Penultimate chapter, folks! :eek 
hugs, Tas
*****NEW Chapter 48*****
“How can you be a priestess? You’re human. Aren’t you?”
Serena countered the question with one of her own. “What are you if not human, Liz?”
“But—” Liz halted and shook her head. She finally admitted, “I don’t understand.”
“It’s not that complicated, really. There was no one to tend to the granolith, no one to commune with it. Once it found someone it considered a suitable candidate, it chose to petition her.” Serena smiled, clearly remembering. “It led me here, to the door of the chamber. I couldn’t open it then, of course, but it also influenced Zane. He was inside, about to emerge, and there I was, waiting.”
“She scared the daylights out of me,” Zane added, one side of his mouth quirking up. “If I hadn’t known her, at least by sight, it could have been ugly.”
“Oh, no,” she demurred. “It did get ugly later, until you learned to see me for all of who I was.”
Liz watched, fascinated, as a tide of color swept over his face. “You were so young, Seri. I felt like a pervert.”
His wife laughed up at him, a naughty glitter in her eyes. “That’s still the best birthday present you’ve ever given me.”
He coughed, and then his face acquired a look—subtle, but one Liz knew nonetheless, from seeing it on a similar face so often. She smiled when Serena’s eyes widened in surprised interest, knowing that Zane had just said something to her telepathically. Liz could guess the subject, especially when Serena leaned into her husband and they shared a kiss.
“Aw, man, they’re definitely related,” Michael groused. “What is it with Evanses and public displays of affection?” Everyone laughed.
“Might I remind you, Michael, that you are an honorary Evans now?” Isabel said archly, to more laughter.
He groaned exaggeratedly, then grabbed Maria and planted one on her. Liz could hear Maria squeaking in protest even as Michael continued to kiss her, and she shook her head at their antics.
When she could speak again, Maria vented. “Ooooh, Spaceboy, you are going to pay for that. I’ll send you fantasies all day long when I’m on my period.”
“Maria!” Kyle and Alex chorused, clapping hands over their ears.
Liz sighed. She loved her friends, she really did, but sometimes… “You were talking about adolescent behavior earlier?” she commented dryly to Serena.
The older woman smiled. “I think they’re just blowing off steam. Everyone is nervous.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Still, let’s go apart a bit and leave them to it. It’s really the four of us that this concerns. Well, five, including Tomar.” Liz patted his shoulder.
Isabel came up to Zane, seeming oddly diffident. “I can watch the baby for you, if you’d like.”
He studied her for a moment then smiled. “Yeah, that would be good.” Zane didn’t offer any instructions as he transferred Maxwell into her arms, trusting that if she’d offered, then she knew what she was doing. “You be good for Auntie Isabel.”
Seeing Isabel’s pleased sparkle, Liz thought that perhaps her someday sister-in-law wouldn’t be as anxious to use her ‘Get Out of Babysitting Free’ card as she’d seemed.
Before the newly formed discussion group could get started, Kyle appeared beside Max, startling everyone.
“What’s up, Valenti?” Max inquired.
Kyle acknowledged the question with a smirk. “Well, since you ask, Evans…” he trailed off suggestively and laughed. Liz shook her head as Max laughed, too. Kyle sobered. “Seriously, sorry to interrupt but I’ve been thinking about what you said about Khivar, about being locked into this cycle that pitted you against each other over and over, and you always lost, because you weren’t strong enough to give up Liz.”
“Right.” He sounded noncommittal but Liz could feel his urge to squirm at the blunt assessment.
“Well, you won, man. You broke the cycle. That makes you a free man, Max. You’re not following a script anymore, playing out the same shit. You did what you had to do, and that means it’s time to do what you want to do. Keep that in mind.”
“Thanks, Kyle.” Max offered him a brief smile and a handclasp.
Liz smiled too, about to say something when Kyle pointed at her. “No comments from the peanut gallery.” She rolled her eyes and remained silent when he left the five of them alone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Max broke the awkwardness. “Serena, we appreciate your willingness to help us out. I think we need to find another way, though.”
“Why?” she asked bluntly.
He was taken aback. “Because of Maxwell. I know you’ve been ready to do this for a long time, but his presence kind of changes things, don’t you think?”
Serena laughed. “Yes and no.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Having a baby always changes things, Max. And I’ll admit that the main reason we waited so long was in case of this very situation. But you can’t live your whole life based on a, ‘Maybe someday.’” Her dark eyes regarded him knowingly. “The young lady at your side tells me that’s a lesson you learned earlier than we did.”
Liz emitted a faint laugh and Max shot a sideways glance at her then smiled. “Yeah, events pretty much conspired to bring us together and then she wouldn’t take no for an answer.” His smile broadened at her offended look.
“Didn’t notice you running too hard.”
“Touché,” he conceded. Max turned his attention to the other couple, flushing a little at their indulgent smiles. Attempting to recover his dignity, he asked, “I guess the real question is, what about Zane and Maxwell?”
Zane scowled. “That’s not a question. We go.”
«Am I the only one who wants to stay on Earth?»
«Besides me? No, you’re not, Max. Just because everyone’s willing to go doesn’t mean they want to» She paused, offering him a mental caress. «I do think that you’re the most reluctant, though»
Great. He was the King of a planet he had zero interest in even visiting, never mind trying to govern. Max tried to catch it as he felt himself heave out breath in an automatic sigh, but the resultant sound was still forlorn enough to make him mentally roll his eyes at himself. Grow up, Evans.
Out of the blue, his expression carefully neutral now, Zane inquired, “Max, what’s your educational background?”
“I don’t really have one yet, since I’m starting my senior year of high school in September.”
«What’s that about?»
Liz merely sent bafflement in reply.
“Right. You planning on college?”
“Well, yeah.” He thought of the lunchtime meetings with the guys in preparation to be grilled by Liz’s parents and smiled slightly. “I’m going to major in English Lit, probably minor in Poli-Sci, with the eventual goal of teaching English at the college level.”
An indefinable hint of what might have been disapproval had Max challenging, “What’s your background?”
He smiled arrogantly. “I graduated with honors from Yale with a major in Political Science, minor in Psychology. Served as student council president for my final two years and was heavily involved during the others. And during my graduate degree, also in Poli-Sci. I’ve since served on a number of different boards and committees, both within the federal and state governments and in the private sector. For the last few years, I’ve been the Vice-Chair of the school board that encompasses Roswell. Of course, I’m currently on parental leave.”
“Of course,” Max echoed numbly.
The path Zane had just described was the one Max had assumed he himself would have to follow, until Kyle had forced him to recognize that it wasn’t what he wanted. He knew that it nonetheless should still be his path, and only the fact that he had to return to Antar before even applying for college kept him from being crushed by guilt and inadequacy.
«Max» Liz scolded gently.
«Don’t logic me, partner. We both know the truth»
She subsided and he squeezed her arm, grateful for her support.
“Pretty impressive resume, Zane,” he complimented.
Zane nodded. He held Max’s gaze steadily, making Max feel like he were being appraised.
Apparently he was. “You’re not ready, Max.”
“Don’t you think I know that? I’m eighteen, for fuck’s sake!” he exploded, anger and more coloring his speech.
«Why can’t I be older and educated, and God, actually even interested in politics?» he inadvertently projected.
«Hmm. Hold that thought»
Aloud, his lifebonded asked, “Zane, what is it that you want?”
Zane frowned, puzzled. “In regards to what, Liz?”
“It’s more of an existential question. When you think about your life—about who you are, what you’ve done, where you’re going—what do you want? The unvarnished truth, please.”
He smiled at the last proviso then sighed as his mind obviously turned towards answering her question.
“I grew up knowing who and what I was, and that the reason I was on Earth, alone, was because my home planet was engulfed in a nasty civil war. I had a lot of facts but no way to do anything with them. I became interested in politics in a quest to make what I knew make sense, and when it started to, I wanted a way to make it better. Make a difference.”
Liz nodded encouragingly, continuing to ignore Max’s nonverbal inquiries in favor of supporting Zane. Max could see it wasn’t easy for him to be this upfront.
“On the reservation, I was submerged in a culture that has been persecuted and exists in constant danger of extinction. That is part of me, ingrained since birth. Despite it, and all the problems rife in reservation life, my friends and family all wanted normal lives. The American definition of normal never held much appeal for me.”
Max couldn’t hide his surprise and Zane smiled, but there was a bittersweet light in his face that touched an answering chord in Max.
“And then you showed up at the reservation with my childhood necklace. My brother recognized you immediately. How could he not?”
His pained smile broadened as Max realized with a shock that the brother he meant was River Dog.
“That was when we knew for sure that you had survived, Max,” Serena chimed in. “We knew the pods had been stowed away safely in 1947, but we didn’t know anything else about you until you came that night.”
She looked at Zane, gauging something, and concluded quietly, “That’s when we decided to have children, reach for normal.” He nodded in agreement and they shared a meaningful smile.
Max had the feeling that he should be getting some deeper truth from their words, but he had no idea what. Fortunately for him, Liz seemed to understand and she prodded Zane.
“Unvarnished.”
A cynical smirk flashed across the older man’s face and he focused on Max. The sheer intensity and challenge in his gaze threw Max, but it was Zane’s statement that kicked him in the gut.
“I want the throne.”
He knew his utter shock was clearly visible when Serena laughed softly. Zane, in contrast, was incredulous.
“Did it never occur to you that I might?”
Max shook his head, his mind starting to crank busily. He leveled a serious look at his heir.
“Why would I think that you might want to rule Antar, when I don’t?”
“You don’t,” he remarked in disbelief.
“Until last year I didn’t even know I was a King. I didn’t even know the name of my planet, or anything about my native people except that they weren’t human. At that, I am a hybrid, Zane. Half human, with a full skeleton and everything.”
“Why are you going, then?” Serena asked.
He shrugged helplessly. “Because I don’t want anyone else to die. There’s a real chance to stop the war for good and I can’t turn my back on that just because I don’t want to be a King. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did.”
Zane was nodding with every word. “So, what is it that you want?” he repeated Liz’s phrasing.
Max didn’t need to look at Liz to see her smile, but he did anyway, and smiled in return. “I want to marry Liz and have children with her, and teach my own and others’ kids about the joy of books.” He glanced at Zane. “In short, I want everything you didn’t. I want normal.”
The two men shared a long look. Max saw the resentment he’d noticed earlier fade away and realized that Zane had been angry at having his dreams squashed, something Max could definitely understand. He didn’t break their stare as he asked, “Tomar, you’ve been listening?”
“Yes, your Highness.”
“Honest comparative evaluation, please.” After his largely unsolicited assistance in studying for finals, Max knew the scholar was familiar with the phrase.
“One moment.” A barely suppressed excitement shaded his voice, even when he began reciting in a lecture tone.
“Maxwell Philip Evans, common name Max. Species: hybridized Antarian and human, designed to allow for blending into Earth society and procreation with human females. Age: effectively eighteen, chronologically twelve. Education: high school incomplete, but on schedule for age group; honors student. Extra-curricular activities: none. Current employment: part-time guide at UFO Museum, 1 year. Relevant experience: none. Lifebonded: Elizabeth Claudia Parker; reincarnation of a Priestess of the granolith, though recently released from duty; high school student. Procreative status: lifebonded fertile; pregnancy is blocked until completion of schooling. Other qualifications: re-embodiment of most recent monarch, considered to remain the current King; has undergone Kingmaking ceremony; displays strong sense of right and wrong, intelligence, and compassion.
“Summary: Max is a suitable candidate, who is as yet inexperienced and untried, signaling the necessity of an extended period of adjustment and learning.”
Zane raised an eyebrow at the catalogue of Max’s attributes and shortcomings, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Then it was his turn.
