The group was strangely quiet as they made their way through the abandoned corridors of the Malocchio Freighter. It was a little unnerving, passing through the largest passenger ship in the Fleet, and not coming across a single soul.
"Where are we headed?" Apollo asked.
"Ama's chambers." Lady Aurelia replied. "The other Quorum members await us there."
"Regus, Albus and Rogane are all safe?" The captain verified.
"Certainly. While Regus' statement on the IFB was considered an incitement to the masses, our people prefer to decide things in a dignified manner, following tradition." Siress Ama returned haughtily.
"Oh? So, rioting is a tradition?" Starbuck asked sardonically. "No wonder it's over already." He mused aloud, Luana smiling at his farfetched interpretation.
"I'll have you know, this is the first such rumpus in five centi-yahrens." Siress Ama defended her people as they reached the Imperial Necromancer's chambers.
"Really?" Starbuck asked, looking searchingly at Lia and Luana. He had learned that the two branches of Empyreans tended to do things a bit differently. Lia and Luana's line were a bit less priggish and pompous . . . oh, and straight-laced and narrow-minded . . . and self-important and stodgy . . . in his nonjudgmental opinion.
The young women grinned in return. They knew what he was thinking. And while they wouldn't say it aloud—or at least Lia wouldn't—they tended to agree with him. It was part of the reason they had joined the Colonial Service, distancing themselves from the Empyrean nonsense they had recognized as being even more pronounced in their Sagittarian brethren.
Ama waved them through the door, and true to the Siress' word, Sire Regus, Albus and Rogane sat waiting at a large table. Standing just beyond the table were three other civilians, looking nervous and out of their element as they hovered behind the members of the Great Houses.
Sire Albus rose reluctantly to his feet at their entrance. He nodded, dispelling with the usual grandiose greetings. "Is it true? Are they genuinely betrothed?"
All eyes turned to Starbuck and Luana. The lieutenant turned towards the young woman who was biting her lip nervously. Lu looked at him anxiously. This was it. He could feel the tension in the air, still not really understanding why this was so important to them. He looked back towards Albus. Regus and Rogane were on their feet now as well. They regarded the warrior disdainfully as they awaited an answer. On his other side, Apollo, Ama, Siress Ama, and Lady Aurelia contemplated him like an unpredictable, wild animal, as they seemed to hold a collective breath.
Oh, it wasn't a great reason, but somehow annoying the Hades out of the elite and pretentious men staring contemptuously at him from behind the meeting table made the decision for him. That and the uncertainty on Lu's beautiful features.
Starbuck reached for Luana's hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing it tenderly. He smiled at the sudden light in her eyes. Her lips quirked as if they were sharing a private joke, and he took her other hand squeezing it gently as they faced one another. They gazed into each other's eyes, sharing a sudden intimacy that neither of them could explain. It just felt right. It seemed a shame to break the spell.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Starbuck murmured, just loud enough for them all to hear.
"Never." Ama replied, gazing victoriously at the aristocrats.
Albus raised an eyebrow. "We still require the test. If Lieutenant Starbuck is truly throwing triad games, and attacking civilians without provocation, then he is not a suitable innamorato for our Empyrean princess."
"That's a load of felgercarb, and you know it, Albus." Luana shot at him, her body once again tense and battle ready.
"Luana, that is inappropriate language and I will not tolerate it." Ama warned her, though amusement was clearly etched upon her features. "But Albus, I believe I already notified you that the charges against Lieutenant Starbuck were dropped when the young woman who was attacked made her statement verifying the actual events."
"Yes. My former charwoman, Oriana." Regus snapped. "A curious coincidence."
"Curious." Ama smiled her agreement. "However, if you insist upon a test, I will agree to it for the benefit of our people. Then they will know beyond doubt that Lieutenant Starbuck is truly a man of honour, contrary to recent slanderous fabrications."
The men bristled under her penetrating stare, though they merely sat down again, following their protocol and propriety . . . at least on the surface.
"Please everyone, take your places, while we prepare the Fires of Truth." Ama directed them, Siress Ama coming to her assistance.
"Tell me again why I'm doing this." Starbuck nudged his Captain with an elbow as they sat side by side.
"Uh . . ." Apollo thought about it, as he gazed in bemusement at the bed of embers and coals that glowed red and emitted enough heat to warm the chambers of the Imperial Necromancer . . . and then some. Starbuck was supposed to stand in the middle of it, barefoot, answering questions, while holding a crystalline orb. As Starbuck had insisted, there had to be a catch. He just wasn't sure what it was yet. Lia had seemed so calm and utterly encouraging, that it couldn't just be what it appeared to be. He hoped. "Commander's orders?"
Starbuck's answering glare told Apollo how unimpressed he was with the response. Undoubtedly, the captain was supposed to say something more inspiring to the lieutenant.
"You'll be fine." Lia reassured Starbuck. "If you tell the truth, the Orb will protect you."
Kella loomed behind him, supervising his every move, as he pulled his boots and socks off as ordered. "Uh . . . this truth . . . is that the complete truth . . . or variations on it?" Starbuck asked. His initial answer was a rib block from his captain.
"It's a legitimate question." Starbuck defended himself.
"But one that only you would think of." Apollo sighed, wondering for perhaps the hundredth time how his friend managed to get himself in these unlikely predicaments.
"Starbuck, imagine yourself standing and being judged before your creator." Lia coached him. "He can see into your heart, and knows whether or not you speak the truth. There are no variations in his mind."
He looked at her skeptically and turned to her sister. "Lu?"
"No bluffing, Bucko. He can see right through you."
"Frack, that's what I was afraid of." He jerked as Luana grabbed his foot, kneeling down before him. "What are you doing?"
"It's a salve. It will repel the heat." Luana told him, firmly grasping the squirming foot and starting to rub the gel in.
"I thought I wasn't supposed to feel the heat, if I was telling the truth." It suddenly occurred to him that Apollo used that line with Boxey. Yeah, the kid never believed it either. He tried to control the irrepressible urge to yank his foot back as Luana's light touch caused a series of twitches and tingling that didn't seem to stop at his foot.
"Just increasing your odds, incase you try one of your variations of truth." Luana smiled up at him, before attacking the other foot with relish.
"Are you ready, Starbuck?" Ama asked from the opposite side of the Fires of Truth.
"No." Starbuck replied, even as Lia and Luana pulled him to his feet.
"Remember, you don't have to get specific. Empyreans speak in generalities." Lia whispered. "More than likely, it will just be 'yes' and 'no' questions anyhow."
"Great. Now I'm completely confused. Tell the complete truth, but speak in generalities, especially while using 'yes' or 'no'." He moved forward with a push from Kella. "Yeah, yeah, I know, Kella. By the way, I could very well be your superior officer soon. I'm going to remember this."
Kella smiled faintly, honoured that he was aware of her application to the service. "Courage, warrior. Courage. I know you have it. Why is it buried so far within you now?"
Starbuck paused in astonishment at her encouraging . . . though somewhat insulting words. "Just keeping it safe so it'll be there when I need it."
"You need it now. Be still. You move about like a litter of feral daggits at play. Gaze upon the Imperial Necromancer, then you will understand that it is but a small thing which we ask of you." Kella returned.
The room fell under a hush as Ama, also barefoot, approached the bed of glowing embers. Cupped carefully within her hands was a translucent orb, which emitted a bluish glow. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her features relaxing until an almost angelic quality settled upon them. For several moments she stood, and with each passing micron the depth and intensity of the orb's light grew. Ama opened her eyes and strode forward slowly, crossing the few metrons over the Fires of Truth until she stood before Starbuck.
He stared at her in a horrified fascination, realizing they were actually serious about all this. He glanced down at her feet, which appeared unharmed, and he could imagine his own being consumed in flames very shortly. His stomach lurched at the very thought of stepping onto the burning hot bed of coals.
"Breathe, Starbuck." Ama reminded him.
The lieutenant let out the ragged breath he had been holding. He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder and looked back to see Kella nodding at him. Courage, be damned. "I don't feel so hot," he murmured back to the necromancer, suddenly lightheaded.
"Let's hope it stays that way." She whispered back to him with a rueful grin.
He grimaced at her wit. "Couldn't you just get three personal references to attest to my good character?"
"Unfortunately, the Fires of Truth are a more convincing testament, at least in Empyrean circles." Ama replied.
"Shame." Starbuck rasped, then he cleared his dry throat. He steeled his resolve, feeling Kella squeeze his shoulder once again, lending him her strength. "What now?"
"Listen." She told him and then looked over at the others. "Our people have demanded that the Fires of Truth be the judge of our savior's character, deeming him worthy . . . or not, for betrothal to our own Princess Luana. Let us proceed."
Starbuck ran his fingers back through his hair as further talk of their betrothal caused a wave of uneasiness to run through him. "Uh, about that . . . " The ruse had seemed so inconsequential, as he had stood before Luana sharing in their deception, but now that he was standing before a probable source of great pain as he was potentially asked about his real intentions regarding a future sealing . . .
"Not now." Ama hushed him. "Lieutenant Starbuck, your part in the test is simple. You are required to speak the truth. If you do so, you will remain unharmed. If not . . . " At that instant, Kella tossed a balled up piece of cloth onto the coals, which abruptly ignited and was incinerated within microns.
Starbuck gulped down the lump in his throat, looking over his shoulder for Luana. She nodded encouragingly, but at the same time, looked as nervous as he felt.
"Place your hands upon mine." Ama instructed him, calling his attention back to her.
Slowly, he raised his hands so they settled upon hers, her pale flesh cool and wrinkled with age. They were the hands of an old woman, which generally wasn't how he thought of her. He raised his eyes to hers, surprised to see her amused expression. He quirked an eyebrow in question.
"Do you think me old, Starbuck?"
"No." he answered without hesitation, surprised when the orb's intensity seemed to increase once again.
She nodded, satisfied with the result. "Walk with me. Do not let go of my hands." Ama told him as she slowly backed up onto the Fires of Truth.
"Ama . . . " he sucked in a desperate breath wondering how he could get out of the situation as he looked back towards Apollo. He would even welcome a Cylon attack about now. Or an explosion . . . A fire would be okay . . . A flood—Hades, it would be perfect!
"Look at me." She ordered him, her voice clear and authoritative, as she paused mid-step. His hands began to slip from hers as he hung back. "Look . . . at . . . me."
Starbuck stared into her familiar grey eyes, noticing immediately how they seemed to pick up the glow from the blue orb before her. He paused in his instinctive retreat.
"I am, Ama, daughter of Arion and Annica of the Empyrean Imperial House. I am the Empyrean Necromancer. I am grandmother, protector and guardian to Princess Lia and Princess Luana. And you are . . .?"
Her voice seemed to echo throughout the chamber, taking on that disembodied quality he had heard earlier in the day. He recognized her words. It was a part of her formal introduction to him in the caves on Empyrean. Of course, then she had followed it all up with a few tankards of ale and a feast. Not the offer of going for a stroll on a bed of hot coals. "Starbuck. Just Starbuck." He told her, much as he had so long ago.
"The sum of a man is so much more than just his position, lineage or title. This you have taught me." Ama told him, and then she grinned in merriment at his astounded visage. How she loved to keep him on his toes! "But alas, I'm a creature of habit and terminally committed to grandiloquence . . .Lieutenant Starbuck of the Battlestar Galactica and Savior of the Empyrean People." She smiled at his answering wince.
Well, the whole savior thing was a great tale to throw in your friends' faces as you sat around the card table having a few drinks, but he wasn't entirely comfortable or convinced of his lot in life, and Ama knew it. He could see it in the twinkling of her eyes, and the deepening of the lines of her face as her lips quirked. He knew she was having the time of her life . . . at his expense.
"Do you trust me?" Ama asked him.
Starbuck blew out a deep breath. "I . . . I'm not so sure." His gaze again swung to the Fires of Truth and then back to her as he shook his head. "You lost a few points today as far as trust is concerned."
She nodded her understanding. He had felt betrayal at her announcement of the engagement. She had expected that. "Do you think I'd harm you Starbuck? Physically harm you?"
"No . . . but . . . "
"All you have to do is tell the truth. Is that so difficult?"
"No." His voice was quiet. Reluctant. He suddenly felt like a small boy before an honoured matriarch. "I hate this necromancy felgercarb," he groused.
"I know, son." She smiled warmly at him. "Look into my eyes and take a deep breath."
He did, oddly compelled by her steady and searching gaze.
"Again." Ama directed him.
Again, he breathed deeply in, and this time when he expelled the air, it was if the worries of the world left with it. Empty accusations of throwing games and attacking civilians, false engagements, broken relationships—they all disappeared as though they had never existed.
"Come with me, Starbuck." Ama's voice was like a gentle caress washing over him, as delicate as a soft breeze cleansing his soul and freeing his mind from his troubles.
He felt a physical pull as she stepped backwards, which was impossible, since it was his hands resting on hers. Her energy was palpable, connecting them in a way he had never experienced before. Her eyes dragged him into their depths, and onward. He strangely felt apart from it all, as though it was simply him and Ama going for a walk through an enchanting sea of blue. It occurred to him to look back over his shoulder towards his friends, but they seemed so very far away all of a sudden. The mere idea of exerting the energy was exhausting.
"What the frack . . .?" It was disorienting, and his mind sought an explanation. He recalled Lia giving him a drink when they arrived, and wondered if that had something to do with it. It had to have affected him. It couldn't be . . .
"Shush." Ama whispered as she held his gaze. "Like wandering through the streams on Empyrean."
He could almost smell the earthy aroma of the forest. Could practically sense the dampness on his skin. His feet felt cool as he waded through the chilling depths, guided by the necromancer. He knew if he looked to the side he would see Lia and Luana flanking him, their slender forms dressed in the skins of their people . . . No, that wasn't right. He screwed up his face in consternation remembering vaguely that he was on the Malocchio Freighter.
"Starbuck, tell me the truth. Have you ever thrown a triad game in exchange for a bribe?"
Ama's voice seemed to fill his consciousness, invade his physical being. It came from within, yet surrounded him completely. "No." His own voice seemed a mere sigh.
Her presence seemed to intensify, filling him body and soul. A pervading warmth sought to comfort him, even as his mind fought to climb out from under the unfamiliar and stifling sense of blanketing reassurance.
"Is Luana your innamorata?"
"Yes."
A trickle of sweat trailed down his temples, distracting him. He blinked and in an instant realized that his heart was hammering in his chest. A slight crack in the immuring haze beckoned to him. If he reached up just a little higher he could get there.
Stay with me!
The words echoed through his mind, suffusing the rest of his body until his skin felt as though it was too tight, encasing an unnatural presence, which he fought to dispel. It brought to mind a Gemonese sausage roasting over a fire, its casing about to split open as it expanded under the pressure . . .
"Look at me, Starbuck!"
Her voice was like a cracking whip; his eyes snapped open, again drawn to Ama's riveting stare. "Ama . . . " he rasped, as the walls that had protected and comforted him seemed to cave in from all directions, leaving him freefalling into the brilliant blue glow before him.