A new Menace. As the war between the Coalition and the Empire enters a standstill, entire colonies at the edge of Wild Space start disappearing. When a new enemy will prove to be a threat to both sides in the conflict, enemies will have to join forc...
The Normandy was pushed to her limit to reach the mass relay and from there jump all the way back to Earth. It took five hours, and to Jane they seemed unending.
When had that disease started? More importantly, why didn't Benedetta say anything about it before? From Anastasia's words, it seemed even the princes had not been informed. Thinking about it more calmly, that was exactly something Benedetta would've done: make sure that nobody got worried about her health. She was always willing to share personal problems, but when it was about her body, the Empress never considered it something to preoccupy someone else aside of the medics.
That thought could not distract Jane from the fact that the woman who had raised her like the mother she never knew was about to die, and at half the life expectancy of Humans in that day and age. Shepard felt something akin to a crisis of faith: was this in some grand scheme of the Flux? No, the psionics always said that the Flux is not the expression of God, it doesn't decide our fate, though the contacts with the Jedi Order were creating new doctrines to spur all around the Milky Way.
By the time they had reached Earth, Jane could simply not wait anymore and took the Kodiak herself, speeding all the way to the Imperial Citadel in Rome. A guard told her that Benedetta was in her room, and that the whole imperial family and the ministers had already arrived.
She hurried to the chamber, and outside of it she found several politicians, military officers, and also Marina Torrella, the wife of Prince Francesco. The two women saw each other and Marina walked to Jane, whom had the chance to notice that the consort was visibly pregnant.
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"Jane. Just in time." she whispered. "Your father is already here."
"Of course." Jane tried to sound encouraging, but just couldn't. "The princes already in there?"
Marina scoffed. "All except Federico. We can't raise that vagabond no matter how much we try."
Jane decided not to comment on that. Federico had officially left the palace the year before, renouncing his titles and apparently started wandering the galaxy with some friends, but he rarely sent word home.
"How is the Empress?" she asked instead.
Marina lowered her head and wiped away some tears. "I couldn't stay inside. It's too painful..."
Jane reached her shoulders with her hands to give her some needed human contact. Considering that she had the second child of the Crown Prince in her womb, she needed to get rid of as much stress as possible. Then to her help arrived a child of age 5, who grabbed her hand.
"Hey, Marco." Jane greeted merrily.
The young prince gave her a smile. "Hi, miss Shepard." he said in a tone well-versed given his age. But his face could not hide his sadness, clearly he was trying to be strong for his mother.
After sharing that moment, Jane strengthened her resolve and made her way to the door.
She had to push through the crowd of important men and women standing in front of the door, until she reached the grand wooden slab guarded by two men of the Imperial Guard. One of them was James Vega. He gave her a tired smile and tried to sound friendly.
