This time, James stayed right next to Liz, not caring if he got in the way of some fancy Dendarian that wanted to talk to her. Max had also been at her side for most of the time, but now he was talking to the old King of Dendar in the corner. Although the three girls were mostly taller than the Dendar men, it was clear that Liz, Maria and Isabel were being greatly admired for their beauty.

"So you knew me… before?" Max asked the other King.

The old man looked at him speculatively. "Yes. You do not remember?"

Carefully choosing his words, Max’s gaze found Liz in the crowd before turning back to the King. "Only bits and pieces. Did I get married here?"

"The bonding ceremony was conducted on Antar, but the celebration was held here on Dendar. The war was getting more intense, so your parents thought it best. You were… killed a few weeks after the bonding. In the war."

Max was quiet for a long time. "This may seem like a strange question to you, but… do you know if I was… involved with someone else before the bonding?"

The King looked at him strangely. "Actually, no. Your mother always said you were a loner and she was getting worried that you would never settle down with your chosen mate. That’s why they finally pushed through the bonding with Ava… Tess."

Max bent his head as the familiar feeling of despair flooded him again at the memories of his "wedding". He kept feeling that he was betraying someone. Betraying Liz. "No one else, huh?"

"Not that we were aware of. Why?"

"I-I just keep remembering someone else. And no one can tell me if I really knew her or not." His eyes met Liz’s across the room, she was surrounded by men.

"Well, you might ask some of the servants. They usually know everything. I’m sure there are still some around that might have been working here then." The King watched Max nod but his eyes stayed on his mate. "I need to urge you to some caution about something else." He waited until he had Max’s full attention. "Remember that these peace talks are necessary because of the threats made by Tresar. Well, the current military ruler of Tresar, Dak’or, is a hard man. It was him that asked for you to be here and I suspect he wants to make sure no one from Antar will ever bother him again. Be careful of him."

"Where is he? Still on Tresar?"

"No, he has been here on Dendar for some time. Threatening us with war unless we all agree to Tresar’s domination in this galaxy." The King’s eyes narrowed. "Their young King was sent on a mission many rotations ago and never returned. We all wondered what happened to him. You haven’t by any chance run into him somewhere?"

Thinking back to a strange meeting on a street in Roswell many years ago, when two former enemies had both been frantic enough about their women to forget that they used to be out to destroy one another. Max saw the strained face of Eric, the once King of Tresar in his mind’s eye as Eric told him that he just wanted to disappear and enjoy his life with HIS human love, Sarah. "Uhm, no, not that I know of."

Looking over at Liz again, he saw that she now had even more guys around her. "Excuse me, Your Highness."

None of the men were really bothering her, but Liz still felt relief when she saw Max striding over to her purposefully. She maneuvered herself away from the group and met Max halfway.

"Dance with me?"

"Always," she told him as he pulled her into his arms.

"I wonder if those two ever do anything that doesn’t look like a slow-motion scene from a Mills and Boon romance," Alex asked Maria from where they were still dancing gaily.

"No. They are Cinderella and Prince Charming or hadn’t you noticed?" Maria glanced at Michael who was watching her with brooding eyes from the side of the hall. She smiled at him brilliantly. "We got the screwed up members of the gang. On the brighter side, Lizzie is going to look like a beached whale soon because Prince Charming can’t keep his, err… hands to himself while I will still be gorgeously thin. It would probably be the only time I was the tiniest girl in this little group, so I’m gonna enjoy it while it lasts."

Max twirled Liz around the floor, hugging her close to his body and resting his cheek against her hair. A shiver went through his body when he remembered how close he had been to losing her. "You are so precious to me, do you know that?"

She looked up at him. "Because of the precious cargo I’m carrying?"

His eyes widened in alarm. "No Liz, that’s not—"

"Don’t worry, I’m kidding. I know you love me for more than being the mother of your baby."

"You better believe that," he said feelingly and kissed her in front of the many witnesses.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

***TWO MONTHS LATER***

The peace talks had been dragging on for months and Max was losing patience with it all. He spent endless hours in meetings, talking to all the sides. He flew all over Dendar to various meeting places, pleading various cases, but whatever he came up with, Dak’or refused the idea. He wanted Dendar to submit to his rule peacefully, or there would be war.

In the process, Max and Liz saw very little of each other. Many nights he would come in late to find that she had tried to wait up for him and had fallen asleep on the couch. And when he was away from the palace on one of his trips, they would not see each other for days. Max was starting to hate Dak’or with a passion for keeping him away from Liz during her pregnancy. She never cried when he took his leave of her, but he knew she did as soon as he was out of sight and the knowledge would put him in a foul mood for the first part of each trip. It hadn’t taken long for his traveling companions to learn to stay out of his way after he said goodbye to Liz every time.

And at the rate things were going now, they would never sort out this mess…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Max had gone to see Tess just before they put her in the sphere. He had wanted to know where Nacedo was, but she had just laughed in his face, saying that he would never find the shapeshifter again.

"And I would watch my mousy wife and kid if I were you, Max Evans. Dak’or will avenge what you have done to me once he rules everywhere. And he will let me out of here."

That was how Max found out who Tess had been sleeping with lately.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Observing the cocky Dak’or from the other side of the negotiation room, Max wondered how the man can still be so arrogant while there were rumors of an uprising coming from Tresar. But he dismissed the thoughts from his mind as an image of Liz came into his mind’s eye. Tonight he was flying back to see her, come hell or high water. Even if he could only be with her for an hour before he needed to come back to this outpost, he would still go.

The rumblings of trouble on Tresar reached the Dendar palace too and Shilla raced down the corridor to find Liz. She eventually located her outside on the balcony with Maria. "Your Highness!" Her cry made the two women jump in surprise.

Seeing the hopeful look on Liz’s face, Shilla felt like kicking herself. Max and Michael have been away for a week and Liz was slowly wilting in Max’s absence. "Sorry for interrupting. It’s just that…" She sent Liz an apologetic glance for not bringing her the news she was hoping for. "There are rumors that the King of Tresar had returned to his planet and that he is taking back power! Dak’or is being overthrown!"

"You’re kidding!" Maria said. "Wasn’t Eric the King of—"

Liz sprang to her feet, her eyes filling with hope. What if Eric could finally end the long negotiations and Max can stop being so involved? What if this meant that she could see Max for more than a few hours at a time?

Cold fear followed hope. What if Dak’or did something desperate to the delegations of the other planets that were congregated at the outpost for the negotiations? What if something happened to Max? She put her hands over her stomach defensively. Daddy will be back, sweetheart. I know he will. But she was talking to herself more than to their little boy.

"Uhm…" Shilla was still shuffling around nervously. "There is something else…"

Liz looked at her fearfully. "What?"

"I think I have found someone that may have known Max in his previous life here. Someone that may be able to answer some of his questions."

Not sure how to react to this news, Liz looked at Maria before asking: "You have? Who?"

"It’s an old woman. She says she was Max’s servant when he used to stay here." Shilla hoped that she had done something good, but Liz was reacting strangely.

"I want to go see her," Liz announced suddenly.

"Chicca, I think you should wait for Max." Maria had risen in concern. "He’s gonna flip if you do this without him!"

"Maria, we don’t know when he is coming back and… I need to know. It’s about my life too."

"I still think—"

But Liz was determined. "I’m going, Maria." She turned to Shilla. "Find out if she can see me later this afternoon."

Shilla curtsied and quickly left. What had she done now? The old woman had seemed a bit creepy, but she seemed to know a lot of things about Max. Maybe she would have some good news for Max and Liz.