Hadand Algara-Vayir (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deheldegarthe) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
triangularity2015-02-05 11:06 pm
deheldegarthe) wrote in triangularity2015-02-05 11:06 pm
Entry tags:
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.
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.
no subject
A very small sigh of relief is Hadand's only reaction to Chakotay's lack of one. She hoped for that, but still doesn't know quite what to expect.
Hadand snags Chakotay's hand to kiss it before he can get started on anything, then asks bluntly, "With or without clothes?" Because massages are more thorough without them, but that also might seem to him like jumping into the middle of things.
"I get awful headaches when I'm under too much stress. This undoes them." Hence not needing one right now. She isn't stressed, because she's far too happy about the shift in her relationship with him.
no subject
He smiles at the kiss to his hand, leaning over briefly to echo that gesture with a kiss to her cheek. "I'll let you decide," he murmurs against her ear. He certainly wouldn't be against losing clothes, but if there's a way she prefers to go about this, he also won't force her into anything.
She might not be stressed now, but this is definitely information that he will keep in mind for the future. Hadand may find herself more spoiled with each piece of information she gives him. He does, after all, take great pleasure in making her feel good.
"If I get too stressed, I usually try talking to my father or my spirit guide," he offers in return. "Sometimes even that isn't enough. Good food and good company help." He's never really had anyone other than Seska to offer massages or intimacy since he joined the Maquis, as far as he can remember. If Hadand decides to help him reclaim a lot of those memories from Seska's poison, he will not complain.
no subject
"The Odni also helps me. I'm not used to days without hours of physical training. I'm always more centered when I have it." And less out of breath. Fortunately the food on Voyager isn't overly rich.
Chakotay has seen her spar now, for real rather than simply moving through motions without an opponent to challenge her. She has a feeling that seeing her with Inda was a better summary of the world she grew up in than words could produce.
no subject
Seeing Hadand with Inda was eye-opening in more ways than one. Her brother gave him an idea of what her life and culture were really like and he hopes they can replicate at least some of it for her. B’Elanna would likely be the best candidate for the Odni, as her half-Klingon culture means she has warrior in her blood, whether she’s fully accepted it or not. And maybe being around someone like Hadand will help her come to understand and accept that part of her that she so dislikes.
Leading her over to the couch, he settles in cross-legged and motions for her to join him. “Have you managed to do much sparring lately?” Inda was one thing, but if he wants to keep Hadand relaxed and happy, he'll do what he needs to. Even if that means twisting B'Elanna's arm to learn the Odni with Hadand. And if B’Elanna decides she’s not interested, there’s always the holodeck. Provided they have the power reserves for it.
no subject
Hadand smiles more softly at Chakotay before kneeling sideways next to him on the couch and draping herself over its arm, head pillowed on one of her own arms.
"Not nearly enough. A little, with a few of the security officers, but that's generally been unarmed." Nothing with her knives. With wry amusement, she adds, "Maybe my spar with Inda will generate some interest in learning. We had enough spectators; I didn't plan on a shipwide demonstration match, but word does tend to spread." As their reception in the mess hall tonight proved.
no subject
"Have you asked B'Elanna if she would learn to spar with you?" he asks curiously. "After watching you and Inda, she might be more willing. Out of all the cultures on this ship, I think yours are the closest." Pitting Hadand against a full-blooded Klingon might be interesting as well. The two would have a lot to talk about as far as culture and fighting styles. B'Elanna is as close as they'll get, though. Maybe when they finally return to Earth...
no subject
"I haven't. I will, if you think she'd be interested and not just doing it as a favor to one or the other of us." B'Elanna is completely capable of speaking her mind, Hadand knows, but she's also friendly enough with Chakotay, and starting to establish a friendship with Hadand, that it's worth ensuring the other woman will enjoy it for her own sake.
Speaking of sparring with Inda, though... "Thank you for being here," Hadand tells Chakotay softly. "I'm still grateful I got to see my brother, but it would have been even harder to watch him go yesterday if I didn't have you."
He helped all along, and the new shape of their relationship helps more.
no subject
That is something he can promise her. B'Elanna wouldn't just do something like that. As much difficulty as she's had with her Klingon heritage, he thinks this might be good for her, to see what other cultures are like, even if they're similar.
Hadand's other words have him falling briefly silent as he works. "I'm glad we have each other," he admits softly. "I would never have left you to face that alone." And he knows that if he ever has to go through anything personal and complicated, she would be there for him just the same as he has been for her.
no subject
"When I came aboard, I wasn't planning a life. I didn't think there was any way to make up for what I lost. My people, my home, my family. I couldn't see any direction except the one I was barred from." That loss is still vast and painful. It always will be, and Chakotay understands that better than most.
She sighs again as his hands shift, appreciating how observant he is. "You helped me find one. Not only... this, between us, but within the crew. A sense of purpose, and something to do with the hours before I went mad from sitting idle."
no subject
In some respects, Hadand shares a great many traits with Kathryn and it's little wonder that Chakotay's romantic feelings shifted the way they have. He will always care about Kathryn, but Hadand has a grip on his heart now as well.
"Life on Voyager has always been about finding something to do to help out. Even Neelix, and Kes when she was here, found ways to help out. Your place might not have been as easy to find, but I wasn't going to let you sit around and go mad. Besides, you have so much to offer to the entire crew, more than any of us saw at first glance."
Getting to know Hadand has been a blessing in its own right. Even if they were just friends, this is a relationship Chakotay has come to treasure. Hadand has many gifts and much of her own wisdom to offer. She is as much of a boon to the crew as anyone else. And for what it's worth, he's glad to have her here on the ship.