Part 18

Kyle stared up at the ceiling of the tent, rubbed his shoulder, which was beginning to ache from the ridiculous tackle to which he had treated Max and Tess when they had all fallen into the portal.

They had found the Illyrians a few hours ago - or rather the Illyrians had found them. To Kyle, who had been stuck in this damn tent since then, it felt like a few weeks.

He had not seen Tess since they had first arrived in the camp.

Kyle had still been in a daze from the kiss they had shared when it had happened. Tess's blonde head had been pressed against his shoulder, her arms clutching him tightly, when he had felt her tense up.

His first thought was: she regrets kissing me already.

But her whispered words had quickly proven him wrong. "Kyle. We're not alone."

Kyle had felt his heart start to beat faster. They were still out in the open - in the middle of the neverending plain of yellow grass. It was beginning to get dark. He could see lights winking on in the distance, knew that the settlement they had seen earlier was much more than a small village, likely a city if anything.

"How do you know?" He had whispered back.

"I'm being mind-warped." She had replied. "I can feel it."

Kyle knew that Tess had likely never been mind-warped before - but somehow he believed her when she said she knew.

His first instinct had been to protect her at all costs. Ironic that, since with her powers, she was really the stronger of the two of them.

But common sense had never been Kyle's forte. And so he had thrown her to the ground amid the tall grass, fallen down beside her. "Follow me." He had ordered. He had begun to crawl through the grass, hoping that Tess was following him.

Moments later he had bumped head first into something hard. Something that he couldn't see...

With a sinking heart, he had known immediately what it was. It was a leg.

A leg belonging to a person who had been mind-warped into invisibility.

He had been proven right AGAIN when he felt a heavy hand clamp down on his shoulder. "For crying out loud." He had muttered to himself. "You can stop pretending you're not there." He had snapped into the air. "It's not like we don't know."

An instant later he had been hauled to his feet by a suddenly very VISIBLE hand. "I've caught them sir!" The soldier called out. For that's what he was - a soldier in full battle gear.

And so they had been marched double-time back to the camp nearby. Kyle had felt only marginally better when Tess had hurried forward to slip her small hand into his. "As soon as I'm stronger, I'll mind-warp them so we can escape." She had whispered to him. Of course there had been no telling how long that would be. Too long if their execution was to be the first order of business for whoever these guys were - because they had been joined by many more soldiers, all wearing the same uniform as the one pushing Kyle and Tess along. They were blue and gold with the same symbol he had once seen on a necklace Isabel owned on the chest.

It wasn't until he had realized that they were being marched AWAY from the lights that something had suddenly dawned on him.

These were the guys they were looking for.

"Hey!" He had spoken over his shoulder to his guard, who had been prodding him forward with some sort of weird stick he held in his hands. "You wouldn't happen to be Illyrian would you?"

"Shut up you spying scum." The guard had snapped.

"Hey!" Kyle had snapped back. "I'll have you know that I'm a loyal friend of your bloody king...well, maybe not loyal...pissed off might be more accurate. Which is what good 'ol Jaxon is going to be when he hears about this."

"Kyle! Shhhhh!" Tess had squeezed his hand warningly.

"I'd think that you'd be little ticked yourself Tess. You're their queen after all." Kyle had replied. Kyle had smirked at the guard. "She is you know. Sabrya of Dernia herself. You're going to feel mighty stupid when you have to kneel down and beg her forgiveness."

"If she's Sabrya of Dernia, then I'm Lucianus Nestorian. You just called her Tess you imbecile." The guard had growled. "Now march!"

"Well duh." Kyle had shot back. "Don't you think she'd go by an alias? You're at war and she's wandering around the countryside lost."

"And so you reveal her true identity to the first person you meet?" The guard had inquired, raising an eyebrow in disdain. "If you're her bodyguard, she'd better get another."

That had finally shut Kyle up. He had scowled even more when Tess had snickered.

"I don't know what you think is so funny."

"You. You're very, very funny." She had squeezed his hand again. "Don't worry. I have everything under control."

And the amazing thing was, she had.

They had arrived at a make-shift camp about fifteen minutes later.

A tall man with greying hair and a well-clipped beard had stepped out of a tent that flew a flag with the same symbol as the soldiers wore on their chest.

"Bring a light Lorn." He had ordered their snarky guard. The jerk had hurried off to comply.

Tess had stepped forward before the light could be brought. "Are you the commander of these men?"

"I am." The man had replied in a deep voice. "I am Hamor of the House of Jenn. Who are you and why are you skulking around in disputed territory like a criminal?"

The light had arrived by then. It had thrown a gentle glow over Tess's features, highlighting the gold in her hair and the brilliance of her blue eyes. "Don't you know me my lord?"

The man had stared at her for so long, Kyle was sure that he did not. But finally a bewildered smile had broken out across his craggy face. "Sabbie?" He had whispered. "Is it really you my dear?"

"It is."

And from that moment on, everything had changed.

She had been whisked away from him so quickly, Kyle barely had time to call after her. When he had tried to follow her, he had been held back by the irritating Lorn.

She hadn't even looked back.

Finally Kyle had done the only thing that gave him any satisfaction. He had smirked at Lorn. "Get ready to kneel."

The Illyrian had just narrowed his eyes and pushed him into the nearby tent.

Which was where he still was, staring up at the ceiling, freezing to death, beginning to starve to death as well and wondering if he was STILL going to be scheduled for execution at dawn.

Where the hell was she?

He finally got his answer after another hour.

The flap at the entrance to the tent was flipped aside and Tess ducked in. She just stood there staring at him for a long moment.

He stared right back.

In the short span of time since they had last seen each other, she had become a queen - and not just any queen...a queen who had stepped right out of Camelot.

Her blonde hair was braided tightly in two plaits, which were wound around her head. She was wearing a long flowing robe in the same colours as the guards. Around her neck was a pendant with the same symbol on it as well.

And on her head sat a small circlet of some metal that looked an awful lot like gold.

"Kyle, I'm sorry." Tess finally said when the silence seemed about to stretch on forever. "I had to take care of some stuff. That was Max's stepfather." She moved forward, hugged him tightly. "Are you okay?"

"I am now." He let himself bring his arms around her. "What the hell is going on though? Why are you dressed like that?"

Tess snorted, stepped back. "Apparently I'm the answer to Hamor's prayers. They've been planning an assault on the Citadel for weeks, but morale has been extremely low. People were beginning to give up hope that the king would ever return to lead them. My arrival has been timed very nicely. I'm Sabrya the figurehead - leading my husband's army into the fray with a rousing speech...and of course, dressed like the pretty little queen they remember because I'm supposed to stay back when they actually fight. I said I would dress like this for a few days to convince them of who I am, because apparently I was something of a woos in my past life, but that when it comes time to actually take Tarsus down..." Her eyes glinted. "I fully intend to be there."

"Um...did you explain to - er - Hamor that you and Max aren't exactly married this time around?" Kyle asked, not liking the sound of this at all.

Tess grimaced. "Not exactly."

The pain was not unexpected but it still surprised Kyle with it's intensity. "I see." He turned away.

It always came back to Max Evans. He wondered how he could have actually been so stupid AGAIN as to actually believe that this time things would be different. Being back amongst her people must have reminded Tess of what she would be losing if she gave up her claim to Max.

Max Evans was a king. He had made Tess a queen in another lifetime - could make her so again in this lifetime.

"Kyle, it's not what you think!" Tess reached out, touched his shoulder. Her tone was pleading. "We have to do whatever it takes to get them to help us. We need to get Max and Liz out of the Citadel and the only way to do that is to have the Illyrians firmly supporting the monarchy." She sighed heavily. "It's too confusing to explain it all to them right now. Do you think they're going to understand that on Earth Max and I are in love with other people - understand easily at any rate? With the interdict that the kingdom has been under, half of the Illyrians don't even know that we died. As far as they're aware, we've been ruling all along."

Kyle turned back to look at her, swallowed hard. "I understand Tess. I do. But I just have this bad feeling...that not telling the truth now is going to blow up in your face somehow."

He was still not reassured but he knew that now was not the time for jealousy. While he didn't completely buy that Tess was not still holding a small torch for Max, saving Liz was all the should matter to him right now.

He would focus on that. It would help him get through this. Because he knew what Tess pretending to be Max's wife meant.

Touching and kissing were completely off limits. Their first kiss would be their last - at least for a good long while.

In the eyes of these men, she was not his, never had been.

She still belonged to Max.

And, for now, he would just have to accept it.