Roswell Fanatics

roswell3053- Rath will need to get his duties done before he can see Maria again and you'll like this part.
RhondaAnn- Rath is definitely more human than Michael ever was in the series. Maria would definitely freak out if she knew the truth. She's Maria after all.
Erina- More kissing here! Zan wants to tell her, he really does.
VeronicB- Zan is fighting the 'wildness' in him. It will always be a struggle for him. But his love for Liz is his saving grace.

Okay, guys while I'm glad you all want to see Rath and Maria, this part is gonna focus only on Zan and Liz. It's a long part since I couldn't decide where to cut it off and then I just decided to leave it as one big part. Okay, prepare yourselves, you are now gonna get your first glimpse of a bu'halla wahani...

Now, on with the show...

Part 10

Liz closed the barn door and walked slowly into the interior, softly calling out, "Zan? Are you there?"
"I'm here, Liz." came his masculine voice from the direction of the hay stacks.
As Liz let her eyes adjust to the dim light, she watched as Zan came into view with a smile on his lips. She returned his smile and moved to greet him. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her before bending down to kiss her. Liz tilted her head back, eagerly welcoming his kiss. When he pulled away, he asked, "How are you doing?"
She smiled, "Better, now that you are here."
He chuckled and led her to the hay stacks where they made themselves comfortable. "So, Amy and William went to their meeting?"
"Yeah, they should be gone for a few hours. Maria will warn us if they come back earlier than we expect."
"Okay." he replied as he slid his hand into hers.
Liz looked up into Zan's eyes. "Maria wanted me to ask, and I want to know to," she paused before continuing, "how is Rath and his family?"
Inwardly Zan flinched before answering, "He's fine. He's handling things as best as he can under the circumstances."
"I see." she sighed, "Maria's really worried about him." She gave him a questioning look, "Do you think Maria could go and help him? I think she wants to ask, but she's afraid he'd get offended or something."
Zan shook his head. "No, she won't be able to do much, Rath knows what he is doing. He'll take care of everything. Tell Maria not to worry. He'll come see her as soon as he can." He watched as Liz bit her bottom lip and nodded. He hated lying to her. He knew she still thought Rath's father was sick and Rath was having to take care of the family. Technically it wasn't far from the truth. At least that was what he'd been trying to convince himself of ever since he'd told that to Maria and Liz the day before.
Once he'd returned home, he'd gone to Rath and told him what he'd told the girls. Rath had agreed with Zan. That was the best thing to tell the girls for now, until Rath could see Maria again. Still, Zan felt uneasy. He had asked Liz to trust him and to open up again. He knew he was not following his own example in telling her what he had.
Liz sighed, leaning back against a hay stack she said, "I just wish there was something Maria could do for him. All she's gonna do is worry about him until she sees him again."
Zan closed his eyes, "I know. But he'll be okay."
"What about his family? How are they handling his father's sickness?"
Again, Zan inwardly flinched. "They're fine. Rath is taking care of them."
Liz frowned, "Are they too young to do anything? What about his mother? Isn't she helping Rath?"
"His mother died when he was young." Zan whispered.
Liz's eyes went wide, "Oh! How sad, so Rath really is the only one?"
Zan just nodded, not wanting to add anything else. At least that wasn't a lie. Rath's mother had died when Rath was six. She'd died in childbirth, taking Rath's unborn sister with her.
Liz asked, "Isn't there anyone else to help Rath care for his family?"
"I help him. So do Lonnie, Charles, and Kyle." Again, that wasn't a lie.
When Zan had returned home the day before looking for Rath, he'd found him in the conference room of the castle along with Charles, Kyle, Kyle's father, and his own father King Phillip. Vilondra was only there because Charles was, but they allowed her to stay since she was the Princess. They were in the conference room going over several of the affairs Rath was going to deal with over the next few days and Zan had joined in since he was the Prince. Phillip was mostly there to oversee everything and to make sure Rath was handling his new position as Chief Advisor. Charles had been there to verify that all passwords, security measures, and other technical things had been transferred over from Rath's father to Rath. Everything had to match Rath's mental, physical, and biological makeup in order for Rath to have complete access. As Chief Advisor, he would be the only one besides the King to have complete access to the kingdom and the running of it. When everything else was done, Rath went with Kyle and his father, weapons instructor Kyle James(Jim) Valenti to the training building for a series of fighting instruction. Zan had joined Rath in the training session.
"Zan?"
Zan blinked as Liz's voice registered, breaking through his remembrance of the day before. "Yes?" he asked.
Liz gave him a puzzled look, "You okay? You seemed lost in thought for a moment."
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, "I'm fine." He nuzzled his face in her hair, "Just thinking how lucky I am to be here with you."
Liz blushed as he settled her against his side again. She gave him a shy smile, "Before I forget, I wanted to tell you that Maria and I talked the other night. The night I told you about my family." At Zan's nod she continued, "She was a little hurt that I hadn't opened up to her since she was my best friend. But she understood that you were the best one to listen and help me." She sighed, "I apologized to her. I told her I was sorry for taking her for granted and that no matter what happens she'll always be my best friend and I'll always need her."
Zan smiled, "I'm glad you two talked."
Liz nodded, "Me too. I told her I'd always love her and I'd be there for her." She looked up into Zan's eyes, "I have you to thank for that. For helping me realize what was happening and how I was losing everyone I care about." She reached up, placing her palm against his cheek, "Thank you Zan. For making me live again."
He leaned his forehead against hers, "You're welcome."
She gave him a hesitant smile before leaning in and brushing her lips against his. When she was going to pull away, Zan captured her lips in his and deepened the kiss. Liz didn't protest, instead she allowed him to pull her closer until she was sitting in his lap. Her arms went around his shoulders, fingers tangling in his hair. She parted her lips, allowing him access to her mouth. He slid his tongue inside, teasing her tongue as he tasted her sweetness.
Zan could feel the wildness in him beginning to rise to the surface again. He realized he seemed to have little control of it especially when he was around Liz. What was it about her that brought out the inner beast? A low growl escaped his throat as she shifted in his lap, bringing her body closer to his. She let one hand trail down his shoulder, over his chest, to rest against his heartbeat. His hands roamed over her back, up into her hair, one hand cradling her head to his. He devoured her, letting his tongue lap up the sweetness of her mouth. She moaned softly as his lips left her mouth to trail down her cheek to her neck. Her fingers dug past the opening in the front of his shirt to brush against the warm skin of his chest. Her head fell back with another moan as his tongue took a long, leisurely lick along the pulsing vein in her neck. When she began to rock against him, he knew he was lost.
Liz could feel the heat beginning to spread through her. She burned from the inside out and her skin itched something fierce. She only seemed to feel relief where ever Zan touched her with his mouth, his hands, his body. She needed him. She needed him in a way that was instinctive, primal. A small, rational part of her knew what she was doing was dangerous, but she didn't want to listen to that voice. She wanted relief and she knew the only way to get it was to keep going. She picked up the pace, rocking herself against his hips, searching for a way to ease the heat inside of her.
Zan moaned against Liz's neck as he felt her rocking faster. He used his teeth to gently nip at the skin of her neck and shoulder, constantly teasing the pulse that rested just beneath her skin. He could feel it getting stronger, as if it were trying to break out of her skin to reach his mouth. Her hand remained clenched in his hair, keeping him locked to her neck as if encouraging him to devour her. He could hear the beating of her heart, feel the quick movements of her chest against his his own. She was panting hard, her breathing matching his own.
Liz used her free hand to tug his shirt up. The heat inside her was becoming unbearable, she needed more contact with his skin. Lifting his shirt up, she pushed him away from her long enough to tug it off of him before pressing her hands against his chest and lowering her mouth to his neck. Zan clenched his teeth as he felt Liz's tongue teasing the skin of his throat and her fingers exploring the length of his chest. He closed his eyes, tilting his head back to give her access to his flesh. She pressed soft kisses to his collarbone and worked her way down his chest, her hands smoothing over his ribs and the muscles of his abdomen. He curled one arm around her waist, pulling her closer and setting her heat against his hips. The other hand buried itself in the thick silkiness of her hair, holding her to him as her mouth wandered back up his chest. He gasped as her tongue swirled over the pulse in his neck before she began to gently suck the skin there.
His hand trembled in her hair at the way she nuzzled his neck. His instincts rushed to the surface, and the need to nurture and protect her overwhelmed him. He swallowed hard as he lost control to the wildness inside of him. Neither one of them noticed the way his canines began to lengthen or the way his eyes glowed completely white, no iris visible at all. He tightened his hold on her as he spoke huskily, "leijha'mi, dimo artia, idi agalo esu."
Liz stiffened an instant before she snapped her head up with a gasp and scrambled away from him. Zan quickly shut his eyes and turned away from her, hiding the truth until he could feel himself under control again. When he turned to look at her, he saw her wide eyes.
"What was that?" she asked.
"What was what?" he countered.
Her eyes narrowed at him, "Don't do that, Zan. I know I heard you. I heard you say something strange. What did you say?"
He sighed, not wanting to lie anymore he answered her, "It was my native language."
"Your native language?" At his nod she said, "I've never heard that language before, what's it called?"
He looked down at the floor, "You wouldn't have heard it before, it's what you would call a dead language."
Liz sat back and crossed her arms in front of her, her jaw raised, "A dead language, huh. So, why is it you can speak a dead language, Zan?"
He glanced up at her, noticing the look on her face. She looked determined to get the truth from him, she wasn't the least bit afraid of him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he knew it was now or never. "There's something you should know. I think you need to know the truth. About me." He looked into her eyes, pleading with her to understand, "I didn't tell you everything about me because there are some things that I didn't think you would like about me. I was afraid to scare you away. I don't want to hurt you."
She frowned, "How would you hurt me? What are you keeping from me?"
He sighed, "I'm not from around here."
She arched an eyebrow, then chuckled, "Yeah, I think I got that when you told me that was your native language. So, where are you from?"
"Another dimension."
She gave him a droll stare. "Another dimension? You can't be serious. Try another one Zan."
He just looked into her eyes steadily, "It's true."
She continued to look at him for a few silent moments before she sighed, "Okay, let's say that I believe you. How did you get here?"
"Through a portal."
She nodded, "Oooookay, where is this portal?"
"Here in the barn."
Her eyes went wide, "In this barn."
"Yes."
As her gaze swept around the place she asked, "Where?"
He got up and walked behind the hay stacks. She followed him and watched as he pushed the hay out of the way, exposing the trap door in the floor. "It's there," he said.
Liz stared at the door and swallowed. "That's the portal?" At his nod, she leaned a little closer. "What would I see if I opened it?"
"Nothing, pitch black."
She looked up at him. "So, you just jump in or?"
He nodded, "Yeah, we jump in and it takes us to a ladder that we climb down to get to our world." He shrugged, "That's really the best way I can explain it."
"I see." She frowned as something registered, "Wait, you said we. Does this mean Rath..."
"Is from where I am from, yes."
"Oh. Um. Wow." She looked up at him, "And Vilondra and the others?"
Zan nodded, "They all are." He looked at her before going on, "Everything Rath and I told you before, about our family and friends. It's all true. We didn't lie about that. There are some differences between our world and this one, but it's still similar."
She nodded, "So, tell me, what is it like?"
He followed her back to the hay stacks where they sat down again. She waited for him to put on his shirt before he began. "Our history tells us that we once came and went between our world and this one freely. That once we used to live peacefully with the humans of this dimension. But something happened. There are things we can do that humans can't. Our scientists and your scientists knew there was the possibility for humans to be like us, but they couldn't figure out how to make it possible. It was said that the capability was locked away in the human brain and all the scientists kept trying to find a way to unlock it. The human scientists got greedy. At least that's what our history says. Other versions say that the human scientists were influenced by political figures in this world." He shrugged, "I don't know if we'll ever know how it really started, but what happened is that our people began getting trapped by the humans. We were captured and experimented on."
Liz gasped, "The scientists, took them against their will!"
"Yes. When too many of our people began disappearing without a trace our military began looking into the disappearances. Everything began to be monitored. Were everyone was, the passing of people through the portal. They were trying to keep tabs on everyone. Eventually they were able to trace the disappearances to this world and found our people in the hands of the scientists. The scientists here decided the only way to discover how humans could be more like us was to experiment on our people, hoping they could find a way to trigger human brains."
Liz nodded, "And in the process, they tortured and killed your people without even caring that they were people too. All they cared about was that it was a means to an end."
"Yes." He paused before going on. "Once it was discovered and the human government refused to let our people go and apologize, a war started. Our government realized the only way out of this was to disappear from this world. So they used their gifts to wipe that dimension from the human's memories and the portal was closed. No one was allowed to go through the portal again for centuries."
"Yet, you and Rath came through."
Zan smiled, "The portal was forbidden for our people, but you can't really close it. It will still exist. Our people would use it from time to time, but they never let any of the humans see them. They knew the history. They knew if a human found out about them, they'd be captured and experimented on. Even if a human came into contact with one of us, they wouldn't know what we are. I look as human as the next person."
Liz looked at him and nodded her agreement. Then she giggled, "Well, until you give yourself away by sprouting that language."
He chuckled, "Hey, it's authentic."
She grinned, "So, translate, what did you say?"
The smile faded from Zan's face. Liz watched as he nervously swallowed before speaking, "I said, leijha'mi, dimo artia, idi agalo esu."
She nodded, awed by the way the words fell from his mouth, almost as if they flowed and whispered between them. She spoke softly, "What does that mean?"
He looked down at the floor between them as he spoke, "Beautiful, of my heart, I love you."
Liz's breath caught in her throat as the words Zan had just spoken registered in her mind. He loved her. Suddenly she found herself wishing she could hear him say those words again, in his language.
Silence lay between the two of them as Zan waited for Liz to continue. He couldn't look at her. He was afraid of what he would see. She now knew he wasn't human, there was no way she'd like what he'd said. Slowly he lifted his eyes to her face. She was looking at him, but it wasn't with fear or disgust. She was looking at him in wonder and with something else that shone from deep within her eyes. He was almost afraid to hope that it was what he thought it was. She graced him with a beautiful smile, one that took his breath away.
"That's really beautiful, Zan."
He gave her a small nod, but remained silent, unable to find his voice.
Liz cleared her throat, "So, besides the language? Is there any other way for me to know you aren't human?"
He nodded, "Yeah, we have another form, if you will."
Her eyes widened, "You mean you can shape shift?"
"Something like that yes."
Wow, can I... can you show me?"
His head snapped up at her question, "You want to see?" At her nod, he shook his head, "No, I don't think you should." He was terrified that his other form would be what would drive her away from him.
"Why not?"
"It's not really something that went over well with the humans the first time they saw it. I don't think you'd like it."
"What do you change into?"
"The humans called it a wild boy or girl, in our language that form is known as bu'halla wahani. There isn't really a direct translation of wahani, so it's associated with the word wild, I guess because it fits with the image."
"So, you look like something wild? Like a wild animal or something?"
Zan nodded, "I think that's what the humans said."
"Why do you even shape shift at all? Is there a reason?"
"Well, in that form, our powers are more accessible. In human form, we still can use our powers, but they are not as strong as they'd be in the bu'halla wahani shape."
"I see. What are your powers?"
"Well, even in human form, we can be extremely fast and our strength surpasses that of any human being. We can jump great distances and we are very agile. Um, we are capable of using mind speech and telekinesis, you know moving objects by thinking of it. We can also use our minds to create illusions or force a person's will, humans call it a mind warp. And when our emotions are heightened, we react instinctively, like animals do."
"Like animals do?"
"Yes, if we feel threatened or protective, we tend to growl like an animal. If we feel excited or happy, we can howl."
Liz grinned, "So, hence the reason humans call your people wild boys."
Zan returned her grin, "Yeah."
"Okay, so you have all these powers right now."
He nodded.
"And when you shape shift, it's easier to use them. You're more powerful then."
He nodded again.
"Show me."
Zan sighed, "Liz..."
"Zan, I want to see. Show me what you look like when you change shape. I can handle it. I know I can."
Zan looked into Liz's eyes. Again he saw the determination there. She showed no hint of fear. He couldn't smell any fear coming from her. Only curiousity and determination. He was amazed at her courage. Sighing, he finally gave in to her. He walked away from her, moving closer to the wall so as to give her room to run for the door if it became too much for her. Turning to face her, he began chanting, “bu’halla wahani…bu’halla wahani…bu’halla wahani…”
Liz watched as Zan slowly began to look less than human. His eyes changed into inky pools of black with hints of irridescent green swirling around, fading in and out. His clothes shifted into a soft form fitting dark material with leather strings running down the sides of his pant legs, holding them together like seams. His hair was full, thick, and looking windblown. Liz noticed the long wicked nails on his hands, giving him the appearance of having claws. She stared at him in facination as he turned his head towards her. He didn't move to her, just stood where he was letting her look at him.
"Can you understand me?" she asked.
"Yes." came the low, gravelly reply.
"You don't have any problem speaking like that do you?"
"No, our abilities in either form are essentially the same. They are just enhanced in this form."
Liz shivered as the sound of his voice sent chills down her spine. He didn't scare her, it was quite the opposite in fact. His voice was huskier, lower, and definitely more sexier sounding. She wanted to hear it again.
"Um, can I ask you to do something for me?"
"Sure."
"Say those words again. The ones you told me, in your language."
Liz watched him blink his eyes, she got the impression that he was puzzled about why she'd just asked him to do that. She simply sat there and waited until he complied, "Leijha'mi, dimo artia, idi agalo esu."
She closed her eyes as he spoke, relishing the way the chills spread down her spine and created goosebumps along her skin. She sat there for a few moments trying to keep her breathing under control.
"Liz? Are you okay?"
She swallowed, "I'm fine." Opening her eyes, she glanced at him. "Are your eyes always like that?"
"What do they look like now?"
"Black, with some green in them. The green seems to be fading in and out."
"Our eyes change colors depending on our emotions."
She smiled at that. "So, what does black mean?"
"It's our neutral color."
"Okay, so what colors do they change to and what emotion do they represent."
"Black is neutral, red is anger or hurt, orange is hunger, blue is sadness, yellow is happiness or excitement, green is nervousness, frightened, or jealousy, and white is love. They also glow brighter or duller depending on the depth of the emotion."
She raised an eyebrow, "What do you have to be jealous about? Or are you scared?"
He blinked, "What?"
She stood up and walked closer to him. Peering up into his eyes she said, "There's hints of green in your eyes, so that means you are nervous, frightened, or jealous."
He grinned at her keen observation. "Nervous and scared."
Standing so close to Zan now, Liz couldn't help but notice the sharpness of his teeth, especially his canines. They were longer, and slightly curved, like a cat's might be. Still, she wasn't afraid of him. Instead she chuckled, "I think I'm the one who should be scared, what with you sporting those wicked fangs and claws."
He laughed, "I can't believe this doesn't frighten you."
Liz caught the note of disbelief in his voice, suddenly she understood what he was afraid of. She reached up with one hand, cupping his cheek and turning him to face her. Looking into his eyes she said, "You were the one who helped me to open up again and helped me to trust people again. I trust you Zan. You haven't done anything at all to make me fear you or not trust you. I know you won't hurt me." With those words she leaned in to him and brushed her lips over his.
Zan closed his eyes at the touch of her lips, he stood there as her lips brushed his, then moved whisper soft over his cheek, his jaw, and finally back to his mouth. He lifted an arm and wrapped it around her waist, holding her to him as their kiss deepened.
Liz could feel the receding of his teeth as he kissed her, as if his body knew instinctively not to hurt her. Even the arms that held her didn't feel like there were wicked claws at the end of them. She allowed him to hold her, to kiss her tenderly as he let her know how much it meant to him that she accepted him as he was.
Slowly he pulled away from her to look into her eyes. She smiled as she saw that they were now completely white and glowing brightly. He sighed and placed his forehead against hers, "Thank you, Liz. For believing in me."
She hugged him close, "You're welcome." She held him for a few more moments before she spoke again. "So, Rath changes like you too?"
He nodded, "Yes, most of us can, but not everyone does. We mostly use it when we need it and some of us are better at it than others. It's kind of like riding a bike, the more you use it, the better at it you are."
She nodded, "That makes sense."
They walked back to the hay stack and Liz watched as Zan returned to the human form she knew so well. As he sat next to her, he took her hand in his, "There's one other thing I think you should know."
"Okay, what is it?"
"In my world, we have a form of government that's different than here. I know that there used to be a government similar to ours long ago, but it doesn't exist anymore."
"What kind of government?"
"A monarchy."
Her eyes widened, "You have a ruling family? Royalty? Like a king or queen?"
He nodded.
"Wow! That's really interesting! So the monarchy rules. Or are they just figureheads controlled by a council or something like that?"
"Our King is like the President here would be. He has a council that works with him and makes decisions, his right hand man is the Chief Advisor, but at the end of the day, the King has the final say." He sighed, "Rath's dad was Chief Advisor."
Liz blinked, "Was?"
He sighed, "His dad isn't sick. He was killed. That day when we came, he was killed. He was going to one of our borders with four guards and they were ambushed by some rebels. Only one guard survived. As the only son, Rath had to take up his father's position as Chief Advisor."
"Oh my! But he's so young."
"He's already been training for it. Since we were young, because he was first born. That's the way it works in our world. The first born is always the one to follow in their parent's footsteps. As first born, we are trained from a very early age for what we will become one day."
She nodded accepting what he said, "How is he taking it, really?"
"As well as he can. He can do his job, but he was upset with his father's death. I think it hit him really hard, and I was expecting him to come to me to grieve, but he's been pretty closed up about it, grieving alone. He's just thrown himself into working."
Liz closed her eyes, "Maria's gonna die when she hears about this. She's going to want to be there with him, I know she is."
Zan squeezed her hand. "I don't think you should tell Maria anything you've learned today Liz. I think you should let Rath be the one to tell Maria the truth."
Liz frowned, "I have to tell her about you, Zan. She's my best friend and I only just found her again. I don't like keeping secrets from her."
He nodded, "I understand that, but think about it Liz. Do you think she'll believe you when you tell her? You didn't believe me until I proved it to you. How are you going to prove it to her?"
Liz closed her eyes and thought about it for a while before finally nodding, "You're right. She'll just think I'm going insane since I can't really prove anything. And Rath really should be the one to tell her. I think she'll believe it best when it comes from him." She sighed and looked at Zan, "I don't like lying to her Zan. I just hope I can do it."
"You will. You're stronger than you think, dimo artia."
She blushed at his endearment. "Um, so Rath is Chief Advisor, huh? Second only to the King."
"Yes."
"Wow. That's a lot of responsibility."
"I'm confident he can do it. My father thinks he can too."
"Is your father on the council too?"
Zan gave her a sheepish grin, "Yes."
"Really? Is he like a nobleman or a senator or something?"
"He's the King."
Liz's eyes went wide. "You're father's the King?"
Zan nodded.
"Then that makes you..."
"A prince."
Liz stared at Zan in shock. No it couldn't be. She was not sitting here talking to a prince. She shut her eyes as she realized that wasn't all she had been doing. Her eyes flew open again as his words came back to her. That wasn't possible, he was a prince, he couldn't be in love with her. She inched away from him, shaking her head frantically. "No, no, this can't be happening."
Zan frowned and reached out for her, "Liz?"
She continued to move away from him, still shaking her head.
"Liz, what's wrong?" He caught her arms in his hands before she could run from him.
She turned teary, wide eyes to his face, "This can't be true. You can't be a prince."
"I am, Liz. My parents are King Phillip and Queen Diana Evans. I'm Prince Maxwell Zander Evans and my younger sister is Princess Isabel Vilondra Evans."
Liz closed her eyes, "Why didn't you tell me this before? Why are you doing this to me?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You're a prince, Zan."
"So?"
"You'll be King someday."
"Yes, I've known that since I was born."
She shook her head, "If you knew, then why all this? Why come here and be with me and pretend?"
He frowned, "I'm not pretending, Liz. Everything I've told you is the truth."
She glared up at him, "You can't love me! You wanted me to trust you, to be close to you! And now I find out you're just going to leave one day. You're just like the others! You're going to leave!" She shoved at his chest and ran for the door as sobs welled up in her throat.
Zan couldn't believe it. He'd thought Liz wouldn't accept that he wasn't human. He'd never dreamed that the one thing that would turn her away from him would be that one day he'd be King. He ran after her, catching her arm he swung her to face him, taking her face in his hands he brought her mouth to his. He kissed her hard, trying to let her know with his lips how much he loved her. That everything he'd ever said to her was the truth. That he wouldn't let her go without a fight. He could feel her struggling against him. Her sobs were swallowed by his lips as he tasted her tears.
Liz tried to struggle, but soon she gave up. His lips and the way he held on to her told her what words couldn't get through. Slowly, he lifted his lips from hers and looked into her eyes. "I love you. You have to know that's the truth. I'm right here and I'm not leaving you. I promise that I'm not leaving you."
She sniffed, "You're going to be King someday, Zan."
"I know. Trust me when I say that when that happens you'll still be a part of my life. I won't leave you Liz. Ever."
She closed her eyes as he hugged her to his chest. She wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe that even when he became a ruler that he'd still be a part of her life. But how could he? He would have to go to his world and rule a kingdom. Who was she in the grand scheme of things? How could he still be a part of her life then? He would have too many responsibilities to spend any time with her. She swallowed her tears and decided that she'd take what he could give her. She'd let him be a part of her life for now and deal with the other things as they came. It was all she could do. She would be strong like he'd said she was.
Zan held her close to him. He could smell her sadness. His heart broke at the way she'd cried. She didn't believe him. He knew she thought he'd leave her some day. But that wasn't true. He already knew she was the one. That was why he lost control around her, why the wildness inside of him was always so close to the surface when she was around. It knew that Liz was his soul mate. He knew he had to give her time. She needed to believe that he really loved her, that he wanted her. He would wait, wait until she was ready and he could tell her the last thing he kept from her. For now, he would keep the knowledge that in two months, on his twentieth birthday, he would be King. And when that time came, she would be his Queen.

TBC...

Hello all! Sorry that I took so long to post this, but I kept going back and messing with it. See, the last part was what I had written up to for about a year now, and this part is brand new. I have the entire story written in outline form, but it seems when I actually sat down to write this part, it ran away with me. So, this is the part I came up with. I know many of you wanted to see a Maria/Rath reunion, but my muse wasn't ready to show that yet. LOL. Just so you know, I don't have Maria's eye opener happening any time soon. She'll be in the dark for a little while longer.

roswell3053- Yes. I was hoping Liz would understand too.
tequathisy- thanks.
Behrsgurl*87- Here's Liz, handling it...
L-J-L 76- It may be a while before Maria finds out, at this point I'm not certain when...
Erina- We'll find out soon.
RhondaAnn- thanks.
VeronicB- There you go again! Reading my mind. I think I'm gonna have to redo my entire story line!
nibbles2- Um, Rath does need Maria, but the conversation may take a while to get to...

Okay, on with the show...

Part 11

Liz slowly walked towards the house, her thoughts in turmoil. She had just left the barn, after watching as Zan went through the portal back to his world. He had tried to tell her that he loved her, that nothing would make him leave her. She still couldn't convince herself that he would always be there. How could he? One day he would be King of his world. That meant he would have so many responsibilities and therefore he wouldn't have any time to come see her.

She didn't think he understood that, but he had kept insisting that he would always be with her. She was still trying to process all the information she'd learned from him and had still been stunned to find out that he was a prince that she hadn't been as fascinated as she normally would have been when he'd entered the trapdoor portal to return to his world. She had vaguely been aware that he'd even told her good-bye, he loved her, and he'd be there to walk her and Maria home from school on Monday before giving her a kiss and jumping through the portal.

It had taken her a while to realize that he was gone and that she should head on back to the house before Amy and William returned from the meeting. She was still in a daze as she walked through the back door into the kitchen area until she heard Maria's voice.

"Hey Liz. How is Zan?"

Liz blinked as Maria's question penetrated her dazed mind, "Oh, hey. Um, he is fine."

Maria grinned, unaware that Liz's daze had nothing to do with being alone with Zan. "So, did you ask him how Rath and his family are doing? Does he need anything? Should I make something to send to him?"

Liz tensed as she realized what she now knew about Rath. Zan's words ran through her head, "I don't think you should tell Maria anything you've learned today Liz. I think you should let Rath be the one to tell Maria the truth... Do you think she'll believe you when you tell her? You didn't believe me until I proved it to you. How are you going to prove it to her?"

"Um, Zan said Rath was really busy, but he's doing fine. So is his family. He said you shouldn't worry about anything because Zan and his family are helping Rath cope."

Maria frowned, "Did you ask if I could send something or.."

"Zan said not to. They have it covered Maria." Liz sighed, hoping her friend wouldn't push it further, "Zan wanted me to tell you that Rath misses you and he promises to come see you as soon as he can. Rath also wants you to know that he's fine and doesn't want you to worry about him, okay?"

"Are you sure?"

Liz nodded, "That's what Zan told me to tell you. He said there's really nothing you can do, but everyone else is there to help Rath if he needs it."

Maria sighed, "I just think there's something more I could do..."

Before she could say anything else, the girls heard the front door opening and William's voice calling to them. "Hey girls! We're home!"

Liz breathed a sigh of relief as Maria turned to answer her parents. Liz knew she'd just been saved from having to get into it any deeper with Maria, and she didn't have to keep feeling so guilty about keeping secrets from her best friend. However, she knew it would be just a matter of time before it all had to come out. She just hoped that when it did, Maria would be able to handle it.

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It was finally Wednesday when Rath was able to return to see Maria.

Zan had been there alone on Monday and Tuesday to walk the girls home. He and Liz had gone to the barn on Monday while Maria returned to the house, but even Maria could see that something had changed between her best friend and Zan. When Zan had greeted them just like he had on Friday, Maria noticed how Liz moved slightly away from him, as if trying to keep a space between them. They had both been quiet not saying much, and Liz hadn't been with him in the barn for that long before she'd come into the house. Maria hadn't even had a chance to talk to Liz about it since as soon as Liz walked in, she'd gone to take a shower and things had gotten too busy later for them to talk before going to bed.

The next day, Zan had only walked them home and left, obviously knowing Liz wasn't ready to talk to him. When Maria tried to bring up the subject, Liz had simply sighed and said that it was nothing for her to worry about. When she'd tried to press on, Liz had looked her in the eyes and told her that it was between her and Zan only, so Maria needed to leave the subject alone. Maria had gotten the hint and not said anything else.

On Wednesday, both girls had been surprised to see Rath walking with Zan as the girls had waited by the gym. Maria had let out a squeal of happiness and launched herself into Rath's arms. Rath had a huge smile on his face the moment he'd laid eyes on Maria and happily wrapped her in his arms before giving her a long, passionate kiss right there in front of everyone.

As the two had kissed, Zan had looked at Liz, trying to convey with his eyes that he wished she'd return to his side, but Liz had looked everywhere except at Zan. Once Maria and Rath had said their hellos, the four of them walked together to the barn where Rath and Maria had disappeared into the hay loft and Zan and Liz remained on the ground floor.

Zan waited until he was certain Rath and Maria were settled into the hay loft before using mindspeech to warn Rath of what he was about to do. Ra'thlan, I need you to create a wall so I can talk to Liz in private. I don't want Maria to hear this.

I understand. It's done. Came Rath's reply. Rath knew what was going on, as Zan had been keeping him up to date about everything happening between him and Liz. Rath knew Liz knew the truth. He also knew that Zan had made up his mind that Liz would be the one he was going to marry on his twentieth birthday despite the fact that Liz believed he would leave her because he was a prince. Rath had given Zan his full support, believing that Liz was the perfect bride for Zan.

Once Zan felt the invisible barrier between the loft and the area that he and Liz were in, he turned towards his future bride. She was standing near the door, looking as if she wanted to leave. He could smell her sadness and her discomfort. She didn't want to be there because it hurt her too much to try to keep pretending that all was okay between them and would always be. At least that is what she'd told him when they had talked on Monday.

He'd tried to reason with her again, making promises that he would never leave her, that he was in love with her. He'd even tried to show her, but she hadn't let him remain close to her. She'd moved away from him and without looking at him asked him to give her some space to deal with her emotions on her own. She told him that she cared about him, but they could only be friends and nothing more. She said she didn't want to ever be hurt the way she'd been when she'd lost her family. She asked him to respect her wishes and just be there to protect them because she couldn't give him what he wanted. She'd said what she wanted him to hear, then she had left him there as she returned to her home.

Zan moved slowly towards Liz, letting her sadness wash over him. "leijha'mi," he whispered, lifting his hand to brush her hair from her shoulder.

Liz tensed and moved away from him, her eyes on the ground. "I'm just going to tell Maria I'll wait for her in the house."

He sighed as she moved past him towards the ladder, "You can't, Liz."

She stopped and turned her head slightly, "What do you mean?"

He faced her before speaking, "I asked Rath to create an invisible wall between us and them. It'll give us the privacy we need to talk."

She whirled to face him, eyes wide, "He can do that?" At Zan's nod she continued, "Tell him to get rid of it."

"No."

Her eyes narrowed, "Don't take that tone with me, I'm not one of your subjects to command."

"I know that, but if you would just hear me out."

"There's nothing to discuss."

"There is, Liz, please listen to me."

She shook her head, "No. I listened. And you heard my side. Now tell him to take it down so I can leave."

Zan didn't move, but lowered his head as he slowly shook it in denial.

Liz clinched her fists as she once more turned to the ladder determined to find a way through the invisible wall herself.

Dimo artia, I'm begging you to stop this. You are hurting the both of us! Liz froze as she heard Zan's voice in her head. She knew he had the ability to use mind speech, but this was the first time he'd ever used it with her. He continued when she remained frozen to the spot, I can smell your sadness, dimo agalo, you know I can. And you know what it does to me.

She closed her eyes with a sigh, "Stop it then."

I can't.

Slowly she turned to face him, "Zan, we talked about this. You know what I need. You know that I can't pretend..."

"I'm not asking you to pretend, Liz. I love you! Why won't you believe me?"

"You're going to be King someday, you won't have time for me!"

"I'll always have time for you! Do you think it would be that easy for me to set you aside? You have no idea what you mean to me! I can't give you up, Liz. You are my ulhi'maos!"

She gritted her teeth, "Stop that! If you're going to talk to me, speak my language!"

He took a deep breath before saying, "You are my soulmate."

"What does that mean? How can you know that?"

"I know, Liz."

"Oh, you know," she threw her hands in the air, "and I'm just supposed to understand that!"

Zan looked into her eyes and held her gaze as he began to shift into his other form. Liz could hear the chant in her mind as she watched him shape shift into his wahani form, his eyes glowing bright white. She tried to speak and realized he held her there with his powers. Her eyes widened as she realized she couldn't move, she was literally paralyzed. She watched as he slowly made his way towards her, lifting one of his hands, claws extended.

Liz closed her eyes as she felt the tips of his claws trail down her cheek before gently curling into her hair. Zan used his other hand to tilt her head back before covering her lips with his. He kissed her deeply, letting her feel everything he felt for her. He nipped at her lips with his teeth before lowering his face to her neck.

Liz's body shuddered at the feel of his tongue taking a long lick over the pulse in her neck and she suddenly tensed when she felt his teeth press gently against her neck. As she felt him taking a deep breath, inhaling her scent, she heard his voice again, Feel me, nu'halla. Feel what I feel for you. How can you not know me as your ulhi'maos, when I know you. I know what you feel for me.

Still unable to speak, she hoped he could hear her thoughts. I don't know you, Zan. How am I supposed to feel you?

Use your senses, dimo agalo. They will not lie to you.

My senses? How are they supposed to help me? I can feel you touching me, how does that prove that I am your soulmate?

Use all of your senses, not just the ones you are familiar with, but also the ones inside of you.

Liz frowned as she tried to make sense of what he was saying. Senses inside of her? What was he talking about. Before she had a chance to ask him to explain further, she felt his teeth nip her neck again. A gasp escaped her lips as she felt the flash of pain that was gone in the next instant. Her pulse began to pound as his lips and tongue moved over the spot where he'd bitten her. He hadn't broken through the skin, but he'd bitten hard enough to leave a mark. As he wrapped his arms around her, she went limp.

Liz was suddenly aware that something was different. As Zan held her to his chest, as his mouth worked over her pulse, she knew she could smell him. His scent was strong, powerful. There was the smell of spice mixed with a musky, wild scent. As if she were standing in the middle of a jungle surrounded by the wild vegetation and rain, as well as the inhabitants that made the jungle what it was.

Zan's mouth moved over hers once more, claiming it in another passionate kiss. As she responded to his kiss, she could smell the love he had for her, the way he wanted to protect her. And she could smell something else, something familiar. Her eyes flew open as she instinctively recognized what she smelled.

Zan lifted his head and Liz noticed that he was no longer in his wahani form. Looking into his emerald green eyes, she took another deep breath, taking in the scent of her soulmate. She knew that smell, had known it forever. Something inside of her recognized it and responded without reservation.

Lifting a trembling hand to his cheek, she whispered, "I recognized your scent, like I've known it forever! How is it possible that I've always known you and yet I've never met you before?"

Zan lowered his forehead to hers as he answered, "That's what it means to be soulmates. Your soul recognizes mine, as mine recognizes yours. That's why I knew you were my ulhi'maos. That and because of the way my body responds to your nearness, your scent."

Liz closed her eyes, breathing him in, letting his scent speak to her. She answered her own question, "It's the wildness in you. That's it isn't it? Your other self smells me and wants to claim what belongs to it." She opened her eyes and lifted them to his emerald ones, "And you can't fight against your true nature, you can't control it."

He nodded, "It's getting harder to control each time I'm near you. It's why I sometimes start changing without warning and why I start speaking in my language without noticing it. It's..."

"Instinctive, primal." She finished for him.

Zan stared into her eyes for a few moments before a slow smile began to spread over his face, "Exactly."

Liz returned his smile, then did something no one could have predicted she'd ever do. She took his hand and led him to the hay stacks near the back of the barn. As she reached a stack that was low enough to the ground for them to be comfortable on, she climbed onto it and tugged him down with her. Zan made to sit next to her, but she leaned back and pulled him on top of her fusing their lips together.

Zan's eyes went wide in surprise for a moment before he let himself enjoy her closeness. He deepened the kiss as he settled his body over hers. Her arms went around his shoulders as her hips cradled his. He threaded his fingers through her hair, then trailed them down her sides to rest them against her hips. Liz pressed her lips against the corner of his mouth, before leaving a trail of kisses along his jaw and down his neck.

Zan felt Liz's tongue trail over the pulse in his neck before she gently nipped at it the way he had done to her. His eyes closed in pleasure as he tilted his head back and allowed her to feast on his skin. Liz continued to nip at his pulse, and as she added more pressure, biting to leave a mark, Zan groaned deep in his throat.

Once more he could feel the wildness rising as he dipped his lips to hers again in a heated kiss. She willingly responded to him just as heatedly. Her hands were now working at the ends of his shirt, sliding it off his body, then letting her hands roam over his skin as she began to suck on his collarbone.

His hands slid beneath her shirt, slowly moving up her stomach until his fingers brushed the underside of her breast. As Liz gasped and threw her head back, Zan cupped her breast through her shirt and leaned down to nuzzle her other breast with his mouth. Liz curled one hand in his hair and wrapped the other arm around his body, holding him to her.

Zan growled as the scent of his mate reached his nose. He knew she wanted him, her body was ready for him. He could feel the way she clung to him, the way her body slid sensuously against his. Her legs wrapped around his and she lifted her hips to grind herself against him. He jerked his head up as he felt his fangs lengthening, his claws began pressing into her skin.

"No!" he growled, as he tore himself away from Liz.

Liz sat up, puzzlement on her face, "Zan? What is it?"

He was standing half way between her and the entrance of the barn, having leaped there due to his powers. She could see the way he was trembling and the movement of his chest, indicating that he was breathing hard.

His voice was in her mind, We cannot, Liz.

She frowned, "I thought we were soulmates."

We are.

"Then what is wrong with what we were doing?"

I can't control myself with you. You know that.

She nodded, "I know. It's okay, Zan. I wanted to."

He shook his head. No, we can't. It's too soon.

"Too soon?"

She heard him sigh, and watched as he made his way back to her. He sat down next to her, obviously he'd gotten himself back under control. Something inside of her seemed to sigh in disappointment, but she didn't let him know that.

Zan took her hand in his and looked into her eyes, "Liz, I want to be with you. You know I do. Dimo ulhi'maos. Idi agalo esu." He paused, "But it's too soon."

Liz looked into his eyes, finding the answers there, she understood. Slowly she nodded, "I understand. You're right. We have time."

He smiled as he caressed her cheek. He leaned in to brush his lips over her forehead, "Idi agalo esu."

Liz closed her eyes as his words whispered over her skin. She could feel them reaching deep in her soul. And her soul responded in turn as she whispered back, "Idi agalo esu, Zan."

TBC...

RhondaAnn- Hee hee. I'm really not trying to make him scary sounding! I've always had a 'thing' for supernatural beings, but only the 'sexy' looking ones. LOL. Zan is certainly sexy to me. If I stay true to my outline, you are gonna love it when Maria finally learns the truth.
L-J-L- All the questions you had should be answered very soon and the last three questions are sort of answered in this part.
VeronicB- LOL. I posted my response to you on my other story thread, I'm soooo confused. LOL. And I'm still amazed how you have those great mind reading powers. Maria is still...
Behrsgurl*87- Liz forgive Zan? LOL. Read on...
roswell3053- Liz seems to keep misinterpreting everything Zan says, doesn't she?
tequathisy- A little more of Rath and Maria here...
Erina- Personally, I agree, who wouldn't want Zan to convince her that they belong together. LOL.
sweetckandie- Hee hee. Hi!
IzzyEvans- Thank you...
candycane- Rebels? What rebels? LOL. Um....maybe...

Okay, folks, hope you enjoy this part... Oh, and just a note, from now on I may be skipping over time to keep this story moving.


Part 12

*Three Weeks Later*

Liz felt the brush against her mind just before she heard his voice, Hello, leijha'mi. She smiled before looking away from Maria to see Zan walking towards them in the distance.

Maria frowned when she realized Liz wasn't paying attention to what she was saying and followed her line of sight to see Zan as he finally approached them. Maria shook her head, "I don't know how you know when he gets here! He's so silent, yet you know when he's coming. It's freaky."

Zan chuckled as he wrapped his arm around Liz's waist, pulling her to his side, and bending down to kiss her. As Maria turned away to give them privacy, Zan lifted his head, graced Liz with a smile, and spoke to Maria, "Rath wanted me to let you know he'll be here tomorrow to see you." To Liz he said, I missed you, dimo agalo.

Liz replied, You just saw me yesterday, orahan.

Zan's smile widened as he acknowledged the fact that Liz thought he was handsome.

Liz had begun to learn more about Zan and his life over the last few weeks. When the two of them had time alone in the barn, it was usually spent with the two of them trading stories or explaining to each other how their worlds worked. Liz had also been trying to learn the wahani language every chance she got. It also helped that even when the others were near, she and Zan would carry on their own private conversations telepathically.

Maria had a huge grin on her face as the three of them began walking away from the school's gym. "Oh good! I've really missed him. He said that things were getting better, but he was still needed at home." She turned to look at Zan, "Tell me his dad is getting better."

"Things are getting better 'Ria." Zan replied as Liz tightened her hold around his waist.

The three of them continued to walk home, going through the park, towards the direction of the barn. As they walked, they listened to Maria as she talked about how she felt about Rath and how worried she was that he was working himself to death taking care of his family.

Over the past few weeks, Maria had been able to see Rath twice a week at most. Every time he came to see her, she had been so happy and he had seemed just as happy to see her. The two of them had always retreated to the hay loft to spend time together, which Maria loved. It was there that she got to talk to him. She loved talking to him. He always listened to everything she had to say, no matter how small or ridiculous it was. She told him everything. He listened as she complained about her parents, school, Liz, or her life. He laughed as she told him stories of her and Liz growing up or of other things she had thought was funny. Rath was always an eager audience and Maria basked in all the attention he gave her.

While Maria did miss Rath and felt a little envious over the fact that Liz got to see Zan almost every day, she knew he had responsibilities and she couldn't fault him for loving his family the way he did. She treasured the times she got to see Rath and enjoyed his company when she saw him. She just wished she could see him more, especially when she would glance over to Zan and Liz who had seemed to have gotten past whatever had been between them and were now looking like a couple of lovesick teenagers.

What Maria still didn't know was that the family that Rath was taking care of was actually the kingdom he was now partially responsible for as the newest Chief Advisor. She didn't know that the dark circles under his eyes and the lines of strain she noticed around his mouth and around his eyes were caused from all the time he spent working on whatever diplomatic or strategic mission he was having to handle at the moment. Maria had no idea that Rath treasured the few visits he made to see her because she was the breath of fresh air he needed to get through all the political mess he now had to deal with.

Rath saw Maria as his sanity, she made him laugh and he always felt at peace when he was with her. And when he couldn't be with her, he still worried about her safety and trusted Zan to be able to take care of her. Rath knew Maria was still in the dark about the entire truth since no one had come out and told her anything. It was something he wanted to change. Liz knew the truth and Rath wanted Maria to know, but she rarely seemed to give Rath a chance to get two words out since when he got to see her, she was the one doing most of the talking. And when she wasn't talking, they were making out. Rath hoped to find the right time to finally tell Maria the entire truth and he hoped that she would accept it as well as Liz had accepted it when Zan had told her.

Zan laughed as he listened to Liz teasing Maria about the way she and Rath acted when they were together since Maria had started it by picking on the two of them for being so cutesy and always all over each other. His laughter was cut short when a familiar scent reached him.

Liz felt Zan stiffen an instant before she heard his voice, li'ho, take Maria and go to the barn quickly.

What is it? she asked.

The gang is nearing. I think they are aware that the two of you are here.

Liz looked around without tipping Maria off. Where are they?

Just beyond the entrance to the park. He paused a moment and Liz knew he was listening for something. Go, dimo agalo. Get to safety. I'll stay and divert them.

Zan, I think...

Liz! There's no time, go!

At Zan's tone, Liz knew better than to argue with him. Instead, she linked her arm into Maria's and spoke, "Come on 'Ria, I'll race you to the barn."

Maria rolled her eyes, "Yeah, like I'm gonna... Hey! No fair!" she yelled as Liz took off running.

As Liz glanced back to make sure Maria was running after her, she spoke to Zan, Be careful, dimo agalo.

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Zan waited until the girls were out of sight before he turned and made his way towards the gang. They were already inside the park and he could hear them searching for the girls. He had heard Sean, their leader, giving orders to find the girls and bring them to him. They were not to be killed, but they could rough them up if need be.

He slid into some tall bushes and kept his senses open to everything the various members were doing. Once again he heard Sean's voice, "I don't care how you do it, just bring them to me. Dad wants them, especially the red head. She'll be good ammunition against her bothersome parents."

"What about the other one? Is she to be ammunition too?" asked another voice.

"Nah. Dad said I could do whatever I wanted with the brunette," Sean chuckled as he continued, "And I'll bet that fiery temper of hers serves her well in other areas too, if you know what I mean."

Zan's fists clenched as he heard several snickers follow Sean's last remark. Suddenly he saw red. Sean wanted Liz! As images of the last time the gang had confronted the girls raced through his mind, Zan remembered the leering look Sean had given Liz. A low growl escaped his throat. He was gonna tear that guy apart, limb from limb.

As the gang began to spread out, beginning their search for the girls, Zan slowly inched his way silently through the bushes towards the nearest man. As the man walked past the bushes, Zan came up and punched him hard enough to knock him out immediately. Zan caught the man as he fell and dragged him into the bushes, hiding him from the others.

He made his way to the next man, using all of his senses to keep tabs on the other three still looking for the girls. He quietly stalked the fourth man who was walking towards the playground, unaware that Zan was behind him. As Zan reached for the man, a whizzing sound near his ear made him whirl around. He went into a crouch, eyes narrowed on the shadow moving through the trees in the distance. At the same time, his intended prey lunged at him, and the two of them went down in a tumble. The man tried to get in a few punches, but Zan was able to deflect them and roll away without any damage done.

Zan leaped to his feet, keeping his eyes trained on both the shadow and the man who was still trying to get to his feet. He lengthened his claws as he used his senses to judge what the shadow was going to do next. He was aware of the man next to him as he lunged at him again. Without turning his attention away from the shadow, Zan lifted his arm and clawed the man across his face.

As the man stumbled back with a scream of pain, Zan heard the sound of the gun and went down into another crouch as the bullet whizzed high over his head and thunked into the tree behind him. He growled low in his throat as the shadow emerged into the clearing. It was Sean.

"Well, well. What do we have here? You must be the one who thought you could frighten us into staying away from the girls." As two others joined him, he asked, "Where's Grant? He's the one who saw this punk the last time."

The man whom Zan had been fighting tried to lunge at him again, but Sean held up a hand, "Derek! Enough!" Derek backed off as Sean came closer to Zan, the high powered rifle still trained on Zan. "Let me guess, you and Grant already met again?"

Zan sneered, "Why don't you go ask his unconscious body?"

The other two men flanked Sean as he spoke to Derek, "Derek, go find Grant." As Derek walked off to do Sean's bidding, the other two began to surround Zan. "Where's your partner?" asked Sean, "He'd better show himself unless he wants you bleeding all over this park."

Zan didn't respond. Instead, he concentrated on the way the other two were trying to surround him and on the rifle Sean was still holding. Zan knew they were trying to take him unawares, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Sean lifted the rifle, training it on Zan's forehead, "Answer me boy!"

As the two attacked from the sides, Zan jumped straight up and flipped in mid-air to land on his feet behind Sean. Using his telekinesis, he yanked the rifle out of Sean's hands and sent it slamming into the tree nearby.

Sean roared, "Kill the sucker!"

Zan grinned as he leaped into the air, past Sean and slammed into one of the men behind him effectively knocking him off his feet. As Zan came down, he whirled and kicked out, his foot connecting with the others chest sending him stumbling into a tree trunk.

Exasperated Sean yelled, "Jesse, Billy! Use your heads idiots! I want him dead!"

Zan turned towards Sean and began to stalk him. Sean went into a defensive position, but before Zan could pounce, another shot rang out. Zan gasped as the bullet nicked his shoulder and immediately blocked the pain from his mind.

Derek came running into the clearing, "I found Grant. The fucker knocked him out cold and hid him in the bushes."

Sean growled, "You are a real pain in the ass, aren't you boy?" He looked past Zan and grinned, "That's it Jesse, finish him off."

As Jesse pulled the trigger of the rifle he'd managed to recover, Zan once more leaped into the air, intending to take cover in the trees. Pain shot through his thigh as he felt the steel blade of the knife Billy had thrown. Zan roared as his fingers gripped the tree branch and he swung himself onto the limb.

Zan had enough. He knew he wasn't paying attention like he should have been. His mind was still seething over the fact that Sean was after Liz. His rage and animal instinct to protect his mate was overpowering him, rendering him ineffective at fighting his best. Gritting his teeth, he pushed all thoughts of Liz out of his mind and took a few deep breaths to clear his mind and prepare himself for battle.

Sean was yelling orders, "Jesse, my gun! Billy, Derek find him and shoot him! Don't you dare let him live!"

Zan silently made his way through the trees, climbing high enough so that he would be hidden from sight. He knew he had to be careful, his thigh was still bleeding and that could give away his hiding place. He waited until Derek walked beneath him. Zan jumped down, landing behind Derek as Billy lifted his gun. Using Derek as a shield, Zan held him in front of him as Billy fired his gun. Derek's body jerked as the bullet slammed into his chest. As Zan let go of Derek, he used his powers to yank the gun from Billy's hands before mentally slamming Billy backwards into a tree. The back of Billy's head hit the tree and he slid to the ground unconscious.

Zan took off at a run, directly at Jesse as he came into view. He lifted his claws and raked them down Jesse's chest. Jesse screamed in pain and dropped the gun in his hand. He stumbled back, righted himself and lunged for Zan. Zan lifted his claws once more as Jesse swung his fist. Zan deflected the punch and clawed at Jesse's arm. Once more Jesse stumbled back screaming in rage. He cradled his now useless arm as he glared at Zan.

"What the fuck are you man?" he hissed at Zan.

"You're worst nightmare!" Zan growled. "If you want to live then I suggest you run." He lifted his claws towards Jesse, threw back his head, and howled.

Jesse's eyes went wide as the animalistic howl sent chills down his spine. For a brief moment, he saw the wicked claws, fangs, and glowing red eyes. That was all it took for him to turn and haul his ass out of there. Later, he would think it was just his imagination running wild.

As Jesse fled, Zan whirled around, letting his senses flare out to locate Sean. Tilting his head back, he sniffed the air as he slowly turned. Sean's scent came to him and Zan realized he was fleeing too. With a curse, he took off in the direction of Sean's scent.

Sean jerked the door open and threw himself into the driver's seat. No way was he staying here with no protection at all. He had seen what Zan had done to the others and he knew he was going to be next. He turned the key in the ignition, threw the car into drive, and slammed on the gas pedal. As the car peeled out of the lot, he heard something heavy land on the roof.

Zan had used his supernatural speed to race through the park towards Sean's car. When the car came into view, he'd taken a giant leap and landed squarely on the top of the car. He lengthened his claws even more before slamming them down into the roof.

Sean screamed as claws tore through the roof and embedded themselves in his shoulder.

Zan yanked his arm back before slamming it down again. Before his claw could sink into the roof again, the car swerved throwing Zan off. Zan hit the ground with a roll and came up standing. He stood and glared as the car sped away with his prey in it. As the car disappeared in the distance, Zan threw his head back and let out a fierce howl.

Sean glanced back into the rear view mirror with a smirk as he saw Zan rolling on the ground, then standing and watching the car get away from him. His smile faded as a bloodcurdling howl reached his ears. He glanced back into the mirror, but Zan was nowhere in sight. He pressed the pedal to the floor, his heart thudding in his ears as he raced away to safety.

**********************************************************************************

Liz paced the length of the barn. She was worried, it had been too long since she had left Zan in the park. Once she and Maria had made it to the barn, she had convinced Maria to go on home while she waited for Zan. Maria had been oblivious to the fact that Zan had stayed behind to protect them from the gang.

At the sound of the barn door opening Liz spun around. Her eyes went wide as she watched Zan limping in. There was blood on his thigh and shoulder, as well as his hands.

With a cry of alarm she rushed to his side, "Oh my God! You're hurt!" She wrapped her arms around his waist to help him to a seat.

"It's not that bad, Liz." Zan replied with a grimace as Liz helped him to sit on a stack of hay.

"Not that bad! You're bleeding!" She went down to her knees to examine the wound on his thigh.

Zan reached out to stop her, "Liz, don't."

Liz flinched as his hand came near her. She grabbed his wrist and stared at the blood covering his hand before looking up at him. "What happened to you?"

He sighed, "This isn't mine. I used my claws on them."

Her eyes widened, "So they know what you are."

He nodded, "It couldn't be helped. They were after the two of you and I couldn't let that happen."

"Here, let me bandage these wounds." She stood up and walked to a small closet near the front of the barn.

Zan watched as she rummaged around for a few moments before producing a first aid kit. She made her way back to his side and knelt down once more. She frowned as she looked at the knife wound in the side of his thigh. It looked deep.

"I think this is going to need stitches," she told him.

"Just clean it up and wrap it. It'll be fine."

"Zan, it's too deep."

He reached down with his fingers and tore the pants open to give her access. "The wrap will do for now."

Liz sighed but got to work cleaning the blood from the wound. Once she was certain she'd cleaned it enough, she began to wrap it tightly. Zan held the sides of the wound closed as she began to wrap it so that it wouldn't bleed as much.

When Liz was done with his thigh, she sat next to him to begin working on his shoulder, "You should get stitches as soon as possible."

She leaned in to get a good look at his shoulder. It wasn't a deep wound like the one in his thigh. "This isn't a knife wound, what happened here?"

"They had guns."

Liz straightened, "What! You fought them when they had guns! You could have been killed!"

Zan gave Liz a tender smile, "I have my own weapons, li'ho."

"Yeah, but they had guns! You don't need to be at close range to use a gun!" she shrieked.

Zan leaned his forehead against Liz's, "I'm still alive, dimo agalo," he whispered.

Liz's lips trembled as she fought back tears, "I can't lose you," she whispered, "I'd die if I lost you."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Lowering his head, he took her lips in a tender kiss. Liz wrapped her arms around Zan's neck, careful to stay away from his shoulder. She took comfort in his kiss, letting the feel and taste of him chase away her fears. He was still alive, she let his warmth sink into her.

Opening her mind to his, she spoke, I love you, Zan.

I love you too, dimo ulhi'maos.

Liz let him slowly pull away from her and she gave him a grateful smile as she squeezed his hand. He lifted his free hand to brush away a stray piece of hair from her face as she shifted to work on his shoulder.

It didn't take as long to work on that wound since all the bullet had done was graze the top of his shoulder. Still, Liz knew just how close to his neck that bullet had been and even though it was just a flesh wound, there had still been a lot of blood.

Zan waited until Liz had cleared away all of the supplies and had cleaned up the blood from the both of them with a wet towel from the basin near the front closet. Once she was sitting next to him again he took her hand in his, waiting until she looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to frighten you like that."

Liz nodded, "I know." She sighed, "I know better. I mean, you're a prince and you told me about how you've been training since you were young. I know you are trained to fight, but there's always that danger."

He squeezed her hand, "I promise you that I won't just throw myself out there. I may have been trained to fight, but you know as a prince, a king, I won't always be in the middle of the fighting."

She nodded. Zan had told her how the politics of his world worked. While the leaders did fight, they tended to spend more time behind the lines strategizing and giving orders, only going out to fight when things got bad.

Liz gave Zan a shy smile, "I know. But can you blame me for acting like the weeping girlfriend every time I will know you are out there risking your life for someone else? I know you are what you are. I'm not saying I want to change that, I'm just saying you are going to have to let me be the weeping girlfriend."

He chuckled, "Okay."

She laughed as she leaned in and gave him a long, leisurely kiss.

As Liz sat back again and trailed her fingers over his bruised knuckles, Zan studied her. He knew how she felt about him. Over the last few weeks, Liz had allowed herself to open up more. She didn't hide her feelings anymore. He loved the way she was always smiling when he was around. He noticed the way her eyes sparkled when she looked at him and how natural it was for her to use mind speech and his language when they were alone. Most of all, he loved the way she was passionate when showing him how much she loved him. He knew she acknowledged the fact that they were soulmates and that they loved each other deeply. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew the time had come to seal their fates.

"Liz?" He asked.

Liz looked up and smiled, "Hm?"

"There's something I have to ask you. But before I do, I need to tell you about something."

She nodded, "What is it?"

Zan swallowed, "You know that someday I'll be King." At her brief nod he continued, "In my world, the tradition is that when a crowned prince reaches the age of twenty, he will be crowned King."

Liz stared at him as that sunk in. She knew Zan was nineteen, he had already told her that.

When Zan was certain she understood that part, he went on, "And on the day he becomes King, he must also marry the chosen Queen."

She didn't say a word. He was going to have to marry on his twentieth birthday. She closed her eyes and whispered, "When?"

"About a month from now."

Liz felt her heart stop. Her throat tightened and tears pricked her eyes. She tried to keep the trembling from her voice, "So, you'll be getting married in a month."

"Yes."

She nodded as her lips began to tremble. He was going to leave. He had told her he loved her and he'd always be there for her, but how could he? She knew he'd be too busy with a new wife and a kingdom to rule.

Zan stared at Liz as she sat unmoving with her eyes still closed. He could see her lips tremble slightly, but there was no other sign from her. Squeezing her hand in his he spoke, "Leijha'mi, look at me."

Liz opened her eyes and Zan noticed the unshed tears. He frowned, "What's wrong, dimo agalo?"

Liz shook her head, "How can you still tell me you love me and call me all those things when you will be getting married in a month?"

"Because they're all true."

As the tears began to slide down her cheeks, Liz cried, "You can't love me when you marry another! I don't think your future Queen will stand for that!"

Zan stared at her for a moment as he realized she thought he was going to leave her for someone else. "What? No! Liz, I told you I'd never leave you! Didn't I promise that I'd always be there. I love you! You are my soulmate."

"You're going to be married in a month, Zan!"

"Yes! To my chosen Queen!" Zan paused for a moment before lifting her chin with his hand and speaking in a softer voice, "It's you, Liz. Don't you understand? I choose you."

Liz lifted her eyes to his. She saw the truth in the emerald depths. Suddenly she began to realize why it was that he had been so adamant about letting her know how he felt about her. It all began to make sense now. Why he couldn't control his other form when he was with her. Why he insisted they were soulmates. All of the promises he'd made and the declarations of love. It was all because he had known. He had known from the beginning that he wanted to marry her.

As she sat there staring into his eyes and letting all the pieces fit together, she heard his voice in her mind, Say something, dimo agalo.

She blinked and slowly smiled as she realized how happy this news made her. He loved her, he wanted to marry her. He wasn't going to leave her and she knew she didn't want him to.

"Yes," she whispered.

"What?" asked Zan.

She smiled, "Yes, I'll marry you, I'll be your chosen Queen."

Zan's eyes went wide as his breath hitched, then the brightest smile Liz had ever seen spread over his face. "Really?" he asked.

She laughed through her tears, "Yes!" She kissed his lips and breathed the words, "idi agalo esu, Zan. Forever."

"Vergita," he agreed.

TBC....

Hi all, well before I start with the SOs, I just wanted to say that I'm glad everyone liked the proposal.

VeronicB- You know it chica!
Behrsgurl- Sean will continue to be trouble...
kittens- hmmmmm
RhondaAnn- Should I warn you? It may get scary at times, espcially when they are in Zan's world. Yes, he's been teaching Liz over the past few weeks, both out loud and through their mind speech. Yes, it is Rath's excuse and because he wants to ENJOY his rare time with Maria. You'll see...
L-J-L- More answers in here...
flyawayraven- You really, really like this huh? Sorry, I just post this once a week, unless I have more than one part ready, then I'll post more BTW, who did your siggie? I am doing another story and I want Max's eyes to look like the one's in your siggie for the banner to my story...
tequathisy- Yes to everything and there will definitely be Rath and 'Ria time soon.
roswell- Hey, she's Maria, what do you think she'll do? And only Rath knows about Liz at this point.
Erina- Well, I'm biased. I write Zan the way I'd want my 'hero' to be.
candycane- Liz will learn the hard way. Love usually conquers all. Hmmm.....
sweetckandie- thanks
imnotlc- thanks

Okay, on with the show...


Part 13

Zan walked towards the castle with a huge smile on his face. He was still picturing Liz's face as she told him she loved him and wanted to marry him. She was going to be his wife! He was still amazed that she had accepted him. Now, all they had to do was make the preparations and let all their loved ones know before the wedding took place in about a month. He sighed as he remembered the last thing he and Liz had talked about before she had kissed him goodbye and watched him enter the portal.

"I don't think I should go back with you immediately, Zan. We still have to tell everyone that we are getting married. And there's Maria. How can I tell her that I'm going to marry you when she still doesn't even know what you really are?" asked Liz.
Zan nodded, "You're right. I know," he sighed, "I'll talk to Rath when I get home. I'll tell him that she needs to know as soon as possible since you and I are going to be married in a month."
"Tell him not to wait too long, I want to go with you a couple of weeks before the wedding." She looked into his eyes and he saw the hesitation there, "I think I need to get used to your world before I commit to it completely."
Zan had agreed that it would be best for her to go with him in a couple of weeks. Hopefully by that time everyone would know the truth and things would be easier for Liz to adjust to a new life with him.

As Zan rounded the corner of the hallway that led to the many conference rooms, he nearly collided with his best friend.

Rath grinned at him, "Whoa! Man! I thought you'd be eager to get to Liz, not the other way around!" As Zan chuckled, Rath's eyes narrowed upon seeing the state Zan was in. His eyes took in the torn, bloody clothes and the bandages on his thigh and shoulder. Rath had known he'd gone to see the girls home safely as usual. "Shit Zan! Tell me they're okay and you just walked into a wall or something."

Zan flinched as his smile faded, "Do you have some time? I need to talk to you about something."

Rath nodded and led Zan into an empty conference room. Once Rath had shut the door and locked it, he turned to Zan, "What happened, Maxwell?"

He sighed, "The gang came looking for the girls." He began to explain everything that had happened. Rath looked relieved that Maria had not known anything was happening and that Liz had been able to get her to safety before Zan confronted the gang. However, he'd tensed up as soon as Zan had told him that they were specifically after Maria to use as a bargaining chip against her parents.

Rath growled low in his throat, "Tell me you made them pay!"

Zan shook his head, "I killed one and roughed up the others, but the leader got away."

Rath began to pace the length of the room, his hands curling into fists. "They'll be back then. If it's Maria they are after, they'll be back." He turned to look at Zan. "What are we going to do now?"

He shrugged, "Liz knows about them. I think she will make sure that Maria won't do anything to put themselves in danger. They only leave the house to go to school anyway, and one of us is always there to see them home safely." He paused to look in Rath's eyes, "But Liz will only be able to watch out for Maria for a couple of more weeks. After that, Maria may be on her own."

Rath scrunched his face, "A couple of weeks? Where is she going?"

"She's coming here." Zan watched as those words sank in.

With a sharp intake of breath, Rath turned widened eyes onto his friend, "You asked her!"

Zan gave a brief nod, then broke into a huge smile, "And she said yes."

Rath laughed and drew Zan into a brotherly hug, "Congratulations, bro! I knew she was the one!"

As he pulled away with a thanks, his smile faded, "Ra'thlan, you have to tell Maria the truth." At Rath's look, Zan continued, "Liz doesn't want to leave her until she knows everything. She also wants Maria to know the truth before she tells her that she is going to marry me."

Rath nodded, "You're right." He sighed, "I've been wanting to tell her for a while now, but I just didn't want to ruin the time I have with her."

Zan gave Rath a sympathetic smile. He knew that Rath had always wanted to tell Maria the truth. He was fairly certain that if Rath's father hadn't gotten killed and Rath was still able to be the carefree young man he'd once been, that Maria would have already known. Instead, things had changed and Rath had turned to Maria as a source of comfort in his time of need. Maria had become the only thing that helped Rath to feel carefree and young again. And it was something Rath was desperately holding on to now. He couldn't blame his best friend for wanting to put off something that could potentially destroy what was left of his youth and happiness.

"Okay, I'll clear my schedule for tomorrow. We'll go get the girls tomorrow after school and I'll talk to Maria then." As Zan agreed, Rath arched an eyebrow at him, "So? Should I clear my schedule for the rest of the day too?"

Zan gave Rath a puzzled look, "What for?"

"I figure you may need the services of your Chief Advisor as you break the news of your engagement to everyone else." He grinned at Zan, "We could break the news to Kyle first. That way you can use his expertise as the son of the weapons master too."

Zan rolled his eyes, "I don't need bodyguards, thosidi!"

Rath laughed, "An idiot wouldn't be concerned about your welfare would he?"

"You're right." He thought about it for a moment before going on, "Okay, let's go tell Kyle and Charles. It's probably safe to assume Vilondra will be with him, so I can tell her at the same time I tell him. I'll save my parents for last."

Rath clapped him on his good shoulder, "Good plan, but before you do any of that, let's get you patched up and cleaned."

**********************************************************************************

Lonnie glared at her older brother as he sat in the chair, wincing at the way she'd just shrieked at him.

Rath had taken Zan to the infirmary where the surgeon on duty had cleaned and disinfected his wounds before giving his thigh stitches and wrapping both wounds up in fresh bandages. The surgeon had been impressed with the way Zan's thigh hadn't bled much despite it being a serious wound. It had made feel pride in Liz's nurturing skills. After the visit to the infirmary, Zan had returned to his room to clean up and change clothes before he and Rath had made their way to Kyle's place.

Kyle had taken the news well. In fact, the only thing Kyle had been interested in was if Liz was easy on the eyes and if she 'pleased' Zan in the way a wife should. Zan had rolled his eyes, then looking Kyle straight in his eyes had made sure he understood that no one except the King was going to touch the Queen in that way. Rath had stood behind him snickering as Kyle threw his hands in the air in an appeasing gesture, "Okay, Your Highness! Message received. I have no intention of committing treason!" And that had been the end of that.

Their next stop had been at Charles' place, which Vilondra was also at, just like Zan predicted. Kyle had accompanied them saying that he agreed with Rath in that Zan would come to need their 'protection'. They were all in Charles living room where he and Vilondra were currently playing with the puppy Charles had finally chosen from Sleeta's litter. Zan figured since she was in a good mood, that the time was right to tell her that he was now engaged. Her answer had been to shriek, "You're what?! Just where did you find this mystery woman that you intend to marry and who is she?"

Rath stepped in front of Lonnie, who was now standing with hands on her hips and trying to tower over Zan. "Lonnie, chill. Give him a chance to explain everything before ripping his head off."

Lonnie turned her glare to Rath, "And I suppose you've known about this all along since I know he tells you everything." No one in that room missed the hurt note that creeped into her voice as she said those words.

Zan sighed and reached up to pull his sister into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug. "I'm sorry, Izzy. But please understand. I needed to be sure she was the one before I told anyone." He pulled away to look into Vilondra's eyes, "She's human Lonnie."

Vilondra's eyes went wide, "Human! Oh my!" And then she graced Zan with a sympathetic look, "Oh Zander, you really are going to need our support aren't you?"

Zan grimaced as Rath rolled his eyes and Kyle tried to hide his laugh behind his hands. Charles was the one who asked, "Are you sure she's the right one?"

Zan nodded, "Yeah. Positive. We've already made the connection, the one that tells me she's my ulhi'maos. Even she felt it." He sighed, "I don't know how that was possible, but she is the one and there's something in her that allows her to bring out my true self."

Kyle grimaced, "Ouch! That's gotta be tough." When all eyes turned to him, he shrugged, "What? I'm just saying, if she's his ulhi'maos and they haven't consummated yet, well his hormones must seriously be out of whack right now."

Vilondra slid to the floor, kneeling in front of Zan, "Have you?" she asked.

Zan shook his head negatively.

It was Charles turn to grimace, "Are you certain that's wise Zander? In the state your hormones are in right now, you could become dangerous."

"I know that," replied Zan as he rubbed his hands over his face, "but Liz has never done this before and I won't give her anything less than she deserves."

Kyle rolled his eyes, "Maxwell, it's you! You could make a dung heap look like a palace for her!"

That sent all of them into laughter and made Zan blush a deep red. "Even so," Zan said, "I want to wait until I have made her my Queen. Liz deserves the best and she deserves all of my respect." His eyes roamed over all of his friends faces, "She deserves yours too."

They had all agreed to treat Liz with respect and to welcome her with open arms. Zan had remained there for a while longer answering all of their questions about Liz, anything from how he'd met her to how they had managed to figure out that they were soul mates. Rath had also answered questions since it had been his idea to meet the girls in the first place. By the end of the conversation, they had all learned about Maria too and that Rath planned on telling her the real truth the following day. That meant that she would be made aware of their world just as Liz already was.

After the conversation, Zan had excused himself to go home and break the news to his parents. Every one of his friends wanted to go with him to give him support, but in the end he decided it was best to tell his parents alone. Vilondra begged and pleaded to go with him because she didn't want Zan to be hurt by anything they would say, while Rath wanted to go just to back him up. Charles wisely stayed out of it, but Kyle wanted to go because he was sure there were going to be fireworks. Zan had left as Vilondra proceeded to rip Kyle a new one for being an insensitive jerk while Charles tried to hold her back and Rath just stood in the background laughing.

************************************************************************************

Diana stood in her solarium looking down at the quilt she'd had made for one of her handmaidens who was getting married in a few days. As she traced the finely woven material with her fingers, she knew her son was standing in the doorway watching her. She smiled to herself, Zan obviously had something to tell her, but was hesitant to do so. Slowly she straightened and turned around as if to walk towards the door. She stopped when she saw her son, "Oh! Zander, I didn't hear you knock! Come on in son."

Zan swallowed the lump in his throat before making his way to his mother's side. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on her cheek in greeting. "Hello mother."

Diana patted his arm in affection, "Hello, son. You're home early. Thought maybe you would be spending time with Rath a bit before dinner."

Zan shrugged, "I saw him earlier. He's with Kyle right now. Um, I actually wanted to talk to you and father before dinner."

She raised questioning eyes, "Oh? What about? Nothing's wrong I hope."

He shook his head, "No, it's nothing bad."

Diana continued to study her son's manner. He seemed nervous, more than she'd ever known him to be before. Sighing she motioned for him to take a seat on the couch nearby. As she waited for him to get comfortable she said, "Your father's in meetings that he thinks will run very long this evening. He already sent me a message not to wait for dinner or to wait up for him."

Zan closed his eyes. That was just great. That meant that most likely his father wouldn't be in a good mood any time soon, so it wasn't a good idea to spring this news on him just yet.

His mother frowned before reaching out to lay her hand against his arm, "What is it, son?"

Zan sighed and looked into his mother's eyes. "I have some good news."

She chuckled, "Well, it certainly doesn't sound good." She paused as she saw the helpless look her son wore on his face. She took his hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Just tell me, Zan. I promise I will just hear you out before I say anything, okay?"

He nodded, "Okay." Zan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, gathering up his courage. Opening his eyes again, he looked at his mother and said, "I found my future Queen."

Diana graced him with a beautiful smile, "That's wonderful, Zan."

"She's human," he blurted out.

His proclamation was met with silence. Diana stared at him for the longest time. And just when he thought he'd finally lost all of his nerve, she spoke quietly, "How is it that you met this human female?"

Zan sighed, "I met her that night you caught Rath and I sneaking in. We'd been in the Overearth. Rath knew about these two girls and we went to see them that day. We saved them from this gang that was trying to scare them and ever since then I've been going to see her every day that I can."

Diana nodded, "You went even though you knew it was forbidden to go there."

"We knew, but we also knew that others go there too and they don't get caught."

She shook her head, "Oh Zan. You are the prince. You should know you are an example to our people." She stopped as she saw the wince on her son's features. Sighing, she squeezed his hand again, "Tell me about her."

Zan smiled, "Her name is Elizabeth Nancy Parker, but she goes by Liz. She's got long, chocolate hair and these deep brown eyes that seem to lighten or darken with her surroundings. She's so strong and beautiful. She's been through so much, but she's survived it all."

Diana couldn't help but notice the look on her son's face as he began to talk about Liz. As he went on, telling her about the tragedy of her family and what she had to survive through lately with the gang, she realized that her son was in love with her. Her eyes widened as she realized that it was more than that.

"Oh my!" Zan stopped talking at her exclamation. "Is she your..."

Zan nodded, "Yes, she's my ulhi'maos," he said, confirming her suspicions.

Diana closed her eyes. It was one thing for a wahani to be in love with a human. It was something completely different to find out that human was the ulhi'maos of that same wahani. She knew there would be no way for anyone to contest this marriage, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try. She looked at her son, as his eyes begged her to understand. She gave his hand another squeeze, "So, when will I be able to meet my future daughter-in-law?"

Zan stared at her, "You want to meet her?"

She laughed, "Of course I want to meet her. I mean, we do have to get to know her, right? And there's the wedding to plan and also..." she paused, "Wait, does she know about you?"

Zan nodded, "She knows everything. I didn't keep any secrets from her and she accepted it all." He smiled, "She handled the truth better than I could have hoped and she wants to marry me."

Diana nodded, "Well, that's wonderful then. So, when will she be here?"

"In a couple of weeks. She wants to be sure Maria knows the truth and to make sure Maria will be okay without her."

"Okay, then that should give me time to work on your father."

Zan grimaced, "Yeah, he's not going to like this is he?"

Diana sighed, "I'm not really sure how he's going to take it. I'm hoping he'll just be upset about you going to Overearth and nothing more. Hopefully he'll understand that she's your ulhi'maos and that means even he can't forbid something like this."

Zan nodded. It was the only thing that seemed to be highly in his favor. No one would mess with any couple who were soulmates, it was taboo to come between something like that. It was a common superstition that bad fortune would descend upon anyone who dared to mess with a bonded couple. He just hoped his father believed in that just as strongly as almost everyone else in his world did.

Diana leaned in to give her son a hug, "I'm so happy for you Zander. I knew you would find someone and I'm glad she's the only one for you." She sat back again and grinned, "So, since we still have a couple of hours before dinner, you have to tell me everything about my future daughter-in-law."

And for the next couple of hours, Zan did just that while a huge smile spread across his face.

TBC...

I know, I know...it's been a week. I'm sorry. But this was a tough part to write! As it is, I'm still not really happy with the last part, but I just couldn't come up with a better way to explain how Maria finds out the truth. Oh well, hopefully it's not THAT bad.

roswell- Maria: To freak or not to freak, that is the question.
Rhonda- Well, the world IS a complicated place...
L-J-L- Some Rath and Ria questions answered here.
Vero- Well, I DID mention that Zan is a lot like his mother. LOL.
candycane- Hmm, I dunno, Maybe Maria will 'sic' her parents on Rath.
imnotlc- Those meetings are suspicious aren't they? Some Rath and Ria interaction here.
tequa- True, it does suit Zan's purposes, but remember that Zan will do anything for Liz.
nibbles- the underworld comes with Liz's induction.
Izzy- LMAO! He could.....or...it could be someone you'd never expect.
paper- Well, I am a Dreamer , but I did intend for this story to have lots of angst and HUGE road bumps.
spray- Wow! Yes, anarchy VS feudalism was what I was going for!
Trust me, everything will be resolved by the end of the story and yes, some will be good and some will be bad.
Thank you! I never really thought I was any good at writing action, so I've always been a little hesitant to write it. And there's going to be a lot more in later chapters, so I still have a lot more hair pulling and nail biting to do...


NOTE: Just wanted to add some points to spray's comments...As you all know from the beginning, I am a fan of Duran Duran. Was a 'teenage groupie' in the 80's. LOL. Anyway, they made a 'movie' called Arena based on their 'Seven and the Ragged Tiger' album and the tour called Arena . If you ever have a chance to pick up that ANCIENT movie, lol, you'll see that I got a lot of inspiration for the brutality of some scenes from the movie. This group has always had some SERIOUS artistic imagery in all of their work. They always managed to work with some 'out there' directors. Yeah, I'm still a fan, even though my 'music' taste is alternative rock these days...

Anyway, I digress. On with the story...


Part 14

"You know Liz, we only have two more months of school and then total freedom! Can you believe that? I want to get as far away from this town as I possibly can! How about you?" asked Maria. When there was no response from Liz, she frowned and looked up from her position against the gym wall.

Liz was standing on her tip toes looking out of the window of the gym doors. This time she had convinced Maria to wait inside the gym, claiming that it was too hot to wait outside for the boys to come. As they waited, Liz kept looking out of the window to make sure there was no sign of the gang.

"Liz! I swear you seem to be somewhere else lately!" Maria huffed.

Liz turned to look down at her, "Oh! Sorry Maria, I was just trying to keep a look out." she sat down next to her friend, "You were saying?"

Maria rolled her eyes, "Never mind, it's obviously not important."

"Of course it's important." she wrapped her arm around Maria's shoulder, "Come on 'Ria, speak to me!" she said in a mock pleading voice.

Maria laughed, "I was just saying that when the two months of school we have left are over, I want to get out of this town. What about you?"

Liz nodded as she looked down at the floor, "I want to leave too."

"Really? So where do you think we should go? Up north? Or east? Or how about across the ocean?" Maria asked, with excitement in her voice.

Liz gave a hesitant chuckle, "Well, I was sort of thinking I'd go south."

Maria made a face, "South? What the heck is so interesting about the south? There's nothing there but roadkill and dirt!"

Liz shrugged, "Actually, there's just this one place that I've heard about and..." she stopped as she felt the brush in her mind. With a smile she leaped to her feet as Maria asked, "Where did you hear about this?"

Liz didn't answer, she was already looking out of the window again, her smile now beaming. As she pushed open the doors she said, "Maria, I think you have a visitor."

That remark made Maria completely forget about the conversation as she too was on her feet and rushing out of the doors into Rath's arms. Rath laughed at the way she threw herself at him, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as he lifted her up and swung her around. When he set her down, he leaned in and captured her lips in his.

Maria returned his kiss just as passionately as he kissed her. She had missed him and she was glad that he seemed to have missed her just as much. As they finally pulled away, Rath gave a sigh and smiled at her, "Man, I missed you!"

Maria giggled, "I missed you too, Rath." She hugged him again, "So, are you going to stay for a while? Or do you have to leave right away again?"

As Rath took her hand and led her away from the school, following behind Zan and Liz, he said, "I'm staying for a while, I figured we need to talk."

She nodded as she fell into step besides him.

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Zan and Liz walked quietly in front of the other two as Maria continued to chatter about everything that came to mind. Outwardly it seemed as if they were listening to Maria's chatter. Inwardly, they were talking mind to mind.

Well, I guess this means Rath is here to talk to her, huh? asked Liz.

Yes. Zan glanced out of the corner of his eye at Liz before he went on, I've told everyone except my father about you. Everyone is eager to meet you.

Liz's eyes widened, They are? How did they really take the news?

He chuckled, Well, Rath knew it was gonna happen, Kyle wanted to know if we'd consummated yet, Charles just congratulated me, Vilondra wants me to be happy, and my mother is eager to start planning the wedding.

Really?

At Zan's nod, Liz shook her head, Your friends are funny.

Zan arched an eyebrow, Oh really? And what exactly does that make Maria?

Liz did her best not to burst out laughing or Maria would think she'd lost her mind. Instead, she leaned into Zan's side and buried her face in his chest to muffle her laughter.

As they entered the barn, Rath gave Zan a nod and led Maria up to the loft. Once more Zan felt the invisible barrier go up as he and Liz made themselves comfortable on the hay stacks.

Zan waited until Liz was comfortable before taking her hand in his. He leaned in and cupped her face with his free hand, bringing her lips to his. He kissed her slowly, savoring the taste of her as he slid his tongue over her lips. She parted them, giving him access to her mouth and he greedily took her offering. He slid his hand into her hair, holding her close as he continued to ravish her mouth.

Liz wrapped her free arm around Zan's shoulder as she too tried to pull him closer. When he released her hand, she slid it up his chest, enjoying the way his muscles moved as she touched him. She tilted her head back and allowed him access to her neck.

As he kissed his way down her neck, stopping to suck the skin just above her pulse, Liz curled her fingers in his hair to hold him there. Zan wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her into his lap, leaning her back even more to taste the skin of her throat.

Liz wrapped both arms around his shoulders, sending both hands into his hair. She moaned when she felt his lips travel down the v of her shirt teasing the exposed flesh there. Liz could feel her skin heating up again. She knew they were approaching dangerous heights again, but she couldn't stop him.

Zan felt her begin to rock against his hips and he growled against her collarbone as he felt her widen her thighs, allowing her to rub her heat against him. Tightening his hold on her hips, he helped her grind against him.

Liz lowered her cheek to the top of his head, trying to find a way to cool herself down. "Dimo agalo, idi kine' esu!"

Zan moaned at her words. He needed her too. His entire being was roaring at him to claim her, devour her. It was his right to make her his. He slid his hands underneath her shirt and slid it up, exposing her skin.

As he twisted slightly, he began lowering her to the hay stack as he continued to lift her shirt off of her. With a long, low animalistic growl he began to lower himself over her.

Sense returned to Liz the moment she heard that growl. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up to see Zan's completely white eyes even as she felt his claws scrapping her skin as he lifted her shirt up. Without hesitation, she gently lifted her hands to cup his face as she looked deep into his eyes.

Zan, esi mupei vosto isti! she whispered into his mind.

He answered with another softer growl as he continued to try to lift her shirt.

Liz applied more pressure to her grip on his face, Zan, she spoke more firmly now, Vosto isti! Stop this! This isn't the time or place!

Liz's words in English managed to finally penetrate the haze of his mind. Immediately he stilled and stared at her, eyes widening and returning to their normal emerald green. "Liz! Oh no, I didn't mean..."

She gave him a gentle smile as he lifted her up, "It's okay, don't apologize. I got carried away too."

Zan sighed as he ran his hands over his face. He turned to look at Liz as she finished straightening her shirt. "I think I'm going to have to start keeping some distance between us." At the look Liz gave him, he continued, "All I was trying to do was give you a simple kiss. A kiss Liz. That was all and see what happened? It's getting to the point where I can't touch you without losing control."

Liz frowned, "Is that a bad thing?"

Zan closed his eyes. "Yes. No. I mean, I want things to be perfect for you when we finally make love." He turned to look into her eyes. "I wanted to wait until our wedding night to claim you."

Liz nodded in understanding, "But we don't have to wait until then, right? That's why it's so hard to control, because your true self is ready to mate and you are trying to keep that from happening."

He gritted his teeth, "You're right and we don't have to wait. But I want to wait. I want this to be perfect for us, Liz."

She stared at him for a few moments before she finally nodded as she let out a small sigh. "Okay. We'll wait."

He leaned his head back against the wall for a moment to collect himself before he slid his hand into his pocket. Lifting his head up, he turned to Liz, "There's something I have to give you."

Liz glanced up at him as he held his hand out to her. Her eyes lowered to his hand and she let out a little gasp as she saw the ring he held. It looked like several thin gold bands entwined into a circle. Where the bands came together was an opalescent stone that sparkled with all of the colors she knew Zan's eyes could turn.

"It's beautiful, Zan."

He smiled, "It was my mother's. Now it goes to you."

Liz shook her head, "Oh Zan, I couldn't possibly..."

Zan took her hand in his, "Liz, you are going to be my Queen, this ring is a symbol of that. An engagement ring as you would say."

As she looked into his eyes, she knew what he was saying. The ring was obviously handed down from one queen to the next, and she would be the next in line. She smiled as she extended her fingers, allowing him to slide it onto her ring finger.

Zan lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the ring, "idi agalo esu, Elizabeth."

She blushed as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tight, "idi agalo esu, Zander."

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Rath grinned as Maria continued to babble on about Liz and Zan. It wasn't until she began to tell him about school being over and her plans to leave town in two months that his smile began to fade. He knew it was now or never to let Maria know the truth.

He waited until she finally took a breath and gently squeezed the hand he held to get her attention. "Maria, I need to talk to you about something."

Immediately Maria went quiet. She looked up into Rath's eyes and knew whatever he had to say was serious. Her first thought was about his family. "What is it? Is your father worse? Is someone else sick now?"

"No Maria, stop." Rath sighed, "Listen, I need you to just sit and hear me out, okay? Just wait until I finish telling you everything before you ask questions, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay." She took both of Rath's hands in hers and gave him a smile, "Go ahead."

Rath closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before he looked at Maria again and charged right in, "I haven't been totally honest with you. See, I haven't been taking care of my father. He died a few weeks ago and I've had to take over his job as the Chief Advisor of my world, that's the family I've been taking care of. My world is actually another dimension that can be accessed from the portal in this barn. My world isn't that much different than yours, except for our government. And our people have special powers and we have our own language too. We are called wahani and we can shape shift into a stronger form. One day Zan will be the King of our world and I am the Chief Advisor, or second in command."

When he paused he looked at Maria and saw that she was just staring at him with a raised eyebrow. He sighed, "You don't believe me, do you?"

Maria rolled her eyes, "Did you smoke anything before you came here today? Or maybe you ate something bad and it's making you hallucinate?"

Rath shook his head, "No." He looked into her eyes, "Maria, I'm telling you the truth."

"Yeah, oooookay."

Rath stood up and began to pace, "You have to believe me, 'Ria. My father was the Chief Advisor and in our world, the first born always follows in the parents footsteps. So since I'm the only child, it was my duty to take over when my father died." He looked up at her as he continued, "I have been training for this since I was born, as all first born children train for whatever they will be one day."

"So, you are telling me that you are like the Vice President of your world now?"

Rath nodded, "Yes, something like that."

She nodded, "Right, and Zan is going to be the President some day?"

"In our world, the first born becomes the ruler on their twentieth birthday, which means he'll become King in about a month from now."

Maria raised an eyebrow, "In a month?"

"Yes."

Maria stared at him for a few moments, as if waiting for him to say something else. Finally she sighed and said, "Look, maybe you should head on home and get some rest? You have obviously been working too hard and..."

"Maria! I'm telling you the truth!" Rath stated, interrupting her.

"Rath, there is no such thing as another dimension."

"There is. The portal is here."

She laughed, "In this barn, right."

"I'm not kidding! I can show you."

Rolling her eyes again, Maria got up from her seat, "Never mind, look I'm just gonna go..."

Rath reached for her wrist, "'Ria, wait." He sighed, "Look, sit down and I'll show you what I can do."

"Rath..."

"Ria, please? Just humor me, okay?"

"Fine. Okay." Maria walked back to her seat and sat down. Folding her arms across her chest, she gave Rath a bored look, "Go ahead."

Rath began to chant the words in his mind as he tilted his head slightly.

Maria stared at Rath, wondering what he was up to. She was just about to tell him to get the sleep he'd been lacking when suddenly she noticed something about his eyes. As she squinted, trying to get a better view, she realized his eyes were now completely black. There was no pupil, no iris, nothing. When she scrambled to her feet, Rath turned to look at her.

Rath held up a clawed hand and said, "See? I am wahani."

Maria screamed. All she saw was the black eyes, claws, and fangs of some nightmare monster reaching out for her.

Rath frowned, "Maria, it's okay. It's me, Rath."

When the monster took a step towards her, Maria screamed again and ran for the stairs.

Rath tried to follow, hoping she would listen to his voice, "Maria! It's me! I'm still Rath! I'm not going to hurt you! Maria, wait!"

As Maria began scrambling down the stairs, Rath waved his hand, immediately dispelling the invisible barrier before Maria could smack into it.

Maria climbed down the stairs still screaming, "Help me somebody! There's a monster up here trying to eat me! Help me please!"

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Zan and Liz had been talking about their future plans when they heard Maria screaming for help. They came to their feet just as she came scrambling around the corner and launched herself into Liz's arms.

"We have to get out of here! There's a monster up there and..."

Liz exchanged glances with Zan as Maria continued her hysterics. I'll try to calm her down. Can you keep Rath away for a few moments? She asked.

Done.

Liz watched Zan disappear up the stairs before gripping the sides of Maria's face, "Maria! Listen to me, okay? There's no monster up there."

Maria whimpered, "Yes there is, I saw it and I think it ate Rath..."

Liz sighed, "'Ria, please! Calm down. Take a few breaths and sit down, okay?" Liz led Maria to the haystack and sat down next to her. She took Maria's hands in hers and spoke softly, "Okay, now listen to me carefully, okay?"

Maria nodded, "O-o-okay."

"Good. Now, what you saw up there wasn't a monster."

"But Liz!"

Liz squeezed Maria's hands gently, "'Ria, listen. I know it sounds weird, but Rath is not a monster. He's just different. What you saw was his other form. He's not anymore dangerous than you and I are, Maria. He comes from another dimension where they have these powers they can use. You remember watching cartoons, with all the superheroes right? You know how some of them could change shape? Well, that's what Rath and Zan do, okay? They change shape and use their powers to protect themselves and others."

Maria looked up towards the stairs as Zan came back into view. He gave her a gentle smile. "It's okay, Maria. Liz is telling the truth. Rath won't ever hurt you. He cares about you too much to ever hurt you."

Maria swallowed her fear and nodded shakily, "He won't hurt me."

Liz agreed, "That's right, 'Ria. He won't hurt you. Zan has never hurt me."

Maria's eyes went wide as that sunk in. She turned to stare at Zan, "You can look like that too?"

Zan nodded, "Yes. Everyone from our world can change into that, but some of us can make the change easier than others can."

She turned to stare at Liz. "Have you seen what it looks like?"

Liz nodded, "Yes. It's not that bad Maria. It's just a physical change, Zan and Rath are still the same on the inside."

Maria just sat there looking at the stairs, but Liz could see that she was processing all of the information she was getting. Suddenly Maria snapped her head back to look at Liz, "Wait! You knew they weren't human!"

Liz nodded.

"You knew! All this time you knew about their world and their powers and you never said a word!" she shrieked as she came to her feet, fists curled at her sides.

Liz grimaced, "I can explain, Maria."

"Explain! How long have you known this?" she demanded.

"For about a month."

"A month!" yelled Maria, "You kept this from me for a month! I thought I was your best friend!"

Zan stepped up to Liz's side, "Maria, Liz and I thought it would be better if you heard the truth from Rath, the way I told Liz the truth."

Maria glared at him, "Oh you did, did you! So, it was okay for Liz to know, but not me huh?"

Liz sighed, "Maria, no that's not it."

"Then why didn't you tell me!"

"Maria, would you have believed me if I came to you and told you that Zan and Rath came from another dimension and have these special powers? Think about it." As Maria stared at her, Liz continued, "You would have thought I'd gone crazy, especially since I wouldn't have been able to prove it to you."

Maria sighed, "You're right." She closed her eyes, "I even thought Rath was crazy, until he showed me."

Liz nodded, "Exactly. That's why I didn't tell you. And Zan and I thought maybe you'd handle it better if it came from Rath since you already know him. That's why I was never scared of Zan when he changed for me. I already knew him and I knew he would never hurt me. Even though he changed physically, he was still Zan. He was still the man I trust."

Maria nodded. "I get it."

Liz smiled, "I'm sorry Maria. I wanted to tell you so badly. But I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"I know, Liz. It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

Maria drew Liz into a hug, "I forgive you, chica. I understand why you did it." She pulled away and smiled at Zan, "I would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed."

Zan grinned, "So, do you think you could forgive Rath too? 'Cause he wanted to tell you from the moment he first saw you."

Maria laughed, "Oh he did, did he?"

"Oh yeah! I think he would have told you long before I would have told Liz."

She arched an eyebrow, "Then why didn't he tell me?"

Zan sighed, "He didn't get the chance to because he had to take over for his father."

Maria gasped, "Oh my God! That's right! He was telling me that his dad died and it didn't sink in at the time and I just freaked on him and he must really be upset and now he's got all this responsibility and..."

Liz laughed as she grabbed Maria's shoulders, "'Ria, you're babbling again."

"Right, right." She took a deep breath and let it out before looking towards the stairs, "Is he okay?"

Zan answered her, "He's afraid that he scared you away permanently. He's just waiting to find out if you will still talk to him."

Maria swallowed, "Is he still in that other form?"

Zan shook his head as Liz spoke, "Maria, I know you think it's scary, but maybe you should take another look okay. I mean, if you want to continue to be with Rath, you should know that he will sometimes change to that form. He's the Chief Advisor, Maria. And in his world, that means he's like the commander of an army. So, he'll be changing to that form when he has to fight or protect others."

Maria frowned, "Does everyone go around looking like that in their world?"

"No," answered Zan, "We only change to that form when we need it. We still have access to our powers in either form, but they are the strongest in our wahani form."

"I see."

Liz took Maria's hands in hers, "'Ria, think about it for a moment. Did Rath try to hurt you before? In all this time you've known him did he ever give you any indication that he wanted to hurt you? They were the ones who protected us from the gang that day we met them. That's why we didn't see them again until the next day. They made sure the gang didn't follow us. That's why they came every day after that to walk us home, to protect us."

Maria turned to look at the stairs. As she did, she thought about everything they had told her. She knew they were right. Rath had never once tried to hurt her. She had never once been afraid of him, until today. And she knew she had just reacted to what she saw, not what she knew. Deep down inside, she knew Rath would never hurt her. No one who went out of his way to make sure she got home from school safe every day could be a monster. No, she knew now that the real monsters were humans like the Mayor and the Hell's Angels gang.

She sighed, "I really owe him a big apology for going hysterical on him don't I?"

Zan chuckled, "He understands Maria. All he wants is to know you will still talk to him. He doesn't want to lose you, no more than I want to lose Liz."

Maria nodded and walked over to the bottom of the stairs, "Rath?" she called, "Can you come down here?"

She waited until she saw him descend the stairs. He was back in human form again, but even she could see the hesitation and hurt in his eyes. Waiting until he had reached the bottom floor, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for freaking out like that. I know you won't hurt me. I knew better and I still hurt you anyway."

Rath hugged her back. "It's okay Maria, you don't have to apologize."

She pulled away and looked into his eyes, eyes that were the light shade of brown she was so familiar with. She smiled, "I know I don't, but I'm going to anyway. And I'll keep apologizing until I see you smile again."

Rath grinned, "Okay, 'Ria."

She laughed and led him to a haystack, "Okay, then, now that I'm over my hysterics. Why don't you and Zan fill me in on everything." She narrowed her eyes in mock seriousness, "And I mean everything! All the gory details! No more secrets, Rath! If I find out you kept something from me, I will hunt you down like the wild animal you can be and skin you alive! Got it?"

As he took a seat next to Maria, Rath answered with a chuckle, "Yes, ma'am!"

TBC...

Hi all, figured I'd post this a little early...

Rhonda- Hee hee. My walls and my ceiling were covered too! My mom called my room the Duran Duran cube. LOL.
I know, I didn't want Maria to forgive so quickly, that's why I wasn't happy with the part, but I needed to make the story progress, so... Rath and Ria will solve all their problems in his world.
Vero- Zan is trying, but sometimes TBTB won't let him succeed.
roswell- Maria's reaction about Liz's wedding is in the next part.
tequa- 'queen of the underworld' sounds greek to me... Still a couple of bumps in the road between Rath and Ria before their 'closeness' happens.
candycane- Ria is still getting used to Rath again, so it'll be a while. Nope the Hell's Angels and the Mayor have too small minds to grasp that concept. LOL
IzzyEvans- Hmmm....you are right, but then again, you're not.
Grace- thanks.
imnotlc- Thanks and yes Maria is I love her that way!
paper- New land coming soon....

Okay, now on with the show...

Part 15

*Nearly two weeks later*

From her place on her bed where she was studying, Liz glanced sideways at Maria who was happily humming one of her favorite tunes to herself while she put away her clean clothes. It had been almost two weeks since Rath had told Maria the truth. Liz and Zan had helped and Maria had finally come to understand what a wahani was and what they were capable of. They all had showed her the portal to get to their world and Zan and Rath had done their best to describe the world to her. Rath had also told Maria what his job was like and all the responsibilities it entailed. She had asked questions and the boys had answered them as best they could.

Even though Maria had listened to everything and had said she knew Rath and Zan were not any different from the boys she'd known before, she still couldn't bring herself to be alone with Rath. After that day, Rath had made it a point to come every day to walk her home. He didn't always stay, but he was there, just so Maria could get used to him all over again. After the boys had left that first night, Maria and Liz had talked in their room. Maria confessed that she was still afraid of Rath and asked Liz to stay with her when he came because she wasn't ready to be alone with him.

Liz had agreed, knowing that Maria needed to get over her fears. When the boys came the next day, Liz had spoken to Zan by mind speech and let him know what she and Maria had talked about the night before. Zan told her that at least with Rath and Maria in the room, Zan would be able to keep himself in check. Liz knew without a doubt that Zan was grateful for the interference, his true nature was getting harder and harder to control.

So the four of them would walk home from school together and sit on the stacks in the barn to talk if Rath stayed. When the weekend came, Maria and Liz meet Zan and Rath every day for an hour or so in the barn. It was actually a pleasant time they had. Liz was getting to know more about Zan's best friend better and she saw how much Rath really cared for Maria. Then the week had started again and Maria had finally spent a few moments alone with Rath the day before. It was just a few moments, so Liz hadn't thought a lot about it. Today however, as soon as the four of them had arrived at the barn, Maria had disappeared with Rath up the ladder.

It was the first time she and Zan had been alone in almost two weeks and she could tell Zan didn't know what to do with himself. They had sat on the haystacks and Zan had kept his distance. Their conversation had been scarce and Liz had immediately known something was bothering Zan. He didn't say anything, so she thought maybe he really was having a hard time keeping himself in control. Still, when Maria and Rath had emerged from the loft wearing smiles and giggling, Liz had felt a stab of jealousy. Rath had kissed Maria good bye as she watched him enter the portal and Zan had said good bye to Liz. He had kissed her, but it was short and chaste. None of the passion she had grown used to had been there.

Now she sat on her bed attempting to do her homework while Maria flitted around the room like a teenager in love. Liz sighed and closed her book, "So, I guess you aren't afraid of Rath anymore?" she asked.

Maria chuckled, "Um no. Rath is still Rath."

At Maria's sigh, Liz rolled her eyes. "That's what I've been trying to tell you for weeks 'Ria."

Maria finished tucking her clothes into her drawer and went to sit next to Liz. "I know chica. I'm sorry that you and Zan didn't have time to yourselves, I know you missed that, but I just needed to get over my fears. I know they were stupid and unfounded, but I just..."

"It's okay. I understand and I'm not mad. At least I got to know Rath a little more too." She graced Maria with a smile, "And I got to see how he acts around you. You have no idea how much he cares about you. It's in everything he does. His looks, his voice, everything."

Maria laughed, "Yeah, like it's in everything that Zan does when he's around you."

Liz simply nodded.

Maria looked at Liz, "Well, don't worry, from now on, you can have all the time alone with Zan that you want. I don't have a problem staying with Rath, and if I do, I'll just tell him and he'll understand. No worries, chica."

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Zan walked quietly next to Rath, his mind churning with the conversations he'd had over the last week with his family. As he and Rath made their way through the streets towards the manufactory building, he kept replaying the things he and his father had talked about. He had been waiting for the chance to tell his father that he had found his future bride, but his father had always been busy. For the next ten days since he'd told his mother, he had been chasing his father down and asking for a few moments of his time. His father had always had some excuse and was rushing off somewhere else. After a couple of days, Zan had finally asked his mother to talk to him and let him know that Zan had something important to talk to him about. Diana had tried, but Phillip wasn't listening. Still, Zan had finally caught up with Phillip and told him the news.

Zan waited until the entire meeting room had emptied out before closing the door and turning to face his father who was busy shuffling through the papers on the table in front of him. Clearing his throat, Zan waited for his father to acknowledge him.

Phillip looked up from his papers to see his son watching him, "What is it?" he asked.

"There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about for the past couple of weeks, sir."

"Is there? Well, let's hear it."

"I have chosen my bride to be."

Phillip raised an eyebrow, "Oh you have, have you? Well, I suppose that's a good thing then. So, which one is she?"

"You haven't met her yet."

"Well then, I'm assuming your mother has?" He frowned as a thought occurred to him, "It's not one of the ladies that works with your mother is it?"

"No father, it's not."

"Good, it won't do to take one of those for a wife when you have plenty of eligible noble women to chose from."

"Father, she's not a noblewoman."

Phillip's eyes narrowed, "She had better not be a peasant, Zander. You know better!"

"She's not from around here, father."

Phillip stiffened, "Oh hell no! You did not go and find a human! You didn't!"

Zan swallowed as he stared into his father's eyes, "And what if I did?"

Zan hadn't heard his father use that particular string of curses in years. Phillip had been furious and had decreed that there was no way he would allow that marriage to take place. Zan had tried to get his father to understand that Liz was his soul mate, but Phillip had still refused. Then Phillip had given him a list of eligible noble women in the surrounding areas for Zan to choose from. The argument had only gotten worse from there until Diana had interrupted and asked Zan to give her time alone with his father.

Nothing had worked. Over the next few days, Phillip had made it clear that Zan could not marry Liz and he had to choose from one of the women on the list. As the days had passed, Phillip said if Zan didn't choose, he'd make the choice for him. In less than three weeks, Zan would be marrying a woman whom Phillip approved of. No matter what Zan or Diana had told him, Phillip wasn't changing his mind. Zan had yelled at his father, telling him that he couldn't make Zan take anyone other than Liz since she was his ulhi'maos. Phillip didn't believe that was true, but Zan and even Diana said it was. Diana implored him not to mess with something sacred as an ulhi'maos bond, but Phillip still said Zan was lying since it was a human he wanted and humans weren't capable of bonding with wahani.

To make matters worse, he had finally had some time alone with Liz the day before. All this time, Maria hadn't wanted to be alone with Rath yet and Zan had welcomed that interruption. He knew what he was like with Liz so close to him and the fact that his father was trying to deny him the only thing that would keep him sane, was seriously beginning to chip away at Zan's control. Then, yesterday Maria had gone up to the loft with Rath and left him alone with Liz. It had been one of the worst days of his life. He'd spent most of it trying to keep himself in check, fighting the wildness within.

He'd wanted nothing more than to reach out and wrap his arms around Liz, but he knew what would happen if he did. He could hear her talking to him, trying to have a normal conversation. He'd tried to participate, but he had been so busy trying to keep himself from taking her right there and claiming what was his. He couldn't even come out and tell her what his father had been putting him through. Zan knew he had finally reached his limit and wondered if either of them would make it to the wedding day in one piece.

******************************************************************************

"Hey man? You all right? You've been seriously quiet the whole way here." Rath stated.

Zan blinked to clear his mind and looked at Rath, "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I was just thinking about my father."

Rath frowned, "You still haven't told Liz huh?" At Zan's negative reply, Rath added, "What are you going to do?"

Zan sighed, "I'm going to tell her what is going on. And she's still coming with me when she's ready. I will marry her Rath, you know I have no other choice and I don't want any other. Even if my father disowns me, I won't give up Liz. I can't."

"It's getting worse isn't it?"

"Yeah, I can't be alone with her anymore without changing. And it doesn't help that my father is dead set against this."

"Man, sucks to be you."

Zan growled, "I will have her. No one can take that from me, no one." He took a few deep breaths to calm himself until he could feel the wildness receding again. "Sorry. Um, my mother said to bring Liz when she's ready and she'd make sure my father can't stop us from marrying. She thinks my father will understand better if he sees Liz and I together."

Rath nodded, "Yeah, I think that may be just the thing your father needs to change his mind."

Zan nodded and stiffened as he felt the wildness rising again as soon as he caught a whiff of Liz's scent. Turning his head, he watched as both she and Maria walked towards the two of them. Well, Liz was walking, Maria was running and launching herself into Rath's arms as if there had never been a time when she'd been afraid of Rath.

Liz studied Zan as she made her way towards him. He stood there watching her, but the tenseness of his jaw told her something was wrong. When she made it to his side, she gave him a smile and fell into step besides him as they followed Rath and Maria out of the school grounds and towards the barn.

********************************************************************************

Liz sat quietly watching Zan who was leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed. She frowned, "Zan?"

At her soft whisper, he flinched but said nothing.

"Zan, please, tell me what's wrong."

He swallowed and felt the tremor move through his body. Gritting his teeth, he tried to get himself under control. She was too close. He could smell her, hear her heartbeat. And her voice sent tremors through him as the beast tried to respond to her call.

Liz didn't know what to do and she wondered if he could even hear her anymore. She reached out and touched his arm. His eyes flew open and with a hiss he jumped to his feet. Liz looked up into red eyes and gasped.

As she heard the low growl, she spoke to his mind, Zan? What is wrong? Talk to me.

You know better than to touch me when I'm in this state, came the husky reply.

I didn't think you'd heard me. Tell me what's wrong.

He closed his eyes before replying, My father doesn't approve of us.

Oh. Liz looked at him for a moment before looking down at the floor. Well, she'd known that life wasn't perfect, so she should have known that eventually someone wouldn't approve of them.

Zan opened his eyes and looked at Liz. He saw the sad look on her face and knew she had already resigned herself to her fate. He growled, "That doesn't mean that I'm gonna marry someone else that my father shoves at me."

Liz sighed, "He's the king, Zan. You have to do what he says."

He shook his head, "No! I will not. You will be my Queen! You will. There can't be any other, Liz." He sighed, "Mother said to take you with me when you're ready, hopefully when father sees us together, he'll understand that there's nothing he can do about separating us and he'll allow me to marry you."

When Liz didn't respond, Zan sat next to her and took her hand in his, "Tell me you'll come with me, Liz. Tell me I won't lose my mind."

She looked up at him and saw the way his eyes were white. She lifted her free hand to brush it across his brow, "What happens to you if we don't bond?"

Zan stiffened, "We are bonded, Liz."

She nodded, "I meant, what happens if we don't get married, if we don't consummate? What happens to you?"

His eyes flashed to red, "You already said yes. We can't go back."

Liz sighed, "Zan, just answer the question."

He stared at her, then looked away. "If you think it's bad now, the way I'm having trouble controlling myself around you. Imagine what it will be like if I don't have you at all." He turned to look at her again, his eyes a dull red, "I would lose my soul, Liz. I'd turn into the nightmare Maria first thought we were."

Liz frowned, "I think you are stronger than that, you've managed to control it so far."

He growled, "Because I know you are mine. I know that in the end you and I will be together. But if I lose you, then I'm lost too."

"Lost how?"

"I become the beast within."

Liz blinked, "Are you saying you will turn into..."

"My other self, yes." He finished, then added, "But what's different is that there won't be the human side anymore. I'll be completely an animal, ruled by those instincts alone. No human thoughts, no human feelings. I'll be nothing more than a beast, the human in me will cease to exist."

Liz stared at him as she let that sink in. One look at his ever changing eye color and she knew he wasn't kidding. The words, You are my sanity, Liz, my human soul, whispered in her mind. She understood what he meant as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"I'll talk to Maria tonight. I'll let her know that I will be leaving with you at the end of the week."

Zan let out the breath he'd been holding and nodded, placing his forehead against Liz's he closed his eyes, "Idi agalo esu, Elizabeth."

"I love you too, Zan, vergita."

He smiled, "Vergita."

**********************************************************************************

Liz waited until Maria was relaxing in her bed, staring up at the ceiling with a smile on her face that night. Sitting up in her own bed with a sigh, she knew it was finally time to tell Maria her news.

"Hey, can I talk to you 'Ria?" she asked.

Maria turned her head and grinned, "What's up chica?"

Liz gave her a small smile, "It's about Zan and I. There's something you should know."

Maria sat up in her bed and turned to face Liz, tucking her legs under her. She giggled, "Let me guess, you and he want to...you know?"

Liz blushed, "It's not about that. Well, not exactly."

"Huh? Okay, spill chica!"

Liz took a deep breath and looked into her best friend's eyes, willing her to accept this. Finally she spoke, "Zan asked me to marry him. And I said yes."

Liz's declaration was met with deafening silence and a shocked look.

TBC....
P.S. I'll be on the Author's Chat tonight at 8pm EST at DAS if anyone wants to pop in.

Rhonda- Maria's reaction here...
paper- Well, you're right on both counts about time...
roswell-hold on to your seat.
Vero- Yeah! Men!
bluesands- Happy Birthday, gurl! Here it is!
imnotlc- Hee hee, all answers start here, but continue into other parts.... I know, I'm evil...
tequa- Sometimes, I REALLY hate history.
Izzy- LOL. Well, if you keep reading, you'll find out who throws a wrench into Zan and Liz's plans. Oh, and there are still others down the parts of this story too.

Okay, posting in a hurry so I can go chat with Lissa. LOL....



Part 16

Liz didn’t move. She just stood there looking at the stunned look on her best friend’s face. Minutes of silence had gone by until Liz couldn’t take it anymore.

Finally Liz whispered, “Say something Maria.”

Maria flinched as if she’d just been slapped and suddenly the floodgates opened, “Are you insane! Did you even think of what you are really doing!” She yelled.

Before Liz could even answer, Maria continued yelling, “How can you even consider marrying him! He’s not even human! What are you thinking! Does that mean you are leaving? And what exactly do you plan on telling our parents? You can’t leave! You just can’t!”
With hands curling into fists, Maria turned around and stormed towards the bathroom.

Liz reached out for her arm, “Ria, wait.”

Maria simply yanked away from Liz, “No, I don’t want to talk to you right now!” The bathroom door slammed shut behind her.

**********************************************************************

Liz glanced towards Maria who stood with her back against the wall and her arms crossed over her chest as they waited for the boys to arrive. Maria still wasn’t talking to Liz.

After she’d stormed into the bathroom the night before, Liz hadn’t seen her until she came out again later after she’d taken her shower. Maria had immediately turned the lights off, gotten into bed, and turned her back to Liz.

In the morning Maria had been the first one up, dressed, and out of the room before the sleep had left Liz’s eyes. No matter what Liz said, Maria had remained silent all the way to school and Liz hadn’t seen Maria at all during school. She hadn’t even shown up for their lunch either.

Liz had been worried that Maria wouldn’t be there after school for the boys to walk them home. So, when she saw Maria in the gym waiting, she had let out the breath she’d been holding.

As Liz felt the brush against her mind, she sighed and opened the door to go to Zan. He came up to her, already knowing how sad she was from her scent. Opening his arms, he let her lean into him before he hugged her close. Lowering his lips to the top of her head, he gave her head a kiss and privately asked, What’s wrong, dimo agalo?

Liz sighed against his chest and hugged him tighter, I told Maria and she yelled at me and now she won’t talk to me at all. I tried to explain, but she’s ignoring me.

Zan sighed and maneuvered his arm around her so they could walk home, Come on li’ho, I’ll see if Rath can talk to her.

Zan looked in Rath’s direction and watched as Rath was hugging Maria and softly talking to her. He mind spoke his best friend, Ra’thlan, Liz says Maria won’t talk to her after she told her about marrying me. Can you find out why?

Yeah, she’s telling me something right now. Was Rath’s response.

As the four of them made their way across through the woods, Rath continued to listen to Maria who had simply told him she was upset with Liz, but she’d tell him when they were alone. Currently, she was just telling him about the places she was interested in seeing once school was over.

**********************************************************************

When they arrived at the barn, Maria tugged Rath’s hand to lead him up the ladder into the loft completely ignoring Zan and Liz. As soon as the two of them had climbed into the loft, Maria turned towards Rath and asked, “Is that invisible shield thingy you do up?”

Rath nodded, “You can tell me why you’re upset now.”

Maria’s lips trembled as she launched herself into Rath’s arms. “Oh Rath, Liz said she’s going to marry Zan. She’s going to go with him to his world and leave me all alone here. How am I supposed to go on without my best friend?”

Rath ran his fingers through her hair, “You won’t be alone, Maria. You still have me and Liz will come visit often, I know she will. It’s like you said, she’s your best friend. She won’t abandon you anymore than I will.”

Maria sniffed and pulled back to look up in his eyes, “She’s going to marry Zan, Rath. You know what that means right? I thought you told me that Zan would be king someday, right? So how can he marry Liz? Doesn’t she have to be a princess or something?”

Rath shook his head, “Not really, no. The fact that they are soul mates is enough.”

Maria frowned, “Yeah, right. Rath, Liz hasn’t even graduated yet! She’s just too young to get married. And well, she hasn’t really known him all that long either. You know my parents won’t like that one bit! God, what could she possibly tell them! Hi, this is Zan, my fiancé. Oh and by the way, he’s not human and I’m going with him to his world!” She snorted, “Yeah, that’ll go over real well with my parents.”

Rath grimaced, “I don’t think we will be telling your parents that.”

Maria crossed her arms in front of her, “Well, what will we be telling them then?”

Rath sighed, “It may just be better for Liz to just leave and not say anything to them.”

“What? And what am I supposed to say if they ask me where she is? Don’t you think they’d notice it right away? Liz and I have never been separated since she came to live with us! This is so wrong!”

Rath swallowed and watched Maria begin to pace around the room, “Maria, I know you are upset about losing your best friend, but please try to understand. On his twentieth birthday, Zan will be crowned King, and on that day he has to take a wife. He won’t take anyone else but Liz. He doesn’t have a choice. Neither does Liz.”

Maria glared at him, “Of course Liz has a choice! So, what if Zan has to choose a bride on the day he becomes King, it doesn’t have to be Liz!”

Rath gaped at her, “Are you saying he should marry someone else and leave Liz?” When she didn’t answer he whispered, “Would you expect me to leave you if it were us instead?”

Maria didn’t say a word. She just stood there with her back to Rath. She sighed and turned to look at him. “She’s too young Rath. It isn’t fair for Zan to do this to her.”

“Maria, if not Liz, it’s going to be someone else!”

Maria shrugged, “Well, then I guess that’s how it’s going to be.”

Rath gritted his teeth, praying for patience, “Maria, I don’t think you are getting this. They love each other. They are soul mates. There won’t ever be anyone else for either of them, ever!”

She rolled her eyes, “Whatever.”

He growled, “How can you be so selfish!”

She glowered at him, “I’m selfish! Me? What about Zan? He’s the one who’s making all these demands on Liz! And Liz? She’s just clinging to him like a lifeline! She’s put him on this pedestal and forgotten all about the rest of the world!”

“Maria…”

“No! I am not listening to this! She’s making a mistake! And you are just stupid if you think this is all good news! How could you even side with them? All of you are so delusional it’s sickening!”

She stalked towards the stairs, “Take the wall down, I’m going home.”

“Ria, please, just hear me out.”

She growled, “Take the wall down Ra’thlan!”

He sighed heavily and waved his hand, “It’s down.”

Maria didn’t say a word as she began climbing down the ladder.

**********************************************************************

Zan and Liz were sitting on the haystacks, facing each other. They had their legs crossed and their knees were touching each others. Zan held one of Liz’s hands in his as they talked about his father.

“I know you are hesitant Liz, but I told you my father can’t stop me from marrying you.”

Zan squeezed Liz’s hand as they heard the sound of footsteps coming down the ladder.

As they stood up still holding hands, they saw Maria jump the last step and stalk towards the door.

“Ria, where you going?” asked Liz.

Maria whirled around and glared at her, “Home.”

Zan looked up the stairs to see Rath climbing down. He gave Zan a hopeless shrug as he did. Zan turned back to Maria, “Maria, if you would let us explain…”
Maria didn’t acknowledge Zan as she continued to glare at Liz, “Don’t take too long, I’m not covering for you this time.”

Liz frowned as she watched Maria throw the door open and disappear outside.

Rath sighed and turned to them, “Sorry guys, she just didn’t want to listen to my explanations.”

Zan nodded as he hugged Liz close to him, “What did she say?”

Rath shrugged, “She feels like she’s losing her best friend and she doesn’t understand what being soul mates means to the both of you. I tried to explain, but she’s too hurt about Liz leaving to listen right now. She also thinks Liz is too young to get married.”

Liz nodded, “I’ll try talking to her again tonight.” She looked up at Zan, “Maybe we should just give her some space and let her get used to the idea. I’ll try to let her know that I’m always going to be her best friend and what you and I are doing isn’t wrong.”

Zan nodded, “Okay.”

Rath gave them a smile as he walked towards the portal to give them a few moments alone, “I’ll see you tomorrow Liz.”

After Rath disappeared, Zan cupped Liz’s cheek in his hand, “I love you, dimo ulhi’maos.”

She smiled, “I love you too, Zan.”

She tilted her head back and welcomed his kiss. Closing her eyes, she lost herself in the feel of his mouth as he deepened the kiss. His arms went around her waist, holding her to him. As his tongue swept against her lips, she opened her mouth and welcomed him in.

Zan didn’t hesitate to slide his tongue against hers. He could feel her pressing her body along the length of his and he knew it was too dangerous to continue. Pulling his lips from hers, he leaned his forehead against hers and sighed. “You should go, before you get in trouble.”

She smiled, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He let go of her and walked towards the portal turning to look at her one more time, “idi agalo esu.”

She smiled, “idi alsis,” she agreed.

**********************************************************************

As the days went by, nothing seemed to get through to Maria. She continued to be angry with Liz. Liz had tried to talk to her again that night, but Maria had just yelled at her again and then proceeded to give her the silent treatment from then on.

She didn’t treat Zan any better. After two days of watching Maria ignore Liz and feeling the sadness in his fiancé, Zan had tried to talk to Maria again. Maria had just snapped at him and told him that she wasn’t going to waste her time talking to someone like him.

Rath was the only one who could still talk to Maria, but his situation wasn’t much better. She was still angry at him for taking Zan and Liz’s side. He still tried to talk to her anyway.

“Maria, you are going to have to realize that no matter what you feel, Liz is leaving with Zan in two days. Do you really want to isolate yourself from her like this?”

Maria huffed, “I’m not the one making the mistake.”

Rath sighed, “It would be a mistake if Liz didn’t go with Zan.”

She glared at him, “Why are you taking their side? How can you possibly agree with what they are doing?”

“Maria!” Rath growled, finally exasperated, “Stop being so selfish and listen to me for once!”

Her eyes went wide, “What did you just say!”

Rath looked at her for a few moments before running his hand through his hair. He sighed, “Did you know we could lose Zan if Liz doesn’t go with him?”

Maria rolled her eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic.”

Rath wanted to scream at her and tell her just who it was that was being a drama queen. Instead, he took another deep breath and continued, “She is his soul mate. And in our world, that is a very sacred thing. I know you think it’s just a saying, but think about it Maria. You know what we are. We aren’t human. And that wildness in Zan could devour him if Liz doesn’t go with him. He could turn into that thing you seem to fear so much and never come back. Only there won’t be a single shred of humanity left in him. He’ll be the monster you thought we were in the first place!”

Maria stared at him, “You’re joking!” As Rath continued to look at her with that sad look, she continued, “Oh my God, you’re not joking!”

Rath shook his head, “Not even a little.”

Maria swallowed, “So, you’re saying that if Liz doesn’t go with Zan, he’ll turn into a monster?”

Rath nodded, “She is his soul, literally. She’s the only thing that will keep him whole. And you know our world needs him.”

Maria slowly nodded, “Yes.” She closed her eyes. “There’s no way he can be cured or…”

“Maria, it’s not a disease.” He sighed, “Look, our people are different. Not all of us have soul mates, just a select few. It’s a rare thing. So rare that when it does happen, those couples are sort of looked at as blessed. It’s considered taboo to mess with those couples.”

Maria’s eyes widened, “Are you telling me soul mates are worshipped in your world?”

Rath shook his head, “Not exactly. But they are treated with respect. Like they are favored or blessed by the powers that be.” He chuckled, “Many of the soul mates say it is actually both a blessing and a curse.”

Maria arched an eyebrow, “How so?”

“Well, this thing they share. It’s like an invisible thread linking them together. It’s what makes them special. They can always feel each other, know where the other one is at all times, and are always in each others minds. It’s like they literally are one person. They share the same soul. So, you can imagine what it’s like to always be connected to someone like that, there’s never any privacy from the other person.”

Maria gasped as she realized what he was saying, “Oh! And it’s already happening isn’t it? I mean that’s how Liz always seems to know when Zan is nearby!”

Rath nodded, “Yeah. But Maria, think about it, if she’s one half of him, what do you think happens if he loses that half?”

As the realization sank in, Maria swallowed, “He’ll be a monster.”

Again Rath nodded, “Yes. He’ll be trapped in the other form and he’ll never know what he’s doing. All the things that made him human will be gone. He’ll be a rabid beast and we all will have to deal with that.”

“What will you do if that happens?”

Rath sighed, “We’ll try to contain him of course, but the moment he kills, we’ll have to put him down. There’s no way to save someone once they get to that point Ria. It’s just like here, when an animal attacks a human, they are put down.”

Maria closed her eyes, “I didn’t know.”

“Now you do,” he whispered.

**********************************************************************

Zan sat next to Liz in silence. His mind with filled with chaos. So many emotions ran through him as he constantly replayed the last few days in his mind.

The palace was already getting things ready for the coronation and wedding that would be taking place in less than two weeks. None of them knew who his bride would be since his father had yet to announce it. Of course, those in the know, knew it was going to be Liz, but his father still refused to acknowledge that.

No matter what Diana or Zan said to him, he wouldn’t change his mind. He wouldn’t stop ranting about the atrocities of human beings. And to make matters worse, Phillip had been sending many noblewomen to see Zan. Zan couldn’t count the number of times that he had to find a way to get rid of a woman who was trying her best to flirt with him. They were everywhere he went. Outside the training rooms, in the corridors of the castle, and even joining him for his meals.

Diana did her best to get the women to leave before she could catch sight of Zan, but it didn’t always work, especially if Phillip was there too. Zan and his father had come to blows several times over the last few days and it had taken Rath and Kyle quite a long time to get Zan back under control.

Both of them had begged Zan to stop being so noble and go make Liz his completely before he did something horrible. But Zan had refused. He still wanted to wait. He wanted everything to be perfect for the both of them. He refused to listen to his friends when they told him that they were now afraid he wasn’t going to make it to the wedding in one piece.

Zan flinched when he felt Liz’s hand on his arm, followed by her soft voice, “I know you have things on your mind, tell me what’s going on in there.”

He sighed, “Nothing.”

She frowned, “No, don’t tell me that. I know something’s bothering you. Is it Maria? You don’t have to worry Zan, I am going with you, even if she doesn’t understand.”

He nodded, “I know.”

She sighed, “So, what is it then?”

He turned to look at her. As his eyes met hers, he saw the worried look in her eyes. He gave her a smile and caressed her cheek, “Nothing’s wrong, dimo agalo.”

Zan leaned in and kissed her lips, intending to pull away quickly, but when Liz wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close, he knew it was a mistake. He tried to pull away, but Liz deepened the kiss and ran her tongue over his bottom lip. With a growl, he opened his mouth and ravished hers.

Liz didn’t think anything was wrong as she kissed her love. Not even when his lips left hers to trail kisses down her neck. It wasn’t until she felt his claws against her back, ripping through her shirt. That and the prick of his teeth against her skin. Gasping she placed her hands against his chest and began pushing him away.

“Zan, what are you doing? Stop!”

He growled and lifted his head to look at her. Liz took in the eyes that flashed from a deep red to a fiery orange color and back again. She frowned, “What is it, Zan?”

He growled again, opened his mouth to bare his fangs, and lowered them to her neck.

Liz squeaked and shoved at his chest again, “Zan! Stop this! You’re scaring me!”

Zan didn’t listen, instead he pinned her down to the haystack and began to shred her shirt to pieces as he licked her neck.

Liz shrieked, Zan, vosto! Th’isti! Esu trasca! Vosto, asepros!

Even as Liz begged him to stop because he was scaring her, he still continued to rip through her clothes. In the next instant, he was suddenly thrown from her and shoved into a wall by Rath. He hissed at Rath and struggled to get away from him.

Maria ran to Liz and wrapped her arms around her, “Liz are you okay.”

Liz nodded, but didn’t take her eyes off of Zan who was currently struggling with Rath against the wall.

Rath gripped Zan’s shirt and slammed him back against the wall again. His voice was loud and commanding as he spoke to his leader, “Vosto! Esu hubla‘go, Zan! Tazolo sa‘go!”

Zan snapped his eyes to where Liz still sat on the haystack. Maria had her arms around Liz who clutched her torn shirt in her hands. Tears of worry sparkled in her eyes.

The sight of her eyes is what snapped him out of it. With a gasp, his form returned to normal. “Liz,” he whispered as he slumped against the wall.

Liz stood up and reached for him, but Zan shook his head no. She stood there and watched as he turned to Rath, “I should go.”

Liz’s eyes went wide, “No!” She turned to Rath as Zan made his way to the portal, “Ra’thlan! Tell him not to go!”

Rath sighed, “He’s still too close Liz, he needs to get himself under control away from you.”

Liz closed her eyes as Zan opened the portal door, “idi agalo esu vergita, Zan.”

“Idi agalo esu, dimo artia.”

After Zan had disappeared through the portal, Maria turned to Rath. “Is he really going to be okay?” she asked.

Rath sighed, “I hope so.” He looked at Liz, “Are you okay?”

She nodded, “Yes. Just go to him, Rath.” Her eyes begged him to make sure Zan would be okay.

He nodded and turned to Maria, “I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”

With a nod, Maria watched as Rath disappeared through the portal too. She could feel Liz shaking in her arms and when she looked down, she saw the tears spilling down her cheeks.

“Liz! What’s wrong? Did he hurt you?”

Liz shook her head, “No. He didn’t hurt me. Oh Maria, he’s so close! I tried to tell him we didn’t have to wait, but he wants things to be perfect for us. I’m so scared he won’t make it. I can’t lose him Maria. I love him!”

Maria nodded as she hugged her friend tighter. She now understood everything. Everything they had all been trying to get her to see. Zan and Liz were meant for each other. It was so obvious in all the things they did. And she could see how it was hurting Zan to keep his distance. He needed Liz, but he was being such a gentleman waiting for things to be perfect before he claimed her.

Maria knew Liz would have given it to Zan had he asked and now, she didn’t blame Liz for wanting to. If it was Rath who was in danger of losing his soul, Maria wouldn’t have hesitated to do it. How could she ever blame Liz for wanting to marry Zan?

She knew she’d never forgive herself for coming in between her best friend and the man she loved. Two souls who belonged together.


TBC...

roswell- I actually can’t wait myself.
spray- Yes. He’s too noble for his own good. Thanks. See the note below about the language.
blue- You’re welcome. And we’ll see.
tequa- I know! Actually it’s even scarier to realize that it’s not so much the wedding that will tame Zan as the actual consummation will.
Rhonda- Well, considering that humans aren’t exactly welcome in their world, Rath doesn’t want to subject Maria to that. However, I’m sure once he has to put up with seeing Zan and Liz there together every day, he’ll soon change his mind. I think at this point we are all thinking that the wedding should happen today, right this instant.
imnotlc- True, but come on… if your man looked like Zan, would you be able to keep your hands to yourself? I certainly couldn’t. Sorry, soul mates are rare, so Rath and Ria won’t ever be that. They will be together though.
Vero- No, it’s dangerous because his soul isn’t whole yet. Once they’ve consummated his powers will be harnessed.
LJL-
pandas- I agree. On all three counts.
candycane- See the language note below. Remember the days when everyone tried to say “Don’t do it” and “No sex before marriage”? You’re forgiven.
nibbles- Hee hee! She’ll say exactly that in this part!
Erina- Yes. He does need to be with Liz.
Ellie- Waiting is almost over! BTW, I love your avi! That’s a good manip of Zan and Liz together at the end! I love it!

Well now, I have three things I wanted to point out to everyone before I got into this next part.

1. It made me laugh at how many of you were jumping on the band wagon for Liz and Zan to just do it already. Believe me, I’m itching for them too, but it’ll be just a bit longer until that happens. Oh, but I’m telling you now, that first time is gonna open the flood gates and they’ll be making up for lots of lost time after that.

2. I’m sorry to have to tell you all that Rath and Ria will not ever be soul mates. As I’ve tried to explain before, ulhi’maos are extremely rare in the world, not even Zan’s parents are ulhi’maos! So, it doesn’t just run through the nobles or royal family. Those that are lucky enough to be that become almost revered, like gods. Need more of an explanation, PM me okay?

3. Yes I made the Wahani language up myself. Sort of. It’s actually a mix of Greek and English words. I guess that's why it looks familiar to some of you. I’m using Greek in another one of my stories and I’ve always had this huge fascination with all things Greek. Anyway, to make this language, I take the English word and it’s Greek translation and combine letters from both of the words. Here’s an example: the English word ‘what’ is ‘poia’ in Greek. I took the at and ia and put them together to make ‘atia’ the Wahani word for ‘what’. Not all of the words are that simple to make though. And yes, I try to make a direct translation for each little word, unlike some languages where some words are ‘understood’ since there is no direct translation (words such as I, am, is, you, etc). If you want, I can include translations of the words in each part I post.

Okay, now here’s the really long part since I just didn’t have the heart to chop it up. LOL.


Part 17

After sneaking Liz into the house without letting anyone see how torn her clothes were, Maria sat on her bed and waited for Liz to get out of the shower. She knew she was going to have to apologize to Liz for being upset with her. She wanted to do it soon because she knew Liz would be leaving the day after tomorrow.

Maria looked up as she heard the door to the bathroom open. Liz came out wearing a long shirt as a nightgown and a towel around her hair. She sat on the edge of her bed and began to towel dry her hair.

Maria got up from her own bed and went to sit next to Liz, waiting until Liz stopped drying her hair to look up at her. Giving Liz a hesitant smile she said, “I’m sorry, Liz.”

Liz nodded, “I know. He’ll be okay Maria. Rath will make sure of it.”

Maria shook her head, “No I’m sorry about being angry at you.”

“Oh.”

As Liz lowered the towel to her lap, Maria charged on, “I was hurt that you were making all these plans and I wasn’t included in them. But most of all I was upset about losing you.”

Liz frowned, “You’re not losing me, Maria. We will always be best friends.”

Maria nodded, “I know that. It’s just that you are going to his world and I won’t see you anymore because you’ll have a new life where you’ll be so busy being his wife and a new queen. You won’t have time to come here.”

Liz took Maria’s hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze, “That’s not true Maria. There’s still the gang to worry about. We all know that they are after you and your parents, so someone will have to be here to protect you. Zan and I have already agreed to come and protect you when Rath can’t do it.”

“Yes, but you and Zan will be busy with all that royalty business.”

Liz laughed. “Not really. At least that’s what Zan says. He said that Rath is really the busy one, as well as the other members of the council. Sometimes it can be busy for the King, especially during war time and during any major political crisis. Other than that, he just deals with meetings where he mostly regulates the talks or signs any important documents. My job sounds similar to what a president’s wife would do. You know make the important appearances, support her husband’s decisions, and do some important charity or concerned citizen work.”

“Oh. Well, it still sounds busy.”

Liz laughed, “In any case, I won’t forget about you Maria. I want you to come visit me when you can and Rath said he’d love for you to see his home too. And I want you to be with me for the wedding Maria. You know a bride can’t get married without her maid of honor.”

Maria’s eyes went wide, “They have that in their world?”

Liz chuckled, “I don’t know, but I’m going to talk to them and see if I can do that. There’s no way I’m going to get married without my best friend involved too!”

Maria threw her arms around Liz, “I’d be happy to be your maid of honor chica.”

“Thanks, Ria.” Liz hugged her tightly, “I love you, Maria. No matter what happens you’ll always have a place in my life. Remember that okay?”

Maria sniffled, “Okay chica. I love you too.” As she pulled away from Liz, they both wiped the tears from their cheeks and Maria grinned, “So, in less than two weeks you’ll be Queen Elizabeth Evans.”

Liz’s eyes went wide. “Oh my God, Maria! I’ll be married in nine days!” she squealed.

Maria joined Liz in the excitement and together the two of them began to gossip about what a perfect royal wedding would be like.

**********************************************************************

Zan grimaced as he leaned against the wall just inside of his bedroom. He could still feel the wildness threatening to break through the surface and consume him. No matter what he’d tried, it was getting more and more impossible to control. Even Rath was looking at him with fear in his eyes.

He hadn’t even made it to the entrance into the manufactory building when Rath had caught up with him. He’d thought for sure Rath would have stayed a little longer with the girls, but found out Liz had sent him to look after Zan. Zan had briefly acknowledged the fact that Ra’thlan was already obeying the orders of his queen before she was even officially crowned. That thought alone had helped him to focus on remaining sane a little longer.

Of course, that was until Rath had once again brought up the notion that Zan and Liz should just do it already and get it over with. Especially since Liz didn’t seem to be against it. Zan had simply growled at Rath to back off, which he had done the moment Zan had turned glowing red eyes on him.

The walk back to the castle had been one of the longest trips Zan had ever made. Every step had been pure agony and he’d had to concentrate on keeping his fangs and claws sheathed. Since all of his attention was on controlling the beast, it had been left up to Rath to steer Zan in the direction of his rooms and to make sure no one accosted them as they made the trip through their world and to his rooms.

Once Rath had safely seen Zan to his bedroom, Zan had dismissed him saying he was just going to get some sleep. Once again Rath had tried to reason with him, but Zan had shut the door and locked it behind him. He’d waited until he heard Rath’s footsteps fading down the stairs before some of the tension had left his body.

Now that he was alone, he pushed himself away from the wall and staggered to his bed. Removing his clothes, he crawled under the sheets and willed himself to go to sleep, but even sleep seemed to be afraid of him.

He lay there feeling his body beginning to heat up. Soon sweat dampened his skin and hair, as well as the sheets beneath him. He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut tighter against the heat and pain that seemed to be consuming his body.

It was in that state that his mother found him. The moment Rath had left Zan’s side, he’d immediately gone to the Queen hoping that Zan would listen to her reasoning if not anyone else’s. Diana had listened to Rath’s quick explanation and had immediately made her way to Zan’s chambers.

Her concern for her son had escalated when there had been no response to her knocking and she’d heard the groans coming through the door.
Using her powers, she’d unlocked the door and walked in to find her son and his bed soaked through. He looked as if he was in agony as he writhed on the bed. She spoke his name softly, “Zander?”

When there was no response, she placed her hand against his forehead, “Zander, can you hear me, my son?”

Zan groaned as he felt a cool hand gently soothing his heated forehead. His mother’s voice managed to penetrate through the haze of pain. “Try to relax, honey. I need you to look at me.”

Zan forced his eyes to open and heard his mother’s gasp. He groaned and closed his eyes again as the light in the room seemed to be too bright for him.

Diana frowned as Zan closed his eyes once again and she frowned even more when he opened his mouth to speak to her. She stared at his fangs which were elongating even as he spoke in the wahani language.
“Atia mais ongla eth idi?” He hissed.

She swallowed her fear as she answered him in English, “Your body is trying to deal with an imbalance of sorts. The moment your soul recognized Liz as your other half it began to change, to make room for her so to speak. But you’ve been putting off the completion and so it’s trying to deal with the loss.” She sighed, “Zander, the longer you put off giving your soul what it needs to flourish, the harder it’ll be for you to remain sane. Don’t you see? You are losing even the half of your soul that remains. You know a body needs food to survive and when there isn’t any nourishment, it begins to eat itself if there is no nutrients provided. It is the same for your soul. You won’t let it have the other part that can keep it nourished, so it is compensating by taking what is left. It’ll keep doing that until there isn’t anything left to feed from. You know what will happen when that time comes.”

Zan snapped his teeth in frustration, his angry voice sounding in his mother’s head, I won’t do that to Liz.

Diana frowned, “From what Rath tells me, Liz is more than willing to help save you.”

She doesn’t deserve this, mother!

“Doesn’t deserve what? To love you?”

He growled, I won’t let her be used like a piece of meat to feed a hungry beast!

Diana shut her eyes, “Oh Zan, I don’t think Liz will feel that way when she’s with you. Don’t you see? You are the only one standing in the way of making the both of you happy.”

We will be happy! I just have to hold on for nine more days.

“I don’t think that’s wise, son. You won’t be able to control it that long. I don’t think you’ll even have half of that time left.”

He growled once more, Then help me to control it.

“You know I can’t do that.”

Just do it mother!

She sighed and mentally sent for the healer who came at once. Diana opened the door when the man knocked and allowed him into the room. She went to her son’s side and held his arms down as the healer leaned over him. Indicating that she was ready with a nod, she put all of her weight into keeping Zan pinned to the bed.

The healer tested the syringe before he quickly and smoothly injected it into Zan’s neck. Zan arched off the bed and roared as the medicine spread like fire through his veins. Twisting and growling Zan tried to break free from his mother‘s hold. Nearly six heartbeats later, he went limp as the medicine finally took effect.

Diana let go of her son and motioned for the healer to leave. He sighed, and bowed before saying, “It’s not going to have any effect on him for much longer, Your Highness. It’s supposed to work on contact. As it is, it’s taking a few heartbeats before it even seems to affect him.”

Diana nodded, “I know that, Riel. Believe me I know.”

Riel bowed to her once more before he left her alone with Zan.

Diana sighed as she sat next to her son and watched him sleep. Now that the medicine had taken effect, he had returned to normal again. She leaned over and ran her fingers through his hair, brushing it from his forehead. She was going to have to find a way to let Liz know just how close Zan was to losing it. Somehow they were all going to have to convince Zan that he would have to claim Liz within the next few days if he was to have any chance of surviving at all.

**********************************************************************

Two days later, Zan and Rath stood near the portal while Liz and Maria hugged each other with tears in their eyes. The day had finally come for Liz to go with Zan to his world where she would have some time to learn about his world before the wedding.

The day before, only Rath had showed up to walk the girls home. He had told a panicked Liz that Zan was doing fine, but needed to stay away from Liz for a little longer just in case. He had told the girls about the plans for the next day.

Liz was to pack a couple of suitcases with only the essential things she would need. He told her not to worry so much about clothes since she would be getting a wardrobe fit for a queen. Instead, she was to pack things she knew she wouldn’t be able to find in their world. Then, after he walked them home, they would go to their room and hand the suitcases out of their window to him. He would then take the suitcases to the barn where Zan would be waiting until the girls could join them there.

It had worked without a hitch. When Liz had walked into the barn and saw Zan, she had almost thrown herself into his arms. Rath had stepped between Liz and a suddenly tensed up Zan and explained that it wasn’t safe to get anywhere near him just yet. Frowning at Zan, Liz had simply nodded and turned to say goodbye to her best friend.

“I’m going to miss you chica,” sobbed Maria.

Liz sniffed, “Oh stop Maria! You know you will still see me! Rath will come get you on the day of the wedding okay? And you know I’ll be here to walk you home when Rath can’t make it.”

“I know, Liz. I’m still going to miss you though. My room is going to seem so empty with you gone. And you know my parents aren’t going to make it easy, either!”

Liz grimaced as she pulled away from her best friend, “Maria, I know it’s going to be hard. Promise me you won’t say anything to them.”

“I won’t Liz, I promise.”

Liz nodded. “Okay, Ria. I’ll see you soon okay?”

Maria hugged Liz one last time before letting her go.

Zan opened the door to the portal and picked up the suitcases. He turned to Liz and said, “I’ll go first so I’ll be there to greet you when you go through. Rath will help you in after I’ve gone, okay?” At Liz’s nod, he gave her a quick kiss on her cheek, “See you on the other side, princess.”

She smiled as she watched Zan step into the hole and disappear. Rath came to her side and took her hand, “You ready, princess?” he asked.

Liz sighed, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

He nodded, “Okay, tell Zan I’m going to stay a little longer with Ria.”

“Sure.”

Rath grinned, “Okay princess, this isn’t going to be so bad. All you have to do is step down into the hole and lift your hands up and out. The moment you think you feel something like cold steel against your palms you grip it, okay. That should be the ladder you will climb down from. Understand?”

Liz nodded, “I got it Rath. Really.”

He gave her trembling hand a squeeze and helped her to the portal, “Don’t forget to breathe princess, it’ll be a piece of cake.”

Liz gave him a hesitant smile and took a deep breath. She turned to Maria and smiled, “See you soon Ria.”

“Bye chica.” Maria responded.

Liz took a step down into the portal. As Rath let go of her hand, she disappeared from Maria’s sight.

Maria stared at the space where her best friend had last stood. Her lips trembled as fresh tears welled in her eyes. Rath closed the portal door and walked over to Maria, wrapping his arms around her.

“She’ll be okay Maria. I promise we will all take good care of her.”

Maria sobbed, “I know. I just miss her already.”

Rath simply held her and let her cry a little longer.

**********************************************************************

Liz gasped as her hands came into contact with cold steel. Just like Rath had said, she quickly gripped it, but not hard enough. Her grip slipped and she almost went tumbling into the murky water below if not for the arms that reached out to catch her.

Anticipating Liz’s reaction upon entering his world for the first time, Zan had placed the suitcases on the ground and climbed back up the ladder a bit to wait for her appearance. He quickly caught her before she could go tumbling off the ladder and held her until she was steady. “Whoa princess, I’ve got you.”

Liz reached out and got a firm hold of the ladder. “I’m okay.”

He nodded, “Okay, let’s climb down and I’ll take you to your new home.” He grinned up at her as she turned to look down at him.

Once Zan had gotten off the ladder, he helped Liz get her feet on firm ground before he picked up the suitcases and motioned for her to follow him. “Careful princess, it’s not a good idea to slip and fall into the water here. There’s things waiting just under the surface for a tasty meal.”

Liz frowned at his back, “You know, this isn’t exactly the kind of welcome I was expecting.”

He looked over his shoulder and grinned at her. “I know. You’ll get the one you’re expecting when we reach the castle.”

Liz rolled her eyes but was extremely careful where she placed her feet as they walked down the narrow walkway to the strip of land in front of a huge manufactory building.

She craned her head to look up at the building. It was so tall that it seemed to disappear into darkness. “What is this thing?”

Zan walked towards two massive steel doors as he answered her, “It’s what we like to call the manufactory building. Basically, it’s the hub of all the things that make our world run. All the computers, security, water, you name it, it’s in here. Anything that keeps our city running smoothly is controlled from this building.”

Liz watched as Zan stood in front of the computer screen next to the two doors. A few seconds later, a computerized voice said, “Identity, please.”

“Maxwell Zander Evans,” he stated.

Liz heard a few clicks then the voice came back, “Welcome back Prince Zander.”

“Thank you.” Zan replied.

There were a few more clicks then the voice said, “Priority 1 clearance approved. Stand clear of doors.”

Zan motioned for Liz to stand back as they watched the doors open. Liz could hear the doors as they screeched open. At her curious expression Zan nodded, “Yes, they are operated by computers.”

Liz followed Zan into a large room with a low ceiling. As she heard the screeching doors close behind her, she looked up at the three rows of ceiling fans. Once the doors had clanged shut, she could hear the low hum of the ceiling fans as the bright gold lights on the fans bathed the room in a surreal glow.

Zan led her down a short narrow hallway which came to a dead end. Before she had a chance to ask him anything, she watched as he placed his hand flat against the wall to the right of the door.

As a green square lit up the wall around his hand, another computerized voice said, “Print match found. Proceed Prince Zander.”

Suddenly the wall in front of Zan swung open to reveal a narrow rectangular room. As Liz followed Zan into the room the door closed on it’s own behind her. Liz took in the long desk with a computer and telephone on it. She also noticed the chairs with several magazines scattered over them to the right of her and a large one way mirror to the left.

Zan continued walking to the door on the opposite wall and set down the suitcases. Liz watched as he reached behind his neck and unclasped the silver chain he always wore. She saw the four small keys that hung from the chain and watched as Zan used one of them to unlock the door.

Sticking the keys into his pocket, he picked up her suitcases and motioned for her to follow him into what looked like a huge fenced in yard. As she closed the door behind them, two Dobermans came running up to them.

Zan set down her suitcases again and petted the dogs as they greeted him. He turned to grin at Liz, “Princess, meet Ronin and Chaz. Two of the finest guard dogs you’ll ever meet. Guys, this is Liz. She’s my ulhi’maos, so you have to take very good care of her for me, okay?”

Liz arched an eyebrow as both of the dogs barked as if responding to Zan’s request. Then they both walked towards her. “Um, Zan?”

Zan chuckled, “It’s okay, they’re just saying hi.”

The dogs placed their heads under one of Liz’s hands and nudged it as if telling her to pet them. When Liz began to pet their heads, they responded by letting their tongues hang out before licking her hands and bounding off together.

Zan gave Liz a smile, “See, they just welcomed you to our world.”

Liz laughed as she watched the two Dobermans tumble together for a moment before they began to patrol the tall hurricane fence, looking every bit like the guard dogs Zan had said they were.

Zan picked up her suitcases again and said, “Come on, time to go home, Liz.”

When they reached the gates in the fence, Zan had once more used a key from the chain to unlock them before placing the chain around his neck again.

Liz followed Zan as he walked to the right, towards a small bridge spanning a wide river that seemed to flow under the manufactory building. She noticed a huge junkyard straight ahead, and what looked like dilapidated buildings in the distance.

Zan turned to make sure that she was still behind him and saw her looking at the junkyard and industrial area. He filled her in as they walked across the bridge, “That junkyard is where the people from the West Side City dump all their wastes from their businesses. All those buildings that you see double as homes and businesses for those who live in the city. Everyone here is working class, meaning they don’t have any powers like the rest of us do, so they make their living in labor.”

Liz nodded as she followed Zan across the bridge. “So this is where all the things that a decent home needs to run smoothly are made then?”

Zan nodded, “Yes. This is where all the furniture, appliances, cloth, and other living necessities are generally produced.”

As they stepped off the bridge onto a grassy area, Zan continued, “This is the East Side City. All of the affluent nobles live in this area. My friends Charles and Kyle have homes here. Rath has a home here too, but he tends to stay in the rooms he’s been provided in the castle since he’s Chief Advisor.”

Liz nodded, “Who lives in his house when he’s not there?”

Zan shook his head, “No one does. It was only Rath and his father for the last few years, but now it’s just Rath. I’m sure he’ll settle his family there if he ever has that. A maid comes in once a week to make sure the house is okay. So it’s not totally left alone.”

Liz nodded and continued to follow Zan through the cobbled streets. She took in all of the beautiful homes lining the well lit streets. It was so obvious that the entire East Side City was extremely well cared for. All of the homes seemed to have clean colorful walls and well kept lawns. At this time of the evening, there weren’t that many people out, but those that were noticed Zan immediately and bowed to him as he walked by. Zan acknowledged them with a smile and a slight nod as he continued walking through the city.

Soon they reached a gate that had two guards posted on either side of it. As soon as Zan approached them, they saluted him. As Zan nodded to them, one of them left his post to open the gate for them. Zan motioned for Liz to follow him and they walked through the gate into a huge grassy yard with two long buildings sitting side by side.

“Those two buildings are where the nobles send their children to train in things such as weaponry and the use of their powers. Behind the buildings is a pasture where horse back riding is taught to the nobles. Each child has a specific training route depending on what they are going to be when they grow up. Not everyone is going to need intensive training in horseback riding or sword fighting for instance.”

As Zan turned to the left and headed for another bridge, Liz finally saw the castle for the first time. Walking across the bridge with Zan, she noticed how beautiful it actually was even in the fading light.

She could see the white pearlescent stone of the walls covered with green vines and vibrant colorful flowers. She noticed just how multistoried it seemed with all of the towers standing tall all through it.

As they entered a side door, Liz saw that the floors were made of white marble with black veins running throughout them. Glancing up, she saw the beautiful carved domed ceilings held up by ivory walls all trimmed in gold or silver. What amazed her was how it all seemed to come together beautifully and subtly instead of seeming too gaudy or extravagant.

Liz continued to drink in the magnificent castle as Zan led her through several hallways. As they reached a set of stairs Zan turned to her, “This is the beginning of the East wing. My rooms are at the top of the tower in this wing. I know it’ll be a little confusing to you at first, but you’ll eventually learn your way around. I think you should always take someone with you for a few weeks until you’re comfortable enough to walk around the castle on your own.”

Liz nodded and grinned, “You said rooms, plural. Just how many rooms does a prince really need?”

He chuckled, “It’s actually similar to an apartment in your world. But instead of all the rooms placed side by side, they’re set on top of each other. So, you’d enter the living area on the first floor, then walk up to the dining area, followed by a study, a bathing room, and finally the bedroom.”

Liz whistled, “Wow! Our very own apartment, huh? This I gotta see.”

Her remark prompted Zan to laugh as he began his trek up the stairs leading to the first floor of the tower that housed his rooms.

As they entered the living area, Liz’s eyes went wide, “This is your living area?”

He grinned at her, “Actually, it’s our living area now.”

She laughed, “Man, this place is huge! Amy’s living room could fit in here at least twice!”

She wasn’t kidding. Since it was inside of a tower, the room was circular and boasted lots of plush couches, chairs, and recliners. There were plenty of different styles of tables mixed in with the styles of seating. All of it came together with the plush carpet to give the room a welcoming, cozy feel to it.

As they walked up the stairs along the wall, they entered the dining area. It was just as huge as the living area had been. There were actually two tables in it. One was a long formal looking one and the other was a smaller rectangular one. Liz got the sense that the formal one was where the adults would sit and the smaller one was where any children would sit. There were also long tables similar to buffets lining the walls. Some of those tables were on wheels making them into mobile carts.

Zan’s study was on the next floor and this room clearly had Zan’s stamp on it. A huge mahogany looking desk took up one side of the room. The rest of the room had a large square table with plenty of maps and other papers strewn across the surface. Liz saw a coat of arms hanging from the wall as well as several pieces of weaponry that were familiar and not so familiar to her. Still, as busy as the room looked, she still got a laid back feeling from it.

They continued walking up the stairs into the bathing area and once again Liz gawked at the room. Sitting in the center of the room was a huge Jacuzzi looking tub that looked to be about seven feet by seven feet and it looked to be just as deep. There were two ladders on opposite sides of the tub to use for climbing into the thing. Liz turned to look at Zan and asked, “How do you fill that thing with water? Or even get it heated?”

He shrugged, “This is were powers often come in handy.” He chuckled, “Actually, the tub’s designed with pumps in it that pump water into and out of the tub. There are switches on the side of the tub, near the bottom that control the pumps. There’s also switches there to control the temperature of the water. Yeah, I know, it seems impossible since we’re in a castle, but you should know not all of the towers have these pumps built into them. This tower is actually one of the newer towers. The older towers that were built before the invention of the pumps don’t have these luxuries. And I’ve heard about what a pain it was to refit the original castle base once they decided the kitchens and other areas needed to have access to fresh, sanitized water and other luxuries.”

Liz grimaced as she thought about all the work that had to be done to put new pipes and the like inside the castle walls. She vaguely remembered once how her father had to have the leak in the downstairs bathroom repaired and the mess the workers had made to take out the old pipes and replace them with new ones. The bathroom had ended up with new pipes, walls, flooring, and a new sink. All that for one tiny leak. Oh yeah, she didn’t envy any of the workers in this castle.

They continued up the stairs to the top floor of the tower, which housed Zan’s bedroom. Liz couldn’t help but grin as she took in the room for the first time. It was clearly the room of a bachelor. The huge rectangular bed sat in the center of the room on a dais and appeared messy with the sheets and comforter bunched up in places and several clothes were strewn over the bed too. There were more clothes strewn over the floor, the curved desk to the right, the set of shelves to the left, and the armoire behind the bed. On the chest that sat near the foot of the bed was a pile of discarded weapons.

Zan turned to her with a sheepish grin on his face, “I know, sorry. It’s been rather chaotic here for the last few days and the maids have been having trouble coming in and cleaning up. And they didn’t know you were arriving today, so they didn’t have the place ready. I promise I’ll let them know you’re here and to get this place tidied up as soon as possible.”

As Liz arched an eyebrow at Zan, she heard a voice coming from the doorway, “Is that so, Zander? Well, we will just have to find out why someone was remiss in letting the maids know that their future queen was arriving today.”

TBC...

spray- More loosing control here. Hmm...we'll find out soon. Thank you, that's what I'd hoped you all would do. The answers are here. Well, the only hint you are getting about the arena is that the story has to progress about six or seven more months before it happens.
nibbles- True. We'll see for sure. Hopefully in a few more parts.
Rhonda- Yes. You'll see. Both of you are right.
candycane- You think? Answers here.
blue- in a couple of more parts.
LJL- The answers are here.
tequa- She'll be okay...for a while.
paper- I know that, you know that, America knows that...
Izzy- You're sooooo right chica!
Vero- Here's the answer....

Okay, posting a little early since I'm going to be waaaay busy over the next few days. Enjoy...

Part 18

Zan cringed as Liz turned to face the woman who stood in the doorway. Liz immediately knew this was Zan’s mother, the present Queen. As she hastily went into an awkward bow, the woman placed a hand on her shoulder, “Now there’s no need for that my dear. After all, you are going to be family.” As Liz straightened up, she gave Liz a smile, “I’m Vilondra Diana Evans. You can call me Diana, or mother, as my son is so fond of naming me.”

Liz couldn’t help but respond to Diana’s warm smile. “Pleased to meet you Diana, I’m Elizabeth Nancy Parker, but you can call me Liz.”

Diana nodded, “Yes, Zan has told me so much about you and I’ve been looking forward to finally meeting you.” She gave Liz another smile before looking past her shoulder to Zan, “But your description of her didn’t do her any justice, son. She’s prettier than you said.”

Liz blushed at Diana’s observation and replied, “Zan told me so much about you too and I have to say, you’re more beautiful than he described.”

Diana laughed, “Well, we’ll just have to teach him to pick better words then, won’t we?” She frowned as looked past Liz’s shoulder again, “Maxwell Zander Evans what are you doing!”

Liz turned to see Zan standing near the bed leaning over one of her opened suitcases.

“I’m putting her stuff away.”

“Not in there you’re not!” His mother proclaimed as she walked to the armoire behind his bed and made a face. “Oh for heaven’s sake, you have got to get this organized Zander!” She turned to look at the empty wall and said, “I’ll have another armoire made for Liz placed right here immediately. Leave her things in the suitcases and the maids will take care of them too.” She turned to survey the entire room before looking at Liz, “I’ll also have another set of shelves and a desk brought in for you too dear. You should have your own furniture to suit you just like he has his own. I know you just got here and you may be tired, but if you’ll come with me to the dining area below, we could sit and have a bit of dinner while we wait for the work to be done in here.”

Before Liz could even respond to Diana, they all heard several footsteps ascending the stairs to the bedroom and then Vilondra burst through the door dragging Charles behind her. “Oh I knew she was here! I knew it, didn’t I Charles?”

“Yes, milady, you certainly did.” Charles gave Liz a friendly smile as Vilondra pulled Liz into a tight hug.

Liz stood there with a stunned look on her face as Vilondra pulled back to look at Liz. “Oh Zander! She’s gorgeous!” she breathed.

Once again Liz found herself blushing at yet another compliment.

Zan walked up to them and pulled Liz into his arms, “Lonnie would you calm down, you’re going to overwhelm her with all this attention.”

Lonnie rolled her eyes, “Oh posh, Zan! That’s not true and you’re just being possessive as usual.” She grinned at Liz, “But I’m sure you already knew that about my big brother, right Liz?”

Zan sighed and looked down at his future bride, “Liz, this is my little sister Isabel Vilondra Evans.”

Liz smiled and held out her hand to his sister, “I’ve heard so much about you Isabel! It’s a pleasure to finally get to meet you.”

Zan’s sister grinned at Liz, “Please, call me Lonnie okay. That’s what all my close friends and family call me.”

Liz nodded, “Okay, Lonnie.”

“Great! And Liz, I’d like you to meet our close friend and computer whiz extraordinaire, Alexander Charles Whitman.” Lonnie said as she grabbed him and presented him to Liz.

Once again he gave Liz a friendly smile and held out his hand, “Pleased to meet you Liz, I’m known as Charles around these parts.”

“Hi Charles.” Liz greeted as she shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you too. Rath and Zan have told me so much about all of you that I almost feel like I’ve always known you.”

Lonnie laughed, “Oh I feel the same way! Zan has told me so much about you too and Rath has told us all about Maria too. She’s your best friend right?”

Liz nodded, “We pretty much grew up together, so she’s more of a sister to me.”

“Of course! Rath and Kyle are my older brothers too, but I hope you and I will become close since you will technically be my sister too.”

Liz joined Lonnie in laughter and agreement as Zan rolled his eyes, “Okay, I think we need to separate you too now.”

Diana chuckled, “Oh Zan really. It’ll be good for the both of them to be close. I’m hoping I get to know Liz as a daughter too, you know. It’ll be good for Liz to have someone to talk to when she’s trying to get used to our world.”

Zan nodded, “I know, you’re right. I just don’t want Lonnie to corrupt her that’s all.”

Lonnie folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at her brother, “What do you mean corrupt her?”

“I just don’t want you to change her from the way she is now. You know, make her more like you,” he said trying not to insinuate anything more.

Before Lonnie had a chance to go on, Rath came into the room and gave Diana a slight bow, “Your majesty.” He then turned to the others, “Zan, Charles, I’ve been asked to let you know the King has called a meeting in the main conference room which he would like you both to attend immediately.”

Zan sighed and looked to his mother in annoyance.

Diana smiled and patted his arm in sympathy. “You go ahead to the meeting, my son. I will take Liz to the dining area and keep her company until you return.”

Lonnie nodded, “Oh yes! Mother is right Zan. We’ll both keep Liz occupied until you come back. It’ll be a great way for us to know each other.”

Zan nodded, “Will you be okay, Liz?”

“Of course.” Liz gave Zan a quick hug, “Don’t worry about me. They’re right, this will give us all an opportunity to get to know each other.”

“Okay, I return as soon as I can.”

They watched as the men left the room before Lonnie slid her arm into Liz’s, “Come on Liz, let’s go have dinner and have some girl time.”

Liz giggled, “That sounds good Lonnie.”

**********************************************************************

An hour later Liz, Diana, and Lonnie sat around the dining table eating their dinner and talking to each other. They had all found it easy to have a pleasant conversation and traded stories about their lives. Diana and Lonnie also made sure that Liz understood that they both would be there to help her adjust to her new life.

When the three of them had arrived in the dining area, Diana had gone down stairs to find a servant in the corridor. She had given instructions for dinner to be served to the three of them in Prince Zan’s dining area. She had also sent for some wood workers, dressmakers, and maids so that Liz’s furniture, clothes, and room could be done as soon as possible.

As each person or team came to her, Diana gave them the instructions. The dressmakers took Liz’s measurements and Diana had asked Liz if there was a particular color or type of material she preferred. Since Liz would be the one wearing the clothes, Diana told Liz to discuss her preferences with the dressmakers.

Liz also did the same with the furniture makers. Letting them know if she wanted a particular type of wood, paint, style, and the like. She also asked for advice from both mother and daughter, who were only to happy to help Liz out. However, they both made it clear that it would have to be Liz’s choice in the end since she would be the one to live with it.

Diana showed the makers and the maids exactly where each piece would go in the room so they could make the necessary changes. The maids were also told to make the room much more suitable for Liz to reside in.

By the time Diana and Liz had talked to everyone, their dinner was on its way to the dining area. So the three women had sat down to dinner and began a light hearted discussion about their lives and the people in it. Most particularly, Zan. Liz was thrilled to hear the stories both women had to tell about Zan’s childhood and life.

The women were also interested in knowing more about Liz’s life living with her best friend. They already knew about the horrific deaths of her family, so they tried to stay away from that topic, but Liz assured them that she could talk about her family. It was easy for her to talk about the good things she could remember and she had Zan to thank for that.

Soon their conversation veered into the world Liz was going to live in as Zan’s wife. Diana and Lonnie assured Liz that they would be there every step of the way to help Liz adjust to life in their world. Lonnie said she would take Liz out to the East Side city and show her around. She’d also show Liz around the castle grounds if Zan didn’t get around to it. Diana said she would help Liz learn the things she would be required to do as a queen and told Liz to come to her if she had questions or needed help with anything.

After dinner, the women moved to the living area and began to discuss the wedding. There were seven more days left and Diana filled Liz in on all the things that had already been prepared for Zan’s coronation and the wedding. Diana assured Liz that all she had to worry about was getting together with the dressmakers to design the perfect wedding gown and Diana would make sure to walk Liz through the whole coronation and wedding ceremony.

Vilondra was more than thrilled to talk about the wedding since she just loved those kinds of things. She started going on about other weddings she’d been to and how beautiful and romantic some of them were, but she was absolutely certain that Liz’s wedding to Zan would be the most beautiful of them all. Liz had simply smiled at Lonnie’s enthusiasm and asked if they had such a thing as a maid of honor here.

Diana said that the closest thing to that would be the espouser. She explained that each person in the couple had a person who would give them in marriage to their significant other. That person was generally someone who had either been married themselves for quite a long time or it would be someone who was greatly respected.

When Liz asked if they could make an exception since she wanted Maria to be part of the wedding as her maid of honor, Diana said she would see what she could do about it. Liz was grateful for that and admitted that while she was more than eager to learn about her new home, she was feeling a little flustered about the wedding itself. Both of the Evans women assured Liz that everything would be wonderful because Liz would have them and Maria to get her through it all.

**********************************************************************

While the women were becoming family, the men had gathered together in the main conference room where Phillip had asked them to meet.

Rath had told Zan that after he’d been certain that Maria was going to be okay with Liz leaving, he had come back to the castle with the intention of finding them to see how Liz was coping so far. He had been crossing the hall in front of the conference areas when Phillip called out to him and ordered him to round up all of the council members, including his son, Prince Zander. So, Rath sent servants with messages to all of the members and went to get Zan from his rooms. He had been lucky that Charles was there too since he was a member also.

As they entered the conference room, several others were already there, including Kyle and his father, Jim Valenti. Zan and Kyle greeted each other as friends and Zan made his formal greetings to everyone else.

Once everyone had arrived and they were all seated around the table, Phillip told them why the meeting was called.

“Gentlemen, I’ve called this meeting because I’ve made further advancements for the coronation and wedding of my heir, Prince Zander. I also wanted to touch base with all of you to find out how you are doing with your own preparations for the events, especially since they are now less than seven days away. So, let’s begin with Head Technician Whitman.”

Charles nodded, “Your highness, I have managed to change all passwords, keyed and carded access codes, as well as symbol verifications over to the ones the Prince provided me with. I’ve also set up the computer systems both you and the Prince asked me too and made the modifications the Prince specifically requested. I’ve tested and made sure that everything is up to date and matches the information I have from the Prince. The only thing left to do is to get the physical and biological samples I need to enter into the system that will allow Prince Zander complete access to everything in the kingdom. Once that is done, all of it will become effective on the day of his coronation.”

Phillip nodded, “Good to hear. So, have you set up a time to get the last of what you need?”

Zan was the one who answered, “Yes, my lord. H.T. Whitman and I will be meeting day after tomorrow just after midday meal.”

“All right then, that’s done.” He turned to Rath then and asked, “Chief Advisor, how is it coming with the notifications of those who will be in attendance during the coronation, wedding, and celebration afterwards?”

“The majority of those who were sent invitations have already replied and I’ve made accommodations for them, Your Majesty. I’ve provided Weapons Master Valenti and his team with the list of names including all of the events they are attending and where they will be staying during it all. I’ve also dealt with those who requested invitations according to your response and the Queen’s. Currently I have twelve invitations that haven’t been responded to yet, but I have sent out another letter letting them know if I haven’t received a response by four days before the events, I will mark them as having declined.”

“Very well then, what about the details of the coronation that we deemed you responsible for?”

“All of them were finalized yesterday evening and the papers were sent to you this morning for approval.”

“I see, so those were in the file waiting on my desk for me. Forgive me, but I’ve been running in and out all day and haven’t had the chance to look them over yet, but I will get to them before the night is over and have them back to you first thing in the morning.”

“Of course, my lord.”

“One last thing. Have you managed to settle on who will be the Prince’s espouser during the wedding?”

“That is the only thing I have not been able to complete, my lord.”

Phillip frowned, “Is there no one suitable for the Prince?”

“My lord, I have made my choice in the matter, but it seems that the one I chose isn’t enthusiastic about being my espouser,” replied Zan.

“Who did you chose?”

“My C.A.”

Phillip arched an eyebrow, “Well, tradition does state that it should be someone who has been married for quite a while.”

“Yes, my lord, but it also states that it can be someone well respected.”

Rath cleared his throat, “My argument is that I have not been C.A. long enough to garner that much respect.”

“Nonsense! You are clearly following in your father’s footsteps,” announced Phillip, “anyone can see that. You have definitely gained my trust and respect in the little time you have been in this position, so I don’t see any reason why you cannot be the Prince’s espouser.”

Valenti spoke up, “I second that.”

There were a few other murmurs of agreement before the King said, “There you have it, Ra’thlan. You will be the Prince’s espouser.”

Rath gave a nod to the King then looked at Zan, “It will be an honor, Your Highness.”

“Okay, now that that is settled, how is the security team and all of it’s duties for the eventful day shaping up, Weapons Master Valenti?”

“My team is still heavily training for the big day, Your Majesty, but it is only so that they will remain in top shape for the day. They already have it all down cold from all of the mock practices we’ve had. Every one has already been assigned to their positions and I will be personally handling the Prince’s security while my second will handle the bride’s.”

“Good, okay let’s move on to the preparation of the city itself, Councilman Elway.”

The rest of the meeting continued with Phillip getting briefed from the rest of the council members and their responsibilities. Zan remained quiet unless he was asked something or had something to input like he had with Rath. However, even he was being to think it was a waste of time for his father to have called the meeting in the first place. Everyone knew if his father had wanted updates on everything all he’d have to do was sent a request to meet with each individual. He sighed inwardly as the meeting dragged on, wishing he was with Liz and wondering if she was doing okay with his mother and sister.

**********************************************************************

Diana sat on the couch next to her future daughter in law watching her in silence. Lonnie had left a few minutes ago after she and Liz agreed to try to get together the following day to give Liz a tour of the East Side city. After Lonnie had left to feed and walk her dog, Liz and Diana had continued to talk about Liz’s future there.

Diana had listened as Liz had given her account of how she and Zan had met and how Zan had managed to become so much a part of her life. Every thing that Liz said made Diana realize how much her son meant to the petite brunette sitting next to her. That was why she was now sitting there contemplating on how she was going to tell Liz about Zan’s tenuous grip on his sanity.

Liz turned to look at Diana, noticing how quiet she had become. She tilted her head in question, “Diana? Is there something wrong?”

Diana blinked to clear away her musings, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the question.”

“I asked if there is something wrong.”

“Oh. I see.”

“Forgive me if I’m prying, but you seemed as if something was troubling you.”

A flicker of recognition at Liz’s observation went through Diana, but she chose to ignore it for the moment. Instead she prepared herself to confide in Liz. “Yes, actually, there’s something serious I need to talk to you about.”

Liz nodded, “It’s about Zan isn’t it? He’s still having problems controlling himself isn’t he?”

Diana nodded, “Yes. And I’m afraid he won’t make it to the day of his wedding. Even the healer believes that.”

Liz frowned, “Rath and Zan both told me what could happen if he loses control, but they both assured me that they were handling it.” She paused a moment as she looked at Diana’s worried face, “You don’t think so do you? How long do you think he has?”

“If he’s lucky, about two and a half more days.”

Liz closed her eyes. The words ‘if he’s lucky’ echoing in her head. She nodded, “I think I believe you.”

Diana sighed, “I’m sorry Liz. I don’t know how else to say this, but you are the only one who may be able to get through to him. Everyone here has tried to convince him not to wait, but you know how much of a stubborn gentleman my son can be.”

“Yes. I do.”

“I wouldn’t have been this worried if Rath hadn’t come to me two days ago to get me to talk to Zan again. When I found him in his room in the state he was in, I knew it was bad. The healer I sent for confirmed my suspicions.”

Liz frowned, “What happened?” When Diana hesitated, Liz prompted, “Diana, just tell me, I need to know what I can to do to save him. I love him too much to lose him.”

With a nod, Diana recounted the entire incident from two days ago. Liz sat there with wide, worried eyes as she listened to Diana describe the way she had found her son drenched in sweat, writhing on his bed. He had been fighting the beast within with his last strength. It had gotten so bad that he’d been unable to speak without reverting to the Wahani language. At his request, Diana had called the healer to administer the medicated shot that would sedate Zan’s inner wildness. But what had alarmed them had been the fact that the shot should have taken effect immediately. Instead, it had taken a few heartbeats to work on Zan.

When Diana finished, Liz didn’t hesitate to tell Diana she would talk to Zan as soon as they were alone. “You’re right. He’s too close to losing it. I’ll talk to him as soon as I can and I won’t give up until I convince him that we don’t have to wait.”

Diana smiled, took Liz’s hand in hers and whispered, “I know he will be your first. You have no idea how frightened and embarrassed I am to have to ask you to do this.”

Liz shook her head, “Don’t be. I understand that it may be scary, depending on how Zan reacts to me when we are alone, but it’s Zan. The man I’m going to marry. I love him and I want to spend my life with him so if I have to walk through the fires of hell to do it, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Diana drew Liz into a fierce hug as she remembered the words Zan had said to her when he’d first told her about Liz “She's so strong and beautiful. She's been through so much, but she's survived it all." He had gone on to explain her parent’s death and the recent gang threat. Now, sitting there and talking to Liz, Diana knew his words to be true. Liz was a very strong girl and Diana knew she’d be the only one capable of saving her son.

**********************************************************************

“You will do exactly as I say!” roared Phillip.

“I am not marrying Nobleman Alban’s daughter! I told you I am marrying Liz! She’s my ulhi’maos!”

“No she’s not! You only wish she were!”

“Your Majesty, Zan isn’t lying. She really is.” interjected Rath.

“Don’t you dare take his side just because the two of you grew up together Ra’thlan!”

“Da’kata!” Zan cursed, “Why won’t you listen to me!” For the last ten minutes they had been arguing about this. After Phillip had finished getting all of the updates from the council members, he had then let them know what the advancements he’d made were. It had been only one. He had invited Nobleman Alban’s daughter to dinner the following evening and told Zan that he was proposing to her or else.

That had been the beginning of the argument they were now embroiled in. The only problem was that there were three sides instead of just two. Zan had immediately let Phillip know he was marrying Liz and only Liz because she was his soul mate. Rath and Kyle were both behind him, explaining that if Zan wasn’t with Liz, he would lose his sanity.

Phillip refused to believe that Zan was that close to turning. Mainly because Zan had always appeared calm and rational in front of him. Phillip had never had the privilege that Diana and Rath had of witnessing Zan getting so close to madness. He had tried to make them all see that their people would never accept a human as their queen especially since so many of them still remembered the atrocities the humans had committed against them.

However, while Rath and Kyle took Zan’s side, they also insisted that Zan stop trying to fight and give in to being with Liz because he wasn’t as in control of himself as he claimed to be. All of the other members, including Valenti, wisely stayed out of it since none of them even knew who Liz was. So, it was Phillip against Zan and his friends, then Zan against his friends.

Zan tried to keep up with the arguments coming at him from both sides, but eventually the frustration and anger began to wear him thin. He growled when his father once more commanded him to marry the woman he’d chosen for his son and forget that that human girl even existed.

“I SAID I’M MARRYING LIZ!” Zan roared, as his hands curled into fists.

“You will marry who I say you will!”

Rath noticed the way Zan was beginning to shake and the way his chest rose and fell as if he were prepping for battle. “Um, Your Majesty, I think we should save this discussion for later.”

Phillip sneered, “No! There will be no discussion. I’ve given the order! You will do as I say! End of discussion!”

Not even Rath was prepared for what happened next.

Phillip hadn’t even finished his tirade when Zan had instantly shape shifted right before their eyes and launched himself at his father. Phillip had barely saved himself by jumping back in surprise as both Rath and Kyle caught Zan by his outstretched arms and tried to hold him back. If the King hadn’t been quick enough, Zan’s wicked claws would have been embedded themselves in his neck, probably even severing it.

With a roar of rage, Zan began to fight his captors, unaware that he was fighting his friends. All Phillip and the others could do was watch in stunned silence as Zan managed to get in several good swipes and bites to both Rath and Kyle. Both men tried to talk to Zan, but he was too far gone to even understand them.

Valenti was the first to recover since he realized just how close his son was coming to losing a body part. He quickly opened the door to the conference room and shouted, “Guards! Find a healer and get him in here quickly! Tell them to bring the ireca with them!”

Valenti turned and moved to help the two telling them to get him on the ground so they could hold him down for the healers to administer the ireca shots.

As a healer came barreling through the door, an assistant in tow, Zan managed to throw Kyle off him and lunged for Phillip again. Rath twisted his body and shoved Zan back, right into Kyle who’d regained his balance. Zan immediately whirled around and lashed out with his claws.

Kyle hissed in pain as his forearm was laid open almost to the bone.

Valenti reacted, “Da’kata! Get him on the ground now!” He turned to the guards at the door, “Get in here and help us restrain him!”

It took the three of them, plus three guards to wrestle Zan onto the floor. Valenti held Zan’s head, baring his neck so that the healer could administer the shot.

Thankfully the healer was calm enough and quick enough to stick the needle in as soon as he saw the opportunity, but when Zan continued to growl, thrash, and attempt to get back on his feet, the healer held out his hand for another shot.

The second one did the trick after several long heartbeats. Just when the healer was starting to panic and reach for a third shot, Zan went limp.

Slowly, every one of the men holding Zan down let go of him. Rath was the last one to let go. While Valenti remained sitting and completely focused on the now comatose Zan, Rath stood up and looked his King dead in the eye.

As Phillip continued to stand in shocked silence, Rath said, “Now you have your proof. None of us were lying, Your Highness.”


TBC...

Oh man! Is it really almost Friday already? I'm soooo sorry guys, I just got a promotion and I've had to transition between my old position and my new one this week and it's been tough! My old manager just doesn't want to let me go (he calls me his best worker... ) but I have to fill the new position now because the girl who had it before me already left for her new life overseas. So, I've been flying from one side to the other all week! On the bright side, I'll be firmly in my new position starting Monday and hopefully will have more time to write again. But here's the long awaited new part...

Oh I can hear the protests already...

bluesands- hmmmm?
Rhonda-
imnotlc- what about Liz?
spray- It would be funny wouldn't it? Sorry so late.
roswell- Liz will certainly try.
Vero- me too!
candy- okay, so comatose meant 'knocked out' 'sedated'.... take your pick.
Evansgurl- wish I could post every day, but alas, RL loves to intrude...
Izzy-
Jessica- awwwww.....
tequa- thanks!
mlover- here I am!


Part 19

“Tell me, Your Majesty, after what you just witnessed are you still willing to tell your son, the only heir to the throne, that he cannot marry his ulhi’maos? Are you really willing to lose your son to madness?” asked Rath in a half growl, half whisper.

Phillip couldn’t move. All he could do was stare at his only son lying unconscious on the floor. He was still in complete shock over watching Zan completely shifting into Wahani form and lunging at him as if he wanted to rip him apart. Instead, the men who’d restrained Zan had suffered for it, especially Kyle, who was currently sitting in a chair letting the healer administer to the forearm Zan had literally ripped apart.

Finally, realization sank in and Phillip closed his eyes. Rath was right. They had all told him the truth. Zan had no choice but to be with Liz, even if she was a human. Sighing, he looked down at Zan once more as tears stung his eyes. His stubbornness and prejudices had nearly cost him his son’s life. He just hoped he hadn’t gone too far.

Looking at Rath, he swallowed the lump of grief in his throat, “Get my son to bed. I’ll go make the arrangements to bring his ulhi’maos here immediately. As soon as you can, meet me at the manufactory building and we will go get her.”

Rath shook his head, “We don’t have to do that, Your Majesty. Liz is already here. She should be in Zan’s rooms visiting with the Queen and your daughter.”

**********************************************************************

Liz was listening as Diana explained to her about all the events that would be taking place on the day of Zan’s birthday. She had told Liz that the day would begin with the celebration of Zan’s twentieth year, then that would be immediately followed by his coronation. After that, there would be a break in which most people would be enjoying the festival that would have started at day break and would last until day break the following day. After midday meal, the wedding would begin and immediately after the wedding would be the gala held for the new King and Queen.

Diana was just beginning to explain what went on during the gala, when Phillip entered the room, followed by Rath, Valenti, and three guards. The only one not attempting to carry Zan’s lifeless body was Phillip. Instead, he had come in and immediately looked at Liz with a very guilty look on his face.

The moment Liz and Diana realized it was Zan whom the five men were carrying, they sprang to their feet. Diana’s eyes snapped to her husband’s guilty face and although she had a hunch, she still heatedly whispered to Phillip, “What happened to my son?”

Phillip never looked at his wife, instead he watched as Liz made her way to where the men were carrying Zan towards the stairs. Rath called a halt as Liz leaned over and looked at him. Reaching up, she brushed a strand of hair from his face. As her eyes traveled the length of him, making sure he was still intact, a frown began to form on her face.

She looked up at Rath and nodded, letting him know it was okay to take Zan up to his room. As the men continued up the stairs with Zan, Liz turned around with the frown still on her face and faced Phillip.

“Let me guess. You tried to get him to take another woman as his bride, the two of you fought, and he lost it?”

Phillip lowered his head, “I’m sorry…I”

“You’re sorry!” growled Diana.

“Yes! I had no idea.” he turned beseeching eyes on Liz, “I thought they were making it up. My son has never been anything other than in control around me. There was never any hint at all that Zan wasn’t okay.”

Liz nodded, “And now?”

“Now, I know the truth.” he paused a moment before going on, “I’m just sorry that it had to come to this. That I had to see him change like that.” He swallowed his fear, “It took two shots to sedate him and six men to hold him down. Even then, the healer was about to administer a third shot when he finally went under. I don’t know if he’s going to wake up sane at this point.”

Diana gasped, “Two shots! Od‘yia dimo, Phillip!”

Liz looked in the direction of the stairs as she asked, “What exactly does the shot do?”

Diana answered her, “It’s called ireca and works like a tranquilizer. A shot is given to any of our people who seem to be losing control to the wildness within. One shot is supposed to knock them out for a bit and when they wake up, the wildness should be contained. But Liz, it’s taken two shots and even then it took a while for him to be sedated! So, we have no idea if he is going to be calm when he wakes up!”

Liz nodded and turned her back to them as she continued to stare at the empty stairs. Sighing, she closed her eyes and said, “I’m going to go up and wait for him to wake. I’ll talk to him.”

Phillip and Diana glanced at each other before Phillip took a step towards Liz, “But we don’t even know if he’ll be himself when he wakes!”

Liz turned back to look at Phillip and with a squaring of her jaw, she said, “That’s just a chance I’m going to have to take.”

As she started for the stairs, Phillip interjected, “Wait! Please!”

She shook her head, “No, I have to do this.”

Phillip nodded, “I understand, but maybe we should take some precautions.”

“Like?”

“Like we should have the men tie him to the bed so that he can’t harm you or himself. There should also be a healer on hand with more of the ireca on hand and…”

Liz shook her head again, “No, no one will be in the room with us.”

Phillip frowned, “It’s too risky, Liz.”

“I can handle him. I know he won’t hurt me.”

Phillip looked at his wife with a questioning glance. Diana stared at Liz for a moment before finally nodding to Phillip. “I think she’s right, Phillip. He’s always stopped himself from hurting her.”

Phillip closed his eyes and sighed, “Fine. You can go in alone.” Opening his eyes he continued, “But he will still be tied up and all of the men will be down here on alert with the ireca just in case you need us. All you have to do is scream and we’ll be there instantly. Understand?”

Liz nodded, “I understand.”

Phillip led the way up the stairs into Zan’s bedroom where all of the still were. Two of the guards had taken up posts at the door, while the third guard stood at the foot of the bed. Rath and Valenti were sitting on either side of Zan on the bed.

As Phillip entered with Diana and Liz in tow, all of the men raised their heads towards them.

Phillip gave them the news, “Liz is going to stay with him.”

Rath stiffened, but before he could say anything Phillip continued, “Valenti, I need you and Ra’thlan to secure the Prince to the bed.” He turned to the guard at the foot of the bed, “You go find a healer and tell him that I want him in the Prince’s living area on stand by with as many shots of ireca he can find. Accompany him back and stay with him. The rest of us will join you when the Prince is secured.”

The guard bowed and immediately left to do the King’s bidding. Ra’thlan and Valenti took the chains that the other two guards wore at their hips and used them to fasten Zan’s wrists and ankles to the bed posts. They tested the hold of the chains and made sure Zan wouldn’t be able to get out of them easily.

Rath turned to the King and said, “These chains should hold against his extra strength, but he could end up hurting himself if he struggles too hard, Your Majesty.”

“I’ll make sure he won’t have that chance, Rath.” replied Liz.

Rath gave her a frown, clearly he didn’t like this at all, but even he could see the determined look on Liz’s face. He finally gave her a quick bow and joined the others at the door.

Phillip looked at Liz once more, “Remember, keep him tied up and if it gets to be too much, scream and we will come immediately.”

Liz nodded, “I will.”

“Be careful, nu’halla.”

Liz gave him a reassuring smile as he gave her arm a gentle squeeze. He walked to the door as Diana gave Liz a hug.

“I know you’ll reach him Liz.” She pulled away to look in her eyes, “But please be careful. You can’t save Zan if you don’t save yourself too.”

Liz smiled, “I know Diana. I know what I’m doing.”

Liz stood there watching as they all filed out of the door. Rath was the last one to exit. He turned around and gave her a silent look that told her he understood what she was doing. He gave her one final nod before he closed the door, leaving her completely alone with Zan.

**********************************************************************

Maria sighed as she sat in the middle of her bed, hugging herself. She could hear her parents in the living room as their frantic voices reached her. They had managed to get a few of the members of their group together to search for Liz. That had been over six hours ago.

When Amy and William had gotten home and found Maria alone in her room crying and Liz no where in sight, they had instantly gone on alert. As Amy asked Maria where Liz was, William had gone searching on the grounds for her. All Maria had said was ‘she’s gone’ over and over again in between her sobs.

Her parents had assumed something bad had happened to Liz since Maria seemed to be somewhere between a state of shock and grief over the loss of her best friend. It wasn’t much of a stretch for them to assume that the Hell’s Angels had something to do with Liz’s disappearance.

So, they had rounded up as many of the members as they could and organized a search party for Liz. Still, six hours later they had not found a single clue as to where Liz was. Not even the Hell’s Angels seemed to have Liz since they had spent most of their time at a drive in diner making all kinds of ruckus.

As every member made their way back to the DeLuca’s empty handed, Amy and William became more and more discouraged about ever finding Liz. They had attempted to ask Maria once more, but Maria had simply sat in the middle of her bed, with tears still sliding down her cheeks and whispered once more, “She’s gone.”

Maria could hear them insisting that no one had looked hard enough, that somehow they had all missed some clues. They refused to believe that Liz could have disappeared without a trace especially since their own daughter seemed to be acting as if she had witnessed something too horrible to get over.

Maria closed her eyes as a wave of guilt ran through her. She knew she couldn’t tell them the truth. Granted, the only words she had said so far wasn’t a lie since Liz was really gone, but she knew where Liz was. She also knew Liz was perfectly fine. But how could she tell her parents not to worry about Liz? The words ‘Liz went to another dimension to marry her ulhi’maos, her soul mate’ would definitely make her parents think she had finally lost it completely and commit her.

So, since her parents had come in to find her still crying over Liz leaving with Zan, she had simply let them think she was too upset to explain and had left it with ‘she’s gone.’ Thankfully her parents had taken that and ran with it. Now, Maria wasn’t going to tell them the truth, but it didn’t prevent her from feeling guilty.

She could hear the others beginning to take their leave. All of them said they would continue to keep their eyes and ears open for any sign of Liz. After they were gone, Maria heard her mother once again tell her father that she still believed the Hell’s Angels took Liz. William said he agreed, but there was still no tangible evidence that would make the others stand up and fight against the gang.

Maria turned sad eyes towards the door when she heard it open. Her father stuck his head in and gave her a gentle smile, “Your mother and I are going to turn in for the night, ‘Ria. You should try to get some sleep too, okay?”

Maria nodded.

William came into the room and sat next to her, giving her a hug. “It’s going to be okay Maria. I promise we’ll find her.” He hugged her tighter, “Do you need me to stay with you?”

She shook her head.

“You sure?”

“I’ll be okay, daddy.” she sniffed.

“Okay. Please try to get some sleep, sweetheart.”

“I will. Good night dad.” she said as her father went to the door.

“Night, ‘Ria.” he replied, closing the door behind him.

**********************************************************************

Rath and Phillip stood at the very bottom of the stairs in similar stances. Both had their arms folded over their chests and stared up the stairs as if listening for the slightest sound. Diana and the healer sat on one of the couches trying to appear relaxed while the three guards stood at attention near the entrance from the hallway. Valenti was pacing from the guards to the stairs. All of them had been waiting in various states of unrest for the last three and a half hours.

Diana sighed as she looked at her husband and Rath, “I don’t think having the two of you standing there like that is going to make this happen any faster. I think we all know it may be a very long night.”
When neither one of them gave any indication that they had heard her, she raised her voice, “Phillip, Ra’thlan! Sit down!”

Rath immediately stiffened, but he grudgingly did as she said and sat down in a chair as close to the stairs as possible. Phillip on the other hand just looked at her over her shoulder and said, “Long night or not, I’ll never forgive myself if something happened to either one of them.”

No one said another word as they continued to wait.

It was almost an hour later when they heard the deafening roar descending down the stairs.

Instantly they were all on their feet. Rath was already on the stairs when Phillip pulled him back, “Wait! We can’t go.”

Rath growled, “What are you talking about!”

The King gritted his teeth, “I told Liz we wouldn’t go up until she screamed.”

“He could be killing her!” protested Rath.

Diana shook her head, “No, Ra’thlan. He isn’t. I trust Liz. I know she can handle him. Phillip’s right. If Liz needs us, she won’t hesitate to call to us. I think he’s still tied up and is upset about that.”

Phillip nodded, “She’ll call to us if she needs us. We can’t interfere until Liz asks or we could very well mess things up beyond repair.”

As several faint growls echoed down to them, Rath tensed up for a moment, looking like he was ready to bolt up the stairs. But he finally conceded and allowed the King to pull him back into the living area as the growls faded away. Once more they all went back to their waiting.


TBC...