Twelve Realms Ch. 01-02

Authors Note:

This is a story I've been working on for a little while. This first part introduces the two main characters and part of the conflict. I've written the rest of the story, but I'm sure I'll continue to make changes as it goes, so feel free to make comments and suggestions. I may incorporate them along the way.

Thanks!

Prolog

She stood in a circle of monsters, surrounded by flames. Her face was smudged with soot and blood. One curl of her white hair fell loose in front of her face out of her knit cap. Her eyes were wide as she watched her three remaining attackers. She had dispatched the first four easily, but these three were... smarter... faster.... The beasts each had four long arms ending in jagged talons. Their teeth were long and sharp, their mouths oozed venom. The skin of one a mottled brown, of another a nearly fluorescent green, the third just seemed to fade into its surroundings, only visible due to its movements and the reflection of flames.

They circled her and she cursed herself for allowing them to surround her. She turned and turned, trying to keep her eyes on all three of them. She determined to go after the nearly invisible one as it posed the highest threat. She charged towards it suddenly, her short sword up and in attack position, her dagger on guard. All three enemies screamed in a pitch high enough as to be nearly inaudible to her, but which caused the baying of hounds much closer to her than she expected. She dispatched her target with a strike through its neck.

The green and brown monsters were upon her before she could even turn to them. She screamed herself as she felt talons sink through the soft flesh of her upper arm before she could pull her sword free from the carcass of their companion. Suddenly an arrow shot past her and into the eye of the brown one while a large man in carbon fiber armor seemed to coalesce out of nowhere to crush the skull of the one who had pierced her arm.

"Your Highness," he gave her the briefest of bows.

"Your Grace," she inclined her head the barest fraction.

"We have the Princess and need evac. She is injured," he spoke into the communicator on his wrist. The archer stepped into the clearing and scanned the area for further threats. The Duke strode over to the Princess and applied pressure to the wound on her upper arm.

Part I: The Present

Chapter 1: On the way to Citadel

"I understand, Your Majesty. I have your sister on my medical ship. She lost a lot of blood, but the doctors expect her to heal completely. She should regain use of her arm."

"Thank you, Jacob. As you know, my kid sister means a lot to me. Please do what you have to in order to keep her safe."

"Of course, Edward.

"I am taking her home to Citadel. It's easily my most defensible stronghold in this sector. She will be well taken care of there until we can get her back to you."

"It's a good thing David contacted me and your Seeress was able to predict her location."

"Good thing I was already on D-702 protecting the Beacon."

"Yeah. It seems a little bit too coincidental, doesn't it?

"See if you can find out from her what the hell she was doing on that backwater so close to the front? She had been studying on Academy. She should have been light years away from any danger."

"If she will talk to me, I'll ask her," Edward could hear the smile in Jacob's voice. "She did not seem best pleased to see me, even if she'd be dead if we had gotten there minutes later."

"The Princess is fierce, it is true. You know that our father encouraged it. She is very skilled with that short sword and her daggers."

"Trust me, I remember. She gave me plenty of bruises when we used to spar together back when I was Page and Squire to your father. But I had not seen her since your coronation. She was a beautiful girl and has developed into a stunning woman."

"She has developed into a real pain in my ass. Every one of my unmarried lords and vassals has expressed an interest in taking her hand. Except you. At least I know I can trust her with you.

"I wish our father were still here to deal with it. She refuses to marry for political gain and I don't have the stomach to force her. Our father would have had no qualms about it."

"Are you kidding?" Jacob asked, grinning. "The king was wrapped around her little finger. He'd not force her into marrying.

"Besides, judging from her accounting of herself with the sword, any match not founded in love will result in a beheading," Jacob grinned. "You are wise to allow her to make her own choice."

"You speak the truth. I don't expect she will ever marry, though. She told me that her mother, the Queen Dowager, has made it abundantly clear that she will not be allowed to marry her one true love. But neither of them will tell me who holds my sister's heart."

***

Jacob stood outside the infirmary waiting for the Princess to allow him to enter. The sterile white of all the surfaces and the harsh too-bright lighting made his eyes burn. He tried to focus instead on the vastness of space that he could see out the window and the muddy green planet below him. It always amazed him that no matter how much conflict there was on the ground, no matter how intense the fighting, planets always looked serene from space. D-702 below was no different. Its primary features from space were its endless forests and long winding rivers. Any smoke from the fighting was indistinguishable from the natural clouds and mist that hung above the thick jungles.

He felt responsible for the planet, no matter how minor a territory it was in his sector. It was his to protect with its colonies of forester families who tended it, both those who harvested wood and other flora and those who tended to the new growth they fostered in its wake.

He did not like spending time on the medical ship and was anxious to shuttle back to his command ship. He needed to assure that the defenses left behind would be adequate to protect his people, but he knew even that would have to wait until he secured the safety of the Princess. He had been standing there for quite some time, his anxiety growing by the minute, before a nurse came out and invited him in. He grumbled inwardly about being told where he was allowed to go on his own ship, but put on an outward smile as he entered the room. He had a chance to really look at the Princess for the first time since he'd rescued her. She sat chatting with the ship's doctor, wearing her arm in a sling, her right shoulder covered in bandages.

The beauty promised in the girl he had known had been fulfilled in the woman. Her face, now clean of the blood and soot of battle, was unnaturally pale. Her eyes, larger than any pure human's, a shade of violet that did not occur in Terrans. Her ears, close to her head, swept up to taper, not quite to points. Her nose was narrow, its tip turning up at the end. Her chin was pointed, her mouth was small, though her lips full and dark pink. She was tall, perhaps a hand and a half shorter than he - a trait, like her ears and unusual eyes, that came from her mother. Her hair was cut short, white and shown with an almost metallic lustre.

Her mother's people were known for their delicate bone structure and their gaunt, angular features. Fiona was none of those things. As a girl she had been slightly plump and soft; her woman's body was voluptuous, softly curvy in all the appropriate places.

"Your Royal Highness, may I speak with you?" Jacob asked her, approaching with a bow.

"Of course, Your Grace. But please call me Fiona. You used to call me that, Jacob. Not so long ago." She smiled at him, her eyes sad and he immediately felt his pulse start to race. He could not deny her beauty and when she smiled for him he knew he was in trouble.

"You were a girl then, Princess. You are a woman now and I must not overstep my place," he said for his benefit as much as hers.

"The king has agreed to allow you to stay and recuperate on Citadel. You will be safe there. It is far enough from the fighting that there should be no need for evacuation. Once the doctors pronounce you well enough, you will be transported back to Academy or to Terra if you prefer."

Fiona studied him as he spoke. He looked much the same and yet so different from how he had the last time she saw him. He was tall - very tall, broad of shoulder, and muscular through the arms and chest as befit a skilled fighter. His dark blond hair was cropped short, his clear blue eyes were serious. Constant worry seemed to have etched vertical lines between his brows. She was glad to see that the corners of his mouth still seemed always to be ready to curve up in a boyish grin. The aristocratic nose she had so admired as a child was perfectly proportioned to the rest of his angular face.

She had forgotten how handsome he was... or maybe he had just improved with age. The boy she had known had been smaller, unfinished, tending to lanky rather than muscular. As a child she had adored him if for no other reason than that he had treated her no differently than he treated any of the other younger siblings of his friends at court. She was a half-breed princess but to him she was just Edward's kid sister. She would always treasure that.

"She will need at least four weeks to recover from the wounds she received from the Imperial Dog Soldiers," Fiona was brought out of her reverie by the doctor's voice. "She will need to rest in order to allow her body to heal."

"Seriously? I'll be fine in less than a week."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness," the doctor responded, contrite. "You risk nerve damage if you try to push the healing process."

"Your brother has explicitly told me to keep you on Citadel until you are pronounced healthy by the doctors," Jacob told her. "He said that if you are going to be looking for trouble without informing him, the least he can do is make sure you are healthy when you do it," he smiled in an attempt to soften the blow.

Fiona tried to throw her hands up in exasperation but winced in pain at the movement of her right shoulder.

"I wasn't looking for trouble. I just found it," she sighed softly.

"If you are ready, we will shuttle over to my cruiser. Then you can make yourself comfortable, Princess. We'll be departing for Citadel within the next hour."

***

Fiona watched D-702, muddy brown and green, retreat in the distance. She gazed at the stars through the front viewport of Jacob's cruiser as they started their trip to Citadel. She sighed happily at blackness pinpointed with blue and white and pink stars. Jacob noticed the sound from where he sat in the Captain's seat and turned to look at her. He smiled at the look of wonder on her face. She noticed him looking at her and glanced at him self-consciously before returning her gaze to the void of space.

"You know on Terra there is no place you can go and see the stars at night," she said in explanation. "Academy is nearly as bad."

"I know. When I went to court as a boy to be a Page for your father one of the things I missed most from home was being able to look up and see familiar constellations. The simulation of the night sky in the throne room is a poor substitute."

"Exactly. It lacks... depth. I like seeing actual stars. I like seeing how they aren't all white... the subtle colors just can't be represented.

"It reminds me of that fairy story about the pirate captain who fell in love with the night sky. When I was little I wanted to see the night sky so badly because of that story." Fiona gestured softly with her left hand. Jacob saw her wince as her right hand had twitched at the same moment her left hand came up.

"That was my favorite story as a boy. My father would point out the constellation of the pirate's ship. When we are on Citadel I will show it to you."

"I thought you were anxious to get back to your command ship, Your Grace. I don't need your personal escort to Citadel. Any of your knights could do this," Fiona changed the subject. "I'm not going to run away once I'm out of your sight."

"Malcolm will take command until I return. He's more than capable. It's important that the warriors know that I trust him."

"Oh! Last I heard Mal was commanding your garrison on Citadel. I hadn't realized you had him with you."

"He doesn't exactly get along with my mother. My father's bastard reminds her of my father's indiscretions. The garrison commander reports to the crown and on Citadel 'the crown' is my mother when I'm not there."

"Ahhh. So it's 'politics'," she said with a dismissive wave of her left hand.

"Yes, Princess. Politics." He bestowed upon her the first genuine smile she'd seen from him since he appeared out of nowhere to save her. "You're old enough now that it surprises me that Edward allows you to stay out of the palace intrigues."

"Ed is an astute enough political animal to know that I'd be more of a liability than an asset in that arena," she said, returning his smile, oblivious to the feelings she stirred in him. "Don't you remember what a terrible liar I am, Jacob?"

He barked out a laugh and groaned. "How could I forget? It's why we always took you along on our adventures; otherwise you'd give away our schemes."

"After that time when Ed, James, and you moved the throne into the kitchen," she couldn't hold in the giggles.

"And your mother just asked you who did it!"

"To be fair, I did try to keep your secret."

"But telling your mother that the parson did it was probably not a good idea."

"I panicked!" She was overcome with giggles.

"Awe... Fiona. I've missed you," he smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.

"Me too, Jake," she smiled impishly and he knew he was lost.

"You know that it was mother's idea to send me away, right?" Her tone was suddenly serious. "I didn't want to leave. She thought I'd never learn to be a proper lady while I was acting like a common who... street rat... with you... with Ed's gang.

"I suppose she was right," Fiona whispered, suddenly teary-eyed. "But I missed you... all so much."

"I... I know you had no choice. I asked your parents if... If we could say goodbye to each other," Jacob told her softly. "Your mother said it was too dangerous."

Fiona felt tears standy in her eyes and couldn't bring herself to meet Jacob's gaze.

"But surely your time on Academy was interesting?" Jacob asked, trying to lighten the mood. "You always enjoyed feeding your mind. And you could make friends. Find a beau. Meet other ladies of your station...."

"No men have come close to causing me to forget about... ." She averted her eyes and blushed. "And there are no other ladies quite like me. The Terrans hate that I'm a half Aelfir. The Aelfir hate that I'm half Terran," she tried to stifle a sob. "I am terribly lonely there. David tries to be my friend, but it feels like an obligation for him. He treats me more like a daughter than a friend. Besides, he is away more often than he is home. And when he's at home, he should be with Lisabet, not me.

"But Ed insists I study. So I guess it's good I have no social life?"

"Is that why you went to D-702?" Jacob asked with a huge grin on his face. "Because you wanted a social life?"

"I wish!

"I went to D-702 because a Seeress told me I had to be there or something terrible would happen."

"A Seeress? Really?" He asked in amusement. "You don't really believe in all that mumbo-jumbo, do you?"

"Yes, a Seeress. And unfortunately it's not as much 'mumbo-jumbo' as I used to believe. Mother sent me to Academy to study Sorcery, after all. Since politics isn't my forte, papa thought I should learn magic.

"That makes it sound like I didn't have any say in it. I suggested it. He just agreed it was a good idea. And Ed hasn't seen any reason to change that decision.

"Once mother banished me to Academy, I figured I might as well learn what I could. Not just how to be a lady."

"That's the Princess I remember," Jacob nodded in approval. "I'll bet you're good at magic, too. You were always good at whatever you put your mind to."

"I suppose I am," she responded with a wistful smile.

"One moment, Princess," Jacob turned back to the cruiser's controls, engaged the Stargate engine, and then set the autopilot.

"We'll arrive at Citadel in about 4 hours," he told her, standing up from the Captain's seat. "We will have dinner here on my cruiser since it will be close to midnight local time when we reach the palace.

"My mother is preparing for your arrival. I'm sure she will make your visit comfortable."

"I look forward to seeing your home," she smiled shyly.

"Citadel is certainly rougher than Terra or even Academy," he returned her smile. "But I am confident you will love it. At least you would have when you were our little street rat."

He didn't expect his light teasing to cause the tears she had fought to fall. He wanted to kick himself but instead he closed the distance between them to comfort her. He touched her face, his palm under her jaw, lifting it so that she would look into his eyes. He brushed a tear away with his thumb and leaned in to give her a brotherly kiss. He felt a surge of desire flow through his body as their lips touched. To his surprise, her lips parted and their tongues tasted each other. Her left hand slid over his chest and around the back of his neck and into his hair, holding him to her. His hands fell to her hips, his left hand slid around to the small of her back and held her against him.

"Oh Gods! Jacob!" She groaned, staring into his eyes. They kissed even more hungrily. She could feel his passion grow between them, hard against her belly. She moaned and pulled him tightly against her. They kissed longingly, tasting each other, for several minutes. Her fingers twined in his hair. His hands went from her hips and up under her full breasts before slipping around her back to hold her against him.

"Still?" he asked, pulling his lips away and searching her shining eyes.

"Always," she murmured before closing her eyes and pulling him back into a kiss.

A tone sounded and a voice came over the overhead speakers. "Your Grace? Can you please report to the galley?"

Jacob whimpered in anguish as he pulled himself away from Fiona. She sobbed at the loss of him. He hit the comm on the bulkhead with the side of his fist.

"On my way," he said, the strain in his voice clear to Fiona, if not to his man in the galley.

"I'm sorry, Fi," he said, unable to meet her eyes.

He stood in front of the closed door and took two deep calming breaths, his broad back resolutely to her, then he hit the button to open the doors far more heavily than was necessary. After the doors slid closed behind him, Fiona took her own shuddering breath and allowed her knees to buckle, spilling her onto a lounge in the back of the cruiser's bridge.

***

His Grace the Duke of Citadel stalked towards the galley, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. He took the longer route from the bridge in order to give his arousal a chance to subside before he had to deal with any of his crew.

"How could I be so stupid?" He thought to himself. "Edward will kill me." He tried to push Fiona out of his mind. He tried to remember her as the tagalong annoying kid sister, but conjuring memories of her as a child kept morphing into the face he'd left, her pupils dilated so wide that only the thinnest ring of violet iris was visible, the soft pink lips of her mouth slightly parted, puffy from their hungry kisses.

"Your Grace, we were wondering whether the Princess has any dietary restrictions," the cook said as he entered the galley. "She is half Aelfir, is she not?"

Jacob felt a surge of anger, but immediately realized that the anger he felt at the question was irrational. The cook was trying to make sure their guest was comfortable. But Jacob was all too aware of the heartache Fiona experienced due to her 'otherness'.