To Serve A Queen - Part Eleven - The DVD Commentary

[tielan]

TITLE: To Serve A Queen - Part Eleven - The DVD Commentary
SUMMARY: Elizabeth was not willing to risk good relations with the Gennii on John. And she wasn't all that willing to risk John either.
PAIRING: Liz/Ronan
RATING: R
NOTES: I'm running out of things to say, to be honest. I don't know what people want to hear.

To Serve A Queen - Part Eleven - The DVD Commentary

The night passed without incident.

Elizabeth heard nothing. No shouts or cries, no concerns. Several of the older males quietly and subtly patrolled the house, but there were no alarms and no reaction from the Gennii contingent.

By midnight, she decided that the Gennii could have no idea of what Sora had asked of Elizabeth and Aiden. If they had known, there would have been an outcry, no matter the time.

Stephen knocked on her door just a few minutes.

Elizabeth wrapped her dressing-gown around her and answered the door. "Prince?"

"It's done. Lady Sora's inner web is intact, and, from the sound of it, she's pleased enough with Aiden to have requested his presence for the night."

It was hard to keep the smile from her face. "Carson gave permission?" While it had been appropriate to approach Elizabeth regarding the Virgin Night, the matter of Aiden staying with the young Gennii Queen was for the Steward of the court to decide.

Strong features deepened in repressed amusement. "He complained that Ford would be incorrigible for the next few moons, but agreed to the request. Not that Sora is likely to be in much of a condition for more sex just yet."

Elizabeth grinned, remembering her own Virgin Night. "Give her a few hours and you never know."

Stephen eyed her. "I'm asking myself if I really want to know what you mean by that."

"And your conclusion?"

"No." His expression turned wryly amused for a moment before he sobered. "The danger for Sora is past, but there's still the morning to weather and the response from Sora's escort."

Elizabeth nodded. "I know. We'll deal with that when it comes."

When it came, there was no mistaking it.

The fury swept through the house like a witchstorm.

Elizabeth felt it begin as she stepped out of her quarters - anger, building to rage, tinged with hints of cunning.

Tyrus, then.

[I was thinking of Tyrus' behaviour in Underground and his 'easily taking offence' kind of attitude. That's most of where the basis for Tyrus comes from - he made a very vocal and easily-identifiable bad guy in the situation.]

Her instincts were only confirmed when she reached the entrance hall.

There were too many people in the room, most of them spectators to the small group of people in the throes of heated argument.

Tyrus was naturally in the forefront of it all, and both Stephen and John were ranged against him. Aiden stood between Sora and her furious father in a carefully neutral stance of subtle protection that was doing nothing to reassure the other Gennii males. The young woman looked none the worse for wear after her Virgin Night - only a little strained as her father thundered away.

Neither John nor Stephen looked particularly happy - although that might just be the fact that they'd been roused from sleep by the irritation. Both males looked as though they'd hauled on the nearest item of clothing, although John had at least reached for a shirt. [I'm still waiting for the ep where JF takes the shirt off. Although JM is probably the more impressive of the two guys. It'll never happen.] Stephen was larger and broader in the chest and didn't have any embarrassment about standing up to the Gennii escorts half-naked.

However, at least he was keeping his temper better than John. John's hands were closing into fists, even as she watched, and she hastened down the stairs before he landed the first blow.

Neither man looked up as she descended the stairs, but both were aware of her through the subtle bond between Warlord Prince and the Queen they served. Stephen interrupted Tyrus' tirade with authoratative forcefulness. "Lord Tyrus. I recommend you bring up your concerns with Lady Elizabeth." And he let his eyes flicker to Elizabeth as she reached the floor.

Instinct had told her to wear something a little more decorous than her usual trousers and light shirt. She was glad of the formality of the white dress when the Gennii turned hostile gazes upon her.

"Is there a problem, Lord Tyrus?"

Tyrus turned. "Lady Elizabeth," he rapped out, "I would like to lay charges against one of your people." He gestured at Aiden. "Last night, this young warrior of your court raped my daughter."

There were gasps among the watchers, but Elizabeth hardly heard them.

Rage flooded through her, ice-cold and brutal, an expanding circle of emotion that jangled nerves and skittered over the senses like sharp steel on skin.

Everyone in the entrance hall felt it: a Queen's rage at the insult to one of her court.

Rape was a dangerous charge to make against a man - even the accusation could ruin a reputation, whether or not it was true. That Tyrus had carried it this far - that he was willing to make such an accusation against a male of Elizabeth's court - was shocking.

Sora had requested Aiden, but the young woman now stood silent, her face pale and discomfited. Elizabeth glanced at the girl, to see if she wished to say something, but when the girl remained silent, she fixed her furious gaze on Tyrus.

[Part of the issue with Sora's behaviour is the fact that the Blood are matriarchal. Even at her age, Sora should be reining in the males of her (future) court - and she's not. It's all of a piece with Gennii territory and the attitudes that are going on there.]

"You had better have proof of such an accusation, Lord Tyrus."

He wasn't immune to the cold of her anger. He swallowed hard, but his sense of offence was stronger. Still, his words were a little more conciliatory when he spoke again. "Lady, we found this young man in my daughter's rooms this morning."

"And that instantly equates to rape?" John asked.

Elizabeth silenced him with a look and a warning along a Sapphire psychic link. *John.* She turned back to the Gennii group, noting that Sora was looking from Aiden to Tyrus with a slightly apprehensive expression. It didn't look like the girl was going to interrupt anytime soon. "Lord Tyrus, Lady Sora approached me yesterday with a request to have her Virgin Night here in Atlantis."

Tyrus stared at her, then turned on his daughter. "Did you make the request as she says, Sora?"

The question raised the hackles of more than a few of the Atlantis males. Elizabeth quieted them with a thought. Tyrus' attitude was hardly that of a male who served, but she doubted he was accustomed to Sora defying him in anything.

Sora seemed to gather herself together. She might have been timid to respond, but she was bold enough now she had backup. "I did, Father." Tyrus shot a venomous look at Elizabeth, but Sora wasn't finished. "I also requested Aiden to see me through my Virgin Night," she said, now showing a hint of spirit. "It was not rape."

The man didn't look convinced. If anything, he seemed even more incensed by her statement. "And you didn't see fit to inform me about this?"

She felt the ripple of John's fury a second before he stepped back into the conversation. "Hey," he said, meaningfully. "She's the Queen. She makes her own decisions."

"She's still a child!" Tyrus snapped. "And should be obedient to the wishes of her family!"

"Obedient?" John sneered. "I thought the males obeyed their Queen!"

"And your own record of obedience is beyond fault, Prince Sheppard?" Tyrus' expression was contorted in an anger undiminished by the hand his daughter had laid on his arm. "You break the rules as you please - not even Lady Elizabeth can hold you back!"

"My prerogative is to honour, cherish, and protect," said John with deadly intensity. "Service and obedience are at the discretion of the first three - and my Queen knows that. Can you say the same?"

*John, if you take this one word further, then your Queen will relinquish your service,* Elizabeth told him. *Do not stir Tyrus up.*

The Sapphire psychic thread between them vibrated with the force of John's frustration - at Tyrus, not at her. *He's doing a great job of it without me!*

*So don't add fuel to the fire!*

Tyrus was opening his mouth to make a reply. Elizabeth held up her hands. "Lord Tyrus," she said, keeping her voice formal and forceful. "This is not a discussion to be had here in the foyer." She glanced at Peter Grodin, who'd been standing back and watching neutrally. "Is the main stateroom fit?"

"Yes, Lady." The butler indicated the appropriate corridor. "This way, my Lords."

Setting it in the stateroom would eliminate most of their audience - and possibly give them a situation in which a few cooler heads could prevail. Now, if only Sora would rein in her escort...

The stateroom was large enough for the sixteen males of Sora's escort, plus Elizabeth's inner circle. The males were all there, bristling with various degrees of annoyance and fury; Teyla was absent.

Peter closed the door behind them, and Elizabeth stepped into the breach. There was no point in asking them to be seated around the polished triangular table that dominated the stateroom. If she judged the currents correctly, nobody was in a mood to sit and talk quietly.

"I understand your concern at Lady Sora's decision to have her Virgin Night so far from home and without your knowledge, but her request was made to me, Queen to Queen. I honoured it - as did my court."

"Sora should have had her Virgin Night in Gennii Territory," Tyrus snapped. "It was arranged."

Elizabeth glanced at Sora, who was staring at her hands, refusing to join the conversation. "Then that is a matter for you to take up with Lady Sora in private," she said. "However, you made unfounded accusations against a member of my court."

"I apologise for them." Tyrus' dark eyes glittered, resenting the apology for all that his words were glib. "What else was I to think?"

"My Lady," said another of the Gennii escorts, "You have in your court, a Black Widow, capable of weaving spells of influence--"

The escort stopped as the temperature of the room dropped like a stone.

Bad enough to insult one of the males of the court; the reaction to an insult aimed at one of the witches - and a member of her First Circle - would be taken infinitely worse.

Elizabeth cut through the fury that washed through the room. "Lady Emmagen had no part in the decision," she said. "She was not even aware of the request until after Lady Sora had asked me and Lord Ford had agreed to perform the duty."

"But a Black Widow--"

"I don't doubt Lady Emmagen has better things to do with her time," Carson said, with pointed politeness. "And it would be unwise for you to spread another accusation as baseless as the first."

The Gennii didn't look convinced, Tyrus least of all. But he had enough self-preservation to keep his mouth shut, and Elizabeth was relieved.

"This will not be forgotten, Lady Elizabeth."

Elizabeth stared him down. "No, Lord Tyrus," she replied in cool, even tones. "It won't." Of course, with Sora now able to take up her court, things would change in Gennii Territory. Elizabeth turned to the young woman now. "Lady Sora," she said, "if you wish to make the Offering here in Atlantis, then the Steward of the Court will set you up with whatever you might require."

The girl looked both startled and suspicious, before her expression settled to thoughtful. "Thank you, Lady Elizabeth. I will take you up on that offer and make the Offering tonight."

"You're welcome," Elizabeth replied.

There was nothing more to be said on that point: Sora didn't seem to want to join in on the conversation, and any argument regarding Aiden's role in her Virgin Night would only hash over what had already been said.

Thankfully, Sora recognised that, for she left after tendering Elizabeth a brisk nod, her distrustful escort following her out of the room.

There were no words of apology to Elizabeth for her father's insult to Aiden, no thanks to Aiden for seeing her through her Virgin Night - not even a backwards glance as she walked out of the room. Behind her, the Gennii escort quit the room with sullen and suspicious gazes.

No sooner had the door closed behind the Gennii party than John burst out. "Bastards!"

Fortunately, Elizabeth had sealed the room with a Red aural shield as the door closed behind the last of the escorts. "John."

"He's right," Stephen said, only marginally less angry. "It was an insult to you, to Ford, and to Atlantis to make the rape claim in public without proof." He glanced at Aiden, standing rather subdued to one side. "Although you did good work, Warlord."

A grin touched the young man's face. "Thanks, sir."

"You have my thanks, too," Elizabeth said. She didn't elaborate on the advantages of a stable Queen in Gennii Territory - she didn't need to.

"I'm guessing Sora was pleased?" John smirked.

"Pleased enough," Aiden retorted with a smile that faded after a moment. "Not pleased enough to defend me, though."

Elizabeth could feel his distress, kept carefully under his personal shields but still obvious to her. She silenced the other males with a look and touched his shoulder. "Sora is still very young," she said. "She's used to following her father's lead."

"Tyrus can be a right bastard when he chooses," Carson offered. The Steward's blue eyes held Aiden's. "I don't imagine Lady Sora has much experience in how to deal with overbearing males. She'll learn as time goes on."

"In short," Rodney said, "nothing you could have done last night would have made Sora defend you this morning."

John rolled his eyes. "You could have phrased that better."

"Why should I? Ford knows what I mean."

"Gentlemen!" Stephen's voice cut through the burgeoning argument.

"You did well," Elizabeth told Aiden again. This time, she brushed his mind with a psychic tendril to convey her gratitude and approval. "Thank you, Warlord."

He smiled, a little hesitantly, but at least no longer despondent over Sora's lack of defence of him. Elizabeth reminded herself to keep an eye on him for the next few days - at least until Sora and her escort left. Tyrus' accusation of rape would rest on the minds of many people, even if untrue. She owed it to Aiden to be certain that he didn't suffer for the attack.

In the meantime, she had orders for the court. "I want everyone to lay low today and tonight," she said, turning to capture their gazes one by one. "Don't pick fights, don't argue with them, don't confront the escorts or Lord Tyrus or Lady Sora."

"That's a little cowardly," said John, his expression clearly showing displeasure.

"It's self-preservation," Elizabeth told him. "And my orders. I don't want any trouble with the Gennii until Sora's made the Offering."

Of course it would be Rodney who'd pick up on the phrasing. "And after?"

"I don't want any trouble after, either," she said dryly. "Do you understand?"

They all met her gaze, even John.

"John?"

More than Stephen, she worried about John's ability to go off half-cocked. He was stronger than Stephen, and without the years of experience afforded the older male. And he was dangerous in his own right - a fact that Prince Kolya had good reason to recall.

Elizabeth was not willing to risk good relations with the Gennii on John. And she wasn't all that willing to risk John either.

He gave her the sarcastic half-grin that indicated he didn't like it, but he'd abide by it - for the moment.

"As my Queen commands."

It would have to do.

[Again, mostly setting up.]

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