Vows

Complete
FR-T
Season 6 

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:

Bra'tac's reference to warrior women as 'Daughters of the Moon' harks to the legend of the Amazons (which word may come from maza, the Armenian for moon).

Acknowledgements:

Sho.
'Nuff said.

The Prophet, 22nd April, 2003

Vows

Jack O'Neill was wandering in the general area of the Stargate when it thundered unexpectedly into life. He spent a lot of his time there when he was on standby, with no mission to undertake but without the freedom to leave the base.

"Who is it?" He asked the duty technician, as an incoming GDO signal was compared to the memory banks.

"IDC match," the young lieutenant replied. "It's Special Code Two."

"Call Teal'c," Jack instructed, before heading for the Gateroom.

"Stand down," Jack ordered the defence team, once he had seen that it was indeed Bra'tac who stepped from the event horizon. "Greetings, Master Bra'tac," he said, with a slightly florid bow. "What brings you to Earth?"

"Greetings, O'Neill," Bra'tac replied, his face grim. "I have news concerning Teal'c's son."

Jack was taken aback. "He's on his way," he promised. "Is it bad news?"

"I am not certain," Bra'tac admitted.

Sure enough, only a few moments later General Hammond entered the Gateroom, followed by Teal'c.

"Hammond of Texas," Bra'tac greeted the SGC commander with grave reverence. "Old friend," he added, turning to Teal'c.

"Always a pleasure, Master Bra'tac," Hammond replied, while Teal'c clasped his mentor's arm.

"Something troubles you?" The younger Jaffa observed.

"It is your son," Bra'tac replied. "Rya'c has done something...rather rash."

Teal'c's face clouded. "What has become of him?" He demanded.

"He is well," Bra'tac promised. "What will come of his decision remains to be seen, but I do not think that his health will be harmed."

"Of what decision do you speak?" Teal'c asked, now more curious than concerned, as he detected a glimmer of humour in the old man's eyes.

"Your son, Rya'c, although only twenty years of age, has declared to me his intention to wed."

"Huh?" Jack asked. "I mean, congratulations," he corrected himself, clapping Teal'c on the shoulder. "Or do I?" He asked, noting Teal'c's lack of response.

*

"I do not know if congratulations are in order," Teal'c admitted. He was seated in the briefing room with General Hammond and his team, all of whom he felt had a right to hear the news. "At twenty a Jaffa is only beginning to explore his limits. Those who seek to pair so young often harm each other – the woman no less than the man – unaware of their own strength."

"Emotionally they are often little more than children, also," Bra'tac added. "Although I do not believe that this should be a concern in this case. Rya'c has survived a great deal more than most youths, and his betrothed, Ankh'rau, is a young woman of remarkable maturity."

"So you think that they know what they are doing?" Sam Carter asked.

Bra'tac smiled. "Have you ever married, Major Carter?"

"No," Sam replied. "Although I was engaged once."

"And did you know what it was that you were getting into?"

"No, I didn't," Sam admitted. "Fortunately I realised in time just how big a risk I was taking. That's why I broke it off."

"That and the guy was a complete psycho," Jack chipped in.

"It didn't help," Sam agreed.

"But to answer your question," Bra'tac went on. "I believe that they know as well as anyone of their age what it is that they are committing themselves to, but they are indeed very young for such a match. Few Jaffa warriors marry younger than thirty-five; although I am not one to criticise in that regard," he added. "You should speak to your son before he goes through with this," he continued, speaking only to Teal'c now. "And if he is firm in his resolve, you must naturally be present at the ceremony."

"Of course," Teal'c agreed.

"Also," Bra'tac went on, turning to Jack. "Rya'c has asked that you be his Keeper."

"Me?" Jack asked. "His Keeper?" He turned to Sam. "That's a soccer thing, isn't it? Is soccer part of the Jaffa wedding service?" Sam smiled at her CO's confusion.

"The Keeper attends the groom-to-be in the days before his wedding," Jonas explained. "He ensures his attendance at the service and witnesses the signing of the marriage contract, along with the parents of both parties, a priest and the bride's Keeper."

"You have studied our ways," Bra'tac noted.

Jonas shrugged. "A little," he admitted. "But there are also marked similarities with the Abydonian rites, which Daniel Jackson recorded meticulously."

"It is traditional that the groom choose as his Keeper an older man," Teal'c explained to Jack. "Usually a friend of his father whom he holds in high respect."

"High respect?" Jack asked. "Cool." Then he paused, looking concerned. "Would I have to give a speech?"

"There are no speeches at a Jaffa wedding," Teal'c assured him. "You will simply be required to accompany Rya'c on his Hek'tet, and deliver him to the ceremony."

"His...Exocet?"

"The Hek'tet," Bra'tac explained. "It is a ritual raid carried out on the eve of a Jaffa's wedding, if he does not enter battle in earnest."

"Traditionally, a Jaffa warrior would marry on his return from waging war in the name of his god," Teal'c agreed. "But clearly that tradition can not apply."

"What does the bride do while the groom is engaging in this...Hek'tet?" Sam asked, managing to refrain from using the phrase 'macho posturing', but only just.

"Traditionally the bride prays in private for the safe return of her sweetheart and contemplates the bond into which she is entering," Bra'tac explained. "Attended only by her Keeper. However, Ankh'rau intends to embark on a Hek'tet of her own."

"She breaks with Jaffa tradition?" Teal'c asked, concerned.

"Well, if tradition dictates she be a good little girl while her husband is off in the wars..." Sam began, hotly, apparently spoiling for a fight or something.

"Ah...Teal'c," Jack interjected. "Didn't you break with Jaffa tradition? What with the whole destroying your god thing?"

"You must forgive us," Bra'tac said. "Although we have broken from the gods, our people cling to our other customs as something solid and sure from our past. It is still hard for us to leave our ways behind, even for those such as Teal'c and myself, who have longest doubted the Goa'uld."

"I understand that..." Sam began.

"With respect, Major Carter, I do not think that you do," Bra'tac replied.

"That's unfair," Sam protested.

"Actually," Jonas put in. "I'm not sure it is. Think about how set in their ways the people of Earth can be; or of my world," he added. "Now remember that the Jaffa have been living the same way for perhaps twenty-five thousand years. No civilisation on Earth has lasted a tenth of that time intact, and on top of that, each Jaffa lives a hundred and forty years with these customs, barring accidents. I don't think we can ever really understand how ingrained they are; especially not here in America."

"Meaning what?" General Hammond asked.

"Well, no offence, Sir," Jonas explained. "But the USA is a very young country; your oldest independent customs date back four centuries."

Sam sat up straighter in her chair, eyes flashing dangerously. "What? So we don't get a say because we're too young?"

Bra'tac raised his hand in a pacifying gesture. "I do not offer this as an excuse; merely as an explanation. I believe that our ways need to change."

"As do I," Teal'c agreed.

"They served a purpose in keeping us within the control of the gods, and so most of them are worthless to a free Jaffa. However, this is not going to happen overnight, and we can not go back and change the way that we were raised. I simply do not think that you can truly realise how difficult it will be for us to do that. I apologise for any offence we have caused you," he added, inclining his head towards Sam.

"It's okay," Sam replied. "It's just..." She waved her hand dismissively. "Forget about it."

"As you wish," Bra'tac agreed. "You may rest assured however that I shall not seek to obstruct Rya'c's wedding because his bride is unconventional. I have become very fond of the girl," he admitted. "She reminds me of...Someone we used to know," he finished, catching Teal'c's eye.

"Teal'c?" Jack asked, catching a wistful smile flickering across the Jaffa's face.

"It is...ancient history," Teal'c replied. "And very private."

"Ooh-kay," Jack said.

"You must speak carefully to Rya'c," Bra'tac told Teal'c, coming back on topic. "I have been no more able to break him of his stubborn pride than I was you. If you believe that he is not making a mistake then O'Neill will – if he is willing and able to act as Keeper – escort Rya'c on his Hek'tet, and accompany him to his nuptial feast."

"Ah!" Jack said, with great certainty. "The bachelor party; now I know where I stand. What would the Jaffa standard be? I'm assuming a stripper would probably be a faux pas?"

"As would alcohol," Jonas reminded him.

"A dry bachelor?" Jack asked, dismayed. "Where's the point in that?"

Bra'tac smiled, ruefully. "I apologise for this disappointment, O'Neill," he said, sincerely. "But if you can endure the evening, you will be responsible for delivering Rya'c to me at the high house of the encampment, where I shall perform the rite of marriage in place of a priest of the Goa'uld, and oversee the signing of the contracts."

"Contracts?" Sam asked. "You used that word before. What kind of contract are we talking about?"

"A contract of marriage between Rya'c and Ankh'rau," Bra'tac explained, as though it were obvious. "The contracts are merely a concrete record of the oaths they will swear to one another, binding them in law, and stipulating the penalties that each must pay should they betray the other. By tradition, Rya'c would also swear never to marry another in the event of Ankh'rau's death, but I believe that they plan to waive that part of the oath, since she is a warrior, with as much chance as he of dying in battle. They have also made other changes," he went on. "Such as removing all mention of the Goa'uld from their vows."

"They've given this a lot of thought," Jack commended. "Mostly when kids in our world get married they just run off to Vegas and lose all their money."

"That seems a poor plan with which to begin a marriage," Teal'c said.

"Yep," Jack agreed. "That's why we call them 'kids'."

"Well, I do not think that we need be concerned that Rya'c and Ankh'rau will run off to Vegas," Bra'tac said.

"I should think not," Hammond agreed.

"How exactly does one 'Vegas' anyway?" The Jaffa Master asked.

"Tell you what," Jack offered. "After the wedding, maybe we'll take a few days off and show you."

*

"So," Jack said, cornering Sam in her office. "You want to tell me what that was all about?"

"What?" Sam asked, feigning ignorance.

"Teal'c's kid is getting hitched. I call that a cause for celebration."

Sam shrugged, evasively. "And I'm happy for Rya'c; really."

"But?"

"I just don't like getting involved with the Jaffa on a social level," she admitted. "I don't like the way they treat their women."

"Oh, for crying out loud, Carter," Jack grumbled. "When have Teal'c or Bra'tac ever shown you anything but respect?"

"Not 'women' in general," Sam replied. "And certainly not me. Just 'their women'; Jaffa women. Doesn't it bother you the way they talk down to them? Did it never even faze you that Teal'c only ever called his wife 'Woman'?"

"Not really," Jack admitted.

"It did me. I just don't understand it. He's never treated any earth woman that way; nor any of the women we've met offworld."

Jack sighed. "It's a Jaffa thing," he said. "I don't really get it myself, but from what Teal'c's told me, it would be rude to call his wife by name in public."

"How's that again?" Sam asked.

"Well, not rude maybe," Jack corrected. "More...gauche. If I understand it, between Jaffa, names are for friends. Any Jaffa he doesn't know well is either 'man', 'woman' or 'Jaffa'. He would only call them by name if he knew them well. Hell, he's known us going on six years and he still won't use our given names alone."

"So why was Drey'auc 'woman'?" Sam insisted. "Did he marry her without ever getting to know her?"

"Of course not," Jack scoffed. "But his relationship with his wife was intensely private. For him to call her publicly by name would be like me calling my wife 'Sara, with whom I sleep', all the time. It's considered very indiscrete."

Sam sighed. "Since when do you know so much about Jaffa customs?"

"Since I took Teal'c fishing," Jack replied. "He really didn't get the point. After the first day he started talking about Chulak and I couldn't get him to shut up."

Sam looked sceptical.

"Really," Jack assured her. "You should come next time I take him. It's a revelation."

"I'd hate to intrude," Sam demurred, with an approximation of sincerity. "I'm still not wild about it," she said. "Customary or not."

Jack shrugged. "Nobody's perfect," he told her.

"Since when did you become so open-minded?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm no more open-minded than I used to be," Jack assured her. "Except when one of my friends is involved. Then I tend to be a little more forgiving." He grinned, lopsidedly. "So; will you be coming to the wedding?"

"I'll be along with Jonas for the ceremony," she promised. "Just don't ask me to dress like a Jaffa woman for the occasion."

"Absolutely not," Jack assured her. "You wouldn't look right in a leather miniskirt." He paused. "No...hang on a moment..."

"Colonel, I beg you not to finish that thought," Sam laughed.

"Consider it duly cut short," Jack said.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Consider it cut just above the knee, in fact," he added, mischievously.

*

Etrea

P22-17Y

Jack, Teal'c and Bra'tac stepped from the Stargate on the planet Etrea, and Jack immediately approved of Rya'c's choice of wedding location. The planet had a pleasant, temperate climate and a peaceful air. There were birds singing and a light, jasmine-scented wind blew towards them across the grasslands. The sun was dipping in the sky, and the red-gold of dusk was reassuringly similar to that of Earth; three moons and purple sunsets were all very well, but something about them always gave Jack the willies.

Rya'c was waiting to meet them, accompanied by another young man. Both were clad in the armour of Jaffa warriors. If the second youth bore a Jaffa tattoo on his brow, it was covered by the black bandana he wore.

"Father," Rya'c said, stepping forward.

"Rya'c!" Teal'c clasped his son in a fierce hug, which Rya'c returned.

"This is Tor'c," Rya'c introduced the other young Jaffa. "He and four others will join us for the Hek'tet," he told Jack.

"Glad to know ya, Tor'c," Jack said.

"Likewise, Colonel O'Neill," Tor'c replied. "Rya'c has spoken highly of your bravery, and it is an honour to finally make the acquaintance of such a renowned warrior."

"Renowned?" Jack asked.

"Rya'c," Teal'c said. "May I speak with you before you depart for your Hek'tet?"

"Of course, Father," Rya'c assured him, allowing himself to be led to one side.

"Look at me, Rya'c," Teal'c said, staring into his son's eyes.

"Father?" Rya'c asked, nervously.

"Tell me that you have thought about what you are doing," Teal'c said.

"Father!"

Teal'c clasped his son's shoulders. "I will not argue with you," he said. "Simply look me in the eye and tell me that you have no doubts; neither in your mind nor in your heart."

Rya'c looked exasperated. "Father..."

"Tell me!" Teal'c insisted.

"I can not!" Rya'c snapped. "Can I say that I know what the future holds? I have doubts, and fears; many of them. But I love Ankh'rau," he entreated. "I know this, as surely as I know that I love my father and loved my mother. I love her, and I trust her beyond question. I would die for her in a heartbeat, and live a thousand years in chains for the promise of one perfect day with her."

"Yet you doubt?"

"I doubt myself," Rya'c said. "I doubt that I could ever be worthy of her, and yet, when she looks at me, she says that she doubts herself." He sighed. "I can not tell you that I am certain this is for the best; but I know that this is what I must do."

Teal'c beamed with pride. "Then you have my blessing," he told his son.

Rya'c looked startled. "What?"

"A man in love is never free from doubt," Teal'c explained. "If you had no doubts, I would have to assume that you had been placed under some form of mental control, or that you were lying to yourself."

Rya'c grinned, stupidly. "Thank you, Father," he said.

"Go now," Teal'c said. "Acquit yourself well on your Hek'tet, while I meet with your bride-to-be."

"Yes, Father." Rya'c turned and almost ran back down the path.

Seeing him return, Bra'tac bid Jack farewell and came up to join Teal'c. "You are satisfied?" Bra'tac asked.

"With Rya'c, yes," Teal'c agreed. "Now; you shall introduce me to his betrothed."

"This way," Bra'tac said.

*

"Tell me more of this woman," Teal'c said, as he followed his mentor. "What do you make of her?"

Bra'tac thought hard for a long moment. "I have a great deal of admiration for her," he admitted. "She is a woman of great strength and determination, although I warn you that she is not one to bend to tradition. To hear her followers tell it..."

"He followers?" Teal'c asked, surprised.

"Ah, yes," Bra'tac said. "She is the leader of her people. After their god was slain, she drew them together and kept them focused. After she came to see that the god would not be returning from death, and thus that the gods were false, she incited her folk to join the rebel faction. She leads as many as any Free Jaffa leader I have seen; almost as many as Imhotep gathered under his banner. They hold her in great reverence."

"Not one to bow to tradition?" Teal'c asked. "Tek ma'te, you grow coy in your old age."

Bra'tac smiled. "Say rather then, that she has cast tradition to the winds. She has inspired many of the other Free Jaffa to greater efforts, and some of the women train at arms alongside their men. I am uneasy at this last development, but then I am set in my ways, and..."

"And you remember Andromeda," Teal'c finished. "I too find such an idea unnatural, but I can not deny that it would be a great boon for our people. If our women fought at our side..."

"Then our young men would not have to leave their families," Bra'tac agreed. "Mothers could defend their children, and unwed women could bolster the ranks of free warriors. Our race would stand united." The old Jaffa grinned, mischievously. "And besides; what warrior would not sooner join a rebel faction if he knew there would be women in the camp."

As Bra'tac spoke, the two veterans crested a steep hill, and saw before them a low valley. As they climbed, Teal'c had spotted two sentries, and now he could see what it was that they were guarding.

"How many are camped here?" Teal'c asked.

"Almost fifty of Ankh'rau's people, and as many whom I have gathered in my time. Many of my warriors hold Rya'c in great regard, and they wished to be here."

"And where shall we find my daughter-in-law elect?"

"There," Bra'tac said, pointing to a circle of Jaffa in the centre of the camp. Within the circle, two warriors were sparring, the larger overmatched by his smaller, slighter opponent.

"Is that...?" Teal'c began.

"One of her students," Bra'tac corrected. "Come."

Teal'c and Bra'tac passed through the camp, the warriors saluting them as they passed.

"You are greatly revered," Teal'c noted.

"And you no less," Bra'tac added. "Your name is famous among our people, and among the Goa'uld. I would not hesitate to say that you are the most famous Jaffa in history."

The circle of warriors stood close, but as though sensing the authority that the two veterans wore like a mantle, the young Jaffa parted unbidden to allow them to pass. They wore a variety of armours and tattoos, and about half of them wore bandanas over their brows. The larger warrior – formerly in the service of Bastet – stood clutching his gut, while his opponent – a young woman bearing the mark of Svarog – moved her staff slowly through the motion of a complex, darting attack.

A taller woman, wearing a bandana, stood by, watching. "Do you see it," she asked the man.

"I do," he gasped.

"Nayun'au."

Without further warning, the young woman executed the attack, full speed, at the man. He stepped back, and swung his staff up to deflect the blow.

"Good," the taller woman said. "You see," she said, addressing the circle. "Some attacks can not be defeated with strength. They must be turned aside. I know that many of you have been taught not to turn a blow, but this is a lesson you must unlearn. The Free Jaffa must learn a new form of fighting; one that does not ask them to die so readily. We were once an expendable resource, but that is no longer the case. The Jaffa must not be afraid to die..." She paused as she caught sight of the two veterans, then continued: "...but each life must be valued. No sacrifice must be made in vain.

"Break into pairs," she instructed. "Practice until the end of the hour, remembering what you have learned, and then go to your supper."

As the young Jaffa moved to obey, the woman walked towards Teal'c and Bra'tac. There was a force to her that seemed out of place in one so young. "Master Bra'tac," she greeted the old man. "Master Teal'c."

"You are Ankh'rau?" Teal'c asked.

"I am," she replied, almost bashfully. She must have been of an age with Rya'c, perhaps twenty years old, but as Bra'tac had said, she carried herself with great maturity. She had dark hair, coffee-coloured skin, and deep, dark eyes which crackled with the force of her personality. She had the bearing of a warrior, and although he knew that Rya'c was a talented fighter, Teal'c was at once certain that his betrothed could have bettered the boy.

Teal'c gestured towards the girl's bandana. "Why do you cover the mark of your former god?"

"I do not wish to show any allegiance to the Goa'uld," she replied. "But nor would I feel right removing this mark while my people remain as slaves. I shall wear this band until all Jaffa are free."

Teal'c nodded. "That sounds well," he told her. He had intended to remain reserved regarding his son's betrothed, but found himself liking her already. Like all Jaffa, she wore her being, her kalach, like a cloak, and in her case it shone like a flame. This was a leader, that was beyond question, but one who cared for those who followed her, and that was what endeared her most to Teal'c.

"And how is your class today?" Bra'tac asked Ankh'rau.

"They have much skill," she allowed. "But much to be unlearned. They know how to fight, and how to win, but few of them know how to survive the battle."

"An important skill, to be sure," Bra'tac agreed.

"And one lacking in many Jaffa," Ankh'rau said. "Although not in your students, Tek ma'te. Your warriors have been of great assistance in teaching my people, and I myself have learned much." She looked away, awkwardly. "Perhaps...I know that I have a long way to go before I could match you in combat, Tek ma'te, but would you honour me with a duel?"

"Honour?" Bra'tac asked. "Disappoint, more likely. I am an old man, and not so fast as once I was."

Teal'c smiled to himself, knowing that while Bra'tac was only half as fast as he had been at fifty, he was five times as cunning.

"Perhaps my finest student would make a better challenge for you, Ankh'rau?" Bra'tac suggested.

Teal'c looked up in surprise.

Ankh'rau looked at him, eyes shining with hope. "What do you say, Master Teal'c?" She asked.

*

Rya'c and Tor'c led Jack to a high plateau, where a teltac sat waiting. It was a good hour's walk from the Stargate, and all the time they were travelling, Rya'c could not stop talking about his betrothed.

After a while, Jack leaned over to Tor'c and whispered to him: "Is he going to be like this all night?"

"Most likely," Tor'c agreed. "I have seen many men besotted with Ankh'rau since she grew to womanhood, but never one so in love as Rya'c."

"Bit of a heartbreaker then, Ankh'rau?" Jack asked, warily.

"She is a woman of great beauty and spirit," Tor'c replied. "But she is constant. I have known her since she was a child, and in that time she has loved but one man."

"And what about you?"

Tor'c smiled. "You are a good friend to be so wary on behalf of a man in love," he said. "But never fear. Ankh'rau is like a sister to me, nothing more. I am courting another, as it happens, although I do not feel the need to become betrothed so soon. I hope to capture some worthy prize for my Neh'al tonight."

"So what's the plan then?" Jack asked.

"We fly to a nearby, Goa'uld world," Rya'c called back, having noticed that he had lost his audience. "We land undetected and stage a raid on the palace there, seize a number of trophies and return."

"By rights we should be returning to present our spoils to our adoring sweethearts," Tor'c added, with a soft laugh. "But as Ankh'rau is setting out on her own Hek'tet, most of us will just be hoping to find something more worthy than the things our sweethearts bring to us."

"If my offering does not please, then I can look forward to a longer engagement," Rya'c admitted.

Tor'c laughed. "Any gift from your hand will please," he assured Rya'c. "You know that."

Jack smiled to himself. It was not often that he was able to see Jaffa so at ease, and it served to reassure him that they had a lot more in common than their ancestry. As he had told Sam, the Jaffa maintained a barrier between their private and public lives, and he felt honoured to have been let in.

The teltac for the Hek'tet was an older model, but Tor'c explained that it had been retrofitted with a captured cloaking device, and partially overhauled with newer technology cannibalised from damaged vessels. Jack could see, even from outside, the places where panels had been replaced, and miscellaneous items bolted onto the hull.

"For many centuries the secrets of Goa'uld technology were kept from all but a few Jaffa, who served to maintain equipment in the field," Rya'c explained. "We are only now beginning to understand that which we have lived with all this time."

"You're just learning this stuff?" Jack asked. "You mean we're flying between suns in somebody's science fair project?"

"The ship belongs to Fora'l," Rya'c said, gesturing towards a Jaffa of perhaps twenty-five or thirty, sitting in the hatchway. He had a scar on his head, where his tattoo had been seared off. "He has been working on it for almost a year."

"How's she handle?" Jack asked Fora'l.

"The craft performs well," Fora'l replied. "We hope to convert some of the other teltacs that our brothers have seized, once we have worked out all of the...details."

Jack felt a nervous shiver. "Details?"

"There are some difficulties relating to the weapon systems," a young woman explained, emerging from the interior of the ship. A stylised bull tattoo marked her as a former worshipper of Poseidon or one of his underlords. "Our goal is to convert the teltacs and death gliders that we have into a hybrid craft capable of long-range strikes. We have integrated into this vessel four glider cannons and a low-capacity bomb-bay, all of which should be concealed from any but the most detailed scans. It is intended for hit-and-run sneak attacks."

Fora'l rose to his feet and the woman twined her arms around his waist. "Some of the elders disapprove," he admitted.

"They tell us that the Jaffa must change our ways, yet they are the most resistant to new methods," the woman added.

"It's a grand tradition of adult hypocrisy," Jack agreed. "I'm Jack, by the way," he added.

"We know who you are," the woman assured him. "Kel'sha, Colonel O'Neill. I am Ker'nau of Erakos, and you have met my betrothed, Fora'l of the Cordai Plains."

"Fora'l and Ker'nau will both accompany us," Rya'c told Jack. "Have Dilg'a and Trey'nod arrived yet?"

"Trey'nod is inside, performing Kelno'reem," Fora'l replied. "Dilg'a...is late," he finished, pointing over Jack's shoulder, to where a Jaffa was slogging his way up the hill.

"As ever," Rya'c sighed. "Stir yourself, Dilg'a!" He called down. "Or we shall go without you."

"Sorry!" The latecomer gasped, as he jogged up to the plateau. He was a thin, pale-skinned, carrot-haired youth, with a serpent tattoo on his brow.

"Never mind that," Rya'c said. "Just get on board. Ashnod is three hours away by teltac; no time to waste."

"He is a strange one," Rya'c said to Jack, as Tor'c hustled Dilg'a after Ker'nau and Fora'l onto the ship. "He can not keep an appointment, yet in battle he can time his part of an operation to the second."

"They're an odd bunch," Jack allowed. "How'd you meet them?"

"Dilg'a and Fora'l are friends from my childhood," Rya'c said. "Fora'l is my cousin. Trey'nod's father was one of a number of Cronus' Jaffa who rebelled on their lord's death; we have been friends since Bra'tac brought his family to take refuge at our camp. Fora'l met Ker'nau over a hyperdrive core, and Tor'c introduced me to Ankh'rau when they came here seeking an alliance of Free Jaffa."

"Seems odd for a woman to be coming along for a bachelor party," Jack admitted.

"She is my friend," Rya'c replied, simply.

Jack inclined his head, acknowledging the argument. "After you," he said.

*

Teal'c and Ankh'rau circled one another, warily. Teal'c was the first to attack, executing a fairly slow and formal method of assault; a textbook opening which Ankh'rau countered with a non-standard response. This caught Teal'c a little off guard and forced him onto the defensive for a few moments. Two more easy attacks were parried.

"You are holding back," Ankh'rau accused.

"Only a fool leaps in without testing the water," Teal'c told her, ducking a powerful swing as he did so.

Impressed by her cunning, Teal'c launched into a faster attack, striking three times towards her abdomen before aiming a scything swing at her head. She leaped back to avoid the last blow, then retaliated with a barrage of swift, aggressive blows which sent Teal'c staggering under their ferocity.

The effort of this attack was too great however, and Ankh'rau was left off balance when it was done. Seizing the moment, Teal'c swept his staff low and knocked her legs from under her. Ankh'rau crashed heavily onto her back.

"You fight well," he said, reaching down to help her up.

"I have not been beaten in a long time," she told him, accepting his help. "Certainly not so easily."

"You have much skill," Teal'c commended her. "But too great an anger inside you. You expend too much energy, and so exhaust yourself too fast. As you teach your students, so you must learn to restrain yourself, and conserve your strength." He smiled, kindly. "Believe me; I know of which I speak."

"Tek ma'te?" Ankh'rau asked, uncertainly.

Bra'tac stepped forward. "He means that he did – and still does – suffer from the same handicap. Almost every serious injury he has suffered in his life was struck when he had lost his temper; however many times I have tried to teach him better."

Ankh'rau smiled. "I thank you for this lesson," she told Teal'c. "If you are willing to teach me further, I would be honoured to become your apprentice."

Teal'c was taken aback. In the days when he was First Prime of Apophis, there had never been a shortage of Jaffa wanting to study with his training company in the bash'ak, but since taking service with the Tau'ri, he had almost forgotten the swell of pride that he only ever felt when a worthy student asked for his teaching.

"It would be my honour," he told her. "If it can be arranged."

Ankh'rau inclined her head, reverently. "Thank you, Tek ma'te Teal'c," she said, and with a start Teal'c realised that when she had used the title before she had meant him, and not Bra'tac. "Now if I may ask another favour," Ankh'rau went on. "Perhaps you would watch my students while I prepare for my wedding?"

"Of course," Teal'c agreed.

*

Ashnod

"So tell me more about this guy, Arnu?" Jack asked, as the Hek'tet party left the massive treasury building behind them.

"Arnu is a minor lord under Baal, and treasurer for his faction," Rya'c explained. "He constructed this building to house what he stole from Baal and his fellow Goa'uld."

Jack shook his head. "Even for the Goa'uld, embezzling is so...tacky."

Ker'nau laughed; she seemed to do that more than any other Jaffa Jack had ever met.

After three hours in a teltac with them, he felt he was getting to know the six youngsters pretty well. Ker'nau and Fora'l seemed to spend all of their time bickering about engineering, breaking the debate into manageable sessions by periodically stopping to gaze silently into each other's eyes. Fora'l was the genius, but Ker'nau the practical one, as well as the more gifted communicator. She usually spoke for the both of them, but deferred to her betrothed in matters technical.

Rya'c and Trey'nod seemed much of a kind, and Jack could see why they had bonded so swiftly. They were both very serious, and clearly possessed a keen and personal understanding of the Jaffa's fight. The raid on Arnu's treasury had confirmed what O'Neill suspected: While none of the six were veterans, Rya'c and Trey'nod had seen the most combat. Close behind them was Tor'c, who seemed open and friendly, but kept secrets behind his eyes. Somehow he reminded Jack of himself, and although he was not so experienced in battle, Jack would have laid even money that Tor'c had killed more people than all of his friends combined.

Lastly, there was Dilg'a, a mystery, wrapped in an enigma and stamped with a tattoo. As Rya'c had promised, all of the slender youth's awkwardness had fallen away the moment he stepped down from the teltac onto enemy soil. He rarely spoke, and when he did he said little, but all of it to the point. He was shy, but his quiet exterior hid an insightful intelligence, and on the two occasions he had offered advice, his companions deferred to him without question.

"The Goa'uld all desire power in one form or another," Ker'nau reminded Jack. "Arnu sees money as power, and will stoop to any depth to acquire it for himself."

"Alas that some Jaffa believe the same," Dilg'a said.

Jack looked at the ginger-haired Jaffa, but he said nothing more.

"A number of rebel Jaffa bases were destroyed when the Goa'uld offered monetary rewards to any who would reveal their location," Tor'c explained, a burning hatred in his gaze. "Dilg'a's family..." He broke off, apparently fearing that he had said too much.

Jack coughed uncomfortably. "So, Rya'c," he said, switching to a more cheerful topic. "You think Ankh'rau will be pleased with that?"

Rya'c examined his hand, wrapped in a Goa'uld ribbon device. "A weapon of the false gods," he said. "It is a worthy gift."

Jack would have questioned the value of the gesture, had the device not come from the hand of the treasury's guardian. The handful of Jaffa protecting the doors had presented little challenge, but the Goa'uld waiting in the inner chamber – an angry bull Unas – had given the entire party a run for their money. Their staff weapons and zat'nik'tels were useless against the guardian's shield, their knives worthless against his hide, but they had eventually brought him down with the ceremonial blades and spears that Jack and Dilg'a had torn from the chamber walls. Rya'c had personally cut the weapon from the Unas' hand with a clumsy, two-handed sword, and given that they had set out on a smash-and-grab against a lightly-defended Goa'uld piggy bank, Jack felt that they had done very well.

The other youths handled their own trophies with almost as much pride as they wore their cuts and bruises. Tor'c had kept the heavy khopesh he had fought with in the treasury, and also taken a magnificent necklace of gold and lapis lazuli for Neh'al. Trey'nod – who had no sweetheart – kept the spear with which he pierced the Unas' heart, while Dilg'a left his axe and took only a puzzle ring with interlocking loops of gold, platinum and trinium. Ker'nau had found a pair of identical knives, their imperishable trinium blades inscribed with vows of love and fidelity; yellowed ivory hilts and cracked leather sheaths ornamented with gold and lapis. She and Fora'l took one each, wearing them at their sides as they clung to each other for support.

Jack, not wanting to be left out, took a pierced silver coin, and hung it around his neck on the cord that already carried a similar, makeshift medallion.

"You did good tonight," he told them all.

"Thank you, O'Neill," Rya'c said, sincerely. "That means a lot to us."

"Although I don't doubt that you will all be feeling that fight in the morning and wishing your Hek'tet was a little less glorious."

The young Jaffa laughed.

"But never mind," Jack went on. "The battle is behind us, the revels are ahead, and all I have to do now is get you to the church on time." Looking back later, Jack felt that he should have known better.

*

Etrea

Ankh'rau entered the tent that formed her temporary accommodations, and sat heavily in front of her little bronze mirror. With a slight grunt, she pulled off the breastplate of her armour, and prodded carefully at the raw wound on her hip. Her Hek'tet had been executed through the Chappa'ai, and so taken far less time than that of her betrothed, but she was more than satisfied with the token she had captured for him. She ran her fingers along the flat of its blade, marvelling at the beauty of such an efficient instrument of death. It had been well-protected by the remnants of the Horus Guard, but she had known that no other tribute would do.

She gave a deep, melancholy sigh.

The wind whipped through her tent as the flap was pushed open, and Ankh'rau looked to her mirror, closing her hand on the hilt of her knife. In the distorted, sepia reflection, she saw herself, and behind her a grim-faced warrior in the armour of the Horus Guard.

*

Ashnod

"Nedumib," Fora'l said, and the door of the hidden teltac shimmered into visibility and slid open.

"Another three hour flight back to Etrea," Jack sighed, as they stowed their staff weapons. "No offence to you guys, but next time you plan a wedding, you might want to pick a Hek'tet closer to home."

"But it is the goal of the Hek'tet that a man know some hardship before the sweetness of marriage," Ker'nau argued, drawing a laugh from everyone but Dilg'a.

"Dilg'a?" Rya'c asked. "What's..."

Quick as a flash, Dilg'a drew the zat'nik'tel from his wrist and fired through the hatch into the cargo hold of the teltac.

"What...?" Trey'nod began, but then a heavy thunk came from the shadowed hatchway; the sound of a falling body.

Everything seemed to fall into slow motion around Jack as the young Jaffa reached for their sidearms. Tor'c seemed to be fastest, but something was wrong; he was not levelling his zat at the hatch, but at Dilg'a.

"Drop it!" Jack snapped, drawing his pistol, but he acted too fast. With his experience and finely-honed combat instincts, he had seen that Tor'c planned to turn his weapon on his erstwhile comrades, but the others had not. All they saw was Jack throw down on their friend. Pain exploded through Jack's body as Trey'nod put a zat blast in his back, and then he was falling to the deck, powerless to do anything but watch as Tor'c took down Dilg'a.

The Jaffa fell into confusion, no-one knowing who the enemy was. The superbly ordered team that had worked together to bring down a raging Unas came unglued, and in that moment of distraction two more sinuous blasts writhed out of the cargo hold, striking Trey'nod and Fora'l.

"Fora'l!" Ker'nau cried, returning fire, blasting wildly through the hatch, but in her rage she ignored Tor'c, and the traitor's zat sent her crashing to the deck before turning towards Rya'c.

Teal'c's son turned, holding his zat'nik'tel trained at Tor'c. "Shol'va!" He spat, as they eyed each other warily.

"Lay down your weapon, Rya'c," Tor'c said, as three warriors emerged from the hold. "And no one will be killed."

"Why?" Rya'c demanded. "We fought together. We were friends! I trusted you, Tor'c."

"And I would give my life for any one of you," Tor'c replied, earnestly. "But I have my orders. Now, lay down your weapon and surrender." His zat dropped to point at Jack. "Please."

Rya'c's zat'nik'tel snapped closed, and he crouched to lay it on the ground. As he did so, Jack lost the struggle for consciousness, and blacked out.

*

Etrea

Bra'tac and Teal'c sat by a fire, sipping hot, bitter klah'c as they digested their evening meal. As was the Jaffa custom, they had talked little as they ate, but now they turned to the subject of Ankh'rau.

"She came through the Chappa'ai a few months ago," Bra'tac explained. "Not long after we moved our encampment here. She brought with her some three dozen others, who deferred to her despite her youth. She agreed to abide by the rules we had set, if her people were allowed to settle here with us. Once we had come to an arrangement she returned to the Chappa'ai and brought the rest of her folk, including mothers and some children. They work hard and carry their weight, and more, within the camp. She has been an inspiration to the younger warriors, and she and Rya'c have become a symbol of the future of the resistance movement. If nothing else, their marriage will be a great cause for celebration, and our people have had few enough of those of late."

Teal'c nodded in agreement. "What do you make of her?" He asked. "As a person?"

"She has great courage and spirit," Bra'tac replied. "And she is a good leader. Her people speak very well of her, and if half of what they say is true then she has wisdom as well as heart." He did not bother to say, because he knew that Teal'c would understand, that he did not question the honesty of the reports, so much as their integrity. Jaffa tales tended towards the hyperbolic, and all such reports could be assumed to contain an element of exaggeration.

"Yet you are troubled," Teal'c noted.

"I am," Bra'tac admitted, nodding slowly. "Perhaps an old man of one-hundred-and-thirty-eight merely has difficulty accepting certain changes. This girl your son seeks to marry is a Daughter of the Moon, that is for certain, and I am not used to dealing with such women."

"You speak falsely, Tek ma'te," Teal'c replied. "Major Carter is such a woman, and she speaks as highly of you as you do of her."

Bra'tac sat pensively for a moment. "That is true," he admitted. "I suppose I am unused to thinking of humans as I would Jaffa. Do you wish further proof that I am too set in my ways?"

Teal'c smiled, wearily. "I think that you enjoy telling others how old and decrepit you are far too much," he said. His smile faded. "I also believe that you are troubled by Ankh'rau for the same reasons as I. Not because of Andromeda," he added. "Although she does remind me of your daughter. She has strength and wisdom in abundance; that is clear. She also possesses great spirit, and the skill to make others feel the power of her heart, but I sense that there is a heavy burden that she bears. I fear that this burden might bias her judgement, and make her unstable."

"Yes," Bra'tac agreed. "She is definitely hiding something from us. We must watch her carefully. Even if she does not endanger us, she may endanger herself, and for Rya'c's sake we must not let her secrets be her undoing."

Teal'c nodded again. "And for her own sake," he added. "Such great spirit should be fostered."

"Here's to them both," Bra'tac concurred, raising his cup. "Long may they stay safe."

*

Jack came to, aching all over, and blind. He felt a moment of panic which he suppressed, and then realised that he was merely blindfolded. He made to remove the cloth from his eyes, but found that his hands were tied behind his back. He had the feeling that he was in motion, but not on the teltac. It felt as though he were travelling in something much bigger.

"He is awake," a voice said.

"Bring them both," another voice replied.

Both? Jack wondered. Does that mean...? "Rya'c?" He called, softly.

"I am here, O'Neill," Rya'c replied. There was a heavy thud and the boy cried out.

"Silence!" One of their captors commanded.

"You hit him!" The other said, shocked. "We're not supposed to hit him!"

"I thought we were not supposed to hit the other one?"

"No, Hataka! Do whatever is necessary to make the grey-haired one cooperate, but the young one is not to be harmed!"

"If you two want to sort this out among yourselves, we can find our own way out," Jack offered.

"Silence, Hashaak!" The first captor snapped.

"All of you, be silent," said another voice. This one Jack recognised; it was Tor'c. "Are you completely incompetent?"

There was silence, broken only by the shuffling of feet.

"Bring them," Tor'c ordered. "And try not to trip over your own feet."

Jack felt himself grabbed by the arms and dragged to his feet. He considered fighting, but had no idea how many Jaffa there might be in the vicinity; they made a lot of noise when they stamped, but Jaffa were surprisingly unobtrusive when still. Consequently, he allowed himself to be propelled along, tripping occasionally on irregularities in the floor, until his captors drew him to a halt.

The blindfolds were removed, and with little surprise Jack saw that he and Rya'c were on the bridge of a ha'tak vessel, facing towards the viewscreen. He turned his head towards the throne, hoping to find some clue as to the identity of their captor, but saw that the high seat for the Goa'uld commander of the vessel had been covered with a black cloth. Next he tried the Jaffa, but there was no help there. The two who had manhandled the prisoners – both older men, one running a little to fat – wore the Eye of Ra, while Tor'c – his bandana abandoned – bore the mark of a stylised palm tree that seemed familiar, but Jack could not put a name to it.

One of the doors of the pel'tac opened, and a group of Jaffa entered, two large warriors tattooed with the eye of Ra, flanking a young woman with the palm-tree mark. Jack recognised two of the three; one of the guards was Rehetep, former First Prime of Astarte, and the woman...

"Ankh'rau!" Rya'c cried, dismayed.

"Rya'c!" The woman replied, running forward to put her arms around him and touch his battered face. "Who did this to you?"

"An Unas," Rya'c explained. "On Ashnod. My Hek'tet party defeated it in combat," he added, proudly.

"Also, one of these two hit him upside the head," Jack added, motioning towards the two guards.

"Hataka!" The woman snapped, leaping up and delivering a sound smack to the side of the fat man's head.

"Ankh'rau!" Rya'c called, fearing for her safety.

"She'll be fine," Jack assured Rya'c, as the youth's fiancée delivered an equally fierce blow to the taller warrior.

"Get out of my sight!" She ordered, and with their heads held low, the two warriors slunk away. "Fools," she muttered.

"Ankh'rau?" Rya'c said again, completely baffled.

"My love," she said, taking a step towards him, but he backed away in confusion. She looked wounded, and turned an angry scowl on Jack.

"Don't look at me," he said. "I'm not the one who lied to him."

"But this is your fault," the woman hissed. "And you will pay for it."

"Yeah," Jack sighed. "I thought that might be the plan. It's great to see you again too, Meyn'auc."

*

Etrea

Teal'c woke to the sound of screaming engines and angry shouts, as a teltac hovered over the Jaffa encampment. A light flared out, accompanied by the shriek of a ring transport, as Teal'c emerged from his tent, staff weapon in hand.

"Master Teal'c!"

"Dilg'a?" Teal'c asked, as the youth emerged from the cloud of dust beneath the teltac. The scoutship peeled away to land and the noise became less distracting. Teal'c remembered the ginger-haired Jaffa from his life on Chulak.

"Rya'c is gone!" Dilg'a called out. "Colonel O'Neill also."

Teal'c froze in horror. "Go," he said. "Bring Ankh'rau. She should hear this."

"Yes, Sir," Dilg'a responded, hurrying off.

"What is going on?" Bra'tac asked, jogging up to Teal'c.

"Something went wrong on the Hek'tet," Teal'c explained. "Dilg'a says that Rya'c and O'Neill are missing or lost. I sent him to bring Ankh'rau."

The two veteran warriors waited, watching the camp slowly calm down around them. After a while, three more youths approached, presumably the other members of the Hek'tet party, although Teal'c only recognised Fora'l.

"Please, forgive us, Master Teal'c," Fora'l said, his eyes filled with tears. "We have failed you."

Teal'c laid his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You have not," he promised. "The Hek'tet is dangerous. That something like this might happen was understood by all."

"The Hek'tet went perfectly," the sole woman in the group replied, nervously fingering a knife in her belt. "But we were ambushed when we returned to the teltac and incapacitated. We gave a poor account of ourselves," she added. "The next that we knew, we were drifting above Etrea in our teltac."

"I fired on Colonel O'Neill," Trey'nod admitted. "I saw him aim his weapon at Tor'c, and did not realise that Tor'c was betraying us."

Bra'tac frowned. "Tor'c betrayed you? But he was as a brother to Rya'c's betrothed. Something is rotten here," he added, turning to Teal'c.

"Indeed..." Teal'c began, but he broke off as Dilg'a returned, preferring not to voice opinions while others had facts to relate.

"Master Teal'c," Dilg'a gasped. "Master Bra'tac. Ankh'rau is gone, and so are all of her followers."

"All of them?" Bra'tac asked.

"Men, women and children," he confirmed. "Their tents lie empty."

"Rya'c and O'Neill taken," Bra'tac mused. "Yet their companions were left alive to tell the tale, and in possession of their teltac. Now Ankh'rau and her people are vanished, including the shol'va, Tor'c..." He looked at Teal'c. "We have been played, old friend."

*

"Well, Meyn'auc," Jack said. "This is certainly a pretty bold move."

"Who is Meyn'auc?" Rya'c demanded.

Meyn'auc, step-daughter of Rehetep, winced as though in pain. "I am Meyn'auc, beloved," she replied.

"Big risk though," Jack went on. "Using Rya'c to get to me."

"I would never...!" Meyn'auc broke off, angrily. "I contacted the rebel Jaffa, knowing that you would do the same sooner or later. It was Rya'c's idea to choose you as his Keeper; I did not even know who his father was when we met."

"Ankh...Meyn'auc?" Rya'c asked, angrily. "What are you doing?"

"My darling Rya'c," Meyn'auc said, taking his face between her hands. "This man took my Goddess from me. He swore to serve her, then betrayed her."

"You swore to serve a Goa'uld?" Rya'c asked, appalled. He refused to meet Meyn'auc's eyes.

"Listen to me," Meyn'auc pleaded. "I love you, Rya'c; truly I do. This does nothing to change that. We can still be together; married in the sight of Astarte."

"I have renounced all false gods," Rya'c replied, pouring all the hate and disgust he could muster into his voice. It was a good effort, and although he could not hide the fact that his deeper feelings for his betrothed had not changed, his words stung Meyn'auc to the quick.

"You have never known a Goa'uld like Astarte," she said, forcing herself to be calm and reasonable. "You shall see the light, my love."

"Do not call me that," Rya'c hissed.

Meyn'auc flinched and stepped away from Rya'c. "You...you do not understand," she said, speaking half to him and half to herself. "In time, when you have seen what she is like...When you understand how noble and strong she is, you will come around."

"I doubt that," Jack told her.

"And why is that?" Meyn'auc demanded.

"Because I think I know why you haven't killed me already."

*

Teal'c sat pensively at the heart of the Jaffa camp, trying to puzzle out this situation. Why had his son and his best friend been taken? Who was behind this attack, and was he the target, or was O'Neill?

"It could be Apophis," Bra'tac said, slowly. He did not want to think it anymore than Teal'c did, but they had both mistakenly thought Apophis dead too many times to ignore the possibility. "Seeking to avenge himself on you once more."

Ker'nau and Fora'l sat with the two older warriors. They had been the worst injured in the battle against the Unas guardian, and after a zat blast apiece they were in no condition to aid in the search for Ankh'rau and her followers.

"They were not dressed as Serpent Guards," Ker'nau said. "Nor as the Red Guards of Sokar who fell under Apophis' command. They looked more like Horus Guards."

"Heru-ur's forces also came into Apophis' power," Bra'tac reminded her.

"It is possible," Teal'c agreed. "But while he might leave one alive to let me know, Apophis would have killed the rest of the Hek'tet party."

Ker'nau shivered, and tightened her grip on Fora'l.

"Why would Ankh'rau do such a thing?" Teal'c wondered aloud. "If she still believed in the Goa'uld, we should have known."

"We should," Bra'tac agreed. "But we knew that the girl was extraordinary. Perhaps she was even more so than we suspected."

They were snapped from their thoughts by a commotion some distance away, that grew rapidly nearer.

"What is that?" Bra'tac asked.

"Let go of me!" A woman was demanding. "I demand that you release me at once!"

"I do not think so," came the reply, in Dilg'a's voice, and then he was striding into the centre of the camp, dragging a young Jaffa woman by the arm.

"What is the meaning of this?" Bra'tac demanded.

"This is Neh'al," Dilg'a replied, at last releasing her arm.

Neh'al snatched her arm out of Dilg'a's reach, and cradled it as though injured, although she looked to have suffered no real injury save to her dignity. "You will suffer for this," she fumed, scowling at Dilg'a so hard that the falcon tattoo of Heru-ur creased on her brow.

"She is Tor'c's intended," Dilg'a explained.

"I am his betrothed!" She replied, primly.

"Maybe you were," Dilg'a scoffed. "But he did not take you with him when he left, did he?"

"Left?" The girl looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Tor'c betrayed us," Ker'nau told her. "He abducted Rya'c and Colonel O'Neill and fled, along with the rest of Ankh'rau's people. But not you."

"No!" Neh'al protested. "He will return. There is some mistake here; if he had gone forever, he would not have done so without me."

"He has done so," Teal'c assured her. "Unless you knew where to meet him."

Neh'al took a step away from Teal'c's menacing bulk. "I know nothing," she pleaded. "Truly. I...I am as confused as any here."

Teal'c nodded, believing her. "Then tell me all you know about Tor'c," he said.

Neh'al shrugged. "He was a close friend of Ankh'rau," she said. "They grew up together on Karnak, as children of the Horus Guard. They rebelled when their mistress was killed, and came here."

"Who was their mistress?" Teal'c asked.

"I do not know," Neh'al replied. "He would not name her."

"Then what mark did he bear?"

"I...I do not know," she lied, blushing and looking away.

"Tell me!" Teal'c demanded, catching her by the arm as Dilg'a had done.

"Palms!" Neh'al shrieked, dragging herself away from him. "The mark was two palm fronds."

"Why did you lie?" Teal'c asked.

"Because...I saw his mark when we were..." She broke off, embarrassed.

Teal'c relented. "Thank you for your assistance, Neh'al," he said. "Ker'nau; take care of her."

"Why did she lie to you?" Dilg'a asked, confused, as the distraught Neh'al was led away.

"Among the Jaffa of Heru-ur any girl who takes a lover without entering into a contract of marriage or re'mata would be stoned as a harlot," Teal'c explained. "She is ashamed that she lay with her intended, and ashamed that he deceived her."

"I do not know the mark that she described," Bra'tac admitted. "I thought that I knew all of the System Lords' signs."

"He did not serve a System Lord," Teal'c replied. "I have seen that mark on only a handful of young Jaffa. Mai'tac!" He swore, violently. "How could I have been so foolish? How could I not recognise her?"

"Teal'c?" Bra'tac asked.

"Ankh'rau was one of those few," Teal'c replied. "One of the servants of Astarte. She was younger then and she has grown much, but..."

"Why would a servant of Astarte wish to abduct O'Neill?" Bra'tac asked, gently interrupting Teal'c's self-recriminations.

"Because..." Teal'c began, then stopped, a light gleaming in his eyes. "I know where they shall be," he said. "Come with me Master Bra'tac; we must alert the SGC at once."

*

Meyn'auc motioned for her two guards to take Jack away, then drew a knife and cut Rya'c's bonds. "I am sorry that they hurt you," she said. "I told them not to."

"And what about my friends?" Rya'c asked. "Fora'l, Ker'nau, Dilg'a and Trey'nod?"

"They are all safe and well," she promised. "We brought them aboard and left them in orbit around Etrea. Please understand, my darling; I would never wish to hurt your friends, and neither would Tor'c." She smiled, sadly. "Come with me," she said. "We can talk more easily elsewhere."

She took his hand, and led him to one of the officers' cabins, not far from the pel'tac. In ordinary service this would have housed two of the Goa'uld pilots, but it appeared to have been converted for Meyn'auc's use.

"Where did you get a ha'tak vessel?" Rya'c asked.

"It was My Lady Astarte's," she replied. "We were left on board when O'Neill took her from us."

"You know how much the Jaffa could achieve with a ship like this," Rya'c said, walking around the room. "Yet you kept it from us."

"The Jaffa will die," Meyn'auc told him. "With no source of prim'ta, your rebellion will die out, but there is a better way. Astarte opposes the System Lords. She had a plan to establish a new form of Goa'uld rule. She can provide the Jaffa with all the prim'ta they needed, and we would be her army."

"We would be her slaves!" Rya'c snapped.

"No," Meyn'auc replied. "Her servants, yes; but respected and cared for. I told you that you had never known a Goa'uld like her, my love, and I meant it. She is different; truly."

"I do not believe it," Rya'c said, facing away from her, not wanting to be weakened by her beauty as he curled his fingers around the stem of a candlestick. "I can not. I have seen the Jaffa betrayed too many times."

"Rya'c..."

As her voice moved towards him, Rya'c turned, bringing the heavy silver candlestick swinging down towards her head. With almost casual grace, she reached up and caught his wrist, her touch sending an electric shiver running through him. Still, his strength and the weight of his improvised weapon were too much for her to halt directly, and the blow went on, to rap her smartly on the temple. She cried out, but although it left a cut that bled freely the wound was not serious.

Meyn'auc staggered slightly, and Rya'c moved at once to catch her before she fell, dropping the candlestick to the carpet. She gripped his arms for support, and raised her head to gaze into his eyes. Rya'c felt his legs turn to water, and a terrible guilt washed over him.

"Oh gods, Ankh...Meyn'auc!" He lowered her gently to her bed. "I'm sorry, I..."

"Look at me," she begged. "Look into my eyes. Can you not see the truth, Rya'c. I did not plan this. I had no thought of using you. I love you, and I want us to be together!"

"I will not serve a Goa'uld," Rya'c insisted, pushing away from her.

"Then finish what you started," she challenged.

"What?"

Meyn'auc drew her knife and presented it to him, hilt first. "Finish it," she said. "Finish me."

"Meyn'auc..."

"If you leave me, then you cut out my heart," she said, taking his hand and closing it on the hilt. "So do it. You would have broken my head in; why is this so much harder?"

"I would not...I never could have killed you."

"You can go," she offered. "You only have to be a little cautious. This ship is still undermanned, so you should have no trouble escaping. All you have to do is..." She tightened her grip on his hand.

"No!" Rya'c tore away from her, hurling the knife aside. "I will not!"

"Then stay!" She seized his face, and after a moment he had caught her in his arms and crushed his lips against hers, pressing her down on the bed with his body. "I love you," she whispered again, running her hands from the small of his back to his shoulder blades.

Rya'c groaned, and with a vast effort he pulled away from Meyn'auc's passionate embrace. "I can not believe you," he sighed. "You prove your own words false."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You say that you love me," Rya'c went on, his words tearing out his own heart. "Know then that I love you, with every fibre of my being. Because I love you so, I could never accept second place in your heart. I would sooner live alone than be with you, yet forever in another's shadow."

"There is no other," Meyn'auc swore, pushing herself up on one arm.

"If that is true, then renounce your false goddess," Rya'c challenged. "I will always love you, but I can never be with you if you love your goddess more."

"That is...It is not the same, Rya'c," she pleaded. "You can not ask me to chose between you and My Lady!"

"Yes I can," Rya'c replied. "And I must. I could not live that way."

"This is foolishness," she said, reaching up to stroke his cheek. "You can not be jealous of My Goddess."

"But I am," he croaked, resisting the urge to succumb to her caress; to take her in his arms and kiss away her angry tears.

Meyn'auc leapt from the bed in a rage. "This is his doing," she hissed. "But it is alright," she went on, talking half to herself. "Soon she will return, and you will meet her. Then you will understand, my darling Rya'c. Oh, and you shall know how I can love her without reducing my love for you, because you will love her just as I do, yet your love for me will be the same."

"And O'Neill?" Rya'c asked, struggling with the need to comfort his lover.

"He shall pay for his treachery," she replied, flatly, then seeing the look in his eyes she seemed to relent. "But not by my hand. I have sworn to see him dead, but My Lady Astarte is wise and gracious. Perhaps she shall show him leniency."

"Now that would be something to see," Rya'c admitted. "A gracious Goa'uld."

Meyn'auc sighed, sadly. "And you shall see it, my love. You shall see, and you shall believe. I only wish that I could be with you when that happens." She stood, and left the room.

Rya'c lay where he was, shuddering from the physical effort of resisting temptation, and puzzling over Meyn'auc's final words.

*

Rehetep and his companion led Jack to a cell. It was not exactly Spartan, but he had little doubt that Rya'c was receiving better treatment.

"Looking good, big fella," he told Rehetep. "You feeling okay?"

"I am quite recovered from our last encounter," Rehetep assured him, closing the door between them. It was barred instead of solid, leaving his chamber open to view from the corridor.

"Not very private, is it?"

"You will not be here long," the Jaffa assured him, taking up a post opposite the door.

Jack, no stranger to incarceration, sat back on his bed and tried to think. He did not know what had happened to the other Jaffa in the Hek'tet party, but if they were not dead then there was some chance that Teal'c would learn what had happened. Even if not, he would soon realise that his son was well overdue and come looking for them. Whether anyone would be able to work out where they were, that was a different question, but Jack thought he knew how to tip the odds in his favour.

"Meyn'auc!" Jack sat up, noting the concern in Rehetep's voice.

"I am well," the girl replied. "I wish to speak to him alone."

"I should stay," Rehetep replied. "He is very strong, and completely irrational. He could try anything, and if anything were to happen to you..."

Jack could not help but be moved by the man's concern, especially knowing that the girl was not Rehetep's real daughter.

"Very well," Meyn'auc relented. "But will you wait along the corridor? I am sure that he will not attack me, knowing that you are so close."

"Be careful," Rehetep said. "Stay away from him, and do not let him lull you with his words. He is not so foolish as he might sound."

"I know, father," Meyn'auc assured him.

Jack stayed seated as the door opened, and Meyn'auc entered. He affected an air of nonchalance, but it faltered when he saw how dishevelled and distraught the girl looked.

"You are a devil," she hissed, by way of opening.

Jack tried to find a pithy response, but failed. The hatred that seethed in her gaze had clearly not faded in the last two years; if anything it had grown.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"I want you never to have been born," Meyn'auc replied. "You took My Goddess from me, and you have seduced and corrupted my beloved Rya'c."

"Hey!" Jack snapped. "It wasn't me who's been doing the seducing around here. You're the one who used him..."

"Stop saying that!" She demanded. "I love him! I want nothing more than to spend my life with him, but you have taken that choice from me."

"I didn't make you kidnap anyone."

"Not that," she said, impatiently. "I know the price, Colonel O'Neill. A life for a life."

"What?"

Meyn'auc stepped up to the side of Jack's bed. She reached out her hand and fished the cord from the front of his t-shirt. "Two coins?" She asked.

"One came from the treasury," he told her, with a shrug. "I didn't want to be the only one without a souvenir."

"Do you remember what I told you?" She asked.

Jack nodded. "That you'd take the coin back from my dead body," he replied. "I have a good memory for death threats." He sighed. "I'm not going to beg for my life," he told her. "But has it occurred to you that if you really don't want to alienate Rya'c by killing me, you could consider not killing me."

"I am not going to kill you," Meyn'auc told him. "I promised Rya'c that you would not be punished by my hand, but besides that, your death will not bring back My Lady, Astarte. However, mine might."

"What?" Jack asked, genuinely baffled.

"I have studied since My Lady was taken from us," she explained. "I know the price. I shall go down into Hell in her place, and she shall return to her people."

"Alright," Jack said. "You do know you're insane, right?"

"I am offering an exchange," Meyn'auc insisted. "Such as is written of in the scrolls of the Gods. I will take her place in limbo, in addition to sparing your life, and you shall release My Lady."

"Let me get this straight," Jack said. "You believe that we are holding Astarte in some kind of...artificial Hell; like Netu?"

"I believe she is imprisoned. Why else would you insist on taking her alive?" Meyn'auc asked.

Jack waved that point aside for the moment. "And you're offering to exchange yourself for her?"

"I am."

"Why would you ever do that?" Jack asked. "I mean, I can just about understand that people obey those scum-sucking snakeheads when they're around. They've got some neat toys, they seem real impressive. I get it; it's a vision thing. But how can you be so devoted to her now that she's gone? I mean, what the hell did she ever give you when she was here?"

"She made me aspire to be more than I was," Meyn'auc replied, with a sincerity that gave Jack pause. "She lifted me from banality and showed me the only glimpse of true greatness I have ever seen."

"She wasn't a god, Meyn'auc!" Jack exclaimed. "Can't you understand that? Goa'uld die, just like we do!"

"I know!" Meyn'auc cried, exasperated. "I know, because I saw her die."

"Huh?"

*

Earth

Sam and Jonas were preparing to travel to Etrea when the Stargate activated, and they found themselves in the midst of the duty defence team.

"It's SG-1's iris code," the technician announced. Sam looked at Jonas, alarmed.

The event horizon rippled, disgorging two armoured figures.

"Hold your fire," Sam ordered the SFs, already moving forward. "Teal'c, Bra'tac; what happened to..." She stopped in alarm as the Gate disgorged four more Jaffa.

"Forgive this unannounced invasion," Bra'tac said. "But O'Neill and Rya'c have been abducted, and Teal'c believes that they have been taken – or will be taken – to a world allied to the Tau'ri."

"These young Jaffa wish to aid their friend," Teal'c went on. "But we believed that it would be best if they accompanied a Tau'ri rescue team."

"Abducted?" Sam asked, still a little hung up on that first point. "By whom?"

"By Jaffa still loyal to Astarte," Teal'c replied.

Sam was startled. "After all this time?"

Bra'tac gave a soft laugh. "Two years? To a Jaffa that is nothing, Major Carter. We have tales of grudges borne for many centuries; Jaffa families pass their vendettas down with their possessions to their children."

"Okay," Sam allowed. "But what do we know? Where do you think they'll be going?"

"They will want their goddess back," Teal'c explained.

"So Jack will take them to her," Sam realised. She sighed. "We'd better hurry then."

"Why?" Jonas asked. "I mean, I know why why, but why particularly?"

"Because they're not going to like what they find," Sam told him.

*

"Girls from favoured Jaffa families are sometimes permitted to serve as handmaidens to the Goa'uld in the year before their first prim'ta ceremony," Meyn'auc explained. "I was chosen to serve the Queen, Astarte."

"That must have been a thrill," Jack said, sarcastically.

"It was a great honour," Meyn'auc agreed. "As the Chosen Queen of Ra, she was the second most powerful Goa'uld in the Empire."

"No doubt she would have said that she was the most powerful."

"Indeed she did, but she did not act as though she believed it. She was a weak Queen," Meyn'auc said. "No more than a broodmare for Ra, and she knew it. But I served her well, and she gave me a permanent place in her entourage after my implantation. For three years I served this fading, apathetic creature, until I could no longer believe that she was a goddess. I could sense a power in her, but it was more than merely dormant. At some time, far in the past, something within her had died, and all that remained was the shell of what she had once been.

"But after three years, a stranger was admitted, unannounced. She uncovered her face, and Astarte saw that this woman had been admitted because she was the very image of the Queen, and yet...It was clear which of them was which, for this newcomer was dynamic, potent and proud, where my mistress was dissolute and jaded. They fought, and it was a brief contest. Astarte – the new, strong Astarte – killed the Goa'uld I had served, without ceremony or ritual words."

Jack bit back his bile. He had known that Astarte slew the version of herself from this universe to stave off the threat of TEC failure, but it was chilling to hear it described.

"I was the only handmaiden at her side when she died, and though I tried to hide, the new Astarte's First Prime found me and caught me, and brought me before his mistress. She was..." Meyn'auc sighed. "I do not think that you would understand," she said. "You would have to have seen the difference. Their faces were the same, but this Astarte was...a goddess."

"She was as mortal as the last one," Jack assured her.

"I know," Meyn'auc insisted. "Even then I knew it, but it did not matter. She had so much strength and power in her. I swore, there and then, to serve her, and she spared my life. She told me never to reveal what I had seen, and then she lifted me to my feet, touched my face" – Meyn'auc raised a hand to her cheek as she remembered – "and said that I was a brave and beautiful child, and she would watch my progress with great interest."

"Meyn'auc..."

"And she did," the girl went on. "My former mistress had never troubled to use my name, but this one always remembered who I was. She was my mistress, My Goddess and my inspiration, and you..." She broke off, overcome with emotion. After a long moment she went on. "Anything that I could ever achieve, and anything that I could ever be, it would be because of her. That is why, if my sacrifice can restore her, I shall make it with a glad heart, and only one regret."

Jack sighed. "Arcadia," he said.

"What?"

"Set a course for Arcadia," he told her.

*

Arcadia

Jack watched from the window of the pel'tac as the teltac disappeared towards the surface of Arcadia.

"Remind me again why we're not on board that thing?" He asked.

"Because I do not trust you," Meyn'auc replied. "A teltac flight would offer you too much opportunity to attempt an escape. Once it is down, we shall ring down to the scout ship with my father and my betrothed. The ring transporters in Helios' mothership appear to be functional, but they may be guarded."

"Seems likely," Jack agreed, knowing that the derelict ha'tak vessel had been converted into a trading centre for the people of Arcadia. The transport rings saw use mostly when dealing with the Tok'ra, for whom the Thebans had almost as much respect as they had for the Tau'ri. "You realise of course that it might be overoptimistic to keep on calling Rya'c your betrothed?"

"He has not indicated a wish to have it be otherwise," Meyn'auc replied. "He loves me, and I love him; what more is needed."

"See, if I knew that..." Jack began, with a little more bitterness than he had intended. "Look," he went on, quickly. "When we get down there, I have to go in alone, or the whole thing is a bust."

"No," Meyn'auc said, firmly.

"This is not negotiable," Jack insisted. "You'll still have Rya'c, and I'm not going to try anything while that's the case."

Meyn'auc snorted. "I would never hurt Rya'c," she said. "I would sooner die myself than allow any harm to come to him."

Jack sighed. "Okay then; I give you my word, I won't try to escape or warn anyone."

"You gave Astarte your word," Meyn'auc replied, darkly.

"I gave Astarte my word under duress," Jack reminded her. "Look; I want you to see this. Just trust me, Meyn'auc."

"I can not."

"You'll be able to see if I try anything, I swear it. If you don't like the lay of the land when we get there we can come up with something else. Or I could wear a wire," he suggested. "There must be some way for you to monitor where I am."

"Not that we have here," she told him.

"Well for crying out loud...!" He took a step towards her, and one of her followers raised his weapon, menacingly. "Hey!" Jack snapped. "Calm down over there." He sat down, wearily. "Well, we seem to be at something of an impasse then. I have to go in alone, or the whole thing is a scrub."

"I will give you a short time," she said, finally. "But if you betray me, as you betrayed..."

"Yes! Yes," Jack agreed. "Fine."

"Tal ma'te," one of the Jaffa called. "Tor'c reports that he has landed safely."

"Thank you," Meyn'auc replied. "Tell him to stand ready. He shall ring up as we go down. It is perhaps unwise for him to confront Rya'c at this time."

"Yes, Tal ma'te."

"How come they follow you?" Jack asked. "Why not your father, or any of the older Jaffa?"

"I was seen as favoured by Astarte," Meyn'auc replied. "And in the days following her disappearance, I was the only one able to cope. I did what I could to pull them together, and they began to look to me for guidance."

"What kept you going?"

"My hatred of you," Meyn'auc said. "Come. My father shall bring Rya'c to the transporter room."

"In there?" Meyn'auc asked, incredulous. "That is the prison in which My Goddess is held captive?"

"Something like that," Jack agreed, looking down on the little cabin in the Theban wilderness. "So. Ten minutes?"

"Five."

"Eight?" Jack suggested. "Or five," he accepted, off Meyn'auc's fierce glower. "But whatever you do, don't come in guns blazing." Meyn'auc just glared. "Five minutes," he repeated, then turned and went down the hill towards the cabin.

*

Inside the cabin sat two young women, or at least they appeared to be young. One of them was young, a fierce-eyed blonde of some thirty years of age. The other, a stunning, olive-skinned brunette, looked younger, but in truth was several thousand years old. Despite this disparity, the dark-haired woman deferred quite willingly and naturally to the blonde, as she went about the days chores.

"Jack," the brunette said, suddenly, gazing out of the window. Her voice carried a mixture of pleasure and trepidation, and she immediately began to fidget and rearrange her pale green chiton.

The blonde looked up, surprised. "That is odd," she said. "He is not due for another visit for some weeks." She stood and straightened her tunic, but it was an easy, natural gesture; without the self-consciousness of her companion. "Good morning, Colonel," she said, as the door opened.

"Good morning, Soran," Jack greeted her, gravely. They embraced lightly, and Soran kissed Jack on the left cheek, then the right, then again on the left.

"Hello, Jack," the other woman said, nervously.

"Hello, Menea," Jack replied, placing his hands on her shoulders and kissing her forehead. "You're looking very pretty this morning."

Menea flushed with pleasure, and stared awkwardly at her toes.

"Soran," Jack said. "I need to speak with you outside."

"Of course," she agreed, although she felt a shiver of fear at his tone. She held the door, then followed Jack out into the sunshine. "What is the matter, Colonel?"

"How's she coming along?" Jack asked.

"She is making progress," Soran assured him. "But it is slow going. She was the host of Astarte for a very long time, but I believe that I have brought her on well since we came here."

"At least she doesn't hate me anymore," Jack said.

"No. In fact she seems rather taken with you," Soran laughed, her hard eyes coming briefly to life, before she became serious again. A respected soul-healer – as far as Jack understood, basically a psychiatrist – she might be, but Jack did not doubt that Soran had problems of her own. He would not have been surprised if many of those problems did not stem from having her grandmother, Rosha, possessed by a Tok'ra symbiote. Still, when he had asked the Tok'ra to find someone to help Astarte's former host, he had worried that they would try to reimplant her with one of their own, and so Soran's more conventional assistance was greatly appreciated.

"She likes the surroundings," Soran went on. "They also remind her of who she was before, and that is all for the best."

"She told me she grew up around here," Jack noted.

"Before she volunteered to be Ophesta's host, yes," Soran agreed. "I am concerned though. The Theban skywatchers have seen Goa'uld ha'tak vessels in orbit around the planet. I fear that they know the Tok'ra come here, and may attack at any time. If that happens, we shall have to move, and that would upset her. But Menea is not ready to meet Goa'uld again; not yet."

Jack nodded. "What about Jaffa? Specifically, some of Astarte's former worshippers?"

"I would not advise it," Soran replied.

"Well, that's a problem," Jack admitted. "Because they're armed and insistent, and they're sitting at the top of that ridge."

*

"What will you do if Colonel O'Neill does not produce Astarte?" Rya'c asked. "Will you kill your hostage?"

"You are not my hostage," Meyn'auc assured him. "I would never hurt you, and Colonel O'Neill knows that."

"You say I am not a hostage, and yet..." He held up his hands, which were bound together.

Without a moment's hesitation, Meyn'auc drew her knife and slashed the bonds open. "I know that you feel betrayed," she said, gently.

"I was betrayed," Rya'c replied. "I trusted Tor'c; we all did, and he turned on us."

"It was the hardest thing he ever did," Meyn'auc told him.

"Yet he did it."

"Daughter," Rehetep called, softly. "He returns...and She is with him."

Meyn'auc leaped up, excitedly, and the three Jaffa went out to meet Jack, who was approaching up the hill with Menea by his side.

"My Lady," Meyn'auc breathed, bowing down.

"Menea," Jack said. "This is..."

"Meyn'auc," Menea said. "I...remember. Please, stand; you should not bow before me. I am not who you think I am."

"But...My Lady," Meyn'auc said, confused. "You are...My Lady, Astarte. Are you not?"

Menea shook her head. "I am not," she replied, speaking slowly and deliberately. "My name is Menea, and I was the host of Astarte, but she is gone now."

"Bring her back!" Meyn'auc demanded of Jack. "I do not want the host!"

"He can not," Menea explained. "Astarte left me of her own will, and she did so because she knew that it was time for her to die."

"No!" Meyn'auc was aghast, while her father simply looked as though he did not believe it. "You would not kill her. You took her away, out of her host," she accused Jack. "Where is she."

"She is dead," Jack confirmed, not without regret.

"No! It is a lie; a trick!" Meyn'auc drew her zat'nik'tel and fired on Jack.

"Ah! God Damnit!" He swore, fighting for consciousness as he collapsed on the ground.

"No!" Menea begged, dropping to her knees at Jack's side. "Do not hurt him. I once believed, as you do, that he must be punished for what he did, but from her own memories I now know that Astarte chose this path."

"Shut up!" Meyn'auc demanded. "Admit it!" She ordered Jack. "Admit you are lying or..." She broke off as a zat blast arced around her.

Rehetep spun around, raising his staff weapon, and saw a dozen figures emerging from the trees. Foremost was Teal'c, his weapon still raised, Sam Carter and Jonas Quinn at his side. Bra'tac followed with Rya'c's Hek'tet party, and a woman with golden hair, holding the leash of a strange, shambling humanoid with a short snout.

Meyn'auc struggled against the pain that threatened to make her black out, and slowly raised her zat'nik'tel. As she drew it level, Ker'nau fired at her; the second, killing shot.

"No!" Rya'c cried, pushing Meyn'auc roughly to the ground, so that the zat blast caught him instead.

"Rya'c!" Teal'c called out.

"Lower your weapon!" Bra'tac instructed Rehetep. "Now!" Moving very slowly, Rehetep obeyed.

"Father," Meyn'auc gasped.

"We can not prevail," he told her. "I might seek death in battle, now that I know My Mistress is lost forever, but I shall not risk your life in a futile struggle. You are too important to me."

"Smart move," Jonas commended him.

"Colonel; are you alright?" Sam asked.

Jack looked exasperated. "No," he replied. "I've just been zatted for the second time today. How long apart do those blasts have to be before they kill you?"

"An hour is plenty," Sam promised him.

"You found us then," he said, redundantly.

"Once Teal'c realised you'd bring Meyn'auc here, we came straight away. We figured the Jaffa would be hiding, but Yarris found their ship and led us right to them."

The tracker bounced happily up and down and yipped in excitement.

"Thank you, Yarris," Jack said. "And you, Setneb."

"Our pleasure," she assured him. "If not for your people we would never have found such a fair place to call our home."

Sam smiled, knowing that compared to the blasted ruin of the prison-comet Niflheim, anywhere would have seemed a paradise, and happy that they had found such a good place for the scavengers. With the SGC to give them a good reference, the Theban Parliament had been only too happy to take in the rag-tag band brought to them, especially when they learned that the scavengers possessed technical knowledge that was in great demand on post-occupation Arcadia. Under the guidance of Setneb and her husband, Turaca – and with the assistance of the Thebans – they had begun settling and cultivating a previously unoccupied area of land to the west of the Theban domains.

Jack turned his attention to Menea, who was looking a little shell-shocked. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

Menea nodded. "A little shaken," she admitted. "I have never had to make my own decisions in such a situation before."

"You did good," he assured her, sitting up, painfully, and she smiled at him.

Meanwhile, Meyn'auc had managed to drag herself over to Rya'c, and reached out towards him.

"Stay away from him!" Teal'c commanded, harshly.

Meyn'auc turned pain-filled, tear-streaked eyes on the older Jaffa. "He is my betrothed," she said. "I wish to be certain he is well."

"I am," Rya'c gasped. "Although in considerable pain."

"He is no longer your betrothed," Teal'c insisted.

"Hey!" Jack interrupted. "Can we leave this for later. Meanwhile, Meyn'auc; why don't you tell your people to come down from the mothership and surrender to the Arcadians. I give you my word they will be treated well and fairly."

"I can not trust your word," Meyn'auc reminded him.

"Then I give you mine," Teal'c said.

Meyn'auc looked up at him, and nodded once. "Very well," she agreed. "But I will need to return to the teltac to issue such a command."

"That's fine," Jack agreed. "But we'll go with you and keep and eye on you."

"Jack! Menea! Are you all right?" Soran rushed up the hill, a zat held warily in her hand.

"We're good," Jack assured her. "Just a little stiff," he added, stretching his aching joints. Then he saw that Soran's expression of concern had not lessened. "What?"

"I have just received word from the Skywatchers," Soran explained. "They spotted a ha'tak vessel entering orbit a few minutes ago. It apparently encountered another vessel, already orbiting out of the usual tracking patterns, and opened fire upon it."

"What?" Meyn'auc demanded. "What treachery is this?"

"No treachery," Jack told her, impatiently. "Do they know whose mothership it was?"

Soran shook her head. "But it is one of those that has been spotted in orbit of Arcadia before."

"I must return to the ship," Meyn'auc insisted. "My people need me."

"I don't think so," Jack told her.

"I shall stay here as hostage," Rehetep offered. "But they need her up there."

Jack thought for a long moment. "Alright," he said at last.

"And you must go with her," he added.

"What?" Jack asked, incredulous. "Are you nuts?"

"If I must stay here, then you must go with her, and make certain that my wife and children are safe."

"Nah!" Jack cried, distractedly. "Alright! I'll go. But we get the ship when we're done."

"If there is anything left," Meyn'auc agreed.

"Okay," Jack said. "We may need to start ringing people out. Carter, contact the Thebans and have them get the freight rings in the pyramid ready to receive refugees and wounded. High security," he added.

"Yes, Sir," Sam acknowledged, grudgingly.

"I shall not deliver my people into your hands," Meyn'auc insisted.

"You have my word that they shall be well-treated," Bra'tac promised, and that seemed to be enough.

"I will come with you as well," Rya'c said.

"No!" Teal'c snapped.

"I know you feel you have to do this," Jack said, cutting off Rya'c's attempted protest. "But I'll need you and your friends to help Bra'tac and your father down here. Some of the Jaffa we send down may be hurt, and only another Jaffa will really know who needs to be treated first."

Meyn'auc looked to Jack, and then to Teal'c, and finally back to Rya'c. "Please, my darling," she said. "Above, we must be few and swift. Below..."

"We must be many and sure," Rya'c finished, completing the Jaffa training mantra with ill grace.

"My people will be wounded and afraid," Meyn'auc said, taking his hands. "They will need you. Please, help me in this."

"I shall," Rya'c agreed. He leaned forward, and gently kissed her lips. "Be careful," he enjoined her.

"I'll bring her back in one piece," Jack promised, speaking to both Rya'c and Rehetep. "Let's go, Meyn'auc."

As Rya'c watched them go, Teal'c laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "You must forget her, Rya'c," he said. "She is unworthy of your love."

"You are wrong," Rya'c replied, softly.

*

Jack and Meyn'auc materialised in Astarte's chambers via the ring transporter. Plainly these had been left untouched after he had taken her away, and although he had never seen these rooms before, Jack recognised the style. Unlike many of her fellow Goa'uld, Astarte eschewed frivolous luxury in favour of comfortable elegance, and the subdued and tasteful decoration of this inner sanctum was as appealing to Jack's senses as its occupant had been.

"This way," Meyn'auc said, leading Jack out onto the pel'tac.

The ship was in chaos, with Jaffa running to and fro. The air felt thick and oppressive, and a haze of smoke drifted everywhere. On the pel'tac, a number of dead and wounded Jaffa lay at their posts. The main screen crackled with static, and the lights of the weapons station were dim.

"The environmental conditioners must have malfunctioned," Meyn'auc said. "Life support will probably be next." She looked out into the chaos. "Report!" She barked, in a voice that carried over the noise and hubbub.

Tor'c stepped forward. "We were attacked," he said. "Another ha'tak vessel approached and signalled us. The commander identified himself as Lord Niningi, in the service of the Great Lord Susanowa. When he saw that we were only Jaffa he demanded that we worship him and surrender control of the ship to his representative. We refused, and raised our shields as he began firing.

"We returned fire, targeting his pel'tac, and he fled, but at great cost. He has also left gliders and al'kesh to harass us. We have launched our own gliders, but one of the bays was crippled and the ha'tak is badly damaged. Our shields can not last, and then Niningi's gliders will finish us."

Meyn'auc nodded. "Very well." She moved to the great throne and touched a hidden switch on its arm, activating the ship wide address system. "My people, hear me," she said, her voice echoing from the walls. "All Jaffa warriors are to evacuate by duty shift via ring transport." An older Jaffa stepped forward and handed her a tablet. "Elite units one and nine are to man defensive stations until evacuation is complete. Elite units three, four, five and seven are to evacuate by descent pod. All remaining pilots are to man the teltacs and evacuate the maintenance crews and civilians on levels one-to-nine; elite unit two are to supervise loading. Glider pilots of the first four wings are to escort the teltacs to the ground.

"Civilians on levels ten-through-eighteen are to assemble on the lower promenade deck, from where elite unit six will supervise evacuation. Civilians on the upper levels are to report to the upper promenade. Elite unit eight will supervise evacuation of these civilians. Pel'tac crew will remain at their stations until further notice. All priests are to assist the Griffins in the evacuation of civilians.

"On arrival on the planet's surface, surrender yourself to the custody of the local authorities; they will see that you are protected and treated well. The residents of this world are not to be fired upon, under any circumstances," she added. "That is all."

"Very ordered," Jack commended.

"I knew that it might come to this one day," she replied. "The Goa'uld would not wish to leave a ha'tak vessel in the hands of Jaffa. My mother and my brother will be on the lower promenade," she told him. "Tor'c will escort you there and you can see them to safety."

"What about you?"

"I must see to the evacuation," she said. "Some of the ring transport arrays may be disabled, and we will have to divert the evacuees."

Jack paused, uncertainly. "Colonel O'Neill?" Tor'c asked.

"I'll be back," Jack promised Meyn'auc.

She made no reply.

*

"I always forget how big these ships are," Jack said, as he and Tor'c emerged from the elevator onto the great promenade deck. It was two storeys high, ran all the way around the pyramid section of the ship, and it was packed with Jaffa. Dark-robed priests moved among them, organising groups of eight-to-twelve Jaffa and sending each group away in the keeping of a Horus Guard – or Griffin, as they were known in Astarte's following.

Jack shuddered to think how close he and his team had come to blowing this entire ship to hell.

"Over here," Tor'c said, leading Jack through the throng to where a woman of middle years was calming a group of children. A boy of three clung to her skirts.

"Tan'auc," Tor'c greeted her.

"Tor'c," she replied. "I am glad you are..." She froze, staring at Jack in horror. "You," she whispered.

"He is here to help," Tor'c assured Meyn'auc's mother. "He returned to the ship with Meyn'auc."

"Where is my husband?" Tan'auc demanded.

"Waiting on the planet," Jack replied. "Safe and well. I promised him I'd see to it you reached him."

"You must go next," a priest instructed Tan'auc.

"My daughter..." She protested.

"Quickly now," the priest insisted. "You are holding everyone up. Main hold, ring transport three."

Reluctantly, Tan'auc followed Tor'c through the bowels of the ha'tak to an open bay, where the Jaffa were being dispatched from three sets of the larger freight rings. She spread her arms to encompass the children, holding on to the smallest and guiding them along. When one got lost and Jack swept her up, Tan'auc almost panicked, but she saw the gentleness of this man she had long pictured as an ogre, and her worries were assuaged.

"You are not what I thought you were," she told him.

"Yes," Jack admitted. "I get that a lot."

"Where is my daughter?" Tan'auc asked.

"On the pel'tac," Jack replied. "Refusing to leave until everyone else is gone," he added, not bothering to disguise his admiration.

Tan'auc paled. "I will not leave without her," she said.

"Someone has to look after these kids," Jack reminded her. "And what about Key'ac?"

"Tor'c," the woman said, turning to the young warrior. "You must watch over these children." She stooped and lifted Key'ac. "Key'ac, my sweet boy; go with Tor'c," she whispered. "Tor'c; deliver him to his father. I shall find them both when I arrive."

"Tan'auc..." Tor'c began.

"You are my cousin," Tan'auc told him. "Not my brother. You have no authority over me...and you are holding everyone up."

Jack sighed. "Go on," he told Tor'c. "I'll make sure she gets off the ship in time."

Tor'c nodded, took Key'ac from his mother's arms, and herded the other children into the ring area. "All stand close now," he told them. "Close as you can."

"Good luck," Jack told him.

"And you, Colonel O'Neill," Tor'c replied.

With a harsh shriek, the transporter activated, the naquadah rings leaping from the deck and their circumference filling with white light. Then the rings dropped again, and the children were gone. Jack took Tan'auc gently by the arm and drew her away, so that the next group could approach.

*

In the pyramid, Teal'c stood guard over one of the main freight rings, alongside his son and a group of hoplites. Some of the scavengers, skilled at improvising, had arrived and begun converting Helios' abandoned menagerie into a secure refugee shelter, and so far the operation was going smoothly. A great deal of that was down to one of the lead scavengers; a woman named Megan who possessed a singular gift for organisation.

"Children," Megan murmured to herself, as the latest group arrived, her mind working fast behind her eyes. "Corridor three, section alpha," she told her Theban assistant; then she stepped forward, a bright smile on her pretty face. "Welcome to Arcadia," she said. "My name is Megan, and this is Perialla. Please follow her, and..."

"Shol'va!" Rya'c stepped forward, levelling his zat at the warrior accompanying the children.

"You will have to surrender your weapon," Megan told the Jaffa. "But then you may accompany the children to their quarters, unmolested," she added, pointedly, scowling at Rya'c and indicating with a twitch of her head the now frightened children. "Just so long as we clear the ring circuit, quickly."

Fuming, Rya'c slowly raised his weapon to point away from Tor'c, and Megan at once stepped between the two young Jaffa.

"Your weapon?" She asked Tor'c, who set down Key'ac and handed over his zat'nik'tel without a word.

"Thank you," she said. "Now, please follow Perialla."

"I must take this child to his father, Rehetep," Tor'c told her, as Perialla ushered the children from the room.

"Very well," Megan replied. "Epieus; please escort..."

"I will do it," Rya'c said, stepping in front of the hoplite Megan had called.

Megan hesitated, but then the first scream of the rings powering back up sounded. "As you wish," she agreed. "Corridor seven, section delta."

"This way," Rya'c said, his voice heavy with anger.

*

"Is that it?" Jack asked. "Is that everyone?"

"From this station," one of the Griffins replied. He keyed the intercom. "Pel'tac, this is lower transit station; we are all clear."

"Thank you," Meyn'auc said. "Upper transit is also clear and the teltacs are away. We are beginning the evacuation of the pel'tac crew now. You may transport to the surface at once."

"Yes, Tal ma'te." The Griffin turned to his fellows. "Stand ready for transport," he ordered. "You two also."

"Wait a moment," Jack said, and opened the pel'tac channel as he had seen the Griffin do. "Meyn'auc; you still there."

"Yes, Colonel O'Neill," she confirmed. "I will remain until the entire ship is evacuated."

"Meyn'auc!" Tan'auc cried, as the ha'tak shuddered. "You must go now!"

"Get my mother out of here," Meyn'auc instructed Jack. "I will join you on the surface."

"Meyn'auc!" Tan'auc called again, but Jack had closed the channel.

"Take her with you," Jack told the Griffin.

"What about you?" The Jaffa asked.

"What about my daughter?" Tan'auc pleaded.

"I don't think she plans on coming," Jack admitted. "But I don't plan on giving her the option. Your family need you," he told her. "So you go now, and I will bring you your daughter. I swear it."

Tan'auc took Jack's face in her hands, and kissed him softly on the lips. "Thank you, Colonel O'Neill," she said. "I was wrong to teach my son to fear and despise you."

Jack was a little taken aback. "You taught your son...? I'm the bogeyman?" He asked. "Cool. Now go on."

Tan'auc turned to leave, and Jack headed for the pel'tac, breaking into a run as the ha'tak shook once more.

*

Rya'c waited outside the cell while Tor'c returned Key'ac to his father. When the young warrior emerged, Rya'c grabbed his collar, dragged him across the passage and slammed him into the wall.

"Shol'va!" He spat again.

"I stand by my actions," Tor'c replied. "I never intend you or any of my friends to come to harm."

"And Colonel O'Neill?"

Tor'c made no reply.

Rya'c released the other youth's collar, and motioned him towards a cell. "Wait in there," he said.

"Wait for what?"

"When the evacuation is complete, I will return," Rya'c told him. "Then, you will answer to me, and your other 'friends'."

*

Meyn'auc watched the battle on the main screen, her gliders fighting a desperate defence against the enemy. Her pilots were good, but soon the shields would fail, and that would be it. Niningi's Jaffa had accepted their own deaths by remaining behind – without hyperdrives they could never return home – and that could only mean one thing: Da-natra.

She opened communications with the remaining gliders. "Jaffa, kree," she said. "The evacuation is complete. Your families are safe on the planet's surface; join them there. Do not fire on the inhabitants of the planet, regardless of provocation. Surrender yourself into their keeping, and I thank you for your efforts."

"Time to go!" Jack called, dashing onto the pel'tac.

"My family...?"

"Safe."

Meyn'auc nodded. "Then you can leave via the rings in The Goddess' chamber," she told him. "Good fortune, and tell Rya'c..."

"Tell him yourself!" Jack snapped. "You're coming with me."

"No," Meyn'auc replied. "I will die here. I have nothing left to live for," she explained, turning to face him. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and her hands shook where she clasped them before her.

Jack took a step towards her. "Meyn'auc..."

She cut him off. "All I ever wanted was to serve a worthy master," she said. "And to serve well."

"And now Astarte is gone."

"I was not to have been Astarte's servant much longer," she said, softly. "I was to be yours. Astarte had requested that I become your handmaiden, and guide you in the days following the transition; that I seek to bring out all that she loved of Jack O'Neill in her consort. She did not order it; she only asked that I do this thing for her. It was the crowning honour of my life to be so trusted." The tears in her eyes began to fall. "And you rejected me, along with your other chattels."

Sympathy warred with anger in Jack's heart. "I didn't reject you," he said. "I rejected having a parasite take over my brain."

"I was shamed, nevertheless," she said. "But I struggled on. When my people found that they had no will to go on, I pulled them together because I was certain that you would not have destroyed the Goddess; that I could make the exchange..."

"Sorry to break it to you, but I have no power to send people to hell, or to bring them back."

"Don't be ingenuous," Meyn'auc said, sadly. "You know what I meant."

"No I..." Jack began, then stopped, remembering what he knew of Menea's 'ascension'. "You were going to become her host?" He asked.

Meyn'auc nodded. "I was. One of the older Jaffa is due, and he had offered to take my prim'ta so that I could become the host of Astarte."

"You weren't offering yourself," he realised. "You were offering your self. A sacrifice."

"Yes," she replied. "Then when I learned the truth, I thought I might still find some will to continue in my hatred of you, but...but you have robbed me of that as well."

"Sorry," Jack offered, half-heartedly.

"I built an image of you in my heart," she told him. "A demon in human form, who slew the consort and abducted My Goddess. Yet you helped to rescue my family, and here you are, risking your life for someone who wanted you dead."

"I'm crazy that way," Jack agreed.

The ship rocked again, more violently this time.

"The shields have failed!" Meyn'auc cried. "You must go."

"Come with me!"

"I have nothing to live for, Colonel O'Neill!" She insisted. "Life for its own sake..."

"Means nothing to a Jaffa," Jack finished. "I know. But listen: Astarte was the finest snakehead I ever knew. Damning with faint praise, I know, but it's true." He stepped forward and seized Meyn'auc by the shoulders. "But she still wasn't worth dying for. Not then; not now." He sighed. "You say there's nothing left to live for?" He asked. "It's not true though, is it? There's Rya'c. Don't you love him? Isn't he worth living for?"

"I..." Meyn'auc began, the conflict in her heart clearly visible on her face, but broke off as Jack stared past her in horror. She turned, and saw a death glider heading straight for the screen. "Da-natra," she whispered.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Da-natra. The Divine Storm."

Alarm bells rang in Jack's mind. Divine Storm: He knew that one; he was sure of it, but he had no time to think. The glider slammed into the unprotected hull of the ha'tak vessel at full speed, tearing through the armour plate and erupting into a ball of flame. Jack and Meyn'auc were hurled from their feet by the impact, and the lights dimmed. Looking up, Jack saw Meyn'auc staring at him, and at that moment a beam broke away from the roof, sweeping towards her.

Without even thinking, Jack threw himself forwards, knocking the girl aside. Pain exploded across his vision, and he was knocked violently to the ground. As the world faded around him, he suddenly remembered: Of course, he thought. Divine Storm. Divine Wind.

Kamikaze.

*

The rings flashed and rose, depositing yet another load of Jaffa. "Are there many more?" Megan asked.

"We are the last," one of the Jaffa replied. "There remain only the glider pilots."

"That is good," Megan said. "Please follow my assistant here; I will make arrangements to supply enough blankets and food for your people."

"Thank you," the Jaffa replied.

"You have done well," Teal'c told the young woman, once the room was clear.

"It isn't over yet," she replied, checking a hand-held computer of scavenger make for the final numbers. "There is much to organise..." She looked up, concerned. "Also, Colonel O'Neill has not returned by ring transport."

"What of Meyn'auc?" Rya'c asked.

Megan shook her head, sadly, and Rya'c gave a small cry of despair.

*

A sharp pain brought Jack back to consciousness, and he regretted it at once. "Ow!" He gasped.

"This would be easier if you were less heavy," Meyn'auc assured him.

Jack opened his eyes, and immediately regretted that as well. "Ah," he grumbled, as the world spun in front of him.

"I considered trying to lighten the load," Meyn'auc went on. "But I decided that you might need your legs at a later time."

"Huh?"

"I was attempting to lighten the moment with tasteless jocularity," Meyn'auc replied, as a whirring sound surrounded them. "The Tau'ri seem to find that comforting."

"Where are we?" Jack asked, his voice slightly slurred.

"The main glider bay," Meyn'auc said. "The Da-natra has disabled the transport arrays and hangar doors."

"Right," Jack agreed, nodding once and then thinking better of it. "Wait! Did you say hangar doors?"

"I did."

"So how do we launch?"

"The doors were breached," she assured him, handing a small remote over the seat back.

"This is mine," he realised, struggling not to drop it as the glider bucked violently. Clearly the Da-natra assault was not over.

"Yes," Meyn'auc agreed, running through an abbreviated pre-flight sequence and deactivating the forcefield sealing the breach. The glider's sensors confirmed that the hangar was depressurising. "The release mechanisms are also destroyed, and so I rigged one of your explosive charges on the bolts. I hope that I have done so correctly. You will have to detonate the charge however; the artificial gravity is still quite functional, and I must take control of the glider under power as soon as we are free. For that I require both hands."

"So, you set an RDX charge by intuition, and strapped it to the roof of our ship?"

"Yes," Meyn'auc replied, impatiently. "Please press the button."

Jack sighed. "It's been nice knowing you, Meyn'auc."

"And you also," she assured him. "I wish I had known it would be so before."

"Oh well," he said. "Here goes nothing." He pressed down on the detonator, and there was a soft clang. A moment later the glider dropped free of its docking arm; Jack was impressed. He felt himself lifted up in freefall, but then Meyn'auc gunned the inertial drives and he was pressed back to his seat by 1G of induced gravity. His vision swam, but he could see the breach in the doors in front of them, drawing closer at an alarming rate.

For a moment, he thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him; then he thought that for some reason the breach had been blocked by a mirror. Finally, he realised that another glider was headed for the same opening, but from the outside.

"Meyn'auc..." Jack warned.

"I see it," she assured him.

"Turn!"

"No time."

The young Jaffa slammed the glider forward, and the absence of G-forces in the face of such acceleration almost made Jack vomit. They shot through the breach, and Meyn'auc pushed the glider into a hard dive, the other craft so close that Jack could see the delicate patterning on its hull as it passed over them and into the hangar.

"That was too close," Jack opined.

"It is not done yet," Meyn'auc assured him. "That Da-natra will be aiming for one of the refuelling stations in the hangar."

Behind them, a gout of flame erupted from the breach, and the hangar doors began to bulge like a soap bubble.

"Hold tight!" Meyn'auc warned.

The glider sped away from the ha'tak vessel, and glancing in her rear screens, Meyn'auc saw the ship burning from within. Fires licked through the superstructure, as the power conduits ruptured and overloaded, heating the oxygen-rich atmosphere until it caught light. Soon they would reach the power core, and then...

*

The ring chamber was silent; no one else transported down. The stillness had a weight to it that seemed to settle on the shoulders of the younger Jaffa.

"Perhaps they escaped by teltac," Teal'c suggested.

Rya'c turned, a ghost of hope in his eyes, but as he made for the door, a young Theban boy dashed in, breathing hard.

"What is wrong?" Rya'c asked.

"An explosion," the boy replied. "An explosion in the sky."

*

The shockwave from the exploding ha'tak expanded fast, and the tail end caught up with Meyn'auc's glider, grabbing it, and sending it tumbling until she was able to correct the inertial drives. She watched the scopes carefully, in case any debris fragments strayed too close to their fragile ship, but none did. Once all was clear, Meyn'auc ran a diagnostic of the glider.

"Good news," she said. "We have lost a lot of drive power, but cabin integrity is not compromised, and we retain sufficient shielding to make planetfall." There was no response from the back of the glider. She turned her head, and saw Colonel O'Neill's head lolling against his seat back. Blood was flowing from the gash on his head again, and he was out cold.

"Do not fear, Colonel O'Neill," she said, firing up the engines and turning towards Arcadia. "You will make it."

Meyn'auc landed the glider as smoothly as she could given her power restraints, bringing it to a halt in a patch of scrub. She clambered out of the cabin, and checked Jack's vitals. His pulse was weak, but steady. She bandaged his head then, having exhausted her knowledge of medicine, gathered her things from the ship. Before she left, she reached inside and pressed a large button, which caused a beam of bright light to leap into the air from the back of the glider. The emergency beacon would draw O'Neill's friends faster than she might like, but he would not survive if she left them to find him by accident.

"Good fortune, O'Neill," she said, kissing him gently on the forehead. She turned to go, but then looked back. After a moment, she carefully lifted the cord with the two coins from around Jack's neck. "You will not need this anymore."

*

The guards at the Stargate could not really be blamed; they had never seen a Goa'uld stun grenade before, and the things were fiendishly effective even against those who knew what they were. Meyn'auc stepped between their unconscious forms and dialled the Gate.

"Where are you going?"

Meyn'auc span around, snatching up her staff weapon, but she did not raise it. "Away," she answered. "I am going away."

"Why?" Rya'c asked.

"Because I must."

"Stay here," he said. "Stay with me. I...I understand now. I thought that Astarte had blinded you to her true nature, but when I heard Tor'c speak of her with the same reverence I realised the truth. He would have been nothing to her. If he believes, then she must truly have been different. I regret that I shall never know her."

"She would have liked you, Rya'c," Meyn'auc assured him. "She knew greatness when she saw it."

"I am not great," Rya'c demurred. "And I would not have wished to find greatness as a Goa'uld's servant; however worthy a Goa'uld."

"To see your enemy's virtue is a form of greatness," Meyn'auc assured him. "I did not mean that she would have liked you had you served her. She would have liked you as you are; even as her enemy."

"Stay with me," Rya'c repeated, stepping forwards.

"I can not," she replied, but she took his hands in hers. "There is a hole in my heart, my love; a great void where my devotion to Astarte once lay. Whatever else she may have been, Astarte was my Goddess. She was the protector of my people, and the inspiration of my life, and I worshipped and adored her. I have to find a way to fill that void, and I can not do that if I am a prisoner."

"Then I will come with you," Rya'c said. With one intent, they released each other's hands and fell into an embrace, their lips meeting in a kiss that was as passionate as it was desperate.

"Oh, Rya'c," Meyn'auc sighed. "I love you so."

"You are my life," he replied, with fierce intensity. "My everything."

"But you are not mine," she said, sadly. "This ache – this emptiness – is as demanding as my devotion to Astarte." Reluctantly, she disentangled herself from his embrace. "You said that you could not be second in my heart, and I will not ask it of you now. When the void is lessened enough that I can place you first, I shall return to you. I can only hope that you will still want me."

"Never doubt that," Rya'c told her, his voice choked with grief. "Question anything else, but never that I will still love you."

Shaking with sobs, Meyn'auc lifted the cord from around her neck. She untied the knot, and took the original coin from its place. "Keep this," she said. "Once, Jack carried it as a mark of hatred; bear it now as a token of my love."

"I shall treasure it," he promised. "I have only this to give you," he added, taking out the hand device. "From the Guardian of the Royal Treasury of Arnu."

"A godly gift," she assured him. "Won with valour. But if you wish to give me my Hek'tet gift, I should give you yours." She reached under the folds of her cloak, and drew out the long knife she had taken in battle. "For one who defies the gods," she told him.

"I shall bear it with honour," he promised.

"I do not doubt it."

Rya'c nodded, slowly. "If you must go, then it is best you go now," he said. "It will not be long before Bra'tac or my father realises that you would come here."

"But you knew it already."

"I know you," Rya'c replied. "I knew you would never allow yourself to be imprisoned."

Meyn'auc gave a bittersweet smile. "Farewell, my darling Rya'c," she said, kissing him once more.

"Farewell, my beloved Meyn'auc," Rya'c replied.

The woman turned and walked up the stone ramp to the event horizon. She looked back once, and saw her betrothed looking away, forcing himself not to see her destination. Meyn'auc stepped forward and was gone.

Rya'c looked down at the weapon in his hands, at the hieroglyphs traced on the scabbard. He gasped, realising how great a risk Meyn'auc must have taken to get it; and how potent a symbol she had given him.

Mawet-pat: The Death of Heavens. This blade was a legend among the Jaffa. Forged in the lost depths of antiquity at the command of Asar, it was a tangible symbol of the power and dominion of the Supreme Lord of the Goa'uld. It symbolised the power of life and death, for it was the instrument of public execution for the destruction of rival and rebel Goa'uld. The blade had been passed to Asar's heir, Saturn, but he had lost it when the First Dynasty of System Lords took power, as they did when the Second Dynasty rose. In his time as Lord of the Empire, Sokar had wielded Mawet-pat, and after him Ra. Before his return, this was the weapon believed to have slain Anubis, in the hand of Ra's highest Ashrak. After the fall of Ra and the Second Goa'uld Dynasty, the blade had vanished, although Yu in particular was rumoured to have put great effort into seeking it's location.

The Jaffa legends held that on and within the metal of its blade were held the secret names of every Goa'uld that had ever lived, and of every Goa'uld that would ever be born. By the beliefs of the Jaffa, this gave Mawet-pat the power to slay even the gods, however base the hand that wielded it. It was probably one of the finest blades ever forged, but still it was – Rya'c now knew – only a knife. Yet for a Jaffa to carry the blade on his own account was a palpable act of defiance against the Gods, and Rya'c felt shame that his own gift had been so unworthy by comparison.

Rya'c was roused from his contemplation of the knife when a large hand came to rest on his shoulder. The newcomer said nothing, but Rya'c did not have to look to know that it was his father who stood at his side.

Rya'c raised his eyes to the event horizon through which Meyn'auc had passed, as the Stargate closed behind her.