight bit, as if gently resisting a breeze, and emitted the sweetest of scents. Kirk reached out, straining, and barely brushed a glowing petal. Its entirety seemed to scatter into glowing dust as his fingers grazed it. He felt nothing.
"Pure light, Spock. That's it. That's what it consists of." he said, wonder in his eyes.
"If that is so, then how does it emit an odor?" Spock said, stretching out his own arm to carefully grasp where a stem should be. With brisk ease, he broke the stem without disturbing the flower and brought it onto the balcony. Both Kirk and Spock then leaned in close to examine it. Kirk wrapped a hand around Spock's and felt the flower's smooth stem, invisible in the darkness, against his skin.
With this proximity, the aroma became even more intoxicating. Kirk realized that he was leaning closer and immediately focused his thoughts and resisted it. Spock seemed to also be conflicted, as he withdrew his hand from under Kirk's and left the flower in Kirk's hand, stepping away.
Kirk had a strange urge to place the rose in Spock's hair, thinking that it'd go well with the white dress. It was such an illogical thought, it made him chuckle and close the space between them, slipping the stem behind Spock's ear.
"Now you're really a queen, Spock." he said, moving his hand away before he was tempted to do anything else to his former first officer.
"Illogical." Spock muttered. But he stayed still and did not make an attempt to remove the rose.
Kirk was suddenly distracted by a voice, a slight whisper carried on the wind. Exiting into the castle's interior once again, he and Spock followed the sound, wondering what oddity of this world they'd discover next.
Soft footsteps muted by a carpeted staircase.
A slight echo on stone walls.
And then a giant balcony greeted them, its open entrance framed in fluttering curtains, gauzy and appearing saturated with moonlight. The fabric lifted into the air as Kirk and Spock moved past it.
His breathing accelerated, Kirk looked over the edge to see where the voice was coming from.
Two figures were silhouetted against the backdrop of the moon and its armada of stars. Slightly disappointed, he straightened and turned toward Spock.
"I admit, I was expecting talking flowers or something, not two people." he said.
"Jim-" Spock started, stopping only when one of the figures started to speak again.
"I grow stronger in the light of thee, my sun, with each passing night upon the morn, and to wake at thy side is my only wish." Came the soft, familiar voice.
"That's beautiful." Kirk said, listening to the words despite finding eavesdropping at such an intimate moment distasteful.
"You understood, Jim?" Spock asked, something in his voice that Kirk had never heard before.
"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"
"The White Queen was speaking in Vulcan." Spock said, staring down at the now all too familiar figures.
"Vulcan? And I understood it? Spock, it must be something about this place..." Kirk trailed off, wondering how he hadn't recognized the White Queen's voice at the start. Maybe it was because he had never heard her speak in such a way before, with that hushed, intimate tone.
"In the night we come together,
Katra to katra, touching and touched,
The ancient rites bind us into One.
Hot sand takes us into itself
And enveloped, we gather feathers to our mortal flesh
Purge our bodies of all emotion,
And of logic as well,
And fly on the wings of our burning."
"Pon farr... this is a Vulcan poem about pon farr. How is it possible for Vulcans to keep themselves so far estranged from emotion only to write about it so beautifully in their poetry?" Kirk wondered, remembering the pressure of Spock's body on his, moving together, flesh to flesh, sand dusting their clothing, catching in his skin, pressed against his back... A not altogether unpleasant tremble went through him.
Kirk glanced back again at the Red Queen and the White Queen, intending to clear his mind, then quickly adverted his eyes. They were deep beyond the ozh'esta, their fingers wandering down the arms of the other, then moving further and exploring other areas of their bodies.
Inevitably, his gaze was drawn once again to Spock. Within an instant, he registered that there was a tear tracing the Vulcan's cheekbones.
"Spock..." he murmured.
"There is... another verse... to that poem." Spock whispered.
He started to speak softly, meeting Kirk's eyes.
"In the day we draw apart,
Re-fusion of body and katra, I am left alone,
The ancient rites no longer binding.
Hot sand beneath my feet,
No longer burning, I gather my logic to myself
Stripped of need,
No longer wanting you,
And take solace in that I am righted again."
Kirk caught Spock's tear on his finger, then pressed his hand to the Vulcan's cheek, sharing that single instant with Spock, knowing what it had taken for the Vulcan to fight his shields and reveal, if for only a moment, the internal chaos of emotion and logic surging within.
And, as those words, whispered to him from the one who was closer to him than anyone, revealed their meaning, Kirk realized that he understood what Spock was trying to say.
Of this revelation, he said nothing.
"Do you want to go back? The night still has hours left." Kirk said. He wanted an excuse to be close to Spock again, to touch him.
In silence, Spock moved forward mechanically. Within the time it took for them to descend the stairs and return to the courtyard, Spock was more Vulcan than ever, atoning for the one moment he had dared let himself act entirely human.
How exactly Kirk spent the next few hours, he couldn't say. There was music, sweet and chilling, wrapping around him and Spock in the collective light of the scattered candles and twin moons. The guests were no longer anything other than dark figures, their features blurring into shadow as the night wore on. At times Kirk wasn't sure that they consisted of anything but shadow, for in this world it was all too possible that they existed as a mere figment of his failing sanity.
"Spock, how long are the nights at this planet? This one seems to be lasting for more than eight hours." Kirk said, beginning to feel tired.
To his surprise, Spock did not present him with a precise answer. In fact, he gave no answer at all.
"Spock...?"
"Captain, I do not know how long it has been night. For an unknown reason, I cannot calculate it." Spock said, seeming almost lost.
"Then I presume we'll have to stay awake as long as we're expected to and hope that it won't be too much longer. I don't know about you, but I'm going to need rest soon." Kirk said, seating himself on the stone surrounding the central fountain. He absentmindedly smoothed over a fold in the red dress, wondering if he'd ever see his Starfleet uniform again.
"Strange. There doesn't seem to be any dirt at all on this dress, despite all that it's been through." he commented.
"Nor are there any imperfections or stains on this one." Spock added after seating himself next to Kirk.
"I wonder what kind of fabric this is. It almost seems... familiar, as if I'd seen something of its make before..." Kirk said.
"It is not any form of silk, though it is similar in feel. Nor is it made of cotton, or any sort of plant-based material."
"Then do you have a conjecture?" Kirk half-smiled.
"I would almost say... the creation of a weaving insect, perhaps? An unknown species."
Kirk suddenly lifted his hand and pointed upwards, his eyes wide with wonder. Hundreds of fluttering shapes were eclipsing the moons. A migration. Kirk thought. How long has they been flying above us, and we never knew...?
He glanced at Spock, who held his own gaze still focused on the moths. Kirk suddenly felt overly weary, as if the long journey of the moths had absorbed what energy he had had left. For a brief moment, he worried that his body was going to pitch forward, but Spock's firm Vulcan grip kept him steady.
"The night is yet young." Came the voice of the Red Queen. Her not-quite-brown eyes carried a glimmer from the reflected candlelight. She approached, clothed in a long, trailing gown made of a fabric nearly thin enough to be transparent. As always, she was shadowed by the White Queen, luminescent and silent. "But you are still weary. Do you wish to retire for the night already?"
"Yes, if that is possible." Kirk replied.
"Then follow the corridor until you reach the carved door. There you will find adequate accommodations prepared just for the new queens." The Red Queen said, turning away. "Sleep well." she said as an afterthought.
Kirk watched her and the White Queen approach a small couch awash with moonlight, where together they sank into the cushions and left the rest of the world behind in each other's eyes. It seemed almost as if tonight were the end of something, and the two queens were trying to make the most of every moment that remained.
"Tonight we no longer are queens. We have been transformed. We are now no more than the lowest of the common-folk, so I wish to love you as the common-folk love." Kirk heard the White Queen tell the Red Queen before descending upon her in a passionate kiss.
After witnessing that, Kirk and Spock wasted no time in starting down the long corridor once again. Kirk found himself wondering about the weird relationship the Red and White Queens shared. They were obviously lovers, and openly so as well. But there was an almost tragic feel to the nature of their romance, maybe in the ardent heat within it that seemed just as William Shakespeare had described in one of his greatest tragedies:
"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume."
Spock turned to look at Kirk with a question in his eyes after Kirk found himself stopping in shock. Kirk shook his head briefly, communicating to Spock that there wasn't a problem, and walked on.
They soon reached what could only be the 'carved doors'. Red wood blended into white wood, the beautiful patterns graven into the grain interlocking and flowing into an intricate design that reached across the width of the doors, drawing the eyes into the center where two elegant doorknockers were. Again, Kirk felt a strange sense of having seen it before. Too tired to attempt to make any sense of it, he opened the door on the right and entered the room, Spock close behind him.
The predominant item in the room was a single bed. It wasn't particularly large, but the entire length and width were shrouded in curtains, the overhead canopy supporting meters of what appeared to be very expensive fabric. Kirk didn't want to argue over who would have the bed, and indeed, there weren't many other options. The floor was stone, though it was covered with an ornate rug, and there was a dressing table with a large mirror, but otherwise the room was quite bare. He pushed back the curtains and sat on the edge of the bed, trying to make sense of his thoughts enough to come up with a solution.
"Jim, I suggest you take the be-"
"No, Spock, I suggest we share. It looks big enough for the both of us, does it not?" Kirk said, wondering if this situation had been purposely engineered. Frankly, he wasn't awake enough to care.
The mattress dipped to his left as Spock sat down at his side. Kirk glanced up at the mirror and discovered that it framed them nearly perfectly, his own body leaning into Spock in his weariness.
"Spock... I haven't so much as thought of the Enterprise in the last few hours. I'm worried that that world in which I am the captain of a Federation starship is fast becoming a dream and that this one is becoming all the more real." Kirk sighed. "I don't even remember how we got here from there. My memory seems to be functioning wrong, and Bones isn't even here to tell me that I'm going crazy."
"Why are you so sure that the Enterprise is not the dream?" was the only answer Spock could offer.
"You're forgetting her, too, Spock." Kirk said, glancing at the man who may have once been his first officer. "Not that I can blame you... it's just... I need sleep." he concluded. Without a further word, Spock straightened and walked over to the other side, and Kirk lay down on top of the blankets, feeling another weight place pressure on the mattress beside him. The room dimmed and he concluded that Spock must have extinguished the candle.
"Good night, Spock." he whispered, shifting in his position to face in Spock's direction.
"Good night, Jim." Spock replied softly. Kirk felt himself already drifting into sleep when a last murmured word from the Vulcan reached his ears. "T'hy'la".
Something warm was curled around him. Kirk felt his eyelids begin to lift, and before his eyes were fully open he knew whose body he was surrounded by. Then he saw the walls. It was unmistakably the captain's quarters, his quarters aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. It was a dream.
In which case, he had nothing to lose if he placed his arms around Spock and drew him closer, a soft sigh escaping past his lips. Spock responded slightly to his touch and shifted to accommodate him better.
"I wish I dreamed of this every night instead of reliving the deaths of my crewmen." Kirk muttered as Spock started to fully waken.
"A dream, Jim? Then I, too, must be dreaming the same..." Spock responded, opening his eyes to meet Kirk's gaze.
"Really?" Kirk asked, surprised. Whenever he dreamed of Spock, their conversations, if any, certainly did not turn in this direction.
A brief glance at their clothing confirmed that they were both wearing their Starfleet uniforms. Kirk felt a sudden rush of something pass through him. Was it a dream?
"I don't think this is a dream, Jim." Spock said quietly.
"I don't think so, either." Kirk said, pulling away from Spock with reluctance. He stood up and his eyes went directly to the incandescent mirror, the gift from the Cressidyes so many worlds ago. Or at least, his eyes went directly to where the mirror had been. There was no trace of it having been in his quarters at all, much less that it'd even existed in the first place. He sat on the edge of his bed, stunned.
"Have either of us consumed any alcoholic drinks recently?" he asked Spock. "Or any other substance with inebriating properties?" all that had happened directly before falling through the mirror, passing through the looking glass, Kirk realized with grim amusement, could quite possibly have been a creation of his imagination.
"As far as my memory serves... negative, Captain." Spock said. Kirk noticed the transition from his closest friend to first officer with a strange jab of pain in his heart.
He glanced at the table where he remembered playing a game of chess before entering the mirror world. A game was still set up, all of the pieces perfectly reset, just as he and Spock had left it in his memory.
Suddenly, the door opened and McCoy entered the room, an expression of annoyance on his face. "Where have you two been? Jim, you were supposed to stop by for your routine medical examination last night! And Spock, you were expected just over an hour ago!" he said.
"Uh, sorry, Bones, we, uh..." Kirk started, glancing at Spock with a request for some help in explaining what had happened. "We played a game of chess, then ended up falling asleep in our exhaustion." It was the truth, after all. "How long have we been missing?"
McCoy looked at Spock, obviously expecting one of the Vulcan's usual precise answers. Receiving no response, he raised an eyebrow and gave his best estimate. "I think you've been here for nearly ten hours. Why? Our dealing with the Cressidyes was not that exhausting. In fact, it was rather quiet and went smoothly. There were no complications at all." he stopped, then added "And don't give me lies about chess games. If I knew you any better, I'd say the two of you found yourselves some Romulan ale and have been trying to sleep off your hangovers."
"No Romulan ale, Bones. Sorry. I know you're wanting some now that we consumed the last of it after the event with the slave traders." Kirk said, hoping to change the conversation before he would be forced to tell the whole story.
"If you aren't going to tell me then, I guess I'll have to accept that." McCoy said. "But, I do want you both in sickbay as soon as you can get there. I won't let you skip an examination with an excuse as weak as chess!" he grumbled and turned to leave.
Before he exited, however, he remembered something and faced them again.
"Oh, and while you were wasting time, we received a message from Kareesha. She requested that I personally ask you how you liked her gift. I don't know what that means, and I suspect that nothing's left of the Cressidyes' pinemint mead that I know she gave you, but next time could you at least let me have one glass of it?" McCoy growled. The door closed behind him before Kirk could say a word in reply.
For a moment, neither Kirk nor Spock spoke. Then Kirk met his eyes and said "I know what Kareesha's gift was."
Spock said nothing. He knew that he didn't have to.
"She gave me the one thing I wanted, something I stupidly revealed to her on the first night of our stay while drunk on Bones' much-beloved pinemint mead." he paused, at first unsure of what his words would do to his and Spock's relationship. Then he let go of those thoughts and decided that he could be a fool for at least one day of his life. "...You."
There was an eternity of silence as Kirk watched Spock's face, looking for acceptance, rejection, anything at all. What he got was nothing. A perfect Vulcan mask.
"Then all of that, it was nothing but a dream?" Spock said, as if he hadn't meant it to be a question.
"In a way, yes. But that's only partially true. It still happened for us. I still chose you over the Enterprise, over my career. I still almost kissed you after you recited the other verse of that Vulcan poem to me." Kirk said, looking away. He could no longer bear to see Spock's seamless Vulcan expressions.
"The Red Queen and the White Queen, they were-"
"Yes." Kirk interrupted. "And they were lovers. Star-crossed lovers, at that. I don't know if they were my subconscious's attempt at addressing my own desires for our relationship or not."
"I behaved illogically there." Spock said simply.
Kirk winced. "We both did. I gave up the Enterprise so easily, slipped into that world without much of a second thought." he couldn't forget the experience of dancing with Spock, the strange red and white dresses flowing around him, stealing his ability of judgment. He felt his face flush with shame at his actions toward Spock.
"It was a fantasy. A Wonderland, of sorts." Spock said, showing Kirk that he, too, had noticed the similarities between Lewis Carrol's nonsense worlds and the one which they had fallen into. "And I indulged myself there, as well."
Kirk's breath caught. He found himself wanting to say many different things. Casting them all away, he merely parted his fingers in the Vulcan salute and lifted his hand into the air. Spock's eyes asked a question, inquiring if he truly knew what he was doing, if he was aware of what Spock's response would mean for their relationship, for everything.
Kirk swallowed. One word slipped out unintentionally before he could stop himself from saying it. "T'hy'la." he whispered.
Then Spock's fingers were against his and warmth was enveloping them both and Kirk forgot about McCoy, forgot about the mirror, and lost himself in Spock.