First Life: First Blood

Complete
Drama
Spoilers for Rules of Engagement
Set c.1935
FR-T
Violence

Disclaimers:

Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, The SciFi Channel, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is written purely for my own entertainment, and that of anyone else who may happen to read it. No infringement of copyright is intended. It is not intended and should never be used for commercial purposes.

The original characters, situations and ideas contained within this work are the property of the author.

Author's Notes:

The toponym 'of Chulak' refers to a Jaffa born in the urban district of Chulak. Those born on the planet Chulak, but outside the city, take their names from regions such as the Cord'ai Plains or the High Cliffs. Teal'c's unused toponym – 'of Elysia' – likewise denotes his origin in the eponymous principle city of Elysia.

Acknowledgements:

Once more, my great thanks go to Sho, for beta reading my fan fiction; this and many others.

The Prophet, April 8th 2003

First Life – First Blood

Chulak,
c.1935 in the Tau'ri reckoning

The training of a Jaffa warrior – especially a warrior who hoped to enter the hallowed ranks of the Serpent Guard – was long and arduous. One with no ambition to be more than a simple foot soldier in the army of his God might enter battle at twenty-five, but it was only after almost twenty years of training that the thirty young men who might one day be the battalion and legionary primes of Apophis were deemed ready to set forth on their first campaign. They had gathered in the great arena where they had learned their craft, at the bidding of the First Prime of Apophis, and one by one he called them to him. As each chal'ak came to stand before Bra'tac, two Serpent Guards stripped him of his training armour and took his mashak. Then they garbed him in a mail shirt, Bra'tac placed a staff weapon in his hands, and he became a warrior. They were still untried, but that would not be true for long.

"Teal'c!" Bra'tac called, and the young man went forward to stand before his teacher, the last of the chal'ak to do so, and the only one whose home was not named. The Serpent Guards hung the heavy mail around his shoulders, and he bore it as though it weighed no more than a shirt of finest silk. "This weapon has served me well on many campaigns," Bra'tac said, his words for Teal'c's ears alone as he held out a staff weapon that was worn and scorched, but in perfect order. "Bear her with honour."

"I shall, Tek ma'te," Teal'c promised.

"Warriors of Apophis!" Bra'tac shouted, as Teal'c returned to his place. "The time has come for you to prove your valour in battle. Tomorrow is the day that you have trained for all these years. Tomorrow you will pass through the Chappa'ai and face the enemies of your God for the first time. Tomorrow at noon you will assemble in the sacred space by the Chappa'ai, and receive your squad assignments. Tomorrow, you shall spill blood on another world. The blood of the enemies of Apophis...or your own.

"Tonight...Tonight, you are boys for the last time. When the sun rises tomorrow, you will be men."

*

"Tomorrow we enter battle for the first time," Fro'tac said, unnecessarily. It was a habit of his to speak more than he needed to, especially when he was nervous. "A glorious day, my brothers." He sat with Teal'c and their friend, Va'lar, in their usual place in the warrior's mess.

Va'lar looked up from his plate with a tolerant smile. "If we acquit ourselves well," he said. "But it is as likely that tomorrow we shall do no more than see battle. My father tells me that a section of the Serpent Guard will accompany us tomorrow. A section of elite veterans and a section of green warriors, barely out of training. I do not think that we shall see the lion's share of the fighting."

"Why would they take us, if not to fight?" Fro'tac demanded.

"To see death for ourselves," Teal'c suggested. Of the three friends, only he had experienced real bloodshed first hand, when he had seen Andromeda, daughter of Bra'tac, murdered by jealous fools. Even in the final challenge, at the end of their training, very few had actually died, and those mostly by misadventure. "It is quite different to sparring, Fro'tac; believe me."

"Well, we shall see," Fro'tac said. "Who do you think Master Bra'tac will assign as squad leaders?"

Va'lar smiled. "Teal'c and I, certainly," he said. "I do not know about you though; he might feel that you talk too much."

Fro'tac threw a bread roll at his fresh-faced comrade.

"Also Kem'sa, and Jor'lac," Va'lar went on.

"Jor'lac is unfit to lead," Teal'c growled.

"Perhaps so," Va'lar agreed, warily. He did not much care for the man himself, but lacked Teal'c's hatred of him. "But that is not for us to say. He is a skilled warrior; he could defeat either Fro'tac or I, hand-to-hand or at squad level, and his kin have the favour of Apophis."

"He is the grandson of Master Bra'tac's teacher," Fro'tac added.

"He is a Mik'ta-ha!" Teal'c declared, glowering across the mess hall at his arch rival, Jor'lac of the Black Lane. All that his friends had said was true, and more, but he still believed that Jor'lac should not be placed in any position of responsibility.

Jor'lac was a brutal, bloodthirsty man, whose rage matched Teal'c's in intensity, although not in kind. Teal'c's anger was slow to kindle, and would burst forth in sudden flurries of violence when he was driven to it. Jor'lac became enraged far more easily, but he would contain his anger, letting it simmer and fester as he plotted against his enemies, real or perceived, until he was ready to act with calculated and cruel efficiency. He was a man to hold a grudge, where Teal'c would – whenever possible – release his rage through action and be done.

Jor'lac was also far too willing to sacrifice his men, and far too reluctant to sacrifice himself. Fighting side-by-side in the final challenge, Teal'c's training company had lost less than a third of their number, and while Jor'lac's company had 'killed' almost twice as many of the enemy, their losses had been closer to three-quarters of their original strength. Jor'lac took foolish risks with other people's lives for his own aggrandisement, and cared little for collateral casualties. He had not known, any more than his colleagues, that the weapons their Masters issued for the final challenge were only a little more powerful than their training intars; he had not cared. All death was good death to him, if the blood were spilled in the name of Apophis, and Teal'c felt that Jor'lac did not see a field of battle, so much as an altar of sacrifice.

More than anything else however, Teal'c knew – although he was constrained against acting on the knowledge – that Jor'lac had thrust the killing blade into the prim'ta pouch of his beloved friend, Andromeda, and he had sworn one day to kill him.

Teal'c shook himself from a moment of reverie, and realised that Fro'tac had spoken again. "What did you say?" He asked.

"I said, 'besides which, Jor'lac will soon be your blood kin', will he not?"

Teal'c's fist tightened around the handle of his knife. "Of course," he muttered. "How could I forget?"

"But look on the bright side," Fro'tac went on. "You may be marrying Jor'lac's cousin, but what a cousin she is!"

"Easy, Fro'tac," Va'lar cautioned, fearing that Teal'c might become angry if Fro'tac were to grow too effusive in his praise of the unquestionable charms of Drey'auc of the Cord'ai Plains. "Anyway; it is not as though they are first cousins."

"That is true," Teal'c acknowledged grudgingly, unwilling to recognise even a distant connection between himself and Jor'lac. "Certainly not close enough for me to call him cousin."

If it were possible, Teal'c would have denied that he and his enemy shared a species, but it was a matter of fact that Jor'lac came from the same group of families as Teal'c's betrothed. By marrying Drey'auc, Teal'c entered that powerful clan; an important step along his sworn path to becoming First Prime. Ultimately, achieving that goal would come down to the recommendation of Master Bra'tac and the whim of Apophis, but for a Jaffa with no kin on Chulak, it was important for him to establish his place. Teal'c had striven to earn the respect of the other chal'ti, but the Jaffa he did not grow and train with would only look up to one of their own, and Apophis would never choose a First Prime who could not command the respect of his troops.

But although politically Teal'c knew that marrying Drey'auc was the right thing to do, it gave him pause. He certainly found her beautiful, and she had a pleasant disposition with a hint of fire behind it that intrigued and aroused him. With her family background she understood fully the trials of being a warrior's wife, and she had made it clear that she was prepared to face them. Teal'c had no doubts that she would be a good wife; what he questioned was his ability to be a good husband. His reservations about the match came down to the simple question of whether he loved her or not; a simple question with no simple answers, for although she possessed every worthy quality – and few unworthy, but decidedly fascinating ones – Drey'auc stumbled when he compared her with the two other women who had held a claim on his heart.

Shan'auc had been his first lover, when both of them had really been too young. She remained the most beautiful woman he had ever known, but in their youth he had eventually come to realise that there was little to her besides looks. She had been spoiled, vain and sheltered; a widow's only child she had been slow to learn care for the feelings of others. He had broken with her when he realised that the woman he loved was a fantasy built around her beauty, and soon afterwards she had entered the temple. Teal'c had not met Shan'auc again until after her training, when he learned that she had grown into a proud, wise woman, with a depth of soul to match her beauty.

For a time they had renewed their friendship and their affection for each other, but it had not lasted. Shan'auc was a temple priestess, forbidden to the touch of any man, and it had soon become apparent to them both that the relations allowed to them by law would never be enough. They spoke at length, and with regret chose to go their separate ways. Teal'c's feelings for Shan'auc were strong, but he could never be First Prime if he defiled a priestess; her feelings for him were no less real and potent, but if she gave in to desire she would never achieve her own ambitions in the priesthood.

But for all that, Teal'c's love for Shan'auc paled next to that he had held for Andromeda. Friends from childhood, that closeness had blinded him not only to her feelings, but to his own, until it was too late. The night he realised that Andromeda, not Shan'auc, was his true love, was the night that Jor'lac took her from him. His love for her was therefore compounded with regret and sorrow, and his desire for revenge against her killer, and even to cast eyes on another woman while Jor'lac walked free felt like a betrayal of her memory.

It had not seemed so hard at first, when he asked his mother to make formal approaches to Drey'auc's mother, Yan'aoc. One of the handful of women to serve in the Serpent Guard, Yan'aoc was proud and haughty, but Teal'c's star was in the ascendant, and Drey'auc's other suitor had recently fallen out of favour with the First Prime.

And that of course was the main reason why Teal'c had chosen to pursue Drey'auc: Because Jor'lac wanted his distant cousin for his own.

"You are very introspective tonight," Va'lar commented.

"So long as he is focused tomorrow," Fro'tac said. "You know that you will most likely be our section prime." There was a little bitterness in Fro'tac's words, but not much. He was still the most ambitious of the three friends for ambition's sake, but had more-or-less accepted that Teal'c would surpass him, and had even swallowed his gall that he was only passing on to become a full warrior at the same time as friends two years his junior. It did however rile him that he suffered more prejudice for his father's decision to marry beneath himself – taking to wife a humble scholar, lowest of the scribe caste, for the sake of love – than Teal'c did for having grown up among the kresh'ta.

"You know that he will be," Va'lar said. "Perhaps the day after tomorrow is more important to him, but he will never reach his wedding day if he loses concentration in battle. He knows that as well as we do; is that not so, Teal'c?"

"You speak truly, Va'lar," Teal'c agreed. "Rest assured that my mind shall be on the battle alone in the morning."

"It is as well," Fro'tac replied. "But let us drink now; to Drey'auc, Teal'c's lovely wife to be. And to Seteh'na," he added.

Va'lar blushed, as he always did when his betrothed's name was mentioned. Seteh'na was the daughter of an architect – the highest members of the scribe caste, although still barely a proper bride for a Serpent Guard – in training to take up her father's career. She and Va'lar had been betrothed for eight years now – twice as long as Teal'c had even known Drey'auc – and planned to wed only once they were both settled in their careers, and when they were ready to have children and raise a family.

Fro'tac was forever nettling Va'lar about his plans, but mostly because he was jealous. Va'lar had always been the shy, quiet, awkward one, while Fro'tac had always known what to say to women. That Va'lar then had found the woman he wished to share his life with, while Fro'tac had only the fading memories of his many, brief relationships, was a sore point with the older man. Unfortunately for Fro'tac, his early success had gained him a reputation, and now – coupled with his lowly birth – this made it almost impossible for him to find a bride of good breeding who would consent to marry him. In fact, respectable women made a point of never being alone with him, so easily did gossip begin here Fro'tac of the High Cliffs was concerned.

Smiling indulgently at their friend, Va'lar and Teal'c echoed his toast. "And to An'auc," Va'lar added. "Whom we missed today even more than every other."

"To An'auc," Fro'tac agreed.

Teal'c raised his glass. "To Andromeda," he said, in death, as in life, calling her by her given name.

"Now if you will excuse me," Fro'tac said. "I have a matter to take up with a certain lady."

"I shall refrain from comment," Va'lar said, refusing to enter into ribald banter with Fro'tac.

"I also must go," Teal'c said.

"Just be sure to get some sleep; both of you," Va'lar cautioned.

"Yes, mother," Fro'tac replied, and the three friends laughed.

*

With many matters weighing on his mind, Teal'c sought out his mother. Ry'auc still lived in the house of Bra'tac, serving as his ne'pher and confidant. She was widely held to know more of the goings on in Chulak city than the High Priest of Apophis, and had in recent years become quite respected as an adviser to the First Prime. It was well known that she possessed some influence over Bra'tac, but those who thought to use her as a means to bend his ear found that they had sorely misjudged her, for she was as tenacious in her views as Bra'tac himself. Exactly what her influence was – as with the nature of her relationship with the First Prime – no-one seemed to know; only that he listened when she spoke.

To Teal'c, all that mattered was that Ry'auc was his mother.

He found her in her room, the same small chamber that she had occupied since first entering Bra'tac's service as a helper for his ailing wife. Bra'tac had offered her better quarters on several occasions, but as he declined to leave the house where his wife and daughter had lived for one more befitting a First Prime, so she stayed where she was. As he entered, Teal'c though that he saw Ry'auc staring at her hands in rapt concentration, but after a moment she saw him and rose to greet her son.

"Ah, my brave boy," she said, clasping him in a fond hug. "Or rather, my bold warrior. You have grown so tall and wide my son."

"All thanks to those who have raised me," he assured her.

Teal'c sat, and Ry'auc busied herself heating a pot of coffee, not having a taste for the more bitter klah'c favoured by warriors. "Tomorrow you go to war," she commented. "Some men might consider their night better spent with their betrothed than with their mother."

"Drey'auc is a woman of great propriety," Teal'c said. "She will be spending this evening praying for my protection in the battle tomorrow."

"She told you that?" Ry'auc asked.

"She did."

"And you took her at her word?"

"Of course," Teal'c replied, confused.

Ry'auc laughed. "Well, I just hope that Ry'auc finds your naivety to be endearing, my lamb," she told her son. "Because she shall probably be most disappointed when you do not arrive to ravish her tonight."

Teal'c was shocked. "Mother!"

Ry'auc sighed, patiently. "When a woman prays for the life of her betrothed, she does so in solitude and isolation. I presume that she told you which shrine she would be praying at?"

"Yes, but..."

"Oh, Teal'c," she laughed. "Your betrothed wants you to find her there; alone, away from her parents, completely helpless and vulnerable to the insatiable hungers of..."

"Mother!"

Ry'auc laughed again, and despite his confusion and anger, Teal'c felt a great weight lifting from him. "Mother," he said. "You are laughing. I have not heard you laugh in so long. Not like this."

"I know," she replied. "I can not help myself. I like this girl, Teal'c," she told him. "I really do." Her expression sobered, and she took her son's face between her hands. "I know that she is not Andromeda; no one could ever take Andromeda's place. But she is a fine woman, Teal'c, and I am happy for you." The smile crept back to her face. "Assuming your cluelessness does not drive a wedge between you."

Teal'c forced a casual smile onto his face. "Perhaps I should go then," he said, setting down his mug and gently squeezing Ry'auc's hands in his own. "Thank you for the coffee, Mother; and for...for everything you..."

"Stop!" Ry'auc said, gentle but urgent. "Do not speak like you will never have a chance to say such things again."

"I am sorry," Teal'c said. "But I..."

"Listen to me, Teal'c," Ry'auc said, and her tone silenced any protest he might have made. "You must learn this, and learn it now. When you leave, you must always act as though you know you will come back; for her sake. One day it might not be true, but you must not let her sit at home, waiting for word of your death, or it will eat her heart away. In return, she will never erode your courage by speaking of her fear that you might die. You shall both know, but never say it, and by your silence give each other ease." She kissed him gently on both cheeks. "There. My last lesson to you, my son."

"There will always be more for me to learn from you," Teal'c promised. He wrapped his arms around his mother and hugged her tightly. "I love you, mother," he said. Perhaps it was his imagination, or perhaps it was that unvoiced fear for his safety, but she seemed somehow frail at that moment, in a way he had never known before, and her strong, Jaffa body trembled in her son's embrace.

"Go now," she said. "Drey'auc will be waiting."

*

Earlier that evening, Bra'tac had found a melancholy mood descending on him. Not wishing to damage the morale of the eager young warriors, he had left the city and come up into the foothills, to sit by the graves of his wife and daughter. When he got there, he found someone waiting for him.

"Do you come up here often, Sister?" He asked.

"Not often," Kal'rhe replied. "This is not the first time I have come, but this time I have not come for them."

"Then why?"

She shrugged. "I thought that you might want someone to talk to."

"If I want to talk, I have Ry'auc," Bra'tac replied. "She is a very good listener."

"I am sure," Kal'rhe agreed. "But would you wish her to listen while you tell her that you fear her son will die?"

Bra'tac looked surprised. "Warriors often die," he told her. "I accept that, although I try to keep as many alive as I can."

"But you are afraid to lose this one," Kal'rhe said. "As you lost your daughter, and your wife. You know that it would kill Ry'auc, and you are not sure that you would be able to live with her gone; not since you stopped believing."

"How do you know so much?" Bra'tac demanded, angrily.

Kal'rhe turned and gave a wistful smile. "I watch. I listen. I have spoken to Ry'auc often, and while she guards your secrets better than her own, I learn much from what she does not say when she speaks of you."

Bra'tac met the woman's eyes, and something inside him shivered at the contact. He had been struck by the chantress' strength and conviction the first time he had met her, twenty years and more ago, but there was something more there now. A wisdom, and a power that filled him with a sense almost of awe.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"As always, my only interest is Teal'c," she said.

"He is strong and skilled," Bra'tac said. "And more gifted than any other I have taught, but those are not enough to keep a man alive in battle; especially not when enemy weapons are at his back as well as his front."

"Meaning?"

"Nothing," Bra'tac demurred, shaking his head. "I should not have spoken."

Kal'rhe sat on a large boulder, and motioned for Bra'tac to join her. "You do not need to present proof to me," she said. "Your instincts are evidence enough."

"One of the warriors is the man who killed my daughter," Bra'tac told her. "Teal'c knows it, and he knows that Teal'c knows. That being the case, he must know that Teal'c will kill him if he ever has a chance, and he will be forced to act first."

"His family will constrain him, as their influence constrains you," Kal'rhe assured Bra'tac. "Jor'lac is too cunning and cowardly to act directly against Teal'c anyway. Your concern must be for Teal'c; to see that he does not kill the man in a rage and suffer the punishment due to Jor'lac."

Bra'tac shook his head in astonishment. "Do you know everything, priestess?"

Kal'rhe gave a soft laugh. "I wish I did. These things are easy to learn with an open ear, especially if one can pass unnoticed. While I am a little conspicuous," she admitted, touching a hand to the silver raven-mark on her brow. "Tan'aul is a local, and has been very active in my service."

"Your tok'ai?"

"Not for much longer," Kal'rhe replied. "She will become a chantress in her own right soon. I dare hope that she will stay with me, but it can no longer be as my novice, as Teal'c is no longer your apprentice."

Bra'tac sighed. "Chantress," he said. "What is Teal'c's destiny?"

"I told you once; he will kill a god."

"He has done so already," Bra'tac reminded her. "When my daughter died..."

"He slew his own prim'ta," Kal'rhe finished. "But I do not believe that was what the auguries foretold."

"Then what?"

Kal'rhe shrugged her shoulders. "I do not know," she admitted. But there will be blood, and chaos, and fire; of that I have little doubt."

Bra'tac shifted awkwardly. "Chantress," he repeated.

"Have we not known each other long enough for you to know that I care little for conventional propriety, Bra'tac? When did I last address you as First Prime?"

Bra'tac smiled, grimly. "Kal'rhe. Do you think that my daughter's death was a part of Teal'c's destiny."

Kal'rhe thought long and hard before she answered. "Yes," she said. "With all she meant to him, I do not see how it could not be. But," she added. "I do not believe that makes it his fault that she died. Our destiny is something beyond ourselves. It is outside our control, and even outside the control of the Gods; otherwise, how could Teal'c be destined to slay a god? Destiny is capricious, and unfeeling. Your daughter's death is a part of Teal'c's destiny because of the effect it had on him, but it was also her destiny to die that night."

"Destiny is cruel," Bra'tac said. "If I could, I would thwart Teal'c's destiny just to spite it."

"Destiny is neither cruel nor kind," Kal'rhe assured him. "It simply is."

Bra'tac hung his head wearily, keenly feeling the weight of his seventy-two years. "I miss her so," he whispered. "I knew for years that I must lose Ariadne, and it still almost killed me. I thought that Andromeda would always be there."

"She was a wonderful child," Kal'rhe said. "She would have been an extraordinary woman, and we all mourned her loss, bitterly; Teal'c most of all."

"I know," Bra'tac agreed. "And it is because of that that his forthcoming union disturbs me. I fear that it shall not bring happiness to either of them, and they are still so young."

"Trust in Teal'c," Kal'rhe suggested. "He has ambition, but he will do what is right in the end."

"I hope so," Bra'tac replied.

Kal'rhe smiled. "You can ask him yourself if you wish," she said. "Unless I miss my guess, he shall be here before the night is out. Death will be on his mind also, and he will wish to see Andromeda once more before he goes into battle." She stood, and straightened her grey robes. "But be easy in your mind, Bra'tac. Whatever fate has in store for Teal'c, it is not an unremarked death on a forgotten field; and how many Jaffa warriors can say that?"

*

From Bra'tac's house, Teal'c made his way to the Shrine of Amaunet-Sehetep – Amaunet, granter of prayers – where Drey'auc had told him she would pray all night. Many of the shrines would be busy tonight, as Jaffa prayed for the kin who would fight their first battle tomorrow, but the Shrine of Amaunet-Sehetep was isolated, and few if any besides Drey'auc, would make the trip so far into the hills above the city.

Teal'c felt a chill of recollection as he made his way up the path towards the Shrine. The foothills of the Serpent Mountains were the one place on the planet where the chamka trees grew, from the carefully tended groves near to the city, stretching up to a dense forest, before petering out into think copses and spinneys near to the treeline. It was in a clearing in these same chamka woods that Teal'c had trained as a boy, under Andromeda's tutelage. Later, when Bra'tac had refused to teach her anymore, he had become her trainer. Ten years ago, in the same clearing, she had died because he had been late for their rendezvous.

The clearing which housed the shrine was not the one in which he had trained, but it was similar enough to send a shiver down Teal'c's spine. The Shrine was a low, stone building, just large enough to house a statue to Apophis' Queen, with her hands held out in a gesture of generosity and benediction. Robed in grey, Drey'auc kneeled before the Shrine, bowing her head, and chanting a prayer for her lover's protection in a low voice.

Teal'c took a step forward, then stopped, turned, and retreated from the clearing.

Andromeda's grave lay only a mile or so from the Shrine of Amaunet-Sehetep, and Teal'c reached it to swiftly for his whirling emotions to have settled. With tears in his eyes, he stumbled to the graveside and fell to his knees.

"Hello, Teal'c," Bra'tac greeted him.

Teal'c's head snapped around. "Tek ma'te," he replied, standing and endeavouring to hide his emotions.

"It is alright, Teal'c," the older Jaffa assured him. "I take no offence that you weep for my daughter still. What ails you, lad, that you have come here tonight?" He asked, gently.

"It is..." Teal'c stopped his denial before it was finished. While he might have kept silent, he owed Master Bra'tac far too much to lie to him. "I have concerns regarding my marriage to Drey'auc," he admitted.

"Well, you are both young," Bra'tac agreed. "Thirty-five and twenty-eight is early to make such a commitment. Moreover, I know that you had hoped to make a different match for yourself. I would be lying if I denied that my hopes had leaned in the same direction," he added. "Had you wed my daughter, that should have been a happy day for me."

Teal'c hung his head.

"But Drey'auc is a fine, strong woman, with a loving heart and a fiery spirit. While a father would never admit that another woman could compete with his daughter, since my Andromeda is lost, there are few women on Chulak I would sooner see you marry."

"Master Bra'tac," Teal'c said. "All of that is true, but there is something that I must tell you. Something that I should have told you ten years past."

Bra'tac frowned. "Speak," he commanded.

"When I held your daughter, as she died," Teal'c began, his voice catching in his throat. "I told her of my love for her, and we...We swore ourselves to each other."

"What!"

"For a few minutes, Andromeda was my wife, and I her husband. Now I am a widower, and although I told myself otherwise, I would be false to her if I wed again."

Bra'tac sighed. "Oh, my boy," he said. "You should have come to me before now. Did you believe I could be angry with you for this?"

"I did not wish you to think..." Teal'c began.

"What would I think?" Bra'tac demanded. "That you had seized an opportunity to bring yourself into my family without being tied to a living wife? That you would seek to name yourself as my son-in-law, yet have no barrier to making Shan'auc your mistress for life?" He shook his head with a melancholy smile. "Teal'c, I did not know you then as I know you now, but even then I knew you too well to suspect you of such a thing. There is little doubt in my heart that I shall name you my successor, but what doubt there is comes from questioning your aptness to the politics of my role."

Teal'c flushed with pride, but his doubts remained. "So it is," he allowed. "That is why I can not marry Drey'auc for position, forgetting my vows to Andromeda."

Bra'tac shook his head again. "As Andromeda's father," he said. "I release you from your widower's obligation to my daughter. I can not believe that she would wish it otherwise," he added, silencing Teal'c's protests with a gesture.

"I seem to be one of the only people not to have known about your affair with Shan'auc at the time," Bra'tac went on. "But I have since learned – and it does not surprise me – that it hurt Andromeda greatly to see you with another."

Teal'c turned his face away in shame.

"Nevertheless," Bra'tac said. "What you did was an act of great heart; to jeopardise your chances of a future match for the sake of a dying girl's comfort. I did not know Andromeda's heart as well as you did, but I do not think that she would begrudge you any happiness for the sake of those vows. What say you?"

"She would not," Teal'c admitted. "But there is something else."

Bra'tac sighed again. "There always is," he assured his protégé. "What is it this time?"

"When I hold Drey'auc," Teal'c said. "I think of Andromeda."

"You must let her go, Teal'c. You do her spirit no favours by holding so tightly."

"I do not mean that I wish I were holding Andromeda in Drey'auc's place," Teal'c explained. "I mean that my mind is full of the memory of her, as I held her and she...As she died."

Bra'tac frowned. That sounded more serious to him. "Live," was all he said, however. "Live through the day – through your first battle – before you trouble any more over this."

"Yes, Tek ma'te," Teal'c said. "And thank you; for everything."

Bra'tac watched the boy go with a heavy heart. While for himself he hated to see Teal'c with anyone but Andromeda, he had spoken the truth in telling him that she would not begrudge his happiness, any more than he believed his beloved Ariadne would turn in her grave if he were to take another woman to his bed. Of course, in twenty-two years, he had done so only once, but he had been given twenty-five years with Ariadne before she was taken from him. Teal'c might only be seventeen years younger than Bra'tac had been when he was widowed, but he had known only the first blush and revelation of love, and the First Prime did not wish the boy he cared for almost as a son to never know love in its full, mature glory.

Of course, he would have to live through the next day, and the one after that, and the one after that; and for a Jaffa, living through the day was not always easy.

*

Although he knew that his mother was right, and that Drey'auc might well be angry with him, Teal'c did not return to the Shrine of Amaunet-Sehetep after speaking with Bra'tac. While the older Jaffa might be right, and things might seem different after the battle, for now he knew that to go to Drey'auc would only bring him pain. Instead he returned to the warriors' hall and tried his best to sleep.

*

In the morning the warriors were restless, and the hours seemed to drag into weeks before the end of the fourth hour drew near. As the time approached, the young warriors trooped to the armoury. Here they donned the chain mail and took up the staff weapon that they had been given the day before, and the armoury master issued each of them with the remainder of their battle armour, and a zat'nik'tel to wear at their wrist. So armed, they filed down to the sacred space, and gathered around the Chappa'ai, trying to contain their nervous energy and not fidget, desperate to emulate the still, silent forms of the Serpent Guards who stood ready beside them.

"Warriors of Apophis," Bra'tac addressed them. "This is your first battle, but you are not unprepared. You have trained for this day, and you all know what is expected of you. Obey your squad leaders; squad leaders obey your section prime. The squads will be led by Va'lar of Chulak, Fro'tac of the High Cliffs, Jor'lac of the Black Lane, Hac'nar of the Cord'ai Plains, and Kem'sa of the Silver-Leaf Forest. Teal'c will lead the first squad, and take the role of section prime."

Bra'tac turned to one of his own squad commanders. "Issue the remaining warriors with their squad assignments," he ordered, before turning back to the young Jaffa. "Squad leaders, to me!"

The six young men gathered around the First Prime of Apophis, and he led them a short way off, to where a small table had been set up, with a terrain map spread out on top of it.

"This is the planet Nagaz," he explained. "Our destination. The Chappa'ai is lightly defended, but our scouts have located a small outpost here" – he gestured at a point some three miles from the Gate – "guarding the road. Assaulting a fortified Stargate – however slight the defences – is no task for green warriors; the Serpent Guard shall lead through and hold the Chappa'ai. Your task shall be to take the outpost. It is imperative that no warnings be sent to any larger fortress, and that all resistance is annihilated."

"What should we do, First Prime?" Hac'nar asked. Another cousin of Drey'auc, closer than Jor'lac, Hac'nar was brave and charismatic in action, but somewhat timid and uncreative in his thinking.

"That is not for me to decide," Bra'tac said. "Teal'c; this is your command. Tell them what they must do."

Teal'c studied the map, thinking back over his lessons. "Is the Chappa'ai visible from the outpost?" He asked. "There is a line of low hills here, but I can not tell from the map whether they obscure the view."

"They do," Bra'tac confirmed.

Teal'c nodded, slowly. "They will also conceal our approach," he said. "And we can follow their line around to the north-east and so come within three hundred yards of the outpost. How many man this outpost, and with what weapons?"

Jor'lac snorted, impatiently.

"You have something to add, Jor'lac?" Bra'tac asked.

"Teal'c is too timid," Jor'lac said. "We should simply rush the outpost from the end of the hills."

Bra'tac gave a short nod. "There are seven Jaffa, including their leader. They have staff weapons and zat'nik'tels, and also an energy cannon arranged to fire along the road."

"Jor'lac's strategy seems sound then," Teal'c said. "Unless...How are the Jaffa arrayed? What means of communication do they possess?"

"Three stand ready, three sleep and one mans a watch tower. They can signal for help by flare, carrier pigeon or vocume banner." Bra'tac laid a second parchment on top of the map, showing a detailed plan of the outpost, with a number of notes written on it.

Teal'c studied the plan, intently. "Then the first task must be to draw their attention, so that we can destroy their means of summoning aid before the main force is seen." He smiled, grimly. "What time of day will it be on Nagaz?"

"It will be day," Bra'tac replied.

"Then five squads will take position here," Teal'c said, pointing to the line of hills. "Hac'nar; you will lead your squad along the road at a slow walk."

"I do not understand," Hac'nar admitted.

"You are our distraction," Teal'c said. "You will not appear to be a threat, but you will be a curiosity, and they will have to report you."

"And what does that gain us?" Jor'lac demanded.

Teal'c smiled. "Messages are sent by carrier pigeon," he explained, patiently. "Alerts by flare or banner. If they see only a curiosity, they will not be on alert and will not wake the remaining three guards. More importantly, the pigeons are cooped here, away from the main building, and the messages are sent by the lookout in the tower. When Hac'nar's squad are spotted, he will leave his post to make a report, while the other three focus on the road.

"As soon as he is out of sight, we attack. Jor'lac, you lead your squad around this way" – his finger described a sweeping arc on the plan – "destroy the vocume and eliminate the sentry when he emerges. Va'lar; your squad will secure the pigeon coops and make certain that not one is released. Even without a message, someone will know that something is afoot if the bird arrives. The rest of us will strike the hut. My squad and Kem'sa's will take the three on guard; Fro'tac the three inside."

"But that means that my squad shall not even see combat," Hac'nar complained.

"Perhaps," Va'lar agreed. "But you will be the most likely to get shot." Hac'nar seemed cheered by this compromise.

"Is it a good plan?" Teal'c asked Bra'tac.

"Well, we shall find out," Bra'tac allowed. "To your squads," he ordered, gesturing for Teal'c to hang back a moment. "You could have sent Jor'lac to be decoy," he noted.

"He is a better warrior than Hac'nar," Teal'c grudgingly allowed.

"He is a better fighter, certainly," Bra'tac agreed. "You did right. Now let us see how the rest of your plan fares."

*

Teal'c's cadet warriors passed through the Chappa'ai moments after the Serpent Guard, and he could not help but be impressed by their efficiency. Six enemy warriors had been felled without losses, and Bra'tac assured him that no signal would have reached the outpost. Teal'c led his squads off at a jog, while Hac'nar and his four Jaffa made their slow way to the same destination.

The young Jaffa could not help but be disconcerted; the journey through the Chappa'ai had surprised them all, and the lush grasslands that stretched away in all directions were unlike anything that they had seen on Chulak. The air was also warmer, and the sounds of birds and animals that surrounded them were not like those they were used to. This world was alien to them, and only their devotion to their duty kept the crawling fear that gripped all of their hearts at bay.

At the outpost, all went well, although Teal'c learned the important lesson that no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. When they saw the strangers approaching, the lookout did indeed go down to send his message, but the three other Jaffa on duty immediately began firing wildly at Hac'nar's squad with their energy cannon. While Jor'lac and Va'lar led their squads around to the rear of the outpost, Teal'c and Kem'sa attacked this trigger-happy trio, and Fro'tac went through a side window to surprise the sleeping reserve.

Unfortunately, both the lookout and the reserve had been alerted by the sound of cannon fire. Fro'tac was shot in the arm as his squad entered the building, and the lookout burst from the outpost shooting and made straight for the vocume. A veteran warrior, he shot down two of Jor'lac's squad before Jor'lac was able to return fire and bring him down, firing six shots into his body for good measure. Meanwhile, Fro'tac's Jaffa held their staff weapons into the window from cover and fired wildly into the outpost until the return fire stopped.

Teal'c's section had the most success, taking the cannon crew completely by surprise. Teal'c, Kem'sa and a third Jaffa each snapped off a single killing shot, and their enemies fell. Then Teal'c sent Kem'sa in the front door to make certain that all three reserves were dead, and ordered a sweep of the outpost in case there were any extra personnel to account for. Only then did he relax, and send two of his squad to report to Bra'tac.

The First Prime brought half of his section up from the Chappa'ai and inspected the scene of battle. He found Teal'c sitting on the porch beside the energy cannon, staring at the body of the man he had killed. He was a young warrior, probably not far past his chal'ak training himself, bearing a tattoo of a scorpion.

Nearby, Jor'lac was regaling his cronies – most of whom had been under the command of Fro'tac and Hac'nar in battle – with the tale of his own glorious kill.

"One injured," Bra'tac noted, distractedly, much of his attention on the body of Teal'c's victim. "Two dead. Not bad for your first raid. Both of the dead were under Jor'lac's command. Do you think he should be disciplined."

After a moment of hesitation, Teal'c shook his head. "He faced the leader of the garrison," he said. "The man was skilled, experienced; Jor'lac did well to bring him down at all."

Bra'tac nodded. "As you wish," he said. "Who claimed the other kills?"

"I took one, as did Kem'sa and Tef'na. Fro'tac's squad killed the three inside, but no-one knows who fired the shots."

"Very good," Bra'tac said, and left Teal'c alone in order to conduct his own search of the outpost.

"So you made a kill as well!" Jor'lac said, walking up to Teal'c. "Although yours was not ready, as mine was."

Teal'c stood up and faced his enemy. "Yet you did not take him swiftly enough to save Ly'ac or Yeil'c."

Jor'lac bristled defensively. "A kill is a kill."

"Indeed," Teal'c replied, and turned away. Around the corner of the outpost, he found Va'lar, sitting with Fro'tac while a young priest bandaged the latter's arm.

"Again you outshine me," Fro'tac laughed. "You get your first kill; I get shot."

Teal'c forced a smile.

"Are you alright?" Va'lar asked. "You look unwell. Were you injured after all?"

"No," Teal'c assured him. "I am well." He turned to look out across the flats, in order to hide his discomfort. How could he tell even his closest friends that killing another Jaffa had made him feel sick to his stomach?

"The rest of them are all jealous of us both, of course," Fro'tac added. "You with your first kill; I with my first battle wound."

"All except Ly'ac and Yeil'c," Teal'c added.

"If only he had shot Jor'lac instead," Va'lar commented.

"There will be plenty of chance for all of you to be shot later," Bra'tac said, leaning from the window above them. "Teal'c; meet me at the front of the outpost."

"Yes, First Prime," Teal'c acknowledged.

"Wonderful," Va'lar said, as Bra'tac disappeared from the window and Teal'c walked away. "The first time in my life that I act like Fro'tac, and the First Prime of Apophis is there to hear it."

"Are you well, Teal'c?" Bra'tac asked.

"I am," Teal'c lied.

Bra'tac harrumphed. "Remember this feeling," he counselled. "Every time you are about to order your troops into battle, remember what it means to kill."

"I...Yes, First Prime," Teal'c said, ashamed of his weakness. He should have been filled with the Jaffa's battle-joy, instead of this enervating nausea.

"Ready your troops to move," Bra'tac ordered. "I must consult with Lord Apophis, but if I am right, then we shall have more blood to spill before you can go home to your wedding."

*

Bra'tac returned to Chulak through the Chappa'ai, and was gone for almost two hours. The sun was beginning to set when he returned, and called together his squad leaders; those among the young warriors as well as the Serpent Guard. He was anxious about something, Teal'c could see it in his eyes, but he managed to hide it from the other Jaffa. At his side walked a tall, dark woman with an arrogant air, whose beauty drew the eyes of many of the Jaffa, but Teal'c was too absorbed by his concerns to do more than note her presence. As the squad leader gathered, she stood apart and aloof.

"Warriors of Apophis," Bra'tac began, once more. "Fate has smiled on us this day, and we have been given a chance to destroy an enemy of Apophis. We had believed this world to belong to Bilqis; a Goa'uld of little importance. Our raid here served but two purposes: To remind Bilqis that Apophis is mightier than she, and to give our young warriors their first taste of battle.

"But now that taste shall become a feast," he said. "For the forces of Bilqis have fallen, and in their place stand these." He lifted one of the dead Jaffa to display the tattoo on his brow. "Learn this mark, my young friends," he instructed. "For it belongs to the most vile pack of shol'va in the heavens. The armies who march beneath this sign obey the Goa'uld of the Linvris league, and Apophis in his wisdom has divined that this world has been overtaken by the Linvris Zalian."

"First Prime," Hac'nar asked. "Who are the Linvris?"

The woman hissed angrily, and her eyes burned. The Jaffa shuddered, suddenly aware that they stood in the presence of a goddess. As one, they went to their knees in supplication.

"Stand," Bra'tac ordered. "The Linvris are enemies of all the System Lords," he told Hac'nar. "A league of nine Goa'uld of little power; weak creatures who seek to establish their own empire because they can not rule in this one. By the decree of Apophis and of Ra, they are to be exterminated."

"Forgive my impertinence; but mere Jaffa can not destroy a God," Va'lar protested. "However weak."

"You are forgiven," the woman purred, stepping forwards, and Teal'c knew that half of his section felt an urge to strike Va'lar down, so great was their envy that the goddess had addressed herself to him. Va'lar himself flushed red with pride and embarrassment.

"You are correct: Jaffa can not destroy a God," she went on. "But I can. I know Zalian's name, and with my power at your backs, you shall surely triumph."

"Give praise to Amut!" Bra'tac commanded.

"Praise to Amut!" The Serpent Guard intoned. "By whose grace we shall triumph."

"Praise to Amut!" Teal'c's section echoed.

Amut raised her arms slightly, basking in the praise that was her due. "Before the battle," she told them. "I shall whisper Zalian's name to your staff weapons, and with that blessing they shall smite him. In my name, and for the glory of Apophis, shall you destroy this wretch." She turned her haughty gaze on the First Prime. "Instruct them," she ordered. "And then attend me."

"Yes, my Lady," Bra'tac replied, bowing his head. He waited until the Goa'uld was out of sight before continuing. "Scouts!" He called, and two of the Serpent Guard came forward. They were dressed only in green robes, ideal for concealment among the vegetation of this world. One was a wiry man named Ch'chal, who had sometimes taught his apprentices alongside Teal'c's training company at the arena. The other was a powerful woman with proud, regal features; Yan'aoc of Chulak, wife of Frey'ta of the Cord'ai Plains, and mother of Drey'auc.

"Report," Bra'tac snapped.

"There is a town below the palace of Bilqis," Yan'aoc said, spreading a parchment map out at Bra'tac's feet. "Nestled in the cleft between two hills. The enemy have built fortifications around the town because the palace is too badly damaged to occupy. There is a building in the town which has been reinforced to withstand assault."

The First Prime knelt to study his scout's map. "Very good," he said. "Arm yourselves for battle," he added. "We move as soon as Lady Amut gives the word."

"Yes, First Prime." The scouts saluted and slipped away.

"Attend me," Bra'tac said. "The young warriors will approach from the north-east, here," he said, showing Teal'c on the map. "You may deploy your squads as you see fit, Teal'c. I will lead the first three squads of Serpent Guards in from the south-east; Yal'ac, you lead the remaining three squads from the south-west."

"Yes First Prime," Teal'c and the Serpent Guard, Yal'ac, acknowledged as one.

"First Prime."

Bra'tac looked up, slowly. "Yes, Jor'lac?" He asked.

"For give my impudence, but will that plan of attack not leave an opening at the rear of the village. The enemy could flee that way."

"Indeed he could," Bra'tac agreed. "But he will not. I know Zalian's ways; I have fought his forces before. He will not flee while his walls stand, and his Jaffa will not abandon him; moreover they would have to flee to the Chappa'ai to escape, and they can not reach it by that route. Only the villagers might escape that way, and if they stay they shall only be in our way."

"You would let them escape?" Jor'lac demanded. "They shelter an enemy of Apophis!"

Bra'tac swept out with his staff weapon and knocked Jor'lac to the floor. "Hashak!" He snarled. "You would question the First Prime of Apophis?"

Jor'lac's face flamed with anger, but he averted his gaze. "No, Master Bra'tac," he replied, humbly.

Bra'tac turned away from the young warrior. "Teal'c, Yal'ac; order your forces. Chem'ha," he added, turning to another Serpent Guard. "See to the arrangement of my force. I must attend the Goddess."

*

Bra'tac stalked back to the Chappa'ai, where Amut's servants had swiftly erected a high tent for her temporary comfort. An additional section of Serpent Guards had accompanied Amut for her protection, but Bra'tac had been refused permission to add them to the half-battalion at his disposal. With only seventy warriors – half of them untried – he did not care greatly for his chances of success, but he had faith in the abilities of his Jaffa, and in the cowardice of Zalian.

He entered the tent, and knelt before the Goddess in the cavernous space beneath the canvas. She stood half-naked, without modesty or shame, as her handmaidens dressed her in the armour of the Serpent Guard.

"Is all in readiness, First Prime?" Amut asked.

"Yes, My Lady," he replied. "The Jaffa are eager for battle, and await only your blessing to go forth and destroy this abomination."

"Excellent," she purred. "You understand that there is to be no parley with this Linvris scum; I shall not speak to him, whatever right he claims."

"Yes, My Lady," Bra'tac affirmed. Apophis' orders were clear. Although he was reluctant to abandon a strong place during battle, Zalian had escaped from Bra'tac's forces during a parley twice before, each time killing the Goa'uld emissary sent to him; this time he was to be given no such chance.

Bra'tac looked up at the sound of the Chappa'ai opening. "My Lady..." He cautioned.

"Be at ease, First Prime," Amut counselled. "My personal attendants will be passing through the Chappa'ai for some time. Now that Bilqis is gone, My Lord Apophis desires that I take personal control of this world. You will leave a garrison of the Serpent Guard behind when you return to Chulak, for my protection until my fortress is completed."

"As Lord Apophis wishes, My Lady," Bra'tac affirmed, hiding his anger that he had not been informed of this. A signal horn from the Gate confirmed that the travellers were friends, but as First Prime and commander of this mission, he should have been informed in advance. "Shall I order the troops for your blessing?" He asked, eager to get on before his façade crumbled.

"Do so," she agreed.

*

The Jaffa formed up in their squads, and stood to attention as Amut made her way along the line. Amut stopped at each squad, touched her fingers to the tip of each squad leader's staff weapon, and whispered to it the name of the Linvris Zalian. The rest of the squad then touched their own staff weapons to that of their leader, and so the name passed into them. Of course, the name that Amut whispered was not 'Zalian', but his Ren; the true and secret name that held within its sound the very essence of his being. That name would give the weapons the strength and virtue to strike Zalian dead, for God or no he would always be subject to his true name.

"The name of the enemy is known now to your weapons," Amut told them, once she was done, standing before them, bathed in the red light of sunset. "By the break of dawn his name shall be dust and ashes."

So armed and favoured by the Goddess, the Jaffa set out along the road towards the town. They marched as only Jaffa could march, their prim'ta feeding strength into their limbs so that they were able to travel tirelessly at a swift pace, their feet eating up the miles between them and their targets. The Serpent Guard led the column, followed by the young warriors, with three squads of Serpent Guards bringing up the rear, bearing energy cannons to deal with the fortifications. These too had been blessed by Amut, as the walls of the town had doubtless been strengthened by Zalian's spells.

At the edge of a ridge they halted, the column breaking once more into separate squads. Bra'tac motioned for the force to spread along the line of the ridge, and Teal'c knew that their target lay beyond. He felt a squirming sensation in his gut that had nothing to do with the movement of his prim'ta, wondering if the next life he took would leave him feeling as nauseous as the first. He pressed the thought from his mind, and watched for Bra'tac's signal.

After what felt like a lifetime, the signal came. Teal'c mirrored the gesture, and his warriors rose from their positions and hared down the ridge with a fierce battle cry.

"Apophis!" The cry was repeated by the Serpent guard, and echoed off the town wall, seeming to fill the valley that lay before the gates.

As they ran closer, Teal'c saw that what at first appeared to be a strong wall was in fact a hastily constructed mass of loose-packed rubble. He fired on the move, and blasted a great rent in the barricade. Defenders on a parapet behind the wall returned fire, and someone to Teal'c's left fell, but then a shot from the cannons struck the wall, and a long section collapsed in dust, taking the Jaffa defenders with it.

The warriors of Apophis barely slowed as they vaulted over the rubble and entered the town. Teal'c was first, with Va'lar and Fro'tac – although injured, he had insisted that he was well enough to be here – at his side. As per Teal'c's command, they immediately fanned out, sweeping along the walls, attacking the defenders from behind so that the Serpent Guard could close more easily. Three more cannon blasts tore away most of the defences, and then the Jaffa were moving into the town itself.

Some of Zalian's Jaffa had fallen back form the wall and now lay in wait within the winding streets of the town. Teal'c motioned for his squad to go slowly, checking doors and windows for ambushes. Occasional staff blasts sizzled past him, but he seemed almost charmed, and not a shot struck Teal'c himself. To his left a door burst open and one of the defenders made a run for it, haring away along the street, diving towards an alleyway for cover.

Teal'c raised his staff and fired, the blast toppling the fleeing figure head-over-heels to fetch against the alley wall. He walked over and turned it onto its back, and froze in horror.

The Jaffa that he had just killed was a woman in her mid-twenties. She was unarmed and unarmoured; not a warrior at all, but a civilian in the wrong place at the wrong time. The woman had black hair and olive skin, and just for a moment Teal'c could almost have sworn that it was Andromeda lying at his feet.

He took a step back, and a hand touched his shoulder. He spun in alarm, to see the injured Fro'tac staring at him with deep concern.

"Teal'c," Fro'tac said. "Pull yourself together. We must go on; in Apophis' name," he added, squeezing his friend's shoulder encouragingly.

Teal'c looked past Fro'tac, and saw that the other young warriors were spooked, his own fear and uncertainty infecting them. He knew that, for their sake as much as his own, he must not dwell on his mistake. He clasped Fro'tac's shoulder. "Watch my back," he ordered, then: "On!" He cried, turning to face inwards once more. "In Apophis' name!"

Teal'c led his section faster now, pounding through the streets and leaving Fro'tac's squad to protect them from ambushes, until they reached the bunker. Here the Jaffa of Zalian had gathered in the greatest numbers, and Teal'c struck fiercely about him, with no fear of striking any but enemy warriors. The press was close, the fighting fierce, but the young warriors moved slowly forward until a horn blast called them back.

"Why do we retreat?" Teal'c demanded.

"Zalian cowers behind his walls," Bra'tac replied. "We will be sitting ducks once his ranks are thinned enough, and I will not send my men to the slaughter. Zalian has made his own tomb; now we shall bury him in it."

So saying, Bra'tac gave a signal, and the energy cannons opened up on the bunker.

*

Only as his bunker fell into rubble did Zalian try to make his escape, and by that time he was completely surrounded. He ran, and the last of his Jaffa died around him before a staff blast finally found his flesh, scorching through his shoulder. He began to fall, but three more blasts caught him from different directions, twisting his body, making it leap and jerk in a grotesque dance, before at last falling to the ground. The Jaffa closed in on the Goa'uld, who half-rose to face them, eyes blazing wrathfully. Bra'tac ordered the warriors to stand off, and Zalian spat curses and insults at them until Amut arrived, flanked by her guards, to deliver the coup de grace.

The servant of Apophis seized her foe, fixed powerful jaws on the back of his neck and bit down hard. Blood – red blood and blue – spurted from the wound and splattered Amut's face. Zalian's eyes flamed one last time, and he grew still. Amut dropped the body to the ground, as though it had ceased to hold any meaning at all to her. She stood straight and tall, tipped back her head and swallowed. Teal'c felt the bile rise in his throat as he watched this gruesome display of conquest and dominion.

"This world belongs to Apophis," Amut said. "And in his name I shall rule here. First Prime; organise your warriors to hunt down and destroy the last of Zalian's Jaffa. Clear the town, but the Jaffa of Bilqis who have fled may live for now. When my temple is raised, those who return and praise my name, and that of My Lord Apophis, shall be spared."

"It shall be as you command, My Lady."

"Bring the squad leaders to me at sunrise," she added. "We shall hear which of them did great deeds, and reward them as they deserve."

*

After a few hours, Bra'tac declared the Jaffa of Zalian exterminated. He posted sentries from the second section of Serpent Guards, and allowed all those who had fought in the battle to rest for the two hours remaining before dawn. Only then did he allow himself the luxury of attending to his own concerns, and finding out how many he had lost.

Including the two slain at the outpost, five of the young warriors would never see their second battle. Fro'tac had been wounded again, as had a further nine of the thirty under Teal'c's command. Of Bra'tac's forty, nine were dead and twenty-one injured – including Bra'tac himself, who had suffered a minor injury to his left arm. As Bra'tac had suspected, the Serpent Guard had drawn the brunt of the enemy's fire, and his casualties were only as low as they had been because of Teal'c's decision to have his squads attack the defenders on the walls before closing to the bunker.

Bra'tac mourned the loss of good men, but was thankful that more had not died. He summoned a messenger, and sent him back through the Chappa'ai to bring word of the casualties to their kin. By that time it was almost sunrise, and so he roused the squad leaders as well, and took them to the temple-tent to receive the benediction of Amut.

*

Amut was a young goddess, possessing the wisdom and arrogance of her forefathers, but not yet secure enough to regard the sacrifices and service of her Jaffa entirely without acknowledgment. Thus she made efforts to win their loyalty, and one such was this inspection, passing from one squad leader to the next, asking each their name, and how many they and their followers had killed in the battle.

"I am Fro'tac of the High Cliffs," Fro'tac said when his turn came. "My squad killed nine, of which I claimed four, and a further three died by our fire, but we know not by whose hand."

"Very good," Amut said, then passed along to Teal'c.

"I am Teal'c," Teal'c said. If Amut noted the absence of a home-name, she did not mention it. "My squad killed eighteen; I myself claimed seven of those." Or eight of nineteen, he thought to himself. But I shall not include the woman.

"Most impressive," the goddess applauded him. "And what of you?"

"Jor'lac of the Black Lane. I killed nineteen; my squad took another thirty-three."

Bra'tac looked as startled as Teal'c felt, but shot a glance at his apprentice, willing him to silence.

"You are almost worth a squad on your own it seems," Amut noted. "We shall be watching you, Jor'lac of the Black Lane."

Jor'lac flushed with pride, and Amut passed on down the line.

"And you?"

"Va'lar of Chulak, My Lady," Va'lar said, his voice thick with emotion. "My squad killed nine; I myself only three." Teal'c could not be sure, but he thought that Amut looked disappointed.

"And fired the shot that first felled Zalian," Bra'tac added.

Va'lar looked awkward. "But I did not kill him," he demurred.

Amut flashed a predatory smile. "Nevertheless, you have done a great service to your gods. By your hand, now only eight scorpions plague the System Lords, where once were nine." Bra'tac suppressed a snort of derision. Amut knew as well as he did that a new Linvris lord would rise to take Zalian's place. Only if all or most of them could be slain at once would the league fall.

"I am pleased with you, Va'lar of Chulak," Amut went on. "You may kiss me."

So saying, she held out her right hand. Va'lar sank reverently to his knees, reached up and took only the very tips of her fingers in the gentlest grasp. He bent his head forward in a bow, and brushed his lips against her knuckles. The line of Jaffa shivered in envious astonishment, and Teal'c could feel the rage and jealousy seething in Jor'lac's breast. He knew that his rival had hoped to be the hero of the day with his impressive – if unlikely – claim of nineteen kills, and to see Va'lar favoured was difficult for Jor'lac to stomach.

Amut withdrew her hand and stepped back from Va'lar. "Bra'tac," she said. "Your warriors shall rest here in my domain today, and return to their homes in the morning. My servants shall bring them refreshment, as a token of my thanks to them."

"My Lady is too kind," Bra'tac replied, through gritted teeth.

*

The warriors returned to their squads, and true to her word, Amut did send her servants out to them with food and drink; simple fare, but a veritable feast to the battle-weary Jaffa, and all the better for being served by a goddess' handmaidens. Teal'c was unsatisfied, however. He was still not certain whether he truly loved Drey'auc, but today was his wedding day, and if he were to break with her it should be today and not later.

Troubled in spirit, Teal'c sought out Bra'tac, and found him in conference with none other than Yan'aoc. He waited patiently until Drey'auc's mother saluted her commander and left, stopping to offer Teal'c her congratulations on his success.

"Yan'aoc will bear news of our delay to Chulak," Bra'tac explained. "Have no fear then that Drey'auc or her father will take the news amiss; there will still be a wedding awaiting your return."

"I still do not know if I can with honour marry Drey'auc of the Cor'dai Plains," Teal'c admitted.

"That may be so," Bra'tac replied. "But at this time, I do not think that you can with honour – or with safety – not marry her. Does something else trouble you?"

Teal'c nodded. "In the battle, I did not see Jor'lac once. How could he kill so many?"

Bra'tac snorted in disgust. "You believe that he lied to the Goddess?" He asked. "The truth is worse. Come with me."

Bra'tac led his apprentice to the rear of the village; the avenue of escape that had been purposely left open. They looked out onto a wide pass between the two hills that squatted behind the town. To their left, the ruined palace of Bilqis still smouldered; to their right lay the remains of a massacre.

"Jor'lac disobeyed my orders and yours," Bra'tac said. "He came here as soon as the walls were breached. Many probably escaped before he arrived, but he waited beyond the gate for the villagers who tried to flee."

"Some of these are just children," Teal'c breathed, disgustedly. "They were unarmed."

Bra'tac knelt beside the nearest body; that of a woman who had tried to shield her son with her own body. The gesture had been futile: The boy was dead in her arms, mother and child slain by the same blast. The First Prime of Apophis reached down and closed the woman's sightless eyes. "And for this slaughter, Jor'lac will be praised. The Goddess has already commended his efforts, so I can not contradict her and punish him for disobedience."

The First Prime turned and looked up at the smouldering ruins. "I knew of Bilqis by reputation," he told Teal'c. "She was said to have been a hard ruler, but a fair one. I am sorry that her remains had to gaze on this carnage."

"Her remains?" Teal'c asked.

Bra'tac pointed up at what Teal'c had at first taken for some manner of particularly grotesque gargoyle, and as the light grew stronger he saw that it was the body of a woman, her face mutilated beyond recognition. Her ribs had been cut from her spine so that her lungs could be ripped out and hung over her shoulders – the so-called Blood Eagle – and the ropes that bound her in place were her own entrails.

"The Linvris would do such a thing to a goddess?" Teal'c asked, appalled.

"Did Zalian's death have any greater dignity?" Bra'tac asked. He raised his staff weapon and fired a blast through the throat of the shattered body. With a horror beyond anything he had yet felt, Teal'c saw a final flare of light burn in the eyes of Bilqis; or was it just a reflection of the dawn.

"Was she...?" He asked.

"Perhaps," Bra'tac replied. "If not dead she was dying, but the Goa'uld can take a very long time to die. Now she is dead for sure, and I can leave her body there and still know some little peace."

Teal'c shivered. "Why would you do such a thing for an enemy?" He asked.

"In the hope – perhaps futile – that some day the enemy who defeats me would do as much for me." Bra'tac looked at Teal'c as he spoke, and there was such bleakness and despair in the older man's gaze as he did so that it made Teal'c's blood run cold. "How do you feel?" He asked.

"I...I am well," Teal'c said.

"And in the battle?"

"I felt the joy of noble service," Teal'c lied. "The joy that a Jaffa knows when he does the will of his God."

"I see," Bra'tac said, and his voice and face were unreadable. "Go back to the camp now," he instructed. "Eat and rest."

"Thank you, Tek ma'te."

Teal'c went back into the town, and Bra'tac hung his head in sorrow.

*

Once he was out of the First Prime's sight, Teal'c turned away from the direction of the Jaffa encampment and went deep into the wreck of the town. Once he was certain no-one could see him, he fell on his knees and retched. If he had eaten in the last twelve hours, he would have vomited.

Teal'c knew that this was not how a Jaffa should feel. He knew that this was a weakness that would see him cast out of the army, or at least deny him entry into the Serpent Guard, and so he resolved to hide it. He would bury the pain and the sickness, and show to the world the face of a loyal and honourable Jaffa. Only by so doing would he find the favour that would see him rise to become First Prime of Apophis, and give him the strength to avenge his father's death.

Summoning up all of his resolve, Teal'c returned to the camp.

*

"What are you writing?" Fro'tac asked Va'lar.

The three friends were sitting in the Jaffa camp outside the town. Fro'tac was nursing his injuries, and had been using them to elicit the tender sympathies of one of Amut's younger and more impressionable handmaidens. Teal'c was deep in thought, his eyes staring into space with a fierce intensity, and Va'lar had found parchment and ink in the ruins, and was writing something. Whatever it was, it absorbed all of his focus, and he was frequently crossing through his own text or starting afresh.

Impatiently, Fro'tac threw a date at Va'lar. The younger man's hand snapped up and caught the fruit out of the air. He popped it between his teeth and squeezed out the stone, then as he chewed the meat he cast the stone back at Fro'tac, who tried to catch it but fumbled. Va'lar had not looked up from his writing.

"You are an odd sort of warrior," Fro'tac told Va'lar. "What are you writing?"

"A prayer," Va'lar replied, with a reverent tone. "To the greatness and glory of Amut."

Teal'c's attention slipped back to the present. "I stand by my belief," he said. "That you have missed your calling."

Va'lar gave a soft laugh. "This will be no great thing," he replied. "I have little gift with words, but I honour the Goddess with my work, not with my skill. Besides," he added. "If I were a priest of the temple, then the masters of the temple would select my bride. Seteh'na's birth may be deemed beneath me, but as a warrior I am free to make that choice."

"Assuming Seteh'na does not mind sharing your heart with Amut," Fro'tac teased.

Va'lar smiled indulgently. "The love of a Goddess is not of a kind with the love of a woman. Amut may be the keeper of my soul, but Seteh'na alone rules my heart."

"Oh yes," Fro'tac agreed. "He has no gift with words, has he Teal'c?"

Teal'c was not listening however. Va'lar's words had touched something half-forgotten, or only ever half-known, and he was lost in a faded memory of the past.

"Teal'c?" Va'lar called.

"It was...It was nothing," he assured them. "But I am restless. I think I shall go for a walk."

"I may join you," Fro'tac said. "Since our soft-spoken friend here seems even less companionable than usual."

Teal'c tried to find a way to put Fro'tac off, without revealing his discomfort and his need for solitude, but fate was on his side. At that moment the handmaiden with whom Fro'tac had been flirting returned, and thoughts of walking were forgotten. Teal'c seized the moment, and slipped quietly away.

*

As the sun set, Teal'c found himself in the town once more. Drawn by a grim fascination, he made his way back to the junction where the young woman had fled from him. Her body lay there still, and a large, black crow perched on her chest. With a bellow of anger, Teal'c ran at the bird and it flew away with a raucous cry. The iron-grey beak had torn at the woman's face, and she no longer reminded him of Andromeda, but seeing her lying their, her body twisted and lifeless, still brought an acid taste to the back of Teal'c's throat.

On halting feet, Teal'c turned from the woman, and entered the house that she had fled. It was a small, neat home, and but for a few blast-marks on the outside of the front wall, seemed almost untouched by the chaos that had fallen on this little town. Teal'c wandered through the building, looking at the dining room, the kitchen, the bedrooms. A bath house stood in the cellar, the bath still full of cold water. Had that water lain there since Zalian came to oust Bilqis, Teal'c wondered, or had the woman's life just been returning to normal when the warriors of Apophis arrived?

Had she prayed in thanks for her survival through the first attack? If so, to whom had she prayed?

Teal'c was sinking into a mire of gloom, feeling as though unseen, accusing eyes were fixed on his back wherever he turned, when something slowly dawned on him. He went back up the stairs and checked, and sure enough there were three bedrooms. One was a room that a man and woman would share, but it looked as though all of the man's belongings had been hastily packed away. Teal'c supposed that the woman's husband must have been killed in the first attack. The other two rooms had a total of three beds, all small.

Are the children dead as well? Teal'c thought to himself. If not, why would their mother be here if they were absent? Or if they were here, why would she leave?

Suddenly, Teal'c remembered something that he had barely realised he had seen. Before the woman had run out, Marl'c – one of the warriors in Teal'c's squad – had been checking windows and doors for hidden troops. He had come to this house, and looked in through the window, then...

"She ran to protect her children," Teal'c realised. "To lead us away." But then where are the children? Teal'c wondered.

Following his instincts, he returned to the cellar, and sure enough the feeling of being watched returned. With a surge of strength, he overturned the wooden bath tub, and the water spilled across the floor and gurgled down the drain. Teal'c turned swiftly around, and as he had hoped, he saw a line of bubbles against one of the walls, as though the water had found another way to escape.

"I am not your enemy," he said, walking slowly toward the wall. "I will not hurt you." On the wall was a towel rail, with four pegs and three towels. Teal'c reached up, and grabbed the fourth peg, pulling it down. There was a sharp click, and a section of the wall swung towards him.

The secret door picked up speed, and Teal'c leaped aside to keep from being struck. A figure lunged at him from the shadowed portal beyond, thrusting a spear at his throat. With movements made reflexive by long practice, Teal'c turned the attack aside, caught the shaft of the spear and dragged the attacker to him. A woman, little younger than the one he had killed, stumbled into the light. Teal'c caught her wrist, spun her about and held her pinned gently against his chest as she struggled and kicked.

"I will not hurt you," he promised.

"Run!" The woman screamed, and a group of children broke from the hidden chamber. They ran for the stairs, but Teal'c was quicker, and blocked their way, still holding the struggling girl with one arm, and the spear in the other hand. He dropped the weapon, and took a better grip on the woman.

"Please, calm down," Teal'c hissed. "If you cry out, others will come, and they will hurt you. There is no one to hear who would help you," he added, when the woman kept struggling. She must have realised the truth of that, because she became still in his grasp, the only movement the uncontrollable trembling of her body.

"I am going to release you," Teal'c said. "Go and stand with the children."

He loosed his grip, and she twisted away from him, positioning herself where she obstructed his view the most. He could still see the small faces staring at him in fear, too afraid even to cry, but mostly he saw the girl. She had the same eyes as the dead woman and as four of the five children. The eldest child could not have been more than nine, the youngest perhaps five, and so only the woman bore the four-petalled lotus tattoo of Bilqis on her brow.

"Is this all there is?" He asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Here at least."

"If you are found in the town you will be killed," Teal'c told her. "You must hide in the hills until the temple is built. If you worship the new gods there, you will be spared."

"We must stay here," the woman insisted. "My sister..." Teal'c did not know what to say to the young woman, but in the end he did not have to; she saw the truth in his eyes. "Where can we go?" She asked.

"Come with me," he said.

Teal'c made the children stay in the house while he covered the dead woman with a curtain, but her sister insisted on seeing the body.

"Were the children all hers?" Teal'c asked.

"Three of hers, two of mine," the woman replied. "Both our husbands were killed when Zalian attacked."

The woman and the children followed Teal'c through the streets of their blasted town to the breach in the wall through which Teal'c's squad had entered, and there he bid them farewell. The woman sent the others on, and stopped a moment to speak with Teal'c.

"Thank you for what you have done," she said. "I know that you risk angering your God..."

"My God did not order your deaths," Teal'c said. It was a small lie, as it was not his God but a minor goddess who ordered the clearing of the town, and she had only implied that she wished those still within the walls slain. "I see no reason for you to die."

"Still..." The woman laid a hand gently on is cheek. "Thank you."

"I was the one who killed your sister," Teal'c admitted, the words tumbling out.

The Jaffa leaned up and kissed him softly on the cheek. "I know," she said. "I saw you, Teal'c."

"You have the advantage of me," Teal'c mumbled, embarrassed and humbled by her forgiveness.

"I heard your friend speak your name," she told him. "In the street. My name is Sahl'oé, and I am in your debt."

Teal'c averted his gaze. "If you wish to thank me...Please; tell me her name."

Sahl'oé smiled, sadly. "As you wish, Teal'c," she replied. "Her name was Nim'auh." She turned, gathered the children to her, and disappeared into the night.

Teal'c also turned away, and went back into the city; back to the house and Nim'auh's corpse.

The crow had returned, and was trying to tug the heavy curtain from the woman's face. Teal'c chased it away again, but this time it swept around and swooped over his head. He turned, and saw the great, black bird settle on an armoured wrist.

"We are not dissimilar, her kind and ours," Bra'tac said. "We are both witness to dozens of atrocities not of our design." He stroked the bird's head, smoothing her feathers. "Do not be too hard on her," he told Teal'c. "After all; she only feeds on the carnage that we leave behind." He flicked his wrist, and the crow flew away.

"Come," Bra'tac commanded. "Bring the body."

Teal'c, responding as much to the authority of Bra'tac's voice as anything, gathered Nim'auh in his arms and followed his mentor to the rear gate, where a group of three Serpent Guards were digging a mass grave. The dead had been gathered, and lain out in rows, ready for burial.

"I do not understand?" Teal'c admitted.

"Officially," Bra'tac explained. "Our Lady Amut is a young and delicate goddess, and I do not think that she will care for the smell if the dead are left to lie when the sun rises tomorrow." He sighed. "Unofficially; again, I do what I dare to hope might be done for me on the day I am not the victor."

Teal'c laid Nim'auh down, and took up a shovel. When the pit was complete, the five Jaffa laid all of the bodies reverently in the ground, and covered it over. Bra'tac took a stone, scratched on it the number of the dead, and set it over the grave.

"You did a good thing tonight, Teal'c," Bra'tac said.

"I did only as you asked me," Teal'c replied.

Bra'tac gave a bittersweet smile. "You did far more than I said for you to do," he pointed out. "I told you to bring the body. But I was not speaking of what we did here for the dead, but what you did for the living."

Teal'c flinched, afraid that if Bra'tac had seen his weakness he would lose his position among the warriors of Apophis.

"It is in such acts that you shall find peace, my young friend," the Jaffa master said, squeezing Teal'c's shoulder. "In mercy, not in slaughter."

*

Teal'c's sleep was easier that night than for many a night before. He dreamed of his bride to be, and for once the image of poor, dead Andromeda did not intrude. Teal'c's dreams for once left him with pleasant, if elusive memories, and he wondered at the cause. It might simply have been that the battle had left him weary, but it did not feel so simple. Perhaps Bra'tac was right, and his act of kindness had brought him peace. In helping Sahl'oé, he felt that he had made amends for the death of her sister, and perhaps by so doing he took a step towards making peace with Andromeda.

Whatever the cause, he woke feeling refreshed, and with a glow of joy realised that he did indeed love his bride-to-be, and that this would be his wedding day.

First Prime