Hi guys! I'm back with another chapter :)

QUESTIONS:

i really want to know more about bath & david. will you later tell us about the reason why david have interest with bath and why he already waiting her for so long (beside she was important to him, but for what) ? Hello! Thank you for reviewing! That's a great question! The truth is that there are multiple reasons why David is interested in Bath: not only because why she's important (which is revealed in this chapter *smirks*), but after observing her after so long, he's grown to be "attached" to her; he sees her as a person unlike others because of her unique ability to "defy" fate (which I will get into later). Because of this, he finds her to be very interesting and aspires to learn as much as he can about and understand her, especially why she's able to change her life so much, her motivations, ect.

btw, will solomon later know about his mother and close to her ? ...Ummmmmm...We'll see ;) I'll just say that if they do know each other, I think they'd grow to be very fond of one another- not that their own personal beliefs won't clash a bit (Bath on her desire to change the Church from the inside/Solomon changing it from the outside.) ALSO HEY, WHO SAID SOLOMON IS BATH'S SON, HMMMM? ;)

Catharsis

By Gold Sparrow

Chapter 7: Payment

The council chamber is probably the fanciest room Bathsheba has ever been in, and considering she is now a Queen living in the spiraling towers of the capital, that's saying something. The seats are all cushy and plush, covered in red velvet and made from dark, polished wood. The floor is made of similar wood, polished and smooth. The curtains from the large, floor-to-ceiling windows are dark blue with threads of gold and azure making rippling patterns throughout the silk-like material. There's fine craftsmanship on the bright white crown molding entailing heavily detailed flowers, which sits above and below the beige walls.

The ceiling is the best part, however.

Since being incredibly rich and flaunting that fact seems to be a pass-time of the Elders, there's no reason why their already costly meeting place shouldn't have high ceilings. And by high, she means scarily high. But with that height came a quandary for the Elders. What to do with this spectacle? A ceiling is just a ceiling. Until they decided on what to do: paint it. And paint it they did. To be completely sincere, Bathsheba is glad that they made that choice.

Whoever painted the ceiling is a master artist. It's the sky, a navy in the center that fades to a lighter blue on the ends. There's no moon, instead a tumble of silver and red and golden stars jumping and winking at her as if they're real. They range from small to large, make constellations, and glow.

"What do you think?" David's voice is amused. Not the fake humor she's learned he often sports, but a genuine amusement. As if he wants to hear whatever unexpected thing she has to say. She looks at her husband of three weeks, his smirk raised slightly. Then she looks back at the marvelousness of the room and delicately arranges her robes the way they are so supposed to be. Regal.

"Queenly."

Hah.

"I think," She begins, appraising the furniture, "That this must've cost more money than I've ever made in my entire life."

"Well, that's certainly not true," He chuckles, as if finding her hilarious. She's not trying to be funny. She isn't even trying to be clever. "You're my wife now. You have all the money in the world."

"What a way with words you have," She boredly tells him, turning away. She walks toward the raised platform at the end of the room, where two thrones sit side by side. Bath instantly can pick out hers, because it's just a little less grand and ever-so-slightly more new-looking. "When does the meeting start?"

"Whenever you're ready," He responds, following after her. "They're waiting."

Feeling slightly sadistic, she turns to him and bares her teeth in a smile.

"Oh my, I feel overwhelmed. I may need a few minutes to gather myself." David smiles back at her, motioning to the throne.

"You have all the time in the world, my Queen."

Half an hour later, she decides the meeting can begin.

Though Bathsheba knows making enemies carelessly is a stupid thing to do, she still makes the old bastards wait in the hall as she inspects every aspect of the room. David sits on his throne quietly, his eyes closed. He has an annoying smile on, one that looks slightly different than his usual one. It almost appears like the smile of a young boy doing something naughty with his friends.

Not that they're friends. It's symbiotic mutualism, yes, but they aren't friends nor lovers and she refuses to cross either line with a man like him. That's right. She'll never, ever love him. But, staring at the man, she grudgingly accepts that she will tolerate him. She will work with him, if only to achieve her goals.

She follows the straight cut of his face, the strong chin he sports. His nose is long and nicely curved, the same way that his eyes are separated a good distance away from one another. When they are closed, it's easy to look at him. Easy to see the wicked, sharp curves of his hair, the shape of his face. Her head tilts to the side as she realizes he's handsome. It never registered with her for some reason, but she now understands why so many women obsess over him. She supposes she was just too caught up with staring at his fangs to see the face of the serpent.

"Why don't you have eyebrows?" There's also that. The weird thing is that he looks strangely natural without eyebrows.

"It's a side effect of being eight hundred years old," He replies instantly. It surprises her, because she thought he was asleep. After a moment, probably because he knows it'll annoy her, "Dear."

Ew.

"It's not that bad."

Is he calling you that?

"...Okay, it's a little gross."

The voices laugh in her ears. It makes her frown, because they're supposed to be on her side- even though that feeling is very self-centered.

Her husband doesn't open his eyes. It coaxes her to drift to the thrones, stand over him.

"Need something?" David asks. His voice is sleepy, drowsy. Like he's going to fall asleep any moment. She can't blame him, it's warm in the chamber, and the light is strangely dim, like it's shining through a veil.

"You are a strange man." She states. "An utterly and thoroughly strange man."

"You are a strange woman." He parrots, but his smile grows. "I suppose we'll make good partners, hm?"

"I won't be your partner."

"Ah, dear, you should realize your position." He finally opens his eyes. His, so pale and so intense, versus hers, a color matching a bright blue sky. "I've already allowed you your freedom. A freedom no one else can lay claim to. All I asked in return was two very simple things."

Two things.

Two simple, simple things.

The first of which she accomplished through her marriage to him.

The second…

She sighs. Then she glares at him, her resolve fiery and harsh. There is no mountain too high she'd not climb, there is no desert too hot she'd not cross. For there is a drive behind her, the same drive that's pushed her and pushed her year after year. More, more, more, a greed consuming itself. If she must give something up, then she'll demand something equal, if not better, in return. She decides that even if it makes her a pariah, she'll bleed Elder David Jehoahaz Abraham dry of all his uses; she'll feed off his genius and his evil, and she'll take what is promised to her with both hands.

If she can reach her dreams through him, then marrying him is a small price. If she can change this world by using his hands, then bearing a child for him is nothing.

He asked for my hand and for my womb.

The voices are quiet, but she can feel their anxious anticipation. Like they are watching something awesomely powerful take place before their eyes.

"If I'm going to give you a baby, I demand my part of the deal comes to fruition first." He offers his hand, and she takes it. She sits beside him, staring firmly at the opening doors of the chambers with her resolve in mind. Even as he intertwines their fingers and whispers to her,

"Try to be nice. It'll be good if they love you. Then they'll accept our marriage and child much easier."

...

He's right; she's free, but she's also his.

Which is why she keeps his words in mind throughout the meeting. She says nothing as the Elders bicker and make speeches and study her out of the corner of their eyes. She does nothing but look pretty and inspect each of them like the furniture in the chamber she had studied.

A few she decides are useful, a couple are just crazy, and some of them have already decided to hate her. She does not pass judgement on those who hate her, but rather makes sure to research them further to determine their threat level and deal with them accordingly. The crazies she'll leave to her husband. And the useful few…

At the end of the meeting, she stands with David, hand still caught in his, and gives the useful ones a smile charged with kindness.

She'll make sure not to spend them too carelessly.

I cannot exactly see the Rukh.

When I stand before God, it's all clear. I can touch a bird made of pure white and embrace one of darkness. There is nothing I cannot do when I am before the God I was meant to be, watching Him wither away to his knees under my gaze. There is also nothing I cannot see at those times. I remember distinctly the day I caught a glimpse of my future wife.

I had raged secretly for three months after that, my stomach knotted in acidic coils. True, I had always known that there was something greater meant for me, but once I realized that I needed a son to do that? I begged with the heavens to allow me to just impregnate a woman. It would be so much more simple, if I could do that. I would not be betraying the only two people I vowed not to betray.

But Illah hates me for what I've done, and thus He condemned me with the vision of a cold, beautiful woman who would become my wife.

That was three hundred years ago.

I've waited and waited and waited some more for her to appear, knowing full well that nothing could continue until that woman was before me at an alter and then laying in my bed. I suppose I hated Bathsheba for a while. Then, after watching her, after observing her...

[written with a light, drifting hand] Then I did not anymore.

But you know, Bathsheba, I'll understand you soon. I shall climb inside of your mind and see what makes you so defiant in the face of Fate, and I shall copy you. I shall grow off of your divine, special magic. I just hope that our son does not inherit that trait. It would do me no good should he go off the holy script prepared for us trillions of years ago, when this universe was sculpted together by a cruel and unusual God.

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"About the Queen, obviously."

"No, why?"

"Well...She's odd."

"How so?"

"She...She fights for the other species."

"...Huh?"

"That's why they call her the beast queen, you know."

Merab had heard the rumors, but she doesn't believe them.

But Jonathan does, and that is enough for her husband to convince her that they have to meet with her, even if it's just once. If a woman can be so merciful on the other species that she's dubbed the beast-queen, then how can she refuse them? A struggling couple on the brink of financial collapse- not to mention members of her own species.

"There's no way she'll say no," Jonathan takes her hands in his, gripping them. He's so desperate, as if what he's saying means the world. It does, though, because this is their last choice. "Besides, I took her course in college! Maybe...Maybe she'll remember me."

"Honey," Merab knows her husband. He is not overconfident, but rather over-hopeful. So full of gusto and energy that he took all their chances with everything he had. But they slipped away from them like sand between their fingers.

"If we can get on stable footing," Jonathan starts, kissing her knuckles, "Then we can finally have the baby we've been wanting. Please, Merab, support me on this. I'll do all the talking."

"I know, honey." She feels so terrible, because there was no way that Queen Bathsheba would ever, ever, take their request. She's married to Elder David, for Illah's sake! There's no hope for them to get her attention. Except, when they stand in the crowd outside the palace with all the other beggars hoping to catch the fancy of the Elders, Merab distinctly remembers catching a piercing blue gaze. A woman passing by the window, her eyes straight forward. Then she stops, and snaps her head toward the gates.

Merab's breathing stops, her heart flutters.

Because in that moment, she's discovered by Queen Bathsheba Jehoahaz Abraham, and her life changes. And her husband's life changes. And her son's does too, but she won't know that for many, many years.

"Bathsheba, they're staring."

Bathsheba stops walking. She looks out the window, and catches the gaze of a woman. The beggar breaths in suddenly, reaching out to her side to grasp her husband's hand. The man looks up too, dumbstruck. Bathsheba recognizes the man, he was one of her students. A nice young man with great potential- but he isn't a magician. His mind is that of an epic scholar, but there is no hope for him. After all, he's a normal person. There are no places in a magician's world for a magic-less human.

By the condition of his and his wife's clothes, she can tell that her words had come true in the worst possible way. But he still grasps his wife's hand tightly, lovingly.

It makes Bathsheba pause.

"Do you wish…?"

"Arba?"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Please...Go get those two and bring them to me."

"Why, if I may ask?"

"..." Bathsheba laughs to herself. "Because I'm a sap."

"And because we asked?"

Do not pretend like you have no sway over me.

"Thank you, Bath."

"He doesn't like you," David warns, hand on Bath's back. She wants to smack him for letting his hand drift too low, but she's supposed to be the "harmless wife". For now. Later, however, she'll make sure he knows that she won't take that sort of treatment from anyone; including the all-powerful husband she married.

"Oh joy," She tells him. She's beaming, faking the affection that her new "job" entails. "I love meeting the Elders. They're all so...Quaint."

David chuckles quietly, leading her to the man. He's old, like all the others, but unlike the others he appears middle aged. His wrinkles aren't too deep and are mostly concentrated around his eyes and on his forehead. Ah, she remembers him. He's the one whose mouth literally dropped when she refuted the new bill to increase the workload of the Mirai and got David's support on the matter. She had placed him in the "useful" category, but after that meeting she shifted him into a "hates her" slot.

"My King," The Elder bows, his head low. Then he eyes her and adds, "And my lovely Queen. I am quite impressed with your vast knowledge on the other species. It's...Refreshing."

Meaning he hates her, hates her, hates her. And he thinks she's the "beast queen" those at the university always called her. Of course, any interest in the other species at all can cause suspicion and hatred, which is why she was often mocked for her position as Chief Species Analyst. Still, his tone of voice is enough to make her shackles rise.

He's a dangerous man.

"I don't believe I've caught your name," Bathsheba smiles at him, faking genuine kindness. "Your ingenuity amazes me."

"Elder Joab," David informs her, the first time speaking in this exchange. He's grinning, looking between his Queen and his Councilman with obvious interest; almost expecting a fight to break out. But she doesn't allow that to happen, at least not so soon, and squeezes David's arm.

"Darling," She starts, throwing a pet name in his face. "I see Elder Jacob over there. I would wish to speak with him on his recent publications."

"Whatever you wish, dear." He says his goodbye to Joab before walking away with Bathsheba. "I like 'darling'."

"I'll change it, then."

"Haha."

Joab has been watching the Queen.

She's beautiful, that's for sure. But he knows David, he's known David for centuries; since the beginning of this church. David doesn't care for physical beauty, though a normal man would salivate over the cold perfection Bathsheba is blessed with in her long, silky hair and big, azure eyes.

David doesn't care for personal relationships. Every now and then he takes a woman to his bed, and he has been seeing Bathsheba's handmaid for years, but never does he initiate a real romance. Then again, the Elders feel the same, and it's mainly because women are just too hard to care for. After thirty years with a wife, things just get...Boring. It's hard to care for them and care for the church, so many Elders sacrifice their marriages for their work.

So it was quite the shock when one day, out of the blue, David said he was getting married. All the King had did was walk up to him, ask about a meeting that day, and then casually say that he had met a woman and that he was going to marry her. Joab nearly had a heart attack with the suddenness. He had questioned David thoroughly, but he had just said that it was fate and nothing else.

Joab can't understand it. Even after days studying the Queen, he can't comprehend the change in David's personality. Bathsheba is smart and clever, she coats her words in sugar and her smile in honey. She makes herself a model of perfection to women everywhere with her apparent compassion and grace. But Bathsheba is also sly and manipulative and too passionate for her own good. She fights for what she wants with fiery words and double meanings. Joab could spend an eternity wondering why David would pick her out of all women, but it all comes down to one simple question:

Bathsheba is nothing like Abigail.

So why did David marry her?

Chapter 7: done!

Thank y'all for reading, the plot is beginning to move (took forever thought lol). SO, Bath starts siting in on council meetings as promised to her by David! And she reveals the truth between their pact: she can have liberal freedoms, he can have a child. Also Merab & Jonathan are introduced, as well as the deceitful Joab. What shall happen next to our Bathsheba?

Got any questions or suggestions? Something wrong about the chapter? Grammatical errors, something you didn't like? PM me or leave it in the reviews, I will reply and see what I can do to make the story better/clearer for y'all to understand. ILY MY DARLING READERS!

BYE~~~~~~~