At the mention of Ellie, Jane’s heart leapt, “Where is she? Is she here outside?”
“You can see her and Magnolia once we marry and leave this room,” Jei told her. He was not going to tell her right now that Ellie had just run off with an Outcast.
“I don’t know if I want to marry you,” Jane repeated. “I don’t know if I can move forward. You killed me Jei. I know you intended on it only being for a few minutes, but you still killed me.”
“I swear on all the gods and goddesses, including you, I’ll never kill you or harm you ever again unless you ask me to,” Jei said solemnly.
“I need more than that,” Jane said seriously.
“What else can I offer? I’ve done everything in my power to bring you back from the Afterlife which I have, against all the odds, managed to accomplish. I’ve taken in your eldest human daughter and tried to raise her in the best possible way to become a functioning member of society, and I want to marry you. What else Jane? Tell me and I’ll do it. By the gods, I’ll do it,” Jei didn’t want to add pressure to her decision by telling her that the longer they delayed the more likely it was they would all be killed. However, this was beginning to weigh not only on his mind but judging by the face expressions of everyone else it was on their mind’s too. There was no doubt that hospital sensors would have registered Jane Johnson as alive again and notified the High Council, but if they married immediately then they could say Jane returned to the Afterlife for her true other half, just like the myth and then it would be only a question of spiritual belief.
“I don’t know,” Jane stalled.
Jei’s mind was turning, “You and I can be together. You don’t need to return to House Human. Your life will be completely different in the Empire as the goddess of humanity, as the mother of Ellie and Magnolia and as my wife. You can be with me on the Kzi or on Alliance Planet Two. Whatever you want. No more Head of House Human. No more of any of that if you don’t want. Whatever you want you can have, just please, marry me now.”
Jane let this sink in. She did not want to be Head of House Human. She hadn’t even thought about it until now, but now that she did, she did not want it. Do I want to be with Jei forever? Of course, I do, she thought. But she didn’t want to rush into his arms just because he had brought her back. She wanted him to suffer for killing her in the first place. “I will marry you on the condition that I stipulate punishments from me to you that you must do every week. Call it a reverse loyalty arrangement and it will be binding. Put it into our marriage bracelets. I know Dru can change it. Also as a part of this loyalty arrangement you can never disobey me Jei,” the latter she came up with as she was speaking and realized that that was the only thing she would accept to marry him to be sure he never killed her or anyone else she didn’t want dead again.
Jei looked at Jane in astonishment. He would be risking everything. If anyone ever found out about this arrangement, he would not be able to hold his position as Admiral or any position in the Empire, as it would be Jane, not Jei who ruled the entire fleet. “Only in personal matters,” Jei replied.
“No, in everything. I will not back down on this,” Jane said sternly. “What you did was almost unforgivable so the punishment will be its equal.”
Jei looked at Rea, “Admiral, everything here is confidential. It’s your marriage ceremony and I trust Jane just as much as I trust you.”
Then Jei looked at Dru, “I also trust Jane as much as I trust you, if not more. I swear I’d never speak a word of this.”
Jei looked at Jane, “I agree as long as everyone takes a mortal binding tattoo of silence about it.”
Everyone nodded agreement.
Jane took the black Alliance dress and smiled thinking of Ellie. She got up and her body felt great despite being dead for over a year. She easily flung the loose material over her head and put on the stockings and shoes. She didn’t bother with the bra and underwear and put them back in the bag. Then she smoothed down the dress and noticed a familiar pattern, “Are there pink flamingos on this dress?” Jane could see the illusion of pink flamingos running across the black fabric.
Only Rea answered her, “I think it’s charming. Your daughter often wears clothing with this bird on it. We thought it was a human preference.”
“For younger women yes,” Jane said hiding her smile, thinking of Jei and Rea going through Ellie’s order and then ordering a second of the same dress. Then a thought occurred to her, “Why did you name our daughter ‘Magnolia’ of all things?”
“I didn’t,” Jei admitted. “I wanted Ellie to feel welcome in House Rega. She named her in the temple on Alba.”
Jane just looked at Jei in disbelief, “You let a troubled young woman name our only daughter? Your only heir?”
“I told you it was a mistake killing you,” Jei defended himself.
“I guess we can call her Mags for short,” Jane stopped when she noticed Jei’s face expression. “What?”
“It’s worse.”
“Tell me.”
“Ellie calls her ‘Nola’ for short,” Jei said quietly. “It’s too late to change. Everyone calls her that. And yes, it sounds just as absurd in Alliance. No one had the heart to tell Ellie to make her understand. She’s fragile. I call our daughter ‘Magnolia’. And I must admit I have not only become accustomed to the name. I almost like it now.”
Jane shook her head, “Even better that you make this compromise with me. You clearly cannot be trusted with much.”
“Only the fate of the Empire,” Rea reminded them all.
“Ready?” Dru asked as she had readied the binding tattoos and the marriage bracelets.
“And we are not having sex in front of anyone, right?” Jane clarified.
“Never again if you don’t want to,” Jei said. “This is so we can walk out of here and the High Council can do nothing about bringing you back from the dead and issuing us all death penalties.”
Jane nodded then Dru proceeded.
“Wait what about me still being a goddess? Doesn’t that entitle to me to do what I want? Just like Mir?”
“You’re like Mir now?” Jei asked in disbelief.
“Only seven lifetimes,” Jane said sadly. “It was the price for returning. And Jesse wasn’t wrong there was a lot that went on that I don’t know about. Mir isn’t to be trusted.”
“He never is,” Jei replied.
“All is as it should be Jane, goddess of humanity,” Dru said respectfully. “Unfortunately, just like Mir, in your mortal form you must follow mortal laws.”
“It sounds foreign when I hear you call me the goddess of humanity here,” Jane replied. “I wasn’t left with much instruction so I guess it will be a kind of learn-on-the-job approach.”
“Jei is not incarnate, is he?” Rea asked to be certain and because he could feel Jei had suddenly become anxious thinking about it.
“No, only me. I didn’t want him to suffer this punishment as it was my choice to come back.”
“I’d have done it until the end of time for you,” Jei said.
“I didn’t want to speak for you,” Jane said. “Unlike you, the thought of living and dying repeatedly sounds dreadful. Seven lifetimes is not long. But don’t doubt it, I’m going to live every bit of this life, the one I have received all the punishments for returning to, to the fullest. Now let’s get this done so I can see my children. Does Ellie know?”