Chapter 7
"I… I was a queen?" Liz stammered.
Suddenly she understood. Of course she was a queen. Khivar had wanted to marry her, hadn't he? Khivar was a king, and with her as his wife would make her… queen…
Ava smiled reassuringly. "Yes, you were. And a very beloved one, if I can recall it clearly. The people loved you and Zanier."
"Zanier?" Michael asked. "You mean Max, right?"
Ava nodded. "Yeah. They were such a wonderful couple. One could not see
them and [I]not[/I] love them."
Liz frowned. Ava looked somehow guilty, although Liz had no clue why she would.
Her mind was still trying to progress everything that she'd just been told.
"So… I was married to Max…" she started, "why then is he destined to be with Tess?"
She looked questioningly at Ava, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Michael doing the same.
Ava shook her head, confused. "I don't know," she answered. "I've never heard of this 'destiny' before. All I know is what happened in the past; no details, though. I… I think that maybe… I'm not sure, but…" she stopped, looking at a painting on the wall.
"What is it, Ava?" Liz asked concernedly. "Are you okay?"
Ava was still hesitant. If she would tell them, they might lose their faith in her. On the other hand, when she wouldn't tell them, and they would find out later, she'd definitely lose their trust. She quickly made a decision and prayed that she'd made the right one.
"I…" she started, "I believe that Tess might be working against you… I'm not sure, but all the directions point towards that conclusion." She looked down, unwilling to meet their persistent gazes on her.
"I already told you that your pod-set is more like you've been in your past lives. Avandra was evil, although no one knows."
She looked at Liz. I… I murdered you in my past life," she whispered. "I'm sorry."
Liz fervently shook her head. "No Ava. You don't have to be sorry. You didn't kill me. Avandra killed Ailiandra. It wasn't your fault," she said, while taking Ava's hand. "It will never be your fault. [i]You[/i] are Ava, and [i]I[/i] am Liz. [i]We[/i] are friends." Liz was glad to see Ava weakly smiling through her tears. "Got that?" she quasi threatening continued.
Ava looked up, a smile playing around her lips. "Ay-ay captain," she replied, and mocked a salute. Then she burst out in laughing, getting rid of all the stress she'd had in the last minutes.
"So dorky," she giggled.
Liz smiled back. "Yeah, kinda cornball, huh?"
Michael just stood and watched his sister interact with her friend. When he'd heard that Avandra had killed Ailiana, he'd been angry with Ava, but Liz had been right. It wasn't Ava's fault, and she shouldn't carry the burden of it. He sighed. Liz made him a better man already.
When he watched the two girls burst out in a fitter of laughter, he couldn't suppress a smile. He loved it when his little sister laughed… He should try and make her laugh more often.
He just laughed along with them, knowing that, when Maria saw them doing this, he would rise another step at her dorkiness-scale, but he was too content and too tired to even care.