Disclaimer: I am not making any money of this fic, nor do I own Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation or the original series, or anything else I make references to. If you saw the character on any show, then it is not mine. The same goes for ships, planets, cultures, et cetera. This story will depict a loving relationship between two women and there are no apologies to be made over this. Chapter 15 title is from "Show Must Go On" by Queen

Genre: Action-Adventure, Drama
Codes: K/7, T/7
Feedback: Please, reviews are the food of the muse… but flames are for candles!

Home, Chapter 15

Fairy tales of yesterday, that grow but never die...

Present: April, 2379...

B'Elanna rounded the corner on her way to her quarters and immediately wished she'd taken a site to site transport. Seven had Harry pinned up against the wall and they were making out in the same way she and Tom had at the beginning of their relationship.

She derived some twisted pleasure from thinking 'Well, Tom and I were doomed..." Then she mentally berated herself as she wished that she was blind, deaf and without the ability to smell.

"Get a room," she growled as she walked past her groping crewmates. They seemed to ignore her, but as she walked by, she could have sworn one of them touched her derriere. She looked behind her for a second and then dismissed it as her imagination. …

The ship was a derelict. But Captain Janeway just couldn't bring herself to call it that. The design was gorgeous—deep blue-stained metal gleamed from the light of the nearby white dwarf star, except where velvet-black scorches outlined the rips in the hull. It was designed like a sleek dragon, with wings that spread in Klingon fashion away from the main body of the ship. The prow was shaped into a dragon's head, with windows for eyes and a torpedo bay for a mouth.

It was the Dracco, the flagship of the Shashan Empire. Years from home, it had been attacked and left adrift in the cold, unforgiving vacuum of space. Janeway couldn't imagine what they were doing out this far. But she intended to find out.

"It's just like the others we've encountered, Captain. Hit by the same weapons that destroyed the Crochak." Harry announced.

"Damn. The Lenari didn't even know who those weapons belonged to." Janeway stood and walked towards the viewscreen as though she could see the signature of whoever had attacked them, scrawled into the hull. "There is one notable difference between this and the other eight vessels we've encountered."

"Yeah. They're in one piece," Spacey said from her place at the helm. Janeway looked at her, a little surprised. Spacey was so quiet usually that Kathryn wasn't always sure that she knew what was going on.

"Are there any survivors?" Kathryn asked.

"I am unable to establish that information," Seven replied from her station. Janeway turned to watch her scan the data streaming before her eyes. "There is an unknown radiation residue present from the weapons that is blocking sensors." Seven looked up. "I may be able to compensate, but only from Astrometrics."

"Do it," Janeway ordered and Seven nodded.

"Well," Chakotay said. "You can't say that the Shashans don't build their ships tough." Seven heard this as the doors to the lift closed. If anyone had been looking at her, they would have seen the horror flood into her eyes.

Past...

Kathryn paced back and forth, almost going out of her mind with worry. They were less than an hour from Shaola and Jessica and B'Elanna hadn't come back.

"Their transmission was highly encrypted and hidden, but it was obvious that she said they would be here before we reached the Homeworld," Luii said, not sounding greatly pleased himself. His eyes were flickering a pale orange, which Janeway had learned through study meant lesser fear or worry. They kept sliding back to his own blue-green, then flaring again, as if he was too distracted to control their vicissitude.

"Then where the hell are they?" Kathryn growled, masking her fear that she may have lost her new Chief Engineer—a woman she was just learning to respect and trust.

"Jessica is very literal, Captain," Tarrel answered. "When she says before we get there, she means exactly that. She doesn't know how long before, it could be as short a period as a few minutes. But if she says she'll be here, come fire or flood, she'll be here." Kathryn chuckled lightly and Luii looked at her.

"I'm sorry—that's just so close to a saying that we have on Earth: 'come hell or high water.' I find it interesting how close 'words of wisdom' are from culture to culture."

"It validates their plausibility, does it not?" Kathryn nodded and returned to glaring at the shuttle bay, with its painfully empty space.

"Captain Tarrel, vessel on intercept. Shuttle Rajjal. The Queen is returned."

"Thank you, Shia, Tarrel out. Well, Captain Janeway, our people return to us." Kathryn nodded and watched as the massive bay doors
opened. …

"We're back," Jessica said, hopping out of the shuttle to be greeted by Janeway, Tarrel and Harry Kim, who had just shown up.

"That didn't take long," Kathryn commented, hiding her irritation. She need not have bothered, it seemed, since Jessica was so stimulated she appeared to be oblivious to criticism.

"Nah, it was easy."

"You call that easy?" B'Elanna growled, stepping out of the shuttle and nursing a black eye. Kathryn gaped for a moment.

"We're here, aren't we? Neither of us dead?" Jessica said, almost bouncing from her excess energy.

"Where's the person you were going to rescue?" Janeway asked as Jessica closed the hatch to the shuttle.

"Back home, safe and sound."

"What? How did they get her from the Alpha quadrant? How did you get her back?" Kathryn blurted.

"Those Vorchen know every trick, wormhole, and technological system there is for going fast. They just popped over to the Gamma quadrant—took 'em a couple days—then through the wormhole to Bajor and snatched her right up. They've got some nasty technology, including this one, that folds space—"

"Isn't that what you do when you, er, space-shift?" Jessica shrugged at the captain's question.

"Well, no. Not exactly. You see, their version is basically certain death. What I do isn't dangerous, although it makes me shed ten times as much as any other Shashan—"

"Shed?"

"And besides that, the equations... they," Jessica bit her lip and screwed up her face in concentration. She opened her mouth several times, started to speak, looked worried, bit her lip harder and stopped. Harry slung his arm around her shoulder.

"This is why you nearly flunked Astronav." Jessica started to nod, realized that she was being teased and shoved Harry away, who laughed.

"Shut up!" She said, pouting. Then she resumed her worried look and bit her lip again, obviously still trying to answer Kathryn's question. Biting back a laugh, Janeway tried to ease the girl's mind.

"It's okay. I don't need to know that badly."

"You sure?" Jessica asked, looking up, her eyes unchanging. Kathryn nodded and she sighed. "Good. It's the same reason I couldn't be an engineer, either. I could take something apart that wasn't working, put it back together so it worked, but there were always parts left and I couldn't show my work, so I never got high marks. They put too many parts in gadgets, anyway." Kathryn wondered when the girl breathed; she was so hyper.

"So how did you get her back to the Alpha Quadrant?" Kathryn asked again.

"I took her myself. Deposited her in her quarters and came back." An idea began forming in Kathryn's mind and Jessica glared at her. "Don't even think about it. Do you know what it takes to move just one person along with myself? Right now, I can't even move myself because of it." Jessica scratched at her shoulder. "And I think I'm going to lose skin over it."

"Is that a Shahsan expression or a literalism?" Kathryn asked.

"Literal," Harry and B'Elanna answered in unison, both looking vaguely amused. "You should've seen her squirming in class," Harry said to B'Elanna.

"Before I met her, I just considered itching so bad you wanted to scratch your skin off as being a flight of fancy." B'Elanna agreed.

"Are you mocking me?" Jessica asked, fluffing her short, wild hair.

"Now who would do a thing like that?" B'Elanna asked.

"It's good to have you back," Kathryn interrupted, smiling at B'Elanna. B'Elanna blushed a little.

"Isn't it though?" Jessica asked, beaming.

"She was talking about me, you little egomaniac," B'Elanna growled.

"So was I," Jessica said, hugging B'Elanna from the side. B'Elanna blushed even more deeply and peeled the much shorter girl off her hip, but
remained touching. Kathryn had learned that this was common for Shashans—to be in constant physical contact, due to the species' monophobia.

"Not to break up this little reunion, but we'll be arriving on the planet shortly. You might want to make preparations to your ship, Captain, for planetfall."

"Thank you, Captain Tarrel, I'll do that at once." Janeway nodded to B'Elanna and Harry, who followed her from the bay to the transport room.

Present...

"I called you in here to discuss this away mission. We can't penetrate the Shashan dampening field, to determine if anyone is still alive. So I'm going to send an away team. I'm looking for volunteers, since there is a very real chance of danger, should the assailants return or the ship explode from the massive amount of damage it has sustained. Seven—"

"I will not volunteer, Captain and I ask that you not force me," she said, coldly. B'Elanna looked at the stiff blonde, whose ordinarily calm demeanor was slightly frayed and her discomfiture showed plainly. B'Elanna noticed that Harry was also staring.

"I was merely going to ask you if you would monitor the team while they are on the ship. As I said, this is volunteer only. We have one position left unfilled; the team requires a command officer.

"Captain, please... let me go on this mission." B'Elanna said, her eyes pleading. "If there's any chance..." Kathryn nodded slowly.

"You'll be in charge of the mission—" Kathryn began.

"I want to go, too, Captain." Kathryn looked at Harry, her lips pursed, then nodded again.

"The junior officers accompanying you should be here momentarily. Those who are not participating in this mission are excused." Chakotay, Tuvok, the Doctor and Neelix stood and left the briefing room. As they left, two crewmen and Ensign Kyote entered the room, taking places around the table. "B'Elanna," Janeway said, nodding to the Chief Engineer, who stood and walked to the head of the table as the captain sat down.

"See this?" she asked everyone, holding up a reddish-brown square. "It's called a viridium patch. They aren't used much, and only when discretion is necessary, as they are virtually undetectable. Say you're planning to rescue someone, but they can't wear a commbadge, or where they're going, a commbadge won't help. Or in places with dampening fields or high interference, then you'd slap one of these on them—it would just look like a stain.

"Then that person is detectable for two sectors, or more if the interference isn't too bad. In this case, it will allow Voyager to keep a lock on us while we're over there, in the dampening field. Our commbadges won't work, however, so it'll be a timed beam-out. We'll each wear one, on the shoulders of our uniform jackets. Don't worry about removal, once it's on, it won't come off. That means, you lose that jacket. I'm sorry, but clothes are irrelevant," B'Elanna shot a smirk at Seven, "in comparison to the possibility of saving a few lives.

"There's no telling what we'll find over there. If we're attacked, we'll have to hold our own until Voyager beams us back. Seven of Nine will keep an eye on us while we're there. If a patch is ruptured, it will fail to function and the person it is attached to will be lost. Also, if a biosignature disappears, our ops officer will perform an emergency beam-out. Are there any questions?" B'Elanna looked around the room, making it apparent that she felt her briefing was thorough and that no one should be confused.

Kathryn looked around and, seeing that nobody seemed to be in need of any further explanation, she stood and nodded to B'Elanna.

"Well, there you have it. Your mission is to find any survivors and bring them back to the transport site, in the area without dampening fields, located on Deck 8, section 32. One room, where you can contact Voyager and where we can detect you. I hope you now understand the dangers you're facing and if any of you wish to reconsider, it would be understood."

"With all due respect, Captain," Kyote spoke up, the two crewmen looking at her, "I don't think any of us thought this would be easy, but we all had our reasons for volunteering and none of us are going to back out now." The crewmen nodded their heads in agreement and Kathryn smiled.

"Alright, but you all need to be careful. There's so much damage to the Dracco that I'm afraid it could explode at any moment. Also, there's the possibility that this is a trap of some sort and whoever did this may be on that ship."

"Yes, Ma'am," the said in unison. Kathryn smiled at her crew, feeling her heart swell with pride.

"The mission will commence in one hour. Report to Lt. Torres for your patch. Dismissed."

They stood, turned and headed for the doors, Seven of Nine bringing up the rear. As soon as they passed the doors, Seven grabbed Harry and pulled him off to the side.

"Why were you so intent on visiting that ship?" Seven asked, making a face as though she was saying a dirty word.

"Because... there may be a friend of mine over there." Harry said quietly.

"A friend? In the Delta Quadrant? On that ship?" Harry frowned at the way Seven managed to make each question sound like an accusation.

"Yeah, I've known her for years—" Seven's ocular implant rose sharply.

"Her? By all means, Harry, join the team. They are waiting for you." She turned and walked away before she was finished talking.

"What's wrong with you?" Harry shot after her, but she just kept walking.

"Harry?" B'Elanna asked. Harry shook his head and looked at B'Elanna.

"Yeah?" he responded. B'Elanna looked like she wanted to say something, desperately, but she suddenly shook her head.

"Never mind." B'Elanna muttered. Harry watched B'Elanna walk away, a pang of guilt shooting through him, mixing with the confusion towards the two most important women in his life.

"Women," he muttered and he looked to his right, almost expecting to see Tom standing there, echoing the sentiment. His throat swelled shut with emotion at the loss of his best friend, now months behind him but still somehow fresh. He shook it off and walked forward, brooding in silence, concentrating solely on the mission ahead. …

In Astrometrics, Seven shook in solitude, mingling emotions driving her to distraction. No one was there to witness her losing control, verging on a terrified breakdown.

Past…

Voyager slowly descended, in Blue Alert, to the large, blue and green planet below. They were setting down in a green valley nestled into almost red mountains, where a maintenance crew awaited their arrival. The Dracco had remained in orbit, Jessica planning to space-shift down. Voyager set down lightly on her landing struts, planetfall a success.

The crew filed out of the ship, eager for the shore leave. Kathryn saw Jessica talking to a group of herdsmen, who were leading large, single-horned equines. Kathryn stopped short at the sea of unicorns, all different colors. She saw a solid black stallion next to Jessica, pawing the ground, the only unsaddled beast in the lot. None of the animals wore bridles.

Kathryn walked forward, amidst her curious crewmembers, each of which had been assigned a copy of the laws and regulations of Shashan society. B'Elanna was eyeing the steeds warily. As they approached Jessica, she was the first to speak.

"You've got to be kidding." B'Elanna glared at the greenbroke stallion as he reared and sliced his thirteen-inch horn in an angry arc through the air. The crewman approaching him backed up quickly. Jessica looked amused.

"Don't worry about him, he's mine. I'm the only one he'll let ride, but he won't hurt anyone either. He'll just scare 'em away or toss 'em on their butt. Thunder!" she barked and the stallion trotted up to her, nuzzling her shoulder with his mouth.

"They're... big." B'Elanna complained.

"The biggest among them is no larger than an Earth Thoroughbred, the average size is about that of an Arabian, maybe seventeen hands high. But don't worry, you're riding First Snow, who's one of the smallest of the lot." Jessica whistled and a small, pure white horse, with a silver-blonde mane and white horn came trotting up. Her shoulder was at Jessica's head, making her about fourteen hands high. She was saddled, but like the others, wore no bridle.

"I've never seen any of those horses you're talking about, because I've never seen a real horse before. And isn't something missing?" B'Elanna asked, still eyeing the long-lashed unicorn with suspicion.

"She doesn't bite, B'Elanna. She's the gentlest unicorn I have."

"Is this entire herd yours?" Kathryn asked. Jessica laughed.

"No. Only four are mine. Unicorns prefer a one to one ratio, but in my case, for some reason, they made an exception. Well, Storm, Lightning and Thunder—yes, I'm so original, I know—chose me. Lightning—that silver one with the gold streak in her horn—birthed First Snow. Thunder made Storm foal twice now, but both wandered off. We let them run free because they are too wild to be penned up. But they let us round them up for transports now and then."

"Wow," Kathryn said, stroking the muzzle of Lightning, who had come when she heard her name. Jessica was smiling. "What?"

"You're riding her. Chakotay, you get Storm." Chakotay had wandered over during the discussion and looked around. Jessica whistled and there was an immediate commotion. A wild mare came flying towards them. Her dark body looked like captured storm clouds and her black mane and tail were streaked with white. Her silver horn gleamed in the sunlight as she approached, slowing down.

"You want me to ride her?" He asked, incredulously. She flung her mane and stamped the ground impatiently, brushing him aside to get to Jessica.

"Well I did, but you just insulted her, so it's not likely she'll let you. She's as vain as they come, aren't you, beauty?" Jessica crooned, stroking the velvety muzzle. Kathryn walked to the left of her horse and grabbed the horn of the saddle to pull herself up. She looked in front of herself as soon as she was up there and wondered how she was going to hold on. She put her hands on either side of the great neck and wondered how she wasn't already off-balance.

"I'll ride her," Harry said, referring to Storm. Storm looked at Harry and snorted. She rolled her eyes back at Jessica and the girl gave her a fond pat. Storm walked up to Harry and Janeway could almost swear the beast was laughing. "Are you laughing at me?" Harry asked her and Storm tossed her head. "Well cut it out, I've never ridden before." There was no way that the whinny the animal produced then could be taken as anything less than a laugh.

"She likes you, Harry," Jessica said, her eyes twinkling.

"Good," Harry said. "Because she's the prettiest one of these beauties that I see here." Storm dropped to her knees and Harry grinned.

"Guess I said something right," he laughed as he climbed onto her back. She stood once he was secure. "Um, how do I hold on?"

"Wind your fingers in her mane. Don't pull harder than you have too, but they're too wild for bridles."

"You don't hang onto this thing?" B'Elanna asked, pointing to the saddle horn. Jessica shook her head and B'Elanna frowned again. "I knew there was something missing."

"There you are!" A voice called. Janeway looked down at a Klingon girl of about eighteen or nineteen and wondered how she'd gotten there.
"Hi Kashana. Captain, this is my Wayyana, Kashana." Jessica giggled.

"It's not funny," Kashana said, frowning. "Although right now I want to kill my mother."

"Aerianna? You look like her, you know." Jessica said, cocking her head.

"As you do to Elizabeth. The Mawn Ambassador wishes to re-negotiate the treaty and will be arriving in five hours." Jessica turned to Kathryn.

"A Wayyana is the head of the Council, my royal advisor. It's the highest position one can have when not married to the Queen." Janeway nodded, recalling some of the information she had assimilated in the past few days. Jessica grabbed Thunder's forelock and gently pulled down, coaxing him to kneel so she could mount.

As soon as she was on, he reared and bucked a few times, then settled down. Jessica seemed unaffected as the crazy stallion rushed about in a frenzy. She just rolled with his body, despite not having so much as a saddle to hold onto. She noticed the look Kathryn was giving her and she steered Thunder to step up next to Lightning.

"They're special animals. They won't let you fall unless they think it's in your best interest. Although Thunder here would toss anyone who wasn't me," Jessica added with a wink and a grin.

"Dragon coming!" someone yelled and Jessica's grin immediately vanished.

"Get down, get away from the unicorns now," Jessica said and Kathryn and Harry immediately slid to the ground. "No matter what happens, nobody move and no one will be hurt!" Jessica screamed into the remaining crowd, who were sliding off their beasts under the direction of the Shashan men and women who had been helping them. One group had already left for the city.

Jessica dismounted and slapped Thunder gently on the flank. He trotted off and began helping Storm round up the stragglers that were panicking as a huge, iridescent white dragon filled the sky. Kathryn froze, as she was instructed and barely breathed as a sea of frightened unicorn bodies streamed past her.

The dragon's ninety-meter wingspan stirred up a breeze as they beat furiously, allowing the beast to descend. It was forty meters, shoulder to tail tip and the neck and head added another five. Fifteen meters high at the shoulder, it was an impressive sight to behold. The long tail thrashed behind it, scattering insects and lightweight plants to the wind. But what frightened Kathryn were the red, glowing eyes.
If these beasts had the same characteristics as the Shashan humanoids, then red meant angry. She sure as hell didn't want the beast angry at her.

"T'mii!" Jessica yelled and the beast swung its beautiful, smooth head towards her. Kathryn couldn't help but notice it wasn't the hideous head of an earth-rendering, but beautiful and gentle looking, now that the eyes had changed to the dark blue of contentment. Jessica walked up to the head, which was much larger than she, the top of the snout on level with her shoulder.

Jessica flung herself across the snout in a hug and Kathryn could swear that the giant animal was purring. Then its rolling eyes stopped on Chakotay and the purr turned into an unmistakable growl that Kathryn could feel in her stomach. Jessica slapped the snout.

"You stop that, T'mii! Be nice." T'mii looked at Jessica and Jessica's expression softened. "I know. How is your clutch? Are the eggs hardening correctly?" The beast snorted and rolled her eyes at Chakotay again.

"Why is she so angry with me?" Chakotay asked.

"Well, I bonded with her when she hatched, so our minds are joined, like zhanals, only in a more primitive standing. She was egg-heavy when you... upset me. When I went into labor, it forced her to clutch prematurely." T'mii bugled deeply, her eyes returning to red. Chakotay looked at the animal.

"My apologies, then. It was not my intention to harm you or your rider. How are your eggs?" T'mii looked at him suspiciously, but she made a throaty vocalization.

"She says that they are slow to harden, but undamaged. And you're not invited to the hatching ceremony," Jessica said, a twinkle in her eye, and then turned to Kathryn. "You are looking at the result of a difficult quest I underwent to repopulate our extinct ancestors," Jessica said,
looking smug.

"Dangerous and foolhardy, more like it. Not to mention pointless," Kashana fumed. "I mean, there's plenty to eat and all, even for them." She chucked a thumb at T'mii, who snorted. "But Jessica only brought them back because she is under the impression that it is impressive to have animals from legend alive in our present. I say there's a reason they died out."

"Yeah, an alien that accidentally polluted our atmosphere with her presence and brought disease to the beasts," Jessica said, patting her dragon on her muzzle. The dragon brought around one hand and gently pressed a webbed finger against Jessica's back in a hug. Jessica smiled and kissed the great nose. "Killed the unicorns too, although it took an extra ten thousand years, since she left as soon as she realized what she had done and the unicorns had the sense to breed with the horses." Kathryn looked confusedly from Kashana to Jessica. Kashana was absently nodding.

"Nothing wrong with unicorns, they're wonderful beasts."

"Do they breathe fire? The dragons, I mean." Tom asked, looking excited.

"Don't be silly. I can't breathe fire, so why should they be able to?" Kashana answered, rolling her eyes.

"You can't fly either," Tom retorted, earning a glare from the Klingon-looking girl. "I've never seen a dragon before." Tom looked at the gentle giant with wonder.

"Then you've never been to Berengaria VII. It's in the Alpha Quadrant." Jessica said, scratching T'mii's eyebrow ridge.

"What happened to the dragons, exactly?" Tom asked.

"The disease caused the male dragons to all die off, right away. The females that survived could only lay unfertilized eggs, of course. They began nesting in these swamps, across the planet. Well, the swamps were basically primordial soup and the eggs hatched all over, these bastard dragons. Quadrapedal, tailed, and with many more colours than the original nine. Eventually we evolved, over thousands of years, into what you see today."

"But you're mammals," Tom protested. "I mean, you've got breasts, even in Shashan form."

"T'mii has mammary glands," Jessica said. She looked at the dragon and she turned to them, exposing her chest. As she walked, the ground shook from the weight. Jessica pushed back one of the belly folds and a huge teat, the size of an arm emerged. "The original Shashans had six breasts, and litters. Multiple births, though common, are not anywhere near as common as they used to be. And obviously, we've lost the extra breasts."

"But this is all speculation, right?" Kathryn asked. Jessica shook her head as she released the dragon.

"The legends have been passed from mind to mind for over a million years. And when Q was playing with me, he allowed me to live the life of the first Shashan, who we call Shasha. Although her name was actually pronounced closer to Zkhay'ya." Jessica purred the name, reminding Kathryn that Shashans had three separate sets of vocal cords, which was the reason that their formal language was untranslatable. "So I know that the legends are true, though a little distorted by time."

"It must be great knowing your actual history," Chakotay said quietly.

"With humans, history is written by the victors. With Shashans, it's transferred from mind to mind, for memories don't lie. But this is all available through our historical documents, come on, let us visit the city." Jessica gave her dragon a stern look. "You can't space-shift back, especially not after laying eggs. You fly back, and please give us a wide berth so you don't scare our mounts." T'mii made a sound that sounded like a harrumph and leapt into the sky, taking flight.

The handlers brought the unicorns back and everyone mounted up again. The command crew was in Jessica's group and they waited behind until all the other groups had already left. Jessica, on Thunder, pranced around like they didn't know how to stand still, running circles around the rest of the group, whose animals were unimpressed. Kathryn looked at B'Elanna, who was pale and clutching the mane of her unicorn like a lifeline. The equine simply stood, patiently awaiting the cue to head home.

Suddenly, Luii appeared, earning a grin from Jessica and a disapproving look from Kashana.

"Luii!" Jessica cried, dismounting. He smiled and walked up to her to give her a hug.

"We're setting off soon, but we'll be back in a few hours. We're being chartered to carry Ambassador Rellijk of Mawnwar. I was hoping to catch you in scales," he said with a wink.

"You show me yours, I'll show you mine," Jessica said, waggling her eyebrows. Luii grinned, but he looked away. Suddenly Jessica's expression grew serious. "Oh, come on, you don't think I actually believe that Dræçeyn was your father, do you? He wouldn't beat you like he did if he were." Luii looked shocked, then smiled mirthlessly.

"You know that he hates me because I wasn't born a girl, Jess. I don't have to be a bastard like you to have earned his fist," he countered.

"And you wouldn't have spent your whole life in human form if you weren't hiding your color," she continued, ignoring his defense. "Besides, Skrenÿi was never known to be in love with your 'father.' And Dræçeyn was always rumored to be impotent." Luii shook his head.

"You first. I've never seen you in full form."

"Fair enough," Jessica said, and a moment later, she matched her dragon. Kathryn's jaw dropped at the beauty of the opalescent, smooth white scales, glimmering in the sunlight. Jessica's short brown hair didn't seem to match, somehow and the black spots were a stark contrast, as were her black claws. Luii was obviously gaping as well, then he fulfilled his part of the bargain.

"Promise me you won't tell," he said as he stood in his full Shashan splendor. His black scales shimmered with the rainbow hue that Janeway remembered only belonged to the top five houses. His eyes shone his natural green and his black hair disappeared against his skin. His spots were bright red and the mark on his neck was what looked like a winged horse.

"Holy shit, Ryn is your father?" Luii nodded and changed back to his human form. Jess changed as well. "Your secret's safe with me," she said, nodding to him. He smiled back. They stood there for a moment, neither speaking, then Luii walked slowly towards Jessica. Kathryn saw his eyes change to blue-violet, the color of Shashan passion, then his hand changed, claws extended, and it sailed across her left cheek, quick as lightning.

Jessica's head turned with the blow, her hand flying up to meet the wound, but Luii had disappeared by the time her face lifted. Kathryn saw the red scratches down her face: three jagged lines. Jessica's eyes were glowing violet. Kashana jumped down from her unicorn, looking enraged.

"I'll have him brought back, your majesty, immediately. Imagine, marking you like a common—"

"That'll be enough, Wayyana," Jessica snapped. Kashana looked at Jessica in shock. "Give him his week. If he doesn't show up by this time next week, then I'll hunt him down myself."

"Your highness!" Kashana roared.

"No, Kashana." Jessica turned to her. "I know that you are looking out for my honor, but leave that to me. Who among us doesn't want to be marked?" Kashana glowered.

"It's barbaric."

"Exactly. Someone claiming me." Jessica gave Kashana a meaningful look and the Wayyana sighed.

"At least remove the mark..." Kashana looked at Jessica and sighed again. "I suppose that would be too much to ask. But what would your mother think?"

"My mother's dead, Kash, just like yours. But I think that she would find it romantic, like that tale from the Queens era, where the princess is marked by a commoner and she defiantly wears it, he comes for her—"

"And the Queen kills him," Kashana interrupted. "And then the princess kills herself, destroying the family, since she was the only heir."

"Yes, but they marry first and get to spend their last night in each others' arms, you spoilsport. A Queen has never been marked, even in literature." Jessica convinced Thunder to lean down so she could vault onto his back again. The Wayyana remounted as well.

"You should listen to me, I'm older." Jessica laughed.

"By three years! Besides, it's my life and I've only got a short while to live it. Let me enjoy that time." There was nothing to do then but wait. The other groups had all gone ahead and now everyone waited for the signal to begin their journey.

Finally, it came as Jessica let out what was almost a war cry, making all the beasts jump to attention. Thunder shot off and the other steeds followed obediently behind. Kathryn took a moment to find the correct position to prevent her bottom from being pummeled. They galloped headlong towards the main city of Shaola, everyone desperately curious as to what lay ahead.

To be continued…