Chapter 17

The wedding ceremony had gone off without a hitch. Joshua and Anduin's plan had worked beautifully and no one suspected that the girl behind the veil was not Diana. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about the scene behind the curtains, in the small antechamber where three people stood, watching.

Diana and Joshua were in the middle of a silent, staring match, each one waiting for the other to falter. Anduin looked from father to daughter and marveled at the strength of character evident in both. He hoped neither would ever look at him in such a way, he doubted three feet of metal could stand up to either Diana's evil glare or Joshua's cool disdain.

Joshua watched his daughter closely, waiting for her to explode with wrath. He couldn't blame her exactly. How was she to know the full extent of the situation, no one had given her the information that he possessed. He was proud of her, in a way, for recognizing the wrong done to her cousin. And yet, there was something more to this, some extra part to that anger that Joshua couldn't explain. And that was what kept his stare locked with hers, that challenging fury that threatened to engulf her and that rose in him the same way. Joshua was the kind of person who, if you got mad at him, he would match your anger, regardless of who was in the right.

Diana eyes narrowed even more as she waited for her erstwhile father to lower his gaze. How could he even look at me? she thought to herself. He's lied to me since the day I was born! He let me think that he was my father! And now I find out that I'm the illegitimate brat who he only let live because he didn't have the guts to defend his wife's honor? How does he live with himself? She felt the feelings of rage fill her again, uncontrollable and undirected as it fought to find a culprit for this tradgedy that had torn her from her home.

The anger that she had dammed up inside for the past twenty -our hours had had enough. She could no longer control her rage and it burst forth from her like an ocean's mighty wave.

"How dare you!" she shrieked at her father, which caused him to let go of her shoulder and leap backwards a good three feet. "You sniveling, cowardly wretch!"

"Watch your tongue, Diana," Joshua growled, not at all liking the way this particular conversation was going.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Diana answered him bitterly. "You're not my father!" Joshua's face turned white as a sheet. "You've lied to me ever since I was born. How could you have let this happen? What kind of a husband are you? What kind of a mother do I have?"

With those words, she crossed the line. Joshua had taken some pretty nasty personal attacks before and, while it was far more agonizing to have his own daughter say them, he might have been able to stay calm for this one. But Lizzie was, and always would be, his weak spot.

Diana was frozen in mid-tirade, her mouth open in outrage as she was held there by the invisible bonds of magic.

"Don't you ever, ever say anything like that ever again," Joshua said, his voice the quiet calm that meant that he was too furious to show rage. "You weren't there, you have no right to make those statements."

Diana was freed from the bonds, her wrath only increased by her father using magic on her, something he had never done before without her permission. "Oh, but I was there," she retorted. "That was the whole problem."

"Would you have preferred I killed you when you were in the womb?" Joshua asked, his voice low and dangerous. The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he had said and his heart lurched; the thought of hurting Diana too terrible to bear.

"At the moment, yes!" Diana answered, tears beginning to fall down her face. Her father's response startled her as he grabbed hold of her shoulders once again, this time pulling her into his embrace. She struggled for a few moments, but the will to fight soon left her as he hugged her tight. She had sought comfort in those arms ever since she was a little girl and the memories of safety and warmth overwhelmed her. She buried her face in the soft dark material of his shirt and sobbed.

"Why?" Joshua asked, holding her and rocking back and forth. "Why would you ever want that?" She was his daughter, and seeing her like this was too much for him to handle. He just couldn't stay mad,

"Why don't you hate me?" Diana asked, hiccupping through her sobs. She knew that she wasn't mad at Joshua or even at Lizzie. But she had so wanted it to be someone, anyone else's fault. Andrew may have caused her to happen, but she had been around for sixteen years, reminding her parents of how her mother had been violated. She had been trying to make someone else into the culprit, because if Joshua or Lizzie could have done something to make it better and hadn't, then it wasn't her fault that she was here, day in and day out, to cause them misery.

"How could I hate you?" Joshua asked, sincerely shocked. "You're my daughter."

"No I'm not," Diana protested, her voice slightly muffled by the fabric of his clothes. "I'm…you're younger sister, right?"

"No," Joshua answered her softly. He remembered, seventeen long years ago, when he had sat alone outside of his office and wondered how he could ever look at the child in Lizzie's womb as anything other than Andrew's bastard. Standing here now, with his beautiful little girl crying, he knew the answer to that. Diana was his daughter. He had raised her, taught her, kissed her bruises to make them better, bought her birthday presents, swung her up into his arms when he came home from a long trip. He may not have been present at her conception, something he had never really forgiven himself for, but he was most definitely her father. And no one, dead or alive, was going to take her from him. "Diana," he said gently, still just stroking her hair and speaking down towards her head, "You are my daughter. It doesn't matter what happened then, it doesn't matter what anyone else says, I love you like my own child so you are mine." He stood there in silence, letting his words sink in.

Diana clung to him, unsure what to do, what to think. She had truly hated her parents for not telling her, but how could she have expected them to? And, honestly, what else could they have done? What would she have done in her mother's place? She just wished that her Papa could make everything better again, like he could when she was little. But that time was long gone.

"I don't understand," she whispered, as her eyes slowly ran out of tears to cry, "How can you look at me every day and not hate me? Don't I remind you of him?"

"I look in the mirror," Joshua answered with a shrug, unwanted memories of a certain mask were beginning to resurface. "You're no more like him than I am."

"Yes, but it was different for you," Diana protested. "You didn't have to be lied to your whole life."

Joshua sighed. "Diana, let me tell you a story."

She looked up at him in surprise. "I hardly think this is the time for a fairy tale," she said softly, her eyes still red from sobbing.

"You'd be surprised," Joshua answered dryly, knowing that he was treading on thin ice here. "But do you know that you're not the first child Andrew sired on another man's beloved?"

Joshua and Diana both cringed simultaneously at his wording, though there wasn't exactly a tactful way to call someone illegitimate. "No," Diana answered finally. "I didn't."

"Long before you were born, Andrew had an affair with a fairly powerful sorceress. She was happily married to an ordinary, run of the mill man and they seemed content with their two beautiful children. But then the sorceress was called away by her King and sent on a mission with the newly knighted Duke Andrew Gilld. They weren't in love, though they were…intimate, shall we say. And nine months later, a baby boy was born to this sorceress. Needless to say, her husband was furious at her infidelities and he wanted to kill the child. She protested and, since he still loved her, he allowed the boy to grow up in his home, though he never let him into his heart.

"When the boy turned five, Duke Gilld returned and the purpose of the affair became evident when he asked for the boy to take him on as an apprentice. The man was pleased to get this bastard out of his home, so the boy went and learned all he could from his father until he became one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world."

"How long ago was this?" Diana asked.

"He would be about forty now," Joshua answered. "I'm not telling you this to make you feel worse, on the contrary, you are not alone and it is not your fault."

"But I ruined your life and Mama's life and-"

"Ruined?" Joshua said incredulously. "I wouldn't say that. Not even Andrew managed to ruin my life, though he tried extremely hard."

"Did you ever meet his illegitimate son?" Diana asked, interested in this man so like herself.

"You could say that," Joshua answered. "But let me direct your thoughts for a moment. Haven't you ever wondered why you and Rose are cousins?"

Diana's eyes fixed on her father's. "You and Aunt Belle were siblings…" then she trailed off. "But if you were," she continued, thinking aloud to herself, "Then how is she Maurice's daughter and you are the son and heir of Andrew? Unless you're related through the distaff line, which means-" She stopped suddenly as events began to click into place. "That story was about you," she said, staring disbelievingly into his eyes. He nodded.

"Believe me, Diana, I know how you feel."

"Was it different for you," she asked, feeling almost shy, "Since you knew what had…well, happened?"

"Yes, it was different," he answered. "Maurice hated me because of who I was and why I existed. My mother loved me, but it's difficult being the youngest and shunned by the rest of your family."

"I'm so sorry," Diana whispered, hugging her father as a new respect for him began to take root inside of her.

"Why? How were you involved? Anyway, I did leave with Andrew at age five and worked with him for a good twelve years before rebelling and pulling out in the middle of a rather dangerous spell. He used to have a very nice manor down by the Thames. It's still a pile of rubble from the explosion I caused." He shrugged rather sheepishly. "Much to my dismay, as I found out later, Andrew did not die then. He came back and wrought his revenge at a particularly inopportune moment. There is a long story behind this that your mother tells much better than I do, but suffice to say that we won. And then she told me that she was with child and I..wasn't thrilled, shall I say."

"Could you have killed me then?" Diana asked in a small voice.

"First of all, you weren't exactly the girl you are now back then. And no, I couldn't have killed you, not without your mother's permission. Besides, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself afterwards. Maurice had let me live, though he had grudged me that life every step of the way. If nothing else, I had to prove I was better than he was. And then you were born and any ideas of not loving you just as much as my own daughter went right out the window." He smiled and ruffled her hair gently. "Don't worry, Diana. Everything will be all right."

"How can you be sure?" Diana sniffled.

"I know everything," Joshua answered with a grin and chucked her under the chin. "It's my job."

She laughed, then flung her arms around him again, just grateful that he still cared.

"While we're having this heart to heart," he continued, "I should probably explain to you what's going on with your cousin."

Diana looked up with a start. "Yes," she said a little angrily. "You should. How could you allow her to marry a piece of scum like Harry? I know she used to like him, but he's a terrible, avaricious, disgusting human being!"

"I take it you two didn't hit it off," Joshua murmured. "Don't worry about it, I have everything under control."

"How?" she demanded curiously. It wasn't that she didn't believe her father, she trusted him absolutely. It was just that her father's idea of 'perfectly under control' was what her mother termed "A fifty percent chance that it won't blow up in his face".

But Joshua didn't answer. He had caught sight of a rather disturbing occurrence in the corner of the room. Anduin had been standing there the entire time, listening to the conversation with utter fascination. It had explained so much about both his host and hostess, and it made his heart bleed for Diana. But now that the reconciliation seemed to be going well, he had chanced to glance outside and watched as Rose and Harry kissed at the end of their ceremony. Anduin pulled a face and felt a moment's pang that it was Harry up there and not him. Then he considered who he could have in Rose's stead and decided that, if he got his voice back, he would tell Diana just how highly he thought of her.

"When," he corrected himself, then froze. "Dear god," he croaked in a voice that hadn't been used a few months, "I can-". But he was unable to finish his sentence as the most excruciating pain struck him, starting by his feet and shooting all the way up to his hips. He fell to the floor, writhing in agony and gasping for breath. It was that which turned Joshua's attention to him.

"Anduin," Joshua yelled, releasing Diana and running to kneel by his side. Diana followed swiftly, feeling rather guilty. She had forgotten Anduin was even there. "What's happening?"

"Don't know," Anduin panted, his eyes screwed up tight.

"He's changing back," Diana gasped. The tattered remains of Anduin's breeches were lying on the floor next to a long, green fishtail that sparkled in the artificial candlelight. His fins slapped at the floor as the transformation finally drew to a close and Anduin looked up at the two concerned faces peering down at him.

"Don't worry about me," he said, breathing heavily, "It's just a flesh wound." Joshua helped him sit up and Diana just sat next to him, wanting to hug him, but not sure quite sure where the two of them stood, so to speak.

"Why did that happen?" Joshua asked. "How was the spell reversed?"

"Oh, it wasn't reversed," cackled a voice from the water filled window. The sea witch, grinning broadly, stuck her head through into the air bubble. "Welcome back, Anduin," she said gleefully. "I see your quest to win your true love has failed."

"What are you talking about?" Anduin yelped. "My true love isn't married yet."

"Get behind me," Joshua growled to his daughter. Knowing that tone of voice, Diana slipped behind her father and let his long, billowing disguise hide any hint of her existence.

"Oh yes she is," said a different voice. Anduin groaned as his uncle levitated himself into the room, his fins steering him easily as he used aerial magic to enter into the small human quarters. "I watched her myself."

"Then perhaps you were wrong," Anduin snapped. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"Temper, temper," Triton rebuked his nephew as the sea witch sniggered. "But, unfortunately for you, Diana Gilld just married Prince Harry of England, so you lost your little wager with this…octopus." Fortunately, Diana's gasp of surprise and elation at being named Anduin's beloved was hidden by her father's angry snort.

"The term is merwitch," she muttered. "And your precocious little heir is my property now."

"I'm sure we can come to some arrangement," Triton said with a shrug.

Joshua took a deep breath. They had been ignoring his presence in the room up until now, assuming his was just some lackey Anduin had brought down from above. It was time to reveal who he was. It had been a while since he had pulled this trick, but he never forgot the auras of power taught to him by his father. He had used it a long time ago to frighten his father's erstwhile underlings and it would be the best way to influence Andrew's old ally. Besides, he still had a few secrets up his sleeve.

"Oh, I'm sure you can," he drawled, donning power like a cloak and, simply by his presence, making everyone in the room turn to him in shcok.

Triton recovered first and bowed low. "Welcome to my castle, Duke Gilld."

T.B.C.

A/N – So, this chapter did not turn out at all the way I had planned. Diana just isn't good at being mad at her father. So, I know that the anger was surprisingly short, especially because of the amount of time she spent agonizing over it, but Joshua is the least controllable of my characters and he evidently decided to handle this situation his way. So tell me what you guys thought. Oh, and if the picture link from last time worked. As I said before, I'm html illiterate, so any suggestions would be welcome. The link is my homepage, so go check it out if you haven't already. Now onto the wonderful reviewer people.

Shortstef – Yeah, someone had to do the dirty work and Joshua can be a great delegator when he wants to. And I know what you mean about Harry and Rose. I promise I wont leave her hanging, though. She'll be all right. After all, she was just as brave as her mother, she deserves a man too. Glad you're having fun with Anduin. Ever tried playing taboo with him?

Leotabelle13 – Wow, that's got to be a little confusing to read Chain first. Will go and check your story when I finish trying to get this up. And I think Andrew's gone for good, I don't like dead characters coming back to life that often. Faked deaths are okay though.

FutureFamousMovieDirector – Yeah, Rose does get a bit of a sucky deal here. Don't worry, Joshua "supposedly" has it all worked out, so we'll just have to see what the sneaky mage has on his mind this time. (sometimes I don't even know if I know what that one is up to)

Anarea Rose – Rose is brave, I'm proud of her, though she knows something you don't, but you'll find out soon enough. And of course Diana and her father start to scream at each other – they're Gillds. And Triton and the King aren't complete morons but, remember, the latter doesn't have magic so parts of the disguise are impenetrable to him and the other wouldn't think to use anything other than aquatic magic unless he had to – aerial magic is so…human. Besides, Rose is very good at what she does and she has a veil on. And I will tell you the identity of the king impersonator, eventually.

This chapter's award for reviewer goes to TrudiRose for reading my stuff and writing lovely reviews. TrudiRose is, for those of you who have never had the pleasure of reading her, one of the best writers on this site and the only person I knew who can make a likeable and canonical Gaston that you will eventually root for. Trudi, I'm glad you like this and I promise when you catch up to whatever chapter I'm writing, I will give you a proper reviewer response. In the mean time, I'm just grateful to all of you for reviewing.

And that's all for now. Hopefully I will have more up soon, but I start classes soon and then something tells me I might not be able to stay up quite so late to finish this. Anyway, stay tuned for the identity of a certain pseudo-monarch.

Levana (Damian)