Author's Note: And I'm back! Here's another chapter of Destiny's Child And Her Bridegroom! Ciao!

-Voltalia

After the ceremony, Nephrite decided that he and his surrogate daughter were going to pay the Queen Jubilee a visit. Rose had asked her father if they could visit her privately, and he had complied. So they made their way to the palace, but they managed to get as far as the grand entrance passage before the Chancellor Zoisite stopped them.

"Well, if it isn't that snivelling little worm who tagged along with me on my missionary work..." Nephrite remarked quite hatefully.

Zoisite gave him an audacious, smug little smile as if he wanted to offend him. He watched for a little bit as Nephrite fumed on the inside, and he even managed to stifle a snicker here and there.

"There you go again with your arrogance..." Nephrite muttered. "May Granite have mercy on your soul..."

Zoisite snickered again. "Good one, sir." he replied. "But I dare to ask: what is your business?"

"Rose and I were wondering if we could see the Queen."

"Oh, well, you should've told me first thing..." Zoisite snickered once more. He turned around and yelled, "Your Majesty, the former Chancellor is paying you a visit!"

"Is this so?" a feminine voice called out from behind the doors.

"Of course, dear Jubilee!"

"Well, can't you just let them in? I've been expecting them for a while."

"Hold on a second."

"Alright, but hurry. I've got a meeting with some other Queens in just a few minutes."

After a minute of nothing but hesitance, Zoisite reluctantly let the regal guests in. Rose couldn't believe what she was seeing. There were exceptionally-detailed marble statues of previous Queens scattered in close proximity that highlighted every detail of their bodies. There was the flamboyant and twiggy founder Chalcopyrite, the quiet and stocky immediate successor Variscite, the seductive bell-shaped Axinite, the innocent and childlike Kornerupine; and then there was the mellow, aphrodisiac and curved Star Lemon Quartz who had recently died.

"Wow..." Rose could only say in amazement.

"I know, right?" the petite yellow Gem Queen rejoined. "This palace is one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Chalcopyrite." She then turned to her companion/Chancellor with a sweet smile. "Wouldn't you agree, dearly beloved?"

"Yes, indeed!" Zoisite perked up. "Just remember not to touch anything, and I do mean anything. The statues are irreplaceable, you know."

"Oh, shut up, you goddamn sycophant..." Nephrite immediately rebutted under his breath. "Don't act like you know this place from top to bottom when you've only been Chancellor for a month." He proceeded to groan while rolling his eyes.

The yellow Gem Queen sent an annoyed and miffed glance at the former Chancellor a few seconds after he had done this. She couldn't stand to hear other Gems talk poorly of her companion, especially when one of them was a former Chalcopyrite chancellor who seemed to be envying the neophyte. Nonetheless, she kept her mouth shut lest she humiliate him and his surrogate daughter/wife.

"Anyway..." the white Gem Chancellor resumed speaking in his usual screechy broken-glass voice. "You wouldn't mind meeting the other Queens, would you? I think they'd love you. Trust me, I have a good feeling about this."

"Really?" Rose gasped with the utmost hope.

Zoisite gave off a smug smirk at her. "Do I look like someone who'd lie about something like that?"

A while later, the visiting Queens had come over. There was the Spodumene Queen Idocrase, the Calaverite Queen Serpentine, the Iolite Queen Labradorite, and lastly the Tourmaline Queen Pietersite.

"Well, what's this?" asked the gaunt chartreuse-green Queen Idocrase in awe.

"That would be the former Chancellor Nephrite with his new wife Rose Quartz." Jubilee pointed at the green Gem and his surrogate daughter. "My companion and I had just attended their wedding earlier."

"You've got to admit that there seems to be chemistry between the lovely couple..." the iridescent smoky gray Labradorite whispered to Idocrase.

"Which one?" Idocrase asked.

"Nephrite and his daughter, of course." Labradorite laughed. "They're a lot more believable than our hostess and her 'companion.'"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Jubilee and Zoisite's love for one another might be a sham, at least on Zoisite's part. I don't think I've ever seen him look at her with devotion once. I don't know, but if he truly loves her, he has an odd way of showing it."

Idocrase scoffed at this. "What do you expect when you have to work in a government position alongside your spouse? You can't exactly afford to court your lover while you've got serious work to do."

"Still... I can't help but feel that he's leading her on..."

"Ladies, I can hear you." Jubilee sternly said. "And just what do you mean when you say my companion's love for me might be a sham?"

"Well..." Labradorite fished for an explanation before Pietersite cued her to join her in another room.