Redemption Ch. 2
Author: Miss Lizz ^_^
Rating: R for language, blood, romance and other such stuff.
Disclaimer: I do not own the MiB characters of Elle and X; I only own any characters you've never seen before and quite possibly the Jee'Dangian language.
Ch. 2: New Surprises
Leaving the great ship, he stayed right beside her, for which she was immeasurably grateful; she was frightened. As they walked through gunmetal gray corridors guarded by several grim-faced Jee'Dangians, she was very frightened. She didn't like being afraid. It was so… unlike her. It made her feel so helpless.
In this place, on this world, she was helpless.
She hated it. She hated being helpless. She hated being afraid. At least she wasn't alone. X was here and had actually been here for her throughout the weeks on ship. In his own way, he was her anchor to sanity at the moment. Oh, what a frightening thought that could be…
When they were ushered out of the big ship, Elle had to squint in the sunlight-- the orange sunlight—that seemed so unbelievably bright after the relative dimness of the ship's interior. She had to pause and put a hand up to cover her eyes for a moment. It did not please their guards apparently.
"Keep moving," came the gruff voice of one of the guards as he spoke in Jee'Dangian (she had no idea what he said) and lightly pushed her forward, sending her stumbling down the ramp way, "The elders are not to be kept waiting."
X put his arms around her to keep her from falling and glared at the other male, "They waited years, a few more minutes won't make much of a difference," his voice became an ominous growl, "Don't touch her again."
"Are you alright?" he switched to English for her.
She nodded, "Yeah, he just caught me off guard," she blinked up at him, "How is it you're not having any problems with the light changes?"
He smiled slightly, "Jee'Dangian eyes adjust more quickly than a human's" the tall warrior-agent led her by the arm the rest of the way down the ramp, "Give yourself a few minutes."
The courtyard they came upon was near empty save for a few animals. It reminded her of the courtyards of medieval castles in romanticized stories and, like the rest of the place, struck her as very Arthurian in temperament. However, there was no one about and it was probably early afternoon so there should be a bustling crowd here as the market progressed. Where was everyone? Even the vendors were absent from their stalls. This was eerie.
I knew that was foreboding I felt.
The courtyard was empty save for a few animals because his entire clan, and then some it seemed, was crammed into the great hall and even spilling out into the inner bailey. The instant he and a wide-eyed Elle stepped through the large portcullis and the heavy wooden doors a hush fell over the gathered Jee'Dangians, all eyes focused on them and looks of shock, curiosity, disgust, anger, pity, and relief washed over the hundreds of faces old and young they passed on their long walk to the high place where the formal-robed elders waited.
Elle shrank closer to him under the weight of so many open stares. He should have given her more warning than he had that she would be so regarded as a pitiable oddity but that probably wouldn't have prepared her for this. He wasn't even prepared for this. An enormous crowd of onlookers never entered into his mind when he thought of how this could possibly go. They meant to make a spectacle of him, did they?
He nearly stopped moving when he spied his mother up the near the elders. His mother had been one of the few who believed him innocent, it hadn't changed her status in the clan apparently. She was still the daughter of a past headelder and principle wife to the greatest warrior the clans had ever seen, that her son was dishonoured and a murderer were not things that could overly affect her. She stood straight and tall and defiant before the elder tribunal with a beaming expression on her face at the sight of her son.
After nearly three years, she still looked the same. For some reason, he was surprised; it felt like he'd been gone for far longer and he expected her to appear older. She seemed well.
Imperceptibly scanning the crowd, he saw there was no sign of his older brother, Ruhn. Not a very surprising thing, his brother had never been over fond of him and had been among the first to publicly decry him. Thank the goddess their father had not been alive to witness the debacle that cost X his honour.
When the two agents reached the dais where the elders gazed disdainfully down at Elle and he, and the magistrate, or headelder, began to intone the whys of the crimes, sentencing, the reasons for bringing him back, etc., X wasn't really listening. He knew all this. But when possible plans against him coming to light were mentioned, he perked up. Plans? Why would someone make plans against him? There was nothing of import anyone could gain from his disgrace. His life just had to keep getting stranger, didn't it?
The elders finished the intonations, announced the date for the first tourney and the crowd immediately dispersed to go about their business as if nothing had interrupted them before; only a group of three were left in the great hall.
They were silent, the three of them, the two stoic Jee'Dangians and the one fearful human. And then suddenly X's mother smiled and embraced her only son with an exclamation of joy.
"Xan! It's so good to see you again, son, I've missed you dreadfully," she stepped away from him and looked to Elle. "And who is this little one?"
X smirked slightly, Jee'Dangian females were often slightly taller than the males, and to his mother Elle was the size of a child. He himself once thought of her as being much younger than she was because of her small size.
"This is Elle, mother. My… partner."
"Ah," his mother smiled, "She's the one," and as oddly and unexpectedly as she make that cryptic remark, she switched to near perfect English, "Hello, dear, how are you?"
The little human stared at his mother with enormous eyes, made some unintelligent noise, and did the one thing he never thought he'd ever see her do…
She fainted.
Zoii watched, perplexed, as the little one's wide blue eyes rolled up into her head and she dropped like a boneless sack to the stone floor. The poor dear, it must be so overwhelming for her to be dragged off to a strange place, to a people she had no way of knowing, and be expected to fill a role she could have no way of knowing about. That and dealing with Xan, who could be a rather difficult man to deal with, in probably cramped quarters for weeks was not much better. No wonder she fainted, the poor thing.
"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help her?" she asked her son when he continued to stare at the little human, "Pick her up, silly boy, and take her home."
He bent to lift her but stopped and looked at Zoii, "Home?" he asked in confusion, "I'm not being held in a cell?"
She sighed and stared up at the ceiling in silent plea for strength from the goddess, "Of course not, but you will be guarded. Now come along before she catches a chill on this cold floor."
What a silly boy he was sometimes. The little one must have endless reserves of patience to deal with him… but how quickly she forgets they are gemaecca; patience comes second nature and love can overcome most anything.
Following in his mother's wake through the winding corridors lit with the flickering flame of torches—their ancestral home had never been fully modernized—X cradled an unconscious Elle against his broad chest and worried. Was she injured? Humans could be physically fragile; he hoped she had not hurt herself when she hit the ground. That was another thing, she had never fainted before to his knowledge; it rather frightened him for she had always been so strong before. But after all the expectations and meeting his mother—who could be rather difficult and overwhelming—had been thrown at her, it didn't overly surprise him that she did pass out. Worried him definitely, but it did not surprise him.
Could she ever forgive him for getting her involved in this?
He hoped so.
Could he forgive himself?
No.
His mother had never left the ancient stone house built like a fortress that was his home as a boy and it hadn't changed at all centuries. Countless generations of his line had been born and had died here. When he was a child, he thought the old spirits still remained to watch over the home and its inhabitants. It made him feel safe to think the spirits protected them as bravely as his father did. This was home.
As much as he almost hated to admit, it still felt like home. He could almost believe in the inherent magic of this place again. There were so many memories in this place. There in the corner was the tapestry hiding a small cubbyhole he used to play in as a small child or hide in when his brother went looking for him. And the lamp he almost always knocked over while running through the house. Nothing seemed to change here. Even the air tasted the same.
He was home.
But where was his mother leading him? Bustling through the den with its enormous hearth, she made a beeline for the West stairs to the upper floors eventually leading him to his old chambers. Were they to share the same bedchamber this time as well? Once he saw to Elle, he would try to set his mother straight on how things really were between them. The little human was too pale for his liking. Was this normal for fainters? Her skin was slightly clammy to the touch as well and he knew that wasn't a good thing.
The covers of his old, red-draped, canopied bed were pulled aside by Zoii and he gently lay his partner down and pulled the coverlet up to her collarbone. At least now she might warm up. He stared down at her small body as guilt slammed into his gut like a balled fist. And strangely enough, something very protective unfurled itself deep inside him. After running a fingertip lightly along one slim, pale-gold brow, he turned to find his mother standing behind him watching the whole exchange with a knowing smile.
"Can I expect grandchildren soon?"
Now X thought he might faint, oh goddess, she wasn't going to start this, was she? The big Jee'Dangian took his mother by the arm and led her out of the room so they wouldn't disturb his partner.
"No. Now what was all that about?" He began once out in the corridor. "Where did all that come from?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Xan."
"Yes, you do. What did you mean by 'she's the one?' Why exactly did you decide to make us sleep together? And when did you learn English?" X crossed massive arms over a well-formed chest and scowled at his mother.
Being the same height as her taller-than-normal son, Zoii was unimpressed by his display of male temperament and demands and merely smiled sweetly, turned her back to him, and walked off down the corridor. He followed, still expecting answers. She was not going to just walk away from this.
"I learned English during the three years you've been gone. Since you couldn't come and visit your old mother, I was planning on going to Earth and needed to know the language of that area of the planet."
With that she lapsed into silence. Obviously, she was only planning on answering his last question. Very well, he would take what he could get for now and figure the rest on his own. Now came the hard part, now was the time he would have to tell his mother the truth about the true nature of he and Elle's relationship.
"Mother, there's something I really must tell you and I'm not sure you'll like this…" He swallowed and prepared himself for the worst. "Elle and I aren't gemaecca, we only work together and even then not well. I told the guards that by mistake. She—What's that smile for?"
His mother was wearing the same knowing smile as before and had her hands on her hips. Instead of answering, she turned and left again. That was unusual. She wasn't even upset with him, if anything she looked sure of something. She was up to something, no doubt about it.
End Ch 2.
I'm sorry this took so long to put up. How's it going so far? Should I continue?
Please read and review.
Thank you,
Miss Lizz