Standard disclaimers apply
PATH TO TAMARAN
Chapter Three – Princess, Slave and Titan
They were like jewels that shone brilliantly with inner light; like a million symmetrical facets cut to free the soul resting within the gems.
Starfire stared at Robin as her mind began to fill with thoughts brought by vision. She momentarily thought about how it was a waste to hide such eyes behind a mask and how privileged she was to have seen it.
He cocked a smile and she could hardly believe how much character it gave his face. He came closer; perhaps Dr. Mueller allowed him.
He gently clasped her upper arm before rubbing it gently. "'You okay?"
She blinked, realizing that she had been staring. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks at the same time a laugh escaped her. She pressed a hand to her lips, embarrassed by her strange responses, but she kept smiling, and she looked shyly at everyone else; at everything else.
Dr. Mueller was grinning; she could tell even through his mustache, and behind him stood Bruce. There was a ghost of a smile on his face and his eyes showed only the slightest hint of pleasure.
"Hot dog! What did I tell you?" cried Dr. Mueller, turning to face Bruce.
Bruce nodded and stuck out his hand. "Congratulations. Excellent work."
Dr. Mueller shook it enthusiastically while Bruce gave him a pat on the back.
Still somewhat dazed from it all, Starfire looked at Robin again. He was still smiling his half smile but an expression of curiosity, mingled with his amusement, began to surface.
"What?" he asked.
Unable to tear her gaze away from him, she shook her head. She was happy; she knew she was, and she wanted to kiss him; share the joy, but Robin would be mortified beyond belief if she engaged him in a lip lock in front of Bruce. So instead she reached for his hand and clasped it.
"Well, Kori," said Bruce. "Judging by that smile on your face, this study is a galactic success."
She felt another blush come over her as she looked upon Bruce's face and realized just how devastatingly handsome the billionaire "playboy" was. He had black hair, perfectly elegant in its cut, and while the blueness of his eyes were only a few shades darker than Robin's, they were more penetrating, like he was reading into one's very soul. He was groomed to perfection and everything about him looked expensive, from the threads of his suit to perhaps the mousse that had been used to hold his hair. She could very well understand how he could sweep women off their feet by his mere presence. She stared at him for a heartbeat before transferring her gaze back to Robin.
Of course, there were differences in the bone structure of their faces. For one thing, Bruce's face was square, like his jaw was made of rock. Robin's face was softer around the edges. Robin's nose was more delicate, whereas Bruce had a somewhat aristocratic lift to it. Naturally, being much older, Bruce was broader of breadth, and perhaps one could already tell that Bruce's body would always be larger than Robin's acrobatic frame. But that aside, their hair and eyes; their stance, the way they moved their shoulders, the way they gestured with their hands and tilted their heads back cockily, were so strikingly similar in demeanor that Starfire had to wonder if they were just pretending to be unrelated. She had seen brothers acting less alike than Robin and Bruce did. It was uncanny.
She tried to say something to Bruce. "Thank you," or maybe even, "It is nice to finally see you!" But his overwhelming presence struck her speechless, and she only prayed Robin wouldn't read much into it. He could be so jealous when it came to Bruce. Remnants—she knew—of his overall competitiveness when it came to his foster father. Sometimes it made her wonder if she shouldn't have admitted to Robin before that Batman and Bruce Wayne fascinated her.
Starfire could already detect the beginnings of a raised eyebrow on Robin's features and in her haste to allay him of his insecurities, she found herself blurting out the truth. "I am overwhelmed." Thankfully, the truth worked well with the given situation.
Bruce chuckled. "I bet you are. Think you could handle it?"
"I believe so."
"Good." He gave Starfire a pat on the shoulder. "Congratulations, Kori. Your bravery's been an inspiration."
A new blush rose in her cheeks. She wanted to tell Bruce it was silly of him to think that she had anything to do with it, but that would seem ungracious. She merely smiled in response.
He turned to Robin. "I trust you'll stay with her for the rest of the afternoon?"
Robin looked as if he was going to roll his eyes. "Of course."
With that settled, Bruce referred to Dr. Mueller and they agreed to emerge together, if only to break the good news to the other scientists.
"I'll be back in a minute," said Dr. Mueller. He shot Robin a warning glance before he left the room with Bruce.
Starfire did not waste much time. She pulled Robin by the collar of his jacket and kissed him. He had little choice, but judging by the way he responded he didn't mind it one bit.
When they pulled apart, Starfire kept indulging herself by meeting his gaze intently. His blues were mesmerizing, at least for now. She couldn't exactly tell if it was the high of seeing again or whether it was really the kind of effect his eyes would keep having on her. A small smile began to form on her lips.
He grinned. "Like what you're seeing?"
She stifled a giggle, only slightly embarrassed. "I suppose I had that coming. It is just—"
Her words were interrupted by the sound of distant clapping and cheerful cries. It made her smile. She would have the opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the study. After Dr. Mueller was done examining her, she would have to be examined by the other doctors. It would be like a retest of sorts, similar to the ones she took before, except these tests would be taken over a period of time, approximately within a period of three weeks. Close observation was necessary, perhaps for an even longer time, especially since the procedure they applied was basically experimental, but having taken into consideration her lifestyle and alien biology, they couldn't very well keep her for observation for a year.
By the time she had to leave Gotham, she would have a physician ready for her in Jump City who would have been thoroughly briefed of her case. She would be seeing that physician regularly for the next few months and it would have to serve as a satisfactory arrangement for all the concerned scientists.
"I guess Bruce and Dr. Mueller told them the good news," said Robin. "We should call the Titans later. I'm sure they'd want to know it all worked out."
She nodded. "This is rather exciting, is it not? Now it is beginning to sink in and—oh, I feel like celebrating! Maybe we should go out tonight, Richard. I would like to see Gotham. The park, or maybe the museum! Ooh, perhaps Le Canari Do'r! You said it had a glorious view of the city. But then it might be too cold to dine outdoors, wouldn't it?"
He brushed his knuckles softly against her cheek and he smiled. "You know, you could ask me anything right now..." He kissed her softly.
Her eyes flashed mischievously. "I always wondered what I could get my fearless leader to do when he is willing to indulge me."
Robin's eyebrow twitched slightly, an amused look on his face. "Hey, I indulge you on several occasions."
"Because you usually know what I like, but maybe I have come up with a few things you would have to figure out..."
"Oh, really?"Now his eyebrow was in full arch. He cocked a grin and she believed right then that the grin, combined with the spell his eyes had put on her, would one day be her demise.
She was about to say something particularly naughty when there was a sound from the hallway.
"IxNay the exsay alktay. Doc's coming back," he muttered in her ear.
She rolled her eyes, realizing what Robin had said. He had explained pig Latin to her before and it was quite easy to understand once one got used to it, however strange the mechanics of the dialect was. She pinched him, half grinning, half scowling. "You started it!" she muttered back.
"Ouch! Quiet! Here he comes."
"Well now, missy! You've caused quite a stir out there!" said Dr. Mueller as he strode back in the room. "Step aside, sonny. Let the doctor do his work."
Starfire bit her lip to keep from laughing at the scowl on Robin's face. He didn't like being called "sonny" the way he hadn't liked being called "runt" or "squirt". Unfortunately for Robin, he couldn't tell the good Dr. Mueller off.
Robin stepped back and let Dr. Mueller examined her eyes individually.
"Well," began Dr. Mueller. "The theory is that your eyesight will get better as you go along, but until we could have actually evidence of all this, it's still just a theory. C'mon over to this here machine, will you, missy?"
Starfire got to her feet and took hold of her walking cane, only to realize she didn't need it anymore. "Goodness," she whispered, feeling overwhelmed all over again.
Robin looked at her worriedly, but Dr. Mueller merely took her gently by the elbow and led her.
"There, there now, missy. It's all a bit funky in your mind now, seeing again all of a sudden, but no need to rush yourself. Sit here... now, before you get any ideas of going out to celebrate..." Dr. Mueller led her to a seat, the height of which he adjusted. "I don't think you should do anything very strenuous, you know? Go out to dinner, visit a museum, listen to some live music in Gotham Central Park... something nice and relaxing, then try to turn in earlier than twelve. Don't go to 'em smoky nightclubs with strobe lights to get yourself wasted on some kamikaze mixed drink."
Starfire wondered briefly if she seemed like the type to do such a thing. Her first experience with nightclubs didn't go very well, after all. "I do not think we will be venturing into nightclubs, doctor."
Dr. Mueller tossed a thumb over his shoulder at Robin. "You make sure young Grayson over there doesn't drag you into one."
Robin's eyebrow arched in surprise. "Me, doctor?"
"Yep. I was young once, too, you know. Always tryin' to impress girls, I was. Took 'em to swanky wine houses with snazzy cigar rooms. Us playboys, we know how to impress the ladies, but you have to keep it light this time, young Grayson; for the young miss. Keep it nice and wholesome."
Robin rolled his eyes, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "Playboys, huh? Yeah, well I'll... try to keep all that in mind."
Starfire tried her best to stifle a giggle.
As Dr. Mueller busied himself adjusting the equipment, she took a moment to take in the scene.
Most of the room was white, the chairs and tables matching the walls, ceilings and floors. It had a floor area of nine feet by ten and its ceiling was not set so high. By the look of things, Dr. Mueller hadn't quite settled in. The only additions he had made to the room were a stack of papers which were neatly piled on the table and a portable black radio. It was entirely possible that this was not Dr. Mueller's office, merely a temporary facility for him to do whatever he needed to do regarding her.
He swung a large piece of equipment in front of her, setting her chin on a rest so that her eyes would be looking through a pair of scopes. There were various other set ups in the room, all of them sparkling new. They made her a bit nervous, but as long as there were no needles lying around, she could bear it.
As Dr. Mueller conducted his examination, Robin stood patiently to the side, watching everything with curiosity. Every once in a while, the doctor would address his questions to Robin, asking Dick Grayson about school and about what "college kids did nowadays" to have fun.
"You mean other than impressing ladies with swanky wine houses and snazzy cigar rooms?" replied Robin good-humoredly. It made Dr. Mueller laugh.
Robin gave his standard answers, and as always, they were fuss-free; when possible, ambivalent. He never liked lying more than was necessary.
When Dr. Mueller's examination was done, Starfire was ushered out to the rest of the scientists. She received many congratulations and Starfire had a lot of thanks to give out, after which they conducted more tests and the occasional interview.
She was secretly hoping that one of the coat-clad scientists would actually be the anesthesiologist, Dr. George Leeman, but when no one had come up to her, gushing in his fabulous way, she assumed he was not around.
At around five in the afternoon, her session with one of the many neurophysiologists was cut short by the arrival of a lab-coat garbed red-head. She was tall and statuesque, her high-heel clad feet only making her taller. She strode on over to the table and stared down the neurophysiologist.
Dr. Hughs, a petite, brown-haired woman with dark, pixie-like features, was not the least bit intimidated. She frowned up at the new arrival and said, "Chase, I've got a long way to go. Don't you be taking the subject now!"
Starfire stared up at Dr. Meridian in awe. She hadn't realized that Dr. Meridian was so beautiful, but then again, Chase Meridian used to have something with Bruce Wayne, so it was only logical to suppose that she wasn't going to be ordinary. After all, Bruce Wayne was the sort of man who managed to find the beautiful brainy ones.
"It's almost five thirty," said Dr. Meridian in a haughty tone. "The subject is done here. She'll be back day after next. You could continue your examination from there."
"But—"
"No buts, Lisa."
"I ought to kick yours..."
Dr. Meridian laughed, patting Dr. Hughs' shoulder. "Come on, Kori. I'm busting you out of here."
Starfire smiled. She murmured her thanks to Dr. Hughs who gave her dire warnings of Dr. Meridian before letting Starfire go with a friendly shoo. As they stepped out on the hallway, Dr. Meridian flashed Starfire a broad smile.
"Prettiest eyes I ever did see," said the doctor. "Congratulations."
Starfire grinned back. "Thank you for everything you have done for me."
Dr. Meridian patted her shoulder. "You're welcome."
"Richard..."
"Oh, he's outside with Dr. Leeman."
Starfire stifled a giggle of delight. She saw the two blurry figures a short distance away, Dr. Leeman's back turned to her. As Starfire and Dr. Meridian approached them, Starfire could hear Dr. Leeman talking in a very serious tone.
"I always liked what Kenneth Cole does to leather jackets," said Dr. Leeman. He was staring intently at the material of Robin's coat. "The stitching is superb and the overall design gives fine form to the wearer. Very chic, very... I'm-fashionable-and-dangerous-so-get-in-line-with-my-other-groupies!"
Robin's brows knotted, staring at the exact same spot on his jacket, maybe hoping to see what Dr. Leeman was seeing. "Really? I just... kinda thought it looked cool."
"Ugh! The intricacies of style and design are utterly wasted on the heterosexual man. My daddy would have been so proud of you."
"Hey... give me some credit. I give Cargo issues a peek once in a while. And some straight guys have actually evolved into—whatchamacallit—Metro-something..."
"Metrosexual; an urban male with a strong aesthetic sense who spends a great deal of money on his appearance and lifestyle."
Robin made a gesture of agreement. "I can be that."
"Oh? Where do you go for your haircuts?"
"The barbershop."
Dr. Leeman rolled his eyes. "Honey, you don't even qualify for the semis."
Robin tried again. "An expensive barbershop?"
"What's going on here?" asked Dr. Meridian when they joined the circle.
Robin was just about to explain when Dr. Leeman began to fawn over Starfire.
Starfire smiled upon seeing a very well-groomed man with rich brown hair, a comely face and a distinctly gym-trimmed physique under the lab coat. He wasn't young, but she would wager he was in better shape than most boys her age.
She thanked Dr. Leeman profusely, flashing him her best smile as he told her he had been keeping his fingers crossed the whole day, just in case.
When Dr. Meridian began to lead them to the exits, Dr. Leeman took Starfire's hand and patted it gently.
"You poor dear. You must be exhausted from all this testing."
Starfire's eyes widened momentarily. "Oh, I do not feel exhausted at all. In fact, I feel strangely energized."
Robin grinned. "Adrenaline. Gotta love it."
Dr. Leeman and Dr. Meridian walked them all the way to the basement parking where Alfred was waiting for them.
Alfred held the door to the black stretch jaguar open as Starfire flashed him a brilliant smile. It was the only explanation he needed. He smiled back, though he remained as reserved as always.
When they were all settled in, Alfred called out from the driver's seat. "Back to the mansion, Master Richard?"
"Yep."
"Very good, sir."
Starfire threaded her fingers through Robin's to get his attention.
He turned to look, an expectant expression on his face.
She had wanted to tell him that she loved his eyes, the way they lit up the nuances of his various smiles and gave his handsome face the character that made it so irresistible, but she found herself holding back, smiling at the small, personal secret.
When she didn't say anything, he arched an eyebrow, an amused grin spread on his face. "What?"
She shook her head, placing an affectionate kiss on his cheek.
He looked baffled for a heartbeat before he shrugged it off and sat back to relax on his seat.
Starfire leaned back as well, appreciating his profile while the sights of Gotham passed her by outside.
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Starfire had seen castles and palaces when she was Princess of Tamaran. She had seen citadels and fortresses when she was a slave of Gordane. She had seen chateaus nestled atop sprawling hills; manors spanning islands in the middle of grand lakes; and villas lending luxury to otherwise virgin coastlines. When she first arrived on Earth, she had seen buildings made of stone, glass, gold, iron, bronze, jade, wood and marble. But when she saw the Wayne Manor from afar for the first time, she was actually quite astonished.
Certainly, the mansion was huge; massive and luxurious, and while it should have been expected, she was surprised to realize that she had been expecting something else. Perhaps it was illogical for her to assume that the house would be anything like Robin's Spartan, no-nonsense approach to everything else; after all, when he moved into the Wayne household, the structure was already there, but she thought maybe she had assumed that Bruce Wayne's fringeless, even more no-nonsense attitude would be a big influence in the house's design. To find that the façade of the house was anything but fringeless was a bit of a surprise. It wasn't a dream-castle, that was for certain. The intricate masonry and stone gargoyles looked strong, businesslike and unmoving, but she hadn't expected anything of the sort at all. She had imagined straight lines, geometric symmetry and lots and lots of white. The concept of stone carvings, faces, gray stone and red tiles didn't fit well with what she thought of Bruce Wayne.
It wasn't ugly; that was for certain. It was actually quite beautiful, and the thought that Robin lived in it before was actually quite amusing, considering he exhibited none of the traits she had endured from princes and young lords, but she was caught off-balance, nonetheless. It was a home fit for a king, yet it housed knights; dashing, though they were.
If Robin noticed the awe in her expression, he made no mention of it.
Starfire tried to affect nonchalance inside the house, even if actually looked more opulent than she imagined.
Before Alfred left them, he asked if they would be having dinner in the house.
Robin's reply was simply, "Nah."
It made Starfire feel somewhat giddy.
They retired to their respective rooms and Starfire proceeded to get ready. After she had showered, she walked into her closet and felt hopelessly overwhelmed. As a princess in Tamaran she had been too young to appreciate things like clothes, shoes and accessories. Her hand-maidens and k'norfka had always seen to her appearance, so she had taken a lot of it for granted. The walk-in closets of her Gordanian masters hadn't been nearly as appealing, either, considering that a lot of their clothing consisted of lamellar armor and bland jewelry. The last time she had been so moved by an extensive wardrobe was when she served as Lady-in-Waiting for Queen Salja, and even then, there were at least half-a-dozen other ladies who made decisions before she did. Her greatest contribution to Queen Salja's appearance had been in terms of casting her vote when it came to which shoe, among two, would best go with the gown that had already been chosen. So all in all, she has had very little experience when it came to huge wardrobes.
Starfire looked from left to right as she walked the aisle. It wasn't nearly as big as the royal closets she had been in, but to have so many clothes—just for her—seemed slightly nauseating.
Amidst the supremely fashionable array of clothing, she cautiously went with a simple mustard colored dress with an elegant black lace border. The shoes presented a bit of a problem, considering they all seemed heeled to the heavens. She wondered vaguely about how women managed to walk around in such high shoes and worried about her own balancing skills. She eventually settled for black velvet ones with ankle straps and a dainty black ribbon at the arch. When she was done, she looked at the full length mirror and was surprised at the sophistication she saw. She hadn't looked this grown up since she went after Robin and Kitty to the prom, and even then, she didn't seem quite as mature.
The length of the dress reached her knees, but it really did give a nice line to her curves. She wore no jewelry but for the band on her right upper arm. She touched it briefly, amazed at how she had managed to preserve it in spite of everything she had gone through.
Satisfied with the way she looked, she selected a coat to go with the entire thing and met with Robin.
When she reached the front hall, she felt an odd delight seeing the expression on Robin's face, and when he told her, "You look... really nice." That was compliment enough for her. Robin never liked to let on that he got too impressed.
She, on the other hand, did not mind showing how impressed she was. He looked impossibly handsome in his striped coat and tie, and perhaps a bit embarrassed by her glowing compliments, he explained that the suit was very similar to what he wore that night Bruce had his cheese and caviar party.
Starfire smiled mischievously. "Oh, you mean that night I kissed you and you did nothing?"
He reddened terribly, taking her coat and helping her in it. "Yeah. You should know by now that I'm not all that great with first kisses."
Starfire laughed, remembering his version of his first kiss with Babs as opposed to Babs' version of it.
"She kissed me and it was nice... but I got kinda scared too," was how he told it.
Babs had been more candid. "I kissed him and he looked sick to his stomach. I thought maybe I had bad breath but no, I knew there was nothing wrong with me, so it must be him. Looked really cute, though. Turned out he was just afraid of what Bruce might think about him getting kissy with the Commissioner's niece. I swear, even at twelve, Robin was neurotic as hell."
Starfire and Robin made for the garage where they got into one of the many luxury cars. He had little choice but to go around town as Richard Grayson, but as it was, being the billionaire's ward gave him certain privileges, especially pertaining to places that gave celebrities a certain degree of privacy.
He took her to a restaurant midtown that was an Asian-South-American fusion. The restaurant sat at the top of one of Gotham's highest skyscrapers and gave an excellent view of the city. The most exclusive tables in the restaurant were set up in private rooms and Robin said, "I didn't even have to tell them who I was. They just said they'd take care of everything and here we are... best seats in the house."
She could detect a hint of amazement in his tone and it occurred to her that he was still surprised by the way people in Gotham treated Dick Grayson. She figured it was because he had been gone from Gotham long enough to forget that he was—essentially—considered some kind of urban prince by virtue of the urban King Bruce.
The view of the city was everything she had dreamed of. Jump City boasted about its skyline; the way it was set against a golden bridge and sprawling hills, but Starfire saw how Gotham's cosmopolitan ambience made everything seem dazzling and sophisticated. The buildings spread through out the view were alive with lights, as were the streets below. Beaming from the ground to the sky were powerful halogen lamps, swinging back and forth, most of them projecting some kind of ad, usually for beer.
"The Bat Light often shows up somewhere there," said Robin softly, lest they be heard. He pointed to the sky.
Starfire could only imagine it. "Was there ever a Robin Light?" She had phrased her question carefully, in case someone was eavesdropping.
He laughed at that. "No. Sidekicks don't get lights like that. The Bat Light ensures the dual package when Batman deems it necessary."
Starfire leaned closer to him, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Was there ever a time he did not deem your being there necessary?"
He cocked an amused smile. "A lot of times. Annoyed the hell out of me."
She smiled back sympathetically. She did not need him to explain; she knew much about Robin and Batman's relationship from what he had told her, and she had grown to understand why the two had to go their separate ways.
"Hey," he said in a softly chiding tone. "We're always talking about me, which is strange, because you know I don't like talking about me."
Robin knew everything he needed to know about her; her moods, her thought patterns, her vaguely painted history... essentially, he didn't need to know anymore about her past, but of course, it also meant he knew she was holding something back, a fact she could not lie her way out of. She could never lie to Robin. Robin was so honest with her and he deserved no less, but as always, she was reluctant to tell him that part of her life that she herself wanted to forget.
"Is the past very important to you?"
He seemed surprised by it. "Well, I wouldn't put it that way. What's done is done, I suppose. Hopefully, we've learned from our mistakes; grown from it. But then that's just it. The past, more often than not, makes you what you are. It gives you a more in-depth understanding of what you are now. I guess I just want to know all of you... in case I missed something." He chuckled lightly.
She stifled a sigh. She did not want him to think she was exasperated by it, because she knew she had to tell him everything sooner or later. She did want him to know all of her, and even she had to admit that what she was now had been greatly influenced by what she had been. "W-What do you want to know?"
"Well, for starters, you could tell me about Galfore."
Starfire was greatly relieved, and maybe a bit grateful. She wouldn't be surprised if Robin had deliberately chosen an easy topic, something he knew wouldn't demand so much from her. "I have explained to you what a k'norfka is, you remember?"
"Bodyguard and nanny?"
She laughed. "Yes, but a k'norfka's responsibility is far greater than it seems. K'norfkas make sure that the child they are caring for goes to her lessons and learns her lessons well. They make certain that the child learns the rudimentary skills for reading, social graces and fighting. They employ punishment, just like a real parent would, and they would tuck you into bed, just like a real parent would... Galfore was the k'norfka any child could ask for. He was very kind to me, and he taught me many things. He prepared me well for Okaara, and whenever I went home on holidays, he would always make my stay in Tamaran special. He never forgot my birthday and he always sent me treats from home. When I—when I left for good he shed tears for me. He was not ashamed to cry. The Grand Ruler and all his senators saw him, but he didn't care. He broke protocol. In the face of one's superiors, it was considered a great humiliation to weep, but he wept, and he didn't care who saw him. I have a holograph of him. Would you like to see?"
Robin seemed astonished. "Heck yeah. I never knew you had—er—holographs."
She smiled. "I have kept a few. Some of them... got lost when my armband was—well—what you would call pawned, but the one of Galfore's survived, though barely." She removed her armband and showed Robin the underside of it.
There were shallow carvings on it, invisible from the outside. She traced her finger down one of the carvings and a palm-sized rotating holograph appeared. Very scratchy; very old, but it showed a detailed enough picture of Galfore. She held her finger down on one of the etchings in her armband and the holograph held still.
Robin stared at it, though whether it was because he was looking at Galfore or gaping at the holograph itself, she couldn't exactly tell until he said, "That's handy."
She smiled.
In another minute, he was tilting his head to the side. "Galfore doesn't look like anyone's nanny."
"That is true. Even in Tamaran, he did not fit the stereotype." She grinned. Galfore, even in the diminutive holograph, looked huge; almost barbaric. His broad shoulders, his overwhelming height, his gigantic hands and his mass of fiery red hair made him look fierce, but Starfire knew there wasn't a gentler man in all of Tamaran. He spoke in a great, booming voice, but she had never heard him utter a cruel word. "But it was just as well, yes? Having a k'norfka like him, no one dared to hurt me!"
Robin grinned. "I guess not. Was he exclusively your k'norfka? Didn't he take care of your sister and brother, too?"
"Blackfire... well, she never was like any Tamaranian. She rejected every k'norfka she was given, and eventually, they just stopped trying to give her one. She seemed fine without one, anyway. It was as if she could do everything by herself, even at a young age. Goodness, I did believe she was magnificent."
Robin's eyebrow arched, but he said nothing. She couldn't blame him for having a terrible opinion of Blackfire, but he respected the fact that Blackfire was her sister, and perhaps he understood that as bad as her sister had been, she couldn't bring herself to completely hate Blackfire... at least not yet.
Starfire steered the subject to safer waters. "Ryand'r had a k'norfka of course, but he spent so much time with Galfore and I that Ryand'r practically had two k'norfkas"
Their food arrived and all talk of her past was set aside for lighter matters. After dinner, he took her to the Gotham Central Park where the light and sound show would be playing in the choreographed fountain for the first time in six months.
The orchestra-played music was beautiful, floating out of the speakers and seemingly shaping the water as it shot out of the pool. It towered above spectators, reflecting the lights being flashed from beneath the pond's surface. It was poetry in motion; a perfect synchronization of music and visual art. The power wielded by the performance on its spectators on that night of unexpected Spring would forever be unmeasured, but it gave lovers every reason to celebrate with it. Halfway through the show, Robin and Starfire were noticing nothing and no one except each other. So engaged were they that the music had long died down before realizing that very few had stayed to watch the calm waters.
To finish the evening, Robin did take Starfire to La Canari Do'r. The veranda was still closed for the season, but the doors doubled as wide-glass windows, so that diners could still have their view.
The hour was late, and apart from them, there were only two diners left. The loudest sound in the room was the occasional peep of the caramel colored canary poised at a perfect distance from the heater.
Staring at the view from her seat, Starfire barely noticed the loud purr of the fat cat as it rubbed against her leg.
"She likes you," said Robin.
Starfire petted her, scratching the cat at her scruff and then under her chin, where the cat seemed to like it best. She touched it collar and found the name tag. She had to squint in the dimness to make out the name, but she found a light source and giggled when she was able to read it. "This cat's name is Boyd."
Robin cocked an amused grin. "I see. Poor Boyd's neutered." At the mention of its name, Boyd turned his attentions to Robin, who wasn't as affectionate as Starfire. Robin gave it a pat, or more a scrunch, that had Boyd rattling his head to right his flattened ears. Boyd meowed in complaint of his ill-treated whiskers and padded back to Starfire's feet, where it happily curled up and settled, its tail tickling Starfire's ankles.
"I knew a cat once," said Starfire. She hesitated a moment before resuming. "It wasn't really a cat. It was something similar; one could say an alien cat. In the planet of Karna, there are three intelligent life forms. The Karnans, the Gordanians and the Ssilithissts. The Karnans have a feline quality to their movements and appearance, and they did keep cats. Which seemed odd at first, but then I came to Earth and some people kept monkeys as pets..."
Robin could help but laugh.
Starfire smiled. "For the Karnans and their pet cats, it was perhaps the same. I was... there for a while, and I—I had no one to talk to, especially at night." Karnans didn't keep Slaves. "One of the Karnan children in the house felt bad for me, so she lent me a cat. The child said that the cats were supposed to catch these rat-like pests at night, but this cat was too old to hunt, and it only wanted to lie around and find cold spots, so that it wouldn't feel so hot in its fur. The cat kept me company for two weeks and it wasn't as lazy as they said it was; it only wanted attention."
"Didn't the children talk to you?"
Starfire was just about to tell him that the children hadn't been allowed to talk to the Slave Girl. It was, after all, the reason she brought up the subject in the first place; to tell him all about her life before she met him and the Titans, but her tongue suddenly wouldn't cooperate, until finally, she gave up the fight. "No. Their Karnan parents were very strict about playing. They could only play on the free days; for us, that meant the weekends, and on the weekends, the children were sent to their other relatives, so I was left by myself."
"Where were Blackfire and Ryand'r?"
"Ryand'r was with our parents. Blackfire... was somewhere else."
Robin arched an eyebrow uncertainly. "But... weren't you with your parents? Who were you with in Karna?"
Oops. A moment later, she figured it was just as well she slipped. "I—I was alone. Well, I was with someone, but it wasn't family. I was with someone I worked for."
Robin looked really confused now. "Like a boss?"
"Something like that," she replied, a somewhat painful expression on her face. "You remember that I told you I left to go on my own when I was nine."
Robin blinked. "I thought that was something like—well, boarding school. Or maybe college, like it's done here, or something..."
"No. It was not like that—at all."
There was a brief silence between them as they drank their hot chocolate. She could feel Robin's eyes on her, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, his expectant look became more apparent.
"Well?" he said carefully. "What was it then?"
She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She tried a different path, hoping to get around what was bothering her. "At that time, I was already thirteen. I had been gone from home a long time." She found herself stopping again, reluctant to go on.
He leaned over, perhaps sensing her discomfort. He took her hand, looking at her with his blue eyes that had so enchanted her all evening. "Kori, what were you doing so far away from home, by yourself, at such a young age?"
"I..." Her brows knotted. "I was... doing things for my planet—at first—but then I... I suddenly felt I had do things for my sister. I..." She looked at her hands, one of them intertwined with Robin's. She couldn't go on. Maybe not tonight; on the night she was supposed to be happy. She looked up and pointed at the sky behind Robin. "Look, Richard! A shooting star!"
He kept his gaze on her a second too long, just long enough for her to realize that she wasn't fooling him in the slightest, before he turned to look where she was pointing.
"You missed it," she said, smiling through the guilt she felt. It had been like telling an opponent to look behind him and then punching him in the gut. "But you could still make a wish, yes?"
His gaze met hers again and it was searching. "Yes." He reached out, cupping her face gently. It was meant to be a reassuring gesture, but it also kept her from averting her eyes. "You know you could tell me anything," he said in a confidential tone. "You don't have to hide anything from me. I won't—" He paused, as if to think of the right words. "I don't know... for whatever reason you're not telling me, you don't have to be afraid."
Starfire believed him, and somehow, her insecurities melted away. She thought with fanciful amusement that his beautiful gaze could make her do anything, and that perhaps it was best he didn't know that. "Let us go back to the manor, Richard. I will tell you as much of it as I could when we get there."
He nodded, caressing her cheek one last time before he fished a few bills from out of his wallet and gave Boyd a final scrunch on the head.
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They decided to talk in one of the many lounge rooms of the Wayne Manor. Robin lit the fireplace, seeing that Starfire looked a bit cold.
When they settled themselves on the couch, Starfire started her tale. She began it at the onset of the Citadellian siege of the Vegan Solar System. For many years, before the sieges, there had been talk of the Citadellian government desiring great power. It had all been rumor until at last, there were confirmed reports of the Citadellians forming great armies as they allied themselves with the terrible Gordanians. When finally, the Citadellians began to attack the planets, it was too late for everyone else to rally against them. She told him how news of their planetary invasions were filled with vicious ferocity and Okaaran-trained precision, and that perhaps the planets that they invaded were already beaten long before the Citadellians crossed their space borders.
Before each planet was conquered, the Citadellians would initiate negotiations, and upon the table, the Citadellians made an offer. The planet may choose to let negotiations fall through, mount a resistant and settle the matter in full combat, or the planet may negotiate the terms of their colonization.
Starfire went on to explain. "Over the past few years, none have won against a Citadellian-Gordanian attack. Races were annihilated, the survivors of which were pushed into hiding in the wastelands of their own planet. There was simply no way Tamaran could have fought against them, and survived. We were warriors, and we would die fighting, but we were a small planet, too long left in peace. We were, after all, one of the last unconquered planets in the Vegan System. By sheer number alone, we had no chance. So father chose to negotiate."
Perhaps thinking that it was that point which Starfire had been reluctant to tell him about, Robin squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and said, "It was the only thing he could do."
She smiled wanly and nodded. "The terms were the same for father as it was for all the other planets: Citadellians and Gordanians would require tribute, aside from the alteration of trade routes and export volume to accommodate their needs. There were a lot of economic and political agreements that were discussed in detail, but most important of all, the Citadellians required something, that if the Tamaranians refused to give it, there would be no negotiations at all. It was perhaps the reason so many planets chose to fight rather than submit. It was this: The Citadellians required the enslavement of the crown prince or princess of the planet."
Robin's jaw dropped, shock evident on his face. "Kori, did your father—"
"No. He did not. He refused to give me up."
Starfire could see the relief in Robin's face. She hoped he would be able to cope with what she said next.
"I gave myself up. Father did not want to do it, but I insisted for my people. We were a proud race; we were beautiful, Richard. I could not bear the thought of my people dying, being driven to caves and deserts like rats just because I did not want to be a slave. After all, how bad could it be?"
"Oh God, Kori..."
"It was not so bad," she told him hastily. He looked so upset, like it would give him sleepless nights for weeks. She was willing to downplay the hardships, if only for him. "I managed. I was given in service to one of the Gordanian noble-houses. Relatively, I was placed quite well. I gained a friend there who looked out for me; another slave girl named Xyannis. She was much older than I was, and I suppose she felt very sorry for me. I didn't know it at the time, but she had been royalty as well. Anyway, for several months, she and I were something like companions. She taught me things to make it easier for me and when—things were difficult, she stayed with me. We were there for one another, so you see, I... I managed."
He did not look quite as upset, but he had grown more somber than he was wont. She already decided that she wouldn't tell Robin all the gory details. There was no need to be cruel. He didn't need to know about the lashings or the starvation, nor did she have to tell him about the strange experiments the Gordanians were so prone to performing on their drugged slaves; and most of all, he didn't need to know about how the elder slaves suffered sexual abuse, nor about how close she had come to it. The details were most irrelevant. And it would only make the story unnecessarily long.
"Nearing a year through my slavery, I was told that I was going to be sent back to Tamaran." She breathed deeply. "Richard, I truly believed, at the time, that I was going to die. Slaves did not go back to their home planets on their own two feet. Slaves only went home in a coffin. I thought I had displeased my masters in some way and that they were going to get rid of me for good; because it was cheaper that way."
Robin looked sick to his stomach and she quickly went on lest he began to look any worse.
"But it was not like that this time. This time, I really was going home. Every single time I look back on it, I could not help but wonder if it had been better if they had just killed me..."
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Starfire could not believe her eyes.
A mass of rich violet hair and purple eyes; even in her plainest clothes, she was majestic.
She was a vision against the dimness of early morning, but she quickly turned into a nightmare as she came at Starfire, fingers curved into talon-like claws.
Suddenly, Starfire couldn't breathe, pinned to the wall as she was by her throat. Her eyes widened as she stared into Blackfire's glare, hate emanating from her orbs.
The slave chamber rose in uproar, and the other slaves fell upon Blackfire, trying to pull her away, but Blackfire was strong, and she flung them all away from her without even sparing them a glance.
"This is all your fault!" hissed Blackfire.
Starfire's vision blurred the more she was being deprived of oxygen.
Suddenly she was free and Xyannis was standing above Blackfire angrily.
Starfire fell to her hands and knees, rasping for breath. Her shoulders heaved at the effort and she coughed, forcing herself to find that even pattern of inhaling and exhaling.
The others tried to soothe her and while she was grateful for it, she was too confused to thank them. Blackfire was here; Blackfire had attacked her.
"This is all your fault!" Blackfire had said. What did she mean by that?
"Lay a hand on Starfire again and I will choke you myself!" said Xyannis to Blackfire's prone form.
Blackfire glared up at Xyannis from the floor. "Stay out of this!"
"I will not! We suffer enough abuse from our masters. I will not have slaves abusing each other and I will certainly not let you harm that child!"
Blackfire growled. "She is not a child. She is the bane of my existence. She should never have been born!"
"Enough!"
"Wh-Why?" piped Starfire, finally finding the breath to speak. "Sister, why such anger?"
Xyannis and the others looked only mildly surprised. While it was evident that Blackfire and Starfire were of the same species, their features were so different as to warrant them unrelated.
For the first time, Starfire saw tears in Blackfire's eyes. She wiped it away quickly, but Starfire has seen the sorrow before Blackfire replaced it with resentment.
"I am here—" Blackfire began in bitter fury "—because father wants you back. I am here because I am disposable and you are not."
It struck Starfire like a whip and she stared at Blackfire in horror. At first she couldn't believe it. She refused to believe that her father would make such a horrendous exchange. "H-He wouldn't. Father would do no such thing! We are all his children. No parent would—" And then Starfire saw the collar upon Blackfire's neck. She knew then that this time, Blackfire wasn't lying; that she was now a slave.
"Shut up, Starfire! Just shut up!" Blackfire was yelling, and none of the other slaves were telling her to keep it down. "You don't know anything! You are delusional and naïve and stupid! Don't you understand? We are nothing but currency to him. He could use us to bargain for kingdoms and secure alliances, but that was before they began turning us into slaves. Now we are being used to buy each other: the worthless child for the more important crown princess. X'Hal, I should not have trusted you during the tests of Okaara!"
Starfire cried out ruefully. "You know I did not mean to pass it! I did not want—"
Blackfire screamed, rising from the ground and pouncing on Starfire without form or stance. Starfire fell back, protecting herself instinctively as Blackfire clawed at her.
She felt wretched enough not to fight back. She felt ashamed for being who she was, for being the one who deserved to be let free when everyone else would be left behind. For a moment, she wished Blackfire would grab her by the throat again and kill her for real, but Blackfire was pulled off once more. Xyannis, being Kalappattian, was the only one strong enough to overcome her.
Xyannis threw Blackfire back, stepping in front of Starfire protectively. "We all have to deal with what we're dealt with. Whatever your life has brought you, you cannot blame it on Starfire. Leave her be!"
Blackfire stubbornly tried to catch Starfire's gaze.
"I said leave her be," repeated Xyannis in a more menacing tone.
Starfire knew Blackfire could take on Xyannis and Xyannis wouldn't stand a chance, but perhaps Blackfire merely wanted to let Starfire understand her hatred, and in that, Blackfire had succeeded. There was no more need for bloodshed.
Xyannis then turned to Starfire, gathering Starfire into her arms. Starfire clung to her, accepting the comfort Xyannis offered.
"Don't worry about us, child. We are happy that you are escaping this terrible place."
"B-But at my sister's expense..."
"There is nothing you could do about that. The decision was not yours to make."
"I would rather stay than leave her here. I would rather stay than leave all of you—"
"No. There is no plight worse than slavery."
Starfire closed her eyes, nuzzling against Xyannis.
A few minutes later, the warden came to take Starfire from the barracks. She was tossed into a cold bath, disinfected and then given decent clothes to wear.
When she was presented to her father's emissaries, she didn't look much like the slave she was. Perhaps she was much thinner, but all her teeth were in place and no nails had been removed. The emissaries were just glad she was alive with all her limbs intact. There had been tales of slaves removed of their hands or feet as punishment for one thing or another. Those tales were probably true, but her master's household did not believe in mutilating the slaves. A limbless slave was less efficient.
The relieved look on the emissaries' faces angered Starfire. Did they think Blackfire worth the exchange as well? Did they, like her father, think it was better Blackfire than her?
Then it was no wonder Blackfire hated her so much. It was no wonder Blackfire had grown so bitter.
She said nothing, her sullen expression somewhat puzzling to them, but they did not ask her why she looked so gloomy. After the formalities with the Gordanian seneschal, the emissaries took her back to the ship.
When they spoke to her, she did not reply, and when they insisted on making eye contact, she showed them nothing but voided emotions.
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"It was the first time I felt true hatred, Richard," she said softly. "I hated my father; my parents; my lineage. I could not believe that he had given Blackfire away like—like—a duplicate trading card. What Blackfire had told me in her fit of anger became so real for me that I left Gordane a lot less naïve; perhaps forever disillusioned about what my life was all about. That night, I escaped from the ship, mid-stargate. I did not want to go back to Tamaran and see anyone remotely responsible for the exchange of my sister. I also felt that if I stayed away, my brother would be safe from becoming a commodity, because there would be no other child left to carry the crown. I went back to Gordane and somehow, I was able to speak to Blackfire again. I told her I would take her place; that I would help her escape and that they would not attack Tamaran if I willingly presented myself as an able replacement, but she did not want to have anything to do with me anymore. She told me that the mere thought that she would owe me anything sickened her. She said she would rather rot in her slave quarters.
"I did not give up on her easily, but my constant trips to the slave quarters eventually got me caught by other slave-traders. I was too miserable to try and get away, and I still wanted an opportunity to help my sister escape. I just got traded over and over again and I got farther and farther away from Blackfire. Finally, after years of enslavement, I heard that Blackfire had broken free. The stories were vague, and in a way, I found it hard to believe, but then when I was in Karna—the one with the cat—I saw her, and she was not a slave. I saw her in the market when I was made to accompany my master and I wanted to call out to her, but my master would be furious if I spoke out of turn. Besides, if indeed she had escaped, then she would be a fugitive, and I did not want to be responsible for her getting caught. I had done enough to her. I would just have to pray that if I got out of my slavery alive, I would be able to find her again.
"That same week, I was able to escape. It happened very quickly, and it was a one in a million chance. My master traded me that week, supposedly for a better slave, so I was put on a slave ship named Q'st'r. I still remember it. One of guards, perhaps new to the trade... removed my collar."
"Collar?" Robin said it in a half-indignant tone. She had expected as much from him. She didn't want to have to mention it, but it was an important facet of her slavery, and she had no choice.
"It dampens species powers, so I could not fly or fire bolts. It had other uses as well, but that is perhaps the most important. The guard removed my collar that night because—because he did not know any better." Because he wanted to see what it was like to use an unfettered Tamaranian slave for his own pleasure. "And I took advantage of the situation. I got away, and I looked for my sister. I followed leads for a year, until finally, I found her in the outskirts of Euphorix, in one of its satellite colonies. Suffice it to say, we had both changed, and while I had, in all my slaving years, been driven by hope; I did not know what drove her. She spoke to me, yes, and she did not seem angry, but she was... aloof. You saw how she was when she came here, didn't you? It was something like that. She had all these people she knew and she was fitting in just fine while I was just there. Finally, she off-handedly told me that she a lot of things to do; places to see, and that I should not worry about her; that she would be fine on her own. She gave me her contact information, and I suppose it was then that I finally got the hint." Starfire laughed shamefacedly. "I sought so desperately to find her, only to discover that she did not exactly want to be found by me. We went our separate ways then. Whenever I tried to get in touch with her, her contact information had changed. Eventually, I would track her down through the communication systems, but her contact information never stayed the same for long. Always changing... she was not trying to get away from me; just that she did not care if I knew where she was or if I did not."
Starfire finally fell silent. Her story of slavery had ended, and it was time for her to see exactly how it affected him.
He wasn't staring at her anymore. His gaze was directed to the fire, but she could tell that her revelations were far beyond what he had been expecting from her. He made a motion to speak, but whatever words he had died on his own lips.
She decided to help him. "Richard, are you disgusted of me?" Of course she knew he wasn't, but it was certain to get a rise out of him and help him get his senses back on track.
Just as expected, he responded immediately and with conviction. He took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I would never be disgusted of you, Kori. Never.Anyone who dares to think less of you because of what you've been through will get their ass kicked to tomorrow."
She smiled affectionately. "And what do you think of my father? My family? I am sure your thoughts of them are different now, aren't they?"
His expression changed, then. "I... don't know what to think about them. I've never been a king who had the responsibility of running a planet. I don't know what would drive me to make decisions. I haven't the slightest clue about how my decisions would be influenced if I had to answer to a senate and then to my people. If you think I would judge your father, Kori... maybe I have. Maybe I couldn't help it, but I also know I have no right."
"I have judged him," she said softly.
He nodded, touching her chin delicately. "I'll keep my judgments to myself."
"Will your judgment ever change the way you feel about me?"
"I told you, Kori. You don't have to be afraid." He took her in an embrace, just to reassure her and she sank against him, feeling a great sense of relief.
She did not know how long they stayed on that couch, but they could have fallen asleep on it if the fire hadn't shown signs of dying out.
They retired to the chambers and as they closed themselves inside her room, Starfire realized, with increasing passion, that it was the first time she would gaze upon Robin's jewel-like eyes as he made love to all of her; princess, slave, Titan.
To be continued...
Closing notes: This story has a pretty overwhelming reception. Check my thanks in my bios.