As a start, an important character from TNG comes in, and even though I have not seen the show or read much fics on her, I hope she comes out okay.

Chapter Twelve

Marble Halls

Ziranne was coming with Father to the wedding in two months, but Worf had very few real friends besides Martok and a handful of the general's trusted comrades who would enjoy the four nights of Kal'Hyah - the Path of Clarity for the Klingon groom - before the wedding...and that meant I would spend the days with Sirella before the big day.

I was in for so many days of hell to come, not counting the dress distress.

My sister could not be here to face Sirella's wrath for me; I could not burden her with this because this was my fight, and did a grown woman ever let someone else fight for her? Not in a hundred lives. I had work to do based on Klingon wedding traditions. Sirella would not be my direct mother-in-law, but the mistress of a Great House had to approve of all marriages...and that made it worse. She had the rein to forbid me from joining the House of Martok, so I could not take this so lightly. Worf urged me not to.

I despised bowing down before that old hag, but I desperately wanted to marry the father of my child. I'd done so much like learning the use of weapons, engrossed in history and legends, and I did learn to make some of the lavish and strange foods that even wiggled in your mouth.

Even though I had lived here for a few months, I had the need to learn to make ceremonial var'Hama candles. Customary, a bride-to-be created these to display before and welcome the matriarch of her fiancé's House just before the wedding day. It was a great honor - and the task was long and grueling - and did I say gruesome?

The candle display was not for another week, and I was beyond anxious based on the details of how to make these honorable symbols. I was tasked to travel to the Hamar Mountains and hunt down three targs, then sacrifice them at dawn the next day, bring them back to boil into tallow so I could finish the task of molding the oily things into the candles for the final result. My stomach lurched as I could picture getting blood on my hands for sure as I had yet to.

We were having another guest coming in time for the wedding, on leave for the time being from what I heard. This Klingon was a woman and a good friend of the family - of Worf's notably - and a "special emissary of the Federation". Familiarity suddenly arose in my mind as I got the idea who this was.

I got to meet her with Worf when she arrived, and I could hardly believe my eyes. Her name was K'Ehleyr, Federation ambassador, but despite initial greetings from Martok and his wife, she didn't seem to be...fond of Klingon value. I found myself looking at my fiancé, seeing the struggle in his eyes. He was happy to see her, but at the same time, he wasn't sure. It made me wonder how CLOSE he had been with her before us...

"Ah, Jadzia Idaris. It's an honor." I was taken aback by how pleasant she was. "K'Ehleyr, at your service."

"An alien does not deserve your services," Sirella snipped behind her, and though her back faced the older Klingon woman, K'Ehleyr rolled her eyes.

"I shall decide who I offer my pleasantries to and who I shall not, my lady," she returned, turning her face halfway to glare at the matriarch, stunning me. She had fire, I'll give her that. "I apologize," she said to me, "and I offer you my congratulations." She then turned to Worf, who simply bowed his head forward once. "It's been a long time, my friend."

"Yes, it has."

"Jadzia, has Worf ever mentioned me?" K'Ehleyr questioned, inclining her head to one side. I furrowed my brows, shaking my head. She burst out laughing then. "We go back as old friends - but no closer than that, even though we almost went that far." So, she and Worf weren't an item, but almost were. I could not be jealous over nothing then.

The great feast was laid out, by my hand and the servants, to which I received praise from all around me with one obvious exception, and then K'Ehleyr surprised me once again. "I'm surprised that Jadzia can survive wiggling gaght and racht, or even octopus," she said to Martok, who chuckled in amusement and concurrence before his "lovely" wife interrupted with another snide remark.

"She's tolerable enough on my part."

The younger Klingon female looked at her with raised eyebrows. Somehow, she reminded me more of Worf, for what reasons? Besides his attitude and courage? "Thankfully, my lady, I have enough leave on my hands to get to know the other half of my birthright for the sake of an old friend. Captain Picard and the rest of the crew can make do without me for the time being." The fire in her eyes flashed no differently than Worf's. If anything, I'd say she was half-human like he was, because she had a heart to stand up to Sirella.

K'Ehleyr followed me when I was heading for my rooms. "I will not be surprised if Sirella always treats you like that," she said casually.

I sniffed and clenched my hands into fists. "She does."

"Figures. She treats me half as such because my mother is also a human. It's the one thing I have in common with Worf - only he is more restrained than I am. And he holds more respect for his people's values and traditions than I do. Just because my father was a Klingon does not mean I should enjoy blood and bathing in victory of spilling it. Honor I care about, but not painfully."

I smiled at her. I liked her already, calling her a friend in my mind. I saw a good chance to be aided in this painful pleasing the mother-in-law experience, even if K'Ehleyr did not approve of Klingon ways. A tiny part of me thought it was strange, but welcoming.

~o~

"I should also say more congratulations are in order," K'Ehleyr added when she reached over and placed a hand on my stomach. In six months, it would be time. "Have you and Worf decided on names yet?"

I laughed. "It's far too early, and there's too few to name our child after in Klingon terms," I said. I wasn't sure if giving our baby a Klingon name would be suitable if it came out looking more like me, but if he or she got more looks from their father, I would be more than happy.

A noise rustling brought our attentions ahead from behind the shrubs. We were in the Hamar Mountains just less than a day's journey from the capital. She didn't like this any more than I did, but she was helping me out. The rest I would do alone, sickening as it was. I could ask the cook to do the deed of boiling the shoulders for me when I brought them back to the house.

This would be the first time I would kill a targ for the sake of the hunt, unlike the first time when I was ambushed by a pack in the city. I was beyond excited, vengeance about to taste sweet.

"I did this less than a few times before, and my father often disapproved but did not force me," K'Ehleyr explained to me as she withdrew her crossbow and arrow, aiming it. I pulled out my phaser and aimed, making her chuckle. "A phaser shot can only do so much. Bow and arrow are the best for sport - even a hunting stick."

So, despite the limited love for the other half of her blood, she had a fondness for certain kinds of weapons and hunting techniques. I liked that. I grinned at her and heartily agreed. But then growling ahead got our attention. There was a targ ahead, coming out of the clearing and sniffing for its dinner. I decided shooting to stun would make it easier, and my partner agreed, putting her bow and arrow away, allowing me to do the honors for our first hunt.

I was not afraid when the animal made eye contact with me and snarled, starting my way and ready to pounce on one of us...

...and it was unconscious when it hit the earth. Two to go, but I'd be getting ahead of myself if I said the next couple times would be just as easy.

We were almost pounced on when another came at us out of the blue from the rocks of the mountains as we ventured upwards. Targ were everywhere you went. K'Ehleyr had my back when I turned around and aimed my phaser only for her to pull hers out and take care of the next. Now one more, but when we finally found a cave, where we would stop and do the sacrifice at dawn; we were nearing the end of the day, and we needed to stop, with two targ down but one more to go. We needed to keep them tied down and prevented from eating us both in our sleep. Luckily, we both brought the equipment to tame them. K'Ehleyr even knew how to tame these creatures, but I have yet to.

"I'll show you," she told me with a wink when we both pitched a fire just as the night fell.

The last targ to come was inhabiting the cave, but there were no others around, so we had no trouble tying the beasts up and keeping them out for hours with the help of the hyposprays we brought along, but we had to be careful to not overdose the animals. We fasted on food packs that we brought with us - generally aboard Klingon Birds of Prey - but they ended up giving me such an upset stomach that I craved for something better when we returned.

Thankfully, we both fell asleep by the warm fire, and when we awoke, dawn poured onto our faces. It was time to make the ritual sacrifices - and I had the honors of bringing my own personal knife right into the hearts of each beast stretched out before me, under the sun and feeling the rays as well as fresh blood burning my skin. I don't even know how to describe the excitement that flowed in my veins.

I was going to show Sirella wrong.

These candles could have been replicated, but then Sirella would have known. K'Ehleyr and I brought the dead creatures back to Martok's house and straight for the kitchen in case the lady happened upon the bloody mess by accident. Martok, however, had arrived and saw the mess, then burst out into harsh guffaws of laughter, slapping my back and congratulating me for drawing blood on my own. "Now my wife won't be able to debase you for much longer."

Did I mention tallow was fat? It came out very yellow with lingering red accents, and the chef gave it to me personally, but I had to steer clear of any grand furnishings if I did not want to incur the fire of Lady Sirella. The fat was very mushy, but it would dry in time. The procedure took two days as it was very delicate. But when I was finished, the swirls of yellow and red were sheer magic. I had done it! I have to say I am very proud of my work. Sirella wouldn't reject me now...but oh, I was wrong yet again.

"Very impressive, Jadzia - and honorable," Sirella noted when she came to my rooms, lifting her nose at the display I presented for her, then looked me over as I was still in my white, blood-stained blouse and tight trousers, wrinkling her nose now. "But do me a massive favor and clean up so you are not presented as a filthy targ yourself."

~o~

Boy, how time flies when you are having fun. And when you are planning a wedding. An interspecies wedding that the matriarch of the groom's somewhat house opposed - but Martok assured me she couldn't do anything about it because of how much Worf and I loved each other, and that it was enough.

I just hoped so.

Right now, I was on the first day of the "journey" with Sirella, and it involved lifting two weights from their pedestals and chanting in Klingon - I'd begun to learn, speak and understand the language since planning the wedding began - and placing them back when I was finished, but it had not been easy because of how heavy they were. I wasn't a very strong being, which was nothing new but also did not lessen the ever-growing tension between Sirella and myself. We had to go through this ritual five times before I finally mastered it.

"If you were a Klingon woman, you would have done it correctly the first time," she told me. "But you are not, so we will go through this ceremony as many times as we must. Maybe your feeble body composition would know how to lift heavy things in the future, Jadzia."

I wanted so much to spit out a curse I learned in Klingonese, but it would not have ended well, and she'd call me an enemy and cancel the wedding. I'd be forbidden to join the House of Martok, and my child would be named a bastard - it was an old Terran term for someone born illegitimately, out of wedlock. Trills never used the phrase, but today seemed plausible because I loathed the negative connotation it would have on my baby.

Sirella was looking at my abdomen now, seeing how gently curved and rounded it was becoming, her lip curling. "I don't need to repeat what I have said about you remaining an outsider in our family, but that thing -" I just about internally flew into a rage at the way she spoke of my baby - and Worf's - like that, but if she saw my reaction, she went on unfazed. "- could never truly be accepted, either, because while it is half its father, the other half that is you, the mother, will not be tolerated in blood."

After the services for the day ended, I angrily went to see K'Ehleyr, my only real female friend in these surroundings, to confide in regarding the insults the shrew gave me about me and the baby. She huffed furiously and slammed her palm flat on the table we both sat at. "It's not honorable to speak of your birthright in that manner!" she said furiously.

"No," I said, rubbing my stomach when I felt it churn. I was starving, so we headed down to the kitchens together. I was craving something that wasn't gaght or anything wriggling. Maybe the zilm'kach with the pipius claws? Strange combo, but I needed something I really liked.

"Make that two services," K'Ehleyr stated, "and with baghol tea on both of us."

"This was what Curzon liked to serve Kang back when he was still trying to secure the peace between the Klingons and the Federation," I said, the memory paining me immensely.

She sniffed when we settled back down in privacy away from the rest of the house. "I'm sorry to hear about the dropping," she said. "Worf filled me in."

"Does Worf share every secret we have?"

K'Ehleyr laughed lightly. "Not everything." She waved her hand dismissively. "He used to talk as much as possible, in the days at Starfleet Academy, at least. He's changed so much."

I nearly dropped a claw onto my dish, shocked but also not. They...knew each other at Starfleet? Worf had been...a Starfleet officer?! I looked at K'Ehleyr, and her eyes went wide as if realizing she said too much. "He doesn't speak much of himself, does he?" she asked softly. I shook my head, still stunned; this was yet another secret he kept from me. "That's understandable, because he's been through a great deal more than he's told you and doesn't want to burden you with it."

~o~

I had more Worf to worry about now, but there was still Sirella. I had thought I'd not be surprised at more secrets revealed - and by K'Ehleyr, no less - but I was wrong.

I sat straight and looked ahead while the lady circled me and listened. "And so the Second Dynasty ended when Emperor Reclaw was assassinated by General K'Trelan, and for the next ten years, the government was ruled by the people. Modern Klingon historians refer to this as the 'Dark Time'." My next job was to recite the complete chronicle of the women of Sirella's family - and when I first learned of this, I could not be more excited. All the time of waiting to leverage her regarding her lineage from a concubine renamed to be Shenara was about to pay off, and I'd had more than enough time to plan. "But it's interesting to note that this is the first and only time the democracy was ruled by the people -"

A harsh strike on the table caused me to jump but not lose my posture. I did not look at Sirella when she growled viciously. "You are straying from the saga!"

"I wasn't aware I was," I stated, cringing inside. "I'm well aware of what to do, but I thought I'd give an extra perspective along the way, after Princess Shenara...your twenty-third maternal grandmother." Now I looked at her and might have twinkled in my eyes, for she got angrier.

"And that was your task but no more. Now, return to the story and do not repeat this mistake again."

I sprung the trap. "I'm afraid that's when the issue comes in," I said smoothly. The minor heat of the candles washed over my skin, enflaming the desire to humiliate this woman before me. "Not long ago, I came across the story itself, but then it occurred to me that if Emperor Reclaw II was killed, then his whole family would go down with him. And with further research outside the ancient archives, it was confirmed that the rest of the royal family was executed after him - including the Princess Shenara." Now I allowed myself to smirk when I saw her tremble visibly with rage.

"Bite your tongue at once," she hissed, but I wasn't fazed.

"That's not the best of it. When the Third Dynasty came to being a decade later, a new group of Klingons were renamed and ranked after the original imperial family all to pretend the Reclaw line was never destroyed. Which brings me to the point about the woman you think of as your twenty-third maternal grandmother: 'Shenara' was actually named Karana, a prostitute who lived near the stables of the Imperial Palace."

"You will cease this at once or I will cancel your wedding," she threatened, leaning in, but her hot breath on my face made me smile wider. I was in control now, and she knew it.

I laughed haughtily. "Afraid of competition? The old legends stated you have imperial blood, but it's nothing factual because you were actually born as humble as your husband Martok. Except why should Klingons care about facts as long as they keep the traditional storytelling alive..."

I finally received the blow, but unlike last time when Worf and I broke the baby news to her, I smirked tighter and laughed in my throat to show she didn't affect me as much. She didn't go any further than that, instead seething through her teeth, "Carry on before I call you an enemy of my House, Jadzia Idaris."

Well, the wedding was in three more days, so why not?

~o~

It was hard to believe that I was here for three whole months, and somehow - in a strange way - it had become my home because I found a man I loved but never thought I would, and now I was getting married and having a baby with him.

I was overjoyed when Ziranne and Father Kela came, but my uncle was unable to attend because of health issues. I was half-expecting my father to express his utter disregards on the day before the wedding and then the day itself - but he was surprisingly calm. Then he smiled at me and blessed me before telling me he had met my groom and found Worf "interesting but very gentlemanly". "I just hope he takes great care of you - and this one," he said when he placed his hand on my rounded stomach where his first grandchild was. I fought back tears as I could hardly believe the happiness.

What endurance I had with Sirella. Just yesterday which was the last time that I had to prove my worthiness that only she judged in accordance to the traditions of her family, I challenged her to a duel and beat her. She spoke in her native tongue, telling me I bested her and showed I was worthy to become an in-law of the House of Martok and therefore Worf's wife - and that meant the baby I was carrying would be accepted.

"You look beautiful," K'Ehleyr told me when she came to help me into my dress and then take her leave to be amongst the guests to watch me enter the Great Hall. I'd been personally visited by Chancellor Gowron who called me an "honorable woman of that Worf", and he proved he meant his word by accepting my hand. Then K'Ehleyr pecked my cheek in a friendly manner before leaving me to finish myself.

But today when I looked at myself in the mirror, I could hardly even believe what I saw. The colors of red and gold were wondrous and bold for me, as I felt powerful, but to SEE my exposed abdomen in this two-piece gown was appalling. Even though she accepted me and would officiate the ceremony, Sirella had insisted I wear this just to show the others that I was clearly pregnant; I had to be strong and endure that, as well. The top piece was a cropped halter of embellished gold, and over it lay the targ's tooth my beloved Worf gave me. The skirt itself was billowing folds of red silk, accented with some animal print in the layers. My arms from the middle of the fore to the wrist were covered with slimming fur. My hair was loose and wild, accented with a statement of golden leaves and crystals.

Despite the awkwardness that was my pregnancy showing, I looked and felt sophisticated, ready to go marry the man I loved, and that was all that mattered.

"Not long now," I cooed to the little one in my belly, rubbing my fingers over it before the ceremonial drums began.

I remember the story of the creation which was used for Klingon wedding ceremonies, and it was one of Worf's favorites that it became mine - and now it was for me and him.

With fire and steel did the gods forge the Klingon heart. So fiercely did it beat, so loud was the sound, that the gods did cry, "On this day, we brought forth the strongest heart in all the heavens. None can stand before it without trembling at its strength." But then...the Klingon heart weakened. Its steady rhythm faltered, and the gods said, "Why have you weakened so? We have made you the strongest in all of creation!" And the heart said...

"I am alone." I was startled from the powerful words when Worf came to stand tall and proud, regally garbed as I was.

And the gods knew that they had erred, so they went back to their forge and brought forth...another heart...

To walk through the hall with all eyes on me was surreal, but I held my head high, my hands gathering my skirts, smiling as serenely as I could be, not stopping until I reached my husband-to-be. I was ready to raise the bat'leth - a ritual common to show that the bride was willing to convince the other that she was wiser in the sense of the words that I would say:

If we join together, no force can stop us.

~o~

Five months later, the end of the birth was easy if very painful.

I experienced eight hours of bloody labor, surrounded by Worf as well as a few other female Klingons, and K'Ehleyr who had come to assist with the birth because she was a friend. I have not felt such pain before as I was torn apart inside, thought I was going to die...

But the cries that came were healthy and shrill. I could breathe a sigh of relief even if my insides still bled. Internal hemorrhaging, Worf said, and he would get to it soon. My vision was blurry that I didn't get the chance to see the baby - our baby - before it was carried away to be washed, and I was left to be tended to by my husband who had been somewhat nervous about delivering the child. And without trouble.

I felt like I wanted to sleep by the time he was finished with me. "Jadzia, don't you want to see him?" he asked me when he gently shook me awake, but when I blinked and looked at him, he had worry etched all over his face. I had no idea why - and then I heard K'Ehleyr as well as soft cooing.

"It's a boy," she said softly when she knelt down and held out the little bundle of fur for me to take. "A beautiful, healthy son."

Tears burned my eyes as I tried not to cry when I looked at the face of our son. I couldn't believe it; it was a beautiful baby boy. His hair was soft and dark, his eyes not yet opened, and his skin was a soft gold with the spots of a Trill on either side of his face and working down...wait.

Studying him again, I felt the joy being replaced with confusion. I did not see one ounce of Klingon in him - not even the etched lines on the forehead. Looking up at Worf and hearing K'Ehleyr's sharp intake of breath but ignoring her, I was sure my eyes were asking him the question on my mind:

Why did our son have half Trill in him, but NO trace of Klingon?

In the non-canon Starfleet Academy series, in my research, Worf met K'Ehleyr while he was still at the academy. So there is no Alexander, too, sadly. :(

Somehow I feel satisfied with how the wedding came out. :) And the dress has changed if remained the same with the colors. She's more sophisticated and sexy. ;) And as for the baby - it's a BOY. But now there is the major question: how is it half Trill and half HUMAN, with no trace of Klingon? :O That was the twist I had planned from the beginning, so hold onto the edges of your seats now, ladies and gents, for the ride is getting faster and pumping.