Frozen in Time

[Judah Lesan]

"It is settled then, after dinner I shall instruct the servants of your station in this house. You will assume it as soon as the matter is announced."

There was no reason to discuss the matter any further, and anything that they would have said was lost on the revelation of the painting her gentle fingers now carressed. He watched as they traced stroke lines and looked over the details of the woman. Her eyes seemed fixated on the area around the ribcage, and Xander only knew why as she began to explain Cronese custom.

At the mention of the scars on the ribcage, and the fact Chiara was never trained in the wear of her people's fashion, Xander's mind recalled Zarah's back. He had seen those scars before... on... her!

His face went white at the realization, and his eyes shifted from the painting to the clothed version of the woman. There was an awkward pause as he froced himself to speak.

"I could have never known that detail," Xander said before he gulped. "It would be a lie to say this painting did not give me hope that her mind would eventually change on the matter, but it was not my complete motivation. There could have been many reasons for this."

He was silent as she complimented the emotion and talent which the painting displayed. "I paint exactly what I see," came his only reply.

Zarah left the boudoir flushed with red. Xander stood alone for a moment gathering his thoughts and words. Whatever wit was in him vanished at the realization the woman in the painting was Zarah and not Chiara. This was a future very much possible, even more because of their alliance. It would serve as a distraction, something neither of them wanted, but it was now the krayt dragon in the room between them. Would they be able to look at each other without seeing the painting and the future it foretold. Both of them were still carrying their youthful looks in the painting. This was not the distant future by comparisson.

Xander slowly walked into the seating area where he found Zarah near the fireplace. He stopped keeping a decent 2 meters between them.

A slow, but shakey breath could be heard as Xander pulled the air into his lungs.

"The future is a fluid thing, hard to grasp. It is possible this will never be our fate. Though if it is, you at least have the consolation of knowing that it will not be a displeasing one."

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“I know your butler and housekeeper will both require one on one meetings with me to explain what they’ve done.” Zarah tilted her head, content with the decision made. Yes, a pleasant bit of keeping house to start the reintegration of civility at home.

“Of course you could not have known it!” Zarah barked, covering her mouth at the volume of her own voice. “There is no way you could have known the lady in your painting wasn’t your betrothed, it was a natural conclusion!”

Zarah gasped and panted, fingers clinging to the back of the chair. She stared at the fire and wondered how far she could make it… how far she would make it in a galaxy where she knew no one but the ghost of a deceased queen. Her ribcage, that infernal collection of skin on bone betrayed her emotion by its’ natural expansion and and contraction as she struggled to put on the same brave face she always wore.

“I paint exactly what I see.” The response from his baritone voice. He spoke of fluidity, of possibility and the more it cycled through Zarah’s mind, the more she saw the patterns which brought her reeling, after eight centuries of struggling through Felix’ betrayal, to a future in his care. In his salvation.

Eyes shut, Zarah found her way to the front of the chair and perched upon it, ever the regal Duchess in staunch and polite repose. Fixing the skirt of her dress and smoothing it upon her knees down to her booted ankles, Zarah opened her eyes only when she was assured the fire had burned away the moisture threatening to sneak out of them.

“We must look to the facts of ever matter which graces us, Xander. Fact. You disappeared under Force Stasis and woke up a near decade ago. Fact. The Force called you to Chandaar, a place familiar, where I was laid in carbonite. Fact. You need me to help reintegrate you to your throne. Fact. You painted a portrait of the two of us in loving, and enraptured coitus… a painting which has survived over eight hundred years to be now upon your wall. I would say the signs are sufficient to indicate the Force meant my reentry to the Galaxy, only when you had need of an ally you could trust. Call for wine, and sit with me here in your salon… we would have something to settle ourselves.” She waved her hand, the other propped under her chin as she watched the fire roar in its’ grate.

A painting of them… the survival of a Duchess in carbonite for eight centuries… Eight! How possible was survival in that length of a stay in the black ice’s suspension? A nebulous chiding of the Force to find her. A house which required its’ Lady… Zarah stayed quiet until after the servant came, set down the wine and goblets, and left.

“Whether possible or no, I do not take it lightly.” She sipped the wine and steadied it on her tongue to test, before swallowing. “I did not know I was capable of abandon… it seems such a pleasant fate... no facet of being will stop us from commanding the stars. We made a promise to maintain our mutual place at each others’ side. I will not be defeated by a painting of joy and rapture… far from it… what a beautiful painting… the revelation displeases you?”

[member="Darth Vizios"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

"I had even forgotten this painting was here I have seen it so many times. Had I been more aware perhaps I would have put it together when I saw your own scars."

Xander's intention had not been to ever speak of that moment again, but it seemed this circumstance had made that impossible. His intention was not to make her the Lady of his house and require her to give him the physical ministrations that title often paid out to her Lord. This moment had follwed one before it which was much more vulnerable, but now Xander felt as if they were both as laid bare to each other as they painting actually depicted them.

"Your facts only support this painting to be both natural and logical. I am not arguing that we should throw ourselves to the will of it, but how could I have known when I painted this it was depicting a thing near a millennia away? At least you see that while my visions may be faithful to a degree there is still the matter of interpreting them."

He was trying to be logical and practical in the matter. Zarah made the same attempt. This was a discussion that was being held between two nobles who should be able to discuss such delicate things with the grace and maturity of their titles. Then why did Xander suddenly feel like a virgin in throws of discovering the wonderment of a woman all over again? Perhpas because of the stalwart defenses Zarah had built for the sake of her cousin, and the fact she herself had refused the affections of every man who dared attempt to court her, Xander felt as he did. There was one thing he knew, the thought frightened him. When he looked at the painting it clearly conveyed more than passion, but something the two had both admitted they knew nothing about.

"Though not too much wine. Too much wine with a mental picture as the painting gives off is a dangerous thing."

It was not a denial that he needed something to calm his racing mind.

This was not a matter to gloss over. If this was their future it spoke to things in them which would have to change. If it was not, the very fact the Force had given it to him meant something. A demonstration in how he painted might be in order for Zarah to know that he had not made this up. For now she seemed satisfied it was not a mere fantasy of his mind.

Her question made him feel trapped. In all honesty there was a relief that he could finally be free of whatever notion he had on Chiara, yet the fact reamined the woman was still one he was familar with. Was he displeased, not at all.

"This revelation makes far more sense than my own interpretation, and I could not say that I would be disapointed in this outcome. Whatever you were made to believe about yourself by the woman you called mother, you are a very desirous woman. There is one more fact you have also failed to mention. It is a fact you and I are much more suited for each other than Chiara and I ever were."

Xander looked back to the boudoir and then back to Zarah. His eyes locked with hers.

"No, I am not displeased. I find the prospect both thrilling and frightening at once."

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“What a fantastic awkwardness which would have descended if that was the moment you realized our fate… given the events which followed.” Zarah clucked, licking her lips and searching the fire for an answer. She let out a nervous huff of laughter, “How awkward indeed. Help, Xander I’m freezing to death, oh, that’s alright, I’ll just get inspired by a painting in my closet… No. Tempestuous it would have been, that… totally preposterous!”

The laughter did her well, and as she sat with her wine, she was able to allow [member="Darth Vizios"]’ words to smooth some of the momentary shock. “You couldn’t have known. Xander, before my forced meditation in the carbonite, I would have died after seeing that! I wasn’t ready, not one atom, to accept that my view was not false but… in need of being relaxed. You could not have known as much as I could not have known the nature of my rescue. I do not blame you, I am… coming to terms.”

The painting was an examination beyond lust, a pristine work of faithful and cantankerous love. Could she fall off her battlements and allow such a weakness to coat her inner skin? Could he?

“Even under such duress, a true Lady never drinks but to settle the nerve, or enjoy a fine meal. Drunkenness is a commoner’s tool for excusing their poor behaviour.” Falling back to the rules of etiquette once again helped the Duchess correlate and clear the destructive minefield of this next awakening.

“I am terrified.” Zarah whispered behind her wine glass. The goblet shook, as she set it down, clinking against the small table upon which it sat. “You make an accurate assumption. If I were presiding over the marriage contract between Indupar and Cron, I would have seen to an arrangement between us, as well. We are much better suited… I am terribly glad I let the judge put that noose around her despicable neck… it does come as a delightful shock to know I have some… small desirability… is it possible to be jealous of a painting of oneself?”

Zarah pressed her index finger to her lips, to stiffen the emotions flowing around her. The crux point in [member="Darth Vizios"] expanded from the previous day, binding ties through the Force between them. They radiated outward, in nearly every direction… from this… their centre. Her eyes flashed golden then settled.

“I will not go easy to your bed… you know my terms, moreover you know me.” She rested in captivation of his eyes on her, the depth of them, the power behind the man’s essential shreds of soul… Zarah’s eyes turned from the widened gaze of a captured maiden to the Duchess who equalled him.

“Win me. That is your challenge, while we wrest command back to Chandaar and Indupar. I will only go as your bride… I will suffer no flippant injustice.“

 

[Judah Lesan]

"I would have insisted on leaving you to the cold and the will of the force to see you live," Xander chuckled as he set the wine goblet down on the mahogany table next to his chair. "That would have been too much shock for one day, I believe...."

"Oh you are freezing... I know of a sure way to save you... I think you would have found a way to murder me and live despite it."

At least with the initial shock out of the way they could laugh about the moment and let the seriousness of the prospect run through their minds. The answer to all of it was one Xander did not expect. He folded his hands and set them in his lap as his head canted. Xander just looked at her for a moment, studied her to see if there was any jest in her words.

"I would say you mock me with a challenge, but I know you only too well. You would not throw down such a gauntlet unless you were truly serious."

Xander shifted in his seat as he looked her over.

"You have cast yourself as a prize to be won, and I will accept your challenge. I think gaining our thrones will be easier I can assure you, but for the chance to experience the emotion I see in that painting, it is more than worth the acceptance of your terms. Though I will add one of my own. If I win your affections then you will marry me. This is not some betrothal agreement for the sake of politics, rather it is a game of forever."

He lifted the wine goblet and offered a toast to Zarah, than drank the wine.

"We start with dinner, here. I will escort you back to your chambers and give you the time you need to reach out to your cousin. You are anxious to hear her voice again I would think..."

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“I would have lived to spite you, probably by murdering you and bathing in your warm blood.” Zarah laughed, shaking her head. He seemed to ease now, to glean over the awkwardness of the realization. “Far too much shock… although you were not the worst hot water bottle I’ve ever used… quite pleasant, if I’m honest.”

Sipping the crimson wine, Zarah met his questing eyes with a mutual degree of her own questing. Would he go to the trouble? Would he rush for easier pastures, or was the promise of the painting too heavenly a task?

“Have you not learned by now when I mock you? Truly, you do know me, if you see how serious I would take something as significant as your vision.” Zarah set down her wine glass and tapped her lip with her finger, pursing her lips in a pout she did not realize framed well her lovely face.

“I agree to your terms. Once you win my affections, I will marry you and we shall work on your forever game… For once we are in complete accord. Reclaiming our thrones will be simple in comparison to claiming the love which bathed that scene. It is a worthy escapade, one I am willing to undergo… should you be true.”

His philandering ways would not be forgotten quickly for the Duchess, but he could supersede them with his action. As she toasted their predicament, Zarah tilted her head, tucking her hair behind her ear again.

“Oh! I’ve come undone! Yes, I shall require time to make myself presentable, as is respectful for dining in my new house… I assume you have more gowns than the one I am currently wearing, Xander? A selection in my boudoir, I imagine… Yes, oh I long to hear her voice. My dear cousin! My darling girl, I cannot wait and it would do me well to speak with her now.” She sipped more of her wine, offering her hand once again.

“Escort me, my challenger.” Another moment of trust, to allow him to lead her back through the passages and to her own room. How graceful it would look now. After this.

 

[Judah Lesan]

"And the truth wins out, my duchess," Xander said with a coy smirk. "Since honesty was our agreement, despite the fact you were as cold as death itself, providing you with body heat was certainly one my more enjoyable tasks in recent memory."

He liked knowing that she had enjoyed the sensation of being held. There had been a tension between them, then a shift. Perhaps his earlier gestures had opened her up to the agreement they were now making. The challenge had been set however. Zarah was not unwilling to take to his bed, but only if they do so as man and wife. Xander also knew the challenge was more than one of winning her, but one of faithfulness. A King who wandered into the beds of stange women would not be the kind of man who could woo or win the Duchess of Cron. No, Xander was agreeing to being a chaste man. It was the only way he would have any chance of winning Zarah.

"I agree. A thing easily one is a thing easily tossed aside. Perhaps that has always been the folly of political marriages. No, this will be a story for the ages. If the two of us prove capable of the unashamed passion and love shared by the two in that painting, we shall be the richest lovers in known legend. That indeed is an escipade worthy of pursuit."

It would be a lie to say Xander was not nervous or frightened about the prospect. The two of them had both admitted they were incapable of understanding love. For Xander, betrayal had come by the hands of those charged to love him the most. Only his mother had demnstrated what love could be, but Xander had been too hardened by his father. However, as he studued the woman in front of him, the context of what the painting displayed, he knew he wanted to know. For that, he would have to win. Though this was a game where they both would win should Xander succeed. Zarah was not surrending anything.

Xander stood, leaving his wine goblet unfinished.

"I can only say my servants had less than a day's notice and my best guess as to your size. You will find gowns, but I make no promise as to their fit. As you have asked, you may select from among my servants the maids which please you. A ladies maid is a must, and others as well. This is your house as much as it is mine, and you only deserve the best."

He took her hand and helped her up. A pause was taken to look into her violet colored eyes.

"It is good to have a lady at the helm of this house once more."

Xander knew he was going to have to work on his falttery. Most times his aim at flattering a lady was for one purpose, and this was only a game for the sincere. Honest words could only be spoken.

He led the woman through the tunnels once more. His hand pressed on the tiara engraving. As the door opened, he did not move to enter with her. Xander simply offered a short bow as was the custom of Indupar. A man never bowed low, and if she were to be the lady of an Induparan house then certain customs would be maintained, just as he would bow lower if they stood upon Cronese soil.

"I shall send the butler to call on you when dinner is ready. Until then, I believe you would like some privacy and time to yourself."

[member="Zarah Viren"]

 

[Yasha Cadera]

“I do enjoy this honesty business. It is making matters deucedly more convenient and pleasant… even such matters as… vision.” Zarah waggled her eyebrows, and tightened up her smirk. “Enjoyable! Imagine that… holding a frostbitten woman as enjoyment. I shall remind you of this if ever the servants let the fires die down… by sticking my frigid hands on the back of your neck.”

A memory of her father, cold hands from helping the servants outside during a winter storm. He chased her down the hall and shoved his hands down the back of his daughter’s young neck, exclaiming how toasty warm she was as Zarah squealed and giggled. He’d picked her up, ‘apologized’ with cocoa beside the fire, while she sat on his knee and read from her school book. Mother always hated how well she and her father got on. Zarah obeyed Prince Tharand through love, yet to her mother was only paltry fear. Perhaps it was the abrupt remembrance which brought the flush to Zarah’s cheek as he complimented her, his face glowing with its’ own delight at her admittance.

“Your Majesty Blackmoore, you do flatter me with this comment of legendary affection. How can a woman handle such passion without being completely and eternally undone?” She tugged her hair behind her, tipping her chin down and away to rescue her from a girlish giddiness. To her senses, [member="Darth Vizios"] appeared in an inner tizzy, at the same level of fright she found herself. Zarah knew she had given him a near Sisyphean task in winning her hand. “Coy man. I shall not be this easily defeated!”

She took his hand and rose, feeling a certain electricity in his skin. Caught in his eyes, Zarah pressed her lips together in an attempt to regain her regal composure.

“Corset backed gowns are best when unsure of a Lady’s size… they can go larger or smaller depending on unique proportion… a proper Lady’s Maid will know such things. I shall choose the most appropriate Maid for myself, until we can integrate into society and I can also procure a proper Lady in Waiting… I do deserve the best. Remember this and we shall do well.” She tapped at his chest with her fingers for a mere moment, yanking her hand back and clasping them in front of her navel.

“After we dine, perhaps a proper tour of the grounds with the heads of staff? So I may experience the house which is now mine?” A blatant claim, and one which met the dignity of her station with her equality-reaching ways. Remaining in silent thought as they walked through the hidden hall, Zarah curtseyed as an Induparan Noble as he bowed. It seemed the proper thing to do, giving deference to their location and the circumstances in kind.

“A Lady must tidy up before dinner, and I do hope to get in contact with [member="Chiara Viren"]. Until then, my liege.” She slid into the chamber and watched the door shut.

Once she was alone, Zarah let out a large exhale and flumped down in the nearest chair to cover her face with her hand. “Oh how odd the day. Goodness.”

A packet in the fire caught her eye. She tilted her head and pulled it from the fire with a wave of her telekinetic hand, opening the thin cloth to reveal a series of spices, fragrant barks and dried flower petals. She tied it back, and set it in the coals, as the scent unfurled around her. Her lips quirked up and she called for the Housekeeper. An aging woman entered with a flustered bow, “My Lady?”

“Who stoked my fire? Also, what is your name?” Zarah maintained her seat, propping her feet on the ottoman.

“Eudoxia, your highness… I believe a scullery maid stoked your fire, is something wrong?” Eudoxia asked, pressing her hands across her apron.

“Call the girl to me, Eudoxia, with a pot of your best tea. And do tell your staff I am inspecting every single inch of the Palace tonight. That will be all.” Zarah waved the Housekeeper off, and waited for the appearance of a young scullery maid, whose dirty blonde hair was caught up in an ashen bun topped with an appropriate lace cap.

“Your majesty.” She curtseyed, and the tray of tea rattled. Steadying it with a spastic hand, the girl set it on the table beside Zarah’s new wing chair and curtseyed again. “You called of me, Ma’am?”

“Why did you put this in the fire?” Zarah again lifted the packet with the Force, and eliciting a short gasp from the girl, set it back down.

“No offence, Ma’am, I meant no offence… His grace said a Cronese Noblewoman was comin’ and I remember me great-grandmother was from Tion and it was something one did for proper ladies… so’s I hope you ain’t offended… Ma’am.”

Cocking her head to the side, Zarah pointed at the tea and the girl leapt to pour her some tea and hand the Duchess the cup and saucer. “On the contrary, girl. It was precisely the piece of home I required. You are no longer to be a scullery maid. You will attend me. Clean yourself up, dress as is proper for a Lady’s attendant and return… and goodness me, do something with that accent. What are you called?”

“Lu Sii, Ma’am… yes I… I only have a dress the same as this.”

“Tell Eudoxia, she will give you the appropriate attire, Lu Sii. Go! Hurry off with you!” Zarah sipped her tea and smirked as the girl ran off, setting the tea down once the cup was finished and taking the moment to collect herself.

The Duchess of Cron, locked in a painting with the King of Indupar… an eight hundred year deficit… “Force be… what do I do with all this?”

Dinner would go well, as Zarah suspected. Oh dear.