Episode 189: Negotiations Part II (Gramm)

Gramm sat on the deck of the boat, playing cards with Jade. It was an interesting experience, considering he now understood Jade was a magical creation. She was in most ways a stunning rendition of Indigo, before she had become something else.

While they waited, he let himself compare the two, in his own mind. Jade was Indigo, in every way except through her unique experiences and her diminished stubbornness. Jade was more open, and loved him.

Watching her across a chess table, it was hard to not wonder if she only entertained him because of the modifications to Indigo, forged by the trial. He wanted to know she loved him because she did, not because she had to. He had never tried to coerce Indigo; he meant the same for Jade.

They weren’t playing long when Indigo returned, this time with a tall man with dark hair.

“We were starting to think you weren’t coming back,” Jade greeted. She was sharp, pointed. Every bit Indigo in the way she welcomed them.

“Just a few things to take care of,” the man replied. “I’m Zero.”

Gramm stood. Jade stood too. She offered her hand first. “Jade Whitaker.”

“And Gramm Whitaker,” Gramm mused. He offered his hand to the man that had stolen Indigo’s heart, and wondered what he had to offer (aside from a voluntary marriage) that Gramm had failed to provide.

It didn’t matter, except the parts he loved most about Indigo would have held true in Jade’s form, and he knew he would have to be a dedicated husband and deserving of her love.

They had been married sixteen years. It frustrated him to just be aware of the potential need to be present, when he had managed to keep a smile on Jade’s face for most of those years. Gramm uncoiled the tension from his body: Jade and Indigo were different beings, despite Jade’s origin.

“You’ve eschewed Linnaeus?” Indigo teased.

“Twenty years later… I forgot to change it back,” he joked.

The truth was, he would never be safe as a Linnaeus, Anguilli, or Nukoin. Anguilli was his maiden name; he had given up his name to be the prince and future king of the Upper Dell. Nukoin was the name of his stepfather. His mother had given up her name to join his family in ruling his kingdom.

He was most safe as a Whitaker, the name that had been his as he found love and family.

“We have some conditions, before we agree to this,” Indigo stated.

He expected nothing less. “What conditions?”

“I need to have surgery overnight to remove the child I’m carrying. He has a chance of survival if we remove him before I’m killed.”

Gramm’s mind became an empty vortex of protective feelings and confusion.

He squeezed Jade’s hand, and glanced at her. Switching bodies was her decision, and he would help her in whatever capacity she wanted but he wouldn’t push it

“I’m wiccan, experienced in revival,” the husband replied. Zero. “Jade will be safe, given the circumstances. We have the Akhans’ magic working with us.”

What sort of name was Zero, anyway?

And since when did Cheyenna Akhan go by the Akhans’. Unless she didn’t.

“Who convinced Bentley to settle down?” Gramm asked. He’d missed too much.

“One of Meldrick’s daughters,” Indigo informed him.

Inbred Salamander didn’t scream perfect wife. It made Gramm more curious about the strength of the Dells since his departure.

Still, the topic at hand was unresolved. If the switch went through he could discuss all changes with Indigo.

“You have conditions?” Gramm asked.

Indigo stared at him, her eyes narrowed. Her body sighed in submission to the reality of their arrangement. “Kissing occasionally will be necessary, in the Dells.” She straightened, once she was through the uncomfortable (for her) part. “I thought we could write explicit expectations for the arrangements.”

Gramm tried not to laugh at the familiar way her body moved through frustration and insecurity, into something that looked confident and put together. “Fair,” he replied. “I expected you to have lengthy terms so we went ahead and wrote down ours, as a rough draft.”

Indigo’s eyes rose in surprise. “What are they?”

“Sharing a bed, but nothing occuring in the bed. Just sleep. Kissing, for show, maybe.” Gramm stated. He watched Zero, poised.

Gramm refocused on Indigo, his hand on Jade’s thigh. He was going to miss Jade, the way she looked at him like he wasn’t the wrong person. Indigo had never lost the look, even in a new body.

“Any tension can be explained by the change in circumstances and limited,” Gramm added. He looked to Jade. “Her safety, and a promise that you believe and have reason to believe she will survive the death, are all we ask.”

“The purpose of this is to form an alliance,” Indigo stated unnecessarily. “It was her idea, not me trying to get out of dying.”

One of his biggest struggles with Indigo had been her defensiveness. He hadn’t doubted her alliance, he was expressing concern for Jade. Indigo seemed  incapable of understanding the concept, even in a happy marriage herself.

“Your condition requires Jade to kiss him, and you’re mad that I’m outlining a desire for her to survive?” He tried to calm himself, but found his voice rising just enough to startle Indigo and gain a response from Zero.

“I’m annoyed that you doubt our word about it enough to make it a condition,” Indigo huffed.

She exasperated him. “Do you trust me completely? Right now?”

He knew the answer. He knew she understood his point, when she laughed.

It was very Indigo, to demand trust without being able to give the same back. It had always frustrated him. Just because she trusted herself, didn’t mean the world inherently should.

He looked at Jade, and wondered how much he had changed Indigo, how much Jade was her own person. He didn’t want a perfect wife formed from everything he disliked about Indigo.

“Another term,” Jade added, her tone soft and not as demanding as Indigo’s. “Is if eight weeks pass without resolution, the agreement ends and we return to our original bodies.”

“Eight weeks is generous,” Zero stated, as aware that the women were different as he was.

“We’re hoping under a month,” Zero added. He looked at Indy. “Can you live with eight being the cap?”

Indigo smiled and almost leaned into Zero. “It allows for unexpected issues. But a month or less would be more ideal, so let’s not push the eight weeks.”

How could he get away with treating her like an incapable princess, when Gramm couldn’t even treat her like a capable one, without scolding.

He sighed and nodded. “Agreed. She’ll be trained, correct?”

“Yes,” Zero replied. He wrapped his arm around Indigo, and further baffled Gramm. “We’ve talked to our best trainer; she’ll be trained. We brought pictures of our kids, for you to learn their names.”

He began laying pictures out: Mara, Stetson, Spence, Spaden, Mallory, Sawyer, and an ultrasound of a boy named Elliot.

“I don’t have anything like that,” Jade replied. She looked at Gramm. “They’ll be with me, right?”

“Ah….” Gramm looked at Indigo, “If they go to the Dells, there will be evidence of this. Our son, Mim… they make sense, but our other daughter…”

“Will your girls survive a month without school?”

Gramm rolled his eyes and grinned. He corrected the amusement with a more stern look, that revealed less of his lingering love for his first wife.

“They should,” Jade mused. “Their names are Mable and Aspen.”

“Mable,” Indigo repeated. “Does she look enough like Mim that I’ll recognize her?”

“How many females do you think are on this boat?” Jade asked.

“I bet she has red hair,” Zero joked.

“You’ll recognize her,” Gramm clarified.

Indigo took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll draw up the contract while Zero gets everything ready?”

Hadn’t Indigo learned anything about written contracts, the trail they left?

“We’ll see you tomorrow?” Gramm asked.

“Yes,” Zero replied. “We’ll drop the contract off as soon as it’s complete, so you can review it.”

“When should we expect you?” Jade asked.

He marveled at her: Her strength, in a world that was new to her, with magic and change and the prospect of death….

“Midday?” Indigo replied.

“We look forward to seeing you again, and, you’ll be a queen while you’re with me. No reason to say you didn’t ascend too, and it took you longer to wake up.”

“Yes, I thought that was the idea,” Indigo replied, terse.

“Good.” Gramm stood and offered his hand to Zero, who shook it in return. The two versions of his original love just looked at one another, the new mind in an old body and the old mind in the new body. Gramm focused on his breathing, to not let himself fall into whatever Indigo had lured him with the first time: Jade was his love, and he had never been Indigo’s.

“I normally teach a class in ancient Elesarian, but I’ll have a substitute,” Indigo rambled. “I’m going to be taking time off for emotional strain from the attack.”

Gramm laughed at the way her body repulsed at the words emotional strain; she was the same Indigo, refusing to allow emotions in her life. Gramm was impressed Zero had managed to entice Indigo to admit she had emotions.

“I can pretend to be out of sorts,” Jade mused.

Gramm wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed Jade’s head.

“Thank you,” Indigo replied. She took Zero’s hand. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Gramm replied. Indigo and Zero’s bodies dissipated with the magic they had acquired.

He had a lot to learn, but tonight was about his wife. Gramm turned to Jade and pressed his lips to hers. “I love you,” he whispered, his hands running through her hair until he could wrap them around her shoulders. “I’ll miss you, however much you think you’re made in her image you are unique to me.”

Jade leaned into him, his wife for one more night.

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