The room was silent, dark and tranquil. While Beast Boy slept peacefully, snoring softly curled up next to his mate, Raven tossed and turned in their bed. She grabbed her alarm clock and after pressing the light button she confirmed that it was almost 5AM and that Seraph would soon rise and bathe Azarath in its warm amber glow.
Sleep had eluded Raven throughout most of the night and she watched with envious eyes as he slept like a log. The arms of Morpheus eluded her as she had been unable to rest that night. She simply couldn't stop worrying about Nara's visit. It felt so artificial, so non-spontaneous. She sense duplicity in the Matriarch, it worried her and for good reason.
After being shuffled off to the monastery Raven had a few follow up encounters with Nara, when the girl came to the monastery to receive special instruction from one of the nuns, who taught her the language of Salamandron. They were both ten years old at the time, but Raven had already noticed that Nara was different from the other girls.
The young girl was ambitious and greedy. Raven overheard some of the monks and nuns discuss this character flaw that Nara had, and they concluded that it was inevitable as she was going to be a Matriarch some day. They of course, had been correct, and it did not go unnoticed by Raven that Nara did not mourn her mother at all. The other heiresses kept a public face as hard as flint, but she recalled after Terra's botched attack, in the privacy of the Hall of Matriarchs that many did indeed weep for their mothers.
But Nara never did.
The gray sorceress rolled over in their bed, searching in vain for some peace that would allow her to sleep, but she was troubled, as a vague and amorphous premonition haunted her. Finally, at her wit's end and out of patience she sat up and began to climb out of the bed, deciding to give meditation a chance to calm her perturbed mind.
Her escape was aborted when a firm but gentle hand gripped her wrist.
"Where ya goin Rae?" A sleepy voice asked.
Raven dropped down next to Beast Boy and he gently pulled her into a soft embrace.
"Whatsa matter?" He asked.
"I don't know."
"You're worried about tomorrow, aren't you?"
"Yes." She replied in a whispered hush.
"You're worried about Nara."
"It's that obvious, huh?"
He ran his fingers through her hair.
"Yeah, it is. But you shouldn't worry. You're gonna sign in the new law tomorrow. Then you're gonna resign and we'll go home."
"Home?" She murmured. "Do we still have one? We came here to beg for money to save the team … it's not going to happen, Gar. The Titans … are finished."
He pulled her closer to him.
"We'll deal with that when we get home." He replied with a kiss. "Rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated."
"Since when do you read Mark Twain?"
"Who's Mark Twain? I read that in a comic book." He snickered.
Raven playfully smacked him, knowing well that he was pulling her leg.
"It's time to get up Gar; we have a big day ahead of us."
"It's still 7 hours until the signing, let's get some sleep."
He pulled her even closer, wrapping his arms around her.
"OK." She replied as she rested her head on his shoulder.
In just a few minutes they were both asleep.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The air limousine glided silently after taking off from Roth Tower, an island of tranquility in the Azarathian sky, which was gray and overcast. The five Titans sat solemnly in the passenger compartment, while Arella spoke with the driver, giving her last minute instructions.
The three male Titans were dressed in gray cassocks, which displeased them. It didn't matter to them that a special dispensation was being made so that they could be with Raven in the Hall of Matriarchs when she delivered her speech and signed the landmark legislation into law. They knew that the gray outfits were a sign of oppression, a final jab by the Council which had insisted they be worn.
Starfire was attired in her Tamaranian warrior garb, including her signature 'M' shaped face crown. She sat quietly so as not to disturb Raven, who was practicing delivering the speech she finished writing that morning, quietly muttering the words she read, practicing the inflection and emphasis points.
It only took the armored flying limo a few minutes to reach the Hall of Matriarchs and it made a full circle around it prior to making its final approach and landing on the roof, where an honor guard of tall Amazon like women awaited them, standing at attention with statue like steadiness as they presented their huge swords in salute to the Head Matriarch.
Arella was the first to disembark, followed by Raven and Starfire. The Tamaranian looked around vigilantly, looking for anything that might appear to be out of place. The three males emerged last and repeated Starfire's sweep using their abilities and skills. Robin used a tiny pair of binoculars to scan locations he had predetermined to be high risk. Beast Boy used his animal senses while Cyborg used his built in scanners.
"We're clear." Cyborg pronounced.
"Good. Stay sharp." Robin replied as they entered the access door to the building and entered a large elevator. "Raven, you should raise one of your shields while you give yours speech, you're gonna be a sitting duck."
The gray sorceress turned around and replied in her monotone.
"No Robin, the people need to see that I'm not afraid. If I hide behind a shield they'll be afraid, and the Matriarchs will take advantage of that."
"I still don't like it." Robin grumbled.
They elevator ride was quick and when the doors opened another honor guard of 4 warriors met them. The four women led them through the building, down the long and ornate hallway. Having been raised in Wayne Manor and the social circles where Bruce rubbed shoulders, Robin was used to being surrounded by luxury and even opulence, but what he saw during the brief walk to the balcony left him stunned. The ostentatious display of wealth put to shame anything he had seen on Earth. The amount of gold leaf and precious gems present in the furniture, picture frames, ceiling and walls was overwhelming. To their credit the three male Titans kept a straight face the entire time. Soon enough they reached the balcony.
The large balcony faced the city's main plaza, which was full of Azarathians, many who had returned from their self imposed exile when they fled the civil war.
The plaza was flanked by the Hall of Deputies, the city's administrative building and at its opposite end the city's second tallest building, eclipsed only by Roth Tower, the gleaming Bank of Azarath building.
Raven approached a podium that was set up on the balcony, with her husband standing at her right and Starfire at her left. She raised her hand acknowledging the crowd, which roared its approval. Raven continued to wave to the crowd, which finally settled down after a few minutes.
While Raven placed her printed speech on the podium and cleared her throat, Beast Boy and Starfire scanned the surroundings looking for any sign of trouble.
"My fellow Azarathians today is a great day for our noble city…" Raven began.
It was at that moment that Starfire and Beast Boy saw it. In one of the upper floors in the bank building their super sharp eyes saw the tip of a rifle barrel poking out between some drawn curtains. What they saw next froze their hearts: a flash emerged from the end of the rifle barrel.
Beast Boy pushed Raven as hard and fast as he could, shoving her head with his hand, knowing that it was the likely target and hoping he was fast enough. Unfortunately he wasn't.
Starfire reacted as well, and her hand shot out as well, but in front of Raven in a super human blur. Beast Boy heard the tell tale buzzing sound of a flying bullet which ceased near the vicinity of Raven's head. He felt a lump in his stomach as he crashed onto the ground, landing on top of Raven, fearing the worst.
"Gar, what the hell are you doing?" She barked at him.
It was then that a gun report echoed throughout the urban canyon, followed by the sound of a second bullet flying through the balcony. It was then that Raven noticed the Starfire was clutching her hand and wincing in pain.
"Raven, raise your shield!" She heard Robin bark over the pandemonium that engulfed the balcony. She was a step ahead of him and the dark hemisphere appeared, shielding the 5 Titans.
"Starfire, your hand?" Raven croaked, as she saw orange alien blood begin to drip from the still clenched fist.
Starfire opened her hand. The bullet was partially lodged in her palm, which was heavily damaged by the projectile which carved a long and deep gash in her hand.
"Sometimes … I wish … I was … a Kryptonian." The princess moaned between pained breaths.
Raven carefully removed the partially impacted bullet and clasped Starfire's wounded hand between her own two hands and the healing blue light appeared. There had been no more shots after the second one, which had clearly been off target.
Meanwhile, Robin was scanning the surroundings for the gunman. He quickly found the shattered windows the gunman had fired through, but the assassin was no longer there. He instinctively scanned the top of the building and he saw a floating boulder.
"It's Terra!" Robin shrieked.
OK, a really short chapter, but I've kept you waiting forever.