Worlds Away
By Michele Mason Bumbarger

Chapter Thirty-Four

And the party continued.

Jade noted that even after the bride and groom had been nearly chased from the wedding feast, the revelry continued. Not that Lady Jadina minded in the least; she was having more fun than she ever thought that she could or would have in this time and place. After receiving her prerequisite dance from her *husband,* he was more than happy to grant permission to any noble who desired a chance to sweep across the dance floor with the Lady Jadina in his arms.

Jadina, she discovered, was quite popular. Her alter-ego had a fair number of suitors, all of whom had been lined up and ready to lay down their hearts and their homes to be married to the daughter of Lord and Lady Zentil; but her fate had not been her own to chose and she had been given in marriage to Marmion Ruele. Not a slight by any stretch of the imagination, when only two Houses in the Kingdom stood higher than House Ruele, one of those being the royal House of Liagora, a compliment certainly that Jadina of Zentil could win a place among the higher Houses. But with that prestige and honor came sacrifice - the sacrifice of being married to a man who wanted nothing to do with her.

She was more fortunate than Jadina in some respects. Megabyte dealt with her, and was even willing to be friends with her, which was more than her counterpart, had ever had. And although he had balked at dancing with her, on each occasion that he had been forced to do it, she never got the feeling that his dislike was aimed at *her.* Rather, from what Jade could see, Megabyte avoiding dancing as much as possible when he had anything to say about it. Of course, he hadn't been able to say no to Her Majesty or Princess Tara, but beyond that, he remained firmly planted in his seat, laughing and joking with Lord Hagen - whenever Lord Hagen was not occupied with the wooing of some pretty noble's daughter or another.

As her current dance partner, Lord Triscan, a boy no older than she was, but a boy who was already the lord and master of his father's lands and keep, having inherited it all when sudden illness struck his father dead, returned her to her table, Jade tried hard to focus politely on his parting words and to not stare at Lord Hagen. Not the easiest task to accomplish considering that Hagen was the type of man who seemed to demand that the eyes focus on him and nothing else.

"He's too pretty to do any woman any good," had been Lady Margot's description and dismal of him. "He's a good man to have beside His Highness, but he'll never make any woman happy beyond what can be accomplished when the sun sets."

To show how entrenched she was becoming in this world, Lady Margot's words had made Jade blush.

Still, the knowledge, and the fact that she was *technically* married didn't divert Jade's attention from the man whenever he was present. But she wasn't alone in that; conversation stopped, or dropped to whispers among the women servants when Hagen made an entrance, and he'd even managed to get a touch of pink into Lady Margot's cheeks. He was a dangerous charmer, but as a married woman, Jade was in no danger.

Unfortunately.

"Again, I thank you for the honor and the pleasure, Lady Jadina," Lord Triscan bowed to her, raising her hand to his lips. A gesture that Jade would have found endearing, and one that would have put a proper blush into her cheeks at any other time and place. However, right now, she only longed to sit down, catch her breath, and . . . take delight in Lord Hagen's company. However much he might never do any woman any good, the man had a way about him that made her feel -- noticed.

"I thank you, Lord Triscan," Jade curtsied slightly, giving the young Lord a smile, "And I do wish you the best of luck with your wine crop this season."

"It will be fine, I have been assured. I will have to send a casket to Elspera Keep, with my compliments and my good wishes." Lord Triscan turned to include Megabyte in his bow, "Thank you, Lord Marmion. Your wife's company is refreshing."

Megabyte inclined his head towards Lord Triscan, "It's a pleasure I am . . ." there was a momentary pause while Megabyte glanced over at her, the briefest of pauses but one that did not go unnoticed by Jade, "I am reminded of everyday, Lord Triscan."

[Thanks, Marm.]

[What?] The touch on her mind was light and full of innocence.

She chose not to answer him and instead settled back into her seat, carefully arranging her layers of skirts and petticoats around her. As she did so, Lord Hagen leaned forward, a teasing smile turning up the corners of his lips. "I daresay there is a bit of a flush to your cheeks, my lady. One would think that you are having too much fun."

Jade reached for her wine cup, heat crawling up her neck to her face. Her fingers trembled slightly as she wrapped them around the cup, and took a few sips before answering, "Is there such a thing as too much fun, my lord Hagen? Isn't this a wedding feast, and aren't we supposed to be celebrating?"

"You mistake my words, dear cousin. I do not mean to complain or accuse. Red in your cheeks and a smile on your face are quite lovely, and," Hagen paused, his eyes cutting towards Megabyte, but only briefly, "missed."

"Well, there has been little to celebrate before now," Jade reminded him, then raised her cup to her lips to take another drink.

"That is where you are wrong. Sometimes, one must not wait for a reason to celebrate, but must make your own reasons for celebration."

"Hagen," Megabyte looked at the man over the rim of his cup, "don't corrupt my wife."

"Someone has to, seeing as how you have clearly been lax in your duties."

Jade choked and coughed, the hidden meaning and double-entendre in Hagen's words not as lost on her as the other man perhaps had hoped they would be. The wine cup barely made it onto the table as she covered her mouth and pounded a fist against her chest in an effort to get a hold of herself.

Her choking and coughing attack drew attention, and both Megabyte and Hagen descended on her, doing little more than getting in the way and being a nuisance until the coughing fit was under control.

"I'm all right now," Jade accepted the cup that Hagen pressed into her hand and took a deep breath, "I shall try drinking my wine the next time and not inhaling it."

"And Hagen will try to mind his tongue." Although Hagen had returned to his seat, Megabyte remained by her side, much to her surprise. Even more surprising was the feeling of his hand behind her, rubbing small circles in her back.

"My deepest apologies for anything that I might have said that gave offense to my lady Jadina," Hagen gave her the deepest nod that he could while seated, "Sometimes, I do speak without thought."

"Only sometimes?" Megabyte asked.

"Don't be so quick to throw stones, cousin. I think that we both know how quickly your tongue moves without regard to the words being said."

"And I think --"

[He's baiting you, Marm, just let it go,] Jade 'pathed frantically at Megabyte taking note of the slow, mischievous glean building in Hagen's eyes, the noble's mouth quirking slightly. She gripped Megabyte by the arm for emphasis, her spoken words meant for both men, "I thought we were celebrating? I'll be disappointed if either of you ruins the mood."

A wide, and blindingly handsome smile broke out across Hagen's face. "I fear you have caught me. I should hate myself if I were to be responsible for banishing the mirth from your eyes."

[Oh, God,] Megabyte 'pathed at her, his voice heavy with disgust, [He's laying it on thick and *you're* married.]

[I think he's charming,] Jade shot back, feeling her own smile widen and a bit more pink crawl into her cheeks. "Well, I shouldn't want to be responsible for you hating yourself."

[I don't believe you,] The soft, comforting touches on her back ceased as Megabyte withdrew and slid back into his seat. He reached for the wine flask and began refilling his own cup, [I can't believe you're encouraging him.]

[Jealous?]

[Of Hagen? Not likely.]

"My lady, it is too late," Hagen took her hand in his, "for you see, you frowned but for a minute and I am already drowning in guilt." Hagen raised her hand to his lips, clearly intending to place a kiss on the back of it. The impediment to his good intentions was Megabyte's hand, placed over the top of Jade's as he pulled hers from Hagen's grasp.

"Weren't you going to ask the Baroness Bachody to dance, cousin? She appears unattached at the moment, and it seems she can not stop from staring in this direction," Megabyte kept Jade's hand firmly in his, despite her sharp tug to free it, "You should act swiftly lest you lose your opportunity."

Hagen's head swiveled around briefly before his attention returned to them. "And so it seems that you are correct." He stood and bowed slightly to them both, excusing himself, his last words called over his shoulder, "It might do you well to think upon your own advice cousin."

Jade glared at him, and gave another futile attempt to free her hand. "No, you're not jealous at all. And you can let go of my hand now."

He surprised her for the second time that night by not doing as she requested. "Once upon a time you would have liked me holding your hand."

"You weren't a buffoon back then."

"But, my dear Jadina," Megabyte placed his other hand beneath hers, capturing her hand securely between both of his, "according to you, I've always been a buffoon." With that, he lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed his lips to her knuckles for a lingering moment.

Only her sense of decorum and etiquette stopped her from jerking her hand away and checking his forehead for a fever. She did, however lean forward, peering intently at him, [Are you drunk?]

A glimmer shone in those clear blue eyes, a familiar glimmer, although it was one that Jade didn't ever recall having been privy to in all the time she had known Megabyte. It was that teasing glimmer of mischief and teasing that he usually only felt comfortable enough to share with Adam or, on the rarest of occasions, Ami. The sort of comfortable teasing he never lapsed into with her for fear of giving her the 'wrong idea' or encouraging her feelings for him.

If she doubted for even a moment that her eyes were deceiving her, the doubt was banished as a crooked smile that mirrored the playfulness in his eyes broke out across his face. [Not by a long shot. It will take a lot more than dinner wine to get me drunk,] Megabyte winked at her, [Besides, if I got drunk you might decide to take advantage of the situation and find yourself another husband.]

While Hagen's innocent words and flirtations had caused her to blush like a proper born lady of her station should, Megabyte's behavior created an entirely different reaction. A tiny ball of pure buzzing energy that she did not want to dare put a name to, knotted itself in her stomach and sat there. It didn't sit passively however; as her heart sped up a bit and her throat became far too dry, it unknotted and re-knotted itself repeatedly.

Jade fumbled for her wine cup with her free hand, noticing that Megabyte still held her other one prisoner and apparently had no interest in giving it parole anytime soon. She drank a few swallows of wine hurriedly, and not trusting herself to speak, 'pathed to him instead, [Would that be a bad thing? It would give you the chance to find another wife.]

[Yes, but I would have to put up with all her bad habits when I'm just beginning to get used to yours,] Megabyte sent back, the words laced with the familiar warmth and camaraderie of friendship, but also underscored by affection, not romantic affection, but certainly something stronger than anything Jade had ever imagined her fellow Tomorrow Person feeling towards her.

[I don't have any bad habits,] Jade rose to his bait instinctively, and immediately gave herself a mental cuff. This was not the time to fall back into petty squabbling with Megabyte, not when she was so very close of being able to see past what he projected, to see a very different side of him . . . which meant he would be able to see past what she projected as well.

Out of habitual response and repeated embarrassment more than anything else, Jade moved her mental shields in place. Megabyte's eyebrows raised at the action, and Jade wasn't sure which part of what happened next made her face scald crimson. Whether it was the knowledge that Megabyte was aware that she was blocking him, or if it was his actual closeness and the way his breath warmed against her cheek as he leaned forward and whispered, "Dear Jade, you talk in your sleep."

The words and his very closeness caused her to blush even more, and she would have believed that impossible.

"I do not!" Jade whispered back at him fiercely. "And besides you ... you snore!"

Megabyte laughed, falling back in his seat, "There you see, why would I want to go through all the trouble of getting a new wife when I already have you . . . broken in?"

"Oh, so now I'm nothing better than a ... well-bred horse?" Her hands, both of them, were free now, and she used one to shove him playfully away from her, and startling herself by her response to his words. Once, she would have been hurt and offended by them, but tonight, she could see -- tonight she could *feel* Megabyte's playfulness and good humor and she was rather enjoying it. Even if it had taken sheer overwhelming doses of attention from nearly every single male in attendance to get to that point.

"Please," Megabyte rolled his eyes and caught her hand in his again as she shoved at him, "A horse wouldn't be as difficult as you are, Jade."

"Well, if I'm so difficult, remind me again why you would prefer to keep me, even as broken in as I am, when there are so many other less difficult women out there?"

"Because, I don't think any of them would be as cute as you are when you blush." Jade's eyes widened at the compliment - a true compliment! - from Megabyte and she was positive that her heart skipped several beats. She considered herself lucky that it did not stop beating all together. But before she could even find the words to respond, or even convince herself that it had really happened, Megabyte was on his feet and gently tugging her to hers as well. [I'm tired of sitting, let's dance.]

"But ... but ... you don't like to dance," Jade allowed herself to be hoisted to her feet, her mind still trying to come to terms with the words Megabyte had said -- to her!

"I'm turning over a new leaf," he held firmly to her hand and guided her into the moving mass of dancers, "and, like I said, I'm tired of just sitting."

[People are staring at us.] Jade felt the eyes on them as they took their places among the dancers. She could feel the ripples of shock and surprise moving like wildfire through the crowd, Lord Marmion dancing with his wife twice in one evening was certainly unprecedented, and the fact that he appeared to be enjoying her company was simply unbelievable.

[So?] Megabyte 'pathed back at her with a wide grin. [You've already said that it's rumored that I've taken leave of my senses.]

[I don't think it's a rumor any more,] Jade informed him.

Her words made him grin more widely. [My lady wounds me.]

[Wounded?] Jade raised her hand and rapped her knuckles against his forehead, [Where? In your impossibly thick skull?]

[Maybe.] Megabyte punctuated the word by grasping the offending hand and turning it palm upwards, planted a kiss there. A formality, and nothing scandalous, certainly, but it did earn a few gasps of surprise from those around them -- and from Jade as well. That was more than a polite kiss, more than a simple gentlemanly behavior of a lord towards a lady. No, that spoke of a sense of closeness and a sense of propriety that . . . that they did not share.

Until now.

Jade offered no resistance as he tugged her closer, unable to take her eyes off of him. She couldn't help but notice for the first time that evening how well his sapphire doublet complimented his lean, muscled form and matched his eyes. The way his mouth grooved at the corners when he smiled. How gentle the touch of his hand against hers was and how reassuring. All the little things that mattered. It was as if...

As if she were falling in love with him all over again.

Unfair, she thought, seized by the sudden desire to jerk away from him and into the hiding embrace of one of the alcoves. Unfair that this was happening all over again. This was something she was trying so hard to put behind her, even though their 'marriage' made it neigh impossible. But she had convinced herself that her feelings were changing, that she was changing and adapting. She had convinced herself that her childhood crush was a thing of the past, but now, she wondered if it ever would be.

[Jade?] Even his telepathic voice rang with concern

[Do you really want to dance . . . with me?] She hoped she didn't sound half as desperate and confused as she felt.

[I thought we had this conversation already,] An arm slipped firmly around her waist, Megabyte pulled her as close to his body as was permitted without creating court scandal. [Can't we just dance and enjoy ourselves?]

The music picked up in tempo and she was forced to move with him, following his lead, or else be left standing idle in the middle of the dance floor.

[Do I have a choice?] Jade countered and hoped that her words came out as sarcastic and playful enough that he wouldn't press the issue.

[No,] Megabyte grinned down at her, [You don't.]

Jade returned his smile easily, once again packing away the confused pieces parts and bits of her emotions. Her full attention turned itself to the dance, hoping that she could manage the trickier parts and not mess it up as she always seemed prone to do.

This time, however, her feet remained loyal and steadfast, and she had no problems following the intricacies and complexities of the dance. Her body moved as though it recalled the steps from memory, and despite his early protestations, Megabyte was not the most terrible of dance partners. He was, in fact, quite a good dance partner.

They danced several sets, and then, as the party wound itself down, Jade found herself walking through the Palace gardens with him, her hand tucked into the crook of his arm.

"That was fun," Jade remarked, her soft words sounding loud to her ears in the night stillness.

"Yeah, I guess it was."

"Do you think that Adam and Ami had fun? I mean," Jade stopped, feeling a raging fire burning in her face as her thoughts turned to her two absent friends and why they were absent, "You know, before. At the wedding feast, do you think ... do you think that they're going to be able to deal with it ... well, not *it* as in *it,* but --"

Megabyte gave her hand a firm squeeze, stopping her embarrassed babble before it could get any worse or any more embarrassing. "I don't think that there's anything yet that Adam and Ami haven't been able to deal with. Besides, if you can put up with me, I think that anything's possible. At least until we get home."

[As husbands go, you're not so bad,] Jade told him, really meaning the words. Whatever else had happened between them in the past, and however much he refused to see her as any more than a kid, Megabyte had come through for her during their time here. Separated from Adam, who was always their shelter in the storm, Megabyte reassured and comforted her; Megabyte let her know that she wasn't alone and that they would weather whatever came their way, and that they would do it together.

Their marriage may have been in name only, but at least now they had a friendship, a true, real friendship that was solidly based on something other than the luck of them both being Tomorrow People.

If she took nothing else back home with her, Jade would at least be grateful for that.

If they ever made it home again at all.

[We will,] Megabyte responded to her unspoken thoughts, and she couldn't even find the strength to get annoyed with him for peeking. He was doing his best to be supporting and comforting, being the pillar that he had been since their arrival.

"But if we don't?" Jade stopped and turned her face up to him. "If we honestly don't ever make it back to earth, then what? Can you handle this -" Jade threw her hands out, referring to not only the Palace gardens, but the entire world, "for the rest of your life?"

"Hmm, let me think." Megabyte folded his arms across his chest, his face a study in concentration as he pretended to ponder her words very hard. "Let me think. Can I handle being a noble and lord for the rest of my life? Hmm . . . yeah, I don't think I have any problems with that."

"You aren't going to be serious about this, are you?" Jade accused.

"No," he took her hand in his, pulling her into step alongside him as he resumed their walk. "It's been too good of a day, I'm not going to start thinking bad thoughts, and I'm not going to let you do it, either, Kiddo.

"But if worse comes to worse and we're stuck here, then . . . I don't mind so much being stuck with you, Jade."

Her head whipped around to stare at him in surprise, his words following a litany of a long line of surprises he'd been giving her all night. She swallowed, not sure how to respond to that, or if she even should.

Megabyte, however, continued, taking the opportunity away from her. "Of course, I'll plan on taking a mistress." He gave her a quick glance, that all too familiar mischievous grin on his lips matching the twinkle in his eyes.

Jade smiled in return, taking the compliment for what it worth and grateful for it. "Well, that's fine then. I think that one of the stable boys is really cute."

"Oh, really? Well, no one ever said that you get to have an affair. That's a privilege reserved for the lord of the keep."

"Then I'll just have to start a women's movement. We'll turn this whole society matriarchal."

"I'll move north then -"

They continued on, their playful banter echoing through the gardens, hands entwined, a perfectly natural camaraderie between them.

*** Chapter Thirty-Four