Chapter 6

Venus's reaction had left Nephrite heartily confused. He wasn't sure if Jupiter's bracelet becoming his was a bad thing, or...well, it pretty much seemed like a bad thing.

Except that Venus had not been bothered by putting it on his wrist. She had seemed to want to do it. She had not been expecting it to do what it did, though. It made him wonder she was reacting to--something bad about him, or something bad about him and the bracelet?

He puzzled about this through the entire set of afternoon meetings. He had concealed the bracelet underneath his sleeve; everyone seemed to recognize it as Jupiter's, after all. Even so, he couldn't resist testing it a little during the meeting, wrapping threads of shadow around it here and there. This drew dark look sfrom Kunzite, but the Commander had been tetchy the whole day. That was also puzzling, now that Nephrite had met Venus.

Unless he was tetchy about the negoitiations. The four of them had met with three Inner planetary delegations today, and would meet with three Outer delegations tomorrow. The Prince would spend those two days meeting with Lunar representatives and, possibly, the Queen. Then they would have a day of rest in order to meet among themselves and plan who they would meet with next. The four of them would split up on those days, to negoitiate trade contracts for their "kingdoms" as well as for certain military concessions to Earth. There were no time limits imposed; this summit could take days, or weeks, or months.

Lunar protocal was also bafflingly archaic. The Princess, as representative of their planet, had to be veiled throughout the entire process; they also stayed silent the entire time, communicating only through notes. Servants trailed in and out of the meetings all day as well, bringing yet more notes to be read and considered. It seemed to be a system designed to make meetings last as long as possible. It also did not make one feel like a partner in anything; it did not make them feel equal.

Nephrite suspected that the Moon did this on purpose.

Though he spent the afternoon poking at it, in-between times he was called to speak, the bracelet remained a puzzle. He felt some type of charm buried in the metal, but other than that, it was completely ordinary. He finally just gave up on it; he could ask Jupiter when he saw her again tonight. He had planned on meeting her quietly after dinner, and had been surprised--and secretly gratified--to receive an invitation from her to do just that. It would be a wonderful end to such a trying day, and he only felt bad that he didn't know where he could procure a bottle of wine to share. Perhaps Jade would, though.

He forced himself to wait as long as possible before excusing himself from dinner; he wasn't sure when her meal would end, and he didn't want to show up early. Besides, they dined with the Prince, and he expected their attention. The meal consisted of four courses and a variety of drinks, and it was good food. Even so, he found that he didn't enjoy it as much as he had a single bowl of soup and a single glass of orange juice yesterday. In fact, with his stomach in knots, he didn't eat that much.

Finally, he had judged enough time had passed, and excused himself. Only Jade noticed, as the other three were deep in a discussion about Lunar metals; he, too, slid away from the table and followed him out. Once they were away from the table, Jade produced a bottle of wine, and said, "Let me know if you're coming back tonight."

"Thank you," Nephrite said, accepting the bottle and 'pocketing' it. "I owe you one."

"You may, you may not," Jade said, tone oddly serious. "We'll see."

Nephrite gave him a curious look, and Jade shook his head. "Just go," he said. "She'll be waiting."

Nephrite nodded, then turned and let himself out.

He managed not to get lost on the way to her rooms, even with anxiety zipping along his veins. Venus's reaction this afternoon concerned him; as well, there was bound to be some stiffness, given the events of last night. He chided himself for even thinking that; she was a grown woman, he a grown man. Wouldn't they handle it like the adults they were?

It didnt help his nerves any.

He came to her door, marked by the symbol of her planet. He stared at it for a long moment, taking a few deep breaths. Then, he raised his hand, and knocked lightly.

At first there was no answer, and he feared she hadn't heard. He raised his hand to knock again, and then the door opened a crack.

"Who calls?" came a faint voice.

"Lord Nephrite," he answered.

The door stayed cracked for a second, then swung open a little more. The room beyond was dark, and he could only see a sliver of her face: a brilliant eye, the curve of her cheek, darkened lips pressed together. Her eye flicked up and down his form, then stared out at him, as if waiting for something.

Now this, he hadn't expected.

After a minute or so, he asked, "May I come in, Lady?"

She shifted a little, as if she was about to open the door fully, then stopped herself. She stared out at him a moment longer, then said, "Let me see it."

He didn't have to ask what. He raised his wrist, pushed his sleeve back, and showed her the bracelet.

She gasped and flinched away from him. "I didn't believe her," she whispered, voice eeriely disconnected in the dark.

He said nothing, did not move.

She moved forward hesitantly again, leaned her face against the frame of the door. She seemed to be gathering strength, breath to say something, but each time he expected it to come, she would make a sound somewhere between a hiccup and a gasp. It sounded very similar to a sob.

Finally, she managed, "I'm sorry, Lord Nephrite." Her voice was just above a whisper, as if using the least amount of air helped to get her words out. "As much as I enjoy your company," and here her breath hitched again. She took several moments to get it back again, as he stood outside her door, arm raised, face unyielding.

"I can't see you again," she finally got out, and shut the door in his face.

He wanted to knock on the door again, ask gently why, perhaps discuss it over tea.

He wanted to pound on the door, screaming through the wood for answers, until she was forced to open it and bring him in.

He wanted to use his powers, to shatter the door, or perhaps slide through the shadows, so that she had to face him, had to tell him, what the hell was wrong.

But he didn't. Instead, he lowered his hand, turned on his heel, and walked away.

He shared rooms with Jade on this trip. They all took their turn with the man as their roomate, because no one could handle him consistently. Jade seemed to enjoy the variety of people to tease, and kept the schedule for them.

He didn't expect him to be there when he returned; he had seen the list Jade had compiled of cute servants earlier. He expected that the man would be out making his own fun. So it was yet another surprise when he walked into the room and found Jade there.

The man was doing something with his hands, but what it was Nephrite couldn't see. Nor did Jade want him to see it; he jumped when Nephrite shut the door, and quickly 'pocketed' the object. He then glared at him, saying, "What are you doing back?"

"Things did not go as planned," Nephrite managed. He started to move past Jade, intent on going into his room and reading a book. Or taking a shower. Something to clear his head.

Jade stepped in front of him. "What did you do to my cousin, Nephrite?" he asked, tone half-joking, half-dark.

"Nothng, Jadeite. She wouldn't even let me in," he said, attempting to move past the man.

Jade didn't budge. "Then you definitely did something," he said, face serious.

"Nothing."

Jade lowered his voice a little. "I heard you met with the Lady Venus today."

Nephrite said nothing.

"Nephrite." Jade's voice was disapproving. "That's the Commander's lady."

"I know that," Nephrite said, managing to keep his voice level. "Jupiter asked me to talk to her, and that's all we did. Talk."

Jade gave him a skeptical look, then said, "Well, if it wasn't that, then there must be something else. You didn't openly flirt with someone today, did you? You know how that kind of thing gets around..."

Nephrite had had enough.

"I. Did. NOTHING!" the man yelled. The bottle of wine slipped from the pocket into his hand, then went crashing against the wall. "I did nothing to dishonor the Lady! I did not touch her last night beyond her wishes, and I did not do anything with the Lady Venus. All I did was accept THIS," he raised the arm with the bracelet on it, so that it flashed in front of Jade's face, "and it has caused nothing but problem. And no one, NO ONE, will TELL ME WHAT IT IS!"

Jade's face had hardened, but once the bracelet appeared, he paled. "That's Jupiter's bracelet," he said, voice low.

"That, I knew," he replied. "But what IS IT?"

Jadeite didn't say anything for a moment. He reached up and gingerly touched it, then drew his finger back quickly, as if he'd been burned. Then he said, "Lower your arm a little."

"Jade..."

"Just do it, Nephrite," Jade said, voice sharp. Then he saw the look on his friend's face, and his expression melted a little. "Please," he added, voice quiet. "I have to see something...just, please. Lower your arm."

Nephrite sighed, then took another breath, trying to check his anger. He lower his arm so it was parallel to the floor, perpendicular to his body.

Jade licked his lips, then reached out and touched it again with his fingertips. His face tightened, but he kept his fingers on it, slowly pushing at it so that the links went in a circle around Nephrite's wrist. He watched intently as each link went by, until his fingers came back around.

Jade's eyes closed for a moment, then he snatched his fingers back. "Stay still a moment longer," he said, producing his flute. "Just a moment." He fingered the frets unconciously, then raised it to his lips and played a note.

Nothing happened.

Jade shifted his fingers and played another note, then two more. When none of those worked, he played the four notes in pairs: one-two, three-four. One-three, two-four. One-four, two-three. Then he tried it in reverse: four-three, two-one. Four-two, three-one. Four-one, three-two.

Nothing.

He lowered the flute and licked his lips. Nephrite, who had run to just about the end of his patience, opened his mouth to ask him to answer that question now, but Jade held up a finger. "Wait," he said, stowing the flute. "Wait. One more thing."

Jade then hooked a finger under the bracelet--there was enough space for that--and looked up at Nephrite. "Hold your arm as stil as you can," he said.

Then he yanked up on the bracelet.

Nephrite grunted, but held his arm still as he could against it. Jade tried it again, then took a different angle and tried; when that didn't work, he took another angle and tried that. It was only when his friend looked ready to brace himself against a wall and try that Nephrite said, "Enough! Jadeite."

Jadeite gave him a look that was almost desperate. "One more," he said, voice pleading.

"No," Nephrite said.

"But it won't come off!" Jadeite protested.

Nephrite backed away a step. "Is it supposed to?" he asked.

"Well...no. Not the usual way, there's no longer a clasp," Jadeite said, voice oddly high and disconnected. "But I thought my magic could undo it, restore it...and if that didn't work, the metal is soft enough that force might do it...perhaps if we used some sort of chisel..."

"Jadeite!"

Jade looked up at him as if just now seeing he was there. "What? Can't you see I'm busy thinking?"

"How about you get busy telling me what's the big deal with this bracelet?" Nephrite said.

Jadeite shook his head. "No, no. It'd be better if you didn't know, and just helped me think of a way to get it off."

Nephrite gave him a dark look, then gritted out, "I am not doing anything to help or hinder you until you tell me what it is." He pulled his arm back. "Nor are you going to touch it until you give me some answers!"

Jadeite licked his lips again. His whole demeanor was nervous: face and eyes anxious, fingers tapping against his leg. He looked up, then down, then back towards Nephrite's room. Finally he said, "I shouldn't."

Nephrite almost cheered; he'd won this battle. "Jade, you have to," he said. "Because I won't help you until you do."

Jade let out a sigh. "I hate it when people make me do things," he said, voice far away.

"I'll owe you two, then." Nephrite stepped forward a little, and laid a hand (the other hand) on Jade's shoulder. "Tell me."

Jade hemmed and hawed for a few minutes longer, then let out another sigh, and gave in.

He raised his eyes to Nephrite's, and said, "It marks you as her love."

Nephrite gave him a quizzical look.

"Oh, not that kind of love. Not the one night love," Jade said, words rushing out as if he couldn't say them fast enough. "Not even the few months love. No, this is Love in capital letters. The bracelet marks her One, True, Everlasting Love." He swallowed, and smiled weakily. "Now do you understand?"