Disclaimer: see chapter one.
This chapter is set in Karen Beecher's (Bumble Bee's) POV.
Returning Home? Part VI
Recap: Kory's getting married to some Prince from another continent on her home planet, Tamaran, because her father is going to die at sunset today and since she's the second-born child and the royals can't find her bitchy older sister, according to some stupid law, she has to marry and rule with this complete stranger she doesn't even know, even though she's really only seventeen years old. On top of all that, in the past few hours we also learned that when she was younger she had been used as a bartering chip to stop some war that her people were losing and for two years she became the slave and experiment of aliens – the experiment part explaining how she had gotten her super strength and star bolts – before she was finally able to free herself and land on Earth, eventually meeting all of us. And yet, despite all of that – especially the 'her-father-willingly-sending-her-into-slavery' part – she still wants, no – wait. Sorry, she doesn't want to marry this complete stranger, but she feels that she has to, and again – hate to keep bringing this up but, they shipped her off to be their enemies slave! Somehow, she and Donna can get over that part, and yet Dick, Gar, and I are still having a hard time and…
Whoa! Gotta slow it down, Karen. I feel almost as confused as I know Gar feels.
"I still say, since she told us first that there is no legal marriage age, she should just have her little brother marry some little princess or something," Gar proposed again, towel drying his hair. Why did we decide to meet in his room again? Especially since he's been in the shower the since we got here.
"It doesn't matter, Gar, she's not coming back with us so let's just pack our bags and–" Dick muttered angrily before Donna broke in.
"Hold on a minute," she started, finally lowering her hands from her face, "Since you've heard of all this, Dick, you've been trying to make it sound as if she doesn't care about us anymore. Like she doesn't care about you anymore, when we all know that that's not the case! You heard Kory. Ever since she got here, she's been going through her giant book of Tamaranian laws to find a loophole. She wants to come back home with us."
"Then she should come back with us, Donna. Not stay here and marry someone just because her asshole father told her too! None of this is right, and you know it as well as I do!"
"In terms of you culture, then yes, it isn't right that she be forced into a loveless marriage, but this isn't your culture, Dick, and I know this may be hard for you to hear, but based on Kory's culture – the one she was born into, not the one back in the states – this is actually very normal. As is the practice of bartering for peace with the enemy."
"Have you ever even heard of someone willingly giving up their own daughter to keep the peace? Especially their second born? Why did these Gordanians even want Kory in the first place, when they could have her older sister instead? Then that would have still eventually forced this but…"
"Well, I don't know the answer to your second question, but I do have one for your first. My mother bartered me."
Donna say what now?
My head snapped back over to her and I knew my look of shock probably mirrored Dick and Gar's.
"Themyscira is supposed to be well hidden from prying eyes, but the year before I arrived at the Institute, a U.S. Naval officer washed up on our beaches," she began, "We healed him and returned him back to Washington, but it seems he had set a tracking device on the invisible plane that brought him. Turns out he was an undercover F.B.I. Agent and, while he was being healed and resting on the island, he had reported some dangers to his superiors, believing that our training practices were meant as preparation for war with the States. We are really just a warrior race and have trained for centuries, but had never used our training for many generations. We had also practiced in forms of art and literature as well, but when the U.S. Special Forces arrived, they certainly were not expecting that. While we have spent our lives training vigorously for battle, over the centuries, we have also let our guard down, and so, were unprepared when they first touched ground on our beaches.
"My mother, or Queen, had been walking along the beaches that night and saw their ships but did not alert the rest of us. Instead, she waited and basically let herself be captured. We did not find out until the morning. The soldiers stayed for months, even after releasing my mother, on the promise that we would not attack. Another month passed before my mother started bringing me to the meetings that she had been having with the Generals on sight. I wasn't really sure why, at first. I kind of thought she was preparing me to watch Themyscira. I tried my best to pay attention, but I was still thirteen, going on fourteen years old, and would have preferred to sit under my favorite tree and continue my reading books or sit in the garden and paint. It wasn't until later that I realized that they had been talking about sending me to the States – to the Institute – to learn more about their culture and laws so I would later be able to understand and help my people through further negotiations and peace talks. A few weeks before my fourteenth birthday, most of the ships and all of the few planes had left Themyscira's shores. One of the final two ships had recently arrived with clothes, my new I.D., and all of the proper papers that certified me as a born American. The temporary treaty was finished, stating that I would not be allowed to return home until I have graduated from the government chosen school and that three months after that time, the treaty will expire and a new one must be created that incorporates all of the united States government's proper laws as well as Themyscira's own. Of course, it's much more complicated than that, but that's the basic idea."
You have got to be kidding me! Why in the hell would she-
"I didn't put up a fight because there was no need to. The officers held up their end of the bargain by leaving without even firing a single shot and up until I arrived at the Institute, my people wouldn't even have an idea what those weapons could have done to them. Sometimes, if the situation is like the one I was brought into, the treaty can work for everyone on both sides. I admit, I was scared and spent much of the ride to Jump City wondering if they would really hold up their end of the bargain, but it ended up working out for me as well because I met all of you and Roy, Wally, Victor, and Rachel. And even though she spent two years in pain and imprisonment, I think Kory believes it worked out well for her too. For the same exact reason. And even if it didn't, what she said is true, and the first thing any Princess or Prince must learn; there is no peace without sacrifice. The peace, happiness, and safety of your own people comes above all else to a King, Queen, Princess or Prince, even if it comes at the cost of your own personal sacrifice."
"So wait a minute," Gar spoke up before the rest of us, and we could all practically see the cogs turning in his head, "you're saying that – technically – you're a prisoner too. Only, you're our governments prisoner."
Donna looked thoughtful for a few moments before carefully answering, "Technically yes, though I certainly haven't felt like one since my first few days at the Institute. I'd actually say it's more like I'm on parole. Our teachers are kind of like my parole officers. I know they write up reports on me and send them to their superiors and so on and so forth – to make sure that I'm keeping up my end of the treaty and not trying to escape or anything. Every three months I'm also required to meet with an agent, in the city, and we go over my mission reports and they use a lie detector to help record the honesty of my response."
"If they're monitoring your mission reports, that would mean they monitor the rest of ours as well," Dick brought up.
Donna shrugged casually. "Yeah, probably. Anyway, we need to get back on the point, which is helping Kory. You're ready to pack up and go when we still have a few hours to try and help her find a way out of this." She paused and sighed before standing and walking to the door. "I'm not leaving with you. I'm not leaving Kory like this; letting her think I'm angry with her for following her people's customs. Have a good trip, guys."
Opening the door, she slipped out and let it creak to a close behind her. Please, she knows as well as I do we're not going anywhere. Pretty good guilt speech though. Except for why she's here with us, that's just not right, but I'll talk with her about that later.
Standing, I stare at Dick and Gar for a moment, just watching their guilty eyes slide to the floor, before I turn and follow Donna right out of the room, slamming the door behind me.
It doesn't take me long to catch up with Donna at the end of the hall. Both of us seem to have the same destination in mind, but when we knock on the door, there is no answer.
"She could still be down at that dinner," I assumed, leaning against the large doors to Kory's room, "She was late 'cause of us and they might want to keep her a little—Uh, hello there little man." The boy looked to be around ten years old and he was looking up at me with the same green eyes that every Tamaranian possessed. Not really a group of individuals, are they?
He was wearing a purple vest with a shiny metal collar and purple pants with no shoes to cover his feet. His hair was the same shade of auburn as Kory's and was pulled back into a short ponytail that curled around the nape of his neck. When he didn't speak, I glanced over at Donna. "Wanna try and translate for me?"
Just as she was about to reply, he tugged on my pants leg and motioned for me to come down to his level. I looked back over at Donna before sighing and kneeling down. He just stared directly into my eyes before he grabbed my face and pulled my lips straight against his.
"Whoa! I am so telling Vic when we get home!" I heard Gar before the little boy let me go, stumbling back against the door before falling back on my butt.
What the hell was that?
"My name is Ryand'r," the boy finally spoke softly, in English.
"Wanna tell us why you just kissed our friend?" Dick wondered aloud. From the sound of his voice, he was just as amused as Gar.
"Tamaranians are able to assimilate languages through physical contact. By kissing your friend, Karen, I was able to learn your language. She has a very large lexicon," he explained and…I guess I'll take that last part as a compliment.
"But did you have to kiss her or did you want to kiss her?" Donna asked, now obviously becoming as amused with the circumstance as everyone else but me.
At her question, the little boy, Ryand'r, just gave a small smile before answering with a question of his own. "You wish to find my sister, correct?"
"Yes, and without any more lip-to-lip contact, thank you," I replied this time, automatically jumping to my feet. Took long enough to get over the shock of that.
"She is in the…library, I believe the term is, at the moment. Follow me, please."
He turned on his heel and marched softly down the hall.
"Since you've got the kissing kids thing down now, Karen, you plan on becoming a politician or –"
"Gar, if you finish that sentence, I promise I will send a jolt of electricity up your butt."
"I'm still telling Vic."
"I'm happy for you, salad head. Don't forget to mention that well known fact that my eyes were open the entire time, or I'll have to skin you." He chuckles as I ruffle his hair playfully.
"I'll think about it," he promised with a wide grin, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Did you leave the door open when you left?" I heard Dick ask cautiously, drawing my attention back to the trio in front of Gar and I. Damn, talk about a difference in height for that kid compared to Dick and Donna. Guess I really didn't notice when his mouth latched onto mine! Yuck! Note to self: rinse mouth out later. With extra strong mouthwash. I have no idea what they eat hear on Tamaran, but it left that kid with some rancid breath!
Well, I guess I could chalk the kiss up to him thinking I'm cuter than Donna or something. What in the world?
"You sure Kory was in here?" I whispered. This library was a mess! Chairs, tables, and books were thrown all over the place and I could smell singed wood and paper. Kory's star bolts?
I glance over at Dick only to see his eyes roam from the ceiling to the floor. I followed his gaze. Oh yeah! Definitely Kory's star bolts. There was one black scorch mark on the ceiling, one at the outside of a huge hole in the center of a bookcase (obviously, the way it was centered, that was where the smell was coming from) more on the floor leading to the broken window outside.
"She asked me to come and retrieve all of you," Ryan told Dick, confusion evident in his emerald eyes, "She was very excited about something that she wanted to tell you."
"Where was she sitting?" Dick immediately asked, motioning for Gar to step closer to him.
"At that table over there," he pointed out, "but I have no idea what she was reading. She had many stacks of books strewn about the table."
"Retrieve? Strewn? Dude, he's like ten and he's got a better grasp of the English language than we do," Gar whispered.
"Than you do," Donna corrected him with a small smile.
"Gar, just see what you can sniff out," Dick told him without a trace of anxiousness.
The green-skinned fifteen year old tilted his head to the side before leaping toward the table where Kory had been, transforming into a green-furred bloodhound mid-jump.
He walked around the table in a circle, his nose on the ground, and when he came back to his original starting point, he lifted his nose to the sky and circled the table again. He shook his head before transforming back to normal and just sat there and stared at us in a slight daze.
"Anything?" Dick wondered aloud after ten more minutes of silence.
"Dude, I can't smell anyone's scent. Other than ours," Gar replied slowly. My gaze flicked over to Kory's "little brother" to see if he was planning to run. "No, guys, I don't think he had anything to do with it. I'm saying, since this is a library, a lot of people's scents should be here, but they've been masked with something else, recently. Something really strong and…" he sniffed a bit, "zesty. Like a lemon, but I guess the Tamaranian version of that scent. The whole room is covered in it! And it had to have been sprayed recently. Kid couldn't have done it himself, since we were in the hall with him."
"Hey!" Ryand'r yelped, and Donna, Gar and I glanced over to see Dick holding him up by his collar so the little prince was eye to eye with him.
"Was there anyone else in here when you left?" he demanded in a deep whisper.
"No. I was sent from dinner to find Koriand'r and when I did find her here, the doors had been closed and she was reading something and then she sent me to get all of you. Now I demand you put me down!"
"Not yet. What is your sister not supposed to know?"
"Excuse me?"
"Obviously she has been attacked, possibly captured, and the person who did it does not want us to find her. So, what isn't she supposed to know about this little wedding of hers?"
"I do not know. I have only returned home for this event. I've been away with the Warlords of Okaara for the past three earth years."
"There's gotta be something your family is keeping from her," Dick insisted. Can't disagree with the guy. He is the resident detective and this entire scene just screams suspicion. Although, I really should be past that phase by now. It really screams kidnapping – or, more hopefully, attempted kidnapping – at the moment.
"Dick, these scorch marks are really cool," Donna reported. I looked up, barely realizing she had flown up there.
"The scents may have been covered recently, but the fight happened before we got here," Dick quickly deduced. Guy's a real genius. Of course, the window being opened could have helped cool the burn marks down. So far it seems the continents on this planet are like large tropical islands; constant cooling breeze included. "The windows were blasted on purpose," Thank you!
He set Kory's little brother, and I made sure to keep an eye on the kid as Dick continued, "But they were also opened by hand. Whoever did this came back to try and cover their tracks."
"Ryand'r!" I heard someone shout from the doors, and we all turned to see…wow, that is a very large and heavily muscled man! Damn! And I thought Vic was tall, but at even at six-five, Vic seems like a small animal to this guy and I'm starting to feel like a peanut or something. He starts muttering gibberish, probably Tamaranian, before pulling out this large axe from it's holster around his back and aiming it straight at my face.
Good thing the kid's with us. He touched the large man's hand, his five fingers not even able to wrap around the man's right index finger, before calming him down and turning back to us. "I am sorry. This is my k'norfka, Galfore."
"You're what?" I heard Dick and Gar echo my sentiment.
"His nanny," Donna whispered to us.
"Dude, you have a nanny?"
"Is there a problem with that?" Whoa! K'norfka G just spoke English! I don't remember seeing anyone kiss him!
"Dude, how did he…?"
"He touched him, Gar," Dick replied shortly.
"They can take another language through physical contact, remember?" Donna reminded both of us with a small smile.
"So you could have avoided the whole kissing thing and just shook my hand to learn English? Boy you are so lucky you are--!"
"Are you threatening the Prince of Tamaran?" Ryand'r's whatever demanded of me.
I flew up to make eye contact with the big behemoth. "You bet I am, nanny boy!" Donna grabbed my foot and swiftly pulled me back to the damn floor.
"Something's happened to Kory," she explained to Galwhosits, as I took slow calming breaths. "We're just trying to figure out what. We're her friends."
"Nothing is wrong with the princess—"
"Dude, have you seen this room!"
"Yes, and I believe the four of you should get to work on cleaning the mess you have all made or face-"
"They did not destroy the schwiba, Galfore. Koriand'r was in here only minutes ago. She had asked I retrieve her friends, but when we returned the schwiba was in shambles!" Ryand'r explained. Yeah, kid you better set him right. Trying to pin this bull on us. Please. I sure as hell feel welcome around here. Less than eight hours and I've already been burned, cut, arrested, and accused of breaking about a hundred laws I never even knew about. Ever heard of benefit of the doubt, people!
The man had tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes like a curious lion, his long red hair his mane. "But that is not possible. Princess Koriand'r has just left for her ceremony."
"Say what?!" I screeched. Okay, now I've got a giant headache! "Will someone please explain to us what's going on?"
"How long have you known the Princess, Galfore?" Dick asked patiently, though his hands were clenched as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Since she was born," the man answered with some pride, "I was her k'norfka as well."
"So then you could explain to me why she was the one that was taken by the Gordanians years ago."
"I beg your pardon."
"Well, it just seems odd to me that the Gordanians would want her as their slave. I could understand why physically, but her social ranking wasn't as high as her older sister, Komand'r. Her sister was next in line for the throne, right? So why not ask for her?"
"There is no time for games. I must-"
"Ignore the truth. Avoid it. Kory doesn't even know why she was really taken, does she? Or maybe she figured it out and that's why she was taken from this room. You and the rest of her family – the ones who know, anyway – are obviously hiding something from her. Otherwise, why not search as hard for her sister as you did for her?"
"I do not like what you are insinuating!"
"But it is a cover up, isn't it? Why else would you be sweating so much right now? Or not making eye contact with any of us? Why not just tell us the truth? We came all this way for our friend, your princess, I think we all deserve that much – including her."
The man glanced toward the door. Donna and Gar just slammed the doors closed, keeping him from escaping. During Dick's questioning we had all moved toward the obvious exits; Donna and Gar the doors while I floated by the windows in case he became that desperate.
For a big man, he folded under pressure pretty easily. "Komand'r is not the first in line for the throne. Koriand'r is. Komand'r was a very…cruel and ruthless child, and once Koriand'r was born, the people voted that Komand'r not rule, and Koriand'r would assume the throne when the time came. Komand'r was furious with the vote and even tried to kill her younger sister upon finding out the news. Since Koriand'r was just a baby, she had actually thought her sister was playing with her when she lifted her and dropped her from the highest balcony. She was so happy, that she was actually able to fly up that day from the unbridled joy! But after the attempt, Myand'r, my friend and King thought it best someone guard Koriand'r, in preparation for a similar event if any came."
Well, that explains why Kory's sister never liked her.
"That explains why she was the one bartered away," Dick muttered, his jaw tight, "but if she's now considered the first-born, why does she have to marry this guy to take over the throne?"
"During the war, the planet had taken two sides. One following King of the Southern continent, who died a few months before the war ended, and King Myand'r, the King of all of Tamaran. Because of his father's efforts and death during the war, Prince Karras and his mother had gained a large following, enough to take over Tamaran, especially since the King has recently taken a deathly illness, and so, before he was resigned to his deathbed, the King set out an agreement with Queen Salja of the Southern continent for Prince Karras and Princess Koriand'r to marry. The only one with the power to overrule this treaty, now, is Princess Koriand'r herself by claiming take to the throne. Unfortunately, there is the possibility – and threat – that if she refuses to marry Karras, then the Southern continent and its allies will wage war on the rest of Tamaran."
"So you took the choice out of her hands by agreeing not to tell her."
"I am a soldier. I agree to nothing. I only follow orders."
"So you attacked and forced her to go through with all of this, then?"
"I had nothing to do with any attack that took place in this room! I would never harm the Princess, or force her to do anything! When she was younger, I had told her to live her life with both freedom and conviction, as any Princess or Queen should. When I saw her enter the Vrasnas speeder minutes ago, she did not even seem to know of any of this. She seemed perfectly normal and looked like the perfect bride. I did not even know and could not see a sign of any attack."
So then Kory's fine? She actually wants to go through with this?
No way! I can't believe it. Time to crash a wedding and bust some heads! No one mess with any of us and gets away with it. Titans' code, baby!
A/N: Sorry, lost track of my day. I've got a job again (start Monday) and had some last minute things to do before the weekend.
When I originally plotted, this arc was supposed to end with this chapter, but this my muse had other plans with this chapter, so I just ran along with it. I decided to change the POV with this chapter to add a different dynamic to it and keep Kory's attacker a mystery and also add Karen's edge in their. Plus I wanted to try and start working on her internal voice. I know you guys have commented that you think she's funny, but I'm trying to also find her internal voice as well. I've never written from her POV before, so this was really just a little practice to try and work it out. Let me know what you thought.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review.