Sorry for the long wait, this should had not taken so long. Also on another note, when reading this imagine Larimar with a French accent, now enjoy the next chapter, and please review.


"I'll tell you the future, youtell me a story."

- Lana Del Rey, Out with a bang.


The ride was silent, not even a word was spoken between her or Jasper. It had only been a few short hours ago that Jasper announced her betrothal to Larimar. It still haven't sunk in yet, it was hard to picture Jasper married... or maybe it was just hard to picture Jasper with anyone but her. Peridot cursed herself for having such envious thoughts, Jasper barely knew Larimar, where as Peridot known and been with her for centuries. There was no need for such petty thoughts, she was just making herself stressed over something that was nonexistent. Besides, if Larimar was as good as a leader as she was told, they could most likely settle this calmly and rationally, Larimar would surely listen to reason, right? They could just laugh off this misunderstanding and it would all be over. But of course the advisor side of her knew it wasn't that easy, They were at a disadvantage and it made her feel sick knowing that Jasper was stuck in the middle of all this. She could barely imagine how her lover felt in the eye of this storm.

Having a hunch that Jasper was just as emotional as her about all this, she scooted closer to her lover, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Hey, it will work out." Peridot reassured, not able to stand the gloomy look on her lover's face. "You are a great ruler and have a team of amazing advisers, we can figure this out." Jasper's lips formed a ghostly smile.

"Yeah..." she lightly stroked Peridot's cheek, taking ahold of her fingers. "Worse case scenario she'll demand we pay her back for the dowry."

"It was a rather large sum of money..." she reminded. That's another thing that struck Peridot as odd, why so much money? Jasper's kingdom was in such chaos when they dowry was given, why would anyone want to wed a ruler of a struggling kingdom? Love was rarely a factor in these things, marriage was for power, money, and land. But Jasper's kingdom barely had any of that at the time, did Larimar want to court Jasper? Did Jasper have something that peeked Larimar's interest, not that Peridot could blame her if that was the case. Peridot always thought her lover was a beautiful gem once you got past how imitating she could come off as. Was Larimar just being vain and choosing a beautiful gem to be her wife?

"I'm gonna have to kiss a whole bunch of ass to pay it off, aren't I?" Jasper groaned.

"You'll live." Peridot let out a dry chuckle. "Just try to get on good terms with Golden Beryl, she'll be easy."

The carriage came to a halt, here they were, the long awaited journey to hopefully and peacefully break off Jasper's marriage with Larimar. Peridot slowly sat up, looking at her beloved Jasper.

"We're here, your majesty." Peridot said, quickly trying to adapt to formal titles. The driver opened the door and helped the two off, wishing them luck, they would need it.

Larimar's castle sure did show just how wealthy she was in fact, it was grand in size, made of sturdy grey stone, a big fountain in the front, and the most exotic flowers Peridot had ever seen. If this was the outside she could only imagine how glamorous the inside might be. The castle guards greeted them and soon opened the doors, and sure enough the inside blew Peridot away.

The walls were a breathtaking pastel blue, paintings of the most beautiful scenery hung on the walls, and their was a pot of flowers or a marble statue next to the paintings. Maybe they should get around to redecorating Jasper's castle, maybe redo the garden, buy a statue or two, and you couldn't go wrong with a new coat of paint, maybe green? Her thoughts of such decorations were cut short when the click clacks of heels filled the room.

She was about an inch or two taller then Peridot, she had an hourglass figure with toned legs and arms, light blue skin, round brown eyes, her hair was cut into a bob and was such a light blue it almost appeared to be white, her gem was oval shaped and was placed on her throat. She was clad in a slightly darker blue suit, with white boots and white gloves.

"Greetings," her voice was whispery and mysterious, like she was a seductive heroine in a romance themed play. "I am honoured to be bless with your presence, your Majesty." her slender fingers took ahold of Jasper's large hand and placed a soft kiss on top of it. "I had been looking forward to seeing you, my love."

Those last two words echoed in Peridot's mind, the way Larimar said it was like toxic to her, she resisted all the power she had to roll her eyes. Larimar was trying way too hard, it was far too easy to see through her facade of being a lovesick puppy, but what were her real motives behind this arrangement?

"I am pleased to see you as well your Highness, we have much to discuss." Jasper replied.

"Please, just call me Larimar. Such formal titles are meaningless now." her eyes shifted to Peridot. "Ah, you brought your advisor, lovely." she clapped her hands together. "The more the merrier, I always say. Now, let's discuss this in the gardens, the flowers are lovely this time of year."

Peridot found herself dreading the meeting more then ever, not even how lust and lavish Larimar's castle was could ease the sickening knots in the depths of her belly. Whatever her plan was they were about to find out. The garden was just what Peridot expected from Larimar, vast amounts of blue and white flowers everywhere, ivy climbed up the stone walls, and were hedges trimmed into unique shapes.

"Take a seat, my cooks prepared sweets and tea." Larimar guided the two through the forest of floral, to a silver table surrounded by matching chairs. Like Larimar had said a teapot and teacups were present, as well as a tray of shortbread cookies.

"This garden is lovely." Jasper complimented.

"Thank you, my sweet, my servants take pride in their work." Larimar replied.

Okay, first 'my love' and now 'my sweet'? If this didn't prove Larimar was just for show nothing would. They sat down, Larimar poured them all a cup of tea. Peridot helped herself to one of the cookies, if she had to watch such a poor acting performance she might as well treat herself.

"We have some very important details to discuss, don't we?" Larimar mused. "It's certainly a lot to take in I'm sure, go on try the tea. It's recently imported from Golden Beryl's lands, very lovely flavour."

Jasper glanced down at the liquid in her cup, Peridot was more then aware of Jasper's hatred of tea. She nibbled idly on her shortbread cookie, dare to say it was rather good. She watched as her lover took a sip of tea. Peridot's surprise she didn't gag or retch in disgust.

"Wow, it's actually good."

"I know you aren't a fan of tea, so I added my own personal touches to this brew." Larimar beamed.

"It's delicious, I didn't know there was tea that existed that didn't taste terrible." Jasper chuckled, taking another sip.

"I take pride in the goods I give my guests." she replied.

And with that being said the two went into a frenzy of delightful conversation, happily chatting away as if they were old friends, telling each other jokes, stories, interests, and hobbies. Peridot must had sat their for half an hour, watching Larimar and Jasper talk, royalty to royalty, leader to leader, wife to wife basically. This was what the future was going to be, wasn't it? Two powerful rulers, both with the skills to improve the world greatly... And who was she? Just another advisor, just a loyal advisor to a royal ruler, a gem with no power that could match what Larimar could do. Peridot felt her chest tighten as Larimar placed a hand on Jasper's inner thigh, Jasper didn't even shoot her hand away.

Peridot was no powerful ruler, she just sat at her desk and dealt with papers most of the time, but she would be damned if what she and Jasper had wasn't something of passion, love, and hard work. And she sure wasn't ready to give it up to this gem.

"Well, this is very lovely and all but we do have important matters to discuss!" Peridot spoke, maybe a bit to loudly, but it did make Larimar remove her hand from Jasper's thigh.

"My advisor is correct, I recently been informed about the dowry." Jasper said, taking another sip of tea.

"Of course, the wedding." Larimar smiled, taking a cookie to idly nibble on. "I'm thinking sweetheart neckline and mermaid shape for my dress, and for you... I'm thinking something in lace, in ivory rather than white, and a deep-V neckline, oh yes. A little tear here and there would suit you. And we must have your hair up, to showcase that lovely neck of yours, and a garter around one of those tempting thighs." the way she listed everything detail... was she doing this just to be unsettling to them? Peridot doubted that Larimar was this naive, her acting was atrocious.

"Er... That's not what I had in mind." Jasper's cheeks flushed a pale red. "I meant in more on a professional level then materialistic."

"Oh? If that's the case go on my dear." Larimar polished off her cookie then got another one to eat.

"What I mean is, it's so out of the blue, and the timing, not to mention what a large dowry it is." Jasper explained.

"Indeed, it must be a surprise, it has been quite a while since I gave you the dowry, I nearly forgotten about it." Larimar laughed. "So, what's on your mind?"

"You see..." Jasper paused, clearly thinking this over. "The thing is... I didn't know I was signing a marriage document." she confessed. "I thought it was a donation to my kingdom."

"Which her highness was very grateful for, I was not working with the kingdom at the time but the dowry did not go to waste, as you can clearly see." Peridot added. "With the funding Jasper managed to raise her kingdom from the ashes, it's thriving, strong, and it's gems are happy and healthy."

"I'm well aware, Rose Quartz did expect great things from you Jasper." Larimar mused. "Who would had thought, former knight to Rose who was then gifted her own castle, and kingdom to rule. You are certainly something else Jasper, you left many impressed."

"I'm know how I became a ruler wasn't the most traditional circumstances, but I proved my worth. But we aren't here to discuss that, I rather get straight to the point, forgive me off I seen rude." Jasper said, quickly draining the last of her tea.

"You always were a blunt one, but I do love that about you, go on, speak." Larimar rested her chin in her palms.

"I thought the money was a donation, me and my other advisers didn't think it was a dowry, you are a wonderful and smart leader, but I do not wish to wed you. I am not a gem of the marrying type, at least right now. I traveled to your kingdom in hopes of breaking off this engagement as easily as possible, I mean no offence to you, but please try to understand I had no idea the documents were asking for my hand in marriage, you have all the power to end this, I humbly request you do." Jasper requested.

Larima's lips curled into a sly smile, her fingers on her left hand drummed against the table.

"No."

"No?!" Jasper echoed back, eyes widening in horror. "What do you mean no?!"

"If the dowry is a concern, I assure you we are perfectly capable of paying you back within a few short months." Peridot added. Surely Larimar just wanted her money back, not that Peridot could blame her, if she lost that much money she would be upset as well.

"I thank you for the offer, but my answer remains, no."

"Why?!" demanded Jasper hysterically. "We can pay you back!

What do you want?!"

"Nothing, I simply wish for your hand in marriage." she replied coolly. "Rose Quartz saw something in you, and you proved to be whatever she saw in you. You are powerful, my dear Jasper, you rebuild a kingdom that was doomed for failure, you are a grand gem."

"Please, Larimar, I wouldn't even be where I am right now if it wasn't for the dowry you gave me." Jasper pleaded.

"So modest, aren't you?" she taunted, taking a sip of tea. "You gained quite a large of amount of respect in such a short while, so wise with every move you make, so powerful... I'm surprised you haven't been offered dowries before."

"I have been offered them, I just turned them down." Jasper glared at Larimar. "They happened to be a bit more clear when asking."

"You win some you lose some." she mused.

"I refuse to go through with this!" Jasper yelled, making Peridot flinch, this situation was just gone from bad to worst, though their was little she could do to now.

"So you would just leave me at the alter, like a spoiled brat?" Larimar's voice was as cold as ice. "My, my,... think of the gossip that would happen if you were to pull that little stunt, not that it would be surprising, you were a wanted criminal." with that being said she then reached into the pocket of her suit and pulled out serval documents.

Peridot felt her whole body turn to ice, how on earth did Larimar know about this? Everyone knew how Jasper became a ruler was not of the traditional way, what the public knew was Jasper was a former knight to Rose Quartz, who proved herself time and time again in the line of duty, enough so that Rose Quartz could arrange for her to take the place of a decrease royal gem who had passed due to a shattered gem. Although she started out unpopular with the crowd she managed to earn her right to the throne, no doubt Rose's influence played a strong role, but as well as Jasper's skills and wit in war.

But that was just what the public knew, just the story Rose Quartz and Jasper's shared, it was all true... but their was more too it, and Larimar had the evidence to prove so. Each document just had more and more detail of the part that was never spoken about. Before she was knight or ruler Jasper lived the risky life as a pirate, she became well known for thieving and smuggling, not enough to actually be considered famous or become a part of history, but enough to know she was good at her job. It felt so odd to see each sketch of Jasper, clad in a skimpy white dress with a black corset, blue bandana in her hair.

Peridot only heard stories from Jasper about her past, she knew what she was told was too never to be spoken of again, but her thoughts were different. The world knowing it had a former pirate for a leader was a huge risk to Jasper's life as a ruler, but a part of it interested Peridot greatly. The true life of a pirate was never as glamorous as novels write it to be, it was a dirty, tough, and a cutthroat job... but to imagine Jasper as a rebellious young gem, dare to say it almost seemed romantic.

"How did you get this?!" Jasper asked. Her eyes wide in shock as she stared at the papers before her

"It's not important how I gotten such information, it's a matter of what you are going to do." Larimar's eyes narrowed in disgust at them, her gaze was so cold it sent shivers down Peridot's spine. "You will marry me, or else this will be released to the nation. This will ruin you, a criminal running the country? What will other rulers think? Will Golden Beryl get scared and inform Emerald and cut off a such a powerful army? And Rose Quartz, what will happen to her? Such a strong and fair leader, what a shame it would be that your dirty little secret would be her downfall."

"You're blackmailing me!?" Jasper gawked at Larimar. "How dare you!"

"Blackmailing is such a harsh word, I prefer to call it keeping you in line." she replied. "Dance to my tune and it may turn out alright for you."

"Please, Larimar, we are willing to do anything!" Peridot pleaded. This couldn't be happening, this shouldn't be happening! Her and Jasper were suppose to be to be together, common sense and reasoning were thrown out the window, she was going to lose Jasper, this was how it ended. Not to assassins, poison, or a cracked gem... but to trickery and a gem with words as weapons. "If we can end this marriage peacefully we will!"

"Well..." Peridot felt a spring of hope flow through her body, she tried not to get worked up over it, false hope was never a good thing. But right now she needed something to hope for. "I'm quite a traditional gem, tradition states that if someone else was involve with you and did not wish for this marriage to partake, they could duel for you. All would be forgotten, although this scenario is unlikely. I'm always one who upholds tradition, no matter how odd they seem." Larimar informed.

A duel? That was it? If Peridot could take Larimar up on that offer then Jasper wouldn't have to marry. It seemed perfect, knowing their truly was a way to break off this engagement somewhat peacefully, with nothing more then bitter feelings. Of course there is a few flaws in that plan, Peridot was no fighter, she was created for duties behind a desk or at parties making polite conversation. She only saw Pearl training with her sword quite a handful of times, but if it really could get Jasper out of this then it would be worth-

"I have no one like that." Jasper replied, causing Peridot to snap out of her thinking state. What? Was Jasper seriously thinking about turning this offering down? "Could I not duel you myself?"

"Of course not!" Larimar exclaimed. "You are the prize to be won, currently I own you, Jasper." she taunted. "Unless someone else is romantically with you are mine."

"Then I shall take my leave." Jasper muttered, slowly getting up from her seat. "Come on Peridot."

The ride back seemed to take twice as long, the silence between them made the knots in Peridot's stomach tighten. There was a way out, they could easily get Jasper out of this marriage without any bloodshed, why were they not discussing it?

"I know what you're thinking." Jasper finally broke the painful silence that lingered between them. "And my answer is no."

"What do you mean no?!" Peridot exclaimed. "If I duel Larimar I could get you out of this marriage!"

"Or get yourself killed!" Jasper hissed at her. "You aren't made for the battlefield, you fight a war behind a desk, not with rapiers."

"So what am I suppose to do? Just sit back and watch you marry that vixen?!"

"No, work with your fellow advisers and find a way to get me out of this. Maybe we can find some blackmail as well to get her to call off the wedding." Jasper sighed. "Of all times my pass comes to haunt me."

"You know as well as anyone that we might not have enough time!" Peridot yelled. "I could train to fight, I watched Pearl train soldiers, I could-"

"It takes years to becomes a skilled fighter, me, Larimar, and Pearl spend years perfecting our skills. It is not something you can learn over night." she informed.

"But Jasp-"

"You are not fighting Larimar, I forbid it."

"You 'forbid' me?!" Peridot narrowed her eyes at her lover. "You can't be serious."

"I'm not telling you as a lover, I'm telling you as your ruler. You are not duelling Larimar, that's an order."

"But what about us?!" Peridot questioned. "Are we just going to pretend what we had never existed?!"

Jasper averted her gaze away from Peridot, another long pause. "You want to end it, don't you."

"Peridot, if we're seen in a compromising situation it could cause trouble."

"So you want to end it!"

"No!" Jasper cried. "I'm just saying we should... stay away from each other until we get this sorted out."

"But I could fight her, I could end this!"

"You could get yourself killed!" Jasper hissed.

"I don't care!"

"Well I do!" Jasper's fingers curled into a fist. "That's why I'm doing this, I'm doing this to protect you! I promise I will find a way out of this marriage, but please understand I can't let you endanger yourself recklessly."

"But-"

"No buts, I am not only your lover, but I am also your ruler." The carriage came to a halt. "I'm not having you risk your life for me, it's an order."

"Jasper-"

"Goodbye, Peridot. I have a meeting with Garnet to attend to." she got out of the carriage. "I am sure you are needed elsewhere."