Chapter 14: The War
Ghostly hands right feather light over her skin. Lips met hers in a hungry kiss and yet it didn't feel at all demanding. The lips left hers and trailed over her cheek to her ear. "You have all the power," a soft voice whispered.
With a gasp Ashley sat up in bed. The humiliation and hurt rushed back to her, but also the guilt, so much guilt. She lay back down and curled up on her side, allowing her breathing to slow. The look on Andros's face drifted back and she hoped the mattress would swallow her, his words repeating in her head like a broken record now she was awake again. Finally, her eyes had been opened and she could see how right he was. Of course things with Carlos hadn't felt the same, not after Andros's touches. Though Carlos had never exactly pressured her into anything, he had always wanted just a little more. Yet Andros only ever wanted what she was willing to give. Over Andros, she had all the power.
She looked at the door to his room and felt a tear slip from her eye. He hated her now, as was his every right. Her heart broke at the thought and she quickly turned her back on the door, hoping to fall right back into her restless dreams, filled now with impossible touches. Dreams where she was suddenly filled with courage. Where she dared to cross the room to try and fix what she had broken. Dreams where she dared to use the power he had given her. Where nothing seemed to matter but them and her heart sang at his look and touch.
In the adjoining room Andros was fast asleep in his bed; his AI was ready to wake him in the morning to prepare for the war. A hand tangled into his hair, fingers running through the silken locks. Warm lips trailed soft kisses from his ear down his jaw. A hand moved down his chest as the lips moved to his throat. He felt the hand on his chest travel down and slip under the waistband of his boxer shorts. His eyes blinked opened and he saw Ashley staring at him. "I love you, please love me," she whispered into his ear.
He rolled them over so she was underneath him and she pulled him down and kissed him with such passion and urgency, that his entire body felt like it was on fire. He kissed her back, his arms moving around her, feeling her body wrapped around him. He touched her slowly as she touched and stroked every inch of him. Her nightgown was pushed up as his boxers were pulled down as he moved between her thighs. He made love to her as he always had in his dreams. Slowly taking his time to cherish her the way she deserved. It spurred him on when he heard her moan his name. He shuddered his release and felt her stroke his hair as he rested his head on her chest. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head, her other hand scratched his back lightly as his arms moved around her waist. "I love you," he heard her whisper again.
The next morning, Andros woke up to the sheets tangled around him and the bed was empty and cold. He knew it was a dream, never would he be able to his hold wife in his arms and actually hear those words he desired so much, especially not after. Getting out of bed, he reluctantly readied himself for the war.
He stood outside the Megaship, his family embracing him but Ashley was nowhere to be seen. "Should I send for her?" Hecuba offered.
"Don't bother," Andros answered his mother dejectedly. "We didn't part on good terms last night."
Hecuba kissed his cheek, stroking his hair. Zhane walked over, patting Andros's back. Andros cleared his throat and he opened his communicator. "DECA, two to teleport," he instructed. They disappeared in silver and red lights.
All the while, Ashley was standing in the window with her arms wrapped around herself. Images of her dreams kept replaying in her head. They had felt so real this time. She watched as the ship lifted off the platform and flew off into space, taking any hope of redemption with it. She put her hand over her eyes and let out a shaky breath. She would not cry, but she couldn't stop the single tear that fell.
Weeks went by, Ashley was trying to keep going with Andros's routine. She felt lonelier than ever before. It was hard to eat, with the stress from the work everything she ate either lacked taste or her stomach rejected it almost immediately after. Most of the time she walked around with a water container since it was the only thing she was able to keep down throughout the day.
One morning, Ashley was working on some of Andros's work when Karone entered the room. "Hey," she greeted.
"Hey," Ashley replied, sitting back.
Karone placed some datapads in front of her. "This is some of the updates about the war," Karone told her. Ashley started reading through the work.
"This is just…how is Enar getting so many allies?" she asked.
"Empaths are good at changing emotions," Karone replied.
"How are you immune to it?" Ashley asked.
"Telepathic," Karone replied.
Ashley nodded her head slowly. "It looks like things between you and Andros went quite sour," she commented, sitting in front of the desk.
"Things were…confusing," Ashley replied.
"Then why didn't you say 'goodbye' to him?" Karone asked.
Ashley swallowed. "It's not goodbye," she whispered, unconsciously rubbing her forehead.
"Hey, you okay?" Karone asked gently.
"Yeah, it's nothing," Ashley waved the question away. "Just a bit stressed at this whole situation."
Karone eyed her suspiciously, but decided not to comment. "I made a lot of mistakes, Karone," Ashley told her, "I had a husband…who really truly loves me…I know he does. I saw it in his eyes when he told me."
"Why couldn't you love him back?" Karone asked.
Ashley let out a deep breath. "I felt my freedom get ripped away from me, I didn't get a choice on who I was marrying. Then…not consummating it, my mother was going to annul the marriage if I didn't do what she said," Ashley admitted. "And now I've found it was all a lie." A tear spilled from her eye.
"What do you mean?" Karone asked.
"The night before he left... Andros told me he was the only one with that power. Calling for an annulment, I mean. He was so angry with me, Karone. I let my mother rule over me and my marriage and... I don't think I can ever truly make it up to him. Or if he'll even let me try." She explained sadly. "He told me to go back home, to Ola, and not be here when he comes back."
Karone stood up and embraced Ashley gently. "You still don't know my brother's heart," she said softly, "Andros isn't capable of that deep of hate. When he comes back, ask him to start over and start small." Ashley nodded her head slowly, letting out a shaky breath.
It wasn't until further into the war when Ashley was in the middle of the conference room with Hecuba, Ajax, and Karone. "Zhane's message from last night had informed us that they were going to plan on attacking the Blacklands," Karone briefed them as a hologram of the planet appeared in the middle of the conference table. Taking her hands, she opened them and the Blacklands appeared.
"Those are filled with tar pits," Ajax muttered.
"They planned on using their Galaxy Gliders for the attack. As of right now, we haven't heard anything else since they want to make sure none of their transmissions are intercepted," Karone answered.
Ashley started scanning through the path. "Fenix's army plans on going through the mountains, that way they can block Enar in," she stated. They looked up as the conference room doors opened and Meranda walked in.
"My lady..wait…wait, I must…" Helia started to say.
"This is a private meeting," Ajax told Meranda.
"I just came to see my daughter," Meranda replied.
Ashley let out a deep breath. "Mother, I am busy, this is important," she insisted.
"More than me?" Meranda asked.
"Don't you understand what's going on right now?" Karone demanded.
"Yes, a war, hence why I'm here," Meranda answered firmly.
Ashley shook her head slowly, letting out a deep breath. "Get out, I will see you when we're done," she told her mother. Shocked at her daughter's sudden defiance, Meranda allowed herself to be escorted from the room.
A little later in their debriefing there was a knock on the door. "Who's there?" Ajax asked.
"Kinwon," the person replied.
"Enter," Ajax assured him.
Kinwon entered the room, the old man looked distraught. "Uncle?" Hecuba asked, "What has happened?"
"We have…received word from Zhane," Kinwon answered, "Enar had been ready for the attack from both the North and South, he was waiting for them by the time our armies attacked."
The room was silent for only a minute before Ajax asked, "How many?" Kinwon swallowed.
"We still have our armies intact," he assured them, "We have hundreds dead, many injured, and several missing."
Hecuba saw the distress becoming more apparent. "Zhane…" Kinwon swallowed, "Zhane had sent this for Ashley as per protocol." Ashley looked up with a quizzically expression, but she saw Hecuba's face pale and her hands went to her chest.
"No!" Hecuba said tearfully.
Kinwon turned to Helia, retrieving what she was holding and showed his family Andros's destroyed helmet. "NO!" Hecuba wailed and Ajax caught his wife before she could fall to the floor, "My boy!" Hecuba began to cry uncontrollably. Karone was by her mother's side, the tears falling from her eyes as she looked at the helmet in her uncle's hands.
The longer she stared at the helmet, the more Ashley's vision started swimming. Hecuba's wails sounded so far away. The room started to rock like a boat on an ocean and she reached for something to regain her balance.
Karone turned to look at Ashley when she saw her swaying. Ashley gripped a chair but it was only brief because the sudden weight on the chair made it fall backwards. "ASHLEY!" she called out just as Ashley collapsed to the floor. Karone rushed to Ashley's side. Kinwon put the helmet on the table, rushing to Ashley's side. He turned to Helia.
"Fetch the healers!" Kinwon ordered.
Ajax jumped into action and ordered everyone to back up. "Give her room to breathe," Ajax told them firmly. Karone held Ashley's hand as her father walked over and kneeled beside her.
"Ashley, can you hear us?" she asked.
"Come on, honey, open your eyes," Ajax told her.
Ajax was stroking her hair, his other hand resting on her cheek, and was lightly tapping, hoping she'd respond when he noticed they were a little more sunken in than he thought. Ashley had kept her distance, but now he was this close to her he could start to see the bones in her cheeks and her jaw. The healers rushed in the room and examined the unconscious princess. "Let's get her back to her chambers," one of them insisted, "She'll be more comfortable there."
"I've got her," Ajax replied, picking her up.
He frowned at how light she felt in his arms, this was worse than he had originally thought how could he have missed this? Ajax rushed her out of the conference room, passing a confused Meranda. "What's happened?" she asked. No one answered the woman as they went after Ajax.
When they reached Ashley's chambers, Ajax placed her on the bed. "We will need to examine her," the healers insisted.
"I'm staying with her," Hecuba answered.
She was beside Ashley's bedside, holding her hand. "As will I," Meranda answered. Hecuba gave the woman a glare, but she kept her mouth shut. Karone was silent as she stood beside her mother.
"I will take my leave," Ajax told his family.
Hecuba turned to her husband. "I will inform you when they tell us what is going on," she assured him. Ajax pressed a kiss to his wife's temple before leaving the room.
Ashley felt like she was weightless, like she was floating, surrounded by a comforting, warm embrace. A voice was whispering to her.
Suddenly the voice was joined by another, both rising in volume, but she couldn't make out the words.
Her body started the feel heavy, like she was suddenly falling and yet rising at the same time. She fought hard to stay under in the comforting darkness, but the harder she fought, the faster it seemed to fade.
All of a sudden it was as if she broke through a surface, the voices loud, though she still struggled to make sense of what they were saying.
A third voice cut through them, calm, but insistent. "Keep it down. The princess is under enough stress as it is. This isn't good for her or the baby." And then her eyes shoot open and she's staring at the familiar ceiling of her room
"Ashley!" Hecuba gasped, sounding so relieved.
She saw her mother, Hecuba, and Karone standing around her. All three of them were trying to talk to her at once. "No, all of you need to leave," the healer insisted. Once they left, the healer sat beside Ashley's bed. "My princess, I have a few questions I need to ask you," he told her gently. Ashley nodded her head slowly. "What is a normal diet for you?" he asked. Ashley shrugged her shoulders.
"I eat when I remember to…and lately that's not often. And when I do eat, the food doesn't much agree with me," she admitted.
The healer nodded his head slowly. "Have you experienced any symptoms? Nausea? Dizziness? Missing cycles?" he asked. Ashley nodded her head slowly.
"I thought they were signs of stress," Ashley replied, "For the last two years it's all I have dealt with."
He nodded his head in understanding. "You are pregnant, princess. 12 weeks in fact," he informed her gently. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to keep herself from breaking down. "And I'm sure you'd like to know that according to my scans, the child is a boy," he added gently. Tears fell down her cheeks, and she let out a quiet sob. "I am so sorry, princess. The prince was a good man," he murmured. Ashley nodded and she cried softly. "I am going to have to keep you in bed for a week and give you a diet that you have to follow for the sake of both your health and the baby's," he told her firmly. Ashley was staring at him, giving him another nod to assure him that she was listening to his orders. "And you have to start taking better care of yourself, your child needs you," he added. Ashley was resting her hand over her belly and she could feel the small bump that she hadn't noticed before. It wasn't much, but now that she knew it was noticeable to her that there was a child growing within her.
"I want my mother, I want Hecuba," Ashley whispered, fighting her tears.
The healer nodded and he opened the door. A second later, Hecuba was in the room. Seeing the woman made a fresh wave of tears well up in her eyes. "Hecuba," Ashley said with a sob.
"Oh, sweetheart," Hecuba answered, pulling the distraught woman into her arms.
Ashley hugged Hecuba back and sobbed. Hecuba rubbed her back gently, trying to hush her but even she was fighting her own tears. "Well, at least he did his job before going off to war," Meranda stated as she sat down in the chair. Ashley clung to Hecuba even tighter. "Now, don't tell me you are actually doing your job and carrying his heir. Might as well kill yourself if it's a girl. Though I wouldn't expect anything else of you. So fair you've been nothing but a failure," Meranda added.
"It's a boy," Ashley choked out before she fell completely apart in Hecuba's arms.
Meranda clapped her hands. "Well at least you can do one thing right in life even though it's a wonder you haven't managed to kill him yet."
Hecuba felt nothing but disgust towards this woman. She knew Meranda was a cruel woman, but she had no idea how deep her cruelty went. Hearing her talk about her unborn grandchild like a trophy made her physically ill and talking about her son in passing made her want to throttle the Vican Queen.
"Why is she here?" Ashley whimpered almost inaudibly. Hecuba's heart broke for the scared little girl she held in her arms. Her anger to Meranda mounting even higher.
"Get out," Hecuba snapped.
"Excuse me?" Meranda answered, almost sounding amused by Hecuba's outburst.
Hecuba turned towards Meranda, still holding Ashley tightly in her arms. "Get. Out," Hecuba hissed, "You can't expect to talk about my children like that and think you'll still be welcome here!"
Meranda stared at her in disbelief, but then a smirk formed on her perfectly thin lips. "You heard the healer, she called for me too," she insisted.
"She called for her mother. I'M her mother now!" Hecuba growled, "I have taken care of this girl for the last two years! I've been more of a mother to her than you've ever been!"
Hecuba had Ashley lay back down. She stroked a strand of hair from Ashley's face, watching her arms wrap protectively around her stomach. With that, Hecuba swung around and was glaring daggers at Meranda. "Get out and get OFF my planet!" she ordered.
Ashley rolled over on her side, not caring to watch as Meranda was practically chased out of the room. It couldn't have been a dream if she was pregnant and now she was having a son, his son. She was going to do whatever it took to make sure she kept this baby safe. Her eyes strayed towards the door that lead to the adjoin room, Andros's room. She didn't have the strength to even cry anymore. All she could think of were his last words to her. "I can never prove that I want to be married to you," she whispered to the door. Her other hand went to the necklace around her neck as darkness crept over her and claimed her