Fic: Recovery (1/3)

[melyanna]

Title: Recovery
Authors: angelqueen04, melyanna, and miera_c
Rating: PG
Summary: With John back in Atlantis, Elizabeth resumes her own work, struggling to reconcile the actions of the college with the alarm of the ambassadors.


Laura slipped into Elizabeth's bedroom just as Elizabeth was wriggling out of the sleeves of her gown. "Laura?" she asked, surprised to see her.

"Surely you did not think I would miss this, Elizabeth," Laura said, smiling mischievously. "I want every detail. I still cannot quite believe that Marcus left you alone with Lord John."

Elizabeth felt the warmth in her cheeks and knew she was blushing bright red. "For some reason, he trusts John," she said. "Besides, John was too exhausted to try anything."

"He didn't look that tired," Laura replied. "Trust me."

If it was possible, Elizabeth blushed even more. "Laura," Kate chided.

"What?" Laura asked. "I am merely speaking from my own experience. Carson has to be far more exhausted than Lord John appeared to not try anything."

"Which probably accounts for your condition now," Elizabeth replied in an amused tone. "How are you feeling, by the way?"

Laura stepped in to put away the gown Elizabeth was stepping out of. "I've been better."

"What is it like?" Kate asked, while she turned around to let Elizabeth loosen the back of her gown. "Being pregnant?"

"There is some new adventure every day, it seems," Laura replied, sounding rather worn. "I will be happy once the nausea is over. Though I have no doubt that something new will annoy me then."

"Laura, I hate that you are so uncomfortable," Elizabeth said, "but I am very glad one of you is going through this before I do."

Laura made a face. "Stop changing the subject," she scolded. "I came here to hear everything that passed between you and John."

Elizabeth looked helplessly at Kate. "You're not going to rescue me from her?"

"Sorry," Kate replied, sounding anything but. "I want to hear everything too."

Elizabeth sighed dramatically. "Betrayed by faithful Kate?"

Laura laughed. "Are you joking, Elizabeth? Kate was the one who summoned him."

Elizabeth startled, unable to speak, and it was Kate's turn to blush. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Elizabeth," she said. "I wrote to him the day you fell ill. I was scared, and I thought he deserved to know."

"Why didn't you tell me before now?" Elizabeth asked.

"I didn't know if he would be able to come," Kate replied apologetically. "I may have been absorbed with my own problems then, but I knew how hurt you were when he didn't come to the summit. I didn't want to see you in that kind of pain again, especially so soon after you'd been sick."

For a moment, Elizabeth felt a pang at the memory, but she pushed it away. John had come back. There was no point in wallowing in old hurts. "I don't know how I can ever thank you, Kate," she said.

"You could tell us what happened," Laura suggested in a sing-song voice.

She gave a mock glare and sat down on the bed. "We sat together in my study. We talked about his situation in Caldora."

"And nothing else?" Kate teased.

"We may have talked a little less than you would think, from how long we were alone."

"I think you talked a little more than either of us were thinking," Laura replied, her eyes dancing. "So tell us! Is he as good a kisser as he looked tonight?"

Elizabeth turned and laid back against the pillows. "I know he cannot be perfect, but right now I can't imagine how he could be better at it."

Kate reached then and pulled Elizabeth's hair away from her neck. "I see he was not just kissing your mouth."

Elizabeth felt her whole face grow hot again and she clamped her hand over the place Kate had uncovered. She had obviously been far too carried away during her little tryst with John, for it had not occurred to her that he could leave a mark on her skin.

"It will be worse in the morning," Laura pointed out smugly, and Elizabeth pulled a pillow over her head. She was sure this could be more embarrassing, but she was at a loss as to how.

"I will lay out a gown with a high collar," Kate said, still sounding amused. "Fortunately the weather is turning cooler."

"And I shall go and find my husband," Laura said, going toward the door, "and ask him why it's been so long since he left such a visible mark of his affection for me."

Elizabeth lifted the pillow from her face and replied, "Laura, I think if you wait a few weeks we will all be able to see a good deal of proof of his affection for you."

Laura took a deep breath. "Well, that's true. Good night, Elizabeth. Good night, Kate."

When Laura was gone, Kate settled on the bed next to Elizabeth. The candles had been extinguished, but there was a small fire at the hearth across the room. It was just getting cool enough that a fire in the evening was welcome. "So what did you and John talk about?" Kate asked.

Elizabeth sighed. "About his situation in Caldora," she repeated. "Do you remember what the king said about the Sodan?" Kate nodded. "John ceded part of his province to them, but in exchange for the land, the Sodan will rebuild Cheyenne."

"That is excellent news," Kate said, surprise in her voice.

"It is," Elizabeth agreed, "but I fear it means he will not be able to stay here long. He said the land he's given up is not heavily populated, but there will still be some people who must be resettled. The winter will be a great struggle and I know he needs to prepare his people for it."

"Did he tell you that he could not stay?"

"No, but I could tell. He risked much coming now." Elizabeth reached for Kate's hand. "But even if he leaves tomorrow, Kate, I am glad you wrote to him."

Kate smiled and squeezed Elizabeth's fingers, before shifting to lie down. "So am I."

Elizabeth turned on her side and pulled the covers up. For once, she fell asleep quickly and peacefully slipped into pleasant dreams.

The morning after Lord John's dramatic return, Teyla arrived promptly at the queen's door, as she had every morning since the fever had passed. The guards allowed her in without question, and she waited a few minutes for Kate and Elizabeth to appear from the bedchamber. Laura had been in these meetings a few times, but Elizabeth had officially excused her from being present until the morning sickness had passed.

Elizabeth smiled when she came out, an expression Teyla had not seen much in recent months. Teyla curtseyed briefly. "Good morning, Majesty."

"Good morning, Countess," Elizabeth said. She gestured to Kate, who had followed her. "I'm afraid it's just us this morning."

"Lord Daniel will not be joining us?"

"I asked him to speak with the Iolanian ambassador."

Teyla said nothing else. She knew the man had been asking to speak with the queen for several days but had been put off. A meeting with the duke was another attempt to stall an unpleasant audience. Teyla doubted the queen truly thought she would avoid it entirely.

And Lord George was still much weakened by the fever. He had only been able to attend in the mornings a little more frequently than Laura. Elizabeth had not mentioned it, but Teyla knew that the queen was deeply concerned by her guardian's health.

The three women sat down at a table in the middle of the room, and Elizabeth sighed. "The college must reconvene before long," she said. "There are matters which must be attended to before the winter recess, but I wonder if they will do anything before the gunpowder is more fully addressed."

Teyla merely nodded, as did Kate. The college had not convened since Jack's betrayal three weeks earlier, after which Elizabeth had collapsed. At first it had been because so many of great importance, including the queen, were sick and then were recovering. Then, in a move which Teyla had found quite shrewd, Elizabeth decreed that all the coastal lords who were well enough to travel were to go home to assess the effects of the fever. It had given them time, but unfortunately time had not yielded a plan.

After a long, expectant silence, Kate cleared her throat. "You could tell the college that you will not proceed until you have spoken with the ambassadors, especially since so many of them have expressed reservations."

Teyla could see that Elizabeth wanted to roll her eyes. The queen, however, stayed relatively expressionless. "That would require actually meeting with the ambassadors."

Kate shrugged slightly. "I didn't say it was a good idea."

"Well, it would be enough to hold the college at bay for a time," Elizabeth said, sitting back in her chair and drumming her fingers on the table. "Your father has been very gracious in offering to meet with some of the ambassadors in my place, but we cannot use my illness as an excuse for much longer. I will have to start granting audiences to them."

"This is true, but Lord David has been able to convey your displeasure with the college without you having to say the words yourself," Teyla replied. "At some point that may become valuable."

"True," Elizabeth said. "I only wish I had a plan to deal with the situation, instead of a plan to buy time."

"Give it a few more days," Teyla urged her. "It may be that your meetings with the ambassadors may yield a solution."

Elizabeth laughed at that. "If only I could count on such serendipity."

"If you could count on it, it would hardly be serendipitous," Kate pointed out, somewhat cheekily.

This time Elizabeth did roll her eyes, though there was some amusement in her expression. "Then I shall call the college to assemble tomorrow afternoon," she said. "I will, however, instruct them to examine the villages which have been attacked by the Wraith this summer and what we can do to ready the survivors for winter. I fear it will be a harsh season."

The underlying message of such a proposal was hardly subtle, but Teyla had no doubt that Elizabeth wanted the college to think about the ramifications of their decision before they began to discuss it again, especially since the rumors of Caldoran raiders had mysteriously ceased in the last few weeks.

Teyla sighed then, which caught the queen's attention. She started to dismiss Elizabeth's curiosity, but her own got the better of her. "Could you not simply set aside the decision?" she asked. "An hour before that vote, only a handful of us had even heard of this gunpowder. You could rightly argue that they could not have come to an informed decision and call for a true discourse on the subject before another vote."

"Believe me, Teyla, I have thought of that many times," Elizabeth replied, her voice soft. "But nowhere in Atalan's law does it state that the college's decisions must be informed. They could resolve tomorrow that dolphins are birds of the air and the decision would be recognized by law." That drew some chuckling. "The men who wrote our laws felt it was dangerous to put decisions of the country's security in the hands of the monarch alone. The law is not entirely clear on what constitutes a matter of the nation's security, but I believe there is no contesting that this is one of them. So the lawgivers of our country proscribed that I must have the sanction of the college for such a matter as this. And I do not believe they were wrong. It is an imperfect system, but laws are never perfect. There is a precedent for setting aside the resolution of the college, but not in a matter which held so clear a majority."

"It seems wrong," Kate remarked.

"It is wrong," Elizabeth said. "But it is the law, and I must abide by it, for I am no more above the law than any of my subjects. I don't know about you, but I find that comforting."

"As do we all, your Majesty," Teyla replied. "If you wish, I will send the pages to inform the lords of the assembly tomorrow."

Elizabeth nodded. "Thank you, Countess."

John slept heavily through the night and it was a bit late in the morning when he finally awoke. He had not slept well since hearing of Elizabeth's illness. Truthfully, he had not slept well in far longer than that, but he put the thought aside.

He managed to reach the kitchens in time to get some fresh bread and butter to eat, having missed the morning meal hours. He wolfed down two large pieces and headed for the queen's audience chamber. He suspected Elizabeth would be occupied much of the day with business, but even snatching a few more minutes after their long separation would be welcome. He had yet to hear much of her trip to Iolan, or the upset here in Atlantis he'd heard a few vague whispers about yesterday.

He did not see Elizabeth, but he did find Kate coming out of the room, which was flanked by guards. There were quite a few people inside at the moment, suggesting the queen was occupied. "Lord John," she nodded, closing the door quietly behind her.

"My lady, it is good to see you again."

She shot him an amused look. "Indeed, it has only been a few hours since we saw each other last."

He coughed. "That may be true, but I fear I was not as attentive to my surroundings last night as I could have been." She only grinned a bit at that. "May I speak to you for a moment?"

She followed as they walked down the hall and ducked into an empty room nearby. He closed the door over but did not shut it. "I wanted to thank you," he blurted out. "As terrifying as it was to get your message, I don't know what I would have done had I heard of the queen's illness only after the fact. Especially if she had..."

His throat closed over and he could not make himself speak the words. A shadow passed over Kate's face and she looked away. "It was very close, John. Even after I wrote to you, it got much worse. There was one night we feared she would not see the dawn."

He put a hand on her shoulder as Kate looked away for a moment. It was clear that though Elizabeth was recovering, her illness had been as bad as his worst fears. And knowing what he did of Kate's devotion to the queen, watching her suffer through it would have been a terrible burden. "She was lucky to have you and Laura with her," John said quietly.

Kate shook herself. "Actually, Laura was unable to attend her." John's eyebrows went up. The three young women were nearly inseparable. He could not imagine Laura not being at Elizabeth's side at such a time unless she were ill herself. Kate smiled, though. "I doubt she or Carson will object to my telling you. Laura is with child."

He grinned. "That has a tendency to happen, I understand." The ramifications of this news sank in slowly. "Laura was pregnant while Elizabeth was ill..."

Kate nodded. "Carson feared exposing Laura to the fever in her condition. She had to stay away until Elizabeth began to improve."

Kate's voice cracked as she spoke, and John felt his own voice sink lower as he grasped the situation. "You were alone, weren't you?"

Kate did not meet his eyes. "Carson did not leave her side for more than a few seconds the entire time. But, yes."

His hand slid down Kate's arm and found her own and he grasped it tightly. He could not summon the right words to say to comfort her. Such things had never been his forte so he offered what sympathy he could silently.

After a moment, Kate drew away, squeezing his hand before letting go. "I am glad that my impulse to write to you did not end badly. When there was no reply, I feared I had been mistaken."

He understood the implicit warning in her voice. "I left Redwater almost the moment I received your letter. I did not stop to think of correspondence."

"She was greatly hurt when you did not come to the summit," Kate said, a hint of accusation in her tone.

Now he looked away from her steady gaze. "I wanted to be there, Kate. But Cheyenne was in chaos. My people were homeless and starving. I couldn't abandon them." He had not had time to fully explain himself to Elizabeth last night. His heart ached to know that she had been hurt by his absence, even though at the same time part of him felt a hint of triumph that Elizabeth's feelings for him ran that deep.

Kate seemed to rouse herself. "Well, whatever offenses may have passed between you and her Majesty are yours to atone for. However, I still have not heard a word of apology from you for myself."

He sputtered. How in the world had he offended Kate? "I beg your pardon?"

Kate put her hands on her hips. "I was informed of your... enthusiastic farewell to the queen at Laura's wedding." John's ears began to burn at that. "And you sought the bride out to give her good wishes, but I had to learn of your going hours later, secondhand? I did not merit a goodbye?"

She was teasing him but there was the tiniest bit of real hurt in her voice. And she was correct. He had not sought Kate out before he left. His mind had been too occupied with Elizabeth, and with thoughts of Caldora and his father, to think clearly at the time.

But he did count Kate a friend, and she deserved better.

He held out his hand until Kate took it and then, with his best bow, he bent and kissed the back of her hand. "My lady, please forgive my great lapse in manners to you in the spring. I should not have treated you so and I apologize for it most sincerely."

Kate flushed a little, in spite of herself he thought. He straightened and grinned at her, then took her hand in both of his. "Truly, I am sorry, Kate. I owed such a friend more courtesy than to leave without saying goodbye."

She gave him a mock glare. "Very well, my lord. I accept your apology, on condition you never behave so again." Then she put an arm around his shoulders impulsively. "I am glad you are come back, John, even if only briefly."

He returned the embrace, feeling slightly awkward, and more so when a young man came in the door, his eyebrows raised and a hint of hostility in his eyes at the tableau before him. "My lady?"

Kate startled. "Oh, Lord Charles. I did not see you there." She turned to John. "This is Lord Charles of Neill, son of the marquis. Lord Charles, this is Lord John, Marquis of Sheppard, in Caldora."

John nodded to the youngster, who was still regarding him with suspicion. Knowing his name, John could see the resemblance to Jack in his face. He was slightly amused when Lord Charles turned to Kate. "My lady, I came to ask if we would have a walk together this evening again? We were deprived of our exercise last night."

Kate, unless John was greatly mistaken, was a bit flustered, but she answered in the affirmative. Lord Charles offered his arm to escort her back to the queen, but Kate turned aside before going. "Her Majesty will break for luncheon soon. Should I tell her there is a petitioner for a seat at her table?"

He smiled, even though he had just eaten breakfast. Any chance to speak with Elizabeth was one he needed to seize now. "Please."

Kate departed the room and John made a mental note to ask someone how it was that in a few short months Kate's heart was suddenly free to be wooed by someone other than Captain Lorne. It appeared more things had changed in his time away from Atalan than had been apparent at first glance.

Elizabeth just barely restrained herself from making her luncheon break a private meal for her and John, but as it turned out they both enjoyed the company. John's spirits were much higher than they had been the night before, and for the first time in their acquaintance he talked openly about everything that was asked of him. It was as though a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Elizabeth knew that he endured many difficult things in Caldora, but he seemed utterly at ease just now.

At the end of the meal, however, there was a knock on the door and Peter came in. "Pardon me, Majesty, but the Jaffa ambassador arrived an hour ago," he said. "He requests an audience at your earliest convenience."

Elizabeth sighed then and glanced at Kate, thinking of their conversation that morning with Teyla. "No time like the present," Kate remarked.

"You are full of platitudes today," Elizabeth said. She turned to Peter. "Show Master Teal'c to my study. I shall be there in a few minutes."

"So," Laura said as Peter left, "you are seeing ambassadors again."

"You stopped seeing ambassadors?" John asked, looking very curious and a little concerned.

"It is a long story, and worth the telling," Elizabeth replied, rising. The others rose with her. "But not now."

John took her hand then and kissed it, and she tried to hold back the flushed feeling she got. It was so familiar, yet the effect he had on her never seemed to wane. Deep in her heart she hoped it never would.

Kate and Laura started to follow her to the study, as usual, but Elizabeth paused at the door. "I think I should do this by myself," she said. "Do you think you could find occupation?"

"Why, I don't know," Laura said innocently.

Kate, on the other hand, took Laura's arm and began to steer her away. "There is much we can do, my lady. Don't worry about us."

Elizabeth smiled at them, and then she slipped into the study. Teal'c, the Jaffa ambassador, was looking at her book collection, but he turned when the door opened and closed. "Your Majesty," he said with a bow. "I bring greetings from the Jaffa."

"We are most pleased to receive them," she replied with a formal nod. "Welcome back."

"On a personal note, I am relieved to see you so well recovered from your recent illness," he continued. "The news I heard before I embarked suggested that you might not survive."

She gave him a wry look. "If there is any trait I am known for by now, it would be my stubborn tendency to survive," she remarked. "But I thank you for your concern."

"You are most welcome."

Elizabeth took a seat then and gestured for Teal'c to do the same. "I wonder if you have heard anything from Caldora recently."

"No, I have not. Is there news?"

"The Caldorans have given the Sodan their land," Elizabeth explained. "They will be settled in the southwestern corner of Caldora's territory."

"I am glad to hear it," Teal'c said. "It was not fair that they were without a home for so long. But how did you hear of it?"

"One of the lords involved told me," she replied.

"Ah," Teal'c said with a knowing look. "I did not know that Lord John had returned."

Elizabeth tried not to blush. "He returned last night, upon hearing of my illness."

Teal'c nodded. "I fear this was not merely a social call, Majesty."

"I assumed it was not."

"My government has grave concerns about the recent decisions made by Atalan's college of lords," Teal'c said. "I have been made to understand that you were opposed to the shift away from the navy."

Elizabeth took a moment to compose herself. She could not just tell an ambassador, even one with such personal connections to her court, that she had only given in because the college had twisted her arm. Nor could she tell him what Jack had done. Given Teal'c's relationships with both Jack and Daniel, Elizabeth had no doubt that he would find out by other means. It was not her place, and it would make her look weak to admit it herself.

"It was not an easy decision," she replied, keeping her voice as even as possible. "While to my knowledge, the border stations are not in desperate need, it is probably wise to review them every now and then. I do not believe my predecessor was so... vigilant."

She said it delicately enough that Teal'c seemed somewhat amused by her. "Indeed. That is a complaint I have often heard."

"I fear the world does not look as it once did, even to my young eyes," Elizabeth said. "These last six months in particular seem to have wrought many changes."

"I cannot agree with you in that, Majesty. There has always been and will always be war," Teal'c told her. "There will always be new weapons. There is honor in resisting a rush toward either."

"I agree with you," she answered, rising from her seat. "I imagine we will speak of this again."

Teal'c got to his feet out of respect. If he was disappointed by the answers she had given him, it did not show on his face. "I would greatly appreciate another audience, so that we could discuss this further."

"Of course. It is always a pleasure to see you."

With a nod, she left the study, blowing out a long breath once she was sure that none but her guards would see her. Teal'c was a friendly face among the ambassadors. These meetings were not going to get any easier.

After Elizabeth left, John found himself in want of occupation. Riding to Athos was out of the question, for he was tired of riding and suspected that Silvanus needed a long rest before they headed back to Caldora. Six months ago he might have taken a bow and arrows out to the practice range, but such play at war was distasteful to him now. And some of the tasks he'd been given the previous fall might be considered beneath him now, given that he was not just a knight in the queen's service anymore but a marquis as well.

The rank still felt strange to him, like his older brother's tunic when he had not quite grown into it. It had been even stranger when he passed Teyla in the corridor and she, instead of smiling to him as she used to, paused to curtsey to him. After a startled moment he realized that he outranked her now.

He wanted to speak to her again, but she was already engaged for the hour and John still found himself without anything to do. On a whim, he wandered down to the shipyard to see how much had happened during his summer away.

He was rather surprised by what he saw. Two ships, clearly old, were being repaired and refitted, and a shell of a new ship stood just before the water's edge. At such a time he would have expected McKay to be laying at least two new keels, to get the lion's share of the work done before winter so the ships could be deployed in the early spring.

Without giving it tremendous thought, John weaved his way through the workers, slowly getting to the stern of the new ship. McKay was standing on a platform that was suspended by a kind of crane, and he seemed to be yelling at everyone on the ground for the shoddy craftsmanship he was inspecting.

Rodney looked down and abruptly stopped when he spotted John. John was not surprised that he stood out, as he was still in mourning for his father and his black attire was unusual among the workers. "Lord John," Rodney called. "Have you been employed as a messenger?"

"A knight-errant," John replied. "I go where I please."

Rodney turned to the men operating the crane and told them to lower him. "Slowly, slowly!" he scolded. "Not even Beckett could put me back together if you drop me from this!"

Despite that temptation, the men got him to the ground safely and the workers went back to their tasks. Rodney approached John and offered a half-hearted bow. "My lord, can I help you?"

"I came to see the progress on the queen's navy," John replied. "You might satisfy my curiosity on a few points."

Rodney pulled a kerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. "Come for a walk, will you?"

They walked up the hill that separated the palace from the shore on this part of the island and sat down on a tree trunk that had been laid down as a bench. "What do you know of what happened here three weeks ago?" Rodney asked, looking out on his work crew.

"I know that the fever swept along the coast and her Majesty was ill, along with a number of the court," John told him.

"And you asked no questions beyond that? You seem to lack curiosity."

"I had no reason to believe that any events of greater importance were happening then, Rodney," John replied, annoyed.

McKay sighed. "There was a plot in the college." At John's alarm, he quickly amended, "It was not a threat to her life, or even a direct challenge to her authority. But some demanded that the queen cease all efforts toward rebuilding the navy in favor of bolstering defenses on the borders."

"That does not seem like more than she can handle, McKay."

"It was not, and it would not have been except that she and Lord Jonathan apparently argued about it and he stood up publicly against her."

John gaped. It hardly seemed possible that Jack would throw himself into any political situation at all. Now that he thought about it, though, he could not recall seeing Jack in the day he'd been back, even though he'd met Jack's son.

The other man didn't speak right away, but John sensed there was still more to this story. "Rodney," John pressed, "tell me the rest."

Rodney looked away. "A compromise was reached. Work would be halted in the winter and my crew would be sent to work on the border watchtowers for six months. But then Woolsey stood up and said he'd heard about some new weapon the Asgard had invented and that he wanted the queen to authorize the pursuit of it."

"The gunpowder?" John blurted out.

It was Rodney's turn for curiosity. "I have no idea."

"It must be," John said. "It ended the war in Caldora."

"A single weapon?"

John nodded. "I only saw it fired once and had no warning to observe it," he replied. "I was told later that it was some kind of powder that could induce an explosion."

Rodney frowned. "An explosion? How would you -" He looked to be deep in thought for a moment. "Unless you contained it..."

"I don't know. All I saw was the aftermath."

"The queen was very unhappy about Woolsey's announcement," Rodney concluded. "I thought it was because the compromise had been breached, but now I wonder if it was the scope of the weapon itself which upset her."

John had been trying not to think about the war and its aftermath, but now the roar of the cannon was in his ears and he could not help the flood of memories. "I was there," he managed to say. "For a little while I had reason to believe that my cousin had been at the epicenter of it and was torn from limb to limb."

"This weapon can do that?" Rodney asked, looking faintly green.

John merely nodded.

"Then I can imagine why the queen would be upset by it." He was quiet for a moment. "There was more," he said reluctantly.

"More? At such a time, when she was already falling ill?"

Rodney nodded. "I got news from Iolan that day. I've been told since then that Queen Elizabeth did too." His expression turned to one of dark annoyance. "The queen mother died. Prince Radek is going to be king. And now my sister is marrying him."

John stared at him in amazement for a few moments before he burst out laughing. That had not been what he expected Rodney to say next. "I do not find this funny at all, Sheppard," Rodney snapped. "I asked him to look after her, not to marry her."

"I'm sorry," John said, calming down again. "You know most men would be thrilled to learn that their sister is marrying a prince? A king, even."

"Yes, well, most men wouldn't think about having to go back to their home country to give the bride away," Rodney grumbled. "At least I won't have to worry about leaving my work behind here. But it was the last thing I expected."

John nodded. He could imagine that it had been the last thing Elizabeth had expected too. Though he was positive that she did not love Radek and knew that she had probably refused his offer of marriage, he could imagine that she had been surprised and even upset by the news. He would have to ask her about it sometime, if he found the right moment.

Yet at the same time, part of John wanted to puff his chest out in pride. The prince, he knew, had been a real contender for Elizabeth's affections. To know that he was marrying someone else was a boon to John's chances.

That reminded him that at some point he would have to speak with Lord George about what would be expected from a suitor for the queen's hand.

John got to his feet. "I'll let you get back to harassing your crew," he said. "Thank you."

He took his leave, knowing he had more questions but that someone other than Rodney would be better to answer them.