Chapter 11
Sevic stood by Riddick's side as Lords and Ladies milled around, once again mingling, every now and then stealing a glance at them. Riddick merely stood there, glancing around the room, watching people watch him. Us, he told himself. They're watching us. Actually they were watching Sevic, wondering who she was and where she came from. Recognition passed over some Lords' faces, and she felt dirty when it happened, but she pushed the thought away. She was in a better position now, concerning both safety and social status. Absentmindedly, she spun the ring on her finger, just as she always had when she was nervous. It'd bothered her the first few days she didn't have it, actually, and she didn't know what to do when she was nervous. She tugged on the crook of Riddick's elbow she still held, and he bent toward her.
"I thought this was supposed to be a function where people dance, not just stand around and talk," she commented quietly.
"It is." Her eyebrow rose. "They're waiting," he explained.
"For what?"
"Us."
"What? Why?"
"They always wait for the Lord Marshall to act first," he said with a shrug.
"That's dumb," she snickered.
"You should have seen it last Sunday," he said with a small chuckle. "I didn't exactly feel like doing anything but getting drunk, so no one danced. Just walked around and mingled, waiting for me to do something." She smiled, shaking her head. "Do you –"
"No," she interrupted quickly. "Let them walk." Riddick glanced down at her.
"I was just going to ask you if you wanted a drink," he said slowly. She laughed, then nodded. He leaned down, gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and walked away. She sighed. He's playing along, Sevic, she scolded herself. Both of our lives are now a public charade. Just chill out. She clasped her hands together, spinning her ring again.
"Lady Sevic." She turned, just in time to see Lord Vaako bow.
"Lord Vaako," she returned, nodding her head slightly. She glanced around quickly, and he followed her gaze. Dame Vaako was otherwise occupied with another Lady. Probably talking about dresses, Sevic thought with a smirk. If it's not fashion, she's not interested. Her attention returned to the man standing next to her, still gazing at the milling crowd.
"I didn't know you'd been married," he commented quietly. Her eyes met his quickly. "If I'd known…" he trailed off as he averted her eyes, rocking on his feet, hands clasped appropriately behind his back.
"You didn't," Sevic returned equally as quietly. "Apology accepted." His eyes returned to hers, and she forced a small smile, which he mirrored.
"I'm glad you've found favor with the Lord Marshall," he continued. "He'll be good to you." Her eyebrow rose.
"He'll be good to me or for me?" she asked. He smiled again.
"Both." She nodded, turning her attention back to the crowd. "I noticed your ring has an inscription on it," he continued. "If you don't mind my asking…"
"Eschei G'nath Igbusthi," she said quietly, the words rolling off her tongue gracefully. It was a language slightly guttural, but still beautiful when spoken correctly.
"Love lasts forever," Lord Vaako said quietly. Her head snapped back to him, but he only smiled.
"Eternally," she corrected, a smile growing on her lips as well.
"We were all something else once," Vaako said, nodding to her before turning away. She blinked, jumping as Riddick's arm appeared with a drink. He transferred the glass to her hand and glanced down at her.
"You okay?"
"Vaako's Seleronian," she said quietly.
"He's what?"
"Yeah," Sevic sighed. "That's what I thought."
"How do you know?" She held her hand out, catching the light with her ring. "What's it say?"
"Eschei G'nath Igbusthi," she said, her eyes never leaving his. He blinked. "Love lasts eternally," she translated. "He got the dialect wrong, but he couldn't have known it unless his grandparents taught it to him or something."
"Why's that?"
"It's a dead language," Sevic explained with a shrug. "Only the old Seleronians knew it before it was destroyed." She grimaced, swallowing a sip of whatever it was Riddick had gotten for her. "Now the only people that know it are the people that happened to learn it from their grandparents, which weren't many, and survived the invasion and didn't lose it in the cleansing."
"You didn't lose it," he said.
"I was never cleansed," she returned quickly, lowering her voice. "I was taken straight to the, um." She stopped, eyeing the people around them. "Anyway." Riddick nodded. "He remembered or learned it somewhere else," she finished quietly.
"Did he ask you to dance?"
"What?" Sevic looked up at him quickly.
"Did he ask you to dance," Riddick repeated. She shook her head slowly. "Well," he said, setting his glass down and taking hers from her as well. "Shall we?" He offered his arm, but she only looked at him. His eyebrows rose.
"I don't dance, Riddick," she said firmly. He sighed, dropping his arm.
"Do you really want to turn down the Lord Marshall in front of so many people?" he asked, a playful gleam in his eye. She took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
"Keep in mind that I am armed," she said quietly, her voice low in her throat. He grinned.
"Is that supposed to be a warning or a turn on?" he asked, slipping a hand around her waist. She stood her ground, and his smile fell. "Oh, come on," he chided. "I'm a really good dancer."
"I'm not," she retorted flatly.
"Do you really want to make them stand around and watch us for the second Sunday in a row?" She sighed. "Please?" He stuck his lower lip out, and she frowned, finally reaching up to pinch it gently between her thumb and forefinger. Shock registered on his face, and she smiled.
"Fine," she sighed. "But you step on my toes even once and I'll—"
"You'll what?" he challenged, leading her out to the floor. Lords and Ladies gathered around the floor, watching the couple through the first song.
"Do they just watch or what?" she asked quickly, glancing over his shoulder at the faces peering at them.
"Just for the first one," he answered. "Weren't you just threatening me though?" Her eyebrow rose. "I want to know what you'll do if I do step on your toes." He paused, smirking. "Even once."
"Don't push me, Riddick," she warned, her eyes sparkling back at him.
"Or what?"
"I'm armed." His hand tightened on her back, drawing her close to him as he led her around the floor.
"That just makes you even sexier," he whispered against her ear. She chuckled, digging her fingers into the back of his neck as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. The song finally ended, and after the Lords and Ladies clapped, Riddick and Sevic were no longer alone on the floor, much to Sevic's approval. "Listen to me carefully," Riddick said quietly, close enough to her ear to keep anyone from eavesdropping. "The Vaakos smell funny to me."
"I coulda told you that," Sevic quipped. "She wears too much perfume and he doesn't wear enough." Riddick's shoulder shook with his silent chuckle.
"I'm serious. There's something off about them," he insisted, but the smile remained, both on his face and in his voice. "If they ever give you the opportunity to spend time with them, take them up on it and find out what you can without being nosy enough to call attention to it," he instructed.
"So you're telling me we've discussed my going to Lady Vaako's and you've decided I'm going to," she deduced.
"No, I've instructed you to. What you end up doing is your call." He paused, and she lifted her head to look at him. "But you should." She studied his face for a moment, watching him do the same, and finally nodded.
"So if Vaako asks me to dance?" She could have sworn Riddick winced.
"Just know that I'll be watching if you choose to," he said slowly.
"Is that a threat?" she asked, arching her eyebrow, though her lips tugged into a smirk.
"Only if he tries anything."
"And if I try something?" she pressed. He blinked, and she grinned, resting her head on his shoulder again.
"You're evil," Riddick chuckled.
"You're awfully possessive of a simple whore like myself," she whispered, the smile falling from her face.
"You're not a whore," he countered.
"Still possessive," she insisted. He paused, not only in speaking, but in his movements as well. He seemed to have picked up on the tension in her voice. She let out a breath as he started dancing again.
"Not possessive. Protective," he corrected. She nodded, letting it drop.
"I do have a serious question," she said slowly. He nodded. "If you want me to spend all the time I can with the Vaakos to do some digging," she paused, taking a breath to calm herself. "What if he, um, wants to see me when his wife isn't there?" she asked, hoping he'd catch the implication.
"I'll be the clingy lover," he answered.
"Lover?"
"That's what they all think," he said with a shrug. "You're staying in my quarters, sitting to my right at dinner, getting first dance." She nodded. "What they don't know won't hurt them," he added. This time, she sensed the tension in his voice. She lifted her head again, staring up at him. His eyes followed her tongue as it darted out to wet her lips, his fingers tightening slightly on the small of her back.
"And you want what they think to be true," she assumed. He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"What I want doesn't matter right now," he said quietly. She tilted her head to the side. "And I hate it when you do that," he added with a soft chuckle. "I just want you safe, Sevic. I can't explain why. But if I have to suffer through events like this with you at my side looking and smelling and feeling this good, I can." She smiled. "After all, I've got a shower. Can always take care of things myself, you know." Her smile turned into a grin, and she shook her head. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love," he added gently. She nodded.
"That's the past, though," she said with an uncomfortable sigh.
"If you're not over it, you're not over it," he returned with a small shrug.
"It's been almost eleven years, Riddick," she said, her eyes growing sad. "I never mourned him properly, but it's over and done now." His eyes searched hers. "I'll always miss him, and I'll always love him." She sighed, dropping her head back to his shoulder.
"So what are you saying?" Riddick asked after a beat.
"I don't know." He took a breath and paused, glancing down at what he could see of her face.
"If and when you decide what you want to do, do it," he said gently.
"So what are you saying?" she asked, deliberately using his exact words.
"I'm saying that you know I want you, and if and when you decide you want me, and I mean that if, by the way, you make the first move," he answered.
"What if you change your mind before I decide?" she pressed.
"I doubt I will, judging from what's in this room." Her head lifted, and he made a show of looking around the dance floor. "Doesn't seem anyone else measures up," he said with a shrug, focusing once again on her.
"How long have you known me?" she asked, suddenly suspicious.
"Doesn't matter," he said quickly, shaking his head. "I'm an excellent judge of character." Her eyebrow rose, and he just smirked that tiny, annoying little barely-there smirk he'd perfected. She couldn't help but laugh. "And besides," he added with a shrug. "Don't take this the wrong way, but it's not like it'd be the first time, you know?" She sighed, dropping her forehead to the middle of his chest. "You took it the wrong way like I told you not to," he said quickly. She chuckled.
"No, it's not that," she said, lifting her head again, unable to hide the smile from the thought that just ran through her head. His eyebrow rose, head tilting to the side. "You hate it when I do that and you do it back to me, huh?" His eyebrow rose, so she tilted her head, mocking him. He grinned. "I was just thinking that it would be very different if I was a willing partner." His smile fell. "So it wouldn't be the first time for me to be with you, but it would definitely be the first time for you to be with me." She blinked. "I didn't follow that, did you?" He chuckled, nodding slowly.
"If I didn't know better I'd think you were flirting with me," he said quietly, glancing down at her lips quickly. She shrugged.
"Maybe it's just that Dame Vaako's been watching us for a while and, you know, play along and all…" She watched his smile fall suddenly, quirking her eyebrow as she smirked. "Point for me," she commented quietly. He sighed. "Well, Vaako's really been watching us, but, um, it's suddenly very warm in here as I dig myself deeper and deeper." He laughed, pulling her against his chest again. "How long does this shindig last anyway?"
"Until we leave." She sighed.
"So they just wait for whatever the Lord Marshall does, huh?"
"They might stay after we leave, but it's officially over when we leave."
"So it's not okay to dance until we dance, and it's not okay for them to leave until we leave." He nodded. "What if they have to pee or something?" She wasn't expecting the roar of laughter, but no one else seemed to pay it much mind, so she joined in, though a little more quietly.
"Are you ready to go or something?"
"Well, here's the situation. My feet are killing me, and I really have to pee. But if you don't want to leave yet, I'm a little worried they might get the wrong impression if I leave and then they start leaving and realize 'Oh wait. The Lord Marshall's still here. We can't leave yet.' And then I get back and everyone knows I just had to pee, and that's sorta like walking around with toilet paper attached to the bottom of your shoe." Riddick's shoulders were shaking so hard she thought he'd knock both of them over, and she barely contained her laughter long enough to explain her dilemma. When he'd managed to gather himself, he stepped away from her and took her hand, leading her off the floor. She watched, and people continued dancing, though they watched the couple intently. He led her back to where he'd set their drinks and stood, just smiling down at her and shaking his head as he reached for his glass. She took it from his hands on the way to his lips and shook her head, setting it back on a table. He blinked, and then realized, nodding quickly.
"If you're ready, my Lady," Riddick said with a bow. She smiled, taking his arm again as he led her to the staircase. Once they got to the top of the stairs and behind a massive statue, she stopped, pulling her hand from his arm. He stopped as well, turning back to her, and chuckling as she ripped her shoes from her feet, popped her ankles, and took his arm again.
