Celyz takes another half-hour to inspect the time construct to make sure it's safe before asking Jessica to activate it in her body to, once again, ascertain that her body isn't suffering damage from it.
“It seems safe, at least for the short duration it activated.” Celyz concludes.
“Good, but it consumes too much energy, any way to make it usable?” Jessica asks.
“You need to translate its function into segments to make a construct with a stable and fixed effect on your perception of time, at which point you should be able to share it with a little more work.” Celyz replies.
“Well, I suppose I'll do that, eventually.” Jessica grunts. “It probably means inventing a whole new core segment.”
“It does, but I am confident you will succeed if I spend a few weeks to teach you the basics.” Celyz carefully proposes, grasping to secure what little time they have left together.
The Princess is willing to experience the heartache of their separation if it means that they'll split closer to one another, increasing her odds to cross paths with Jessica again.
“Of course, but I don't have much to give you in return.” The human replies, looking away in shame.
“Your presence itself is plenty enough.” Celyz rasps awkwardly.
Jessica cannot help but smile happily, her right hand slowly rising up to her heart in an unconscious movement. The Princess very closely observes, taking the human's reaction as a clear sign that her embarrassing words were worth saying.
“When will you be ready to remove the symbiont?” Jessica suddenly asks.
“I, I thought to bring you to Mother to ensure that it goes well.” Celyz hesitantly replies, wrapping her tendrils around her torso to conceal that her mood dropped like a rock at the question.
Jessica is impatient to give Celyz all that she can but only when she is human again, to prove the sincerity of her love to herself and to the Princess. Which she can only do as Leomi allows, which she does even if she isn't aware of the loophole.
Jessica E. Vil has heard the Countess express that Elizabeth is a being one who seeks her personal pleasure before that of her partners, which means that Leomi likely wouldn't think Elizabeth would pleasure someone without a return.
“I hope you're not in a hurry then.” Jessica whispers more to herself than to the Princess, disappointed but unshaken in her resolve.
“I shall wait for you.” Celyz affirms with difficulty, resigning herself to the failure of her plan to give herself.
“How long?” Elizabeth suddenly asks.
“Forever.” Celyz replies in a sigh before steadying herself to give a true response. “However long it takes, I, I may find another but I will not entwine... if that is alright with you.” She adds, knowing that her sorrows may attract some of her sisters from other mothers and that she may need these embraces to withstand the wait.
“It's... it is not okay.” Elizabeth replies, her selfish heart torn. Celyz' tendrils squeeze her own trunk, experiencing illogical happiness from the refusal. “No, yes? I... argh. I'm horrible.” Jessica and Elizabeth groan, holding their temples. “Yes, it's alright, naturally. Just, um, don't tell me?” They say, debating their last statement inside their one head. “No, do tell me.” Jessica suddenly says. “Because I want to know what makes you happy!” Elizabeth exclaims, making Jessica furiously blush.
Celyz stands immobile in front of her lovable Jessica, falling in love all over again with this human and her struggles to be good even as she wrongly believes herself evil. The Princess considers the pain that she experiences to be a small price to pay as long as the chance that they will be together remains.
“Alright.” Celyz agrees in a gentle tone.
“Do you, um, do you...” Jessica's timid voice fades. “You can be more aggressive if you really want me to... have you.” She says, deciding to set her plan to wait aside if the Princess wants her to.
“It would make me happier if you did so while following your own desires, I need you to be making moves if I am to retain my hopes for us.” Celyz explains, her tendrils swishing forth to grab this sweet human by the waist. “But, perhaps a kiss would alleviate my impatience.”
The Princess cheats a little with her tendrils as usual, brushing the tips against the human's clothed body for mere fractions of a second to give her weeks of intense longing to be held some brief relief.
Celyz cares not for Leomi Lance's demand that Jessica is not to be had but she has to respect her friend's will to follow through with it. She gives herself this allowance because Jessica's body is demanding her touch, but ensures that it is not known so that the word she gave not to let herself be taken remains unbroken.
The Princess is aware that the reasoning is somewhat skewed but she cannot help herself, her instincts are relentless in telling her that they both want to hold each other and going against these is not the way of Rykz romance.
“I, I can, but you cannot. Is, is that okay?” Jessica stutters, edging closer to Celyz' trunk.
“It is.” Celyz whispers, pulling the human closer with her tendrils.
“You, need to know that... I'll do all I can to make it work with my Lady.” Jessica tells her, biting her lower lip. “If it does go well, then our future will depend on Leomi and you. I want so bad to give myself to you both but I... I don't think I should push to make it happen.”
“It is fine, I will wait. I have time to spare compared to you, even more by my fault.” Celyz says, releasing Jessica. She escapes her disappointment in failing to obtain a kiss by clinging to her hopes for them, aware that they may only materialize in decades. “I do not wish to hear of that woman any longer.” She adds.
The Princess finds no need to hammer in the fact that the only scenario she can think of in which her tendrils touch Leomi Lance's body is in an attempt to kill her, a sentiment that the woman likely shares. But she cannot express that to Jessica as she has made her position about threat clear.
“Okay.” Jessica says with a difficult expression, resolving to grant Celyz all she can with as much meaning and little doubt as possible.
She hates herself for having felt the need to draw clear lines in the middle of a nice moment but she had to, love's unfairness has been engraved in her one fatefully night and she refuses to let 'nothing' happen again by making the same mistake as Leomi had in refusing to define their relationship.
“We should go, the Hiv...” Celyz' voice dies out as Elizabeth suddenly takes over and pushes Jessica close the distance to deposit a small tender kiss on the center of her belly, which is pretty much as high as she could reach.
The Princess finds herself utterly stricken by the kiss, so much so that she seeks to isolate the two of them further to protect their privacy despite the fact that they're already alone, resisting a strong impulse to grasp at the human.
Elizabeth watches as her beautiful Rykz slowly, carefully, extends her tendrils upward and out before angling them down around them like a dome of intimate branches.
As the Rykz struggles to process her roiling emotions, the reason why this impulsive kiss hit her so hard, the human's eyes turn up to her in affection. Celyz suddenly understands, it touched her so much because it came out of the cold, as their mutual attraction faded.
“You took me by surprise.” Celyz says, folding her appendages back around her torso. “That was very unfair.”
“I know, she's... I'm probably going to do that again.” Jessica warns in an odd tone.
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“She?” Celyz asks.
“Slip of the tongue. Did you like it?” She questions, looking worried.
“Kisses are very good.” The Princess frantically nods, unable to help herself from looking forward to receiving so much more from her love's marvelous lips.
Celyz pushes back against her instincts, suddenly heading to the table. She pulls one of the drawers open to pull Jessica's mask out. She put it through a construct to repair the wood, weakened because of a couple of cracks, and maintained the runic construct. She gently sets it over Jessica's face.
“Am I that ugly?” She pouts, thinking that both her loves seem to want her to keep it on.
“Your lips are simply too tempting.” Celyz quickly denies. “There is also the fact that the Hive is leaving soon so we need to go out for the workers to pack all of this.”
Jessica doesn't reply, feeling giddy about the power of kisses even towards a being that lacks a mouth while Elizabeth is already plotting to use this and Celyz' open-ended offer to spice up their time together as she awaits the removal of the symbiont.
The two leave the hill together, walking tendril around arm as they cross the Rykz' camp, which is now a fourth of its previous size. Jessica makes use of the flow that the Princess granted her to make a signaling construct and recreate the work she did as she woke up before it slips her mind.
“If you may wait.” Celyz speaks up, unable to help herself. “It will not take long to teach you a more secure and stable signaling construct.”
“Is it any better than the one I'm using?” Jessica asks.
“It is more secure and stable.” Celyz repeats herself. “I feel like it is a necessary improvement, I had only used this one because the information I gave you was a simple list of commands for the symbiont, which required no manipulation.”
“So it's not.” Jessica smiles, taking the interruption in stride. “You're so serious and tidy about your work instruments, it's cute.”
Jessica brings her right arm, around which the tendrils are wrapped, up to her mask to simulate a small kiss. Celyz, whose mind is very much echoing with the word 'cute', wishes she hadn't handed the mask back so soon.
Celyz guides her friend to the scout that was injured in attempting to defend her, showing that it is healing well and resting in a bed. Jessica spends a half-hour with her left hand on its triangular carapaced head, communicating her thanks to the drone under the Princess' admiring watch.
They then walk south together, spending the afternoon discussing Jessica's project along with other constructs when they come up. Neither paying much attention to anything other than their conversation.
The other Princesses send hundreds of drones to escort them, from harvesters for close protection to workers for their meals. Celyz and Jessica simply keep walking together while holding appendages. They are not ignoring the Rykz and the occasional humans they come across, they simply don't notice.
They do awaken to how scatter-headed they've been in the middle of the afternoon, when Jessica's stomach forces them to stop for a meal, that the workers quickly and efficiently prepare.
“I'm so glad you agreed to forever.” Jessica speaks up, feeling vulnerable and sentimental from having finally been able to spend an entire afternoon with a friend. “My childhood ended in a wreck as my friends rejected me. I, it's probably why I refuse to turn you down or let go. It's cowardly of me but I want to hold onto what few true friends I have, as hard as I can.”
“Your childhood may have been your greatest gift. You had every basics down about flow when we met and a strong will born on your independence in having to rely on yourself.” Celyz replies, expressing her admiration. “I thought of you as an operative to count on, then a partner to work with, then a being that took what I gave her to make more out of it than I ever thought of. You can be proud of yourself.”
“Thank you.” Jessica murmurs. “Where are we?” She asks.
“I do not know.” Celyz chuckles. “Somewhere south, I have not yet asked the scouts.”
Two workers arrive, carrying a small cauldron and bowl. Jessica sits down while Celyz buries her toes into the ground, they start talking while eating, comfortably falling back into their rhythm. They spend the next week lazily traveling south towards Port-Odo, sleeping near each other but always apart.
Jessica and Elizabeth each deliver two kisses on her trunk during their travel. The former does so as a gentle gesture of affection during their conversations which last hours. The latter during the two baths they take together to tease Celyz and build up her expectations without any intention of going further yet, simply savoring the destabilizing effect she has on the Rykz.
Celyz looks forward to each one of those kisses, even as she despairs at how their time alone together is running out without any further development. She soon resigns herself to the fact that she is simply not as attractive as Leomi Lance, that her body is not sexy enough to tempt her strong-willed friend.
They enter Port-Odo with the thousands of drones escorting them. They don't encounter any difficulty progressing into the streets as the humans clear the way in front of them, there are no cheers for Elizabeth Vil here, but neither are there any heckles.
The population is hesitant about what to think. They are glad that the war is over, and that the Lord they hate was killed, but their city was conquered by the Rykz and then governed by islanders which they resent.
Their new Countess, Grace, has returned to her family's Keep and seemingly taken power, but the people worry about her ability to protect their independence from the Izla, especially from the very person who killed their previous ruler.
Not to mention the Hospitaliers who the majority believe are a ploy by Izla Meria to seize power, no matter their good deeds in providing healing for merely copper and keeping the peace in the streets.
Under this atmosphere of doubt and fear, it isn't surprising that the cries directed at Elizabeth Vil aren't personal but calls for the Izla to leave their city or provocative questions about their intentions.
Jessica's trust in Leomi doesn't waver despite the clear signs of disunity among low-born, and the fact that the Council that was supposed to have been established here is simply not being mentioned by the peasants, Grace Odo is the only name she's hearing them mention.
She decides to fall back on Leomi's argument that change take time instead of letting herself think that people are simply comfortable being told what to do as long as it benefits them. Neither of the two sides in her wants to take on the task of showing people they don't need Nobility, they both yearn to rest.
“I don't think I like humans very much.” Jessica grunts as they head to the docks.
“I have found some to be quite alright.” Celyz replies teasingly. “But I am still making my mind up about one Red Dw...”
“Don't you dare say it, I'll pluck you like a bramble.” Jessica interrupts.
Celyz considers the utter failure of her plan to tempt Jessica and thinks with sadness that she may settle for that at this point. Oblivious to the Princess' thoughts, Jessica pats her back to lessen the impact of her half-joking threat.
“Councilwoman Vil! Dame Vil!” Rowland calls out with his deep voice.
Jessica follows the voice with her eyes, recognizing the man trying to push past Rykz warriors who are using their shields to block him. She throws a quick look at Celyz, which is enough for the Princess to order the drones to step aside.
“You probably shouldn't be calling me that anymore.” Jessica notes. “I'm sure you've heard of my exile.”
“I have, and I don't care, you came through on your promise to end the war which is the only result you promised.” Rowland replies firmly, rubbing the scar running from his forehead to his chin, crossing his closed left eye. “I've seen battle, anyone blaming you is simply unable to comprehend the choices Izla Meria was faced with.”
“Thanks, that actually means a lot.” Jessica carefully replies, only half-believing the man.
“Lady Yvonne has sent me on behalf of Duchess Edusa to tell you that they expect you to attend one of the Councils in either Port-Odo or Meria.” Rowland tells me.
“When?” Jessica asks.
“Today in Port-Odo, most will likely leave for Izla Meria soon since your sudden absence is the reason they've remained.” He replies.
“Well, I didn't plan to just vanish but...” Jessica throws a quick look at Celyz. “I'm busy with a friend right now so I'll go when I have the time.”
Rowland nods and makes a small bow before hurriedly leaving, uncomfortable about turning his back on the Rykz but unwilling to show it. Celyz resolves to let go of Jessica for now, that trying to whisk her away on a ship and then straight to their Hive in Izla Meria is doomed to fail now that her friend has been reminded that there are still problems to solve.
“You should go and find out what it is that they still require of you.” Celyz speaks up with a little bitterness, choosing accusatory words that suit her feelings.
“Are you sure?” Jessica asks.
“I have disappeared for a week as well.” Celyz sighs. “My sisters are likely a little angry at me.”
“Oh. Sorry.” Jessica makes a grimace behind her mask.
“It was well worth it.” Celyz waves one of her tendrils to dismiss the apology. “My, kh.” The Princess makes a small embarrassed sound. “Do not forget that my offer has no time limit.”
“Trust me, Celyz, I haven't.” Jessica smiles, pushing down her impulse to run to Leomi to kiss her.
She feels guilty, like she's betraying both. Yet she refuses to let go of either of them because of her love and loneliness, two emotions that she buried in her childhood but have now taken deep root in her heart.
No matter how much she wishes she could fully trust them, she cannot help but see the degrees of separation between her and her two loves. One is a human Noble, the other a Rykz Princess.
Both hate each other, even if they've attained some degree of understanding about Elizabeth. There are so many things that could go wrong that something inevitably will.