triangularity | AUs of our AUs: A timeline diverges, and a would-be queen leaves her kingdom behind.

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hadand

AUs of our AUs: A timeline diverges, and a would-be queen leaves her kingdom behind.

Hadand knew he was here. She waited in the throne room, dressed in her family's green rather than the royal crimson, a black sash at her waist. Cama stood by in Shield Arm position, having had both the faith in Hadand and Evred and the air of authority necessary to take over the Guard and back Hadand's orders. When Evred finally reached the throne room, his arrival heralded as much by the people's gasps and murmurs as by any formal announcement, she saluted, fist to heart.

Everything blurred together after that. Evred got her alone at first opportunity, taking Hadand by the hands once they were safely shut into the royal nursery where they had grown up together. "You held the kingdom. There's nothing greater anyone could ask."

It struck her suddenly, how tall and straight he'd grown. Only his expressions distinguished him from his late father. There were new lines around his eyes since last she'd seen him. Even at twenty, he was old enough and wise enough that Hadand could easily trust him with a kingdom. She would trust Evred with anything, herself included. He could never care for her romantically, of course, and she stamped out any faint tendrils of attraction before they could take root and grow strong.

"Sponge--" she started, cutting herself off at use of the childhood nickname. "Evred, I know you have far more than your share of worries right now, but could I ask you to take on one more?" At his nod of assent, an unspoken 'of course' implied in the look that accompanied it, she continued. "There are whispers in the palace. Eyes follow me, and people stop speaking when I enter a room. I've no wish to burden you, but things changed after my father went home to Choread Elgaer. I fear it may mean more trouble coming."

He squeezed her hands briefly before releasing them. "Hadand," and he paused here to consider his words, "you know that I trust you completely, and know you too well to believe any testimony against you." The one bit of broken trust between them had been long-since forgiven, though never forgotten. Evred loved her like a sister. He had always trusted and looked up to her, in a way he never had his own sibling.

"That means there is false testimony," Hadand concluded, as he'd known she would. "Lies to further muddy the waters, as if things weren't bad enough. What do they say?"

Evred's mouth twisted. "You were implicated in my brother's assassination." At her look of outrage, he continued, "I doubt they can get you executed for it, but they will almost certainly have you imprisoned in the numbers they are amassing to back their story.

"Hadand, I want you to go. Like Inda." He never mentioned Inda aloud anymore, but Hadand knew her youngest brother was always in Evred's thoughts. The name alone was proof of his seriousness. "I want you out of reach of this, and there will be no honorable return to Iasca Leror. It is all I can do for you. You deserve to be Hadand-Gunvaer, and hailed as Deheldegarthe by the people. You earned that place. You defended the throne with your own two hands, and I had thought to ask..."

He trails off momentarily, before shaking his head. "Go to Lindeth Harbor. Sail on the ship with least ties to home."

Hadand had remained stoic throughout the speech, but that last word, home, broke her facade. Evred could see how lost she felt now, rather than just surmising it. She knew nothing of space travel. When Barend came home to speak of his time aboard ships, it sounded like nonsense to her. And Iasca Leror was, of course, her home. Hadand could recall no time when she had not known that she would be its queen one day. Her life was here. Her family, what little of it remained to her, was here.

Her family.

With Hadand gone, that would leave not a single one of her parents' children alive and within the kingdom. Her mother would be left with the two girls she'd raised to wed the two sons now lost to her, and not even any letters from a daughter in the royal city as consolation.

That was unacceptable. "If I go," she said quietly, "I need a promise from you. As my friend, my family, and my king."

"Anything," he promised, "if it is within my power to do."

Hadand breathed deep before she spoke again, chin jutting out stubbornly. "Bring my brother home. Swear it to me, and swear it to my mother. Write to my mother from time to time. Tell her I escaped safely. Pass along my love, if you can manage it." She reached out, very lightly touching Evred's arm. Her voice was very soft. "Inda's situation was nothing like mine. He refused a whipping after contrived boyhood dishonor, not because he was afraid but because he did not deserve it. Find a way to set it aside. The revelation of your uncle's other treachery should help. Find Inda, and set things right."

He said he would, and so, she left.

As luck would have it, Hadand found the most foreign ship of all, one whose ties were in an entirely different part of the galaxy. Hadand pled her case with Captain Janeway of the Voyager and was allowed aboard. It pained her to leave Iasca Leror and know that there would truly be no return, but at least now there can be no second guessing.

Hadand can never go home.

She tries to settle into her new life aboard ship, the greenest of new recruits but willing to learn. Hadand cautiously works her way into the crew trying to find a place and a purpose after losing the only ones she'd known.

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Oh, Hadand will tease him red in the face, she's only a little sorry to say. She has every intention of making it up to him very thoroughly later, though.

"Are you trying to get rid of me, Chakotay?" she starts, seeing right through his real goal. Merriment is obvious in her face and voice as she nods a greeting to B'Elanna. "I would never begrudge you time to yourself with a friend, so that almost seems like a diversionary tactic."

In case Harry could hear, Hadand grins his way and waves hello to assure him it wasn't a slight. She'll be happy to stop by and check in on the second-most dismayed guest at this party in a little while, if he doesn't come over first.

Before Chakotay can even think to respond, B'Elanna takes over the conversation. "No, he's just afraid I'm going to ask something like why he didn't tell me about this earlier," she huffs in what he can tell is a playfully serious tone. "I'm supposed to be your best friend, Chakotay. These are things you tell your best friend."

"Like you told me when you and Paris started making out in the maintenance shafts?" he shoots back.

"That was different," she retorts.

"Right, because we were all being pushed around by invisible aliens performing experiments on us."

It sounds utterly ridiculous, more so because they know it's true, and neither of them can keep a straight face after that. B'Elanna leans in so both Chakotay and Handand can hear. "At least you two didn't get lectured by the captain while she'd had a week-long migraine."

Chakotay snickers in spite of himself, grinning at Hadand. None of this answers her question but maybe it'll give him a little bit of a headstart in dealing with how to answer. Hopefully before B'Elanna takes over.

Hadand watches the banter between Chakotay and B'Elanna appreciatively, a smile on her own face. It's good to see that kind of comfortable friendship, because they both deserve it, even if a part of her still finds it strange after growing up in a society so divided by gender. Men and women could be, and were, friends, but the sort of easy camaraderie that Chakotay and B'Elanna have was rare outside of one's own sex. She likes, actually, that Voyager doesn't have all of the divisions she's used to.

She lets them wind down and then lets Chakotay off the hook to actually answer. He may wish she had kept her attention on him soon enough. Instead, she turns to B'Elanna and tells her, "In his defense, he didn't have much chance to tell you. I caught him off guard last night."

She doesn't intend to put on a show for the whole crew gathered to laugh at them, but Hadand won't avoid contact with Chakotay either. A light, affectionate touch to his arm punctuates her soft teasing, "I thought kissing him the only reasonable response to a love story, but Chakotay seemed very surprised by it."

Very pleasantly surprised, if his response was anything to go by. Then everything that came after the kissing... it felt inevitable. There was no separating Hadand from Chakotay if he was willing to have her.

One other thing caught her attention in that exchange, and Hadand suppresses a grin. "Ours wasn't the first lecture Captain Janeway has given, then?"

B'Elanna's eyebrows shoot up, only heightening Chakotay's embarrassment. He should have headed them both off at this rate.

"Oh, you gave her one of your stories?" she chides. "And you didn't expect anything to happen?"

"I didn't want to assume!" he protests, feeling childish.

"So selfless, Chakotay. It's a good thing one of you takes charge."

A smirk meets his groan.

"That's what the party's about, you know," B'Elanna continues, leaning towards Hadand despite any attempt Chakotay gives to stop her. "It's an Earth custom from a place called Hawaii. These flower necklaces are called leis. What you two did last night has a similar name."

"B'Elanna..."

It's no use and he knows it. Her smirk widens.

"Congratulations, you two. You got laid."

Chakotay lifts a hand to his face. What he wouldn't give for the ability to tunnel his way out of here.

"I didn't know how well I was hiding my feelings for you, Chakotay. Am I right, that most of the ship had already assumed? I almost think you were the only one who didn't." The party they've thrown today would imply it. The crew is clearly very... invested... in this relationship, and not shy about showing that.

Hadand's mouth quirks in amusement at Chakotay's protests, silent and otherwise, and when B'Elanna offers her that bit of Earth slang, she bursts out laughing.

The sight of Chakotay in much the same posture as Harry was when they came in does nothing to dampen her humor.

"Thank you, B'Elanna," she says, completely unembarrassed. "I think the occasion is worth celebrating, I just didn't expect the whole crew to agree with me."

"They might not," B'Elanna admits, grinning at Chakotay's response. "But when your biggest fan is Naomi Wildman, it's hard to argue."

Chakotay had known they were getting Naomi in on things. He had just known.

"I think I'll leave you two to your gossip," he mutters, deciding that he and Harry Kim have a lot more in common right now. It might be better to let B'Elanna and Hadand talk out of his earshot.

Hadand puts a hand on Chakotay's arm as he moves to walk away. The look she gives him is half worried, half apologetic. Embarrassment is one thing and she'll make it up to him later. She just wants to make certain she hasn't upset or offended him. That was never her intention.

"I'd like to get to know Naomi," Hadand says thoughtfully. "I am fond of children, and if she's so supportive while I'm still a near stranger, I ought to thank her."

Don't worry, she won't scandalize the little girl with the kinds of jokes she'd tell B'Elanna.

B’Elanna takes note of that touch and as soon as Chakotay is out of earshot and over by Harry’s table, she’s quick to reassure. In her own way.

“Don’t worry about him. By tomorrow, he’ll be laughing at this whole thing.” He will. She has no doubts that he will.

“Naomi is here. Her mom couldn’t convince her to stay away.” B’Elanna smirks, glancing through the crowd. “There she is. Over by Tom.”

Naomi is currently standing on one of the couches in the corner of the Mess Hall, talking animatedly with Tom and a couple other crew members. Looking back to Hadand, B’Elanna smirks. “Want to meet her now or should I arrange a chance meeting?”

"You're sure?" Hadand asks, smiling in thanks for the assurance. "Marlovans don't hesitate to talk about sex unless children are present, so I'm never certain where human boundaries are on the subject. Teasing is more comfortable for me than any other response you could come up with. It's like home."

Hence her utter lack of embarrassment.

She grins. "Now is as good a time as any."

"In two days, I'll have reminded him of the time Tom and I got a lecture from the captain and he'll look back on this whole thing with amusement," B'Elanna assures her, leading the way over to Naomi. The little girl grins up at Hadand with no shame in her eyes. In fact, she looks pretty mischievous.

"Naomi, this is Hadand."

"I remember seeing you," Naomi comments, offering a hand to shake. "I'm Naomi Wildman, Captain's Assistant. You're Commander Chakotay's special someone."

She laughs. "I defer to you. You've known him much longer, and I didn't expect to end up in this situation. No one has scolded me in years." And then she follows B'Elanna

Hadand and Chakotay hadn't gotten around to discussion of terminology, and she takes Naomi's hand firmly in her own warm and calloused one. With an amused smile down at the girl, she replies, "I suppose so. Is that the preferred term for it?"

"At least your scolding didn't come in the middle of the captain's week-long migraine," B'Elanna points out with a smirk. That had been an experience.

Naomi is almost the picture of innocence. Almost. If that mischievous smirk weren't on her face, it might work better. "That's all they let me call you," she clarifies, knowing well that there are other adult terms everyone else uses. "He loves you. Anyone can tell. The important question is, do you love him?"

She does her best to limit the smile at Tom and B'Elanna's expense, but doesn't bother hiding it completely. "I'll be grateful for that, yes. What was yours for? I'm sure you've already heard about our lack of foresight."

Hadand laughs softly at the first part of what Naomi says, but the second? She looks the little girl very seriously in the eyes and says, "Oh, yes. I love him very much, and I should have told him sooner." It seems silly now, all of her doubts about whether Chakotay returned her feelings. The entire ship had guessed. In fairness, the entire ship has known him longer than Hadand has.

B'Elanna smirks. "Making out like cadets with on duty. Not as impressive as yours, but ours was more public."

Naomi seems to approve of Hadand's answer. "That's what a good Captain's Assistant has to be sure of," she declares. Crew morale is important, even if she isn't the official morale officer. And the Commander has to be able to perform his job for the Captain. It's all connected. Speaking of morale, though: "Do you play Kadis-Kot?"

B'Elanna unsuccessfully stifles a huff of a laugh. "Now you're doomed."

"I wasn't aware romance fell under the captain's jurisdiction. Or even the captain's assistant's." Hadand's smile and voice are warm, obviously teasing just a little and not offended.

"I don't. What sort of game is it?"

She can be doomed, if that's how things turn out. There are far worse fates to fall prey to than Naomi.

Chakotay must have a radar for when Hadand is about to get pulled into something with the crew. He's also over being teased, which B'Elanna had known he would be. At this point, he turns up at Hadand's side, gazing at Naomi, who watches him impishly in return.

"She's been influenced a little heavily by Neelix," he explains with no small amount of amusement. "Kadis-Kot is a type of board game. Naomi's favorite. Why don't I play on Hadand's side against you, Naomi? Are those acceptable terms?"

The little girl's impish grin continues. "I accept your terms, Commander."

B'Elanna huffs out an amused snort. "I'll leave you to your game." This is not exactly her area of expertise. Besides, she has gossip to catch up on.

"One game," Chakotay says to both Hadand and Naomi. After that... well, all bets are off as to what he'll want to do with Hadand. Or she with him.

"One game," she agrees, the mischief and appreciation in her lingering gaze implying that she does have some idea of what she'd like to do after.

Then she turns back to Naomi, her smile a little softer. "You'll have to teach me. I wouldn't want Commander Chakotay supplying all of the strategy, now would I?"

Hadand likes children, she's spent a lot of time studying strategy, and there's a sense of kinship among women and girls within her people that she's been starved for lately. Time with B'Elanna is a good start, and a board game with Naomi doesn't seem like a bad continuation either. If the game is interesting, she might even seek out the little girl another day for more rounds.

Chakotay manages somehow to hide the twist of a smirk that keeps trying to cross his lips. He can guess as to what she has in mind; it's exactly what he'd like to have happen as well.

"I was thinking you'd be supplying all the strategy," he comments with a laugh. "Naomi's good at Kadis-Kot, she's had practice, but you're good at strategy."

Maybe he'll just step aside and watch. It might honestly be better and more fun for all.

Naomi, for her part, grins, clearly pleased and not at all worried about two-on-one. "I can teach you," she agrees, setting the board up properly after asking what color Hadand would want to be. They play their game well, keeping up conversation as they go and proving that Naomi is going to be quite good at strategy herself when she grows up. She might even make a good captain herself some day, capable of explaining the game in easy-to-understand terms that aren't patronizingly small. Afterwards, she wraps her arms around Hadand. "Thanks for playing. We could play another game sometime."

Chakotay's smile turns warm as he watches them. "I think you've got another fan."

Hadand likes Naomi immediately. She can imagine Tdor at that age taking to the game just as well. It is the sort of game that would work well for her own people, so intent on teaching their children how to fight and defend themselves from an early age. It would be a good, quiet counterpoint to all their more active war games.

She shoots Chakotay a look as he sits back and lets her make the decisions, but she isn't objecting, either. Hadand thoroughly enjoys herself.

When Naomi hugs her, Hadand returns it immediately, not a hint of awkwardness in the gesture. Then she steps back and leans over to kiss the girl on top of the head. "Thank you for teaching me."

She does glance at Chakotay in mild bemusement, either real or feigned. "I haven't any fans."

Because that... is a new bit of slang. She can guess at its meaning if she needs to, but there's no need for political caution here. Easier and more enjoyable to tease him.

"You're welcome. I'll see you later." Naomi grins brightly at Hadand as she waves and moves off to find her mother. Or most likely Tom and B'Elanna.

Chakotay shakes his head fondly, unable to hide his own smile at the two of them. This was definitely a good idea and he can see them getting along very well in the future. If he's any judge, he'd bet that both Neelix and Samantha Wildman were watching. All the better for them to see Hadand with Naomi if they were.

"Fan," he explains, his smile turning a little more amused. If she's teasing him, he's going to fall for it and still be amused. Just in case she isn't, he'll offer an explanation anyway. "In this context, it means someone who looks up to you. I'd say Naomi really likes you, so she's your new fan."

"I suspected as much," Hadand admits, grinning and nudging his arm with her shoulder. "We have enough of our own strange slang that I'm not bothered by anyone else's. It is nice being able to ask, though. I couldn't have, at home. Marlovans have reputations as uncultured barbarians, and I was in a position of enough power that I didn't dare show that sort of weakness."

Which is why she tends to pick up nuance so well, and also why she loves not needing to. It's remarkably freeing.

Chakotay leans over to briefly kiss her temple, heedless of the fact that everyone in the mess could see if they're watching. Things like that no longer seem to matter now that the entire ship knows the state of their relationship.

"You never have to worry about that," he says with a smile. "We much prefer being asked rather than having the wrong assumption be made. I'm sure you can imagine Tuvok's reaction that." The Vulcan wouldn't see the point and would readily make his opinion on that known.

"I don't think they expect us to stay for the entire time, so if we decide to slip away at some point, they'll understand," he continues, smiling almost cheekily down at her. He may or may not be happy to slip away and do something on their own time.

"Have I said how nice it is not to be a diplomat?" Hadand says to Chakotay, grinning and practically glowing in the aftermath of the public display of affection. Discretion was important, back home. As much as waiting and watching until she was sure of herself.

With a mischievous smile of her own, she asks "Were you hoping to slip away?"

"Having some time off of being constantly vigilant would be nice," he agrees teasingly, knowing that Hadand's life was far more than something as simple as that. "Sometimes it's easier to leave that to Neelix."

Not necessarily better. Morale officer he was, but perfect diplomat he was not. Especially among the crew.

His smile turns impish. "I might have thought about it. My endurance isn't quite what it used to be."

She snorts. Given all her time with Neelix, Hadand may have started to like the man, but she will never consider him a diplomat. "I don't think I'd like having no discipline, but it's odd how freeing being a part of someone else's command structure is."

Then he makes his comment, and Hadand grins at the innuendo.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," she teases, "seeing as it interferes with a few of my ideas for this evening."

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