Near Yet Far – Parts 7 - 9

~*~

Part Seven.

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“ It’s so hard, to believe,

I don’t have you right beside me.

As I long to touch you,

But you’re out of my reach.”

~ ‘Just to Hold You Once Again’, Mariah Carey

~*~

 

Well into the night, the ball was still going strong. Sam hadn’t stopped dancing all night, mainly with the King, so she was grateful when Lady Hillcross took pity on her and whisked the King away, sending her a wink. Smiling to herself, Sam picked up a goblet of wine and made her way over to door that led onto the balcony, standing close to them so she could feel the cool breeze cleanse her skin. She closed her eyes and sipped her wine, relishing a few moments alone.

 

“ Samantha!” Her eyes opened to find Lord Davin, one of the few men the King allowed her to tend to, standing in front of her. He was a gentle man, a widower since his wife had died several life cycles ago and was very fond of Sam. He reached out for her hand and raised it to his lips. “ You look most becoming.” He winked. “ I can certainly understand why the King wishes to keep you to himself.”

 

“ I wasn’t aware that was what he wished,” Sam answered smoothly, smiling demurely. She glanced over his shoulder quickly, trying to find her team mates, half-hoping they wouldn’t see her talking with Lord Davin and jump to the right conclusions, still uncomfortable with them knowing what she did.

 

Lord Davin grinned. “ He has explicitly told me you are unavailable for several sun-cycles. I assumed that was so he could keep you to himself since no one else I have spoken to has been successful in arranging a meeting with you.” He followed her line of eyesight and found himself looking at one of the visitors to Velenthia, the man who the King introduced as being Colonel, the leader of the strangers. “ Or perhaps he has decided your services are required elsewhere.”

 

Sam blushed and lowered her gaze. “ I don’t know why you assume he would assign me to something so important.”

 

“ Samantha, my dear,” Lord Davin slipped his arm around her waist. “ Look around. The women here who aren’t courtesans envy your beauty and wit. Every man in this room is a little bit in love with you. There is *no* one else the King or Velenthia’s people would trust to win the affections of our city’s new acquaintances.” 

 

“ That’s flattering.” Her eyes sparkled as she caught sight of Lady Hillcross leaving the King in someone else’s arms and head over to them, recalling how the King had mentioned his sister-in-law’s interest in the widower. “ Now it’s your turn to be flattered. Lady Hillcross is on her way over.”

 

“ Lady Hillcross.” Lord Davin repeated, looking a little worried. “ She has been most fervent in her pursuit of me, Samantha. If you excuse me, I think I need to find somewhere to hide.” The man was walking away before she could respond, leaving Sam standing alone and attempting to hide a smile behind her goblet as Lady Hillcross walked passed, obviously looking for someone.

 

“ I don’t know what there is to smile about now that you’re a professional whore.” Sam turned to see Captain Gardam standing at her side, her eyes slightly glazed as she poured half of her wine down her throat in one fell-swoop.

 

“ When the only choice you have is between this and death, ask me that question again,” Sam retorted sharply, adopting a defensive posture. She focused her attention on Gardam and the spite in the other woman’s eyes so did not see her former team mates approaching as if to intervene if necessary.

 

“ I’d rather die than sell my body..” Captain Gardam continued haughtily, looking down her nose at Sam. “ It compromises everything I believe. I don’t know how you look yourself in the mirror.” Her loathing was obvious, as she looked Sam up and down, her frown deepening.

 

Sam sighed inwardly. It wasn’t unexpected, this small-minded attitude. In the early days of her life on Velenthia, she’d thought about it a lot. That was when she still believed there was a chance she would manage to make it home, when she thought the biggest problem she would face was dealing with the reaction of her colleagues. That was before she’d realised that she couldn’t go home, before she’d grown to understand how the system of Velenthia worked. “ The Air Force teaches us to do whatever necessary to survive,” she told Captain Gardam matter-of-factly. “ Besides, if you don’t laugh or smile, you cry. And that’s a weakness you can’t afford in a place like this.” Her tone was wistful, sad.

 

Gardam didn’t notice it but her team mates did. “ A weakness?” Gardam scoffed, not giving Sam’s words time to sink in or not wanting to admit they were right. “ To admit you don’t want to be here?”

 

“ To show vulnerability in front of these people,” Sam clarified. “ They’ll prey on that. Several men in this room are addicted to power and control.” Her eyes moved from man to man, having been warned of who they were by the King who was determined to keep her from them. “ They’ve killed their lovers in the past, either because of jealousy, because they enjoy it or because they’re too drunk to know what they’re doing. If you want to live in this world, you have to accept how it is. Any sign of weakness.. It’s like signing your own death certificate.” She gazed down into her goblet at the deep red liquid there. “ It’s better to live and embrace the ways they’ve used here for years when the only other option is dying on the streets from hunger when you’re open to being attacked and raped and murdered.”

 

Even Gardam seemed a little moved by her explanation. There was a pregnant pause between Sam’s answer and the woman’s next comment. “ I still don’t know how you do it.”

 

Sam raised her head and gave Gardam a wryly smile. “ Neither do I,” she admitted softly, her eyes stinging. She cleared her voice to rid her throat of the lump gathered there. “ Now if you’ll excuse me..” She didn’t know where she was going to go but on noticing her former team mates and seeing the sympathy in their eyes, she knew she just had to get out of there.

 

Luckily, it seemed someone was on her side. “ Samantha!” The voice was barely above a whisper and Sam looked to the doors leading to the balcony to see Nicholi peeking in, gesturing wildly with his hands.

 

“ Nicholi..” She frowned slightly and walked over to him, glancing around to make sure Nicholi’s father nor the King were watching her. “ What are you doing here?” It was very rare for a young man like Nicholi to receive an invite to a social event at the palace unless he was working and Sam knew for a fact that he wasn’t.

 

“ I need to talk to you..” Nicholi whispered urgently, his eyes bright with excitement, his whole face lit up.

 

“ I can’t right now..” Sam answered in a low voice, smiling at a man who passed them and gave them a curious glance.

 

Nicholi was insistent. “ Then tonight?”

 

“ I can’t.” Sam shook her head, knowing the King expected her to accompany Jack back to his room and would not permit her seeing anyone else, especially not Nicholi whom in the King’s eyes was not good enough for her.

 

“ But I need to tell you something!” Nicholi proclaimed desperately.

 

Sam sighed tolerantly. “ Okay,” she murmured patiently, darting a quick look around them. Luckily, the only people who seemed interested in the conversation were SG-1 and she doubted they would want to get Nicholi in trouble. “ Tell me now.”

 

“ I did it!” Nicholi beamed, barely able to contain his excitement. “ I asked Evie to marry me! She said yes!” His eyes were round and happy but the way he was looking at her reminded her of the way a puppy looked when it wanted recognition for doing something good.

 

“ That’s wonderful!” On impulse, Sam leaned over and hugged him momentarily, her enthusiasm genuine. She knew it hadn’t been easy for Nicholi and Evelyn and she knew from experience how hard it was when you loved someone you weren’t allowed to be with. She sincerely hoped everything would work out for the two of them; if her own life was never going to be as perfect as she’d dreamed as a child, she wanted to know someone else’s would be. “ I’m so happy for the two of you!”

 

“ I know.” Nicholi grinned proudly. “ As soon as I have saved enough to buy her from the King, we’re going to use the Great Ring in the way you showed me and be free.” His plan was sound but there was one problem - Sam knew he would need more money than he anticipated to buy Evelyn and she knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to raise it.

 

“ How much do you need to buy Evelyn?” She asked softly.

 

“ Not so much..” Nicholi shrugged, not wanting to dwell on that. “ I will have saved enough in one moon cycle.”

 

Sam wasn’t convinced. “ Hmm..” She narrowed her eyes as the wheels in her head started turning.

 

“ Hmm?” Nicholi looked at her questioningly, wondering why her brow was furrowed.

 

“ I think I *might* have a way to get you two out of here sooner than that.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “ Give me a few days.. er.. sun-cycles..” she corrected herself, wondering why she’d made the mistake when she’d been having no problem grasping the differences in language between Velenthia and Earth – before her team mates showed up anyway. “ Now go,” she told him. “ Before anyone else sees you.”

 

“ Yes.” Nicholi nodded in agreement and smiled. “ Thank you, Samantha.”

 

She watched him slip fully out of the doors and practically skip down the stairs into the palace gardens, smiling when he stopped at the gates to wave and was soon on his way again. Just as she was about to turn away from the doors, she noticed she wasn’t quite as alone on the balcony as she’d thought. Squinting in the light of the moon, she tried to discern who the two figures going down the stairs to the garden were, wondering where they’d been hiding throughout her conversation with Nicholi.

 

The more she stared at them, the clearer they became and she realised they weren’t talking amicably as they walked, they were arguing, and it looked like the taller, more masculine figure was pushing the smaller in front of him. A gasp caught in her throat as the smaller, feminine figure stepped into a pool of moonlight and she realised it was Evelyn. Her fear grew when she recognised the man as being Lord Jalen.

 

As quickly as she could, she left the ballroom and started after them, dropping her goblet with a small clatter as she went. Her anger and fear grew as she witnessed Lord Jalen strike Evelyn and send her to her knees, towering over he as he leant down to shout something.

 

She got to them just as Jalen raised a knife, the vicious looking blade glinting in the moonlight as she approached quietly. “ I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” She used his being distracted by her voice to make a grab for the hand holding the knife, keeping his arm still in a strong vice-like grip that took him by surprise and prevented him from bringing it down on Evelyn.

 

Jalen straightened and glared at her, taking a menacing step closer. “ You’d rather it were you?” He growled threateningly.

 

Sam refused to be intimidated by him, having seen and fought against much stronger men in her time with the Air Force. Her lack of evident fear only served to anger him more, as did her flippant answer. “ Not particularly.”

 

“ Maybe I should give you a good time,” Jalen leered, taking another step closer but Sam refused to be scared and move away. “ You could demonstrate why you’re so special.. Why you’re too good for me to go through the King.”

 

“ I think you should get back to your wife before she realises you’re gone, Lord Jalen.” She responded calmly, taking one side step as he made a lunge for her. It was then Lord Jalen looked up to find they were no longer alone.

 

“ This is none of your business,” he seethed, his attention diverted from Sam to the five men standing before him, allowing to go to Evelyn’s side. “ The whores will be free another time.”

 

The King stepped forward, a dangerous glint in his piercing blue eyes that Sam had never before seen. “ On the contrary.” When he spoke, his tone was carefully measured and full of authority. “ It is my business. I suggest you heed the Lady’s warning and leave.”

 

“ Lady?” Lord Jalen snorted. “ *Her*?”

 

“ Jalen.” The King spoke in a venomously quiet voice. “ Your behaviour is disgraceful and an insult to your fellow Lords. I suggest you take your leave or I shall be forced to have you escorted from the grounds.” He met Jalen’s eyes without flinching. “ I think you will agree that is a humiliation your wife deserves to be spared?”

 

“ Fine.” Jalen glowered at being chided like a child in front of so many people and brusquely pushed his way past Sam. “ We’ll finish this later,” he spat at her as he left.

 

“ No, you won’t,” the King murmured quietly. He walked to Sam, who was standing over a still-sitting Evelyn. “ Samantha?” Concern appeared in his eyes. “ He did not hurt you?”

 

Sam gave him a grateful smile and pushed at the strand of hair that had escaped from the restraints of its clip. “ No, your Majesty. I’m fine, thank you.” She cast a look at Evelyn, who was obviously deeply shaken. “ If I may.. I’d like to take Evelyn to my room and see to her injuries?”

 

“ Of course.” Relief flooded his features as he assured himself Sam was okay. Sensing her need to be alone with Evelyn, he turned to his companions, amongst which were SG-1. “ The rest of us shall return to the.. party.”

 

Smiling at his use of the ‘Earth’ word, Sam crouched down to be closer to Evelyn, noticing how – predictably – Jack lingered behind. She reached out to Evelyn, putting a calming hand on the young woman’s arm. “ Evie? Come on, Honey,” she coaxed gently. “ Party’s over. Jalen’s gone.”

 

Evelyn took her hands away from her face, her face deathly pale, her body trembling. “ Really?”

 

“ Yes, he’s gone,” Sam assured her. “ Come on.” She eased Evelyn up into a sitting position and then helped her stand on weak legs. Evelyn swayed unsteadily as Sam tried to support her. She would have fallen if Jack hadn’t hurried to her other side and put an arm around her waist. Sam smiled at him warmly, the kind of smile he’d lay away thinking about when it sunk in he might not see it again. “ Thank you.”

 

“ No problem.” He met her eyes over Evelyn’s head, asking her without words if the young woman was okay.

 

Sam nodded though her eyes were worried. “ Will you help me get her to my room?”

 

“ Sure.” He figured she was going to need help, Evelyn seemed to have lapsed into a state of shock.

 

Slowly, they made their way into the palace through another entrance Sam knew about so they could avoid putting Evelyn through the strain of having to see other people in her condition. Jack was quiet as he helped Sam take Evelyn inside, trying to keep track of how many twists and turns they took. He listened as Sam murmured soothing words of comfort and reassurance to the young woman he could still feel trembling.

 

“ Almost there,” Sam murmured, having chosen to go the easiest way, avoiding the spiral staircase. To her, it felt like Evelyn could collapse at moment. They made it to her room and she found the key in its hiding place – underneath the glass cover of an oil lamp by the door – and made short work of unlocking the door. Ushering both Jack and Evelyn in, she walked Evelyn over to the bed and helped the young woman lie down. Stroking her hair from her face, she leaned down to brush a soft kiss to Evelyn’s forehead. “ I’m just going to go and get you a change of clothes, okay? Colonel O’Neill will stay with you and make sure no one else comes in.”

 

Evelyn nodded but remained silent. Her eyes shimmered and her lip quivered. Sam felt anger swell up inside her at what had happened and almost happened and left the room wordlessly so she could get a grip on it. She was still inwardly fuming at the injustice of it all when she returned five minutes later with a bowl of icy water, some clothes and Karalynn in tow.

 

She stopped in her tracks at what she saw, a fond smile arranging her features as her anger was temporarily forgotten. Evelyn was crying steadily, crying out all of her fears and frustrations, clinging onto Colonel O’Neill as though he were her lifeline. Sam knew the feeling. He had easily slipped into the role of a parent, as he often did around children and young adults, and was rocking her comfortingly, rubbing her back as she cried her heart out.

 

As Sam felt a surge of affection well up within her, Jack lifted his head and his eyes locked with hers. They stared into each other’s eyes, both smiling shyly until Karalynn discreetly coughed and nudged Sam in the waist.

 

“ Samantha?” Karalynn did her best to hide a smile.

 

“ Oh.” A deep red blush flooded Sam’s face. “ Sorry. Karalynn, this is Colonel Jack O’Neill. Colonel, this is Karalynn. She’s my..”

 

“ Personal aide,” Karalynn supplied helpfully, knowing Sam hated to refer to her as that. “ It’s nice to meet you, Colonel.” She bustled over to the bed and sat down on Evelyn’s other side, cajoling the young woman into letting go off Jack, wrapping her in a motherly embrace instead. “ My poor Evelyn,” Karalynn fussed. “ Lets get you into something more comfortable, hmm? We’ll get you cleaned up and comfortable in no time.”

 

The bed jolted as Jack stood, the room falling quiet as Evelyn’s sobs subsided and she hid her swollen eyes against Karalynn. Unsure of what to do, Jack stood awkwardly to one side as Sam took the water over to the bed, putting it down on a small table as she reached for a cloth. He watched as she dipped the edges of the material into the water and then, with Karalynn’s help, moved Evelyn so she had access to the young woman’s face.

 

As gently as she could, Sam washed away the traces of dirt and tearstains that streaked Evelyn’s face. Once her face was clean, Sam rinsed the cloth and moistened it fully, bringing it back to Evelyn’s face to lay it softly against the bruise that was forming on Evelyn’s cheekbone. “ It’ll help the swelling,” Sam explained at Karalynn’s enquiring expression. “ It’s an Earth thing.”

 

“ Ah.” Karalynn smiled at that and threw Jack a speculative glance. “ Speaking of ‘Earth things’, why don’t you go? I am sure I can take care of Evelyn alone.” Evelyn nodded in agreement but Sam hesitated. “ Samantha, do not let Lord Jalen ruin your evening any more than he has done.” She smiled encouragingly. “ We will be fine.”

 

Still seeming unsure, Sam got to her feet. “ Okay.. But stay here tonight, okay? No one will bother either of you if you stay in here and you can always lock the door.”

 

“ We will stay,” Karalynn assured her. “ Now go,” she ordered with a smile and a wink. “ Your Colonel will not be able to find his way back if you leave him to wander the palace hallways alone.”

 

“ True.” Sam admitted, joining Jack by the door. “ But if anything happens or you need me for anything..”

 

“ We will know where to find you,” Karalynn laughed. “ You worry too much. Evelyn and I will be well without you looking after us for a little while.”

 

“ Okay.” Sam nodded, starting when Jack slipped his hand in hers and opened the door, tugging on her hand to get her to follow. “ Be careful and lock the door after I’ve gone!” Her only answer was another chuckle as she was pulled fully into the hallway, the door closing behind her. She saw Jack’s expression of amusement and frowned. “ What?”

 

He shook his head, grinning. “ Nothing.” He still hadn’t let go of her hand. “ So.. Which way is it?”

 

“ The ballroom?” Assuming that was where he wanted to go, she started down the hallway, pulling him along behind her since he was unwilling to drop her hand. She had to stop, however, when she realised he was standing still, just looking at her with an unfathomable face arranging his features. “ What?” She repeated, an edge of exasperation creeping into her voice.

 

To her surprise, his face flushed with embarrassment. “ I was thinking.. maybe.. we could go back to my room.” She arched an eyebrow and his flush deepened. “ To talk,” he clarified, ducking his head and missing the small smile that momentarily played on her lips before she got her expression under control again.

 

“ Okay, then.” She gave him a one-shouldered shrug when his head shot up in surprise. “ But it’s still this way.” Still holding hands, Sam and Jack made their way through the Palace, choosing to remain silent rather than fill the lull in conversation with meaningless small talk, each seeming lost in a world of their own.

 

~*~

 

They made it to Jack’s room without using words and without running into anyone. Smiling sheepishly, Jack motioned for her to enter first and with a small smile in response, she did. He watched, intrigued, as she moved immediately to the oil lamp and lit it, filling the room with companionable warmth as well as a little light.

 

Closing the door on the outside world, he turned around to see she’d removed her shoes and was in the process of removing several clips from her hair, letting it fall down around her shoulders in loose curls. He stood open-mouthed, transfixed by the sight of her face illuminated by the oil lamp until she looked up and caught him staring, her cheeks flooding with warmth.

 

“ You don’t mind, do you?” She asked quietly. “ The shoes are worse than the ones with my dress uniform and these clips have been digging into my head all night. I’m pretty sure a couple of them pierced some holes through my scalp, too,” she added, gingerly running her fingers through her hair to make sure she hadn’t missed any. She’d learned the hard way how much it hurt when you rolled over and felt a stray pin dig into your neck in the middle of the night.

 

“ No. Of course not.” Jack shook his head to clear the inappropriate thoughts he’d been having. He followed her example and took off his shoes and jacket, unbuttoning the top three buttons of his shirt as he got on the bed beside her.

 

Pulling her feet up onto the bed, Sam curled up beside him, propping her elbow up on the pillow, resting her head on her hand. “ So.”

 

“ So.” He shifted until he was lying on his side facing her, gazing into her azure eyes, having to remind himself that although she looked like Sam the woman, he hoped to have her back as Carter his second-in-command soon so he couldn’t do half of the things running through his mind that his subconscious was telling him to do.

 

“ So you wanted to talk?” She stifled a yawn with her hand and blinked once to clear her vision, feeling too comfortable where she was, knowing if they didn’t start talking soon, she was going to fall asleep. Her eyes slid shut only to snap open again instantly as she shuddered, feeling anger coarse through her veins once more as she remembered Lord Jalen and what he had almost done to Evelyn.

 

Inching closer, he reached out and touched her cheek, his brow furrowed with concern, having seen and felt her jolt out of her drowsy state. “ Sam? What’s wrong?” She didn’t answer, she just twisted away from his touch so she was lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling. “ Is it that Jalen guy?” She shrugged but remained silent. “ Is it Evelyn? Are you worried about her?”

 

“ She’s just a child,” Sam murmured sorrowfully. “ She doesn’t deserve any of this, it’s not her fault she was born into this kind of life.”

 

“ How was she born into it?” He waited for her answer, observing the play of emotions that passed over her face.

 

Sighing, she shrugged despondently. “ Evelyn’s mother was a courtesan. When Evelyn was born, her mother needed money to fund some addiction she had. At that time the Queen was still alive and because she wanted to make sure Evelyn was well looked after, they made a deal. Evelyn’s mom would hand over the rights to Evelyn to the Queen in exchange for money. A few moon-cycles.. erm.. months.. later Evelyn’s mother ran off with one of the men she saw on a regular basis.” Sam closed her eyes against the tears she felt forming. “ She never came back so Evelyn was passed from one courtesan to the other, each of them promising to train her in the way of a courtesan and all of them failing, only to move her around again in a few months time. Then the Queen died and all courtesans were moved here by the King, who made sure Evelyn was relatively well looked after.” She opened her eyes, wiping at a stray tear that had managed to escape. She turned her head and looked imploringly at him. “ Evelyn had no say in what happened to her. She was born into this life, born to *do* this kind of work. It isn’t fair, Jack,” she murmured, the use of his first name unintentional but unavoidable. “ No one should have to go through what she’s been through. She has the potential to be so much more if only she was given the chance.”

 

Jack brought his hand back to her face to catch another tear with his thumb. “ Sounds like you want to stay as much for Evelyn’s sake than anyone else’s.”

 

“ Actually.” Sam turned again so she was facing him, her eyes alight with an idea in the manner he used to love seeing. “ I was thinking,” she began quietly, licking her lips in the unconscious way she did when she was trying to convince someone to do something for her. “ You could help me make sure Evelyn’s safe at the same time as helping her and Nicholi be together.”

 

“ Oh?” He tried to stop being distracted by her lips but it was proving a little too difficult as her tongue slipped out to moisten them again as she moved a tiny bit closer. Clearing his throat, he moved over to lie on his back, concentrating on the ceiling and mentally counting to ten. “ How could I do that?”

 

“ You could take them with you,” Sam answered matter-of-factly, resting on her elbows so she could look down on him, her face barely inches from his. “ You could include Evelyn in your trade agreement, the King will be able to let her go, and then you can take both Evelyn and Nicholi back to Earth with you. They’d be safe there, and free to be together. It’s the perfect solution.” To support herself, she put a hand on his chest, her fingers moving of their own accord as they inched closer to the top of his open shirt. It was a method she had found useful in convincing her lovers of the past to do things for her and maybe it was the wine she’d consumed or the leftover adrenaline from her encounter with Lord Jalen but Sam was feeling a little.. reckless.

 

Confused, Jack caught her hand and held it still against him. “ Why will the King let Evelyn go and not you?”

 

“ Because he can’t let me go,” Sam responded without hesitation. She sighed and moved so she was lying on her back again. “ I’m not only the King’s favourite, I’m also the favourite of most of the men who come here and ask to see a courtesan. It’s a little ironic considering I haven’t even met over half of them but I guess I’ve got something of a reputation. Because of that, the men I do see.. They pay a lot, which means more money for the King to use on looking after the other courtesans as well as everyone in the city. I’m too expensive for him to simply let go and if I tried to leave without his permission and succeeded.. He would be seen as an incompetent King and would be stripped of his title – by his own son – and thrown onto the streets to die a disrespectful death.” She tilted her face to see his reaction. “ I can’t let that happen to him, Colonel. He’s done so much for me, protecting me from anyone he thought would hurt me, including his own son. I can’t let him lose everything he has just so I can go home. After his wife died, his position as King is the only thing that matters to him.”

 

“ Or it was until you came along,” Jack added. “ He really cares a lot about you.”

 

“ As I do him,” she responded simply and honestly. “ He’s like another father to me. I’d have died a long time ago if he hadn’t taken me in.”

 

“ You remind him of his wife.” Jack stated. “ But he said you were more like a daughter than anything else.”

 

“ The daughter they never had.” Sam smiled and nodded, having heard it before. “ I suppose you’re wondering about the Queen, aren’t you? About how she died?”

 

Smiling depreciatively, Jack bobbed his head. “ It had crossed my mind.”

 

“ She’s part of why he feels guilty about not being able to give me my freedom,” she started to explain in a quiet, subdued manner. “ In the same way his duty is coming before my freedom now, he put his duty as King before her happiness and he has never forgiven himself for that. She died without him after an accident that happened on a vacation they were both supposed to be on but he chose to miss because of some royal obligations.” Sighing, she shook her head. “ He blames himself for not being there, he thinks if he had been she would still be alive.”

 

“ Would she?”

 

“ No.” Sadness flittered across her features. “ There was nothing anyone could have done from what Karalynn told me. It was a tragic accident, one that couldn’t have been prevented.” They lapsed into silence as her words sunk in and Jack was forced to admit how they applied to a tragic event that had happened in his life years earlier. Once again, it was Sam’s voice that jolted him from his musings. “ So. Can you help me?”

 

Shifting to look into her hopeful, trusting big blue eyes, Jack knew he could never say no to her. Scolding himself mentally for being so easy to convinced, he took her hand from where it had strayed back to his chest as he’d turned on his side and squeezed her fingers. “ Fine. When the King and I sit down to talk about a trade, I’ll be sure to make sure Evelyn is included in it. But,” he added, seeing her eyes light up, his expression turning entirely serious as he stared into her eyes. “ I will take Evelyn and Nicholi back through the Stargate with SG-1 but I still have absolutely *no* intention of leaving here without you.” Moving to lie on his back, he pulled her with him, her head coming to rest in the crook of his neck as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “ There’ll be a way to get round everything keeping you here, Sam. We just have to find it.”

 

Promising himself as well as her, Jack was able to fall into a deep, peaceful state of slumber. Sam, however, lay awake with her head on his shoulder, feeling his heartbeat beneath her palm, trying not to get her hopes up.

 

Even if she was somehow able to go home, she wasn’t sure whether she would. She had changed too much, been through too much. She knew Captain Gardam’s reaction would just be the first of many once people learned about the role she had had to adopt in Velenthia and the more she thought about it, the more it seemed that it was a humiliation her team mates deserved to be spared.

~*~

“ Tonight it's very clear

As we're both lying here

There's so many things I want to say

I will always love you

I would never leave you alone.”

~ ‘Glory of Love’, Peter Cetera.

~*~

Part Eight

~*~

“ She leads me through moonlight, Only to burn me with the sun

She's taken my heart, But she doesn't know what she's done

Feel her breath on my face, Her body close to me
Can't look in her eyes, She's out of my league
Just a fool to believe, I have anything she needs
She's like the wind.”

~ ‘She’s Like the Wind’, Patrick Swayze

~*~

 

Something was missing.

 

The same warmth and weight that had been missing the previous morning was again absent as he opened his eyes and reached out, grasping nothing but a fist full of cool sheets.

 

Sam was gone. Again.

 

Glancing around the room, he found there was not one single trace of her ever having been there. He sighed heavily, bring his hands to lie behind his head as he closed his eyes again, shutting out the light that streamed in through the windows.

 

She kept leaving him, and he couldn’t pretend it didn’t hurt.

 

A thousand thoughts ran through his mind as he lay there alone, most of them concentrating on one blond Major who didn’t seem to want to go back. He’d noticed she hadn’t replied when he’d made his vow, when he’d said he would stop at nothing to bring her home, and he couldn’t help but get the feeling what he’d said to Teal’c and Daniel hadn’t been too far off the actual truth.

 

The King offered her a good home with luxuries she couldn’t have on Earth. He offered her protection from any foreseeable dangers and would probably lay down his own life to save her from any harm. She seemed happy here, content. And she was more relaxed than Jack had ever seen her. In truth, he had started seeing a whole new side of her since finding her in his room two nights ago.

 

Groaning, Jack lifted one of the pillows and buried his head under it, trying not to inhale the still lingering trails of her lightly scented perfume. It felt like he’d been there a lot longer than just three days.

 

In his mind, when he pictured finding Sam again, he’d imagined she’d be pleased to see them and that they’d be leaving for home within the hour of finding her. He imagined her face lighting up with relief and joy at having been found; maybe she’d even hug each of them enthusiastically and thank them for not giving up on her.

 

He had never pictured her being reluctant to leave, and yet that was what he’d found.

 

Maybe it would be better if she did stay on Velenthia, that was what the traitorous, doubtful voice in his head said. She was happy here, and she’d changed a lot. He honestly didn’t know whether the changes in her attitude and appearance would make it hard for her to get back into the swing of how things were on Earth, and he doubted they made it easier for her to leave. On Velenthia, she was relatively free to be who she wanted to be. No expectations to live up to, no needing to prove herself worthy of what little acclaim she got, no pressure to find a miracle within a matter of hours or minutes to save the lives of the people she cared about.

 

Thinking about it with a sinking heart, Jack made a list of all the reasons for her to stay and all the reasons for her to come home and was disheartened to find the list for staying was longer than the one for going.

 

On Earth, as much as he’d like to, he couldn’t protect her. He could make sure she was never hurt, he couldn’t control what happened to her. He had no right to tell her what to do outside the SGC and even within the SGC, there would be times when he had no choice but to send her into situations he knew she might not survive.

 

He couldn’t give her all she needed and all she wanted. He couldn’t give her security and peace of mind and a life free of danger, pain and pressure. The King could. He couldn’t give her the luxurious clothing or jewellery or pampering the King did. Well, he could, but he knew she wouldn’t accept them.

 

Searching his mind, Jack found he couldn’t give Sam a reason to want to leave with him.

 

There was seeing Cassandra and Janet, and her friends and family but the King had once again gone one step above him and granted permission for anyone who wanted to visit Sam to come and go as they pleased.

 

How could he compete with everything the King offered? How could he, a battle-worn Colonel with more emotional baggage than anyone else he knew, compete with a King who had a whole Kingdom to give her? The only thing he had that the King didn’t have was himself and because of the regulations he had vowed to uphold and had been taught to respect, he couldn’t even give her that.

 

And without that, there was nothing else.

 

Nothing he could give her, no reason for her coming home.

 

She was safer here and he was a selfish fool for trying to take her away from another home she obviously loved and felt comfortable in.

 

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jack pushed the pillow to one side and sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes with his hands as his hope turned into helplessness. He would keep his promise to her and take Evelyn and Nicholi back to Earth with him. He wouldn’t pressure her to leave with him, he couldn’t knowing she was where she wanted to be. He would tell Generals Hammond and Carter all of what had happened and tell them they were free to visit her when they wanted to.

 

But he would never return to Velenthia. Not unless someone sent word that Sam was asking for him.

 

It would just be too hard, feeding a fantasy that could no longer exist.

 

~*~

 

The King kept his promise and allowed Sam to see SG-1 whenever she wanted to. She joined them for breakfast and, in the King’s absence, took Evelyn with her, wanting to keep the young woman close to her at all times out of fear that Lord Jalen would show up to finish what he’d started and she wouldn’t be there to prevent it again.

 

“ I’m sorry the King won’t be joining you this morning,” Sam apologised, her eyes twinkling mischievously as she sat down next to Evelyn, sharing a knowing smile with the young woman. “ I’m afraid he’s.. still feeling a little delicate after last night’s party.”

 

“ I know what he means,” Daniel grumbled as his stomach lurched at the sight of all the food on the table. He pushed his chair away and stood, walking over to the two comfortable chairs by the unlit fire where he collapsed rather ungracefully. “ I think I’ll stay over here while you guys eat.”

 

“ How much did he have to drink last night?” Sam asked Jack and Teal’c quietly as she reached for a piece of fruit.

 

Jack shrugged, a sombre air hanging about him as Teal’c answered her question. “ I believe I lost count after Daniel Jackson had finished his fifth helping of wine.”

 

“ Five?” Sam arched an eyebrow and stifled a smile. “ When that’ll teach him.” She turned to Evelyn when she noticed her friend wasn’t eating anything, just staring blindly at the empty plate before her. “ Evie? You feeling okay?”

 

Evelyn appeared startled by her voice and blushed lightly when she realised where she was. “ I.. I’m not very hungry this morning.”

 

“ You still look pale,” Sam mused, reaching out to see if she had a temperature. Her frown deepened when she felt Evelyn was a little warmer than normal. “ After breakfast we’ll go out and get some fresh air. If you still don’t feel well, I’ll take you to Corlinetta.”

 

“ Corlin-who?” For the first time since stepping foot into the room and sitting at the table, Captain Gardam spoke.

 

“ Corlinetta,” Sam repeated. “ She’s the nearest thing to a Doctor Velenthia has.”

 

A shadow crossed Gardam’s face and even Jack looked up in surprise. “ We were told yesterday by one our guides that Velenthia has advanced medical technology. That’s why we’re interested in trading technologies with them to mark an alliance.” Gardam answered slowly, her gaze accusing and aimed at Sam. “ If that’s not true, why should we bother sending a diplomatic team through the ’Gate after we leave if there’s nothing Velenthia can give us?”

 

Sam rolled her eyes and scowled. “ I know it’s been a long time since I was with the SGC but I seem to remember it didn’t matter whether a planet had technology to share to become an ally. So not that it matters, but what you were told is true. Velenthia does have some medical technologies that I’m sure will benefit Earth greatly but they’re not available to anyone. The medical facility is situated in the basement of the palace but only Lords, Ladies, Royalty and anyone else who can afford to pay extortionate amounts benefit from it. Courtesans, and people like the Kavise family, have no choice but to go to people like Corlinetta who make do with what little they can find.”

 

“ I bet that doesn’t apply to you, though, does it?” Gardam narrowed her eyes, her tone scathing. “ I mean, the King’s favourite, the most popular whore.. Surely your health is important to these guys, right? Can’t have you passing on things from one guy to the next.”

 

Jack’s head snapped up as he gave Gardam a look that could kill. “ Captain..” It was a warning, one the Captain took no notice of.

 

“ Aren’t you at all concerned, Sir?” Gardam asked curtly. “ I mean, you of all people should be aware of how many people she’s been with and what diseases she might have. You have spent the last two nights with her, I assume she lived up to her reputation and gave you good value for money, even if you weren’t the one paying her.” She smirked at Sam. “ Unless of course you couldn’t go through with it. Maybe you think you’re too good for him now you’re sleeping with royalty?”

 

“ What I do and who I do it with is none of your business. I’m not going to dignify your prying into my personal life by giving you an answer.” Sam pushed her chair back and stood, glaring at Gardam. “ Nor am I going to tolerate your looking down on me or insulting me in my own home. So if you’ll excuse me, I need some fresh air.” She started for the door without looking back, her shoulders set determinedly.

 

“ I’m coming with you.” Evelyn hurriedly got to her feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness that crashed over her as she followed Sam from the room. “ Samantha?”

 

“ Yes?” Sam slowed her pace once they were in the hallway, sensing Evelyn’s struggle to keep up with her.

 

“ Why do you let that woman get to you?” Evelyn asked curiously, breathing deeply as she slowed down. “ And if she bothers you so much why don’t you have the King forbid her from staying here? You know you could do that easily..”

 

Shaking her head, Sam stopped walking to allow Evelyn to recover, inwardly scolding herself for getting Evelyn caught up in her own problems. “ I don’t know why I let her get to me, she just has this way..” She shook her head again and sighed heavily. “ I’d get her banished from the palace if I didn’t think it would give her a sense of satisfaction about being able to irritate me so much.”

 

“ Gardam irritates us all, even Teal’c,” the sound of Daniel coming up behind them made Evelyn jump as both courtesans turned to see both Daniel and Jack walking towards them. “ Mind if we join you? Teal’c said he’d try to keep Gardam in line.”

 

“ What about your breakfast?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. “ Or your plans for the day?”

 

“ Our plans for the day kinda included spending time with you,” Daniel told her with a grin. “ Unless you don’t want to..”

 

“ No, it’s not that.. I just thought there’d be something more interesting you’d want to do. Wouldn’t you rather spend the day in the library again?”

 

Daniel rolled his eyes. “ I’ve been studying artefacts and the history of both Earth and all the other planets we’ve come across for the last God-knows how many years of my life. I want to spend some time with my friend. *We* both want to spend some time with you,” he added, giving Jack a pointed stare. “ So. If you don’t mind..”

 

“ Colonel O’Neill and Doctor Jackson could join us on our.. picnic..” Evelyn suggested, struggling a little with the unusual word. “ We were going to dine with Nicholi near the river.”

 

“ There’s a river here?” Daniel’s eyes lit up. “ I haven’t seen any signs of one..”

 

“ It’s in the forest,” Sam informed him. “ The one that’s on the opposite side of Velenthia to the Stargate. It’s quite beautiful down there. Peaceful, too.” She smiled as Daniel grew more and more thrilled by the prospect. “ As Evelyn said you’re welcome to join us if you want. You can help us celebrate Evelyn and Nicholi’s engagement.”

 

“ Are you sure you don’t mind us intruding?” Jack asked, his question accompanied by an unreadable expression. “ If you’re going for a picnic, will there be enough for all of us?

 

Getting the impression the question was directed at Evelyn more than herself, Sam hesitated before answering, waiting to see if Evelyn chose to answer it or not. When the young woman remained silent, instead looking to her for guidance, she forced a small smile. “ It’s fine. We were going to get the food from the market on the way so there’ll be plenty.” She tried not to acknowledge the hurt Jack’s apparent coldness caused her. “ We should be going, Nicholi said he’d meet us at the gates as soon as we were done with breakfast.”

 

Without saying anything else, Sam started walking away from them, leaving them no choice but to follow or be left behind. Evelyn was confused at the Colonel’s behaviour, having noticed the obvious undercurrent of *something*, whatever it was being something she couldn’t define, running between him and Samantha. Wordlessly, she followed Sam, leaving Daniel to glare at the Colonel for obviously hurting Sam before he, too, followed her lead.

 

Jack took a deep breath, the thought of being close to Sam for so long stirring both good and bad feelings within him. On one hand, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with her before he had to leave her behind. On the other, he knew being with her, making more memories of her, would just make it all the harder in the long run. He knew his coolness towards her was both confusing and hurting her, but the spiteful part of his mind kept telling him he was just giving her a dose of her own medicine. The other part was the part he was beginning to listen to, which was why he started feeling guilty for having ignored her since she’d entered the dining room. She didn’t deserve it and he was causing her the exact thing he felt helpless about being unable to protect her from: pain.

 

Grinding his teeth and clenching his fists, he steeled himself for what was going to be a very long day and started after the others. At some point, he was going to have to explain his behaviour to her and let her know he would support her, no matter how hard it was, in whatever decision she made, whether she returned to Earth or stayed on Velenthia.

 

~*~

 

“ Have you been to the market since you got here?” Sam asked Daniel, who was walking beside her as Jack seemingly tried to keep his distance. “ Or any of the other parts of the city like the gardens or the shops or the public library?”

 

“ You mean the one in the palace..?” Daniel’s eyes widened as he stared at her in astonished shock. “ That was just.. That’s just the King’s library?”

 

Sam laughed at his reaction as they reached the first of the market stalls she wanted to go to. “ Daniel, the library in the palace is the King’s private library and one of many in Velenthia. I haven’t been to them all, but I’m told there are a lot of them around here. There’s one in the cathedral, one somewhere with the shops and I hear there are more in the other cities on the planet.”

 

“ You’re kidding me!” Daniel sounded amazed, almost dumbfound as he stared at her in awe. “ There’s seriously that many places to go around here? A cathedral? A market town *and* shops?”

 

“ Yes,” answered the woman behind the stall they were standing at, her eyes twinkling as she greeted Sam. “ But the shops cannot compare with my cooking, can they, Samantha?”

 

Smiling affectionately, Sam stepped behind the stall to accept the elderly woman’s embrace. “ Morning, Jeskia.” She kissed the older woman’s cheek before moving to stand beside Daniel. “ And no, there’s no way the shops can *ever* compare to your cooking.” She turned to Daniel and winked. “ Jeskia makes the best sandwiches you’ve ever tasted.”

 

“ Sandwiches,” Jeskia shook her head, smiling fondly. “ I will never understand your Earth-words, my child.”

 

“ I would never expect you to,” Sam told her sincerely. “ So, what’ve you got for us today?”

 

“ How many of you will be eating?” Jeskia enquired, her eyes travelling to Nicholi, Evelyn and finally Jack as he trailed behind them. “ All five of you?”

 

Sam nodded. “ Yep. We’re going to go down by the river so we thought we’d take some food and make a day of it.”

 

Jeskia smiled delightedly. “ Then I have just what you need.” The old woman bustled around her stall, picking up an array of different types of food, placing them all in a wicker basket, taking her time in deliberating over each item. When she was done, she handed the basket to Sam for inspection. “ Will this suit you, my child?”

 

“ It’s perfect, thank you,” Sam murmured in response after checking both Nicholi and Evelyn’s favourites were there. It was their celebration, after all. “ How much do I owe you?”

 

“ Samantha,” Jeskia shook her head and sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you, I still owe you for helping my boy. I will forever be in debt to you for that.”

 

“ Jeskia..” Sam wasn’t going to accept that as an answer. “ That happened moon-cycles ago. Please. Let me pay?”

 

“ My mind has been made,” Jeskia retorted, folding her arms across her chest. “ If you had not intervened, the Prince would have killed my son. For that I still owe you and I will be doing all I can to repay you until the day I died. Now,” she stared defiantly at Sam. “ Are you going to go and enjoy your meal or are you going to stand here and argue with me?”

 

Rolling her eyes, Sam took the basket and started to turn. “ Don’t think this is over, Jeskia. You can’t live your life in debt to me. I didn’t even *do* anything!” Without giving Jeskia a chance to respond, Sam was off again, with Daniel at her side. Nicholi and Evelyn smiled warmly at Jeskia as they passed. Jack merely gave the woman a curious glance as he pursued the others.

 

“ What was all that about?” Daniel wanted to know. “ Who’s the Prince? What did you do?”

 

Shrugging, Sam started walking along the path that would lead them to the river, their destination. “ I didn’t do anything. The Prince is Prince Taylin and obviously, he’s the King’s son.” She smiled humourlessly. “ He’s also an arrogant bastard who was going to kill Jeskia’s son just because he didn’t like the way he was being looked at. I stood up to him and since then, Jeskia’s been treating me like some kind of hero. It’s pretty embarrassing.”

 

“ Other than being an arrogant bastard.. There’s something about this Prince guy you don’t like, isn’t there?” Daniel pressed, having seen a flicker of something in Sam’s eyes before she’d been able to control it, something he didn’t like the look of. “ Sam, what is it?”

 

“ Nothing.” Sam smiled weakly and ploughed on ahead, lifting the skirt of her dress out of the way of some low branches as she carried on.

 

Daniel lingered, waiting for the other three to catch up with him, a deep frown arranging his features. “ Evelyn? What do you know about Prince Taylin? Did something happen between him and Sam?”

 

Evelyn looked uncomfortable, her eyes darting to Sam’s back and then to Nicholi’s face. “ I’m not supposed to talk about it.. Samantha does not wish to remember..”

 

“ Remember what?” Jack demanded sharply, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “ What happened?”

 

“ Evie, I think we should tell them,” Nicholi whispered. “ They are the friends she told us about.. Samantha trusts them and so should we.”

 

“ If we do not follow Samantha soon she will get suspicious,” Evelyn whispered back, darting another nervous look in the direction Sam has gone.

 

“ Go and distract her,” Daniel suggested eagerly. “ Tell her.. Tell her we wanted to ask Nicholi some questions and the subject bored you so you thought you’d go up ahead and join her.”

 

Evelyn still looked uncertain, debating whether she should be a party to this deception but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense that Samantha’s friends found out. She knew Samantha was considering staying on Velenthia instead of returning home and although she understood part of the motive for doing that, she couldn’t understand why Sam would leave herself open to such a big threat like that. Picking up her skirts, she threw Nicholi a look to let him know she wasn’t happy with the idea but went after Sam anyway, hoping that if her friend ever discovered they’d told her secret that she would understand and forgive them for it.

 

“ So?” Jack pressed once Evelyn was out of earshot. “ What happened? What did this Prince-guy do to her?”

 

“ By defending Jeskia’s son, Samantha attracted Prince Taylin’s attention. He thought it was amusing that a woman, a mere courtesan would stand up to him, a Prince.” Nicholi spoke quietly in a low, conspiratorial tone, aware of what Sam’s reaction would be should she somehow over-hear them. “ That night, the Prince demanded his father send Samantha to him so he could punish her for being insolent. The King refused, as you would expect, but Prince Taylin wouldn’t accept that. It is why Samantha was moved into another room away from the others, one that she can secure behind her.”

 

“ What did he do?” Daniel’s question was barely above a whisper as his stomach churned at the possibilities of what could have happened. “ What did Prince Taylin do to get revenge?”

 

Nicholi’s eyes grew cold, his fists clenching at his sides. “ Prince Taylin,” he spat the name with obvious abhorrence, “ decided he didn’t need his father’s permission and found his way to Samantha himself. He tried.. He tried to force himself on her, and beat her.” His young features aged before Jack and Daniel’s eyes. “ If Samantha was not as strong as she is he would have killed her. The King was furious when he found out and sent his son away, some say to another city, others say to another planet. For the two weeks it took Sam to recover in the medical facility, the King and Evelyn never left her side.”

 

“ Did he..?” Jack swallowed, unable to say the words. “ Did he.. succeed in punishing her?”

 

Averting his gaze, Nicholi stared at the ground for a minute, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. Slowly, he brought his head back up to meet their expectant eyes and shook his head. “ No,” he answered finally as they let out the breaths they’d been holding. “ He was interrupted by Karalynn and Evelyn before he could. Samantha was unconscious, there was nothing more she could have done to stop him. If Evie and Karalynn hadn’t shown up when they did..”  His voice trailed off as both Daniel and Jack shuddered as realisation sunk in.

 

“ We better..” Daniel cleared his throat. “ We’d better get going.”

 

Jack nodded in agreement, and instead of trailing behind, he marched on passed them, picking up the pace dramatically. He hadn’t known. Damn it, why hadn’t she told him about that? This Prince-guy was someone he could protect her from if only she returned home with him! Scanning the area ahead of him, Jack could only just see Evelyn and Sam up ahead and quickened his pace once again. He had a foothold now. He had something to work with, something to use in his battle to tempt her home.

 

~*~

 

Jack strides off without even looking back at Nicholi and me to make sure we’re following. I can’t really say it’s unexpected. He’s always been like that. If he finds out something’s happened to Sam when he wasn’t around to help her through it, he *has* to see her again before he can believe she got through it okay. He needs to confirm what his rational mind already knows – that she made it through something else horrible.

 

“ Colonel O’Neill cares greatly for Samantha.” Nicholi’s voice startles me for a moment, having forgotten that I wasn’t as alone as I felt. I look at him out of the corner of my eye, careful to keep one eye on what’s in front of me. The last thing we need right now is for me to trip over something I didn’t see and break my ankle. “ I do not understand how he can care for her so yet still be the cause of her unhappiness.”

 

“ Ah..” I suddenly realise Nicholi is waiting for a response, waiting for me to either deny or confirm his observations. “ It’s complicated,” is what I opt for saying.

 

“ How so?” Nicholi presses blatantly. “ How can the act of love be complicated when it is the simplest form of existence?”

 

Allowing myself a small grin at his optimism because he reminds me of myself, from quite a few years ago, I give him a curious look in return. “ Who told you that?”

 

“ My mother,” he answers as his face turns scarlet. He drags his feet on the floor, still awaiting some kind of explanation from me as I try to think of how I can put the military, the Air Force and all of their regulations in terms he will understand.

 

“ You’re not free to love Evelyn, are you?” I decide to take the easiest approach – comparing Sam and Jack’s situation with one he is more familiar with. Nicholi looks set to argue with me at that but eventually hangs his head and nods. “ It’s a bit like that with Sam and Jack. Only Sam isn’t owned by anyone.. Or at least she wasn’t, before she came here.” I frown at that, realising my friends have yet another obstacle in their way. “ Anyway, they’re both part of this system. It’s called the Air Force.”

 

“ Yes!” Nicholi’s outburst takes me by surprise. “ Samantha has told me all about it,” he explains excitedly. “ The Air Force is one of your world’s methods of defence against your enemies. There are different positions you can achieve and there are rules you have to follow.”

 

Smiling at having it made a little easier for me, I nod. “ There are different ranks you can work up to, yeah. And there are regulations, which is what forbids Sam and Jack from being together, from being free to love each other as you put it. Regulations.. They’re designed.. to make working in the structure of the Air Force easier and simpler. Without regulations, no one would really know what they can and can’t do and everything would be in complete chaos. Nothing would be achieved and the Air Force, Navy, Marines and Army would be useless in defending our planet.”

 

“ What does love have to do with it?”

 

Nicholi’s question makes me laugh, which takes him by surprise. If only he knew he was quoting songs from Earth’s culture without having stepped foot on the planet. Clearing my voice and containing my amusement, I continue on with the explanation he’s still waiting for. “ Fraternization – that’s being in love or being.. involved.. with someone intimately – is frowned upon, especially between officers like Sam and Jack who work together. It’s particularly bad for Sam and Jack because he’s her Commanding Officer. That means he gives her orders and has to sometimes send her into dangerous situations.” Sighing, I kick a stone that lies at my feet with pure frustration at the whole situation. “ The Air Force thinks that if Sam and Jack were to ever.. act.. on how they feel, it would mean they couldn’t do their jobs because Jack wouldn’t be able to send Sam into dangerous places and Sam wouldn’t be able to follow his orders and leave him behind if she ever had to.”

 

“ Surely the people of your world know that love is the most important gift two people can share?” Nicholi asks incredulously. “ How can a world forbid two people from being happy and experiencing all that love can bring?”

 

I get the impression his mother is responsible for his idealistic side, Torin somehow doesn’t seem like a hearts and flowers kind of guy, no matter how nice he is. Sighing again, I pat Nicholi on the back comfortingly, knowing my explanation has distressed him. “ It’s stupid, Nicholi. You and I know that, but unfortunately, it isn’t up to us what happens.”

 

We walk for a little while in silence as I wonder how far ahead the others are, the forest getting denser the further we walk into it. From my side, Nicholi pipes up with a question I’ve been asking myself for a long time. “ Why do Samantha and Colonel O’Neill abide by these rules if they make them unhappy? Surely they realise they deserve something for defending your planet and risking their lives?”

 

That’s something I’ve thought about a lot, especially in these recent months, seeing Jack try and deal with Sam disappearing on us in the way she did, leaving no trace and no clue of where she was behind. I watched him go through most of the stages of grief and bereavement; there was guilt and denial, anger and pain and idealising all the memories he had of her.

 

The last sign never came, and I don’t know if it ever would had we not found her or discovered the worst had happened and she’d died without any of us by her side. Acceptance was something I could never see Jack doing. He would never be able to accept that she was gone for good. Even with some solid proof, I know he’d try to cling on to the hope that it was a mistake and then when the hope faded, he’d just give up. Jack O’Neill doesn’t do acceptance, not about someone he loves.

 

And he does love Sam, just as Sam loves him. For the first few years of us all being together, I thought they were just blind. Turns out they’re not so blind after all, they’re just scared by it so they try to repress it in the hopes they’ll someday get the chance to be together without having to risk their careers to do it.

 

Everyday with SG-1 has taught me that someday might never come, but there’s nothing I can do about it but hope Sam and Jack realise that and do something to bring ‘someday’ a lot closer. Before one of them wakes up and realises it’s too late.

 

~*~

“ Ain't it funny how some feelings you just can't deny

And you can't move on even though you try

Ain't it strange when your feeling things you shouldn't feel

How I wish this could be real.”

~ ‘Ain’t It Funny’, Jennifer Lopez

~*~

Part Nine

~*~

“ I know that when you look at me

There's so much that you just don't see

But if you would only take the time

I know in my heart you'll find. Oh, a girl who's scared sometimes

Who isn't always strong, can't you see the hurt in me?

I feel so all alone.”

~ ‘Run to You’, Whitney Houston

~*~

 

Only once Jack had found the clearing by the river and witnessed Sam laughing and joking with Evelyn with his own two eyes did he allow himself to slowly calm down, his breathing and heart rate returning to normal as he tried to look casual as he approached them.

 

“ Are Nicholi and Daniel still talking guy-talk?” Sam asked conversationally, her smile fading as he came closer.

 

“ Ah, yeah.” He glanced behind him and realised they weren’t as close behind him as he’d thought. Turning back to her, he gave her what he hoped was a warm grin. “ It was something about the history of this place. Kinda boring.”

 

“ Oh.” She smiled a little in response as Evelyn spread out a blanket. Silently, she helped Evelyn empty the contents of the basket onto the blanket and sat down next to her, resting her chin on her knees as she curled up into herself. “ Well, we might as well get started. Knowing Daniel, he could keep Nicholi busy all day.”

 

Obviously agreeing, Evelyn reached for her favourite sandwich as Sam handed Jack another. Their fingers brushed and they smiled shyly at each other as Evelyn watched with a concealed smile of her own. They ate companionably, each apparently consumed by their own thoughts as Daniel and Nicholi finally caught up with them.

 

Once their meal was done, they toasted Nicholi and Evelyn’s engagement with the fruity drink Jeskia had put in the basket. It was then Sam decided to let Evelyn and Nicholi in on the news they would soon be able to leave Velenthia and be together if they wanted to.

 

“ Nicholi,” she started with a quick look to Jack, trying to discern if he knew what she was going to say and asking if it was still okay with him. Discreetly, he nodded, giving her the go ahead to break the news to them. “ You know how I told you at the ball that there might be a way for you and Evie to be together without you having to save up to buy her?”

 

“ I do,” Nicholi nodded solemnly, grasping Evelyn’s hand in his. “ You said you would need a few sun-cycles to think about it but that you might have a way for us to leave Velenthia a lot sooner.”

 

Smiling, Sam nodded. “ What would you two say to leaving with Colonel O’Neill, Doctor Jackson and their team in a few sun-cycles? It would mean you would definitely have a new place to go to and won’t have to struggle by yourselves to find some where to live or some way to support yourself.”

 

Nicholi frowned in confusion. “ How can we leave if I am yet to earn enough to free her from the King’s ownership?”

 

“ That’s where we come in,” Jack supplied, taking over the explaining. “ The King is pretty desperate to become an ally with Earth because of the technology we have to defend ourselves. He’s offered to exchange some medical technology in exchange for defensive technology such as weapons and we think we can get him to include Evelyn in that deal. Then we can take both you and Evelyn back to Earth with us where neither of you will be owned by anyone.”

 

“ Apart from each other,” Nicholi added, giving Evelyn’s hand a squeeze.

 

“ Apart from each other,” Daniel echoed, grinning reassuringly. It was the first he’d heard of the plan but he thought it was a good one. There was only one aspect of it that he was unsure of, an aspect that was holding Evelyn’s excitement in check.

 

“ What about Samantha?” The young woman enquired, giving the woman she saw as both a mother and sister a anxious glance. “ Will she be returning to Earth with us?”

 

“ No.” Sam shook her head, her tone stern. “ There’s no way the King can let me go, Evie. You know that.”

 

“ Then I won’t leave you,” Evelyn retorted stubbornly. “ I won’t leave you here alone.”

 

Shaking her head, Sam reached out to cover Evelyn’s hand, the one that Nicholi wasn’t clinging to, with one of her own. “ Evie, please. I won’t be alone. I’ll have Karalynn, the King, Jeskia and all the others. It’s pretty hard to be alone here, you know that. I want you and Nicholi to go. You can always come back and visit his family or me whenever you want to. I’m sure Colonel O’Neill will make sure the General knows you have an open invitation to return whenever you want.” Jack nodded in confirmation.

 

Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears. “ I don’t want to leave you,” she murmured. “ Who will I talk to? Who’ll help me with things?”

 

“ Nicholi, for the most part,” Sam answered, sending a smile at the young man in question. “ But there are other nice people on Earth. I’ve told you about them. Asides from the people you’ve already met, there’s Janet and Cassandra who will make you more than welcome. General Hammond is a nice guy.. You’ll be fine.” She gave Evelyn’s fingers a gentle squeeze. “ Do you really think I’d send you somewhere if I didn’t know you could be happy there?”

 

“ No, you wouldn’t.” Evelyn sniffed as a tear tracked down her face. “ But I’m going to miss you. A lot.”

 

“ I’ll miss you, too,” Sam assured her, looking down so she could blink back tears of her own. “ But you’ll be fine. I know you will.” Evelyn nodded but found she was unable to do anything but hold on tightly to both Nicholi and Sam’s hands.

 

Clearing his throat to get their attention, Jack’s eyes locked with Sam’s when she looked up. “ So it’s all settled then? I’ll ask the King about it tonight?”

 

“ Yes.” She nodded and took a deep, soothing breath. “ Thank you.”

 

“ No problem.” Jack forced a smile and they looked sadly at one another for a few moments. Daniel, sensing they were getting caught up within each other again, started telling Evelyn and Nicholi about Earth and eventually asked the newly engaged couple if they take him on a walk a little further down the river. He said he was interested in learning where it came from and what system the Velenthians used to filter the water into the city and into their homes. Both Evelyn and Nicholi agreed to the suggestion, and it was only after the three of them had stood up and started walking away that Sam and Jack realised it was a ploy to leave the two of them alone together.

 

They sat without saying anything for a while, occasionally risking glances at one another, looking away when the other almost caught them. Sam read the concern and worry in his eyes and sighed heavily, beginning to pack the leftovers of their picnic away. “ They told you, didn’t they?” She asked flatly, the question more a resigned statement than one that needed confirming.

 

“ Were *you* going to tell me?” He didn’t even try to deny it, knowing she would see through him if he did. Instead, he settled for watching her reaction, waiting for her to answer him. She continued packing the basket, leading him to reach out and take hold of her hands so she had no chance of avoiding the question, no distraction to hold her back. “ Sam? Were you going to tell me?”

 

“ So it’s back to being Sam, is it?” She lifted her eyes to meet his. “ This morning it seemed you didn’t want to know me.”

 

“ I know, and I’m sorry for that,” he apologised. “ Now answer the question. Were you really going to let me leave without knowing about this Prince?”

 

“ What does it matter?” She shot back. “ There is nothing you can do about it, whether I told you or not. It’s not your problem, *he’s* not your problem. I can look after myself, Colonel. I don’t need anyone else trying to protect me.”

 

Swallowing the retort that came to mind about the King already doing that, Jack tightened his hold on her hands, being careful not to hurt her but unwilling to let her pull away. “ It’s back to being Colonel, huh? What happened to Jack?”

 

“ That’s what I’d like to know,” Sam retorted coolly.

 

“ This isn’t getting us anywhere.” Jack shook his head, wishing he could bring one of his hands away from hers to massage his temples, the tension between them creating a dull ache in his head. “ Just answer me this. If I leave you here, can you give me any guarantees you’ll be alive and well if we.. *when* we come back to visit you?”

 

Biting her lip, Sam refused to meet his eyes. “ I can’t make a promise like that. No one can. No one knows what’s around the next corner. I might get struck by lightening or something. Who knows?”

 

“ If he comes back, do you think he’ll try to hurt you?” Jack kept firing the questions at her, determined to see it from his point of view even if he couldn’t convince her to somehow leave with him. “ Will the King be able to stop him from hurting you?”

 

“ He’ll probably try to hurt me and the King will try to stop him!” Sam replied angrily. “ I can’t give you definite answers! I don’t exactly *remember* what happened the first time round so how can I guess what might happen the next time?”

 

“ How come you don’t remember?” He pressed, determined to know all he could about what had happened, determined to come up with a way of preventing it from happening again.

 

She groaned and closed her eyes tightly, realising he wasn’t going to leave the subject alone. “ I don’t remember because when we were struggling, he knocked me over and I hit my head on something. I passed out. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the medical bay of the palace with the King and Evelyn looking over me. I don’t *know* what happened or what didn’t happen. I don’t *want* to know. What little I remember is enough.”

 

“ So you do get to use the advanced medical technology,” he mused, pondering Captain Gardam’s outburst from earlier that morning, Distracted by his thoughts, he was startled when Sam roughly pulled her hands away from his and started packing away the remaining leftovers zealously. “ We’re not finished talking yet.”

 

Her eyes snapped to his and he was taken back at the iciness he saw reflected there, iciness meant for him. “ You might not be through talking but I am. I’m through listening, too.”

 

“ What did I do?” He appeared to be genuinely oblivious and that only served to anger Sam a lot more. “ What did I say?”

 

“ Well, first of all, there was your behaviour this morning. As though I didn’t exist. Secondly, there’s all of these questions that I *really* don’t want to answer.. And thirdly,” the coldness in her voice gave way to hurt. “ Thirdly, you’re looking at me in the same way I’d expect Captain Gardam or some other small minded idiot to. And I can tell you’re thinking what she was thinking this morning.”

 

“ And what would that be?” Jack asked, grabbing her arm before she had a chance to pull away, holding her tightly so she couldn’t move away no matter how hard she tried and struggled. “ Tell me what I’m thinking because right now I have no idea what’s going on with you!”

 

“ You want me to tell you what you’re thinking?” Sam gave him a smile devoid of any of the humour or warmth he normally associated with her smiles and Jack found he had to suppress a shiver. “ Okay. You’re thinking that you don’t understand how I could do what I’ve done, how you don’t believe the Major Carter you *used* to know could sink to these levels. How Gardam was right when she said you don’t know what kinds of diseases I carry.” She glared at him as she stood up on legs that weren’t one hundred percent steady. “ Well not that it’s any of your business, courtesans of Velenthia don’t need to worry about things like that. All of the people they are sent to tend to go through medical screenings to make sure nothing like that happens. The only time I’ve been in the palace hospital, for want of a better word, was when they needed to operate on me to save my life after Taylin nearly killed me.”

 

He scrambled to his feet as she stared walking away. “ Sam! Carter!! Damn it.” He half-ran, half-jogged after her, eventually getting between her and the path. “ Where do you think you’re going?”

 

“ Back to the palace,” Sam answered with a sigh. “ You can tell the others I didn’t feel well and I’ll see them later.”

 

“ Do you?” He continued to block her path, desperately trying to stay in her way and not let her pass.

 

Staring at him, obviously exasperated, she arched an eyebrow. “ Do I what?”

 

“ Do you feel unwell?” He persisted, frowning out of concern.

 

“ I’m getting a headache,” she muttered. “ Other than that, I’m fine. I just don’t want to hang around here any longer and feel like.. feel like I’ve let you down by changing. It isn’t my fault, I didn’t have any choice in this. It was either this or die and I thought you’d agree this was preferable. Guess I was wrong about that, huh?”

 

“ Of course you weren’t!” Jack stared at her in disbelief. “ Do you honestly think that’s what I think? That what you’ve done is something to be ashamed or embarrassed about? Or disgusted by?”

 

Sam met his gaze challengingly. “ Don’t you?”

 

“ No!” He grasped her upper arms firmly, almost shaking her as he answered her, horrified that she could ever think that. “ You did what you had to do to survive in an unusual situation. That’s what we’re taught at the Academy and every day in jobs like these! You did what you were supposed to do! You *lived* and that’s the important thing! How could you ever think I’d feel differently about you because of what you did to live? Jesus, how could you think any of us would feel like that?”

 

“ You acted like it,” she told him simply, no longer resisting. “ This morning, when you wouldn’t look at me. You wouldn’t talk to me. You acted as though you were ashamed to have anything to do with me.” She averted her gaze and sighed. “ To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t have been surprised if you and Daniel and even Teal’c adopted Captain Gardam’s attitude. I fully expect everyone else on Earth to feel the same way as she does if I ever went back.”

 

“ Is that one of the reasons you won’t come back with us? Asides from the King not being able to let you go or the risk of him losing power if you escaped.. Are you afraid of their reaction? Of what the people back home will think?” Jack frowned down on her, unconsciously drawing a little nearer as she sighed again. “ Sam?”

 

Slowly, she raised her head to his and he saw the tears shining in her eyes. “ There is always going to be someone who can’t see past what I’ve done here. I don’t know everyone at the SGC, and God knows how many new people have joined since I’ve been here. I can’t trust them not to judge me because of this and yes, that does make me a little bit nervous about the prospect of going home.”

 

“ No one has to know,” he murmured convincingly, one of his hands rising up to cup her cheek. “ None of us will say anything, General Hammond won’t, Janet won’t.. Captain Gardam can be persuaded not to say anything..”

 

“ You forget I grew up on one military base after another,” she reminded him somewhat sadly. “ You’re being optimistic. Nothing ever stays secret for long on a military base, and I honestly don’t think you or even Teal’c could convince Captain Gardam not to say anything. She hates me too much. I’m a threat to her, no matter how much she looks down on me. She will tell people when you get back and I can’t handle that. I don’t *want* to have to handle that. I’m not even sure I could.” She sighed again and shook her head, staring down at her feet. “ I’ve changed. I know I’ve changed. I don’t know if I can go back to being Major Carter or Doctor Carter, the one who’s always trying to figure something out. My life here.. It’s so simple in comparison and for the first time since I can remember, I’ve been allowed to just be me without the fear I’ll let someone down or be rejected for it. I like that feeling. I like it here. Other than my new profession and the fact I’m not with you guys anymore, I like the person I’ve become.”

 

His hand continued to caress her cheek. “ You don’t have to change if you go home. You can still be *this* Sam Carter.. That’s up to you. But please, for all of our sakes, think about coming home with us. It hasn’t been the same without you there..”

 

“.. And it won’t be the same as it was even if I go back, not if I stay the person I am now,” she added for him, her eyes heart-rending and beseeching. “ Once you leave home for as long as I’ve been away.. You can never go back. And if you do, you’ll only find nothing is as you remembered it to be. It’s better for us all if I stay here so we can keep the memories of what was instead of ruining them with what now is and thoughts of what could have been.”

 

“ You know you’re not making any sense to me, don’t you?” He gave her a lop-sided grin that didn’t last very long. “ I’m not giving up, you know. Not until SG-1 has stepped through the Stargate and been welcomed back by Hammond. Until then, I’m gonna keep bugging you about coming back with us. I mean,” he continued, lightening the mood with humour as he usually did when things got uncomfortable or too emotional, “ do you have any idea how much trouble I’ll be in with General Hammond and your father if they find out I let you stay here? General Hammond’s one thing, but Dad.. He’s a force to be reckoned with, Carter. And Selmac’s pretty scary for a worm.”

 

She couldn’t stop herself from smiling, and she found she didn’t really want to. She felt herself relax completely and let him lead her back to the blanket, sitting down closer to the river than they had before, slipping her shoes off so she could paddle as Jack imitated her and did the same.

 

In the time it took Daniel, Evelyn and Nick to join them, Sam and Jack covered the ‘business’ side of all that she had missed, discussing the changes that had taken place in the SGC and the developments that had been made and the technologies that had been found. Jack noticed her eyes light up as he described some of the technology she would get to play with if she returned with him, and hid a smile at the thought of tempting her home by mentioning her beloved doohickeys. They stayed away from the subject of life outside the base, partly because Daniel had already filled her in on a lot of things she’d missed and partly because it would make things too personal. He knew she would ask about the things he’d done since she’d been taken and he dreaded having to tell her the only thing he’d done was pour over what little they had on where she could be, night after night after night, carrying on his search long into the early hours of the morning, even when he was confined to his own house on Hammond’s orders. He didn’t want to have to tell her that, nor did he want to see her reaction, almost certain it would be the opposite of what he wanted it to be.

 

Once their friends had joined them, they decided to head back to the palace. The air had cooled considerably during their conversation and Sam, Evelyn and Nicholi suspected that there would be another storm erupting in the calm skies that evening.

 

Just as they made it to the palace gates, having lost Nicholi on the way as he’d had to go home rather than join them in the palace, lightning split the skies and the clouds broke, heavy rain drops failing from the heavens like tears.

 

“ O’Neill.” They were greeted by Teal’c as the approached the main entrance to the palace, the Jaffa approaching them with his Staff weapon in hand. “ I was on my way to find you. I grew concerned when you did not arrive back in time for our evening meal with the King.”

 

“ We missed dinner?” Daniel and Jack chorused, looking at each other as rain ran down their faces. “ Guess we must have lost track of the time,” Daniel added with a shrug.

 

“ I’m sure there’ll be something for you to eat,” Sam spoke up with a smile at the looks on their faces. “ Just ask one of the servants if there are any leftovers. You’ll probably be given a three course meal.”

 

“ You won’t be joining us?” Daniel looked as disappointed as Jack felt, his eyes searching Sam’s face as she glanced away. “ You guys haven’t eaten either..”

 

It was Evelyn who answered his question, looking a little too pale. “ Unfortunately, I have plans with someone tonight, Doctor Jackson. Samantha always helps me prepare myself, although I’m sure she will join you and your companions later.”

 

“ Just remind yourself this will be the last time,” Sam murmured to her, wrapping an arm around her waist as the young woman laid her head on her shoulder. “ You’ll be free from all of this soon.” She looked up and met Jack’s eyes, seeing the silent question there and nodded. “ I’ll join you later if there’s time,” she told Daniel. “ If there isn’t, I’ll see you in the morning over breakfast.”

 

“ Okay then,” Daniel heaved a long-suffering sigh. “ Well.. I if don’t see you.. Good night and sleep well.”

 

“ Right back at you,” Sam grinned. “ Now, I think we should all be getting inside before we get too wet. It is raining, you know.”

 

They started walking quickly towards the doors, with Sam and Evelyn trailing behind them. Sam smiled in the rain as she heard Jack ask Daniel if it was possible for them to be any wetter than they already were, hearing the archaeologist grunt in reply. Once inside, they went their separate ways. Sam looked back over her shoulder at the same time as Jack looked over his and their eyes met. They held each other’s gazes for as long as they could, trading small smiles before they each walked out of sight.

 

They walked out of each other’s line of sight, completely unaware that someone else had been watching.

 

~*~

 

Up in Sam’s room, Sam and Karalynn were helping Evelyn get ready. Karalynn had scolded both of them for being so irresponsible and letting themselves get soaked, telling them not to go to her if they both got colds because it was their own fault. Sam and Evelyn had stood next to each other in front of the fire as Karalynn had told them off, trading secretive smiles behind the elder woman’s back like school girls caught trading notes in class.

 

As soon as Karalynn had finished her tirade, she had ushered Sam into changing into some dry clothes, ordering her to sit by the fire so her hair could dry whilst she bathed Evelyn. Evelyn and Karalynn soon returned and Sam helped decide on what the younger woman should wear to her meeting.

 

“ I think.. Something warm,” Sam murmured, browsing through the dresses Karalynn had already brought up from Evelyn’s room to Sam’s. “ Something.. I don’t know. I’m just not seeing it.”

 

“ Me neither,” Karalynn agreed, staring critically at the dresses. “ On a night like tonight, it needs to be.. suitable. I’m not sure about the red, either. I don’t think it will be very becoming with Evelyn looking so pale tonight.”

 

Sam nodded. “ We should stay away from dark colours. They’ll make her look a little withdrawn.” She turned to Evelyn in time to see the young woman stumble and collapse into a chair, hanging her head as she clutched her stomach. “ Evie?” In an instant, she was kneeling on the floor at Evelyn’s feet, Karalynn not too far behind.

 

“ I don’t feel well,” Evelyn gasped, raising her deathly pale face to the concerned eyes of Sam and Karalynn.

 

“ What’s wrong, child?” Karalynn asked, placing a hand on Evelyn’s clammy forehead. “ You feel warm to the touch. I told you it wouldn’t do to stay out in the rain for so long. You brought this all on yourself.. I wouldn’t be too surprised if Samantha started feeling the same way..”

 

“ I feel sick.” Evelyn’s announcement was accompanied by her mad dash to Sam’s private bathroom on shaking legs, and was soon followed by the sounds of violent retching. Karalynn stared after her in shock as Sam raced into the bathroom to hold Evelyn’s hair out of her way, rubbing her back in soothing, circular motions.

 

“ It’s okay,” Sam murmured softly, sensing Evelyn’s panic begin to rise. “ You’re okay, Honey. You’ll be okay.”

 

Karalynn appeared in the doorway, her face anxious. “ Is there anything I can do, Samantha? Anything you need doing or fetching?”

 

Looking up, Sam gave her a grateful smile. “ Could you please let the King know Evelyn can’t honour her plans tonight as she is ill but I will be sending a replacement, and let whoever is available know they’re needed to go to the room Evelyn uses to meet with her lovers and take over for her tonight?”

 

Karalynn smiled, relieved she could do something to help. “ Consider it done, Samantha. Would you like me to bring you anything?”

 

“ You could see if there’s any of that herbal tea lying around in the kitchen?” Sam suggested thoughtfully. “ I’m sure I was told it helped calm the stomach and lower temperatures by Corlinetta. I think we’re going to need some of that here tonight.”

 

“ I will see what I can do.” Karalynn bobbed her head, cast one more sympathetic glance in Evelyn’s direction and all but fled from the room. Sam helped Evelyn sit upright, and handed the young, shaken and obviously scared woman a cloth to wipe her mouth, returning to the main area of her room to pour Evelyn a goblet of water, taking it back into the bathroom as soon as she could.

 

Kneeling beside Evelyn, she pushed the hair back from her face. “ Evie? You feel up to standing now? We should get you to bed so you can lie down.”

 

Taking a few small sips from the goblet, Evelyn nodded and, with Sam’s help, got to her feet. Together, the two of them walked slowly through to the bedroom and Sam gingerly helped Evelyn lie down. “ Stay with me?” Evelyn’s voice was barely above a whisper as she gazed at Sam with terrified eyes.

 

Giving her a reassuring smile, Sam nodded and climbed up on bed beside her, taking the young woman in her arms as Evelyn snuggled closer into her, like a child seeking comfort from a mothers embrace after a bad dream. Closing her eyes, Sam rested her chin on the top of Evelyn’s head and as Evelyn’s breathing slowed to a normal rate, Sam gave in to the temptation of obliviousness.

 

~*~

 

In another part of the palace, there were two people who couldn’t find salvation in slumber. Veronica lay on a bed, staring up at the ceiling as she listened to the man who was in her company pace the room, searing and ranting.

 

He wasn’t pleased, but neither was she. She didn’t want to be here anymore than he wanted her. It was just as disappointing for her as it was for him. She was used to being treated like a princess, used to having everyone fawn over her and pamper her and wait on her hand and foot. She was used to all of the women of Velenthia being envious of her because she was the courtesan famed for her beauty, she was the one who tempted their husbands back to her, again and again and again.

 

She wasn’t anymore. Someone else had taken her place and she had to make do with what offers the King would reject for *her*. She was no longer the most desired woman in the city, she was only second best. She had lost the fame she had tried so desperately to keep and she was hurting and angry because of it. She was certain she was the one who had suffered the most because of *her* arrival, the one who had lost her dignity and reputation.

 

Lord Jalen, however, didn’t see it that way. He had been hoping for revenge, knowing Evelyn was the easiest way to get to the woman he hated with a passion – Samantha Carter. He had planned to use Evelyn to show her he was not someone she could humiliate easily or wrap around her finger in the way she apparently had the King and all the others at her beck and call.

 

His plan had failed, however, as instead of Evelyn, he had been sent Veronica. And although she was a beautiful woman, she was not the one he wanted, nor the one he had been planning to use against the one he wanted.

 

Swearing, he threw his glass goblet at the wall. It shattered with such force it made Veronica jump. Tiny shards of glass went everywhere, showering every available surface, including the floor on which Lord Jalen walked barefoot.

 

He did not notice the pain as the shards dug into his skin. He didn’t notice the fierce storm gathering outside. His eyes were narrowed, sparkling manically in the light of the moon and streaks of lightening that occasionally split the skies. His mind was already focused on planning the next step, the next scheme of seeking revenge.

 

And he would get revenge. Revenge against the King for forbidding him from seeing Samantha, revenge against Samantha for being constantly out of reach. Revenge against everyone who had ever done him wrong.

 

He didn’t care what it would cost him, or how many lives he would have to put at stake. He didn’t care about anything as his mind raced, filling his thoughts with images of the illusive Samantha Carter begging him to save her life.

 

A sickening grin curled up his lips in a sneer. He wouldn’t be happy until he had her where he wanted her. And he would stop at nothing until he achieved it.

 

~*~

“ At times I'd like to break you

And drive you to your knees

At times I'd like to break through

And hold you endlessly.”

~ ‘Sometimes When We Touch’, Dan Hill

~*~

 

Continued in Part Four

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