Story: Queen Takes Pawn

Chapter Four: The Shade of Poison Trees

Author: kitty-kat12

Pairing: Michael/Tess

Disclaimer: Roswell and its characters do not belong to me. Story is set after Departure. The quote is by Marie Louise De La Ramee. The title is from a song by Dashboard Confessionals.

Warning: The chapter is heavy on Khivar and Tess.

Summary: In a different world, Michael is not in Antar, trying to survive a world alien to him and trying to tolerate the presence of a woman he considers a murderer.

In a different world, Tess is Queen and Max is by her side and she is not babysitting a man she now considers a traitor all the while trying to keep herself and her unborn child alive in a world that no longer holds the torch for the Royal Four.

If only...

"Take hope from the heart of man, and you make him a beast of prey."

She sat cross-legged on the bed, her bare back towards him. His fingers traced the runes on her skin as he whispered the ancient words in the darkness of their room. As far as he was concerned, those words were his now. His prophecy and soon his legacy. She never bothered to correct him. Absently, she wondered when everything had changed and the fine line between black and white faded, and the shades of grey appeared. She wondered when she had learned to stop flinching at his touch and reveled in moments like this. When had everything between them become so familiar?

Sometimes, in times like this, when her skin still burns from when Khivar has touched her, Tess sees Max. There is so much disappointment in his face, so much hurt that all the guilt consumes her and her thoughts become so loud Khivar can hear them. Those times, Khivar is both pleased and angry with her. Then Tess remembers that she is the one here, fighting for their planet and their cause. This was his betrayal, not hers.

Other times, she does not see Max at all. Instead, she falls asleep in the arms of the man she has sworn will remain her enemy until her dying breath and she dreams of water. In her dreams she drowned, over and over again and so very violently. Sometimes, Michael is there, with that look in his eyes and he drowned too. Other times, Tess dreamt she died in the jungle with all the trees wet around her. And Michael is there again with that child in his arms, howling for her, howling at him. Blaming both of them.

"I will be leaving in a few hours." She announced and his hand froze mid-air before dropping down to his side, leaving her back abandoned.

The air suddenly thickened.

"Very well."

Tess could hear the irritation in his voice. His patience was waning and she knew that it would only be a matter of time before he forbade her from returning to the city and continuing her search. "When I find Michael, I will be yours and everything will be as we agreed."

Khivar chuckled wryly. "You're already mine, your Highness."

She glared at him. "You know what I mean."

"Ava, what makes you think he is still alive?"

"We've been through this."

"What makes you think he somehow managed to survive that forsaken city?" Khivar persisted. "And if by some luck, he did survive, what makes you believe he wants you to find him?" He asked knowingly. She hated that he knew, that there was no divide between them now. Everything overlapped, everything was intertwined so dangerously. Her link to the others was deteriorating quickly, ever since the Bonding Ritual.

Soon, Tess would no longer be able to sense Michael's presence. Khivar refused to believe of any such link.

"Michael is my responsibility. I brought him here."

"Very touching. Just make sure you get rid of him as soon as you find him."

Tess' eyes narrowed dangerously. "Just follow the plan Khivar or neither of us will rule and the planet will fall in the hands of the Council." With that said, she rose and left his side.

The first time Tess' ship crashed, she had not felt it. Instead, she had woken to fire and burning metal and Michael walking away from her, condemning her to death. This time around, everything was different.

She was thrown across the cargo bay as the ship went into a tailspin. Bodies and boxes flew all around her, crashing and colliding with each other. Tess was slammed against one of the cargo containers, the wind knocked out of her.

"Your Majesty!" Zaur, one of her trusted men, screamed as he scrambled towards her. "Something has struck the ship and perforated the hull. We must evacuate!"

Tess could not hear him. The transceiver in their suits had jammed.

Then Zaur was suddenly gone and something heavy was on top of her, pinning her down and crushing her ribs. The face shield in her armor cracked just as everything around her exploded.

Then there was nothing but darkness and the cold, and Tess wondered if this was what it was like to die all over again.

She felt the weight of a hand on her face when she came to. "She's lost a lot of blood." Someone close by whispered. Tess strained to make sense of her surroundings. Everything was hazy and her head felt heavy.

"Where am I?" She croaked, disoriented. She blinked and saw three blurry silhouettes of people in the room.

No one answered.

"She's stable for now but there's not much we can do for her if she takes a turn for the worse." The owner of the hand declared. He was touching her face again. "She needs a healer." Tess struggled to move.

"Stay still." Another ordered. The voice was harsher this time, cutting through the thin air. Tess stiffened.

"What shall we do? She's Her. They will be searching for her." A third asked from somewhere in the room. Tess blinked rapidly, willing her vision to clear.

"Not if they think she's dead." The voice replied and Tess froze. Oh, no! She thought, panic rising in her throat. "Leave." He ordered and she could hear the sound of feet shuffling, fading away as everyone left the room.

One of them stayed behind and Tess strained to see his face. "Who are you?" She whispered groggily. Struggling against the chain around her right wrist, Tess sat up and suddenly became acutely aware of the enormous amount of pain her body was in. "What do you want? If you want to kill me, you better...do it soon because they... will be looking." She was struggling to breathe, her chest aching as she spoke.

"Stop, you're going to hurt yourself even more."

"They will kill you." She wheezed, ignoring him. Suddenly he was approaching her and Tess inched away, her back pressed against the wall. She struggled to raise her force field. The shield failed and the stranger walked right up to her and cupped her face.

"This will only hurt a little." He whispered, his breath warm against her cheek. He put something in Tess' eyes and everything stung. She screamed. "Stop struggling. Look at me! Look at me! Damn it, Tess, look at me!" Tess halted. No one ever called her by that name. Not since the city. "Open your eyes." He instucted.

Tess blinked and opened her eyes slowly. The blurry image of the face in front of her clarified and suddenly she was staring into Michael's eyes. "Oh, my god." She gasped as he released her face and took a step back.

A/N: This chapter serves as a foundation for the conflict between Michael and Khivar. I'm not saying that there will be a love triangle triangle. I'm not saying that there won't be one. Also, I know it's cruel to end the chapter this way but I want to write a chapter focused on Michael and Tess.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and are still patiently waiting for my updates.