Chapter 7
Shaya walked through the halls with a ten month old Kishi on her hip. She smiled softly to herself as she listened to him gurgle and speak in his own little language.
She had just picked him up from the day care that she had placed him in four months ago when thing around the palace got a little hectic and no one had time to watch him for her.
She stepped in to her room and set him down in a play pen that Mercury and Jupiter had given her a few months ago when Kishi had started to crawl. She took a seat at her desk reading through the letters that had arrived while she was in meetings.
"Come" She called out as some one knocked on her door. She smiled slightly to herself as she found a dinner invitation from Parias. She looked up as she heard heavy foot steps enter and not the ones that she usually heard when a page entered. "Nathan!" She exclaimed as she stood up and hurried forward giving him a hug. "Why didn't you tell me that you were coming?" She demanded kissing him on each cheek.
"Because it was a surprise." He smiled at her before moving to the play pen to look over his nephew. "I can't believe how much he has grown."
"Five months will do that to a baby." She told him with a smile as she sat back down. "So what brings you up here? Or is it a surprise for Jupiter?"
"Mainly that." He smiled faintly.
"What's the matter?" She asked gesturing for him to take a seat. "You seem distracted."
"Oh it's Marcus and Liam they are making ripples through court." He sighed.
"But they were the best well known secret." She raised an eyebrow. "So why is everyone reacting now?"
"Because his family found out about it and are kicking up a storm at him, asking him if this was the reason you annulled the marriage."
"Which was true." She sighed. "It never would have gotten out of hand if everyone parents had left matters alone."
"That was only after he swore to you that it was over and that he loved only you." Nathan pointed out to her. "Father has been getting proposals since the annulment; it seems that now that you are an Envoy you are worth marrying." He snorted.
"He isn't planning on marrying me off again is he?" She asked worried.
"No, this time it is your own choice whether you marry or not." Nathan shook his head.
"Well that is a small relief."
"A dinner invite?" Nathan asked with a raised eyebrow, catching sight of it in front of her. "Shaya are you being courted?"
"I think I am yes." She smiled serenely as she stood, picking up the invite so he would have a chance to see who had sent the invite.
"By who?" He asked.
"A lady has to have a few secrets brother dear." She smiled at him as she made her way to her room and changed her rumpled blue gown for a pale ice blue.
"You know around here that secrets don't stay secrets for long." He pointed out to her as she came out of her room.
"Yes, but there are secrets that every one knows about and secrets that no one knows about." She reminded him with a chuckle as some one tapped on her door. "Come." She turned as Mercury came into the room. "Thank you for offering to take Kishi for the night."
"It is no bother." Mercury smiled as she picked up Kishi and handed him a new toy. "You know that I am always available to look after him for you."
"I appreciate it." Shaya smiled. "Well I am off; I'll pick Kishi up in the morning."
"Mercury do you know where I can find Jupiter."
"In her quarters."
Shaya left and headed over to the temple.
Shaya sighed rubbing her temples as she left a meeting with Mars and the Prince of Saturn. It had been another meeting that had turned into an argument over the way that the Princess treated her people. The thing that made it all the more annoying was that he was agreeing with her at every point that she made but insisted that there was nothing that could be done at this point in time. It was always at this point that the meeting went down hill and voices started to rise, as everyone was stressed and frustrated at the fact that the talks for information and possible help were going no where.
She shouldered her door open and smiled as Kishi squealed in delight that she was back and tottered towards her, arms held up high. She laughed and picked him up, spinning him around once before settling him on her hip.
"And did you behave yourself for Jupiter?" She asked as she kissed his forehead and Jupiter stood up from where she was sitting on the floor.
"He behaved himself." Jupiter chuckled as she scooped up a file from the table before striding for the door. "He must have been in a bad mood when Mercury watched him yesterday."
"He didn't sleep well, that's all." Shaya shook her head. "It's not easy teething is it sweet heart?" She asked her son as he giggled. "Did you find out anything about the newest rumour that is going around?" Shaya asked as Jupiter paused at the door.
"Oh that, yeah." Jupiter nodded. "Endymion is coming up for a few days; I got that straight from the Princess."
"Great, that means I have to play polite when Marcus is around." She sighed, her shoulders dropping a little.
"It shouldn't be so bad." Jupiter tried to console her with a small smile. "Every other time they have come he ignores you."
"That doesn't make it any easier." Shaya shook her head as she set Kishi down and made her way to her desk, looking over the messages that had been delivered while she was away.
"On the upside Nathan told me that he was coming up early." Jupiter's face clouded a little.
"Is something the matter?" Shaya asked catching the look.
"He has seemed a little distant lately. Has he said anything to you?" She asked looking a little concerned.
"No, not a thing." Shaya shook her head. "Maybe when he gets here he will bring it up, or you could." Shaya suggested, while wondering why Nathan hadn't seen Jupiter yesterday when he had arrived.
"Well, I'll see you later; let me know if you need me to look after Kishi tonight." Jupiter shrugged as she hurried out of the door, before Shaya could say anything else.
She looked up as her door opened again and her page hurried into the room with a tray full of food for lunch.
"Teal, do you know where Lord Nathan is at the moment?" She asked as she poured herself a cup of tea as she took a seat.
"In his quarters, my lady, I swung by to see if he wanted to join you for lunch but he's hung a do not disturb sign on his door." Teal nodded as he off loaded the tray.
"I want no interruptions this after noon Teal, unless it is an emergency" She told him.
"Yes, my lady. Parias did say he would try to join you for lunch again today though." He added before scampering out of her rooms.
"I honestly think that he maybe the only one that actually knows what is going on between me and Parias." She said quietly to her son as she picked him up and set him down on her lap and fed him his lunch while picking at her own.
"Besides Jupiter you mean?" Parias said as he walked into the room with a smile and took a seat beside her and poured them both a cup of tea.
"Yes, besides Jupiter." She chuckled. "It seems that she learns everything eventually. Though I think that the Queen is starting to hear rumours, she asked me yesterday if I was being courted."
"And what did you say?" He asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"I told her that I was but that was all she was going to get from me, and I left her trying to puzzle out whom."
"It isn't going to take long for her to figure it out you know." He pointed out to her as he helped himself to the food while Shaya cleaned her son's face.
"I know that." She sighed. "I also know that my group isn't going to take it too well. Endymion might, so might Nathan but the others?" She shook her head.
"Would they really think less of you because of me?" He asked with a concerned look in his eyes.
"No, they actually all feel really sorry for me because of what Marcus put me through, but they might think that I am rushing into things." She chuckled a little. "I some times think that they all have no concept of time, Nathan is always surprised at how much Kishi has grown every time he sees him, even though it is months between visits." She kissed Kishi on top of his head. "Some times none of them want to see how much I have grown up; they have all known me since I was a little girl"
"Friends and people who care about you rarely do want to see how much you have changed so you can deal with the position you have been placed in." He nodded in agreement.
"In other words it is a change that we've had to make to survive this world of diplomacy and politics." She chuckled as she set Kishi down as he squirmed in her lap and watched as he tottered off towards his play pen.
"Exactly, that is exactly what I mean." He grinned at her. "Everyone of any stature has had to learn to live this way when they are dealing with the high born and ambassadors. After awhile it becomes habit, one that we can no longer break, even with those we love and have sworn that we will never lie to until it becomes necessary to do so to make sure that they never find out how much we have changed."
"I don't think that any one that I know would admit that to any one let alone themselves." She looked at him thoughtfully, leaning back in her chair.
"It is apart of whom I am, my dear." He smiled lovingly at her. "I am after all a clerk of religion, I am a healer and being those things means that I must be honest with myself as well as everyone else that I make apart of my life."
"You humble me, Parias." She murmured as she looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. "I don't think that I have truly been honest with anyone for that last two years…bar you." She looked up at him, her eyes welling with tears.
"That is apart of whom you have had to become my dear lady. You are after all an ambassador from your kingdom. I think," He grinned at her. "That if you were truly honest with the diplomats that you have to deal with then I fear
that a lot of treaties would have collapsed."
"All too true, I must admit." She nodded with a pearl of laughter. "Especially when it comes to dealing with the diplomats from Mars, they are all so stiff and formal." She chuckled. "I must admit that the only person I can be honest with when working is Mars and Prince of Saturn."
"I've heard that some of those meetings get rather heated." He commented with a sly grin. "No pun intended to Mars."
"Yes they can get a little heated, mainly because we are so honest with each other." She shook her head chuckling under her breath.
"Is that truly wise? Especially since it is rumoured that he is involved with the rebellion on Saturn and his own sister wants to kill him." He asked with a frown.
"Because we both know what things are like on Saturn and how the people are treated, what makes us so heated is the fact that we both know there isn't much that we can do about the situation." She shook her head with a sigh and looked up as Teal stepped into the room. "Yes, is there something you wanted Teal?" She asked a little annoyed with the disruption especially when she had asked him for no interruptions.
"I'm very sorry my Lady. Your brother insisted that it was an urgent matter." Teal apologised. "He is waiting outside."
"Ask him what is so important that he must interrupt my rest." She demanded annoyed that her brother would intrude on her rest and her privacy. She watched frowning as Teal scurried out of her quarters.
"Rest? I didn't think that you ever rested." Parias asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Endymion has given me a week off diplomacy work, and I do not intend to play diplomat for my brother." She glared at the closed door and could hear arguing through the door.
"Play diplomacy, Shaya do you know something that I don't, though I must admit that you know a lot that I do not." Parias asked looking slightly worried.
"I hope to the heavens that I am wrong." She looked at Parias, "please don't be offended but could you please take Kishi into his room and wait for me?" She asked looking at the door with a worried frown.
"No offence taken my lady, I'm always your to command." He stood up and headed for the child's room, scooping him up as he went past. The door closed just as her double doors flung open and Nathan stormed into the room looking like a thunder cloud and Teal looking pale.
"My Lord, please don't interrupt…" He called after Nathan.
"Thank you Teal, clear up lunch and you are dismissed until dinner." Shaya told her page calmly, giving him a look that told him that he was not in trouble. She waited patiently until he left before she turned to glare at her brother. "How dare you barge in here, especially with no respect for my privacy?" She snarled at him, standing ridged with anger.
"I needed to speak to you now." He replied calmly, but his eyes narrowed in surprise at her anger, he had never seen her so anger at him.
"What was so important that it could not wait until dinner?" She demanded.
"The King has made a decision Shaya. The Royal guard can not marry at all." He turned to stare out of her garden windows. "The Ladies are going to need your support when they are told of this news and it will be announced today, through Queen Serenity."
"Then you must speak to Jupiter before she hears it from another, Nathan." She urged. "She deserves to hear it from the man that she loves, not from the Queen."
"I can not." He shook his head. "I must leave, now. I have been ordered to return at once, only to return with Endymion when he comes in a few weeks."
"Nathan, don't do this, after everything you two have shared she needs to hear it from you." Shaya repeated as she stepped towards him and pulled back as he spun around sharply startling her.
"I dare not; I dare not demean myself in her eyes by crying in front of her." He shook his head again, tears welling in his eyes.
"At least then she will know that you care." Shaya pointed out, trying to make him see the point that she was trying to make.
"Give this to her for me." He handed her a sealed note.
"So you make me your bearer of bad news." She looked at him with a look of disgust in her eyes.
"I wish that it was that easy." He whispered quietly before he stormed out of her rooms.
"Nathan!" She yelled after him, running to her open doors but he was no where in the halls when she reached them. "You fool, you poor blind fool." She whispered under her breath as tears welled in her eyes.
"Shaya?" She turned to see Parias standing in the lounge holding Kishi in his arms.
"I must go; will you watch Kishi for me?" She asked as she hurried back to the table and slipped her shoes on.
"Of course, will you warn all of the Ladies?"
"I must, it would be unseemly for them to disgrace themselves in front of the Queen, even though she would understand." She slipped the letter into her pocket and hurried out the door and straight to Jupiter's quarters. She was a little surprised that all the girls had gathered including the princess, they were sitting around an angry looking Jupiter.
"I just heard that Lord Nathan just left." She looked up at Shaya with pure anger in her eyes. "And that he saw only you."
"He did see me, yes." Shaya nodded, hesitating at the door way before entering and closing the door behind her and stood in front of them all. "He came here with a warning of what will be coming in a few hours time."
"What?" Mercury asked with a frown.
"A declaration from the King of Earth." She handed the note to Jupiter and waited.
"What was the warning?" Mars demanded as she saw the tears well and stream down Jupiter's face.
"The Royal Guard of Earth will not be allowed to marry." She told them quietly as she took a seat.
"What? Why?" Venus demanded her face pale as she slung an arm around Jupiter's shoulders as they shook as she continued to read.
"I fear that it is because of what happened between Marcus and me." She said as her shoulders slumped. "It caused a fracture in the guard when I annulled the marriage and it has only just begun to heal. The guard can not afford a distraction of quarrelling with in the ranks, so they are forbidden to marry for as long as Endymion's father is on the throne, I'm sure that Endymion will change that ruling when he assumes the throne."
"But you can not be sure of that." Mercury whispered her face white as a tear ran down her cheek.
"It won't happen." Jupiter spoke up, her voice choked up with tears.
"What do you mean? That's the impression that Nathan gave me." Shaya asked in a worried tone.
"He says in his letter that this rule can not be changed." She looked up at Shaya. "I do not know to be relieved or heartbroken."
"What are you all saying?" She asked as she saw Mars and Jupiter look down at their shoes, their faces flushing in embarrassment and shame.
"Don't get us wrong, we do love them but…" Mars broke off looking away from Shaya.
"They have hardly been around for the last year or more, we hardly know them anymore." Jupiter continued, wiping tears from her eyes. "I guess you could say that for some time our affections have been fading. That was the reason that I wanted to see Nathan, to tell him that I could not go through with the engagement. Not with my heart in such a conflict."
"Then it is partly my own fault." Shaya sighed. "I knew that he had arrived last night, but he told me that he was coming to see you and wanted it to be a surprise."
"It is going to be hard for them to hear that we are seeing some one else if we do see others shortly after the announcement." Mars commented clasping her hands in front of her.
"The court is also going to be shocked when they hear the news, after all you have all been engaged to them for the last few years and to hear that it has been broken off when they've all been told that the marriage will happen next year, shortly after Endymion's and Serenity's." Shaya pointed out shaking her head. "I think that His majesty is just setting himself up for more trouble and not just from his court, but from this one as well. Everyone is going to want to know why."
"Not just that but the others being trained as Royal Guard are going to start thinking twice about volunteering." Venus added, taking Mar's hand in her own.
"The ranks are going to be halved." Shaya nodded in agreement.
"Where does that leave you though?" Serenity asked, speaking up for the first time. "I know that you are apart if Endy's Guard."
"You are?" Jupiter looked startled at that revelation.
"It is not commonly known." Shaya shrugged. "It is not official; I'm just a fifth hand that does the scouting and bring them information." She shook her head. "But I will be contacting Endymion to see if this includes me, I hope to the heavens that it does not." She looked out the window in concern.
"Oh? Are you being courted?" Jupiter asked in delight, even though she knew that she was and who it was. Shaya could see that she was laughing on the inside that the others had no clue at what was going on right under their noses.
"I am, yes." Shaya nodded. "We've kept it quiet because of my position and my relations to Nathan."
"How so?" Serenity asked her head tilted a little.
"My father wants me to marry high or at least equal rank to that, which I hold. My suitor is lower class."
"You must be doing well if we have not heard of it." Venus giggled.
"Why thank you." Shaya laughed. "Now, the Queen will probably summon you all to tell you this news but I thought that it would be best that you all heard it from me first, so it will not be so much of a shock and it will give you all time to answer questions that she will no doubt ask you all." Shaya continued returning to the subject.
"Yes that would be a good idea." Jupiter nodded, standing. "We should all clean up and be ready for the summons. Shaya do you think that you will be summoned too?"
"I don't know but I should be in my quarters if she does." Shaya shrugged as she stood up.
"Shaya…" She turned as Mars spoke up. "Thank you."
"You are welcome." She smiled. She knew that Mars didn't just mean for the warning but for understanding.
She walked back to her quarters deep in thought.
"How did it go?" Parias asked looking up from where he was helping Kishi build something with little blocks of wood.
"Better then I thought it would." She smiled as him as she joined him on the floor.
"Do you think that this ban will affect us?" He asked in a concerned voice as he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek.
"I hope not, as I am not apart of the Guard. Not really, I am more an informer, a scout if you will." She smiled at him.
"I truly hope that this will not affect us, we've both been through too much just to give up now." He murmured as he lent forward and kissed her deeply.
"I'm sure that Nathan would have told me if it did affect us." She whispered as they broke the kiss.
"If he wasn't too distraught at thinking how Jupiter was going to take the news." He replied with a lopsided smile.
"True." She nodded in agreement. She looked up as her comm. Unit beeped; she stood up and stood in front of it before answering it. "Endymion." She smiled as his image came up on the screen.
"I tried to get father not to do it." He sighed, looking as if he hadn't slept in days. "He didn't want another fracture like we had a few months ago."
"I did realise that." She nodded slowly.
"Queen Serenity is telling the Ladies now, but I wanted to assure you that I made sure that father excluded you from his declaration. You deserve a little bit of happiness after everything that you have been through over the years." He smiled at her.
"Thank you, from the very bottom of my heart." She placed one hand over her heart and bowed her head a little so he knew that she was serious.
"There is one catch though. If this marriage doesn't work for you then you will be included into the declaration."
"Understood." She glanced behind her where Parias was playing with Kishi. "I don't think that I have any worries in that area."
"How did they take it? I figured that Nathan would warn you before he left." He asked in concern.
"Mixed reactions really." She hesitated to tell him.
"I'm not really all that surprised Shaya. They haven't been up there in five months; it was another five months before that since they were last up there." He shook his head. "Affections were bound to wonder." She saw him hesitate and smiled at him.
"Do not fear for your Serenity, Endy. She will always be true to you." She soothed his fears before he could speak them. "I do not know how Nathan is going to react when he hears that news though."
"Relieved that she will not be pining her heart away for him I suspect. Well it will be once he gets over the initial anger at being replaced." He shook his head.
"When will you be coming up? There is a ball in two months time." She inquired.
"We will be arriving a week before the ball, but don't bandy that around alright? Our plans are secret." He replied.
"I understand completely, but you do realise what that means don't you?"
"Yes, that every one will know by the end of the week." He sighed with a rueful shake of his head.
"Gossip travels faster then light; Endy you should know that by now." She chuckled.
"I do." He nodded and looked over his shoulder. "I have to go, I have a meeting to attend and don't forget my dear friend that you have this week to yourself."
"I haven't forgotten." She nodded with a grin. "I'll see you soon." She shook her head as the screen faded out and turned her attention back to Parias where he was grinning up at her from where he was sitting.
"A whole week?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It better be. It took me long enough for me to arrange." She laughed as she sat back down beside him.
