Jack's Viking Sky 8

Sky (Part 1/2)

by Mitch H

URL: http://www.stargateslash.com/asm/mitchh/jacksv081.php
Summary: Jack and Daniel have freed a world of the tyrannical grip of Nirrti's posthumous reign. Now the lovers must help each other face the changes in themselves. Sam and Teal'c finally reunite with their teammates and together the four deal with what lies ahead for SG-1, and help Nortvegr find a new path
Info:

Author's Notes:

Stranded on an unknown world, Jack and Daniel struggle to survive the harsh environment and the crushing confines of a Viking society corrupted by the dead goa'uld, Nirrti. Jack has been poisoned and Daniel must find a way to exist and prosper within the remnants of Nirrti's destructive laws in order to preserve his lover's life, and to get them to a possible gate home.

Sky is the last book in the epic series, Jack's Viking Sky. An index of words and names can be found at the end of each book. Many authentic Viking cultural and language references have been used in this story.

The extensive Alpha work done on this entire epic series was done by Rosie.

Books one through eight were first-time Betaed by Rosie.

Books one through six were betaed by Saladscream.

Book seven and the first half of book eight were betaed by Peacendjoy

The last half of book eight was anonymously betaed.

The contribution of these others to this epic is greatly appreciated by the author who acknowledges, that without help, this series would never have gone beyond a ten thousand word story.

Chapter 37 God Is My Judge

In the heart of the Nortvegr civilization, Jack and Daniel stood by the newly revealed DHD. They had fought great odds against their survival across the length of a continent to reach a way home and they'd done it side by side. Jack held Daniel's hand in his and for the first time since crashing on this planet almost six hundred days ago, he felt an absence of desperation. He could get Daniel through the gate safely, when the time was right. They had a certain way home now.

The temple that Nirrti had corrupted was Odin's again. A state of awe existed among the throng of worker caste and Highborn men surrounding the strange device that stood where, for centuries, Nirrti's most sacred altar had existed. No one seemed to want to move, to give up absorbing the moment in time that the new reign had begun. But finally the men around Jack and Daniel began to stir, to find what they should be doing. Their lives had just changed in the most drastic way imaginable.

Balin bowed to Jack. "Me, best I go council with the other Champions. Much we must change when the last of her vile guardians be thrown from Odin's sacred temple. Reclaimed this day, it be."

As Jack led Daniel back to the Highborn gallery, the only short benches in the temple, Lemmel trailed after him as far as the grand railing and stopped for a moment. Then the young steward walked off on an errand of his own, leaving Jack and Daniel alone to rest.

The remaining Highborn and Skys in the gallery drifted out to mix among the solicitous Champions.

Balin met in the temple center with a gathering of the more vocal among the Champions. They spoke briefly in hushed tones and then the group broke up quickly to go remove any guardians who might be trying to mount a defense from the Sky hall. They would empty the place of Nirrti's eyes and ears and shut the eastern entrance down. The other two Skys serving in there were veiled, clothed and brought into the main temple to learn their new fate from Champions and a couple of bold Highborn Houses who stepped forward to speak with the frightened and bewildered Skys. Other Champions left the temple to go gather Skys from the city. Hosted and unhosted alike were implored to come learn first-hand of Odin's message.

Within an hour the temple would be more full than it had been in generations.

While the changes were happening, Jack and Daniel sat quietly in a corner of the Highborn gallery. The railing was removed. Benches from that space were spread out around the temple to accommodate the short Highborn caste. Other furniture was being brought in from the Hall of Champions next door. Lemmel was directing work, having cushions, rugs and wine brought to the Highborn gallery area, making the place more restful for his master and his Sky.

A series of rooms where guardians had eaten and slept in the eastern hall were being opened and inventoried by Champions and stewards. Lemmel left Jack and Daniel again to get cooler drinking water.

While the two men were alone, Daniel reached out and took Jack's hand in his. "This was what the Asgard wanted?" The veil he wore was not designed to be worn up high, only covering his eyes. He'd been holding it in place since leaving the DHD. With one hand holding onto Jack now, the veil slipped. Daniel caught at it, clutching it tightly.

"You asked me that already. I've told you what I can. They want the place to stay a protected world, want to keep any other snake-heads from getting on world. I'm sure they'd approve of the idea of returning these people to how they were, or wherever their culture was headed before Nirrti screwed them up."

"Is that all we've done? All I've done? Put things back."

"As best you could," Jack said with a small nod. "And left things up to them. You didn't make any new laws. You told them to do that. Same with the women. Pretty much leaving it up to them, aren't we?"

"I hope so. On Cimmeria, on Gariwin's world we fucked things up. We left Thor's followers open for invasion. Here, we're trying hard not to be heavy handed, not to reshape things to suit ourselves, but only aiming these people in the direction they were already going. That's the right thing to do."

With his brow wrinkled, Jack gazed at his partially veiled lover. "What was that? The symbol thingy you sketched in the air that shut the nuns up."

"Nuns?" Daniel asked, his lips half curled. "The Sky women?"

"Yeah. In their flying nun hats. What was it?"

"Well, you could say it was just my name."

"Your name? You drew your name in the air?"

"In their language, I did," he answered with a shrug. "It was the symbol, the pictographic symbol that means God is my judge. It was the same symbol ... " Daniel paused and swallowed. He pursed his lips for a moment and peered intently at Jack. "It was the same symbol that was on the side of the altar, the one that let me open it. I just saw my name there. I read the inscription that said to push in and up and so I ... pushed it, and the thing opened."

Jack's eyebrows shot up as he leaned back a bit. "Well ... Well that doesn't mean ... It's a common name in cultures like this, right? Like John or Jonathan or ... That's why I go by Jack. You need a nickname, Danny boy."

A faint look of shock passed over Daniel's face and then he laughed. The sound was short but very light-hearted. The grin stayed on his mouth. "A nickname? Like Danny boy?" He shook his head. "I think the reason that symbol was used was to denote the person opening the altar should be someone who was beyond the judgment of any of Nirrti's servants."

"God is my judge," Jack said, his face now in a smirk. "If the name fits, wear it."

Lemmel returned shortly after that to find his master and Sky sitting in silence. The young steward bowed low. "How may I be of service, master?"

"Well, for starters I could use something to eat. It's way past lunchtime. This shindig took longer than planned. I'm starved."

"A banquet, master. This would be the expected thing after such a grand joining as was held here before Odin made his new law known. While we wait for the banquet to be readied would ye wish to patronize a tavern with ye new wedded consort?"

"Wedded consort?" Daniel asked, his veil slipping off his head. He snatched at it, pushing it back in place. "Consort? Lemmel, I can't keep this damned thing in place. I need my summer veil."

Lemmel knelt on one knee in front of Daniel and nodded.

Jack laid a hand on Daniel's right arm. "No, you don't," he said, shaking his head. "It's not necessary any longer. You've done away with the law. Take it off, babe."

"Master--" Lemmel started to object.

"What do you-- No, Jack! I'm not going naked around these men! The place is full! How can you possibly suggest--"

"But the law is over. You can dress any way you want now. I know it'll take time ... time for them to get used to the change, but here in the temple it ought to be all right, shouldn't it?"

"No!" Daniel answered vehemently, pulling back from Jack's hand on his arm.

"We could go out some place and have a late lunch," Jack said softly, leaning toward his lover. He placed his hand on Daniel's arm again. "It's ... What time is it, Lemmel?

"Time be as ye say, master. For a late lunch meal or even early supper if ye so wish. All be as ye wish, master. Ye be wedded mate of the Nyrnortvegr. Ye be first among all men now. The city belongs to ye."

Jack blinked at his kneeling servant in much the same way as the Asgard had blinked silently at him only an hour ago. "That is so ... " Silently, he shook his head.

"I want to go back to the manor and get my veil, Lemmel."

"It comes swifter by my own hand," Lemmel objected. In one graceful motion, Lemmel rose, turned and ran speedily from the temple.

Veiled Skys and startled Highborn stared after the departing steward. A Champion trotted a few steps in Lemmel's wake, and then turned back to stare at Jack and Daniel.

"Kid's making a spectacle," Jack whispered harshly. The alarmed Champion was approaching swiftly.

As he got closer, Jack recognized him. "Aegis. That's the big guy we met on the first night in the Champion's hall."

Daniel pulled his wedding veil further down on his face, hiding all his features, not just his eyes. "I need my other veil. This one is too thin. Where's Balin?"

Jack shifted to accommodate his lover as Daniel turned into him, pressing his face against Jack's shoulder as he'd done during the Sky's ceremony.

As Aegis reached the small space of privacy Jack and Daniel shared, the big man dropped hard to one knee on the marble floor. He bowed his helmeted head. Warily, Jack eyed the Champion, but his attention was torn away. Another Sky had been brought to the temple, he saw. There was a veiled man standing in the doorway. But no one had escorted him, Jack realized. His assumption that the Sky had been brought here was wrong. This one had come on his own, and he was apparently having trouble stepping through the door.

"Aegis," Jack said, "there seems to be a Sky at the door who needs some reassurance that it's okay to come inside. Could you take care of that? We don't need any assistance right now."

"As ye wish, House." The big man bowed down, pressing his forehead to the ground and then rose. With the creak of leather armor and heavy boots, he turned away and went to the temple door.

As the big bulk of the man moved toward that bright opening, Jack lost sight of the Sky who'd been standing in the middle of the doorway. "He's not supposed to call me House, is he? Babe, there's someone who might need help--" Jack bit off his words and silently cursed himself.

"I didn't mean that. Damn. Do you know what I'm doing? I'm helping you to not handle this right. I'm keeping it going, this habit you've developed of ignoring yourself, ignoring the pain you're going through by helping other people. You can't heal that way. I'm making you an emotional cripple."

A silent shudder ran through Daniel's body and he pushed away from Jack and straightened his posture. With his wedding veil hanging completely over his face Daniel sat perfectly still.

"Desire, we have to go home soon--" Jack started.

"Emotional cripple. That's what you think I am?" he asked angrily. "You just married me. Do you realize that, Jack?"

"The ceremony wasn't--"

"Yes, it was," Daniel interrupted, his voice cold and brittle now. "It was. And you can easily undo it. You can take back what you gave to me to keep for your son. You can trade me to another man--"

"I can't take anything back from you. I've ... God damn it! You look at that ring on your finger. It's a damned wedding ring. I mean, yeah," Jack said, struggling to regain his composure. "This was a mission. We did it to get to the DHD. But this is ... we were just married, weren't we? My God," Jack swore softly. He reached up and lifted Daniel's thin veil. "But not all the way yet. I ... I'm going to kiss you."

Daniel reached up and grabbed Jack's wrists, his fingers curling in bruising grips. His mouth, so tantalizingly colored with rouge was clamped in a firm, angry line.

Jack stared into his lover's blue eyes for several heavy heartbeats. Then he leaned forward and brought his lips to Daniel's. Jack closed his eyes and pressed forward, tilting his head slightly to the right.

The older man grimaced as his lover's grip clenched tighter, grinding the bones of his wrists. He let his lips part and pressed his tongue warmly against Daniel's hard mouth.

"Married," Jack said, keeping his lips against Daniel's.

Though his grip stayed as strong as iron, a weak sob burst from Daniel. A moment after the sound escaped him his bruising grip melted away. Daniel swayed and then slid his hands downward, reaching Jack's elbows and then encircled him.

Effortlessly, as if he'd been doing it for a lifetime, Jack pulled Daniel to him, deepened their kiss and embraced his lover in front of countless onlookers. Smoothly, the temple and onlookers faded completely away from Jack's awareness. Nothing mattered at this moment except Daniel. His desire. His beautiful lover.

"I do," Jack murmured against Daniel's lips. "Say it for me. I do."

"I ... I do," Daniel gasped out haltingly. "I do, Jack. I love you."

"I do," Jack answered. "For the rest of my life, I love you, desire." Then Jack moaned, his lips open, his mouth melded with his lover's. "A little backwards, but we did it. I do, then the rings, it was supposed to be."

"We did our I do's," Daniel protested softly. "The swords. What stronger, better I do's could we possibly exchange, Colonel? I married a military man."

"Military wedding," Jack said, his mouth never really leaving Daniel's. "Beautiful, wasn't it? Horse sweat and all."

"Oh, Frey!" Daniel said a he pulled back from Jack. "Do you think he got back to the stable okay?"

"Yes," Jack said irritably and then he pulled Daniel back to him for another kiss. This time a whooping joyous sound penetrated the romantic fog he was in. Jack pulled away and glanced around. Almost every eye in the place was on him. As he met the gaze of Champions and Highborn men, they began to whoop louder, breaking out into raucous cat-calls and clapping.

"Oh ... nuts. An audience."

"Um," Daniel said haltingly, "that's actually a good thing. If they're bold enough to take notice, maybe even start the insulting contests and tall tales that follow a typical Viking wedding, then they're ready to be their own rulers.

"Good. Cause neither one of us is gonna have time for it. We're gonna take a little time for ourselves before we head back through the gate."

"Home," Daniel said, sounding as if he were full of longing and dread at the same time.

"So how about we go grab some food?" As Jack took Daniel's hand to rise, they were interrupted. A veiled, barefoot Sky had approached them, and now stood five feet away, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"I see you made good use of the clothing," the tailor Sky said with venom dripping from his voice. "And managed to fuck with my city in the process. Why couldn't you be a decent little whore and step through the ring, then get out of my city?"

"Whoa there, buddy," Jack interrupted the man's angry tirade.

"Shut your mouth, Highborn House. You really can't keep a decent leash on this slut. He's managed to cause more damage today than this city has seen in a century. Idiots running around in the streets screeching insanity about Odin coming to kill the old ways."

"Listen," Jack repeated, this time rising to his feet to stand protectively in front of Daniel, "you may have heard—"

"I heard a lot of nonsense. Dangerous nonsense. This pet of yours is going to get people killed today. A lot of people."

Daniel rose and stepped in front of Jack. "Look around you," he said intensely, his voice low and controlled. "I don't know what you were told, but the message the Champions were supposed to deliver was that Nirrti's reign is over—"

"And Odin has decreed friendship for us, yes. I heard. That's how I knew for certain that you were the one responsible for this insanity, slut. The temple guardians will not stand for it. They'll call for judgments before night—"

"Look around," Daniel repeated. "Do you see any guardians here? You came in, reluctantly--we saw you hesitate at the temple door. You came in because there were no guardians on the steps outside, and none are here in the temple. They've been sent away. Their power is gone. The city council has been ordered to make new laws ensuring a return to the old ways. Skys are free now."

With an angry sneer the tailor turned away to survey the temple. Lamps still burned around the chamber. Sunlight streamed in through the huge front door, still propped open as it had been the moment the city council of elders were all dragged in. Noises from outside, shouts of gawkers and vendors drifted in. Most of the Champions and Highborn inside were speaking in subdued tones.

Balin was supervising masonry work being done in the archway where the long viewer peered into the temple. The clank of chisels and hammers rang, along with the sound of the dressed marble and inner bricks being removed bit by bit.

Other Champions were hard at work disassembling the worker caste's segregated gallery, removing the divider railings and pulling benches out to form clusters in various parts of the huge temple.

More muted sounds continued to drift through the open archway that led to the Sky hall. Many stewards and Champions worked in there, cleaning and renovating the space, turning it into sleeping and living quarters for the many Skys they hoped would come to the temple before nightfall.

"Look around," Daniel said, speaking softer this time as he lifted his veil above his eyes. "See the change for yourself. No guardians here. Just people who are determined to see that Skys are kept safe, given as much freedom as everyone else has, to live as they want."

"Insanity," the tailor Sky said, but his voice too was softer now. He lifted his own veil and peered around at the work being done inside the temple. "Dangerous thing you've done, slut."

"Look, pal. I understand this is a pretty shocking change for you to consider, but you need to stop calling my lover a slut. Got it?"

"Lover?" the tailor said with a sneer, turning to face Jack again. "I should slap you, idiot."

Daniel bristled in defense of his lover. "Haven't we already had this discussion before? I really am capable of knocking you on your ass."

The tailor Sky took a quick step back, turning to glare at Daniel. "The way this insane day has gone, perhaps you could, slu—"

"Ah ah ah!" Jack warned him, his voice dripping with false casualness as he held his finger up. "Not gonna warn you again."

"You can see for yourself, the changes in here. No guardians. We're—"

"Changes?" the tailor said challengingly. "I wouldn't know about changes. I'm not a slut. Unlike you, I've never set foot in this place before."

"Enough!" Jack declared. He wrapped an arm around Daniel and pulled him back, further into the gallery of the Highborn. Several benches along the back had been removed by now, and Jack skirted the empty area, finding a seat along the right hand side against the polished marble wall of the temple. He sat with his lover.

"Forget him," Jack said sternly. "He's an idiot. Some of them will fight the change as much as the guardians will. Let him—"

"Some of them will. You're right, Jack. Some of them are more in danger now than if we hadn't meddled in this mess."

"We're not going to second-guess ourselves. We're going to move on and deal with the present and the future."

But the tailor had followed them into the seating area that even now was being dismantled. Workers scattered quickly from the man's presence. "You think this is a good thing?" he harangued Daniel. "That these fools believe Odin has spoken through you? And your owner, he'll be king of my city before nightfall."

Jack jumped to his feet again, but Daniel pulled down hard on his wrist, silencing him before he could launch into a heated tirade. Anger boiled across Jack's features, his posture defensive as he stood halfway in front of Daniel.

Still seated, Daniel peered up through his wedding veil at the irate tailor. "You were supposed to hear a message from the Champions. Odin appeared here in the temple. I delivered a message from him, that's all."

"King?" Jack said, lifting his lips in a wry, nasty smile. "Yep, King Jack. Jack the just."

"He'll take you seriously," Daniel admonished.

"Jack, the Starving King. Lemmel promised me some food, didn't he?" Jack asked, turning his back on the irate tailor.

"Sore and I did, master," Lemmel said loudly as he approached. He dropped to one knee at Daniel's side, holding his summer veil high. Lamplight and diffused sunlight glinted off the gold marks.

"Ah!" Daniel said with delight. "I'm so glad you made it back safely. Are the streets crowded? Did you have any trouble getting there and back?" he asked as he picked up the veil and settled farther back on the bench against the wall.

"Nay, Highborn. Not trouble on my passage but that my servant Sky was seen to. All be well with him, as ye may expect. There to the manor house and back again, though, aye, the roadways are fair to covered with people, both normal sized and Highborn with many Skys to pause for as they seem one and all to be in the streets to hear the news of Odin's decree."

"And he's all right, your servant Sky?" Daniel asked as he began picking at the threads that tied the gold marks to his veil. "Do you have a knife, Lemmel? I want to cut them off. I hate this weight, and I don't need the marks any longer."

"Don't need the veil either," Jack said cautiously. He laid a hand on Daniel's wrist but merely got a short look of annoyance from his lover before Daniel took Lemmel's knife and began slitting the gold marks from the cloth.

As the heavy bits of metal slipped from their bindings, several slid to the floor with an echoing clink of metal on marble. Lemmel scrambled around, gathering them up.

Jack sagged back on the bench beside Daniel. "Yeah," he said as he looked up at the veiled tailor. "I expect it'll take a while before people really believe this has happened. But my desire is correct. The guardians have been booted out of here. Go take a look around for yourself. See it for yourself. Nirrti's reign is over. She's like a forgotten one. Understand?"

"No," the tailor said solemnly, shaking his head. But he did turn and look again at the activity in the temple. After a moment, he wandered away, crossing the huge expanse to the area that used to be designated the worker caste's seating gallery. Only a few benches remained in that area. Lanterns there had been extinguished, leaving that as the dimmest area of the temple. A robed, veiled Sky lay on one of the benches, sleeping. The tailor approached, kneeling by the sleeping man for a moment, and then he wandered on, approaching the Sky hall archway nearby.

Jack turned to Daniel. "You don't need the marks, or the veil. If you feel up to going without it?"

"Lemmel, we were talking about getting some food earlier. Jack's hungry."

"Aye, Highborn. Even now my master's wedding feast be readied. Planned it, I did, with the advice of my Balin, and for the honor of the day, we had hoped that things would go as they have. So, even now within the Hall of Champions a feast be spread. My servant Sky awaits within to assist and to see arrangements are done as I had wished, and as my Balin had wished. He be sore happy to be doing such a task, my servant Sky. Ye must see how bright his smile be. Even though he be half scared to death with the change that has come, he shows his bravery."

"I imagine he does," Daniel said, matching Lemmel's smile. With the coins and marks removed now, Daniel pushed his wedding veil back off his head and quickly snugged the summer veil in place. It sat comfortably on his head, the front hem's beads brushing gently across his cheeks. He bowed his head and smiled contentedly. "I think I'll leave it untied," Daniel whispered. "No breeze in here."

Jack smiled a tight, little smile, but cupped his hand around his lover's cheek. Obligingly, his lover tilted his head back, and Jack smiled wider when he got to see Daniel's blue eyes. "Love you. And now, if we could go check out this supposed feast? I'm famished."

"Aye," Lemmel said brightly. "And for ye, the city, anything ye wish within it, master. It be ye city now, as ye are the wedded mate of the Nyrnortvegr."

"King Jack!" he said with a silly grin. "King Jack, the starving!"

"King," the tailor said as he turned back to the seated men. "The guardians—"

Daniel stood, his posture straighter now that his summer veil fell around him, adorning him in the graceful white of its protection. The cloth draped across his bent arms and he held one side to his throat. "You speak differently than other Skys here. Braver. So why is it so much more difficult for you to accept this change?"

"I speak my mind. I don't fear to think for myself," the tailor retorted angrily. "The others, some among the city sluts, they may have minds to think with, but not to speak with. I know how to make my own way in this world. I have the freedom to say what I feel."

"Some others do too," Daniel said, his brows drawn together. "In the southland, in Fairwood I visited with two Skys who had strong opinions about the injustice of Nirrti's system. Others feel the same way you do."

The tailor pursed his lips and glared at Daniel for a moment. Then he turned away to survey the activity within the temple. High on a catwalk by the front wall, worker castes were removing boards that had long ago been placed over windows. More natural light was filtering into the place.

"The guardians will return," the tailor said stubbornly.

"And if they do, they'll meet a wall of armed, well trained Champions who have the backing of the city council of elders, and the wealth of the temple treasures."

The tailor stayed silent for several moments. "We shall see."

Jack stood and placed his arm around Daniel's waist, up under the summer veil. "You're probably right, though. There might be some violence tonight, maybe for a few days. It'd be best if you stayed here. The Sky hall is being cleaned out. Beds, bath in there. A kitchen in the back rooms where the guardians used to live."

"I expect I'll have to submit to staying here then. I'll lose my shop," he said, still not looking at the two men beside him, or at Lemmel who still knelt on the floor. "If this new law sticks, I'll lose my business. No one will dare risk being touched by me. I'll lose my lease. You've destroyed my life as surely as you've saved some sluts from the streets."

"The temple treasures belong to you too," Daniel said. "Gold marks that the guardians horded. Take what you need to buy a shop. Some of the Champions will help you move your cloths and supplies to it. When you feel the city is safe enough, return to your work."

"Marks?" the tailor asked. "That I have not earned by honest labor? I'm not like you, whore—"

"Did I not tell you I was through warning you?" Jack said angrily as he stepped in front of Daniel, who had flinched away from the tailor and grown silent.

"Calm yourself, King Highborn. You've defended your pe—your wedded consort well enough. Go on. Get to your wedding feast and leave me to see how I can help these poor fools, how I can earn the marks before I take them from the temple."

"You're the one who's leaving," Jack said angrily, one fist raised. "I don't give a fuck where in the temple you go, buddy. But get the hell away from this area and right-the-fuck now. Nirrti's fucking laws are done and over with. I'll kick your ass and nobody, I mean nobody is gonna judge me for it."

Finally, the tailor turned to look straight at Jack. His strong jaw jutted out and he hesitated for a moment, and then suddenly stepped back, his eyes wide open in wonder at Jack's raised fist. "So it's true." He shook his head and then took several more steps away. Then he turned and crossed the temple, going silently to the Sky who was lying in the gallery area of the worker caste. He knelt by the man's side, bending low to whisper comfortingly to him.

Jack put an arm around Daniel again and watched the tailor. "Think he's gonna be more trouble?

As the two men watched, the tailor drew a light blanket over the reclining man and then moved on to speak with a Sky who was huddled, dejectedly on a bench nearby. He sat by the veiled man and after a hesitation, touched the other Sky's shoulder, patting him consolingly. Then he stopped a steward who was passing by and took a bucket of soapy water and sponge from the man. He went into the Sky hall with the cleaning supplies.

Daniel shook his head. "I think he's trying to earn the marks he'll need to buy a shop."

"Yeah, well, good. And Lemmel, get your ass up off the floor. It's time to eat. If anyone asks you what time it is you say it's time to eat, got that?"

"Aye, master. Time for my master to eat. Time for my master's wedded consort to eat too, as I think?"

"Yeah. So let's get ourselves over next door and see what a wedding feast looks like."

"Aye," Lemmel said with a hearty nod. He scrambled to his feet, carrying Daniel's wedding veil. He still had on the black clothing he'd worn to infiltrate the temple guardians. With his black hair and clothing, the wedding veil made a strong contrasting point of light.

Jack took Daniel and led him in Lemmel's wake. "That word I've heard twice now, you're my wedded what?"

"It means ... Well in English the word would be consort."

"Consort?" Jack asked, his eyebrows high in surprise.

"You were expecting it to mean wife?" Daniel asked angrily, tugging against Jack's hold on him.

"No, I meant I was just ... Yeah, well, but consort. That's like for royalty. I'm not king of anything. But I do love you."

Daniel clamped his lips in a firm line, and stopped resisting Jack's hands. Discreetly he brushed moisture from under one eye.

Lemmel walked before them toward the main entrance to the temple, but didn't get far when Balin called to the small group from the archway that had housed the long viewer.

"House! The way be open now. Come, as it be a new way and right for the Nyrnortvegr to show us how to walk it."

"Aye!" Aegis shouted agreement.

The dressed marble in the archway had been removed and the stones that had once blocked the passage were completely removed. Jack steered Daniel in that direction and stopped at the ring of worker caste and the few Highborn men who surveyed the opened archway.

"Fast work," Jack said with approval. "So you guys can slip back and forth between the temple and your hall to take care of folks over here better."

"Aye," Aegis said, his deep voice booming out across the expansive temple. "We've our rightful duty to protect the Sky caste and them that host and visit within Odin's great temple. All who come in the temple now do so at the discretion and invitation of the Skys only. Their Hosting Houses, any Champions who will serve—"

"And host," the tall Champion who was mated to a Sky interjected.

"And host!" Aegis heartily agreed. "Stewards who serve. No others unless a Sky so wishes. This way may any Sky come into the hall of Champions and receive what assistance, protection be needed. They have but to ask and our duty be to answer the call."

"Aye! Aye!" the throng that was gathered around the new opening shouted several times.

"Nyrnortvegr," Aegis said solemnly, then he paused and knelt on one knee. "It be for ye to show us the way by being the first to pass through."

All the worker caste men dropped to one knee, their heads now bowed.

"Me?" Daniel asked, his face in a firm frown. "No. You honor me, but you are wrong. I've delivered Odin's message. That's what I came to the temple to do. My duty here is over." He heard a rustling to his right and glanced that way.

The tailor stood there, his right hand holding his veil above his eyes. He peered intently at Daniel and then finally nodded.

Daniel lifted his own veil and returned the nod before dropping it safely in place. Then he turned back to the archway. He could see Heyerdahl peering through, wringing his hands in worry. Daniel flashed him a reassuring smile.

Aegis raised his hands and spoke again. "Then it falls to the one who be House to us all, the man who calls the Nyrnortvegr his wedded consort, House Ondeil to show us the way." Aegis peered up at Jack. "Ye now be the first House of the land. No other be before ye, House Ondeil. Show us the way."

"Uh, that's really swell of you there, Aegis. A nice honor and all that, but don't you remember which little squiggle I was standing on when Odin appeared? I'm the south, remember?"

"Aye," Aegis said, his face betraying his puzzlement. "Ye stood and represented the south as we did all see. And Odin was pleased."

"Yeah. South. So why would you guys think you'd need me to go through some door facing west? Into the hall of Champions?"

"Ah!" Aegis shouted. "Our House be wise! Aye, we are the west. Champions, one and all, we make this new pathway to better serve who Odin has charged us to serve. And the west be my friend, my former comrade in training. Balin!"

"Balin!" Several strong voices shouted out.

Balin had knelt with the others and now looked up at Jack. His dark eyes were sharp and his shoulders broad. He stood, flinging his cape back to lie in folds down his back. The flickering light of lanterns and the beams of sunlight from newly uncovered windows glinted off his horned helmet, the buckles and studs in his leather, and the pommel of his great sword. "Aye. West, we have said, tradition and honor be the ways of a Champion."

"West!" shouted Aegis, and was joined by the other Champions in the temple. "Then through?"

"Sky?" Heyerdahl called through the opening querulously. "Aren't you coming to your wedding feast? There's so much food here. So much ... "

"Soon," Daniel said gently and gave the nervous man another reassuring smile."

"Then that soon should be now," Balin said heartily, "so as my House does not grow too weak with hunger that he cannot properly bed his wedded consort come the setting of this day's sun!"

"Uh," Daniel objected, but his voice was drowned out by the shouts and cheers of all the men around them.

Jack turned to his lover, leaning close until his ear rested by Daniel's lips.

Daniel grimaced. "They're not really noticing me sexually, are they? This is about you, their House. So I guess it's not exactly ... " He finished by shrugging and then running a hand down his summer veil where it hung over his naked stomach, draping his groin in an extra layer of protection.

"Okay, if you say so," Jack whispered.

As their intimate exchange drew to a conclusion, Balin approached the newly opened archway. He squared his shoulders, coming completely to his intimidating height. With his helmet on, the archway would clear his head by about a foot. He took a step toward the archway and then another. With two more strides, he was through the opening and then he turned back to regard the others. "Come, Lemmel, my bonded mate. Join me and wait at my side for the House of Nortvegr and his wedded consort."

Lemmel did not hesitate, but strode smoothly, gracefully through the opening and stopped at Balin's side. Then Balin unclasped his cape and fanned it out on the dusty, rubble-strewn floor of the archway. He bowed, in the tradition of House Ondeil, and waited.

Jack took Daniel's hand, holding it out for all to see, but with his palm up, Daniel's palm down and led his lover through the opening into the hall of Champions.

"Consort to the king," Daniel whispered aside to Jack.

With his face tight, it was apparent that Jack was trying to contain a laugh. It burst out and he covered it convincingly with a little cough. "Dusty," he added to seal the deception.

Lemmel bowed too as Jack and Daniel passed him.

"Food!" Jack almost shouted as he caught sight of the banquet table ahead. "Woo hoo! Finally. And there better be pie! That's all I've got to say on the subject. Pie without sawdust." He led Daniel around to the other side of the table and finally chose two chairs that were close enough to the pies, and not too far from one of the steaming platters of roasted meat. With Daniel seated beside him, Jack scooted back in the uncomfortably high chair and began snatching at food, piling Daniel's plate too full before choosing a generous helping of meat and non-nutritious, green seed pods for himself.

"Balin, grab a chair!" Jack commanded, having to shout to the Champion who was still by the arched entry way.

"Lemmel," Daniel said softly, glancing around amid the inpouring of Champions and Highborn coming to the banquet table. "He's been working all day, Jack. He should—"

"Balin!" Jack called again, "my desire, my consort wants Lemmel to eat with us. He's not going to be happy unless the kid's getting to feast too. Got it?"

"Aye, House!" Balin shouted back. "Though the banquet table," he paused and eyed the yellow floor. "There be nothing for it then, as our House has spoken, Champions!" Balin leaned over and grabbed Lemmel about his waist. He hoisted the lad on his shoulder and then strode out onto the yellow, marble floor. Champions and Highborn stepped out of his way as he walked the length of the table to stop directly across from Daniel. Balin pulled the chair out, dropped Lemmel into it and then admonished him. "Feet off the floor, lad. Up, ye must hold them until someone fetches a box. Fetch that there," he ordered to no one in particular as he pointed at a nearby crate.

Heyerdahl scrambled to bring the wooden crate to him and Balin snatched it, belatedly bowed to Heyerdahl, then booted the crate under the table. He scooted Lemmel's chair to the table and then patted the shocked, silent steward on the shoulder. "All as it should be, House?"

"Yeah," Jack said, his mouth full. "Now, mmfh, grab a seat beside him. Park your ass, big fella."

"Heyerdahl," Daniel whispered to Jack.

"You too, kiddo," Jack said to the servant Sky, waving a knife in his general direction.

"Sit, ye must," Lemmel directed the Sky, pointing at a chair beside him where a Champion was already seated. The Champion rose and curtseyed to Heyerdahl, and then held the chair out for him. The big man sat in the next chair down and began offering food and drink to the stunned and somewhat frightened Sky.

People came and went during the feast. Champions rose to attend to matters, but often returned to eat and drink more as the afternoon wore on. Insults were slung from Champion to Champion. A few tall tales were spun, amid several retellings of obvious favorite adventures. The party was in full swing and Jack relaxed bit by bit.

He watched Daniel pick at the mountain of food on his plate, and sip gingerly at his goblet of wine. Balin left for a few moments and returned with the two-handled cup that had been used in the wedding ceremony. He filled it with wine and gave it to Jack. Jack drank some and offered some to Daniel. After sipping a little of the drink, Daniel leaned his head on Jack's shoulder and closed his eyes in weariness. Scooting all the way to the left of the high, hard chair, Jack put his arm around his lover, drawing him halfway out of his own chair and into Jack's lap. He cradled Daniel as he rested.

Jack had two pieces of pie, hand-feeding Daniel little bites of the delicious desserts as his lover continued to rest his head on Jack's shoulder.

"You too sleepy?" he asked as he pushed one more bite of pie on his lover, keeping him snuggled close.

"Mhm," Daniel said with a nod. "Tired."

"Wanna take a little nap? I think we should hang around for a while, but you could go lie down on one of the divans or a bed in the outer court."

"Yeah," Daniel said, raising his head from Jack's shoulder. He yawned.

"Lemmel," Jack said, trying to make himself heard across the wide table, but not wanting to shout over the happy revelers. "Come over here and show my Sky where he can rest for a while, okay?"

"Aye, House. As my Balin must return to carry me off the Champion's floor. My feet may not touch—"

"Ah, yeah. Forgot," Jack said. But before he could stand to help Daniel himself, Balin returned from his latest errand and grappled Lemmel into the same hold he'd used earlier, hoisting the low desert youth off the yellow floor and set him on his feet.

Heyerdahl scrambled in Lemmel and Balin's wake and the three circled the big banquet table almost neck-in-neck. Heyerdahl helped Balin pull Daniel's chair back and then walked on the nearly-unconscious Sky's other side as Balin brought him to Lemmel.

When he was in front of Lemmel, Daniel raised his arms. Lemmel scooped Daniel up in a cradling hold and carried him to a dark area in the outer court and laid him on a wide, backless divan. Heyerdahl handed Lemmel a light blanket from a nearby bed and Lemmel draped it over Daniel.

Jack watched all this, not surprised at how exhausted Daniel seemed.

"Be he ever so tired, House," Balin said.

Startled, Jack turned to the Champion who'd come to his side unnoticed. "Yeah. Been a long day. But more than that, he's tired inside. He hasn't really slept since Drangaskogen."

"I do not understand. How be a man tired inside? Ye mean his heart?"

"Sort of," Jack said with a nod.

"Ah. Then nothing for us to do for him, but it be ye who must give him rest for his heart, eh?"

"Yeah. That's kind of my plan. Not going home yet, not until he's able to make the trip. Or, really, until he's able to handle the arrival and what all that will mean. Questions. Debriefings. There will be so damned many examinations. He's not ready for any of that yet. After what the guardians did to him, he's sure as hell not ready for that."

"Guardians," Balin said darkly. He sank into the chair recently vacated by his House's consort. "One who worked the city gate refused to heed the decree. He was cut down for it. City sentries have bent to the will of the Champions, to Odin's way, and none the less for it, are they. No power lost from them this day, so as they supported the right of the Champions to behead the stubborn guardian. And then I've news a few moments ago of two guardians killed in a great hall of an inn not far from here. They spoke of fighting Odin's will and though armed, died with little bloodshed."

"We knew there would be violent resistance." Jack took a swig from the two-handled cup he'd shared with Daniel.

Balin nodded, his thick, unbraided hair rustling across his shoulders. "Aye. We of the Champion's hall have already faced the truth of it. To a man, I am proud to say, the Champions within the city have responded as honor demands. They've done duty where it should, and will do duty into the night until each Sky within the city has been made as safe as possible. Tomorrow dawns a new day here. Odin's eye will slumber tonight as always but tomorrow he greets us each as deserving as we were proved to be the moment ye consort opened the Allfather's great ring. Our first dawn."

"Your first dawn?" Jack repeated.

"Aye. And ye consort, his exhaustion be troubling ye."

"Yeah. He's ... ill. I've watched it grow in him since Drangaskogen. Probably before then but like you told me when we camped by the road, I was refusing to see it, what this world had already done to him. I knew it was rough but he's always bounced back before. This ... I guess him watching me die so slowly, and really there was no hope this time. No sarcophagus, no other team-members on the way to rescue us. It hurt him. He was isolated. More and more. Instead of things getting better they kept getting worse. And when we got here, with the timetable threatening us, folks from Brooksmeet coming, it gave him no time to heal."

"Time he may have now, House. As ever time ye need."

"Yeah. Unless the Asgard end up letting the general know where we are. Then my Sky is screwed. I take him back in this condition and I know how his responses will be. He denies it and I do too, but his responses are sexual. When he wants you to do something he doesn't resort to reason. He flirts with you. Did it on the trip up here, remember? He touches people sexually to get by, to survive. That won't go over well with any military personnel, doctors or otherwise. It'll sink him."

"Sexual. I understand this that ye say. It be the way of the Sky caste. He be merely living as he should. To take the reins he strokes my thigh. To discipline my young lad he uses the power of his eyes, his body. It be his right and we grant it thus. Even in times when he would comfort me, he touches and kisses me and sore it does comfort me, House. My guilt from my dark past, he chose to blend it away and with sexual touches, and he does."

"Yeah," Jack repeated. "And that'll get him nowhere on Earth—Midgard. It'll get him thrown out of the program."

"Then he should stay and live here among those who worship him."

"Balin, he's not happy. He's not free."

"Oh," Balin said sorrowfully. He sank back in the chair, his head hanging low. "Ye know the right of it, then. What ye will do for him, this will I support. None will not support ye, as now ye be House to them all, above and before their own Houses."

Jack grimaced. He took a sip of wine and watched as a couple of timid Skys were escorted in through the new archway. They balked, but were encouraged by their worker caste escorts to come to the table and eat. Mounds of food remained and more was being brought in through the front door even now. People would be feasting here well into the night.

He twisted around and looked to see if Daniel was sleeping. The dark area was still as dark as it had been when Lemmel had carried Daniel into it, but now Jack could see several white-draped heads in the shadows. A handful of Skys were there, kneeling, faces toward Daniel's sleeping form. Dotted in among the Skys a few Champions, Highborn and stewards knelt, faces to the ground, waiting silently.

Troubled, Jack shifted to get a better view. As he watched, three more Champions drifted to that area and silently sank to the ground, prostrating themselves with the others. Suddenly Daniel gasped and jerked, sitting up on the wide divan. He clutched his veil to his lower face.

Lemmel raised up on his knees, laying a hand on Daniel's forearm. "Highborn, all be well."

Jack pursed his lips. "About a half hour," he murmured. "Par for the course." Then he looked at Balin, seeing the man's scowl still firmly in place. "He sleeps for maybe a half hour and then wakes up, sweating and shaking. Hasn't changed since Drangaskogen. Sometimes I wake up and find him sleeping on the floor or over on a chair. He knows he's waking me up with these nightmares so he tries to sneak away, let me sleep."

"How may we help?" Balin asked earnestly.

"Can't. Time," Jack said tersely. He watched as Lemmel smoothed the lower edge of Daniel's veil, draping it across his lap. "He needs time and maybe someone to talk to. I could send a message through to the Alpha site. Let George know we're all right, and tell him to only send Carter and Teal'c. That might help. My Sky would probably be able to talk to Teal'c. Those two got very close. Kel no reem and all that. Maybe Teal'c could meditate with him, or just let him talk."

"A wizard, this Teal'c?" Balin leaned toward Jack.

"Sort of. You could say so. He's a warrior. Not as big as you," he said with a smile, "but he holds his own with a bo. You'd like him. But I'm thinking Teal'c wouldn't have the reflexes I do. I respond when my Sky touches me too. I'd give him the reins or let him do any damned thing he wants if he touches my thigh."

"Aye," Balin said, giving Jack a firm nod. "Anything."

"Yeah. I need some parchment and a quill. I'm going to write a message, and then we're going to send it through the gate."

"Odin's ring, ye call the gate. The parchment and quill with ink, House." Balin slid from the chair and was gone.

Jack took another sip of the wine and then scooted the inconveniently big chair back so he could see Lemmel and his lover whispering together amid the crowd of prostrated people. The area was stuffed now, with Champions and stewards crowded tightly among the Skys and Highborn in order to give them room.

One of the Skys rose and Jack studied the man intently. In their veils they did all tend to blend together. If Daniel had not been in the center before they all gathered, Jack would have had trouble picking him out. But this guy had on distinctive bracelets. Blue stones interspersed with smaller gold beads gleamed on his wrists and ankles. His veil was a pale maroon as were his pants. This was the Sky who was hosted by a Champion. The big guy who rose onto his knees behind the standing Sky was most likely that same Champion, Jack realized. He watched as the Sky picked his way through the prostrate people.

"May I greet you?" the braceleted Sky asked.

"Um," Daniel faltered for a moment, and then wiped his eyes. He pushed Joslin's hands from his stomach and tugged his ankles out of Gruber's nasty hold. The two had never failed to be in bed with him every time he woke since Drangaskogen. "Yes," Daniel said, addressing his kinsman. "What is everyone doing over here?"

"I would share myself with you?" the Sky said, sounding unsure of himself now.

"A kiss?" Daniel asked. He drew back a little as the Sky knelt beside Lemmel and peered up at him. Then Daniel leaned forward, letting his lips touch the kneeling Sky's.

"Thank you. I was there when you spoke for Odin. In the temple. I saw your joining ceremony and was most moved by it."

"I see," Daniel said softly. "My joining with my desire."

"Yes," the Sky said, now bowing his head. He was wringing his hands, and then stopped the nervous motion, clutching his hands to his chest tightly. "My desire ... I have a desire that I love. I love him, a Champion. I would ... It has been forbidden, this love, as you know. We are not permitted to love them. They may host us, but not love us, the worker castes. And I ... I love him. I had seen joining ceremonies before and it hurts my heart." He drew a deep breath and was silent.

"Forbidden to love?" Daniel prompted him, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

"Yes. So wrong. So very wrong. But with the new ways, I had to ... Even if I am judged for it, my heart aches so much. I have to ask. The new way. May we love them?" he turned his face up to Daniel, pushing his veil back to stare naked-eyed at the seated man. "May he be my desire?"

"You're hosted by a Champion," Daniel said, a look of surprise on his face. "And forbidden to love him? But you do," He whispered, and stroked the kneeling man's cheek. "You love him as much as I love my desire."

"Yes," he said, his jaw firm, but his voice wavering. "I do love him and I want to know if that is still wrong. With the new way ... Are we free?"

"You don't need to ask me," Daniel said, giving the man a gentle smile. He kept his hand cupping the man's cheek and looked past him at the prostrate Skys on the floor around him.

"Kinsmen," he said, his tone soft and gentle. "Please, our kinsman here has a concern that each of you must address. Here," he implored them. "He has something to tell you."

"Oh! I ... I could not—"

"Tell them what's in your heart."

The kneeling Sky turned to look around him. Other Skys rose up, most hesitantly, a few eagerly, rose up onto their knees and looked intently at Daniel and the kneeling man.

"Yes?" Heyerdahl asked. "What is in your heart, kinsman?"

"My Champion. He hosts me and ... I would like to know if our new way permits ... love."

A sob tore from the throat of a nearby Sky. He bowed forward, hiding his face in his hands. Another Sky responded the same way, echoing the sad crying of the first man.

"Love? Are we permitted?" a veiled Sky asked. "Are we free?" he asked Daniel.

"You must answer that question," Daniel said firmly. "Each of you must answer it for yourselves."

"Free?" Heyerdahl echoed.

"Free to mate with the one I love?" the braceleted Sky asked. "I want to ... I want to step through Odin's ring with him. I want to be bonded to him and let all know."

Daniel smiled and stroked the man's wet cheek again. He was crying, but appeared firm in his commitment to his desire.

"Free?" the tailor Sky said. He knelt at the back of the gathering.

Daniel looked back, meeting the man's gaze, surprised at his presence.

"Free," the tailor repeated, this time having no questioning tone in his voice. "I am. I'm free. I'll answer that question for myself. I'm free now. I can leave the city if I want to. I can go where I want. I can own my clothes! I'm free. I can make what I want and own what I earn. I'm ... " his voice faltered. "I'm free," he finished weakly and then sank back onto his heels and removed his veil, letting it hang around his neck.

"Me, I'm free to own a place," a Sky near Daniel said. "My inn. I run it but I don't own it and I will now. I have the marks for it. I can own it and run it as I see fit?"

"Am I free to have this bonding ceremony? Step through with the one I love? I'm free to love him?" he demanded of Daniel.

"Answer that for yourself," Daniel urged him.

"But with no guardians who will oversee the bonding ceremony?" he asked.

A grin flickered across Daniel's features. "Already thinking it through, aren't you? Didn't take you long at all to decide. And that's a good question. Who will arrange and oversee the ceremonies?" he asked, raising his head to address the kneeling men around him.

"Champions," one Sky answered loudly. "They will. Stewards. The ones who are here with us now. They treat us ... " He grew silent, at a loss for the right words to explain his feelings.

"Friendship!" the tailor sky shouted. "They give us friendship and we should give the same. Free men give what they receive."

Daniel smiled gently. He reached up and wiped at his cheek, only then realizing his eyes were tearing. This felt too much like being on an emotional roller-coaster. He was sleepy, bone-tired. Everything hurt. Not inside, but outside. The voices, the looks. The words spoken and the feelings behind them, it all hurt him. He needed deep sleep that wouldn't come no matter how exhausted he was. Even in sleep he couldn't escape the ghostly feel of Gruber and Joslin. Since arriving in the city they were often joined by faceless guardians, always touching, pulling, restraining him every time he woke, every time he tried to rise from bed, or from a chair.

This morning had taken every bit of his strength. To keep himself calm and get through the ceremony, to face the task of unlocking the altar around the DHD, all of it had drained him. Daniel closed his eyes and felt himself swaying.

"Rest now," Lemmel whispered, his voice so soft it was almost lost amid the soft rustling noises of the Skys surrounding Daniel's sleeping place. He gently supported the barely conscious man to lie back on the padded surface. The dimly lit area grew quieter after some of the prostrate Skys rose and left. Others began to drift in and fill the empty spaces.

Out on the yellow marbled floor, Jack watched his young steward surveying the people, seeing the mixture of Highborn and worker caste side by side. Over the mass of people that separated the two men, Jack's eyes locked with Lemmel's soulful gaze. Lemmel smiled reassuringly at him and nodded. Then, as if to reinforce his nod, the low desert youth ran a hand gently down the light covering that draped over Jack's sleeping lover. Jack knew the steward was telling him that his wedded consort was safe and well cared for. Lemmel's life rested on that promise.

Balin had brought the writing implements, Jack realized. He'd left them at Jack's elbow when his attention had been focused on Daniel. He picked up the quill and dipped it in the pot of ink.

George would need to know some things. Not everything. Just the basics, like usual. Jack's reports often left many things out of them, things concerning Daniel. George knew that. When they'd returned from 1969 George revealed in private that he had already known about Jack's relationship with Daniel. Jack had found that out over a pint of Guinness sipped on George's back porch.

In 1969 the man had seen he and Daniel, had seen them together, the little touches, the whispered intimacies on closed-circuit surveillance. It hadn't been hard for George to put two and two together and come up with a gay sum. In 1969 George had just gone through the harrowing experience of his younger brother coming out during an Easter family gathering, and had been devastated at the anger and rejection his parents had shown. The very heterosexual, conservative Hammonds of Texas were not a gay-friendly bunch of folks. With that experience fresh in his mind, George had seen and understood things he otherwise would not have noticed.

But the day SG-1 had returned from 1969, sitting on George's back porch had been a day of revelation between the colonel and the general that had moved their friendship to a much deeper level. George had known he and Daniel would meet, end up in a sexual relationship and had known it from the first time he met Jack. And most importantly, had never once judged him negatively for it.

So it was time to be honest with George again. But this document would undoubtedly pass through many hands before it ended up on George's desk. It would have to be worded carefully, covertly. And there was the small chance that in the interval of their absence from the SGC that changes might have taken place in the command structure. If George were no longer in command, this note would be read by someone who would not understand the true meaning of all of it. That suited Jack's needs just fine.

"I need Carter and Teal'c," he murmured.

"Aye House?" Balin asked, turning back to the table.

"Nothing. Just thinking out loud. I'm sending this message to ... uh, Midgard, something to call two others to come here. I guess I'll have to tell Carter to arrive covered up. That'd be safest. But Teal'c, nothing special about the way he'd need to dress. He's a warrior. Probably fit right in here. Still, if the women behind the wall don't poke their heads out of their turtle shell soon, Carter could maybe do some negotiating with them. My Sky's not going to be up to it. Yeah. And George's gonna need some answers that I'm not prepared to give him. I can tell him there's a feudal government here that's getting on its feet after Nirrti got dethroned. That'll satisfy him. Tell him no on else is safe to come through the gate until further notice. Just the rest of SG-1 for now. And that we'll be back once things here are stable.

"Though, that's a lie and I'd rather George knew it. Stable. It's my Sky, Balin. I need the time for him, not for you folks."

"Aye?" Balin said with a questioning shake of his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'll tell George that the archaeologist on the team is working through a non-military issue related to Nirrti's effect on this society. Add something about it being like an Easter egg surprise. Anyone reading that will think it's a cultural thing. George will know the difference. He'll know that I need time and he'll give it to me."

"And ye summon minions from Midgard? Be they human or aesir?"

"Aesir? You lost me there, big fella."

"Aesir, House. A minion of Odin. A godling of the air, the sky?"

"Oh. They're human like me. Well, actually Teal'c isn't exactly human. Not really human at all. You'll like him, though. He's big-time into weapons. Let me get this thing scratched out on this parchment. Got something we can put it in to send it through the gate? And I'll need the gate address for this planet too. Can't forget that."

Jack went through four parchments, marking through words, leaking blots of ink everywhere while Balin brought him container after container to choose from. He settled on a three-foot long leather cylinder with a cap that fastened closed with a bone toggle and leather loop. The parchment slid in easily, and Jack drew his name and Hammond's on the outside of the container.

While Daniel slept, Jack had the temple emptied out. All the Highborn and worker caste waited in the east and west halls while Jack, with Balin at his side, dialed the Alpha site and pitched the cylinder through the standing ring of blue. Then he closed the gate.

Then Balin opened the eastern curtain and pulled the tapestry down that he'd hung over the western way. People returned to the work they'd been doing inside the two halls. Jack stood in front of the DHD, his hand resting lightly on the edge of it as he gazed upward. He was admiring the newly revealed stained glass windows high on the walls. The temple was bright now; such a strong contrast to how it had been when he'd arrived here to marry Daniel.

He'd stepped in here with trepidation but with confidence that Daniel would find a way to unlock the altar covering the DHD, would find a way to open the gate again, as he'd done so many times in the past. Jack looked at the marble floor he'd trod, holding Daniel's hand high for all to see, all to witness that he'd come here to marry the veiled man. Jack swallowed. Daniel had trod barefoot across that marble floor, never hesitating a moment, never faltering in his path at Jack's side. Daniel had such confidence in him!

Letting his fingers trail off the DHD, Jack walked around the naquadah object. He stepped over the inlaid marble design that spelled out the gate address for this planet, and moved up the steps. He stood within the stargate, gazing to his right and following the curve upward, over his head and down the other side. It was immense at times, and so very small at other times. Such a thin slice of metal, such a small distance from one side to the other. And it could take a man across the universe in the blink of an eye.

That's how Daniel was. Just one man. And yet, in his arms Jack was transported to another plane of existence where time wasn't the same, where space was bent another direction. When Daniel's arms encircled him like the stargate was encircling him right now, Jack felt as if he could stride across galaxies in a single step. He felt taller than this gate, stronger than the naquadah it was made from. He felt like Odin.

And what was Daniel? A furling, whatever that meant. If the Asgard were right. Maybe they were dumping a load of bull shit on him. No. The Asgard didn't need to bull shit anyone. Jack shook his head. Catherine Langford. The first time he'd met that strong, old woman was deep under the mountain. She'd let him know the stargate was her project. She didn't bull shit either.

One night on a mission Daniel had talked to Jack about her, told of his first meeting with her outside a conference. It was pouring rain. She'd spoken to him in her limousine, showed him a picture of himself as a young child. As he'd listened to Daniel's happy voice, Jack had thought it was odd Catherine would have had such a picture. Who shows up to interview a scientist and brings along a baby picture of the guy? He'd questioned Daniel about it, but gotten no explanation, no possible reason for her to have such a picture instead of, what would be more likely, something taken during a field expedition or something from an article he'd published in an academic journal or at some university function. But a picture of him when he was about two years old?

It made sense now.

Shaking his head in wonder, Jack moved down the steps. He was unaware of the furtive glances he received from several men and the outright stares from the rest in the temple. Their euphoric, worshipful gazes followed him as he left the airy space and went back into the Hall of Champions, back to Daniel's side.

Chapter 38 Wedded Consort

Back in the Hall of Champions, Jack strode along the table, marveling at the capacity these huge people had for food. There were more Highborn in the hall now, easily twenty seated along the banquet table. More were in the alcove, kneeling or with faces to the floor. Jack peered past some of the quiet revelers but couldn't get a clear view of Daniel. He walked to the end of the table and around to the other side, then started up toward the dark area where Lemmel had put Daniel to bed. The respectful murmur of the people behind him faded away as he drew within a few feet of the gathered crowd who knelt in silent vigil around his lover.

Pausing for a moment, Jack peered behind him. The hall was hushed. It had been ever since Daniel had laid down. No loud voices rang out. No music played, but still the mood was jolly. He saw many broad smiles, saw many men leaning close in jovial conversations. Laughter showed on faces, but did not bounce off the walls as it had the first night he and Daniel had stepped into this spacious hall.

Even those not kneeling around Daniel were aware of him, were aware enough to know he was sleeping. Or, Jack amended, trying to sleep. Daniel jerked awake and bolted up just as he had several times a night since Drangaskogen. Another nightmare had grabbed him. Was it the after-effects of the drug? Or perhaps it was dark memories chasing him.

Maybe Jack was doing the wrong thing by keeping Daniel here. Maybe he needed to get back to an Earth doctor, to see someone who might be able to rid his body of the nightmares. They'd put him in the psych wing and poke and prod. Maybe dope him up like they had before. Memories of seeing Daniel's grandfather, slightly glassy-eyed, a long-term resident of a mental hospital haunted Jack and he knew it haunted Daniel too.

If Daniel were locked up again he'd go nuts. Or he'd touch someone's thigh and try to take the reins. He would. He looked strong. He was able to walk tall and seem calm and in control, but Jack knew that underneath that placid exterior Daniel was an emotional cripple. Just like Daniel had said. And the truth hurt.

Jack rolled his lips inward and stepped carefully around and through the gathered throng. Lemmel was patting Daniel's head and lowering him back to the padded bedding. Jack stepped past more kneeling men and approached the foot of the divan. There was no arm on this end, just a rounded, soft side. Jack stopped when his knees touched the padding.

As Lemmel's hand left him, Jack saw Daniel sigh. Then he opened his eyes briefly and pinpricks of candlelight glinted off the whites. Jack hissed in a deep breath. Daniel was so fucking gorgeous!

He saw Daniel draw in a deep breath, his eyes half-lidded now and barely visible beneath the trailing edge of the veil. Then, as Jack watched, Daniel pushed the untied veil back off his head to lay across the cushion under his hair. Unveiled, Daniel's sun-bleached hair fanned out across the pillow.

He pulled the cover to the side, revealing his legs, naked except for the strip of cuff at his ankles and the small patch of the low-riding pants at his groin. Daniel let his legs fall apart. Then he slid one hand up over his stomach, pushing his fingertips under the hem of the thin shirt. He kept sliding that hand upward, and pushed the shirt above the dark rings of his areolas.

Jack hissed in another tight breath through clenched teeth. He flicked his gaze down from Daniel's revealed nipples, down his flat stomach, to the bulge of his tied genitals. He kept going, raking his gaze across Daniel's legs, down to his naked feet. Still barefoot! He was still barefoot from entering the temple at noon.

And gorgeous.

Barefoot. There was something so vulnerable about Daniel when he was barefoot. Vulnerable and sexy, Jack knew. He licked his lip and watched. The reclining man bent his knees, bringing his feet up flat on the divan. Then slowly, inch by inch he slid his feet higher, letting his knees fall farther to the sides. His eyes were locked with Jack's own.

Jack met his gaze brazenly. He put one knee on the divan himself, leaning forward between Daniel's spread legs. With his eyes meeting Daniel's, Jack spoke. "Lemmel, get a curtain. A sheet. Something. Hold something up between this bed and them. Make me some privacy."

The quietest scurrying happened to Jack's left and behind him, but he didn't spare a glance away from Daniel's intense gaze. He crawled up the divan, noticing that indeed Lemmel had obeyed. The lighting dimmed almost instantly and the sound dampened a little bit too. They were surrounded by walls of brown muslin on three sides, and the stone outer wall of the temple on the fourth.

Jack advanced until he was kneeling over his lover. "Wedded consort," Jack whispered, keeping his voice low and contained behind the curtains of muslin.

"Your wedded consort," Daniel agreed with a solemn gaze.

Jack propped himself on one hand and used the other to unfasten the lacings on his pants and the fancy jerkin he'd worn for the auspicious occasion. He had to rise up on his knees when the lacings and toggles got difficult. Then he dropped lightly back down, kneeling inches above Daniel's nearly naked body. Though Jack had loosened and unfastened everything from thigh to neck on himself, he was still more dressed than Daniel.

"Beautiful," Jack said.

"In a classic way?" Daniel asked, his face placid, almost emotionless.

"Classic," Jack echoed. "But tell me how you're feeling."

"Touch me and find out," Daniel whispered, his eyes sparkling with extra moisture.

Bending his elbows, Jack brought his body down to skim against Daniel's naked flesh. His cock hung down between them, the dark head brushing lightly against the bulge of Daniel's tied groin. In response, Daniel lifted his legs, bringing his knees up behind Jack's elbows. This drew their bodies in contact more.

Daniel snaked a hand down between them and untied the knot of his pants and the ribbon of his underwear. He hooked a thumb in the low waistband of his pants at one hip and pushed down. The pants slipped around, off the lower half of his ass, bunching below his balls. With those two bits of cloth untied, with that small tug of fabric, he was open to Jack.

"Baby," Jack whispered. He closed his eyes and brought his lips to Daniel's.

The kiss was chaste at first, merely a brushing of dry lips. Jack opened his mouth, wanting to deepen the kiss. He tasted Daniel, tasted the pure essence of the beautiful man. Then Daniel's lips parted. Jack ran his tongue between those open lips, slipping inside, feeling the warmth, the moisture that he'd missed so much.

On this planet they'd kissed so rarely. How different that was than the few stolen moments they had together on Earth. They'd had more sex here, held hands more but had so seldom kissed. Alone in the frozen desert at the southern continent they'd kissed maybe only once. Only once that Jack could remember. The first night Daniel had dug them a pit to sleep in. Just once in all those horrible days while Daniel watched Jack lose the battle against the cold, the venom.

Then endless weeks, months as Jack wasted away, were there more kisses then? Did Daniel kiss him as he lay unconscious? His body dissolving away to a skeleton? Did Daniel kiss him? Yes. Undoubtedly, yes. And he hadn't been able to return those kisses then. But he could now. Make up for all the loneliness and pain Daniel endured. Make up to him the anguish Jack had caused by his jealousy, his doubting, his unwillingness to see what Daniel was going through, to see what this world had done to him.

Jack groaned in anguish. His cock dangled limp below his groin. He was limp! He clenched his eyes closed and pushed himself up off Daniel. "Baby—" He couldn't finish explaining himself. Jack peered down at his lover but had to avert his gaze. He was limp!

"Yeah," Daniel said, his tone flat. "Yeah," he repeated, a quiver in his voice now. "I knew it. Inside I knew you'd—Even though you admitted you knew what I'd become, you aren't going to get past it, are you?"

"No," Jack said earnestly. He opened his eyes and stared down at Daniel. His lover turned his head away, moisture falling to the pillow by his wet lashes. "No, it's not that. I know what ... I know what you've been doing—"

"The whoring," Daniel interjected mercilessly.

"I know you've been prostituting yourself to keep me alive. But I also know I've hurt you."

"Oh. This is about you, then." Daniel kept his head turned and closed his eyes now. More moisture fell from them. "About you."

"Yeah."

"And you didn't even notice I'm not hard either," Daniel said, his voice now tinged with anger. "That I'm not even close to getting that way."

"No, I didn't," Jack whispered harshly. "My God, how could I not notice that? Have I always been this selfish a lover? Have I always taken you for granted?"

"Oh, no," Daniel whispered vehemently. "No, Jack. You've always been the most wonderful—Oh, God, this is so horrible. I can't be good enough for you right now."

"You are," Jack objected. "Nothing you say or do will ever make you not good enough for me. We're both too raw right now. We're both—This isn't the time or the place."

"Our wedding night," Daniel said, his voice cracking with a macabre chuckle. "Never have had much luck with wedding nights, but I guess you know that. You were there for my first one, too."

"Oh, baby," Jack whispered, easing himself down to his lover's side. He wrapped one hand across the top of Daniel's head and pulled him close.

Daniel folded his arms against his chest and huddled in Jack's embrace. He drew his legs up in as near a fetal position as Jack's grasp would allow.

"Yeah, I was," Jack whispered, his lips brushing against Daniel's temple. "I was right outside with Feretti and Ska'ara. Kasuf came strutting by, the proud father of the bride. It was ... " Jack shook his head and smiled, "strange. Had no idea what all the fuss was about. But then the next day I found out they'd given you the chieftain's daughter?" He chuckled and rubbed Daniel's back. "I could just picture the look on your face when you figured that out."

"Chicken man," Daniel said, his voice carrying a matching note of amusement. "That's what you called me."

Jack chuckled. He rubbed his lover's shoulders and then curled one hand around his cheek. With his thumb, he wiped moisture from the man's lashes, smearing a bit of the kohl makeup. "And now, if I lose you around this place I can ask if anyone's seen my wedded consort. Much better."

"Is it?" Daniel asked, the light tone gone from his voice now.

"Yes," Jack said decisively. "Much better."

"Maybe. But I haven't been hard since Drangaskogen."

"Not even once?" Jack asked in alarm.

"Not even in the mornings. Or, before you ask, not even when Lemmel helps me take a bath or shaves me. Nothing."

"Is that why you're not sleeping with me? I thought it was because of the nightmares."

"Nightmares," Daniel answered. "Hate waking you up. You need your sleep."

"You too. I'm recovered. I'm back to my fighting weight. You need the rest now, baby. I need to take care of you for a while."

Wordlessly, Daniel burrowed his head in the crook of Jack's neck.

On his side now, Jack could see the sheets of cloth being held up around them. Tall men were on the other side of them, he could tell. Dark fingers curled over the top edges. People were being quiet. They were assuming—Jack swallowed. "They're assuming we're making love in here."

"Wedding night," Daniel whispered. "You're supposed to ... " He shook his head, causing some of his hair to rub under Jack's nose.

"Yeah. I'm making love to you, just not sexually. Well, yeah. It is sexual. We're both half naked. That's sexual. But more importantly I'm holding you. And I got to kiss you. I'm a hell of a kisser, you know."

"Hell of a kisser," Daniel said, a smile creeping back into his voice. "Always have been."

"First time I kissed you, remember that?" Jack asked.

"The first time was in your house. You'd had a lot of beer. You tasted of beer."

"Ah," Jack said with a grimace. "Not exactly what I would prefer you have as the biggest, strongest memory of that moment."

"It isn't. Not the beer. It was the sensation of a man's arms around me. You really took possession of me that night. Sam and Teal'c had only left moments before. Pizza boxes and beer bottles scattered around your tidy living room. It was kind of surreal, wasn't it?"

"Kind of," Jack agreed. "I had been wanting to do it all night."

"I knew," Daniel whispered. "I saw it in your eyes, the way you kept watching my ... ass." He chuckled softly.

"Really?" Jack asked in surprise. "We all kind of think you're oblivious to that sort of thing."

"How could I be? One of my specialties is anthropology. I don't have a doctorate but I did a great deal of study in the field. Observing people is a vital part of—"

"But sometimes you—"

"Yes. All right," Daniel agreed, his tone much lighter as he acquiesced. "I get a little focused some times and miss things because of it. Or ignore them intentionally."

"But you don't ignore me," Jack said with pride. He smiled as he pressed his lips to Daniel's temple again.

"I don't ignore you, Jack. Even when you're issuing orders I have no intention of following, I don't ignore you."

"Ah. I think I'm flattered. Not sure, but I think I am," Jack said, sounding confused. "So when some woman comes on to you and you seem oblivious you're not really?"

"A lot of the time I'm not really oblivious," Daniel said with a nod.

Jack shifted, rising up on one elbow. He slid a hand down Daniel's exposed ribs, feeling their prominence. Then he traced a finger across the bunched waistband below his hips. "Mind me touching you for a bit?"

"You're asking first?" Daniel said, sounding defensive.

"I've had trouble with the asking part lately, haven't I?"

"Not just lately. Back home did you ever really ask? I mean I'd come over and we'd end up in your bed. I don't remember there ever being any asking."

Jack frowned and stared down at his booted feet, at Daniel's bare toes against the slick leather. "No. Guess I never do. Not just slacking off now, am I? Didn't ask you back then, still not asking now."

"Except you just did. That shows how much our relationship has deteriorated."

Jack's frown deepened. He let his gaze wander back up Daniel's body, pausing on his exposed nipples. "Deteriorated? I'm trying to be more respectful. I've touched you in the past few weeks and gotten ... anger."

"I'm sorry," Daniel whispered, his eyes locked on Jack's profile. "I had no right to be angry with you."

"You were, though. I was groping you and you weren't in the mood. I need to know if you're in the mood. I can't figure that out now. I used to be able to."

"Can't now? Why? What's different?"

"You always look ... ready," Jack finally said. "I mean, like you'd be receptive."

"Always?" Daniel asked. Then he drew in a sharp breath. "Always? Like a whore?"

"Oh God, baby." Jack shook his head and pulled Daniel to him. "I'm sorry."

"Slut," Daniel murmured against Jack's skin. "That's how I behave. No wonder those bastards raped me in Drangaskogen. No wonder—"

"No, baby," Jack protested, but his earnest whisper was drowned out.

"I caused it. The way I am. I can't go home like this, Jack. I can't. You were right when you called me an emotional cripple."

"Shush," Jack hissed gravely, stroking Daniel's hair firmly. "Shush. We'll get through this together. We will."

"If I had just given them what they wanted they wouldn't have drugged me. Poisoned me. Why not? I've let so many of them fuck me. What's two more? Twenty more. But that's what you were so angry about. You thought I'd let them. It would have been better for me if I had. But you'd hate me more then, wouldn't you?"

"Sky, I don't hate you! More? How could I feel more of something I don't feel at all? I love you. All. Completely."

Daniel twisted in Jack's embrace, turning away from the man. He tugged his low-rise pants up above his cock and hunched tighter into a fetal position.

Jack lay firmly against his silent lover, feeling him cry noiselessly. Emotional cripple? Hell. He stared down their enmeshed bodies, taking in Daniel's defensive posture, and his own achingly hungry pose. He wanted Daniel. Wanted him now. Sexually, emotionally, any way possible. He just wanted Daniel.

Slumping back to curl tighter around his lover, Jack studied the sheets the big worker caste men were holding up. He could see fingertips over the top but the lighting had grown dimmer, the sound more muffled. Then he saw one curtain move. It was being pulled up over something. A solid object had been sat on that side. Lemmel or someone had brought wooden paneling to surround them. They could stay here in privacy. A curtain hung in place across the opening a few feet from the foot of the backless divan. There was a doorway there now.

People were probably still kneeling outside. Jack would have to do something about that. Daniel seemed unable to. He'd have to take care of Daniel for a while, give him time to heal, give him the care and nurturing Daniel had given him all those horrible months in the southern half of the continent. Yeah. Time to take care of Daniel now. Not like he had on the trip north. Not like that. Yelling at him. Locking him up. Keeping him more and more isolated. Not trusting his judgment or ... his well, what was it? His faithfulness.

Jack grimaced. Faithful. That was not something he ever thought he'd need from another man. Man to man sex wasn't about that for Jack. It was about buddies having a good time. Daniel in his bed. Daniel giving himself over to Jack's needs, Jack's wishes. The one place where Daniel didn't ignore him, didn't question him, didn't challenge him. In Jack's bed.

He tightened his grip and rocked his lover.

But it wasn't about following Jack. It was about them both being happy in each other's company. No demands. No command structure. Daniel on the bottom. Jack on the top. Exit only. Exit only, Jack mused. A one way street. Jack on Daniel.

"Damn," Jack swore softly. "Was that wrong? The way we were together back on Earth?"

"No," Daniel whispered, his voice barely audible. "We were good together. I liked it, what we did there. It was good."

"Then can we figure out a way for things to be good between us now? Please," Jack added.

"I'm your wedded consort," Daniel answered.

"But what does that mean?" Jack asked, rising up on his elbow again. "What does it mean to you? Not my wife, you've said that often enough."

"Is that the only way you can relate to a mate? To think of me as a wife?"

"Yeah. Only way I know how. Can you show me another way?" Jack asked honestly.

"I don't think so. I'm too emotionally crippled right now. And I'm not saying that to be facetious. I'm empty."

Jack leaned down and kissed Daniel's temple. "We've got time. Time for you to show me what you can and time for me to figure out the rest. Time."

"Figure something out then," Daniel said imploringly. "I can't get hard. What if I never can? What if you can never feel me get aroused when you're inside me. You always loved that, being able to look at my cock and see what you were doing to me. You said it was what made the sex so good for you. Different than with a woman. What if that never comes back?"

"We're going to take this one step at a time, baby. Worry about that stitch in time after we burn it."

"No wonder," Daniel said, relaxing his curled position. "No wonder Teal'c can't learn colloquialisms. You murder too many of them."

"Hey, he who laughs last gets the early bird."

"That doesn't even make sense." Daniel turned his head and smiled up at Jack.

"But it's getting me turned on. That or rubbing up against your half-naked hip. One or the other. Bad metaphors or your naked body."

Daniel flashed him a dazzling smile. "Wanna consummate the marriage? We're supposed to consummate it. You have to bed your blushing bride."

"You gonna blush for me?" Jack asked brightly. "I would like that. Blush for me, lover. Can I pull your pants down?"

Daniel giggled at the lewd question, his eyes squinting in the dim light. "If you want. All the way off if you want. Have me however you want."

"I want you naked in bed with me. Someone put up some walls around us. We have privacy. Naked. Want to make me naked?" he asked hopefully.

In response Daniel rose up on his knees and began pulling Jack's clothes off, but Jack stopped him, holding his wrists gently. "If you want. If you feel like it."

"Not because I feel it's expected of me," Daniel said with a firm nod. Then he gently pulled from Jack's restraining hold and finished stripping his lover.

With just a few tugs, Jack had Daniel naked and they sprawled back amid the shed garments. The divan was huge, almost as wide as Jack's big bed back in Colorado. They entangled themselves, limbs amid limbs on the soft cushioning.

Jack ducked his head and licked one of Daniel's dark nipples. He got a delicious hiss from his lover. "Like that, do ya?" Jack asked jauntily. "Got more where that came from." He licked again, and then drew the hard nub in between his teeth and gave it a gentle, suck.

"Like it," Daniel said between gasps of pleasure. "Like your mouth. Because it's you."

"Mmm," Jack moaned. Then he rose up and peered down into Daniel's eyes. "I just figured part of it out. What I like about seeing you get hard? It's because I like knowing what I do pleases you. Makes you feel good. I guess I'm not such a selfish lover. What I get out of it is the shared sense of feeling good. If we don't end up consummating the marriage that way—me in you—I'll be making love with you, making both of us feel good. In my book that counts as consummating things."

"Mine too," Daniel said. "Your touch, you touching me anywhere makes me feel good, Jack. I love being in bed with you, did you know that?"

"Knew it. Knew that the first night you spent all night in my arms. You woke up so damned happy that next morning. Remember that? Your hands holding onto me. A leg over my hips. You were wrapped up with me. Felt good. Always does." Jack ran his hands down Daniel's chest, feeling each rib, each pulse point. He trailed fingertips across his hipbones, pausing before going lower past the smooth-shaven groin to touch Daniel's flaccid cock.

"The few times we got to do that on Earth. Yeah. It did. And here, after you woke up. After you started recovering, I loved it. Sleeping with you. That's been the sweetest thing about this whole mess. Sleeping with you." Daniel's hands roamed over Jack's shoulders, coming down his arms and then skipping to his hips.

Jack's fingers curled under Daniel's hairless balls, toying with the heft, the softness. "Before I woke up from the venom," Jack said and then paused for a long moment. "Before I woke, did you kiss me?"

"Yes. When you were unconscious. I kissed you every morning, every night. I kissed you every time I had to leave you alone in a dingy, little room. I kissed you when I came back, fed you, got water down you. Kissed you." Daniel stroked Jack's cheek. He offered his mouth up for a kiss.

Jack dipped his head down, meeting his lover's request. He let his lips part, keeping them soft as his mouth melded with Daniel's. The kiss deepened gradually, their tongues playing together for a moment before Jack pushed in deeper, forcefully, searchingly. He breathed deeply as his lover met his intensity.

Trapped between their two bodies, Jack's cock grew turgid. He shifted back a little, straightening his growing erection and felt Daniel slide against him. "Blushing, remember. Don't forget to blush."

"Mmm," Daniel said into Jack's mouth, nodding slightly. "Blush—"

"Bl-shin—" Jack murmured. "That. Yeah. Going to consummate—"

"Oh," Daniel gasped out the word as Jack pushed him onto his back. In the blink of an eye, his legs were up around Jack's hips.

"Consum—" Jack clipped off the end of his word as he thrust his tongue into his lover's mouth. Then he rounded his back, bringing his hips down. He felt Daniel's fingers on his hard cock, the sensation almost too much to bear. Guiding him, that's what Daniel was doing. He often did that. Guiding him in. Jack felt the wrinkled texture of his target and pushed forward without hesitation. Daniel's hot body welcomed him with velvet softness. He sank in, reveling in the snug, dry heat of his lover.

"... consummate like never ... " Daniel's voice faded in and out as Jack thrust into him. A sharp grimace of discomfort flitted across his features, but was gone soon, the specter of a raping guardian shoved out of the way by Jack's warm presence.

"... deep, Jack. Like that ... first ... time when you did it without saying a word to me. Just took me to your bed. Oh, Jack! Yes!"

"Baby," Jack gasped out as he rode his lover's sweet body. "Make love with ... Not just doing it to you. With ... Oh shit, I can't last! Going to ... baby, no staying power tonight. Got to ... "

"Come, Jack. Don't wait for me. Fill me. Do it in me. Me, J--Jack. I want your cum. You give it to me. Me, you hear? Let ... Let me be selfish."

"Not self—Ah!" Jack shouted. His release overwhelmed him. He punched his hips forward hard and fast, feeling himself explode. Damn! It was like he was eighteen again! Fucking his lover like a hormone-crazed teen. Oh, damn it felt good. "Baby," he groaned out as the last jet of cum pulsed through the underside of his shaft. He felt the sensitivity reach the height of ecstasy and trip over into anguish. Jack stopped moving, stayed buried in his lover and rested his forehead on Daniel's. He was panting and sweating.

"God," he swore. "Damn, that was good. Needed that. Consummated the hell out of you, didn't I?"

"Yes, Jack," Daniel said with a satisfied smile. "Yes, you did. I have your cum in me. Damn, that feels good."

"You said damn. You never say damn." Jack shifted, letting more of his weight rest on Daniel. His arms ached.

"Yes. I said damn. I'm picking up your bad habits. Bad language. If it gets to be a problem we'll have to burn that bridge after we catch the early worm."

"Yeah," Jack said, his breathing still not under control. He grinned.

"I feel good," Daniel said. "I feel consummated," he added with another giggle.

"Good," Jack said. He rose up, dragging his overly sensitive cock out of his lover. "I gotta lay down."

Daniel scooted to the side and smoothed out the wad of clothing for Jack to lay down on. "Need me to get you something to drink?" He tried to sit up on the side of the bed, grimacing again as he had to pull away from Gruber's restraining hold in order to move.

"Nah. Yeah, maybe. I had a lot of wine earlier. Water would be good. I'm dry. You look beautiful." Jack reached out and ran a hand down Daniel's arm.

"Thank you," Daniel said, bowing his head. He shifted, arching his back and rubbing along his hip. Another grimace of pain flashed across his features but like the first, was gone quickly. The specter of Joslin remained, but he found the strength to ignore the unwanted touches. "I'm stiff. Water. Should I get dressed before I go out?"

"You should—" Jack stopped, clamping his lips together. "You should do what you want. All Skys are free now. Not just them, you know."

"True," Daniel said thoughtfully. He kept his head down. "I'll just peek out the curtain. I imagine Lemmel or someone out there could hand me a glass of water through the curtain. Ingenious," he added as he looked up and surveyed the walls that had been so silently constructed around them.

"Yeah. Dunno where this stuff came from."

"That's a cabinet there," Daniel said, pointing at one wall. "It was on the back wall of the Champion's Hall that first night we came in here. This section here is the back of a shelf unit I saw pottery sitting on. And over here, this is ... I don't know what that is. They've draped cloth over the other sides, that's sealing up any cracks. They made you privacy. I expect if you asked for a castle they'd have one erected by the end of the week."

"Cause I'm King Jack."

"Cause you just consummated the hell out of me," Daniel said frankly. "You're the House to all Champions now. You have all the power there is to have on this planet."

"Not you?" Jack asked, his face screwed up in puzzlement.

"No. I mean, yes. But I think you still own me."

"Don't own you," Jack argued.

"Do. In their eyes."

"Don't. Nobody's eyes."

"Jack," Daniel said, exasperatedly.

"Consummated the hell out of your ass though. I sure damned well did that! Gonna do it again but not soon. I'm beat."

"Want to sleep? I'll get that water and then we could sleep. The place is very quiet out there. Maybe the revelers moved into the temple."

"Yeah. Sleep. Gotta piss first."

"Don't you always? Come and then piss. You're like clockwork, Jack."

"Thought that was part of what you loved about me, Sky."

Daniel shot him a wide grin. "Yeah. That and the fact that you keep your toenails neatly trimmed. I don't want my legs scratched up when you wrestle with me in your sleep."

"Wrestle? I don't wrestle in my sleep."

"And you always have good breath."

"Well, you're right on that one. Piss, babe. I gotta take a piss. Chamber pot or outhouse, I don't care. I just gotta go now."

"Lemmel!" Daniel called, not bothering to get off the divan, not bothering to fight his way free of the hold the traders and the guardians had on him. Determinedly, he smiled at Jack as the older man scrambled to pull a bit of cloth over his softening cock.

"Aye, Sky?" Lemmel asked as he ducked his head in through the edge of the curtained doorway. "Ye be in need?"

"Highborn Jack needs drinking water. And he also needs a chamber pot if there's one handy. If not, where's the outhouse of the Hall of Champions?"

"Chamber pot, Sky. And drinking water within a few breaths." He was gone and back amazingly fast. The things had obviously been sitting just outside the doorway. Lemmel brought them in and knelt by Daniel's side. There was no table by the divan so Lemmel held the water glass and pot.

Relieved and rehydrated, Jack waited as his lover took a sponge bath with supplies Lemmel brought. Daniel washed Jack's groin with a damp cloth, smiling softly at him the whole time.

"All better," Jack insisted. "Sleep for a while now?"

"Yes," Daniel said softly. He crawled up the bedding and curled against Jack's side. Jack flicked the light covering over them both and was asleep almost instantly.

Chapter 39 Flux

The next day passed too slowly for Jack. There were constant demands on his time, taking him from the temple and from Daniel. With Balin at his side, Jack visited with the elders, refusing their repeated requests for an audience with Daniel. He checked in at Sven's city manor to see if all was okay there and found a throng of gawkers out front. Jack scattered them quickly, sending them packing without mercy. Balin hinted that they were there to feel closer to the Sky of House Ondeil, but Jack had no patience for any of it. Then he walked down to the stables to check on the horses. On his stroll back toward the temple, he caught way too many eyes gazing at him with naked adoration. He chose to be oblivious, a trick he'd learned from his lover.

"Picking up something from my Sky," he said to the Champion who matched his shorter strides so well.

"Aye?" Balin asked for clarification.

"Ignore people. He's pretty good at that."

"As all Skys be," Balin said with a firm nod. "Be their right to see only what they wish."

"Oh. Well, he's always been good at that."

"Come soon, they who ye summon from the old world?"

"Midgard? Yeah. A few weeks or so. They might be off-world somewhere. George'll need to get them a message, get things squared away. I hope this happens to be one of Teal'c's languages. Carter, it probably isn't. Won't make things too easy if they arrive here not knowing the language, now would it?"

"Nortvegr speech?"

"Yeah. Carter knows several languages, but this one's kind of strange. Teal'c though, he sure is full of surprises."

"A surprising warrior. Ye mention his name before, House. Teal'c of the bo."

"When he gets here—" Jack hushed as he stepped around a group of people.

Two worker caste women and a worker caste man were escorting a very timid-looking Sky toward the center of the city, probably toward the temple. This was most likely another one who was too scared to come in on his own. He was probably too frightened, thinking it was all a trick to get him in for a judgment.

As that thought flicked across his mind, Jack saw a guardian standing across the roadway, partially hidden in the shadows of a deep doorway. The gaunt man wore different clothing, breeches and a jerkin now, but he still had Nirrti's mark on his forehead. He was glowering boldly at the frightened Sky and the people escorting him so solicitously.

Jack faded back a step, feeling Balin silently follow his lead. He eased into a doorway himself, pressing back into the shadowed recess. Balin's blocky form barely fit in with him. Jack motioned for him to take off his helmet. Balin tucked it under the furling cape he wore and stared solemnly at the hidden guardian.

"Do ye see the shadow on his left? More than one guardian in that doorway, House."

"Two you think? Either of them makes a move, you get your ass out there and get between them and the people escorting the Sky. I'll go for the Sky, get him off the street, got it?" Jack whispered.

"Aye. Trouble, that one looks for. A dark heart in him. I see the hilt of a blade in his fist."

"He's tensing up," Jack said. "Ready—"

"Now," Balin said as he bolted past Jack. He bounded across the cobblestone street, making straight for the charging guardian. The marked man brought his right fist up, clutching a dagger as he charged the knot of people. Behind him another guardian, younger and more lithe, burst forth, wielding a lance.

Balin had no time to draw his own sword. He held his helmet out, fist inside the metal dome. "Halt!" he commanded, but didn't get any indication from the guardians that they'd heard. "Halt!" Balin shouted again, still charging straight at the lead man.

Jack scrambled around the door post and ran toward the target of the guardians. He shouldered his way effortlessly between the two women who were supporting the Sky, grabbed the veiled, blond man and kept going down the roadway. One of the women slipped and went down, emitting screeches of fright.

Sparing a glance over his shoulder, Jack saw the big man who'd been with the women turn toward the onrushing guardians. He drew a dagger and slipped to his right to better confront their charge. The woman who was still on her feet pulled out her personal knife and crouched to meet the attackers.

Jack grappled with the veiled Sky. "I'm here to protect you," he said urgently as he tugged the man into the next deep doorway. It was the entrance to a tavern, full now. Confused patrons within, aroused by the shouting, tried to leave but balked instantly when they saw the veil of the Sky blocking their path.

A loud clang in the streets drew Jack's attention again. Balin had used his horned helmet to smash the chest of the first guardian. One horn had impaled the man at the same moment he'd struck Balin with his dagger, sinking the metal deep into the Champion's shoulder.

Balin bellowed in anger and pain and kicked the man in the stomach. He jerked his bloody helmet from his assailant and then tore the blade from his flesh. He turned the dagger on its owner, plunging the bloody blade into the man's throat, sinking it to the hilt. He fell to his knees as the falling guardian dragged him forward in his death throes.

At Balin's right, the younger guardian brought the butt end of his lance around, striking Balin's temple before continuing his mad dash toward the worker caste man. The other's small blade was no match for the long reach of the lance. He was speared through his hip. Then the guardian wrenched his point free and ran toward the armed woman. She roared defiantly, feinting right and then dropping down and left. Fruitlessly, the guardian passed her.

Balin staggered to his feet and whirled on the fight between the woman and the guardian. He wiped blood from his eyes where the lance had opened a wicked wound in his head.

Jack shoved the Sky against the wall and pulled out his own dagger. Lemmel had armed him this morning, strapping a blade to his calf before letting him out the door. Jack silently thanked the young steward as he ran into the street. He reached the battle just as the woman dropped and rolled under the guardian's lance. She rose up, almost between his legs and drove her small blade up, entering his stomach, pushing upward toward his heart.

The guardian froze, still on his feet as his lance fell from his numb fingers. His face went instantly slack. Whether she'd pierced his heart or not, the wound she inflicted was a mortal blow. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell straight back as if he were a tree toppled by a logger.

Jack grimaced and went to her side. He helped her to her feet. The other woman was sobbing in a heap on the ground. Jack looked across the narrow roadway, seeing that Balin was standing on his own. The big Champion was clutching his shoulder, stemming a flow of bright blood from that wound as more blood leaked into his eyes. He walked steadily toward Jack, so Jack nodded at him, acknowledging that the big Champion was ambulatory.

He turned back to find the Sky he'd man-handled so badly. The veiled one had not moved an inch. No one was able to leave the tavern for fear of brushing against the Sky. Apparently the dethroned guardians had no such fear. Something would have to be done about them. Daniel wouldn't be safe on these streets.

Squaring his shoulders, Jack went to the terrified Sky. "Highborn," he said, trying to sound as gentle as possible. "Are you on your way to the temple? It's safe for you there. Lots of your kinsmen there. You okay?"

"House," the winded woman said as she joined Jack, "may we continue our journey? This young Sky ... we were assisting as we may. He be a friend of Odin and as such we all, even us worker caste, we may assist a friend. It be seemly to do so, our right to do so. To the temple, please House?"

"Yeah. You all right?" Jack asked the woman. "That was a good move you did, coming up under the lance that way. Good move."

"Aye and thank ye, House Ondeil."

"You know who I am?"

"Aye, as do all by ye colors. House Ondeil. Him, he be First Champion. First Champion, master swordsman, Balin. All within ye city know him. And foolish, dead guardians should have taken heed."

"Should have," Jack agreed. "Can you help the Sky get to the temple now? Or he could come with us."

"Me and my sister, we can carry him there if he so wishes, House. My uncle there, he done have a wound but the Sky needs me first."

"No. Go help your uncle. Balin and I can get this Sky to the temple, get Balin patched up there. He's bleeding like crazy. Head wounds always do that no matter how shallow they are. Come to the temple, come in and see me after you see to your uncle. I'd like to thank you more properly."

Jack turned back to the Sky but the woman drew his attention again.

"Come into the temple? Me? I be a woman, House. Sure as ye did see me wield a blade as well as a man, but then still ye see I be a woman."

"Yeah," Jack said over his shoulder to her. "Women can come into the temple now. You didn't hear about that? The women of the elder council already came in. If a Sky says a woman can come in, then they can. My Sky will want to thank you."

"Oh, Gods!" she said, her eyes open too wide now. "The Nyrnortvegr? Gods," she swore again, taking hasty steps away.

Jack shrugged, not sure if she was reacting in dread or delight. He focused his attention on getting the frightened Sky to come with him to the temple. Damn. He hoped he didn't have to carry the man. Balin was in no shape to do it, and this guy, though he was huddled low was almost six feet tall. Jack shook his head. Size differences on this planet were so screwed up. He'd seen Daniel carried so effortlessly over and over. It got hard to realize after a while, Daniel wasn't small. Neither was this guy. Not really.

Staggering slightly, Balin made his way across the road, swearing as he swiped blood out of his eyes and slung it on the cobblestones. "Nay, House. This should not go unanswered. All guardians must be looked at by our council now."

"Forget it for now, big guy. We need to get back, get your head sewn up and your shoulder hole plugged." Jack turned back to the cowering, veiled man. "Uh, my Sky ... your kinsman back at the temple, well, the place is full of your kinsmen. You were headed there, right?"

"No. I want to go back. Please. I was seemly. I was sleeping in the alley out of everyone's way. I take from no one. I don't steal food."

"Yeah," Jack said, bowing his head for a moment as he tried to think of the right words to say. Damn. Daniel'd know what to do. Offer the guy water and a journey cake no doubt. "I don't have any food with me. But you know back at the temple, well, there's a lot of food to share. Kinsmen can share food, right? So you could just come on with us. I can't really carry you and Balin's got a whacked head. He shouldn't, so could you just walk with us?"

"I want to go back."

Jack appraised the guy carefully. He wasn't dirty like Heyerdahl had been, but he was damned young. Still a teenager. Kid. This was truly a kid. "All right," Jack said, lying to the youth. "I'll walk you down to the center where the water fountain is, and after you get some water there, free, right? Then my steward will give you some food from my Sky and then you can leave. Let's go." Jack took the boy's upper arm firmly and pulled him away from the doorway where he'd been huddling.

"Not stealing food, eh?" he muttered but frowned when he felt the boy sag in his grasp. Damn. He felt panic freeze the kid. Jack put an arm around the kid's back, supporting him by his armpit as he forced the youth to walk beside him. "Sorry. The fountain is close now. Just a few more streets to cross. Come on. Then you can go back to whatever alley you've been living in. How do you keep clean, kid?"

"Water," the boy answered.

"Oh, of course. I'm not going to ask who you have a deal with to keep the clothes."

"They gave me ... the big man who was hurt. To walk to the temple they said. I had a blanket in the alley. I didn't steal it. Someone threw it away. I don't steal. The veil is mine."

"Of course it is," Jack muttered angrily. His anger was directed at Nirrti not at the kid but it was hard to contain the emotion that washed through him. Just a kid! "Been out of the garden long?"

"I'm seemly. Days. I don't know how many days I've been out among the big people. I'm seemly. The guardians test us and take us to be killed if we're not seemly. I'm seemly. Let me go, please."

"Yeah, I'll let you go after you get that water. You can go back to the alley," he lied.

Daniel had sounded the same way, insisting, almost begging the guardians to believe that he was seemly and yet they'd raped him anyway.

"Please," the youth pleaded, "I'm seemly."

Jack tightened his grip on the kid, one arm around his back and under his arm, the other holding the kid's wrist. Daniel's anguished cries--the same damned phrase--echoed in Jack's head.

"You're doing a great job of being seemly. Everything is just fine. Those guardians weren't after you. They were after the guy and the two women with you, I think. Yeah. Probably weren't going to hurt you. There's no more judgments in the city. That's over with. You heard there was a change in the law? The guardians have no power anymore."

"That can't be true. It's a trick. A test. I'll die if I believe you."

"Yeah, well I'm not asking you to believe me. You'll talk to other Skys, get the word from them." Jack clamped his lips in a firm line and hustled the kid through the streets. He'd drawn stares on his way out and was now drawing more on his way back to the temple. The city center fountain was just past the temple. If the kid in his arms knew that, Jack figured he'd have a little tug-of-war on his hands soon. As they got within sight of the temple, Jack made a straight line for it, not giving the kid a chance to look around. He was in luck. They were halfway up the stairs, well past where Nirrti's statue used to stand before the kid came out of his daze and went boneless with fright.

"Hey, need some help here," he called out to the gathering of Champions standing a post at the top of the stairs outside the huge doors. They'd kept a respectful distance until summoned, and then descended on the trio swiftly. Jack tried to hand the kid off to them but the boy got hysterical, clutching at Jack now.

"They won't hurt you. Your kinsmen are just inside those doors. Let these guys help you through—"

"Out of the way!" the tailor Sky bellowed as he trotted down the steps through half a dozen Champion. "Big clumsy ... Move aside, oafs. You're scaring the man to death."

"Just a kid," Jack said as the tailor wedged himself between the last Champion and Jack's burden. "Young. He was living in an alley. Folks who tried to bring him here got attacked." He maneuvered the terrified teen into the tailor's arms. "The kid's not injured, he's just scared to death. You explain things to him? Convince him that judgments are over, will ya?"

"Yes, yes," the tailor said impatiently. "Come with me, child," he said as he turned to usher the frightened Sky up the last three steps to the temple. "You're safe here. These big oafs won't do a thing to you—"

"And Sky," Jack said warningly, "lay off the name-calling. These guys don't deserve it." Jack smiled at the man as he turned back around, but he shook his fist, adding a warning to the too-wide smile.

From two steps up, the tailor glared down at Jack a moment and then nodded. He took the youth inside. Jack dismissed the Skys from his mind and turned his back on the temple doors to look at Balin who stood two steps lower, leaking blood all over the marble entry of the temple.

"Messy," Jack quipped as he leaned back to stare up at the only slightly taller man. The two steps between them had them almost the same height. "Wanna get that gash up there sealed nice or you need to make a big scar to brag about like Lemmel?"

"Sealed up," Balin said. "Or, do ye taunt me, House? Know ye perfectly well I have no need of scars for any to know how fierce I be." He wiped more blood from his eyes and then his gaze seemed to catch on something over Jack's shoulder.

In response to the sudden look of awe on Balin's face, Jack turned back to the temple doors.

Standing in the dark opening, was a knot of Skys. Tightly flanked by the blue eyed men was his lover, wrapped in a white cloth from head to toe. Daniel's arms, firmly holding billowing folds of the sheet were crossed over his chest. The material draped over his head, hanging down as a veil would to cover half his face. The end of it trailed on the marble floor. Where the cloth fell apart below his groin Jack could see he was naked. He licked his lips.

Some of the Skys around him were touching him, keeping a palm against his arm, the back of a hand against his hip, as if to ground themselves with his presence.

"You interrupted my bath," Daniel said softly, a smile playing across his lips. "Oh, but you've brought Balin back worse for wear. Lemmel won't like that, desire. This was just supposed to be a little stroll."

Behind Daniel, other half-dressed, wet Skys began to drift back, becoming more obscured in the shadow of the entry. They peered out under half-lifted veils or similar white sheets like the one Daniel was wrapped in. Some tilted their heads back to better see what Daniel was looking at.

"Come in Balin, and let me see to your wounds. You're bleeding."

"Aye, Highborn. I be of a bloody mess now. Not to trouble yeself with my own foolishness. Slipped when I should not have. Took a blade when it should have been avoided."

"Nonsense," Jack pronounced loudly. He shook his head and swallowed, gaining composure though half his blood supply was trapped in his cock. "It was a ... grand battle. Glorious and all that. Stuff of song and legend. Get your ass inside and get that cleaned up."

"Nay, House. No glory in running through such damned fools. And half the force was done by an untrained woman armed with naught but her personal knife. No glory in my part of the battle," Balin said brazenly. "Though, to clean this ... " He strode up the steps and knelt on one knee in front of Daniel, "my honor could not be greater than to have ye concern for my blood loss. That I give every ounce of it to ye goals for this fair city, this I would do gladly."

Daniel knelt, his knee touching Balin's. The cloth he'd wrapped around himself fell open up to his stomach, but his eyes were properly covered. "I think I'm tired of you kneeling," Daniel said calmly. "I think I need you to stand from now on, and if you don't, instead of thanking you, I'll start kneeling too."

A huge guffaw escaped Jack's throat. He clamped a hand over his mouth, but another loud guffaw burst forth. But his attention was drawn again to the half-seen Skys behind Daniel. There were about two dozen of them now, almost all appearing as if they too had just slipped out of a bath and come hurrying out draped in towels or sheets. They were kneeling too, silently copying Daniel's posture.

With a little grimace of disdain, Jack trotted up the three steps and laid a hand on the less-bloody of Balin's shoulders. "Got you there, doesn't he? Better get up quick, big guy."

"Alas, I cannot!" Balin said imploringly. "He must rise first or ... I cannot think of what to do."

"Yeah, take pity on him, Sky." Jack leaned over, resting his hands on his knees as he peered down at his lover. "And if you get up, then Balin gets up, well, then I get to take you inside and help you finish that bath. I'd really like that, desire," Jack whispered.

Daniel peered up at him, giving Jack an intimate smile. "I will. But if he does it again, down I'll go. I'm not a god that anyone needs to be kneeling to."

"Understood," Jack said, not hesitating to speak for Balin, as he would for any man in his command. He hooked a hand under Daniel's sheet-wrapped arm and tugged him up. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the other Skys, silent to a man, rise quickly and begin backing into the unseen depths of the temple. Though it was now more lit inside since the windows had been uncovered, the place was still darker than the sun-lit stairs outside. He squinted as he watched the pale, almost gossamer figures disappear.

Balin was stoic as he rose to his intimidating height. Jack spared him a quick nod, making sure the warrior was steady enough to make it inside unaided. Then he escorted Daniel in. None of the other Champions followed them in, and everyone inside backed far away, giving them an absurd amount of privacy within the vast space of the temple.

Lemmel had been summoned by someone and met up with the group a few feet inside the temple. His eyes were wide and his mouth gaping as he saw his blood-drenched lover.

"Head wound," Jack said quickly to the youth. "Bleed a lot no matter how shallow the cut."

"Aye?" Lemmel said, addressing Jack, though his eyes were only for his lover. He was at Balin's side, supporting his uninjured side and urging him toward the hall of Champions.

"Sky hall," Daniel objected as his sheet slipped off his head and down to his shoulders. "We have that spa he could soak in." He tugged the covering back over his head and eyes.

"Scrub off the wounds first, Highborn," Lemmel said firmly. "A stitch or two to hold the ... Ye've a mighty gash there, love," he said, touching a finger to the bleeding scalp wound. "Sew it up and what have ye done to ye shoulder? Need that shoulder, ye do."

"Ah. Foolishly I allowed one of the crazed guardians to slip under my defense. Stabbed me. They must all be done away with. Indecently dirtying up the streets."

"All?" Daniel asked softly.

Surprised at his lover's soft tone, Jack stopped in the middle of the temple and regarded him. Balin and Lemmel stopped too. Daniel's mouth was drawn in a tight line. His face was bowed low. With the sheet slipped back off his head again, Jack still had only a partial view of his lover's face. He saw Daniel's long hair and the tight line of his mouth. He couldn't read the man's emotions.

"All?" Jack echoed, placing a finger under Daniel's chin.

Daniel shook his head and then pulled back from Jack's tug. He kept his head down.

"Even the seniors?" Lemmel asked, his voice now as soft as Daniel's.

Jack peered over his shoulder at the young steward. He saw concern there. Lemmel had a big heart. Jack had never seen him hold anger long, but for what the guardians had done to Daniel? Lemmel had seen first-hand what they'd done. He'd been there when they'd surrounded Daniel, grappled with him, stripped him and raped him. When they were done with him they'd dropped him to the floor like a heap of garbage, turned their backs on him and walked off--

"Jack?" Daniel protested softly.

Startled, Jack realized he was digging his fingers into Daniel's arm. "Sorry, Sky. I was thinking ... "

"Don't," Daniel implored, his head still bowed. "Don't ever think about what you saw. I wish you'd never seen—"

"Not your fault," Jack insisted, pulling his lover into an encompassing embrace. He kissed his bowed head, brushing his lips over slightly damp hair. "Not your fault, baby." He pulled Daniel's head to his shoulder, cradling him there unyieldingly. "Baby," he whispered softly. He breathed easier as he felt Daniel's stiff posture fade away. His lover molded himself into his arms and Jack took full advantage of that, giving him a full-body hug.

Balin was taken into the Champions hall and his wounds tended. Daniel returned to the spa deep within the Sky hall, Jack at his side. They bathed among Skys along with a couple of other Highborn dark-eyed men. Lemmel had placed a supply of Daniel's seemly wear in the bathing chamber, making use of cabinet space as a few of the other Skys were now doing. Many had moved into the hall easily, some had balked at the idea, but even hosted Skys spent time in the hall now. It was a constantly occupied place, but very quiet, very peaceful. Skys rarely spoke above a whisper in the hall.

A week passed with Jack and Daniel sleeping in the Champion's hall. Their nights were full of Daniel's fitful attempts at sleep, his nightmares and insomnia that were not fading. Jack's waking hours were spent with Champions, listening to their heated discussions on the changes the city needed, and fielding all attempts by the council of elders who continually sought an audience with his wedded consort. Daniel spent his daylight hours in the dimly lit Sky hall, engaged in no heated discussions, fielding no demands for his attention and engaging in no conflicts of any kind. He stayed there until the Sky hall walls began to close in on him, and then he went in search of his lover.

"Just a ride," he insisted. "Lemmel will be with me if you're worried about my safety. And besides, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. We'll stay within sight of the city walls, just ride around on the clear-cut ground around the outer perimeter. What could be safer than that?"

"Waiting until this meeting is over so I can go with you? They're making a decision about the delegates that are being sent to the major southern villages. I want to see how they plan—"

"Stay, Jack. They need your advice, but I'm going for a ride. Frey's been only getting the minimum amount of exercise by the stable hands. He needs a long run. I'm taking him out and I'll be fine. See? Lemmel brought my boots from the manor house. I'll be back before the Champions even finish their first round of insults and boasts."

"Yeah, well ... " Jack let his objection trail off. "With Lemmel and a couple of the Champions who are outside on the steps. Grab any two of them and you're good to go. We agreed on this?"

"Agreed," Daniel said with a satisfied nod.

At the stables, Lemmel gave him a leg up and they both ignored the gasps of panic from the two Champions given the duty of guarding the wedded consort of the first House of the land. Lemmel beamed a smile up at Daniel and then mounted Sleipner. The mare danced sideways under the steward before falling in behind the stallion. The two Champions rode the other two steeds belonging to House Ondeil, and the small troop was off through the gate, not pausing for any formalities.

All Skys were free to leave the city without any kind of inspection, without having to relinquish the circle that even now rode heavy on Daniel's chest. Once free of the gate, Daniel gripped his legs tight on Frey's sides and let the reins fall lose by the horse's neck. After checking the knot on his veil, Daniel leaned forward, grabbing fistfuls of black mane, and hung on.

Feeling the release of his rider's restraint, the huge stallion lunged his neck down and drew the muscles of his hindquarters in a bunch. With three trotting strides behind him Frey dug his hooves into the smooth bed of the roadway and tore off, thundering his way down the road from the city. Several yards ahead Daniel saw a cart coming toward him. Seeking freedom, he gently nudged Frey with his right thigh and the horse responded instantly. The great steed veered off the roadway, looping hard to his right and beating his hooves into the green sod. Great clods of earth and grass flew up in his wake as Frey took his rider in the new direction. Human and stallion paralleled the silvery wall as they tore up the sod, making their way across the rolling, lush landscape.

The blue sky stretched out in a bright canopy overhead. Green fields rolled out before them. To their right the unbroken, gentle curve of the bright, brushed metal wall rose up three stories. To their left the distant ribbon of forest reflected back dark green and dense foliage. Frey had his head now, and heedless of any potential distractions he raced on, his huge nostrils expanding with each gust of expelled air from his bellows-like lungs. More sod churned beneath his hooves as he flew, taking his rider on a wild flight around the curving, metal structure.

Hanging onto the coarse mane of the stallion he loved, Daniel laid lower, squinting his eyes. His veil fluttered rapidly behind him, flying like a cape from around his neck. He'd forgotten to untie the loop of his underwear, and the flimsy pants were binding his crotch, their slit legs having fallen completely open. But he felt secure in the saddle, his well-fitted boots keeping him snug in the stirrups and his naked thighs gripping the racing beast. Daniel grinned into the rushing wind.

Far behind Daniel, Lemmel finally let his mount pick up speed. He was well within a direct line-of-sight of his master's mate, but not so close as to crowd him. The Champions were only a pace behind him and he didn't want to let them pass, but refused to signal them to slow. The day was fantastic. A smile was plastered across his café au lait face as he watched his master's Sky bent low over the huge stud.

Unseen to the small group racing across the green fields, city sentries walking the upper wall stopped to regard the unbelievable spectacle below. They'd have tales to tell this evening in the city pubs and great halls of the inns. But would they be believed? An unveiled Sky was riding a horse by himself. And an uncut stallion at that! These were indeed uncanny times.

All around the entire perimeter of the city, sentries watched and relayed word ahead of the coming spectacle. No intrusive shouts or noises were made. The Sky was given his privacy. Unveiled, he should have gone unnoticed, but the eeriness of the happenings made that impossible. One sentry on the far north side of the city watched the Sky flying by and heard the thunderous pounding of the stallions hooves with dread. He'd been present at the gate the day his senior sentry had lost his head to a Champion riding that steed. He gulped nervously and held himself steel-straight, praying that Odin wouldn't decide to end his life as dishonorably as poor old Bordon's had ended.

Having looped around the northern most curve of the city wall, Daniel sat up a bit, giving Frey a subtle signal to slow down. Gradually he shifted his weight back farther in the saddle and Frey dropped out of his all-out run into a smooth gallop. Then the animal shifted his gait again, collecting himself and dropping down to an easy lope. His huge hooves still beat the ground with dull thuds.

Daniel stretched a hand out, patting the bellowing horse's sweaty neck. Frey shook his head, setting his mane to flopping from side to side. Daniel took the slack out of the reins and called gently to the beast. "Good Frey. Whoa, boy. Good Frey. Gave them a run for their money, didn't we?" he asked brightly. He glanced over his shoulder. Lemmel was very far back, just now coming far enough around the curving wall to be seen. The Champions were not in sight yet, his body guards. Daniel laughed loudly and waved at Lemmel. He saw the steward pump his fist in the air, giving a victory salute.

"Won that one, Frey," Daniel said. "Walk the perimeter for a while? Cool you down a bit and then I'll let you graze out here if you want. I bet you're sick of that stable. No one to harass for treats."

Soon, Lemmel trotted up beside him, but the two Champions kept a respectful distance to the rear. The steward smiled broadly at the Sky. Daniel returned the beaming look and then pulled his veil back over his head.

"Fair day, Highborn," Lemmel said cheerfully.

"Yes, it is," Daniel answered. "Fairer than it's been here in a long time I would imagine. We just rode out of the gate, no one saying a thing to stop us." He lifted the ring that hung on its leather cord around his neck. "I'm not the first to take one of these out of the city, am I? Other Skys have left over the past few days?"

"Aye. Other, more than one I think. Not knowing the exact number but the Hall of Champions does. Keeping a good, watchful eye now, more than in the first day. Watching the safe going and coming."

"Okay. I think Frey needs to walk the rest of the way around the city, get the kinks out that the run probably put in. He didn't warm up, just bolted. Is Sleipner doing okay? I didn't expect her to keep up with us. Or the other two. Not good to run horses that have been stabled as long as these four have."

"They've been out daily, Highborn. Walked and light exercise in the early morning hours daily. My master's horses get the best of care."

Daniel nodded and patted Freyfaxi's neck again. "Frey deserves the best care, doesn't he, Lemmel?"

"Aye."

"Oh, my back," Daniel protested with a self-depreciating smile. "Maybe I'm the one that should have been taken out for a walk daily. I've done nothing but sit and mope for what? Two weeks? Amazing how quickly a body gets out of shape. Back in the low desert it took Jack less than a week to lose the ability to stand on his own—" Daniel clamped his lips together and stared straight ahead.

They rode along in almost perfect silence. Now that the horses were walking quieter the sounds of a busy city could be heard drifting over the three-story wall. Birds called overhead. A few sheep dotting the landscape called softly to one another. Occasionally a clank of metal or the scrape of a leather shoe could be heard from the sentries pacing far overhead.

"Less than a week and he couldn't stand up. Less than another week and he couldn't sit up, couldn't swallow well. Then within the month he was unable to even open his eyes, Lemmel. He got so sick after we left you and your family. It was horrible. Jack wasted away until he looked like a skeleton."

Lemmel stared ahead, matching the talking man's pose.

"Every day was a new terror. His breathing got so labored, so painful to listen to, but filled me with such terror that the rasping sounds might stop. I worried constantly that his heart was being eaten away by the venom. Every night I'd lay in that tiny, dark hovel, my finger pressed to his wrist, counting the heartbeats, trying to gauge the strength of the pulses. And every morning I'd wake up and find him more emaciated, more dehydrated, weaker."

"I would go with ye to Midgard. Soon, I know ye will go. I would too. My heart yearns for this, brother."

"Oh," Daniel gasped, clutching his stomach in pain. "You haven't called me that in so long." He hunched over Frey's neck, this time his hands splaying on the horse's warm flesh, his legs slack against the animal's flank.

Frey responded to the unballanced shift of his rider, slowing his gait instead of breaking into a run. Lemmel nudged his mount to move against Frey's side, letting him reach over and touch the slumping man.

"Shall we dismount, brother? Walk a bit while Champion eyes are upon us here."

Sitting up, Daniel sniffed and wiped his face. "I don't care if they see me. Or see ... I guess not you. Okay, that would be best."

Lemmel swung effortlessly from the saddle and dropped his animal's reins. He lifted his veiled companion from the great black stallion and placed him gently on his feet. "Better?"

"Yes," Daniel said with a smile. "I'm sore already. Hips. Thighs. That was a fun run but I probably should have let myself warm up first too. Frey, no munching grass. Come on," Daniel urged the mount along, tugging his reins firmly. "You're belly's too hot for that rich grass right now."

Trailing behind his rider, the Flemish horse snagged another mouthful of the sweet, green grass and munched as he walked. After the horses had cooled down, Daniel stepped to the steed's side and tossed the reins up over the animal's neck, giving him a thumping pat to reassure him. Then he and Lemmel walked along, enjoying the wide open space, letting the animals snag mouthfuls of the rich grass as they went.

Sleipner kept stopping, so Lemmel retrieved her reins and led her after them. Untethered, Frey stayed within a few feet of Daniel.

"Weather be growing cooler soon, my Balin says. A winter cloak for ye will be most seemly in the evenings even now."

"Seemly," Daniel echoed. "Jack will like that. He doesn't like me in these clothes any longer. He did. Back in the meadows. Remember that?"

"Aye, he did. I'd see him many a time watching ye. Now though, ye speak true, Highborn. Much he fears, as if in danger ye are."

"I'm fine. Perfectly fine. The guardians have no more power."

"Think they will all leave the city? Them that are sound enough to go? Some be too elderly. Senior most ones. Frail and not full enough of strength to make a life outside here."

"You're speaking to the city council of elders, asking them to help the seniors?"

"Had thought to," Lemmel admitted. "But my Balin says leave it to the Champions and so I do. Them, they be charged with the safety of the Skys, so the decision be theirs. I see the right of that. My ma, she'd say ... She'd say a man looks to his own first. She'd be right. Life in the low desert, it be harsh. I had not known it could be another way until I come to Brooksmeet. Water free in lines on the ground, I had said. Remember that, Highborn?" he asked, flashing his companion a self-depreciating smile.

"Yes. Creeks and rivers," Daniel answered, matching Lemmel's smile. "You like the land around Brooksmeet."

"Aye. The letter ye scribed for me and my ... Tal, my wedded wife. That last one sent from there to my ma and to my da says come to live in Brooksmeet if they've a mind to be more restful. By now my da, he needs no more coins from his hand. If he'd hired some to carry out, then he be surely able to bargain rights to the pathway that ma learned from ye. That be sellable and will bring him income for this life and into another two generations. A keen trader, he be. Ye be more so even than him, my ma says. Took more than twice what we could spare that season."

"I did? Was it hard on your family after we left?"

"Oh, aye," he answered passionately. "Much hunger and thirst. At night with such small fire we had to sleep bundled tight together or risk loss of a foot or hand. Then the trek to see if the crystals were there as ma insisted, that close on to killed us and would so have if we'd found nothing. That far a trek on such with no supplies, we would have arrived back to a route with nothing for water or food for the family. Me, I would have gone without first so as the others would have water and food. Harsh, that life."

"Harsh," Daniel answered. "Your ma had great faith in what she saw, the cuts on my feet and the rantings I made while I was ill."

"Aye. My life on it. Hers and even my da's life. Brave woman, my ma."

"I think I'm tired of people's lives depending on me. Never thought that would be a problem, but it has become one. Very much one."

"Be there naught my master can do to ease ye way on this?"

"I don't know, but I think he's trying very hard to make things as easy as possible on me. Giving me time to ... heal. To not be an emotional cripple," he said, staring out at the distant horizon. Daniel swallowed and then whispered softly, "That's how Jack sees me right now."

They'd walked past their starting point, continuing about an eighth of the city circumference when Daniel decided to turn back to the gate, his veil now firmly in place.

With Frey's reins still over the horse's neck, the great stallion continued to trail after Daniel like a love-struck puppy. Daniel walked back through the city gate. He had his boots on, something he was consciously aware of. The sentries stood on either side of the wide gate, their heads bowed respectfully. No guardians were anywhere in sight. Silently, Lemmel paced at Daniel's side, leading his mount. Several steps behind them the Champions assigned to watch the Nyrnortvegr walked respectfully quiet, leading Jack's two other mares into the city.

As he stepped under the gate, Daniel saw a city sentry at his left slowly drop down on one knee. The man bowed his head, resting a palm on the ground. Stealthily, Daniel flicked his gaze right and saw another sentry strike a similar pose. Looking left again, he caught Lemmel's surprised gaze.

"Why do they go down thus, Highborn?" the steward asked in a soft whisper.

"I don't know. It's some kind of a show of respect maybe. Like showing us they have no weapons in their hands or aren't in a position to attack? We'll have to ask Balin when we get back to the temple." Daniel shrugged and then patted his hair, making sure his veil was draped to conceal and protect him well.

Daniel also noticed other Champions standing along the roadside. Thought each was pointedly looking anywhere but at him, and were either leaning against a wall or slouched against a window ledge, they had to be there to watch over him. There was no other purpose for such a strong presence along the path. Had they been there on his way out of the city? Had they been watching his every step between the temple and the stables? Undoubtedly, they had. Daniel chose to ignore them.

Freyfaxi followed him to the stable, gently nudging Daniel's shoulder a few times as they approached the well-appointed paddock and tidy stalls. Entering the gated area this time, Daniel looked about, taking in the condition of the place, the well-appointed facilities. There was a central paddock, inhabited right now by a handful of mares and geldings. Individual covered stalls lined two sides of the stable area, gated on one side and with sturdy bars on two others, they were well ventilated. Clean straw with an under-layer of sawdust lined the floors in the stalls and covered the walkways along each path. Stable hands, young girls and boys, were mucking out, cleaning the stalls and replacing soiled bedding.

Frey was well cared for here. His coat was shiny and had been thoroughly brushed when he'd been brought to Daniel this morning.

"Lemmel, ask if someone is taking him outside to let him graze. He's not like the mares or geldings. He shouldn't stay in this little paddock so much. Someone needs to ride him daily."

"Aye, Highborn. Someone does ride. I appointed the rider myself. A thin, girl-child. Small as ye, she be."

For a moment Daniel stared at the steward speechlessly. Then he burst out laughing. He laughed so loudly Frey balked a step but then moved forward nudging his rider hard, pushing his velvety nose into the back of his rider's shoulder. Daniel toppled to the dirty ground, drawing gasps of alarm from the stable-hands present around them.

He kept laughing, but rolled quickly away from the stallion. Daniel scrambled to his feet, leaning back against the paddock railing. His bare knees were filthy. The slit pants had smudges of dirt up and down them now, and his veil had gotten dusty too.

"Ach," Lemmel said. "My master brings back his Champion untidy and now I bring back his wedded consort untidy. He and me, we've not such good luck at keeping them around us clean, eh?"

As he brushed at his dirty clothes, Daniel had to fend off Frey's nose. The beast was insistent that Daniel must have a treat hidden somewhere. "That's a good attitude, Lemmel. Whether you realize it or not, that keeps me grounded. You didn't rush over and treat me like porcelain."

"The fragile dishes? Of course not. Ye be scorpion-strong, my Balin says. And them, the stable workers around us, near one and all to having heart attacks. Watching Champions too, I'd wager. But, nay. I will not dust unless truly ye need dusting. Frey! Away, ye beggar. Who attends?" Lemmel called to the stunned workers. "Someone who'd have the duty to brush down this pushy horse and give him a morsel before he faints from hunger? Quick now. Come do ye duty to master Freyfaxi. Him being the most important beast on Odin's world, he thinks."

Daniel gently patted Frey's supple nose, nuzzling his barely veiled head alongside the velvet softness. Frey nickered in response to the loving he was receiving.

A stable hand managed to find enough bravery to approach, curtseying in a crab-like walk until he was close enough to close a finger and thumb around the stallion's bridle. Then he stood motionless until Daniel stepped away.

"Be sure," he paused to say to the mature boy, "be sure he gets some sweet oats today. A carrot too, if you have any handy."

"Oh," the lad replied, rolling his eyes wildly from Lemmel to the hosted Sky who'd spoken directly to him. "Uh, steward?" he asked, imploring Lemmel for directions.

"Carrots, Highborn?" Lemmel asked smoothly, not responding to the panic of the stable lad. "Aye. They've such about, I think. Lad, ye heard the Highborn, his wishes for his mount, Freyfaxi. Will ye, do ye plan to oblige his wish?"

"His wish? Aye!" the lad said earnestly, startling the stallion with his too-loud voice. Freyfaxi jerked back a few inches and the stable hand gentled him with a reassuring touch and a whispered apology. "Gentle beast, Freyfaxi. A carrot for ye to munch while I brush ye down and then, then time in the paddock, eh?"

The hand turned to Lemmel again, sparing a sideways glance at Daniel. "Freyfaxi'll most enjoy time in the paddock then, as he will snip and worry at the mares and geldings. His pleasure until some mare takes offense, master steward. I mean ... steward."

"Aye," Lemmel said, focusing on Daniel. "This meets ye wishes?"

"Yes," Daniel answered the steward and then turned to address the stable hand again. "When you brush him down, work more gently on the sides of his neck. He's sensitive there. Understand?"

"Aye, Highborn," the lad answered quickly. "As did I discover some days ago. Him, he be a fine beast."

"Yes. Yes, he is," Daniel answered with a broad smile. "You're doing an excellent job of taking care of him. Thank—Excellent job."

The stable hand bowed his head in embarrassment at the high praise and then led the stallion away. Freyfaxi obliged his handler, following the youth to an empty stall. Jack's three mares were taken well in hand by other workers at the stable and led away to be unsaddled and cared for.

With dust still clinging to him, Daniel placed his hand on Lemmel's and strolled boldly through the streets toward the temple. The two Champions who'd accompanied them out remained their close shadows, but were joined by four others at the corner of the stables.

As they walked through the streets, Daniel found that the tiredness of his muscles seemed to make it easier to ignore the clinging grasps of the two traders from Drangaskogen. He also ignored the gasps and looks of awe from the city dwellers who, despite his veil and anonymity, seemed to recognize him as the Nyrnortvegr. Then he realized it was probably Lemmel they were recognizing. Or the color of ribbons tied on Lemmel's arm. Being with Lemmel elevated his status. Daniel smiled. "Another reason to send a letter to your ma and da," he said.

"Aye?" Lemmel asked.

"That wherever you go in the city people know you. People look up to you, Lemmel. You're a man of importance in the city of the Highborn."

"Ah, that. Aye, but for me it means naught. I've a mind that what means more be my friends. Who a man has at his back be the measure of his true worth, my ma says, not who knows his face."

"Smart woman," Daniel said, shaking his head slowly. "I'm always amazed at the philosophy of your ma. She should write a book."

"Book, ye say. This be the bundled-together parchments."

They'd reached a row of craftsman's shops, these all tucked together, not isolated as the tailor's shop had been. As if thinking of the man had brought him to mind, Daniel caught sight of the tailor; he was certain of the identity. A tall Sky stood in the open entryway of one of the small shops, his veil so far back on his head that his eyes were visible from several yards away. The man was haggling with a worker caste man and woman. As they drew nearer, Daniel realized the man was buying the empty building, a shop with living space above it. He had a young worker caste girl in tow. She held bolts of cloth under one arm and a wooden crate of supplies in her other hand.

As Daniel and his escorts passed by the negotiators, the tailor Sky paused and gave Daniel a slight nod. He shifted nervously from foot to foot for a moment, then continued his bargaining. The location would serve him well, Daniel noted. It was only a short walk from the city center, the temple, and was surrounded by other busy shops.

Two doors down, an elderly tradesman was hawking his wares on the walkway outside. He had a long table displaying small artistic objects; intricately carved bottles, delicate glassware and pieces of jewelry. Lemmel paused, leaning over the table to stare at a small, glass figurine of a horse.

"Like that?" Daniel asked, stopping at his companion's side.

"Aye. Most I do," Lemmel said sounding almost reluctant to express his feelings. "But such a fragile thing would be of little use to me. It belongs in a home where none move. Like maybe the inn room where my Tal lives? Not much use though."

"Sometimes people buy or make things just to look at, to appreciate the beauty of a thing. Like this jewelry," Daniel said as he picked up a gold bangle bracelet. "The carvings on this ... "

"Aye," the tradesman said, addressing his remarks pointedly to Lemmel. "That be a verse of Deitmer's saga."

"A saga!" Daniel exclaimed excitedly. "Deitmer?"

The elderly man backed up from his table and eyed Lemmel tensely. Shrugging, the steward stared mutely at the seller.

"Look, Lemmel," Daniel said, holding the carved bracelet out to the taller man. He turned it over slowly, showing the tiny rune symbols carved into the soft gold. "It starts here, this part of the saga. Then it goes around this way. This is like a book. Or, more accurately a bit of a book." Daniel turned back to the elder, holding the bracelet out toward him. "Is there more of the saga? Do you have more?"

"Aye," the man answered, showing Lemmel a bit of anger now. "Here, lazy steward," he added as he drew a cloth off a small box on the table. He revealed three more bracelets showing the same runic markings carved into their sides. "Tiny, they be, fit for the wrists of a Highborn or a child."

Eagerly, Daniel drew each one from the box, arranging them on the table. He switched the position of two and then studied them all. "It starts here. This is the beginning of the saga, and it moves through these two and ends on this bracelet. This is a book!" he exclaimed, beaming a brief smile at Lemmel before returning to study the bracelets.

"What price for one of these small decorations?" Lemmel asked the tradesman.

Daniel shot Lemmel a frown. One? They needed to be sold as a set, not portioned off. Undoubtedly the tradesman might see their value only as the gold they were made of, but for Daniel the value was in the straight grooves that had been carefully hand carved into them. Together the four bracelets told a tale of adventure.

His frown deepened as Gruber's nasty tongue probed his navel. Daniel took a small step back, but couldn't escape the haunting touches.

"Much gold there," the tradesman said, opening the bargain from a strong position. He named a large price.

Lemmel rocked back on his heels, crossing his arms over his chest. He glowered at the man and made counter offers rapidly, fielding the elder's objections. Lemmel had learned bargaining in a place where one's life depended on the skill. When he was done he had all four bracelets and the glass horse.

"Fool, I," he said as he picked up the horse. "Bracelets for my master but this horse, for maybe a week I shall own it and then it be most likely dropped and shattered. A waste of good coin." He shook his head as he held the delicate object carefully.

"I'll pay you back," Daniel said with a broad smile as they resumed their walk. He hung the four bracelets over his fingers and spun them slowly with his thumbs. Gruber and Joslin's touches faded as he walked.

"My master, the merchant must think they are bought for, and indeed it was his coin paid for them."

"I can't wait to show them to Jack. This one is the beginning," he explained, holding it up for a moment. Daniel shifted his grip on the other three, and then slipped them on his right wrist. They chimed together as he walked. He put the other on his left hand, careful as he slipped it over his wedding ring so that it didn't catch on the coiled gold. Then he removed it, turned it over and put it on again. "Starts here," he said, and then slowly turned the bracelet around his wrist, mumbling to himself.

They reached the temple soon and Lemmel placed a guiding hand on his companion's lower back. Daniel's attention was solely on the bracelet and Lemmel was rightly afraid he'd trip and fall or walk into a wall, he was so focused. Lemmel eyed the bench and shoe racks normally used by Skys, and guided his brother inside, his boots still on his feet.

As they passed into the dark doorway, Jack called out, sounding relieved to see them.

Daniel glanced up from the runes he was deciphering and saw his lover jump out of a too-tall, too-wide chair and trot toward him. He'd been sitting in a circle with Champions who even now looked dour. "Briefing?" Daniel asked, his face beaming a broad smile at his lover. He tugged at his veil, untying it and letting it slip back off his eyes.

"Yeah. One briefing's just like another no matter what planet you're on," Jack said with disdain. "Have a good ride? I could have gone with you. These guys think they need me but they don't."

"It was a great ride. But look. Look what I got in the marketplace." He held his wrists up, showing off the gold bracelets.

Jack's eyebrows shot up as he took in the sight of his lover wearing jewelry.

"They're a book!" Daniel said, clearly delighted. "This is a saga about a man who goes a'Viking and finds a—Well, I can tell you later. I'll read it to you after I've translated all four parts." He shook his right arm, clinking the three on that wrist together.

"Yeah. So that means I have to go back to the briefing. You know you're filthy, right? Take a tumble off Freyfaxi? Balin'll have a heart attack."

"Nay. The heart attack come and went to them that work in the stable, master. Ye wedded consort did not fall but his steed took objection to the parting I think. Nosed him so hard he did fall. The stable be clean as can be but not dry, that ground."

"And Lemmel didn't dust me off, for which, I'm very grateful. This first bracelet has four lines of text, Jack. They wrap around this way. Here's the starting symbol. Goes this way and—"

"So you're gonna have a bath now? Get the horse pee off your knees?"

"—the man sets out to find treasure. So by the third line—"

"Sky?" Jack interrupted. "We could break for lunch after you get some clean clothes on?"

"Oh, sure. Lunch. But let me go get cleaned up first. I smell like a stable floor."

"Cleaned up," Jack said with an indulgent smile. "That sounds like a good idea. Okay. Then I'll see you in a bit? Oh, wait. I wanted to tell you a rider arrived while you were gone. You too, Lemmel. There's a letter here from Brooksmeet. Sent by Tal and Ulfrik. I made out the names but nothing else—"

"Give it to me," Daniel said. "Is there trouble?"

Jack pulled a supple parchment from the inside of his buttoned jerkin and handed it to his lover.

Daniel turned so the light from the doorway was spilling over his shoulder. Silently, he read the parchment. Lemmel leaned close, his face showing tension.

"It says they're all well," Daniel said as he kept reading the lines of runes. "Tal is well and so is Asny. Ulfrik wants us to know his eyes are too blue. Jarngerd has been covering for him, doing most of the business dealings with people off the meadows. But Tal says eventually word will get out. She's hoping this letter finds us before that happens, but says it will eventually be noticed by the elders of Brooksmeet."

"We thought that much. Does she think they'll be in danger?" Jack asked, his brows firmly drawn together.

"She says there's no danger to them. With Balin's Championship status in her family tree, she and Asny aren't in any danger. Ulfrik might be brought north though. He's preparing the meadows for his absence, appointing an overseer. Old Helf and his son, Timmon have moved into an outbuilding at your Meadows Cot. They'll take care of things if Ulfrik has to come north."

"Ulfrik's a pretty good judge of character," Jack said.

"And Tal is great with child," Daniel added, giving Lemmel a broad smile.

"Ach!" Lemmel said, rocking back a step. He clutched at the little glass horse, trying not to drop it or crush it. "My Balin needs to hear."

"He'll be back soon," Jack said, and then he chuckled at the flustered steward.

Daniel handed the parchment back to his lover and then drew his dusty veil back over his head. "I'll read it all again when we have lunch, when Balin's with us, okay, Lemmel?"

"Ach!" Lemmel responded, shaking his head. "A child even now might be born, ye realize? Ach!"

Chuckling, Daniel patted the man's arm, making the three bracelets on his right wrist clink together. "You should go lie down. I'm going in the Sky hall to have a bath. I'll see you two later?"

Jack snagged Daniel's wrist below the gold bracelets and pulled him in for a deep and passionate kiss. His lover seemed to melt against him and Jack wrapped his arms around Daniel's bare waist, his hands sliding beneath the silken veil as he held his lover firmly. He closed his eyes. Intentionally oblivious to the men around them, Jack's heart went into the kiss. He caressed Daniel's lower back and then slid one hand up to cup his face tenderly. The kiss was open-mouthed, with breath exchanging and tongues tasting. As their lips parted, Jack opened his eyes and smiled when Daniel finally opened his. "Love you," he whispered.

"Love you too," Daniel answered softly.

Then Jack released him and watched as his lover, smiling still, strode toward the open entry to the Sky hall where he was met by a handful of other Skys. He greeted them with a welcoming nod. They joined him, one linking arms with the new arrival, others touching his veil, his back. They ushered him into their sanctuary, taking him to bathe.

Jack gazed after the departing group. Since that first night when they'd all knelt, watching Daniel sleep, the other Skys in the temple had changed their distance. They were always touching him now. Daniel seemed to accept it, to almost welcome the physical support of the close contact. This was the way Ashild had been, always touching, kissing, stroking a hand on Daniel. And so had Odamari. From their first meeting in Brooksmeet to their time at the seaside villa, this was how Odamari and even Garan behaved toward Daniel and each other.

"Hosted Skys," Jack murmured.

At his master's side, Lemmel wiped a sweaty palm on his pants and studied the little glass horse. "Hosted?" he asked absently. But his master had walked off toward the council of Champions. The young steward hurried through the connecting archway into the Hall of Champions, seeking out the narrow bed he shared outside his master's privacy chamber. He placed the glass horse on a high shelf and then took some time to clean his hands and face. Fresh and feeling a bit calmer, Lemmel returned to stand his post at his master's back.

Later, Jack glanced over his shoulder and saw Lemmel had returned. He nodded to the Champions, eight in all who were deep in discussion about the clashes between city dwellers and the deposed guardians. Then Jack rose and withdrew, leaving them to their decision-making.

"What I was saying earlier," Jack said as he motioned Lemmel to walk with him around the stargate toward the DHD. "Hosted Skys touch a lot. But all those aren't hosted. Maybe Skys who are away from guardians do it. Must be the way they're raised. And speaking of that, we haven't heard a peep out of the women in the garden. Wonder how much longer that will last? It's been almost quiet around here. Maybe too quie—"

As if cued by his words, a metallic, whirring sound flooded through the vast chamber. The stargate was cycling. An incoming wormhole would soon form. Pandemonium erupted in the temple. The eight seated Champions sprang from their chairs, toppling many of the wooden seats. There were approximately two dozen other Champions within the temple, counting the ones stationed at the entrance. All rushed toward the huge ring of Odin. More than twenty stewards, smartly dressed in finery with House ribbons adorning them, rushed from their various tasks about the temple, joining the Champions in forming a ring around the activating gate. Some stood mere feet from the front, right on the steps.

"Back!" Jack shouted, running forward. Frantically, he waved his arms, ordering those on the steps to get off, to get out of the way of the deadly backsplash that would flow out within seconds. "Off the steps! Off the steps! Down!" he commanded, grabbing one steward who seemed too confused to move. He slung the man off the steps and rolled with him to the right of the deadly onrush of energy. The surface flattened and displayed the small blue tremors Jack was used to.

Quickly Jack scrambled to his feet. "Lances up, boys, and hold your positions! Don't strike unless I order you to. It could be a friend—"

A small ripple broke in the center of the surface, sending out a smooth wave as a dark-skinned Jaffa stepped through the blue surface. Teal'c strode out onto the top step and came to a quick stop. Lance tips and broadswords pointed at him from all angles.

Dressed in the brown robes of a Chulak warrior, he held his staff weapon with its point down and stood, feet apart, as still as a statue.

Less than a breath later, a short figure emerged from the gate and stopped just as abruptly at the Jaffa's side. This person wore a white, floor length robe, and was covered in a white veil of a loose, coarse weave. It hung fingertip length, in both front and back.

Teal'c carried a pack on his back. The second arrival carried two round duffle bags.

Immediately, Jack held his hands up, signaling to the armed defenders to stand down. "These are friends," he announced clearly. "Stand down. Weapons down, Champions."

At Jack's elbow, Lemmel sank to one knee, gazing up at the new arrivals.

"I see by your snazzy attire that Hammond got my note," Jack said lightly, speaking in English.

As the figure in white took a step in front of Teal'c, Jack held his hand up again, stopping her. "I wasn't expecting you so soon. You showed up in the right clothes but I said to take your time, pick up the rudiments of the language first—Don't speak! Remember that part of my note. Only Teal'c. We have a few things to get straight first—"

Teal'c bowed to O'Neill and spoke in the ancient Norse dialect. "The message was received," he said, "and understood. I know this language and Major—"

"Ah ah!" Jack admonished him, shaking a finger for emphasis, "No names, remember? I need to explain this to you. Yours is okay, Teal'c. Mine too. Well, a version of it anyway. Ondeil. That's what you call me here. We don't use her name or ... well, just yours and mine for now, got it?"

Then Jack switched back to the language all the Nortvegr people understood, hoping to calm the Champions around him. "Good to see you. Both of you. What of you I can see," he said, nodding at Carter's veiled figure. "The general understand everything I said in that note?" He moved around the DHD and approached the steps to the stargate.

"Yes," Teal'c said with a nod. "General Hammond sends his greetings. He was most pleased to hear that you and ... that the rest of SG-1 were alive."

"Alive was pretty iffy when we first crashed here." Jack gazed up at the Jaffa. "We had a hell of a time getting to the gate on this world so we could send a message back home. No GDO. No way to get it straight to the SGC ... Jack's voice trailed off as he realized the deafening silence surrounding them. The Champions had all remained poised, the points of their weapons still raised. None had moved away. The stewards and dark-eyed Highborn amid them were just as tense as they had been. The situation was extremely volatile he realized. He needed Daniel. But in this situation would Daniel be able to handle the stress? He'd looked so good, so calm when he'd returned from his ride, but that calmness, that sense of self-confidence did not run deep. Jack was sure of that.

"I really hadn't expected you guys for a couple more weeks at least. We're not ready. He's not," he said with emphasis. "You should have—"

Carter set her bags down and held up a white-shrouded hand and then stepped past Teal'c. Hurrying, Jack went up the bottom two steps, stopping one below her.

"You got here too soon," he protested, switching back to English again. He peered intently up at her. "You need to know some things fast," he whispered, bringing his mouth close to her ear. "These guys will freak out if they hear your voice, got it? And no names," he added as Teal'c joined them, stopping on the step just above Jack. "I can't use her name yet. Nobody can," he added, cutting a sharp glare up at the big Jaffa. "The religious system here is whacko. Nirrti set up some bad shit. We toppled it, but it's gonna take a while for things to cool down, got it?"

"Sir," Sam whispered, her voice barely audible to the Colonel. "I know a derivative of the language. It was only a matter of learning the nuances, so we came here as quickly as possible. Is Daniel all right? Where is he?"

"No names!" Jack whispered harshly, though he was certain no one else had heard her.

"Yes sir," she answered quickly. "These people are not quite human, are they? They're huge."

"Yeah. Nirrti's meddling fucked up their DNA. I'll fill you in on the details in a minute."

Teal'c interrupted imperatively. "The general wished us to immediately ascertain if you were under duress. The note you sent was extreme, O'Neill."

"Duress? Hell, yeah. But not that kind. And it's Ondeil. Don't fuck that up again, buddy. Things here are volatile enough as it is. We've toppled an entire society. Thrown their religious leaders to the hounds and trashed their entire legal structure. We gotta stay on the straight and narrow for a while."

A flurry of activity off to his left drew Jack's and everyone else's attention. Veiled Skys were coming out of the arched entryway to their hall. Most were dressed in pure white, with a few in white trimmed in bright colors. Clustered together, holding hands, arms interlaced, they touched each other in reassuring pats as they seemed to billow out airily into the temple.

Then the flock of Skys parted, revealing Jack's lover in their midst. In the distance that separated them, Jack could barely discern that Daniel's lips had been colored by the rouge favored by Skys. His eyes, mostly hidden by the gauzy veil, showed dark kohl lining the lids. It seemed like every time a gathering of Skys got a hold of him they worked on him just like they did each other.

Teal'c took a half turn to tensely regard the new arrivals.

"Uh," Jack started. "Hey, uh, Teal'c. Eyes over here, buddy. Those are the ... well, keep your eyes this way."

"Master," Lemmel called in alarm. "Ye wedded consort comes. Be it safe?"

"Wedded consort?" Carter repeated. "I know that term. Wife? You got married, sir?" she asked, her voice a little louder than it had been, and tinged with shock. "You married ... One of them is your wife?"

"Quiet!" Jack ordered her, feeling a dark flush of embarrassment creep up his neck.

"Were you forced, Ondeil?" Teal'c asked, getting the pronunciation correct. "Shall we take you from this place? There are many armed men here, but we could fight our way—"

"Shut up!" Jack whispered frantically. He saw the group of Skys pause several feet behind the ring of armed Champions. One Sky continued on, his veiled head held high. Three gold bracelets chimed musically together on his right wrist. A matching gold bracelet gleamed on his left. The long, untied veil was draped over his bent arms, and hung open in the front to reveal the cropped top that barely covered his nipples. The waistband of his slit-legged pants rode low over the bulge of his tied genitals. He was barefoot.

Jack drew in a sharp breath and licked his bottom lip. "Wedded consort. Yeah. I got married."

"Married," Carter repeated, this time the tone of shock was mixed with something that sounded like disillusionment. "You have a wife. Which one?" she asked, pointing at the gathering of veiled people.

Drawn by the emotion in her tone, Jack glanced back at the white-draped woman. "Uh. We're not ready for you guys to be here."

"A distraction," Teal'c said, fingering the switch on his staff weapon. "A blast directed at the other end of this place. Then one of us dials the stargate. We can be away from here before—"

"Jack?" Daniel called. "Oh my God," he said with delight. Holding the trailing edges of his veil against his chest, Daniel lightly ran the last few yards to the base of the stargate steps. "Teal'c! And ... Oh, I didn't know it was you! I heard the gate cycle, but ... " He smiled broadly as he nimbly ran up the three steps to the Jaffa's side. "Hello!" he exclaimed to Sam's veiled figure. "Jack must have sent you good instructions on how to dress. You'll be safe that way. Teal'c," Daniel said happily, but then paused and touched the warrior's tense arm.

Daniel turned and saw the circle of Champions, each man with his hand on a sword or lance.

Then Daniel turned to his lover, moving into the embrace of Jack's outstretched arm. Daniel blinked, gazing between the tense jaffa and his lover. He picked up the front edge of his untied veil and held it up to cover his mouth. The gold bracelet on his left wrist slid down, gleaming in the sunlight that streamed in through the recently uncovered stained glass windows. The light also glinted off his wedding ring.

"Jack?" Daniel said. "The Champions."

"It's all right, desire." Jack tightened his grip on Daniel. The same light that glinted off Daniel's wedding ring now glinted off Jack's where his hand was wrapped around Daniel's shoulder.

"Married?" Sam whispered. "My God," she swore, darkly echoing Daniel's exclamation of delight.

"Stand down," Jack said loudly to the Champions. He saw more armed Champions rushing in through the open temple doorways. Balin was foremost among the new arrivals. Jack motioned for the big man to come to the steps.

"O'Neill," Teal'c whispered forcefully, slipping back into the man's proper name. "It is apparent you are under some type of coercion here. General Hammond suspected such might be the case. We shall implement my plan and get you through the gate. I shall fire a diversionary blast. With our superior weapons—"

"You will not—" Jack started to yell.

"But you need—"

"Teal'c, this is not what you—"

The Jaffa cut the Colonel off again. "If need be I am prepared to take by force—"

"Teal'c," Daniel interrupted as he gracefully ducked out of Jack's hold. He went up the step to stand before the big jaffa. "Don't be alarmed," he said softly. Daniel moved his arms wide, letting the veil slip off his head to drape across his back. Then he laid his palms on Teal'c's broad chest and rose onto his toes. Closing his eyes, Daniel pressed his open lips to Teal'c's dark mouth. He brought a hand up behind the Jaffa's neck, intensifying the contact.

Teal'c stood as still as if he were carved from the same marble as the steps beneath their feet.

Sam's gasp was audible.

Daniel ran a hand along the big Jaffa's cheek, cupping his pale flesh along the darker skin. Much darker than the worker caste of this world, Teal'c's skin was an intriguing contrast to the blue-eyed man who kissed him so fervently. Daniel pressed his hips forward, bringing his tied pouch in contact with Teal'c's groin.

"Sky!" Jack said harshly.

Jerking back, Daniel pushed himself away from the Jaffa. "Oh," he said weakly, covering his flushed lips with the fingers of his left hand. "Oh," he repeated, sounding as if he'd been punched in the stomach. Daniel took a hasty step back, almost stumbling off the step. "Oh!" he cried in dread. Frantically, Daniel grappled with his veil, getting it over his head. He turned and fled down the steps, running past the stargate toward the temple door.

"Sky!" Jack called, getting all of two steps after his lover before the ring of Champions brought their weapons to bear on the newcomers again. "Balin!" Jack shouted. "Go after him! But don't ... Fucking hell!" he cursed in English, and then swiftly switched back to Balin's language. "Go after him! You know what to say when you catch up to him! Go! There are guardians out there on the streets!"

Jack turned back to Teal'c and Carter. "Don't either of you move. I'm in command here. No one's made me do anything against my will. Lemmel!" he shouted, not taking his eyes off the two before him. "Who's first House in this land?"

"Ye be, master. House Ondeil. All here owe first allegiance to ye. All," he added, his voice growing louder, "all here will give life blood for ye. Whatever ye wish, so we shall do. Command us."

"Got it?" Jack said to Teal'c. "And the kid means it. It's not me that's in trouble here. I think you just figured that out."

"Dan—"

"Shut your mouth!" Jack commanded the Jaffa. "My wedded consort, who you may refer to as Highborn, my wedded consort will help sort this all out. Until he ... he gets back," he said, feeling the flush from his neck now burn his cheeks.

Jack swallowed and got his voice under control. "I married him," he said to the two new arrivals. "We got married here in this temple." After a moment he held up his hand, pushing his thumb on the underside of his wedding ring. He showed it to them. "Yeah. I do. The whole bit. He's in ... bad shape. I couldn't bring him back this way. He needs time to get over a few things he's been through here. Okay?" Jack asked, raising his eyebrows in a very demanding way. "Okay? Some time."

"Yes ... Ondeil," Teal'c said, giving his team leader a nod of respect. "The trouble does not lie within you."

"Yeah," Jack said, his voice and posture still tight with anger. "Time. So," he added, turning to Carter's veiled figure. "You really picking this up? Understanding it? Just nod. Don't speak."

She nodded.

"All right. Then we need to get these guys to back off and get you two off the steps at least. Lemmel!" he called loudly, and then turned to find his steward merely a few feet away. "Oh. We're gonna take a stroll down now. Gonna let our two new arrivals here have a seat and wait for the Sky to return. Now, how about you square away some chairs over there," he said, pointing to the area that used to be the Highborn gallery.

"Aye, master. Please," Lemmel said as he bowed low, but kept his face turned to Teal'c. "Please, what manner of man be this? Be he ever darker than we normal-size folk. But tiny like a Highborn. Dark, as opposite of a Sky as can be. Where does he come from, to bear the golden mark of a guardian?"

"Teal'c is a Jaffa. He's kind of like, well halfway between a Highborn and a worker caste, because his kind were created by Nirrti's people too, just like you folks were."

"Ah. Wonderment," the steward whispered in awe. "Be he Highborn or worker caste? How shall we address him, master?"

"Uh, we'll discuss that when my Sky returns."

"And the new Highborn who wears the thick veil? Hosted, master?"

"New Highborn?" Jack asked, and then turned to follow Lemmel's glance at Carter. "Oh. We won't discuss the veiled one. Not at all. No one is to touch or even come near the veiled one. Not even Skys. Not even veiled Skys."

Jack turned to the gathering of Champions and raised his arms high. "House Ondeil has an announcement. Listen up! The newly arrived veiled one is not to be noticed by anyone. That includes you Skys down there, got it, boys?"

Amid the murmuring of the small knot of Skys, Sam stepped to her team leader's side and whispered in his ear. "They're all men?"

Frowning with irritation, Jack stepped away from her. "No one is even to go anywhere close to the veiled one. Stay more than an arm's length away. And as for the dark one, he's a warrior of my House. He guards my door and my Sky." Jack frowned harder and turned to his steward.

"Give me some household ribbons, Lemmel."

Quickly the steward pulled ribbons from his own arm and handed them to his master.

After tying them on Teal'c's thick bicep, Jack ushered the two toward the large recessed area that had been the Highborn gallery. "Balin's not back yet, Lemmel. Go get Aegis to form up search teams and head out after my Sky."

He turned back to Teal'c and Carter. "The ribbons mark you as serving under my command. Everyone'll back off. And," he dropped his tone to a serious, almost harsh level as he turned to Carter, "when he gets back don't you dare call him my wife. Don't slip up on that," he said, shaking his head sternly.

Mutely, she nodded.

"Now, just sit down here until—"

A muffled gong interrupted him. The pealing sound came again before Jack could ask someone what it was. It rang again and again.

"What the hell now?" he demanded. Lemmel had left to speak with Aegis but was running back across the temple toward him. The big Champion was a step behind the steward. "What's going on?"

"The witches!" Aegis exclaimed in alarm. He slid to a stop much more than an arm's length from Jack who stood by the new arrivals. "They summon their vermin—" Aegis bit off his words and stared at Teal'c's forehead.

"Summon the guardians?"

"Aye, House. Them with the black mark in the streets will be stirred to try and reenter the temple. Guard the ways!" he shouted over his shoulder. His warning wasn't necessary. Several Champions had already moved to the open doorways, their weapons ready. Stewards were sent through to the Hall of Champions to bar the entry there from within.

"All right. And my Sky is out in this. Take as many men as you can spare, Aegis. Go get him. Get him off the streets and bring him back here. Damn! I hope Balin finds him first."

"Aye, House. Ye Champion has best chance. But the witches, they will rest and then ring again before they come in. If the Nyrnortvegr be not here to greet them, then who shall speak to them? A woman of the council of elders, perhaps?"

"Good thinking. You can send a steward across the street to the council quick enough?"

"Aye. Done." Aegis bowed hastily, and with a flourish of his burgundy cape, turned, and hurried to see to Jack's wishes, though in truth the idea had come from Aegis, as had all suggestions and changes made recently. Jack merely nodded, agreed, or withheld comment.

"Great," Jack swore. "Just great. Okay you two, I'm gonna try to catch you up to speed damned fast. We toppled Nirrti's religion. I covered that. She'd done some experimenting here," Jack explained. The temple buzzed with activity at his back as he hurried through the background information of the worker caste's genetics, the separation of women and Highborn men.

Winding down, Jack realized the gong sounds had stopped sometime during his explanation of the political and religious situation, and now the sounds started up again. "The women are going to come in here, maybe expecting to see their servant guardians doing their bidding. Maybe just to talk to my desire. My Sky. That's what I call him. Anyway. Hell, it's show time."

The northern door of the temple opened and Jack steeled himself, ready for anything. What if Nirrti had left the women in there some weapons? Crap! He hadn't thought about that nasty possibility. Teal'c had his staff weapon. Carter probably had a zat or two under that table cloth she was wearing.

Just as they'd done the last time, the women filed into the upper chamber area, draped in white, their winged hats seeming to float along as they trod gracefully. This time there was about a dozen of them. They stood in a line along the top step, their veiled faces pointed at the gathering of men before them.

Jack cleared his throat and walked toward the DHD. He stood near where Daniel had stood and then put his hands on his hips. "Hi there," he quipped, giving them a cheerful nod. "What can we do for you today?"

The woman in the center stepped slightly in front of the others. She was stooped with age. As she'd done before, she raised a shaky, gloved finger and pointed it at him. "We summon the guardians of blessed Nirrti's way."

"Yeah, well no one here who fits that description," Jack said. "You rang, but as you can see, all you're gonna get is us. So ... what'cha want?"

Angrily, she spat her accusation at him, "You are nothing to us—"

"He is my husband," Daniel's angry voice rang out in the temple. Holding his untied veil in place, Daniel trod barefoot across the cold marble floor. He passed his lover and stood in front of him. "He is ... husband to the Nyrnortvegr, and is first House of Nortvegr. As such he will have respect from all who walk on this, Odin's world. Do you walk on Odin's world, old woman?"

"Agh," she grunted, bringing her hand down slowly. "Odin's world. Before our goddess came and made it divine for all women."

"And hell for your sons. We won't discuss the business of the gods, you and I. Their purposes are not for us to decide. Odin wrought this world and has claimed it again. Do not speak to me of the nameless one he removed."

"She made us—"

Daniel whirled, turning his back on the woman and she stopped speaking instantly. He brought his fingers up near the symbol on the DHD, the mark of the furlings. He hesitated a moment, and then drew his hand away without touching it.

"Nyrnortvegr," the old woman said, this time betraying a bit of longing in her voice.

Slowly Daniel turned back to her. He drew his veil down to hang across his shoulders like a shawl. His gold bracelets chimed together. "Yes," he said softly.

"To change our ways will be difficult. Some of us cannot survive the change."

"Many of your sons have not survived what you do to them. Do not attempt to test me. You know my name."

"Food and water—" she began.

"They have had neither. Starving in the streets and freezing to death or dying at your own hands. Your hands. Now you may choose where they had no choice. Live free or die."

The old woman took a step back and sagged against one of the other women. After several moments of silence she struggled to stand alone again and addressed him. "Male children within the gardens. There are many and we have little food, barely enough left for the girl children. Would you have them die?"

"I told you not to test me." Daniel turned his back on her again. Carefully he raised his veil back up over his head, draping the beaded edge along his cheeks.

"Nyrnortvegr, we cannot solve this problem."

Daniel shook his head. "Who here would solve this woman's problem? A Champion? Stewards, any with a solution, speak up. Kinsmen?" No one moved forward to speak.

Jack shifted nervously from foot to foot. Daniel wasn't doing so good. Maybe he should jump in here, propose some kind of trade agreement or something. Before he could speak, another of the women on the dais stepped forward.

"The hall of Highborn boys. It is not far from here? If some from within our walls, before their manhood day, if they could be taken into the hall of Highborn boys ... "

"Set free before their time?" the old woman shouted. "It is not the northern way."

"Nyrnortvegr," the younger woman implored Daniel "A new way. New ways."

Daniel bowed his head for a moment, studying the symbol. Then he looked to his left, seeing Carter's shrouded figure. He turned and walked slowly to her side.

For a long moment the two veiled, blue eyed people stood toe to toe. Then Daniel held his hand out, palm up.

Sam stared through the veil down at his hand. Hesitantly, as if she were unsure of what to do, she laid her hand on his. Daniel turned and led her to the bottom of the dais, stopping in front of the younger woman who'd spoken. "This one has traveled through Odin's ring to assist in the new changes. This one will help you bring the boys from within the garden to their new home in the city. They'll have all the food they need, and will be educated with the other Highborn boys. They'll have freedom to choose however they wish to live their lives."

"Help bring them to come out?" the old woman shouted, her voice dry and reedy with age. "No Sky may go within. You lied? You said no man would enter our domain."

"No man will. She will."

"Child!" the elder scolded the veiled figure by the Nyrnortvegr. "The veil does not give ye fair skin and blue eyes. Worker caste!" she spat the label like it was a curse.

Daniel lowered his hand from Sam's and turned to face her. He brought his hands up, this time cupping them under the edge of his untied veil. Slowly he lifted it an inch and waited.

Glancing behind her at her commanding officer, Sam shifted nervously. Then she turned to face Daniel again. She brought her hands up, hooking her thumbs under the veil that hung in front of her face and lifted it slowly. When she got it up to her chin, Daniel turned to face the women again. He lifted his veil, holding it high to reveal his face to them, but shielding his face from any of the men at his back. Sam copied his move.

"Can it be?" the younger Highborn woman asked. She leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees and peered down intently at Sam. "But, soft, some of the men are. Truly, are you a Sky or one of us?"

"Cannot be," the old woman said with conviction. "tied himself some padding on and not pulled the loop. That long robe fools no one, boy."

Sam Carter smiled. "I assure you, my reproductive organs are on the inside, just like yours." She spared one hand, letting the veil droop a bit and unfastened the neck of her robe. It fell open enough to expose cleavage. "Well, except for this part, anyway. Do you want me to lift my skirt?"

"Yes!" the old woman said.

"Oh," Sam said, swallowing nervously. She gave Daniel a glance, looking for instructions, but he was staring straight ahead. "Well, I have on underwear. That won't—"

The old woman tottered down the step and came to her side. She grappled with Sam's chest, squeezing her mounds firmly. Then she slapped a palm on Sam's groin. "No staff," she exclaimed in a harsh whisper. "I thought merely you'd cut your eggs off. Where did you come from?"

"Through Odin's ring," Daniel said calmly. "You accused me of lying. You were wrong."

"Ach!" the old woman spat out the angry sound. She turned and went back up the stairs, tottering toward the door alone. All of the other women held their place, staring at the two blue eyed people below them.

"So," Sam said to the woman who'd spoken, "you have boys inside who are in need of a new home?"

"Yes. We were to receive food on the day the Nyrnortvegr came. We were low then. It is not good inside the garden now. The boys go without. I have a son ... "

"A son," Daniel whispered. "Would you do to him what's been done to me?" His voice broke.

Sam laid her veil on the top of her head and turned to her team mate. Daniel was blinking rapidly, but it did nothing to stem the flow of tears streaking his face. "What? she asked softly. "What's been done to you?"

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head, unable to meet her gaze. "Jack. Please, Jack." He pulled his veil down over his face.

Hastily, Sam copied his move.

"Baby," Jack said softly as he moved up to Daniel's other side. He slid a hand under his lover's arm and held him.

Daniel turned into his mate's embrace.

Sam stared mutely at the two men. For a moment, she stared into the eyes of her commanding officer, but he didn't see her behind her veil.

"The boys," the veiled woman said imploringly from the dais. "Many of us here have sons. Please, if you have come to help us save them?"

"Yes," Sam said, finally tearing her gaze from the two embracing men. She walked up the steps and went with the women into the garden.

The door stayed open this time, two of the veiled women stopping there to stand guard at the opening.

Mutely, Jack led Daniel back to the old gallery area where Teal'c waited. He smoothed Daniel's veil down as he went.

In the Hall of Champions, later that evening, Jack sat on the side of the bed stroking Daniel's veiled head. Curled in a fetal position, Daniel hadn't spoken since Sam left. Teal'c was perched on a chair in the small privacy space. It had been reinforced and slightly enlarged since that first night they'd stayed here. It wasn't safe to return to Sven's place yet. Too many guardians were still in the city, plus Lemmel reported that the manor house was still often surrounded by people gawking at where the Nyrnortvegr had been before Odin had announced his presence. Eventually that notoriety would make it back to Brooksmeet, with a brief stop at the southern port villa, Sven's castle and the stone castle on the way, no doubt. Those places would draw gawkers too.

"The stuff of legends," Jack whispered to the jaffa.

"A remarkable tale, O'Neill. Ondeil," Teal'c corrected himself. "Then a message must be sent back through the gate to General Hammond. He must be assured of the integrity of your first message."

"So you and me, we're good to go on things?" Jack asked, waving a hand between himself and the big jaffa. He got a nod and then relaxed.

"Master," Lemmel called from the doorway. "Children come from within the garden. Ye ... the Highborn woman ... She comes and so here I am to bring ye to her. A Highborn woman. A terrible, frightening thing this be, master."

"I'll tell her you said so, Lemmel. She'll get a kick out of that. Terrible, frightening."

"Aye," Lemmel said, his voice slightly dimmer from behind the curtain this time.

"Come in here and stay with my Sky."

"M-no, Jack I'm awake."

"Baby," Jack said, leaning over to kiss his lover's cheek. Then he peered at Teal'c and grimaced. The big guy was staring at him, had been staring while he kissed Daniel. "Lemmel's gonna stay with you, Sky."

"I'm fine."

"He's gonna stay in here and Teal'c and I are gonna get Balin and take a stroll into the temple. Some Highborn are gonna take the kids to the hall. We'll be back in a little while."

"Yeah," Daniel said, not stirring from under the veil. He tried to lay very still, to resist the tug and pull of unseen guardians bent on testing him. They kept invading him. Daniel shuddered.

Jack kissed him one more time and then left through the curtained way, Teal'c at his heels.

At the doorway the big jaffa paused and glanced back at the white-draped figure huddled on the bed. Then he joined his team leader. He frowned as the huge steward, Lemmel, scurried past him, seeming to shrink from contact as if his skin might be deadly.

"Give him a while, T," Jack said as he noticed Lemmel's huddled posture. "He's not sure if you're a Highborn, a guardian, a steward or a Champion. That's a lot for the boy to absorb, okay?"

"As you wish, Ondeil," he said without hesitation. "The message to the general must be dispatched within two hours. I shall prepare the portable communicator while you see to Major Carter's needs."

"Do that," Jack said.

Back inside the created room, Lemmel sat on the edge of the bed. After several silent moments he reached down and gathered the veiled Sky into his arms. He pulled the man into his lap, holding him much as he had in the small tent outside Drangaskogen. "What hurts, brother?" he whispered, his lips brushing over the veil.

"Oh, God, Lemmel," Daniel moaned out the plea. "I can't face him. I can't—I tried to control him through sex. That's what I was doing. I kissed him, rubbed myself on him expecting him to ... Jack was upset. I didn't want Jack to be upset. Everyone had their weapons out. It was ... I can't face him. If they'd just leave now, go back through the gate and I could just never go home. I can't go home. Jack should. I can't take his life away, ruin his future. Lemmel, I can't think anymore. The guardians won't stop."

"Through sex all this trouble came?" Lemmel whispered. He rubbed a thumb under the Sky's left eye, clearing away smeared kohl. "But it be ye right. Ye may touch a man and then so he should do as ye wish. Anything that ye wish. This be the right way for ye. All know this."

Daniel just groaned and buried his face against Lemmel's broad shoulder. The specter-like guardians redoubled their efforts at raping him. Trapped in his own body, Daniel could not escape them.

Chapter 40 A Highborn Woman

Jack strode into the temple. Carter was up on the dais, her veil down again. She was easy to spot because she didn't have on a flying nun hat. Jack paused, lifting one eyebrow as he scowled. She wasn't supposed to be bringing infants out, yet she had a couple in her arms. A bunch of kids of various ages were milling around her. They all had on little veils, and for a moment, Jack felt overwhelmed with nausea. The kid's veils were all white, and short, only falling to the nape of their necks, and were tied on like a kerchief. The front sagged down past their eyebrows but didn't cover their eyes.

As he pushed hard to repress the battering nausea, Jack saw a few Highborn men come and start claiming the kids. Jack saw that the men brought some brown-eyed kids with them. Good thinking there. That'd keep the new kids a little calmer.

Sam handed one of the babies off to Heyerdahl and then followed him, carrying the other. They made their way past the DHD and Jack moved over to join her. "I think you should give the kid to one of them," he said. "Probably not a good idea for you to walk through the city to the kid's hall yet."

She shook her head, not speaking to him.

"Hey, it's okay if you talk now. They all know you're a woman now. Freaked out as they are—"

"No," Carter said, her voice harsh and almost angry sounding. "It's not that."

"Did you talk to them in there? If the Sky women can't come out, I was thinking maybe the dark-eyed women could. Come out and maybe go to the Sky hall. That might not be such a shock to the culture—"

"There are no ... no," she repeated loudly, "women with dark eyes in that damned garden. Nirrti—She had them—They kill ... " Carter shook her head. "Sir, Nirrti had them kill any girls born with any other color eyes than blue. These baby girls ... They were going to kill them within a month. I took them."

Jack's frowned deepened. Hastily he stepped to her side and peered down into the face of the newborn infant in her arms. "Brown eyes?"

"Yes," she said, her voice softening instantly. "Brown. Hazel or green. Someone will have to supply them with milk. Do they have baby bottles on this planet?"

"I dunno. Aegis'll have to ... Balin," Jack called softly over his shoulder. His Champion stepped around Teal'c and bowed low. "These are Highborn girls. First to ever live in the city in a damned long time. Who can take care of them?"

"Hall of Highborn children will know what needs doing, House. Some worker caste women there will tend them as they do their own. Naught but good will come to the babes."

"Okay, fine." He turned back to Carter. "Feel like handing the kid to him? He'll get her and the other one where they need to go."

"Nay, House. I summon a Highborn male to approach the Highborn woman. Or be it better for a normal size woman to serve her? Which would ye wedded consort say be the right way of this?"

"He'd say either way would be fine. Whatever your people are most comfortable with; worker or Highborn.

"Aye. Him, he will say we walk all on Odin's world. I see the future of that."

"Yeah. All walking on the same world." Jack nodded.

Worker caste women were waiting just inside the temple entrance. They'd come with the Highborn men to retrieve the newly released children. After the garden door was firmly closed, Jack led Sam to the worker caste women and oversaw the baby girls being passed to them.

"That's done. Let's go sit for a minute and you can give me a briefing on what's going on behind the wall. T's got to activate the gate right quick and have a chat with Hammond. Come over here and have a seat. You look worn out," he told her.

"Yes, sir," Carter replied. She shuffled after him in her restrictive shroud and veil and sat where she and Teal'c had been sent to earlier in the day.

After a short conversation with stargate command, Teal'c closed the gate down and joined his two team members, letting them know the general was satisfied. Teal'c stood stoically behind Jack's chair, getting nervous glances from Balin and Aegis who Jack had summoned to the isolated area. Lemmel knelt by Jack's knee offering a platter of drinks.

"You were supposed to sit with my Sky."

"He sleeps now, master. My servant Sky be on one side of him and another Sky from the hall on the other. He be well watched, with each breath heard, master."

Jack nodded and turned back to Carter as she raised the veil off her face and draped it back over her head.

"They have no provisions stored. Nothing at all. The trees inside the garden are all ornamental. Nothing fruit-bearing or nut-bearing. Flowers, but no vegetables or herbs. The only thing those women know is genealogy. Oh, and they speak and write goa'uld fluently. They have two other forms of written language. One is the angular writing that you sent a sample of. The other I can't make sense of. I memorized some to show Da—"

"No," Jack cautioned her. He shook his head sternly.

"Yes, sir," she said, nodding nervously. She took a glass from Lemmel and smiled at the kneeling man. "Thank you."

"Yeah, that's another thing. I'm not sure if that'll freak him out, you being a woman and all."

"Nay, master," Lemmel answered the insinuated question. "She be not Sky."

"Then is it okay to say her name?"

"Aye," he said. "As she be not Sky and thus, not a blessed being. But merely forbidden. A name, it would not be heard." He looked up at Balin for confirmation. "This be right, Champion? A forbidden woman, they do not be seen or ... so then there be naught for it but that her name or her face do not reach us?"

"Ah," Balin said, wrinkling his brow in concentration. "Never did think on this before. The city council of elders along with the council of Champions must be consulted."

"Yeah," Jack said lightly. "Get right on that, would you? Let me know if I can see her or not, and if you see her sitting here or not. That'd be good to know. I'm sure my Sky would appreciate knowing if when he took her hand earlier, if he was actually touching a real person or if he was holding thin air. Yeah. Get on that, would you, fellas?"

"My master uses sarcasm—" Lemmel was speaking with a broad smile on his face when he was interrupted.

"I see the woman," the tailor Sky said. He'd come up behind Teal'c and now stepped wide around him and Balin. "I see a woman of my kind. Truly did you come through Odin's ring?" he asked earnestly.

"You're not scared of her?" Jack asked.

"She's not a witch, is she," he asked rhetorically, keeping his gaze on Carter. "You're not one of them. You were upset that they'd kill. I saw that, just as I see you sitting here now. But you do frighten me. Not much does." He crossed his arms and glared down at her, seeming anything but frightened.

"Sky," Jack said with a nod. "Yeah, well. How's the new shop?" he asked brightly. "Got everything all ship-shape? Stitch any new duds lately?"

"He insults, this king who refuses his throne. I stitched the wedding veil for his consort, did he tell you? A gift. I owe Ondeil nothing. His wedded consort, though, him I owe. He touched you, blessed you. I heard about that. You're not a witch, are you?"

"No, I'm not a witch," Carter said slowly, glancing between her commanding officer and the angry, veiled man. "Made the wedding veil? For ... He wore a wedding veil." Then she turned directly to Jack. "You really did get married. You married him."

"He ... married ... you," Teal'c said forcefully. "Of his own free will?"

"Hell, yes," Jack said, glaring up at the jaffa. "You don't think I forced him to do that, do you? What do you think I am?"

"I do not know what you may have become in the time you were lost on this planet. You have been away for six hundred and thirty-five Earth days. Much may change in that amount of time. I have seen ... him. He is most troubled. Most changed."

"Not because I forced myself on him!" Jack said, climbing to his feet to face Teal'c. "And we're not having this conversation in front of these strangers."

"As you wish," Teal'c said, his jaw muscle jumping with tension.

"The woman exists," the tailor Sky interjected. "Tell your council the Sky caste see her. As for her name, I think she should decide that. For too long the witches behind the wall have decided our fate. The guardians have decided who should and should not hear our names. No more. The new way does not forbid it. She should decide for herself."

"Yeah, maybe you all should," Jack interjected, turning away from the anger he felt toward Teal'c.

"Maybe," the tailor Sky said, looking more indecisive by the second. "I can't imagine them," he paused to point his thumb at Balin and Aegis, "them knowing my name. Makes me sick to think of it. I don't want it. I won't have it. No. Not for me." He turned and walked briskly away.

"I have no problem with people knowing and speaking my name," Sam said as she watched the veiled man leave the main temple chamber.

"Yeah, well, give it a day. You've been here less than a day, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

"Master, why does she say, sir? Be this ye title?"

"No, kid. It's like ... I have no idea what it's like. Ask my Sky. He'll know."

"He knows all that needs knowing," Lemmel said. "We are so blessed that he be among us."

"Yeah," Jack said, shaking his head and frowning. "So how about we get on with the report? Aegis, Balin, you need to grab a chair and listen. This is your world."

"Sit in the presence of the Highborn woman?" Aegis said challengingly. "May we not kneel instead?"

"Ah, hell. Grab a chair or fall on your faces. I'm sick of staring up so damned far at you. My neck hurts. Sit down!"

Balin dropped to one knee a second before Aegis did. Lemmel scurried, half crouched away and returned with two chairs, and then brought another. After Aegis, Balin and finally Teal'c were seated, Jack nodded at Carter.

"Sir, they have very limited knowledge. No books. Just oral tradition. Nirrti left detailed instructions though, that are carved into metal plates in the center of the garden. She took this genetic experiment very seriously."

Jack had to translate the term for genetic experiment. He came up with a phrase that had Carter frowning, but the men around him nodding in understanding.

"They keep meticulous records of all the ... matings—Was he," she abruptly started to ask, "Was ... Did they do that to him? Your wedded ... Him?"

"No. He didn't have to earn one of Nirrti's circles that way. Would have been nothing though, compared to what he went through," Jack said, shifting his gaze to the floor.

"Yes, sir. Anyway ... they record the names of all the men who father children, what the result of the insemination was, if the child is male and if he grows up and returns to be h—harvested. I guess that's the right word. Or judged and murdered. They murder their sons if they misbehave."

"I know all that. What's the power structure like inside? Who rules them?"

"A council of elders. The old woman who confronted Da—"

Jack held his palm up toward her and frowned in dark disapproval.

"The one who ... she's the spokesman for the council. She's proposing mass suicide."

"Crap. My Sky won't ... He's probably afraid of that. He thinks of everything."

"But the younger women and about half the council of elders are opposing it. They want to send out all the boys. Even the ones who are being readied to go out veiled. I think that in a few days they'll be ready to release the rest of the boys."

"Okay. How low on supplies are they?"

"I couldn't get an accurate assessment of their reserves. Water is not really a problem. They have a well, but don't usually draw water from it. They're used to the priests or guardians, whatever they were, they'd bring water and food, any material, furnishings, whatever the women asked for."

"So we could exchange them some small bits of food for the rest of the boys? My Sky had said nothing else would be coming into the garden, but if old grandma is that dead set on suicide ... Well, Balin, what do you think?"

"Nothing else goes in," Balin said solemnly. "Not by our hand. If the women wish to come out and trade for food, water, then they may, as ye wedded consort so allowed to be."

"Oh. You're thinking he wanted them to be able to trade out here, get them out of the garden a little at a time. Yeah." Jack nodded.

"That would work, sir. Give them hope. Let them get what they need so they see suicide is not their only option. And they have something else you'll want."

"What's that?"

"Nirrti's Tel'tac. It sits in the center. It was her lab here, and it's where they do the artificial insemination."

"Oh! Yeah, that would come in handy."

"Tel'tac?" Balin asked. "Artifish?"

"A flying ship. A Tel'tac is a flying ship."

"Nay! This nonsense again, House? Asny child's silly rantings."

Jack chuckled and maneuvered his hand through the air like an airplane, making the appropriate buzzing noises. "Yep. So how do we get them to turn it over to us?"

"Gold," Teal'c said solemnly. "The Tel'tac is now worthless to the women. It is most likely they will no longer have the skills to pilot the craft, yet they are in need of gold to trade for their wants. Offer them gold, Ondeil."

"Huh," Jack said thoughtfully. "I don't have enough."

"Need not come from ye steward's pouch, House. From the city that belongs to ye. All offerings and tributes belong to ye now. The tributes of the last ten days, with all the new coming and going, that be more than the forbidden women would need for food for a year. Many Champions and Highborn have come to ye city to learn what the Nyrnortvegr has wrought here."

"Ah. So my baby's been making me more gold. Damn," he swore angrily, shaking his head. "That's not going to make him feel any better. Or ... or me."

Silently, Sam mouthed the word. "Baby?" Her look was sharp with disapproval.

Jack flicked his eyes away from her, but came face to face with Teal'c who was also staring intently at him. "I'm not in the mood to deal with that right now. Don't ask. I'm not gonna explain. Not gonna justify what I choose to call him ... But we shouldn't make this proposal to them too soon. We want those boys out alive first."

It was finally decided that Carter and Teal'c would sleep in the temple near where the gong stood. This kept her out of the way, close to the dip in the wall which defined the forbidden garden, and kept Teal'c where the nervous Champions could feel he was somewhat confined. Finding an outhouse for Carter was a real problem. Where could a Highborn woman go that wouldn't offend her, or the worker caste of the city?

Daniel didn't get out of bed until Jack forced him to walk to the outhouse used exclusively by the Hall of Champions. Ready for bed, they both settled in their private chamber and got some much-needed sleep. Or rather, Jack got some sleep.

He woke to find Daniel crouched in a corner of the bed, his back pressed firmly to the wall. He had the damned summer veil on and was in his slut-wear. The veil draped down to cover his whole body, everything except his bare toes which stuck out under the edge. Jack frowned.

"Gotta try harder to sleep, baby." He pushed the covers back off his nude body. He'd slept comfortably that way, but Daniel had gone to bed fully dressed, refusing to take off anything.

"Are they leaving soon?" Daniel scrunched down tighter, trying to inch away from Gruber's clawing fingers, but his movement only brought him firmer against Joslin.

"Who? The women in the garden?"

"I can't face them, Jack. The truth is I'm never going back home with you. File your report. Tell them I died here. You've done that before for me. I can't come to Earth with you."

"I'm not—We're not going home any time soon, desire. You and me, we'll go together. I'm not leaving you again. Ever. Did that once before, and it didn't work out for either of us. I got back to a wife who had already left me. You settled for living with someone you'd known only for a few days. It was a fucked-up thing from day one. Can't undo any of it, wouldn't if we could. Sha'uri was sweet and wonderful. Sara deserved my honesty. But that didn't make our choices any better. So we're not doomed to repeat our broken past. I'm not leaving you here. You're not staying without me. So that means we both stay until we're both ready to go. Simple as that."

"Simple," Daniel whispered, shaking his head. "I can't face them, not after what I did to Teal'c."

"You didn't do anything to him." Jack shook his head, matching Daniel's movements. "He'll tell you it was nothing—"

"Tried to control him through sex. Like I did with Balin back on the trek up here. Done it with others. Had it done to me."

Jack pursed his lips and took a deep breath. "I don't know about that." Was he lying to himself? Was he lying to Daniel right now? "I don't know. You want to go out riding today? You and me? Carter's in the temple. If anything goes down in there she can negotiate while we're gone. Teal'c could come with us—"

"No," Daniel said firmly.

"Okay, no to the riding or no to Teal'c coming with us?"

"I'm not going anywhere today. I'm staying in here. Don't bring him in here again. You shouldn't have brought him in here yesterday. Don't do it again," he said spitefully.

Jack pushed himself up off the bed and struggled into a shirt. "You're not going to hide in here. I sent for them because I had thought T could help you. Talk to you. He's not going to respond like I do. He's not going to give in to you like—"

"You give me nothing! You don't give in to anything I need!" Daniel stood up on the bed, unable to back farther away from Gruber or the guardians or even Jack than he was, jammed there in the corner of their private space.

"What do you need!" Jack shouted. "Tell me what you need and I'll get it. I'll do it! Tell me, Sky."

"I need it to stop. Oh, God, I need this in my head to ... all of it, all of it, stop. Just stop being in there. I need this—" he stopped shouting and jerked the veil off his head. "I need this damned thing to not be a part of me."

"Baby," Jack said earnestly, responding to the terrible pain in his lover's eyes. "Baby," he repeated as he knelt on the bed. He put a hand on Daniel's bare knee. "It'll happen. Time. You just need time."

"Why did they come here? This isn't me, Jack. I'm not like this. I don't do these things, or have these feelings. I'm not like this. I'm strong."

"Strong like you were yesterday when you faced down that old witch. She's fucking deadly and you faced her down and defeated her. I thought you were lost in that negotiation. I thought you were losing it, floundering. And you got exactly the result you needed, what those women needed. Their children are safe. I wasn't able to follow what you were doing but you did it. How can that have happened and then you say you're not strong?"

In response, Daniel crumpled to his knees. Jack's hand slid up to and inside the slit in his pants, circling over his thigh to rub along the sensitive skin of his hip.

"Strong," Jack whispered, putting his other arm around his lover. "Where you need to be. And you have to let me be what I can. I mean, strong for you where I can. Tell me what you need. I'll listen and do what I can. You said I don't let you? I don't give in. I don't give in when you need me to. Okay. All right. What do you need me to give in on?"

"Don't bring him in here again. I know you're going to force it. Force me. Like you did with Balin. Force me to be exposed to him like at the inn and at your Meadows Cot."

"I did that? Did I force you to be around him when you didn't want to?"

"In the room at the inn. You took away my last bit of sanctuary there, bringing him in, putting him between us. I had to start asking permission just to be alone for a moment, to be able to take off the veil."

"I did that to you?"

"I had nowhere. The rooms the men rented sometimes. I had those for a few minutes after they left. But the sanctuary I had was with you in the room where you slept. You took that away and left me with nothing. No place to retreat to. Then you forced me to go to Thaid's home. God, I hated that." Daniel wrapped his arms across his chest and began to rock.

"I need to give in," Jack whispered, frowning to himself. "I need to promise you Teal'c won't come in here. That's not such a big thing to ask. Damn, it's not a big thing to ask at all. Damn," Jack repeated the curse softly. "Why the hell didn't I just say okay when you asked me such a simple thing? Such a little thing? I'm as screwed up as y—" Jack bit off his sentence, shaking his head vigorously.

"As me? No. You're not that screwed up. But tell me. Am I endangering the team? You need to not let me endanger the team. If Teal'c or Sam ... Am I endangering you because I'm so fucked up?"

"No. Stop that."

"I still smell that crap when I walk through the temple. It's not really there, I know. I'm scared to death the old woman will bring some out with her, blow it in my face. God, if she does that, if she does that, what if I tell them to kill her? And Jack, whatever you do, don't, don't let them ask me what to do with the guardians. Don't let that happen. Don't let them ask me. Promise?"

"I promise. I'll order them not to ask you, how's that?"

"Yeah," Daniel said, sounding suddenly exhausted. His manic state was passing quickly. He sagged against his lover. "I'm tired."

"Didn't sleep at all last night? I didn't wake up any at all. Not even once. So you must have not slept. Didn't have any nightmares."

"Had enough yesterday afternoon. I slept with Heyerdahl and a friend. Tried. I didn't succeed much. Constant nightmares. Kept seeing Teal'c as a guardian. Nasty dreams of him raping--."

"He'd feel real bad about making you upset, you know."

"The mark. That's probably what's doing it."

"I'll tell him to cover it."

"Oh, no," Daniel said anxiously. "No. That would be ... I don't think that would be ... He ... No."

"How about I give in to you? Not bug you about leaving this room all day long? You stay in here. I'll bring food, maybe a tub and some bathwater. Shave you? Clean clothes and then ... then you can read me part of that bracelet book thingy."

"The book," Daniel said, lifting his head to look around the room. "I got through part of the first bracelet yesterday. I kept losing concentration. Do you want to hear it now?"

"Breakfast first?" Jack asked, careful not to be demanding. "Ah, no. Let's go to the outhouse first. Gotta piss. Wash our face and hands. Need to shave and then, scrambled eggs and those berry muffins, okay? Then the book?"

"Yeah," Daniel said resignedly. He shifted around, starting to climb from the bed as he pulled his veil back over his head.

"Sorry," Jack said. "Hey, where's the first part of the book? The first bracelet?" he asked as he scooped up the four gold circles lying on a chair by the bed. He handed them to his lover and then scooted back to lean against the mound of pillows. He smiled, patting the bed by his hip.

With his head bowed Daniel scooted into the crook of Jack's arm, nestling firmly against his lover. He turned the bracelets over and over, feeling the grooves of the runic alphabet carved into them. "Starts here. This is the adventure of a man named Deitmer. He goes on a long journey to find a treasure. This part tells why he wants the treasure. His family is starving, and he's determined to save them. So ... "

Jack curled his hand tightly around Daniel's shoulder and laid his head against the man's temple. In a few moments Daniel's head was resting on his shoulder. Then Daniel was asleep. Jack lay there listening to the rustling sounds of Champions waking on the other side of the partition. His bladder was uncomfortably full.

A soft knocking at the door frame drew Jack's attention. He didn't want to wake Daniel by calling out, so he just stared at the curtained opening.

"Master?" Lemmel whispered. After a moment, the steward's face appeared at the edge of the dark cloth.

Jack raised his free arm and put his fingers to his lips. Lemmel withdrew. Jack listened to the sounds, the low murmurs and rustling noises of the other occupants in the great hall. Then there was nothing. Lemmel must have sent everyone from the entire hall. All the Champions, stewards and the few Skys who'd been choosing to bed down in here instead of in the Sky hall, must have been sent away. Then Lemmel's face was back. He slipped noiselessly into the partitioned area and brought a cup of water to Jack.

Gratefully, Jack sipped it, and then handed it back. "Need to pee," he mouthed silently.

Lemmel gave him a terribly bewildered look. He retrieved the chamber pot, uncovered it and stood by the bed staring at Jack's shirt-draped groin.

Jack drew a breath and held it. Then he carefully rolled his hips away from his lover. Daniel shifted and groaned in distress. Instantly Jack stilled. Then he sank back on the bed and frowned at his steward, his free hand now cupped around Daniel's cheek.

After a moment Lemmel smiled. He lifted Jack's closest leg and slid the clay pot between his bare thighs, nudging the rim against his master's wrinkled scrotum. Jack glared up at him but Lemmel only smiled in response. Then the steward took his cock, pressing the tip slightly downward. Jack rolled his eyes.

"No way am I gonna go like that," he mouthed the words, exaggerating the movement of his lips as much as possible. But his stubborn steward just kept a confident smile plastered on his face. Jack sighed and closed his eyes. Running water faucet. Waterfall. River. Trickling stream. Ahh. Trickling stream. Trickling over little rocks and trickling, trickling down into a nice, white urinal. Ah, yeah. Now it's splashing, flowing faster, a fast, hard stream hissing as it hits the back of the urinal. Aiming for the deodorant cake in the plastic holder. Hissing. Pissing. What a freaking relief! Jack sighed heavily.

Less than an hour later, just as Jack thought boredom was going to snap his last nerve, Daniel screamed. He shoved at Jack's loose embrace, bolting upright in the bed. "Oh! Oh!" he said, staring around wide-eyed. "Oh. Dream. Jack. Jack? That was a dream." He settled back against his lover, his arms pressed down across his hips. He shook.

Jack patted his shoulder and hugged him. "Yeah, baby. Just a dream this time. But they're bad because they really happened. You need to start talking about them eventually, you know."

"Not today," Daniel said with conviction. He gave a small grunt of pain as he shifted in the bed, and then he pushed his face against the crook of Jack's neck. The ghostly feel of a guardian shoving into him hurt. "Not today. You said I could stay in here if I wanted to. Not going to force me ... Not going to force me today. You promised."

"Yeah. I shouldn't ever force you. Shouldn't take the choice away from you. Never. Sometimes I do it, thinking it's for your own good. Or I do it because it's right for the team and ultimately, right for you, but not right now. Right now what's good for you is for me to listen and do what you say, what you need. You need to stay in here all day, so you stay."

"Damn. Part of that? Part of why I'm afraid of saying what I need is because if I say something? A Sky is never wrong. If I say I want something impossible, they'll kill themselves trying to make it happen. I was so scared I'd go crazy and tell them not to let you out of bed and they'd take it literally and tie you— Bad thought. Bad mental picture there." He turned away from Jack and hunched into a fetal position.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "You're thinking of when old Gunnlaug had Thaid do that to you. Tied you to our bed."

"Stupid of me. I'm tripping over my own feet. Imagine how much being out among them trips me up."

"I can't. I can't imagine. You'll have to tell me. If ... if you want to. I'm not forcing you. If you want. When and if you want. So how about I bring you some breakfast?"

"Time to eat?" Daniel asked. "Actually, I'm really too sleepy to eat. But I'd rather not go to sleep right now. I wish I hadn't touched Teal'c yesterday. I wish you'd grabbed me and pulled me back. You need to keep me in line. Keep me on a shorter leash."

"You're not my pet. I can't do that."

"Someone needs to," Daniel muttered, his voice muffled now by the covers he was pulling over himself.

Jack straightened the covers, dragging them back off Daniel's head. He had the veil on. That was enough to hide under. Sliding off the bed, Jack stretching his back, feeling the strain of newly regrown muscles. He stretched high and then bent forward, rounding his back and dangling his arms down toward the floor as far as they would go. Daniel had done an incredible job, keeping his tendons supple, keeping him hydrated and then slowly adding the weight back on. An incredible job, Jack knew, grimacing as he recalled the horror he felt the first time he'd realized how emaciated he was from the venom of an alien spider.

Jack stood and rolled his shoulders. Time to move around, get more food in himself, not undo any of Daniel's hard work. He got dressed and left his lover. He barely stepped out of the curtained door when Daniel yelled out in his sleep again.

Later, with Heyerdahl sitting with Daniel, Jack went in search of his newly arrived team members. He found them both in the temple, back in a smaller area within what had been the Highborn gallery. Their personal space had been separated off using the old railing. It had been put back in almost the same spot along the right side, and then turned to run deeper into the recessed wing. Someone had moved in a couple of beds and a folding screen. Carter was seated at a table having some food. Teal'c was busy glaring at everyone in the place.

"Damn, T, you look tense." Jack said in the Nortvegr language as he swung by the man, giving him a pat on the arm.

"These men are warriors, Ondeil. They respect vigilance." Teal'c resumed his pose, his thick arms crossed over his broad chest.

"Yeah, but you're wearing my ribbons. They know you're not an enemy. Come sit down a minute. I need to talk to you two." Jack plopped in the too-tall chair across from Carter and began picking at the platters heaped with food.

"Sir, how is ... your ... him?" Sam frowned.

"He's trying to get some sleep. Didn't sleep last night apparently. Doesn't sleep much lately." Jack shoved a clean plate toward Teal'c as the big man sat down with him.

"Can you tell us what's wrong with him?" Sam asked.

"No. Not really. I don't think he wants you to know. Either of you. This society has really fucked him up, but I think you figured that out yesterday. I guess it started when he was drugged. An overdose these guys gave him. It affected him pretty bad. Hasn't slept well since then. Sleep deprivation, and then he's had to keep going. We had a short timetable. Limit. Winter coming and all. He couldn't be here in the city when that happened. And then right after we got here he got tested by the guardians. Caught misbehaving."

"They kill blue-eyed men who misbehave," Sam said, her voice low with dread.

"Kill them, yeah. But not before they test them. My Sky passed, so they let him live."

"What was the test?" Sam asked.

Jack frowned, bowing his head low. "He won't want you to ever know that. But you'll find out. If you do any more negotiation you need to know what they've done to their sons, those women. Nirrti's fault. Not theirs. That bitch really hated men, didn't she?"

"Nirrti saw men as objects for her personal gain." Teal'c shoved the empty plate aside, leaning his elbows on the table. "Unlike other goa'uld hosted by females, Nirrti did not seem to gain enjoyment from using them as sexual partners, rather preferring torture and damage, but only in a non-emotional way."

"Yeah. Bitch doesn't describe her well at all, does it?" Jack asked. "She set up a system here that kept human men, blue eyed ones, kept them in the role of sex slaves. But with a twist. Slaves know they're slaves. Their masters know they're slaves. Everyone does. Here, they were made to think of themselves as religious deities, sort of. No power. Not even the freedom to own clothes. Death for any transgression, but death only after being tested by Nirrti's guardians. They corrupted her already-dirty system for their own profit. Sick bastards."

"And it started when he was drugged?" she asked. "His ... illness?"

"Well, not really. It started back in a village called Brooksmeet. He was taking care of me there and this guy, this guy wanted him. My Sky told the guy to fuck off, so ... this big guy tied him up and ... forced ... raped him."

"My God," Sam swore, her hand covering her mouth.

Teal'c bristled in his chair.

"Almost broke his neck. He was so bruised," Jack said, his attention focused miles away. "So bruised. Wouldn't talk after it happened. My Sky felt so guilty."

"It wasn't his fault. No one asks to be raped," Sam said.

"Damn. Maybe that's what's still wrong. He thinks, because of the work he was doing ... I mean, the way he was earning money for us to live on. That's what it is. Thinks he asked for it, maybe."

"How the hell—" Sam broke off her cursing. "I mean, sir, there's no way anybody could think their work would cause—"

"Yeah, it could," he said coldly. "You don't know what he's been doing since we crashed here. And I'm damned sure he doesn't want you to know. I'm screwing up explaining this. Making a mess of it. Maybe it didn't start in Brooksmeet. It started back in the low desert where we crashed. I was dying. Literally being eaten away from the inside by a poison that bounty hunter injected into me. Spider venom. Digestive enzyme eating me from the inside out.

"To keep me alive he ... my ... he had to earn money, things. Water and food and transportation. Expensive down there. But nothing's gotten any cheaper. More expensive to travel up here. I guess we had it easy down in the low desert. So he had to earn what he could to keep me alive. That's what started this. Him being forced to sell himself to all those men, you understand?" He stared hard at the table.

"No," Sam said, shaking her head.

Angrily, Jack pushed himself away from the table and turned his back on his team members. They were very much alone in this part of the temple. Not only had the Champions put much of the Highborn gallery railing back, but they'd also redirected all activities to the other end and the other side of the temple. House Ondeil was virtually alone with Sam and Teal'c. He had the privacy he needed to talk to them, but not the nerve. He didn't have the nerve to tell them what they needed to know.

He paced away from the table and then turned, walking back with his head bowed low. He'd wrapped his arms across his chest, giving himself one of Daniel's self-hugs. It wasn't helping, and Jack needed help.

"Sir?" Sam prompted him, rising to stand beside the path he was cutting back and forth across the marble floor.

"Nirrti's laws, you know what they do to their sons, the limits placed on them. Restrictions, punishable by death. He had to live inside those laws if he had any hope of keeping me alive." Jack kept his head down, kept hold of himself. "And now he can't come out of the room, won't get out of our bed. He can't face you, either of you. But especially you, Teal'c. Can't face you."

Suddenly, Sam's expression changed. Gone was the look of curiosity, replaced by a slight flush of anger. She reached out and snagged his arm. "So you've been sleeping with him. You got here, decided you two would just live in this society so you started sleeping with Daniel?"

"Don't say his name!" Jack yelled at her, then rapidly glanced around to see if anyone might have heard.

"Why not! I'm not sleeping with him! We have no part in this ... this ... " She waved her arms about, pointing at the temple, the people in it. "This insanity. Nirrti is dead. Why would you go so far as to start sleeping with him?"

"It didn't take this," he said coldly, his gaze boring into her eyes. "Didn't take Nirrti's crazy laws. This isn't what did it."

"What could ever have possessed you to make you sleep with Daniel? Teal'c and the general were right. Something's been done to you. Something here—"

"Not here, Carter. I've been sleeping with him long before we came on that last mission. This place didn't do a damned thing to me. It's him that's been hurt by these people, this society. By Nirrti, damn it. Fucking bitch is dead and she's done more damage to him than all the other goa'uld put together."

Teal'c rose and stepped between his comrades, his imposing form separating them effortlessly. "We will not learn anything by this display of heightened emotions. It will profit us nothing but unwanted suspicion from those who observe us, even now."

Sam stood frozen in shock, Jack's words finally sinking in.

"Yeah. Yeah," Jack said, nodding in surrender. He stepped back from the confrontation and returned to the table.

After a moment, Sam joined him, sitting stiffly in the too-tall chair. She stared at the table now, just as Jack had earlier.

Teal'c sat back at Jack's right hand again. "Ondeil, finish the debriefing. We must know what has been unsaid, or we will be of less assistance than you may need. The one who's name we do not speak is ill. Explain this illness."

"Not really ill, T."

Angrily, Sam talked over him, "Why can't we say his name? It's just the three of us here. We should be able to—"

"Because it's like raping him," Jack said through clenched teeth. He cut her an angry glare, clenching his hands where they lay on the table. "And he's had enough of that. Don't fucking slip up again. I kept slipping up. Over and over. I hurt him so damned bad. In their eyes, I've treated him like crap. I accused him of ... doubted him. When the guardians came and got him ... Damn. I couldn't do anything. They did it to him in front of me. Like he was nothing. Like he was a rag, wiping themselves on him and then they just dropped him to the ground. Like he was nothing. They did it right there in front of me and suggested I get a replacement whore in case they needed to let the witches kill him."

Jack stopped speaking and clamped a hand across his jaw, covering his mouth. After a moment he spoke again through his clenched fingers. "He begged them to stop. He'd been raped in Drangaskogen just before we got here. Drugged and raped by two of them. And when we found him bleeding and half-conscious I yelled at him for going out to save a girl, putting himself in the hands of his rapists. He was ... delirious with pain when we found him in that dirty alley, and I yelled at him, cursed him for being a slut.

"Then we got here and were in the city for only minutes before a gang of those guardians surrounded him, tore his clothes off and raped him there in front of me. And Christ, I did it again. Did it again. He saw the doubt in my eyes as they were raping him. How could I do that to him?"

Sam's accusations were forgotten. Jack fisted his hands on the table edge and put his forehead on them. "How can I fix this? How can I undo what I've done to him? He told me this morning that I'd force him ... that I'd bring Teal'c in there and force him to ... Like I did with Balin. Didn't even take his feelings into consideration. I just forced him to accept Balin in our bedroom and then ... then eventually he gave in and Balin started fucking him too. I thought I was doing the right thing—"

"Right thing?" Sam asked in stunned anger. "This is insane. We need to get him away from here, take him home. There are doctors who could ... psychiatrists—"

"MacKenzie?" Jack asked, matching her outrage as he sat up and glared at her. "End every chance he has of recovering from this, of going back to the SGC? What his life was like before then, Carter, well, you don't really know. Didn't know him then. You either, Teal'c. I do. I did. I knew him then, saw him, watched him walk around the halls when they first brought him into the project. The man Catherine brought to the mountain isn't the same man you two met."

Jack kept gripping the edge of the table, glaring down at his hands now instead of at the woman. "He had nothing, really. No friends, no family to speak of. Nothing but ridicule. Couldn't get a job. He was homeless by that time because people's minds were too narrow to see the brilliance behind his glasses and his uncut hair. So staying on Abydos at the end of that mission was no big decision for him. He had nothing to return to. Asked me to report him as dead, and he was right, figuring no one would miss him. They didn't. Not even Nick Ballard. Nobody. So you want to put him back in that position, do you, Carter?"

"He has more than the stargate now, sir. More. He has friends and ... "

"Outside the project he has nothing and no one. We've kept it that way too. The SGC, we're comfortable that our expert is isolated, insulated from the world. Keeps him safer. Keeps the project safer."

"As I am kept isolated," Teal'c said calmly. "I am not allowed to live among the Earth population. I had thought that ... he, having a home off base would have a typical Earth-type life. But this is not the case, as you have explained."

"Yeah. Other than me, that is. He has me. Had me back on Earth. Sometimes he'd stay at my place and we ... so we had each other. If I take him back like this, we can't keep that part of our relationship secret. I'll be charged and the result is I'll be locked up. He'll be alone one way or the other. So, we stay here and I won't discuss this with you again, Carter. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," she said quietly, her head bowed now. "So you were sleeping together back on Earth, before this mission."

Jack glowered at her bowed head. She deserved his honesty. "Yes."

"And you didn't tell us." A tiny bit of anger crept into her voice.

"We didn't tell anyone."

"So now ... all of it, your secret, that's come around full circle and caused this—"

"No," Jack said, amazed at his own calmness. "Nirrti caused this. I caused it to get worse. No, I just ... I was really ill for a while. Took me a long time to be able to understand, to see what he was having to do to keep me alive, see what it was doing to him. And I couldn't stop it, but it wasn't my fault. Couldn't stop it until we got here to the gate, where we could end this whole mess. Couldn't save him from it until we got here. We tried to buck the system time after time. Just ended up getting him hurt worse, then make him have to work harder to get what we needed to survive."

"So he ... worked ... to keep you alive."

"Yeah, and before you ask, if it hadn't been for that, if I'd died he'd probably have been brought here, tested and been murdered by those women. I gave him a certain amount of protection, even when I was unconscious."

"You're his master," she said.

"No. Definitely not. No Sky has a master. They're like sacred beings. We host them."

Teal'c leaned forward. "An unfortunate choice of words."

"Eh, not the same, buddy. Not like a goa'uld being hosted. We support them, protect them, and because of that they have certain freedoms. He's a hosted Sky so he has the protection of my servants, the use of clothes, a roof over his head that he doesn't have to earn in ... in bed," he said, finally laying the truth out bare on the table.

With the truth bare between them, Jack suddenly felt terribly vulnerable.

"Daniel's been prostituting himself," Sam said, her voice flat and harsh.

Speechless, Jack shook his head. He couldn't even bring himself to reprimand her for saying that forbidden name. Instead, he got up from the table, turned his back on them and walked away, going back through the arched entry into the Hall of Champions.

Stiffly, furiously, Jack marched through the hall, sparing no one a returned greeting. His face was flushed and he couldn't decide if it was from anger or embarrassment.

Anger felt cleaner, more honorable. To be angry at her, at the both of them would be easier to bear, he knew. Jack pulled the curtain aside and stepped into the divided off space he shared with his lover. Daniel wasn't alone. He was sitting on the edge of the bed that had been put in there in place of the divan, and he was slumped over, his face buried in his hands. Heyerdahl was on one side of him, patting his back, but on the other side of his lover Jack saw that damned tailor Sky stroking his shoulders, running his hands up and down Daniel's arms and whispering softly to him.

Jack was shocked to see the sullen man in there. He'd seen very little of him outside of a few confrontations, and never in the Hall of Champions recently. And he was comforting Daniel. What the hell was going on?

The tailor glowered up at him as Jack froze in the curtained doorway for a moment. Daniel was crying. The tailor kept stroking his arm. Jack clenched his jaw and stepped in, letting the curtain fall closed. He balled his hands into fists and advanced on the tailor.

"My name, Ondeil" the tailor said to Jack, keeping his hands on the crying man, "I have decided you may know and use it. This is my decision, and no one may make it for me. I'm a free man. I've told your wedded consort my name. He knows it now, as does Heyerdahl."

"Okay," Jack said slowly, pulling his anger back under control. The tailor's tone was way too civil. Jack walked across the small space and sat on the low, straight-backed chair Lemmel had brought from Sven's house the day before. Daniel hadn't even looked up at him.

"You realize I have no obligation to tell you. You don't host me. You've given me nothing for which I owe you."

"Then why tell me?" Jack asked, working one fist against a palm.

"Because I would be free. In all respects, I want to be free. And I'll never mate with a man, mind you. I'm not like my kinsmen. I'm not going to love a man, or be attracted to one ever. I'm different, so I'm going to tell you that when I left the garden my name was Eyvind."

"Ivan," Jack repeated. "Ivan, the tailor. All right." His gaze kept flicking to Daniel's hunched figure, his face in a hard frown. "Nice to meet ya. My name's Jack, so I guess you can call me that instead of Ondeil. You too, Heyerdahl. Don't need to be so formal when we're out among the worker caste anymore."

"That would be nice, Jack," Heyerdahl said.

"So ... " Jack couldn't think of what to say, how to politely tell these two to fuck off and leave him and his lover alone. Obviously Daniel needed him right now. He needed privacy. Had the tailor said something to him to upset him? And why had Daniel let the tailor in here? The man had been nothing but nasty to him since the day they met. Had things changed? The tailor had. He'd changed. Little by little the angry Sky had changed.

"So you wish to be alone with your wedded consort," Eyvind the tailor said.

"Yeah," Jack said, shooting the man a challenging look. Daniel was still hunched over, still crying almost soundlessly. Was this going to be a contest of wills? A tug-of-war over his lover?

"Then we will withdraw. There's still much for us to tend to, Heyerdahl and myself. We have Skys who need ... need help." As the tailor said this, he ran his palm up and down Daniel's back. "There is much for us to do, but I'd like to return to talk again." He leaned close and cupped a hand along Daniel's wet cheek. "If that would be permitted?" he asked his kinsman. "For me to come again when you are feeling more like talking."

Mutely, Daniel nodded his agreement.

"Fine." Eyvind leaned over and kissed the side of Daniel's veiled head. He rolled his lips in and shot Jack a volatile glare, then was gone with Heyerdahl in tow.

"Ivan the terrible," Jack muttered. "Baby, what did he say to you?" Jack asked as he dropped to his knees in front of his lover. "Baby? Did he say something that upset you? Tell me. Do I need to go give him a deeper understanding of what it means to be hit?"

"No," Daniel whispered, his voice full of strain. "He was polite." Finally Daniel sat up and looked at Jack. His veil was halfway off his forehead.

Jack brushed at the white fabric, pushing the beads back more as he ran his fingers through the shorter strands of Daniel's hair that hung limp down by his face. "He was polite? That's hard to believe. Ivan the terrible is a good name for him."

"Eyvind," Daniel corrected him. "Eyvind. I couldn't tell him mine. Couldn't do it. And I should be able to. I know you're supposed to, but I want to. I should be able to tell someone my name without having a panic attack."

"Panic attack?" Jack asked, rocking back on his heels. He kept a hand on one of Daniel's bare knees. The slit pants he wore always fell open when he sat, just as they had that first time in the Meadows Cot when the elders had come to inspect him. Out of dangerous ignorance Jack had almost let him wear a cloak, be unseemly. He hadn't protected Daniel then, and hadn't protected him here in the city.

As Jack's mind had gone on its little journey, Daniel had bowed his head again. "Baby, you just need time. We don't have to rush any more. The letter from Brooksmeet, I mean, we beat the council of elders from there. We got the gate open. Nirrti's been dethroned. There's nothing else to push us. We can stop now, take our time."

"But you brought them here, brought Teal'c in here. I have to get ahold of this, get myself together now."

"That makes no difference. T and Carter, they'll understand. I'll make sure they don't pressure you in any way."

"They'll want you to go back with them soon. I'll have to be able to take care of myself when you leave me."

"Not leaving you again," Jack said, shaking his head with conviction.

"I can't go—"

"Neither of us are going back to Earth until you're ready. I've settled that already. End of discussion. We stay here until you feel up to going home."

"I don't want to go back to Earth. I want to go back to your Meadows Cot."

"Oh, well, actually that's a possibility I hadn't considered. I mean, it's possible."

"In the winter, across the great divide—"

"No," Jack said. "We may not have to wait. Nirrti conveniently left a Tel'tac here. It's sitting in the garden just waiting for us to get it out. Gonna trade for it. That was actually Balin's idea I think. And Teal'c. Those two will get along—"

"I'm not going to let Teal'c fuck me."

Shock blanched Jack's face white. "No! No, of course not. He won't. I won't ... Is that what you've been thinking? I thought we got that worked out this morning."

"We did? I told you already? You brought him in here, let him see me in bed. That's not good, Jack. Not good."

"Oh, I wasn't even thinking about that. I let him see you. That was wrong of me, and I apologize. I ... He's not worker caste, baby."

"Isn't he?" Daniel asked challengingly. "Maybe he's not as tall as them, but he's got their strength. He's not Highborn."

"Yeah. He's got a Jaffa's strength, what they get from having a symbiote all those decades. There's that. And he was created by the goa'uld. That what you're thinking? Or is it the brand on his forehead that's tripping you up?"

"All of it," Daniel said meekly. "I can't be under him. Please don't make that happen."

"All right, baby. What can I do to convince you it's not gonna happen? Bring him to you so he can tell you—Wait," he said hastily, patting Daniel's thigh even as the man tried to crawl across the bed away from him. " I meant like bring him into the hall of Champions, not in here. Sorry. I meant out there. Like at the banquet table."

With his back still turned to Jack, Daniel shook his head. "Yellow floor. He's not supposed to be on it." He moved up to the head of the bed and curled into a fetal position, his veil draped completely over his face.

"Yeah. Right. Forgot about that. Um. Let me think for a minute, okay?" Jack scratched his unruly hair and sat by his lover. He felt numb. He felt incredibly clumsy. Jack crawled across the big bed and curled himself around Daniel's back.

Chapter 41 Black Champion

Balin stood outside the wide, open doorway of the temple, his arms crossed over his broad chest. He glowered down at the small group who'd come to present a man for inspection by the guardians.

"Ulfrik," the Champion said the greeting dourly, and then pursed his lips. "Less than good company ye keep now days. Them be naught but pitiful, puffed up ruffians hired by Brooksmeet council. Ye could lop off their heads, man, and be done with their nonsense."

At his violent words the six men who stood bracketing the eerily blue-eyed weaver shrank back, tightening their grip on their assortment of weapons. They closed ranks around Ulfrik, who stood with his hands bound behind his back, and great coils of the coarse stuff wrapping around his chest.

"Aye," Ulfrik said jauntily. "And thus they did grow so fearful that I might, so that they had to bind me when we were but a few days ride south of here. I've no fear of them, but they've fear of me," he said loudly, his voice wavering slightly, betraying the falseness of his bravado.

Lemmel stood at Balin's right side, giving the so-named ruffians a nasty glower of his own with eyes that were of the same, uncanny hue. Then he glanced behind his mate's back, taking in the sight of the black-skinned stranger who dared to push himself into this affair. He'd come from within the temple on his own, the worker-Highborn did. Now he was standing there by Balin's side as if he were equal to a Champion. But then, so was Lemmel standing. The steward bowed his head in shame.

"Champion, come we on an honorable mission sent by elders—"

"I do not know this, fool? Am I so ignorant that I do not see ye stand there with a bound man?" Balin said challengingly. "Did ye keep ye dirty fingers in ye ears along the whole trip from my House's southern holdings? Come here and entered his city and still ye have not heard that Ondeil rules here now. No guardians. No judgments. No business ye have here, bringing House Ondeil's own weaver to him like a thief caught stealing apples in a market. Took coin for dragging a poor, defenseless weaver from his wife's breast. Coin-blades, one and all of ye.

"And tell me, coin-blades, ye thick-headed no nothings, did ye perhaps in ye puffed up way, bother our sweet Tal before leaving my House's village? Say ye did, I would most like to hear that ye bothered, her, First Innkeeper of the land. My sword has need of a new shining, and best done in blood that be, eh Ondeil's steward?" Balin finished, turning to Lemmel.

"Aye. Bothered our lady Tal, they one and all die for even upsetting her so that one hair does fall out of place. Done this?" Lemmel asked the group.

"It be our right!" one of the hired swordsmen shouted, shaking an angry fist up at the Champion. "None here be ignorant. We heard the rantings of a Nyrnortvegr even down south at the great divide, we did. Heeded them not."

"Then truly," Teal'c said, taking a half step forward, "You are as ignorant as Ondeil's Champion supposes that you are. Release the man there. He bears the colors that match those on my own sleeve." He turned, showing them the ribbons Jack had given him. "As such, he is marked as under my protection. I shall rend you, one and all, your heads from your bodies, if you do not release him at once."

"Ah?" shouted one of the angry men. "Runt of a soot-skinned steward ye be? Such a puny lad, and bearing that gold on ye head there as if ye seek to be taken for a guardian. But speak ye like a Highborn and for this, I have right to take offence. Come, runt lad, down off Nirrti's temple steps and do ye best to keep that head on ye shoulders. Or do ye wish to hide behind Ondeil's Champion now? Coward!" he spat the word angrily.

Calmly, Teal'c walked down the steps, tossing the edges of the new brown and green cape back over his shoulders. Lemmel had given him the cape earlier that morning, and Teal'c had bowed solemnly to the youth, scaring him even more. Descending the steps, Teal'c carried his staff weapon, but when he got to the step beside the man who'd called him coward, he turned and looked up at Lemmel. "Steward of Ondeil, I would ask that you hold this weapon. I do not intend to take unfair advantage of this being."

He held the weapon out toward Lemmel. After a terrible hesitation, Lemmel scrambled down the steps, taking the odd metal thing from the short man.

"Advantage? Ye must see how tiny ye be, dark one. Compared even to this man the First Champion called ignorant, he has the reach on ye. A long weapon ye need, as he has his great sword, and be a hired swordsman. Surely he has great skill or he would be dead by now. What will ye battle with? And when ye die, how shall I tell my master ye did meet death? Unarmed?" Lemmel stayed on the step with Teal'c and turned beseechingly toward Balin.

"Please, First Champion. Save my master's foolish ... " Lemmel turned back to the odd man. "What be ye in the household? Another steward? An armsman?"

"I have been a first prime. I have been a warrior. Ondeil calls me one of his team."

"Kid?" Lemmel asked, tilting his head forward.

"No," Teal'c said flatly. "I am not. Now, as to a weapon, I shall fetch a stick to beat this insolent being with, so then his comrades and he will release this man who wears the ribbons of Ondeil." Teal'c strode to the bottom step and crossed the cobblestone street. Across the roadway he paused at a vendor's stall and then returned with a walking stick. It was a long, smooth branch made of the dark wood that burned sweet. Hard and well polished, it was about seven feet long.

A throng of city dwellers followed, forming a ring of eager watchers near the temple steps.

Teal'c stood by the bottom step. "Shall I come back up the step to beat you, or would you wish to come down here, as to have more room to swing that dull blade you wear strapped to your hip?"

"Dull!" shouted the insulted man.

"If you do not release him after I have beaten you with this stick, I shall then use it to kill you. Each of you," he added. "Come now, one and all. Attack me."

Balin stood rock-solid, his arms still crossed. Several Champions had now come from within the temple, from within the dark recesses in the Champion's hall and joined Ondeil's Champion. They stared solemnly at the spectacle.

"His master will be unhappy at his death," Aegis said as he stood elbow to elbow with Balin. He got no reply.

"We should save the small fool," Roskilde said as he took up a position on Balin's other side. But he also got no response.

"Balin, please," Lemmel said, coming to stand on the first step below the landing where the Champions were gathered. "My master will be most displeased."

Finally Balin drew a deep breath. He kept his gaze locked on the dark man with the stick as the coin-blades began to circle him, forgetting their trussed up prize. Each man drew his blade. The too-short man looked unnaturally calm. "This be the one, Lemmel. This be the man who teaches use of the bo weapon. Remember the name?"

"Him?" Lemmel asked, turning back to stare at Teal'c, "that taught my master's Sky ... "

Teal'c squared off, turning slowly in a circle to observe the six men as they began to thrust and parry at him. He knocked blades aside with the long pole, one after another.

"Watch and see, fellow Champions," Balin said. "And if these coin-blades draw too much blood we go and end it before they end him."

Teal'c shifted his weight from foot to foot, moving in a slow dance, weaving the pole among the blades thrust at him. He countered each thrust effortlessly.

"Aye. Before he dies then. Good, I would rather he not die," Roskilde said. "Ondeil values him?" He winced as Teal'c slid the pole through his hands, shoving it behind him to catch one of the swordsmen in his lower stomach. The man dropped to his knees, winded but not out for long.

"He does value the dark man," Aegis said. "And we should save him, Balin. This be nonsense. Look at the fellow. Six blades at him."

"Aye. If he did kill certain of the six, ye know this would give him Championship claim?" Balin said. "He'd have right to the claim."

Teal'c spun, catching the advance of a man who'd crept up on his back, ready to strike a mortal blow with his blade. Teal'c slammed the walking staff into the man's throat, crushing his windpipe. A shout of surprise rose from the small crowd that had gathered in the street. No sound came from the Champions lining the steps of the temple.

"Kill him, they will. For the coin they will receive from Brooksmeet elders?" Lemmel asked. "Even though he did teach the bo skill, Balin, he will surely die!"

"Nay, lad. We will stop it before that. And he has taken one out. That man will not rise, though no blood was spilled."

"A mortal blow," Aegis said calmly, maintaining his stony glare. "Lucky blow."

"Aye," Roskilde said. "He faces five more."

Another swordsman dropped to the ground, rolling with his blade outstretched. He tried to scramble to his knees, up under Teal'c's weapon. Before the man could bring his great sword to bear, Teal'c leaped up and came down on him with the pole buried in the man's chest. All his weight was behind the lunge. He cracked a rib free of the man's breast bone, crushing his heart.

"Four," Roskilde said, his brows now drawn together. "This short man be not afraid to kill."

"Not afraid. So also may we say about the coin-blades he faces. They seek to strike mortal blows, not warding blows. They do not toy with the black stranger." Aegis recrossed his arms, tightening his posture as he did. "They taste the loss of coins. He would take their prize from them and deliver them no coins for the favor."

"Three," Lemmel said in horror as he watched Teal'c grab one of the men and break his neck.

Three steel blades lay unguarded on the ground, but Teal'c ignored them. He faced the remaining three fighters, breathing evenly. They were all panting from the strain of their parries and thrusts.

"Do you wish to concede?" Teal'c asked. For his answer he got a lunge at his belly that almost scored. He danced back. "Perhaps you do not know this word, concede. Do you wish to withdraw and live or do you wish me to kill you all? I offer you the opportunity to live."

"Bastard!" one of the three shouted. "Kill him! We all go at him at once. He cannot parry all three!"

"Aye! Strike him down!"

They lunged, all three from different directions. But none struck true. Teal'c brought his weapon up, holding it across his chest. He didn't attempt to parry any of the thrusts, but instead ducked under them, rushing all three with the walking staff. He pushed them back, getting them off balance enough that they tripped over the lowest step of the temple entryway. Then he began knocking their blades from their fingers, breaking bones, sending numbing jolts up their arms.

Blain winced when he heard the crack of that wood. He'd felt the stinging blow of such a weapon. It infuriated as much as it hurt. Fury made a man stupid, made him clumsy.

"Yield," Teal'c commanded them.

An inarticulate scream came from the man in the middle of the three on the ground. He lunged to his feet, pulling a short dagger from his boot. He thrust it upward as he rose. Teal'c grabbed the man's wrist, twisted the blade from him and slammed the point back into its owner, striking this one in the throat as he'd struck the first. Red liquid foamed out of the wound as the man fell, drowning in his own blood.

"Two left," Balin said, turning to regard his companions. "I am glad I got to see this. After he ends these two, we will have a meeting of the council of Champions."

"Meet to bestow upon him his status?" Aegis said.

"Aye," Roskilde said. "Though he will have competed in no Championships, and it be ever so rare for a man to receive status by deed alone, this warrants it. These be coin-blades. Seasoned men, among them, three, wearing the black lacing knot of ten kills. He earns a hearing of his status killing just two of them. And if he takes out that man there," he said, pointing to the one on Teal'c's left, "he has that status—Ah, the deed be done."

"One be still alive, Balin," Lemmel said. "Need he kill them all?"

"If he so wishes."

Balin's words were drowned out as Teal'c called for the last man to yield, to not die in vain. Breathlessly the coin-blade hacked away at his opponent, but it was clear to see his focus was gone. He was fighting on the adrenalin supplied by terror. His comrades lay dead all around him.

"Yield, and live," Teal'c said, not even remotely winded. Before he could draw another of those calm breaths his final opponent thrust wildly and Teal'c killed him by breaking his neck, as he had the third man.

"A demonstration of skill," Aegis said. "This we do require. Honor. The black man called many times offering mercy. Protection of the weaker, and thus he did kill to free the wrongly-bound servant of House Ondeil."

"Introspection and thought, physical strength, endurance, support and adherence to tradition, protection of the weaker," Balin quoted the code of the Champions. "He demonstrates introspection by his understanding of mercy, as he did offer them the opportunity to live. His strength is not deniable and has been witnessed with his endurance, for he defeated six. Traditions, we know he keeps those of our House and none may question this. Our House did proclaim he guards his bed and the Nyrnortvegr, and even a weaver. No more may be required for him to demonstrate his right to be among our ranks. He has earrned his Championship status," Balin said. "I know from House Ondeil that this man teaches the use of a weapon called a bo."

"What weapon be this?" Aegis asked, sounding very worried. "We've no master bo status. How will we call him then? Does he have skill with sword or lance?

Balin strode down the steps, watching Teal'c use one of the fallen men's own blades to cut Ulfrik free. "Well fought," he said. "Three among them were well skilled, and all were well armed. Ye fought a noble battle."

"It was necessary, but regrettable. They need not have died if they would have seen the wisdom of your words, Champion Balin. This man should have been freed."

"Aye. Or of ye words. Tell me then, are ye also master of other weapons? Lance, perhaps?"

"I am proficient with many weapons."

"Ah. Sword also? As I am," Balin said cautiously, in an unchallenging way.

Teal'c pursed his lips and met the taller man's gaze. "Sword, lance, Zat'nik'tel. P-90," he added, "as well as blades of various sizes. Bow and arrow. Garrote. Staff weapon, such as the young steward is now holding, his finger inches away from the deadly trigger. I am proficient in well over a hundred weapons, many of which I am able to assemble or manufacture myself out of locally available materials." Teal'c bowed formally to the Champion and then retrieved his weapon from Lemmel.

"This," he instructed the younger man by laying his own finger along the arming mechanism, "is the lever which opens this weapon. If you but press it gently, it will open and another depression here will cause a deadly ... flame to come out from the end, thus killing whoever may be in its path. If you are called upon again to hold this for me, do not place your finger here."

"Aye, Champion. I shall be most careful," Lemmel said earnestly.

Teal'c bowed to the young steward and moved past him through the throng of Champions into the temple.

"Master of the bo," Balin said to the man's back.

"Ulfrik!" Lemmel called with great excitement as the frightened weaver joined him on the steps. "Come. Tell us how all fair down in my master's southern village and on his Meadows lands."

Balin saw to the arrangements. A parchment declaring Ondeil's rule, and the new northern way, was made and signed by the council of elders. Then a rider was paid and dispatched south to deliver it to Brooksmeet. The rider carried another bundle, one with more informative messages for Tal and for Jarngerd. Then Balin went into the Hall of Champions to wait on his House's leisure.

While all this happened, Jack ignored the world. He stayed inside the little private space and tried to get Daniel to sleep. "How many nights did you sit holding my hand, spooning water into my mouth? You don't think I can sit here with you for a single day and hold you if it makes you sleep any better?"

"I don't want to sleep." Daniel stayed curled in a fetal position facing away from his lover.

"Months of it," Jack said. "Don't know how you did it when I was unconscious. Must have taken you all day just to get enough water in me. Broth. I remember, after I was well enough to be alert, you'd be spooning broth into my mouth every time I woke up. Felt like you were doing it every time I went to sleep too. And wiping my ass. Changing the bed. You wiped my ass daily for months, baby."

"So you think you owe me?" Daniel's voice was muffled by the veil and the sheet he'd pulled over his head.

"I think," Jack said, but then paused. "Well, I know I love you. I don't know if owing is a part of it or not. Do people in love owe each other? I don't really ever remember feeling that way about Sara. Never had to take care of her because she never got sick. I don't know."

"I'm not your wife," Daniel said, his voice no stronger.

"You're my wedded consort," Jack said, smiling around those words for the first time. Jack spooned up tighter against his lover's back. "If you can't get some sleep here I think it'd be safe enough for us to go back to Sven's house."

"No. I don't want to go there again. Don't want to go through the room where it happened. Hardest thing about staying at the Ram's Head inn."

"What?" Jack asked, rubbing a hand along Daniel's arm.

"Being in the room where that happened to me. You know I never realized it before. You saw it, didn't you? You came in the room and saw him raping me. So when the guardians did it, that was nothing new for you. Is that why? Is that why you started treating me like they do? Because you saw Thaid rape me?"

Swallowing, Jack stilled his hand on his lover's arm. "No. I didn't see ... that. Got there after they'd torn him off you. Couple of them carried me into the room and I saw you ... passed out. God damn," Jack cursed softly, his eyes clenched shut in pain. "God damn, that was ... No, baby. I started treating you like they do because I was scared you'd die if I didn't. I couldn't keep you safe. And before you get angry and tell me you're not my wife, that I don't need to protect you, I gotta tell you. That's my job. Has been since the first day I met you under the mountain. It's what drove me when I went through the gate the first time with you. Get Doctor Jackson back to Earth safely. Get him back through the gate. I've failed at that a lot of times, but I'll never have another duty that has deeper meaning for me."

"Saving the world," Daniel said, his tone lighter than it had been all day. "That's a bit bigger priority."

Jack smiled and pressed his lips against his lover's shoulder. "Some people think so. Silly of them, isn't it," he asked rhetorically. "No, I'm being flippant. It scared the shit out of me when I found you unconscious. I thought he'd paralyzed you. I checked your reflexes. When your toes curled I thought I'd pass out from relief. Then trying to take care of you, stay awake long enough to see that Asny did what you needed, that was hard. I kept falling asleep. Then you woke up and damned if I didn't feel numb from relief."

Daniel shifted on the bed, rolling more onto his stomach. Jack scooted after him, molding himself to his lover's new shape. He had one leg over Daniel's leg, his knee nestled in the small dip between his upper thighs right where they met his ass. Jack ran his right hand up and down Daniel's spine, lingering in the hollow of his lower back before continuing up to his neck. He pushed his fingertips under the long mop of blond hair.

"Love you," he whispered.

"Do you want to fuck me?" Daniel asked, his voice oddly devoid of emotion.

"Always, but never. Make love. We're a married couple now, but we can still make love, not just have routine, old, married sex. This, this is what should never get old. Saving the world, yeah. But you in my arms? I mean, us together. You and me together, that should never get old."

"All right," Daniel said, still sounding emotionless despite the loving words of his partner.

"I get the feeling you're not hearing my words."

In response Daniel simply spread his thighs.

"I don't think we should do it this way," Jack said, sounding unsure of himself. "I don't think this works for you."

"Because this is how Thaid fucked me? How Hrainlang had me? His knee was right where yours is now."

Jack jerked back.

"Yeah," Daniel said, his voice flat with despair. "Or me on my back, like countless numbers of them have had me. Or ... out of bed. We could do it on a table like how Gruber raped me. You don't get it, do you Jack? Our sex life is over. I'm done. Nothing left. No way for you to do it to me that won't disgust you eventually. When you watched the guardians raping me, what they did, and then—"

"They threw you away like trash. Those bastards just threw you down to the floor and walked off. Did you hear what they said? Said I had a handy replacement, that I could just replace you. I want to kill them. Every single one of them in this city, I just want to kill them." Jack pushed himself up on one elbow.

Daniel rolled to his right, turned his head to his left, looking up at his lover. "So do I. But they didn't take me from you. I did that myself."

"Is that what this is all about? You feeling guilty over damaging our sex life? You don't know by now that you mean more to me than sex? We didn't start out as sex partners! We started out as friends."

"But that's when it started meaning something to you, isn't it!" Daniel shouted back, rising up to match Jack's pose. "When you took me into your bed, that's when this whole thing between us started meaning something to you."

"You know that's not right! You know it! How many times did I risk my life for you? How many times before we started sleeping together did I sacrifice something for you? Because I loved you then! I loved you long before I took you into my bed!"

Startled, Daniel reeled back, pushing himself away and coming up against the wall on the other side of the bed. "Loved me?"

"Yes, God damn it!" Jack cursed. "I loved you! Loved you long before that night. God, it had been building in me for, for I don't know how long. Never wanted to admit it to myself. I was, though. I was in love with you. Not just sex or lust or, wanting to get my rocks off. I was gay-pink-shirt in love with you. Homo love. And before you ask, I don't know when it started. It just did. Loved you before the first time I ever slept with you so, you can't say sex is the only reason I'm with you. Not for me, it isn't. And baby, I know it's not just the sex for you. You've never said it but I know you were in love with me too. Way before that night."

"I wasn't ... I'm not afraid of my own feelings, Jack. I don't hide from them. If I had been in love with you I would have known it."

"All right, but that's not what this is about. This is about you thinking our sex life is over, so that makes us over. And it doesn't. Doesn't even come close to it. We're not over. We've only just started, you and me. Just got married. Made a commitment. Damn, I'm admitting that I'm committed to you. Not afraid of commitment. Not me. Not me, but only when it comes to you. Anyone else and obviously, yeah, I'm afraid of commitment, or I simply don't do it. Proved that with Sara, didn't I? Ran the hell out on her first chance I got. And ... Do I need to talk about Carter?"

"Oh, God," Daniel said, rolling back over to hide his face.

"No, baby. Don't turn away. Come on. Face this."

"One day, Jack. I asked you for one day of you not forcing me to ... Anything. You can't even give me one day?"

"Hell. Yeah, I can. Sorry. Don't need to face it. I would never commit to anything with her. And being with you is a thousand times more damaging to my career. But here I am. Committed to you because it's you that I love."

"That first time you took me to bed, did you think all this through then? Did you compare me to her then?"

"Compare?" Jack asked, startled beyond being able to think rationally. "Compare? Is there a comparison? I can't think of ... No. Guess not. Can't compare."

Daniel turned again and stared starkly at him. "No comparison. I would have thought that'd be the first thing you did."

"I think everyone would expect me to. Seems like half the base assumes me and her, we're involved. The other half, though," he said, leaving the rest unsaid.

"Other half?" Daniel prompted.

"What were we talking about? You getting some sleep? Yeah, I'm gonna stay here with you today, give you a good squeeze every time you have a bad dream until you wake up without those dark circles under your eyes, got it?"

"Bad dreams." Daniel stared at the make-shift wall behind Jack's head. "Nightmares. Stress-induced. I'm not getting enough deep sleep. My body's rebelling."

"And the dreams are real. You really went through it all. That's the big problem. You sleep today, and maybe tomorrow we'll go out and visit, okay?"

"Visit. You mean you're going to expose me to Teal'c. What about Sam? Her too? My God, she must know about us by now. In the garden she probably learned all about how Skys live. She know I've been whoring myself?" he asked angrily.

"You wanna discuss this now or get some sleep?" Jack asked again.

"Discuss it? No reason to. I know the answer," Daniel said resignedly. "Why did they have to come here? If you could have just gone back and told them I was ... Never mind. I won't ask you to lie for me again. Never will again. But I was doing so well."

"Yeah. You were, baby. Doing so well. Looking better, maybe even sleeping a little better. I'm sorry things have gotten so out of hand."

"Doing well until I really got a look at myself through their eyes. Compared how I am now to how I was when they saw me last? Not so well, really. Not so well."

"Compared?" Jack asked softly. "You shouldn't compare. You've been through so much—"

Daniel frowned deeply. "Leave me alone," he said, his tone now flat and dry. His gaze was becoming vacant as he stared at the wall. Nasty, unseen fingers were pulling at his ankles.

"What," Jack prompted. "What are you thinking now?"

In answer to the question, Daniel laid down on the bed, his back to his lover, and curled tightly again, enduring the ongoing assault of the guardians and Gruber as best he could.

Jack sat there in silence, staring at Daniel's veiled head. He'd said some things that made perfect sense. His observation that he was sleep-deprived, that he wasn't getting enough deep sleep, that all made sense. But then he'd make some comment that was based on an old argument, or on things they'd settled. His thought pattern seemed to be jumping all over the place, from problem to problem. And really, really he had been getting better! Jack was sure of that. He'd been calm, even pleased with things around the temple.

That ride with Lemmel, going out on Freyfaxi had seemed to do him a world of good. And then Teal'c steps through the ring and the whole house of cards comes crashing down, Jack mused silently. House of cards. That's all we seem to be living in. Crap.

"Kill every damned one of those guardians," he whispered.

Jack got part of his wish. Teal'c's appearance on the steps of the temple sent an instant shock-wave out among the guardians who were still lurking within the city wall, waiting, hoping for an opportunity or a sign from their goddess that their power would be restored to them. They'd attacked the temple within minutes of the end of Teal'c's battle with the coin-blades.

"Teal'c's tattoo probably caused it," Jack said to the somber council of Champions who gathered in the dark hall that night.

They'd paid homage to Odin's darkening eye, standing in total silence as all within the hall watched the great circle above grow dim. Then stewards were sent out, Skys were gently encouraged to return to their hall, and Lemmel went to sit with the Nyrnortvegr while Jack sat at the great banquet table close to the doorway to his private chamber and held council with the battle-weary Champions and Teal'c, their newest member.

"Indeed?" Teal'c asked, lifting one eyebrow as he tilted his head. He sat on his team-leader's left.

"Yeah. They probably saw the mark from a distance; none of 'em are getting all that close to the temple now. Probably thought it was Nirrti's sign. The attack seemed pretty coordinated to me, but too spur-of-the-moment."

"Aye," Aegis said with a stern nod. He sat opposite House Ondeil at the great table, his back to the arched passage to the temple. "How many dead?" he asked. "We've need of an accurate count."

"My last count?" Roskilde said, his voice weighty. "Twenty-five with the black markings of the deposed goddess. Not even a fourth of their number. An unarmed steward among our number suffered a mortal blow. Two city merchants died for being in the wrong place. No others."

"Then these were only the ones stationed close," Jack concluded. "They believed Nirrti would provide some assistance, most likely. A man will throw himself into a fire if he thinks he's seen a sign that his god is on his side."

This remark drew several ominous mutterings from among the nearly hundred-strong Champions gathered around the smaller man. Several helmeted heads nodded in certain agreement. A few exchanged comments of surprise at Ondeil's keen observances.

"So they rushed in, not waiting for the others to join them. Even at full-strength they wouldn't have broken through into the temple. The entrance is too easily defendable. Still, I'd like to see archers posted inside on those catwalks up front. Remove enough panes in some of the stained glass panels. Maybe some visible look-outs up on the temple roof," Jack said, and then sat back in the too-tall chair, his brows drawn together in concentration.

"Watch openly," Balin said. "Let them see now, though in the past we have kept our eyes on them from secret. So now we will watch and they will know."

"But to do so, would this not make them more prepared to launch another attack?" Aegis asked.

"You'd think so," Jack said. "But we're dealing with cowards. These men have lived their lives hiding behind Nirrti's skirts, bolstered by her power alone. They have good fighting skills, don't get me wrong. I saw that today, but—"

"House," Balin dared to interrupt the man as no one else at the table but Teal'c would, "ye risked yeself in battle as was not necessary. Never again—"

"I heard the noise," Jack said, returning the interruption calmly. "I wasn't going to lie there in bed while the place was being attacked." He'd left Daniel, just run out on him, boots unlaced, no jerkin on, and completely unarmed until he got to the top step outside the entrance of the Hall of Champions. The attack had been two-pronged, probably the Guardian's greatest mistake. At that step Jack had scooped up the lance of a fallen steward and had joined the last gasp of the battle, only managing to thrust at the last-standing attacker before the man was felled by a backhanded blade in a Champion's fist.

"But the Nyrnortvegr—"

"Was two steps behind me, big guy."

"And if one of the guardians had slipped by us and then ye," Balin said, a little anger showing now, "he'd have his prize. Ye place was to keep him within. Keep him hidden."

"No one hides me," Daniel said angrily, peering out from the curtained doorway. Lemmel's anxious face could be seen as the tall steward hunched down over Daniel's shoulder.

"Forgive," Balin said as he rose from his chair. He turned sharply and knelt on one knee, his head bowed.

"Get up," Daniel said sharply. Then he backed up and let the curtain fall.

"You heard him," Jack said, keeping his gaze directed at the curtain Daniel was behind. Hiding again? Hiding from Teal'c?

Wordlessly, Balin nodded and rose. He sat back in his chair at Jack's side. "Post two in here at all times. Two of our best swordsmen. I'll have it no other way."

"Okay, who can get him a sword that's about yea long?" Jack asked, holding his hands about three feet apart. "Then he's one swordsman. I'll tote a sword. That makes two. Done deal, big guy. What's next on the agenda, fellas?"

Aegis scowled at Jack, but did not challenge him. Balin made his disapproval more verbal, giving out a loud grunt of irritation and following it up with an exaggerated head shake.

"I said what's next?"

"The coin-blades," Aegis said. "They show us the truth of how difficult the change will be. Need we now to prepare to send out Champions to deliver the Nyrnortvegr's message to all villages. Blades in hand and that there be nothing but they cut the throat of any village council who does oppose the change."

"Bloody," Roskilde said, as if cursing. He shook his head in dismay.

"Such would appear a challenge to all," a Champion complained. "Though, the new way would come faster to all the land. This be what must happen?"

"Uh, fellas," Jack said hesitantly. "I really don't like the way this conversation's going. Planning a continent-wide enforcement at the tip of a sword?"

"Ye'd ask for a peaceful change," Balin said, nodding confidently. "Aye."

"Yeah. No reason to go running around lopping off heads, is there?"

"The Highborn do not know the ways of war," a Champion said, dismissing Jack's objection casually. "Bloodshed be necessary in the lives of men."

"But peaceful change—"

Jack's voice was drowned out as several men argued about the best way to affect a swift change across the continent.

"Explain to me, House, explain how ye think this watching in open will be good a way to fend off the guardians," Roskilde said, returning to the earlier topic.

"These guys are cowards. Turn an eye on them and they'll most likely fade away. You want to kill them all, you pull your watchers inside, your bowmen and swordsmen inside the temple, hidden. Get all the Champions inside out of sight. Post a couple, young, scrawny stewards out there. The guardians'll be on this place within the week. Let 'em get inside the main temple, and then bar the doors, come in and slaughter the lot."

"And this be what ye want?" Roskilde said, leaning forward in anticipation. "All dead, so as we have no more problem with them."

Jack rolled his lips in and glared around at the gathered men. Finally he spoke. "That's not for me to decide. You may not, absolutely may not ask my Sky about the fate of the guardians. Don't approach him about it in any way. If you do, you'll answer to me. Sword for sword. Or maybe bo for sword. You all got a look at my sparring partner's work today. Pretty decent with an overgrown toothpick, isn't he?"

"Ah!" Roskilde yelled in objection. "The very thought! Nay! Stand we for much, House, but not for a thought that even one among us would raise weapon against he who be House to us all! Nay."

"And just who in here's gonna stop me?" Jack shouted, rising from his chair. "Who in this place is gonna raise a hand against me if I decide to knock a few thick heads together?"

"It appears, none, Ondeil," Teal'c said solemnly. "Though the bravado of your words seems ill-advised to me, these men may yet see the wisdom in fearing the lethality of, as you say, an overgrown toothpick. Such, I had surmised, would be the case with the coin-blades. Much blood has been spilled on the steps of this temple since my arrival. I wish that was not so."

"Yeah. Well ... Not your fault, T. None of it. But everyone of you know, I meant it when I said stay the hell away from my Sky about the guardians. Don't ask him. You have to clean up your own mess there." Jack sat back down, his feet dangling a few inches off the floor.

"Truly," Roskilde said. "Our mess, we who have followed their rule these past generations. We who have been ruled by them and their petty cruelties, their indecencies. I would have each one dead also, but my cause be personal. I would, like ye, Ondeil, have others of our council plan for the future of the guardians. What say ye, Champions?"

"Aye. Ye suffered their cruelties, Roskilde. An honorable man knows when to withdraw." Aegis spoke to Roskilde, but nodded his head toward Ondeil, including the Highborn man in his assessment. "Honorable. So then, if we so choose to post visible watch, Ondeil? Then what do ye suppose the outcome will be?"

"The ways of warfare are not for the Highborn," a Champion objected.

"Are not," another agreed loudly. "For Highborn there be the genteel way. Trade, shipping, mastering wineries and the like. Not for planning attacks or ... "

"Or seeing to the ways men battle," the first speaker finished. "Nay. Not for Highborn, this knowledge. We fight a real battle, not a mere game for their entertainment."

"Ah, and then this one," Balin said as he rose and faced the last speaker, "this one tells us our House plays only at killing. I find that amusing."

"Why amusing?" Aegis said cautiously, peering from Balin's standing form to the man he was addressing.

"I find it so because in the household of Ondeil, warfare be not idle play. It be. My House be a warrior."

"Bah!" shouts of disbelief and derision echoed about the hall.

Balin shook his head, as if showing great disappointment in the lot of them. "A warrior household. Down to his steward, his weaver even."

"Next ye daft fool Balin will sling such as to say even his Sky—" The speaker cut off his own words, slapping his meaty hand over his own mouth.

"Quiet!" Aegis shouted as he jumped to his feet, holding his hands out to still the yammering crowd of Champions. "Never did I think my mere question would raise such anger! Such blasphemy! Quiet! Blood-thirsty lot! Have ye not had enough fighting for one day?"

Jack stared around at the angry mob. Balin had really worked them into it now, hadn't he? And it hadn't been necessary. What was the bastard up to?

"A warrior household!" Balin shouted as he climbed up to stand in his chair, "who now asks for peace! Who better? Warriors ye, one and all. Who in this land be better suited, I challenge ye to say? Who but a man of war to ask for peace!"

"Highborn may not be such! A false claim—"

"I'll have ye life-blood for daring to call me a false claimer!" Balin bellowed, drawing his sword.

As alarming a figure as the armed Champion presented, it was a different sight that stunned the crowd.

A collective gasp can an ominous thing to hear. It bodes disaster too often, widespread shock at the very least. Such a sound preceded the dead silence that then echoed in the Hall of Champions.

Almost all the men had turned their eyes from Balin's formidable figure. Standing on top of the southern end of the long banquet table they saw a Sky. They saw the Sky. The Nyrnortvegr. He was dressed as any seemly Sky, barefoot, in pale, slit-legged pants and a thin top that ended just below his nipples. He wore a summer-length veil, untied, with the ends looped back over his shoulders. One of the other Skys had put makeup on him again. His eyes were delicately lined in kohl.

He held the eight-foot pole that many of them had seen the black warrior wield the day before, with such deadly consequences. An over-grown toothpick, House Ondeil had called it.

Without a word to any of them, Daniel tapped the end of the bo three times on the table surface by his bare right foot. Then he waited.

"Challenge," Balin said darkly. "He issues. Who will answer?"

"Who will answer and die for it?" Aegis said, his voice dripping with venom as he flung his words at the Champion standing on the chair.

"A warrior household," Balin said, meeting the man's vindictiveness. "As I did say. Who among ye did say even his Sky? Let him now answer for those words. Bring another toothpick!"

Jack looked at the suddenly sweating Champion who was pushed harshly forward by his comrades. He sprawled gracelessly against the side of the table across from Jack. The man showed abject terror. Rising from his chair Jack wanted to move down to the end of the table by Daniel, to get him the hell off, get him the hell out of here.

Though the singled-out Champion looked scared to the point he was probably pissing his pants right now, he was still almost eight fucking feet tall! And Daniel was a wreck. But before Jack could dodge and weave his way through the angry, arguing Champions, someone had handed the pisser a staff and others had shoved him up on the table.

The throng was shouting that he deserved to die. He'd sealed his own death warrant when he'd dared to joke about the Nyrnortvegr being trained for battle. They wanted him to get up there and ask for a merciful death from one of them. The man was too frightened to talk. Not frightened of death, though, but of facing, armed, the being who represented his god, Odin. The insult was unfathomable.

"Ask for death," Aegis shouted at the man. "Let us end this farce, man. A blade through ye heart and a merciful end, if not honorable. Ask!" he commanded.

A loud crash from the southern end of the table sharpened everyone's attention there. Daniel used the end of his bo to knock another stein from the table. Then he pulled his veil off, letting it flutter to the polished, wooden surface behind his heels. Bare-headed, he advanced, his face a mask of stern concentration. With light steps, graceful moves through the myriad of steins and plates of a half-consumed meal abandoned, Daniel worked his way five feet down the table. Then he stopped and stretched. Rising up on his toes, he held the bo horizontally over his head. Then he bent forward, flexing his body down fully until the bo and his palms touched the surface. He stood, bending to his left, and then his right, bringing the bo in a wide arc. He twisted, and then bent, stretched his legs again.

Then the show started. As his armored opponent stood slack-jawed in the middle of the long table, Daniel began moving forward. He twirled the bo under his left arm, bringing it up rapidly under his right arm and tapped the table hard. The he slung the bo around his neck, passing it smoothly from hand to hand several times. The ends whistled as they sliced through the air at a blinding speed. Two more steps and he switched, swinging it around his waist. He hopped over steins now, barely clearing them with his bare toes. He danced left over a platter, then leaped to his right over another. The bo was up now, whirring through the air at shoulder height. He kept advancing on his opponent, tapping the table hard between graceful leaps.

With each loud thump of wood on wood the crowd collectively flinched.

Ten feet down the table, Daniel planted the bo on the surface and used it to execute a mid-air forward flip, his long, unbound hair fanning out in an arc behind him. He landed upright with his feet spread. His left hand was palm-out before him, the right hand gripping his weapon. He crouched for a moment before tapping the bo hard on the wooden surface, reverberating the table loudly. Then he moved forward, sending the weapon whistling again as he passed it in figure eights before him from his left hand to his right. The wood was a blur again.

Finally he was within twenty feet of the stunned Champion. Daniel dipped down, going almost to one knee, and hooked the end of the bo through the handle of a stein. He hoisted the pewter drinking cup up in the air, flinging it with deadly force at his opponent. The Champion only flinched at the last second, taking the impact on the side of his helmeted head instead of full in his unprotected face. The man fell back, stumbling over plates and steins and went down amid the half-eaten meal.

Quickly Daniel sprinted the last few feet, jumping on the fallen man's chest. He brought the blunt end of the weapon down on the man's exposed neck, pressing it right in the notch between his collar bones. Poised to crush the man's windpipe, Daniel stilled his mortal blow.

"Even his Sky," he said to the defeated Champion.

Stunned silence met his words. Daniel backed off the panting, frozen Champion, walking down the man's body. Perversely, he leaned all his weight on the man's codpiece before vaulting off to saunter down to the place where he'd started his slow dance.

Resuming his starting position, Daniel tapped the bo on the table three times and waited. He wasn't even breathing hard.

Balin was still standing in his chair. He hadn't moved from the moment Daniel had appeared. The man stepped up on the table and scooped up his fallen comrade's weapon. Then he tossed his helmet to Aegis and faced the unveiled Sky. He tapped his bo three times and bowed.

Daniel bowed. His move down the table was as graceful as the first time. But he skipped the forward vault.

Balin tried to match the barefoot man's moves, stepping left and then right. He whirled the bo around, dropping it once and had to scramble to retrieve it. No one laughed at his clumsiness. The Sky was closing on him. Balin got back up on his feet and kicked several steins out of his path, once, sending ale unnoticed on his House. He leaped over a platter, imitating his opponent's move and then gave up such imitations as his foot landed in congealed fat in a platter, causing him to become unsteady after that. He squared off then, switching to the tactic of presenting as big a roadblock as possible. That was his fatal error.

His feet were planted wide on the broad table, and he had plenty of room to maneuver, so the watchers thought.

"Ever vigilant now, Balin," Lemmel called encouragement.

His was the only shout for several moments. Then Jack cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted too. "Watch yourself too, Sky. Bigger the guy, harder he falls."

"Aye," Lemmel called, now drawing several bloody glares from Champions. "Make him fall hard, Sky. Ah, Balin, my love, I mean ye, ye make my master's Sky fall hard."

"Yeah, that'll do it, Sky. Don't let the big guy crush you on his way down. Going down, Balin."

"Aye, Balin, love. Going down ye be. I mean, oh, Sky be easy for ye to topple. Ye've the reach on him, Balin."

"Yeah, Balin," Jack said. "You've got the reach, big guy. You can do it. Hell, what am I saying?"

"Oh, master, I cannot look." Lemmel's false bravado failed him.

Jack didn't spare the steward even a tiny glance. He stared at his lover, dancing down the table again.

"Indeed, his skills are as sharp as ever," Teal'c said quietly, appearing to speak to no one in particular.

As if responding to Jack's idea about having the longer reach, Balin grasped his bo close to one end, extending the weapon before him, keeping his roadblock-like stance. His face was a firm glower, and his shoulders hunched and tense. He swiped at the air before his approaching opponent.

Jack looked down at the jaffa, seeing the man sitting calmly, his arms crossed on his broad chest. He looked mildly interested. Then Jack glanced around at the rest of the occupants in the hall. Half looked like they'd already shit in their pants and the other half looked like they were gonna pee in their pants. "Yeah. This place ain't gonna smell so sweet tonight."

Just as Jack spoke, Daniel struck. The move wasn't flashy, wasn't showy and didn't drive the point home as nearly well as it had with his first opponent. He simply vaulted the last few feet, dropped into a roll, then crouched below and inside Balin's reach. With lightening speed, he used his bo to lever the man off the table on the opposite side of where his boot had a greasy layer plastered on the sole. His only footing left was coated in grease and Balin's fall was swift and spectacular. Done, done and over with in the blink of an eye, the engagement ended before anyone knew the meaty part of it had begun.

Balin hit the marble floor by Teal'c's chair and lay there on his back, gasping for the air that had been knocked out of him.

The jaffa gazed down at the felled Champion. "An inauspicious demonstration, delineating your lack of skill."

"Ah, not thinking I ... " Aegis' voice trailed off as he shook his head.

"Never," agreed Roskilde.

"Not ever," another Champion said, his voice soft with wonder. "And never."

"Aye. House Ondeil be a warrior House."

"A warrior House, with a warrior household," Aegis said, finally having found his voice again. "A warrior who councils peace, and thus, we do heed his words."

Jack realized his attention had been drawn from his lover to the inner circle of Champions, those who made up the council among these huge warriors. He turned back, but had to climb up on his chair to see past the milling warriors to see the other end of the table. Daniel was gone. Jack turned and saw him disappearing back into the inner sanctum, the sleeping chamber constructed for Ondeil's privacy. Lemmel was closing the curtain and for a moment, Jack's eyes locked with the young steward's.

The seasoned youth looked very worried.

"T," Jack said, sensing his team mate shift and rise from his chair. "I'm gonna go now. You be okay out here with them? Or gonna get back to Carter in the temple."

"I shall stay and council with these honorable men, Ondeil."

Teal'c bowed to him as the Champions resumed their heated discussion. Jack climbed down from his chair, noting that their talks now centered around more peaceful ways of spreading the word across the land. He left them to it, going through the curtain to his lover. Inside, he found Daniel hunched over on the floor by the bed. He was sweating and shaking. Lemmel was crouched over the man, mopping his brow with a wet cloth.

"Sh—Sh—" Daniel tried to say as he saw Jack.

He dropped to one knee and ran his hand along Daniel's quaking back. "Take it easy. Breathe slow. You didn't need to be out there."

"D--Did," Daniel managed to get out before his quivers took his words away. "Um!" He closed his eyes, tilting his head back as far as possible, but kept his arms firmly clenched around himself.

"Panic attack. That's what this is."

"Forgot," Daniel said, then took several deep breaths. It did nothing to quell his shakes.

"Forgot? Forgot you were having them?"

"Teal'c."

"Forgot he was out there?"

Mutely, Daniel nodded. Lemmel wiped his face again and then placed the cool cloth across the back of his neck. Then Daniel heaved, and crouched over again. Dry heaves shook him more than the tremors had.

"Baby," Jack murmured almost absently, but his touches were anything but absent. He stayed huddled over his lover, helping Lemmel support him while his stomach rebelled against the adrenalin that was now flowing through his body.

"Saw hi—Saw him when Balin fell. Forgot he was ... " Daniel was now fighting the nausea, swallowing repeatedly.

"God damn. What if you'd remembered when one or the other of them had taken a swing at you? What if Balin had gotten under your role just as you saw him? Crap, baby! We have to do something about this. You're not safe this way. You're not safe. I have to do something to keep you safe. I have to ... to do something. My job. Keep you safe."

"Please, no," Daniel begged Jack. "Don't make me ... " Daniel was shoving at him now, trying to get away but his back was up against the bed. He scrabbled at Lemmel, trying to drag the huge youth between himself and Jack.

"I won't!" Jack said, having no idea what he was swearing to avoid doing. "I won't. Never, baby. Stop. Sky, stop," Jack implored, dropping his voice down enough so that the Champions wouldn't be able to hear him outside the curtain.

Daniel had half-climbed over Lemmel's shoulder. Twisting and kicking now, panic ruled his mind. When he got behind Lemmel, he scrabbled backward, shoving himself into the small space between the bed and the low chair. He wedged his back against the outer stone wall and wrapped his arms around his legs.

Jack sat on his haunches gaping at the terrified man. "This isn't you," he whispered. "You're not reacting to what's going on here. Not reacting to Teal'c. Why is that? What are you seeing? What are you thinking when you look at him? The tattoo, isn't it. That's ... "

"Smell it," Daniel said, his voice choking with emotion. "The drug. He could use it on me."

"The goat's hair herb? No. He doesn't have any. Wouldn't even if he did. Never. He'd never do that to you."

"They smell of it. All the guardians do."

"They do?" Jack asked, his eyebrows high in surprise. "I didn't notice. I wouldn't have. Lemmel, did you notice that when you were with the old dude?"

"Nay, master," Lemmel answered, his voice barely audible. "Nay. Then, I might not have the sensitivity. Perhaps some Skys do."

"Crap. Then we need to make sure none of it exists in the city. A law. Drug law. Needs to ... Damn," Jack cursed again. He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. With his face in a firm glower, Jack left the small space and returned to the counciling Champions.

"Got something to talk about, fellas." He sank into his chair, his gaze fixed firmly on the messy table. After the room grew silent he continued. "Goat's hair herb. What do you intend to do about it?"

"About it?" Aegis asked. "Naught but that it be never used."

"Guardians have it," Jack said, stating the fact and leaving it there in the open for the men to ponder for a moment, then he continued. "Skys are friends of Odin. It's them that the drug hurts."

"Aye," Roskilde said darkly. "Know this well, I do. None here may speak more on this than me, I think. What I am for would be destroying it all. Any guardian with it, him too I would run through, for there be but one purpose for the drug in their dirty hands. Pain and sorrow that seems almost unending."

"Almost?" Jack asked, finally looking up at the frowning man. "Eventually the effects fade?"

His question went unheeded by all but Roskilde and Balin, as many Champions were launching into a heated debate about the merits of killing all remaining guardians.

The Champion who hosted a Sky leaned forward across the table toward Jack and stared intently at him. Then his gaze flicked to the curtain where Daniel hid. A new understanding dawned in his expression. He frowned hard and nodded.

Jack pursed his lips. He needed to talk to this guy in private.

"—search the entire city," Aegis continued his argument. "From one end to the other and we enlist the aide of the city sentries for it. Close the gate until it be done. Then from that day forward each visitor will answer to whether he may have it."

"But what about within the forbidden garden from where the herb comes?" a Champion asked.

"We go in and burn—"

"Nay!" Balin said vehemently. "Nyrnortvegr has spoken. No men will invade the Forbidden Garden. Sentries, for when the Highborn women do decide to come out, and search what they bring, these sentries will, so that none of the drug enters our city from that source."

"More women to be sentries, then," a Champion proposed.

"Yeah. I've got one in mind for you. She helped in that fight when you and me, Balin, when we got that kid the other day. Find her and hire her if she'll take the job."

"Women," Balin said, his brow furrowed in thought, "women who would be Champions. It be possible, and has been in the distant past."

"Aye. Just so," Aegis said. "Offer a new tourney here, where we may seek and invite women to be among us again."

"In the Hall of Champions?" Roskilde asked. "If ye so wish. But for not bed companions, though many of ye prefer the ways of a woman's body, and I do not slight ye for it. A Champion woman must live as a Champion, and not otherwise."

"Aye. But then, they may not bed a Sky, so, nay also. They may not live as we."

"Oh boy," Jack said under his breath.

"Indeed?" Teal'c prompted him.

"These guys, they really don't fully understand either. The Skys are now free. Tailor Sky, he's already said he's into women, sort of. It's gonna take a damned long time for this society to change. My ... wedded consort, he's right. A long time."

"You still have the strong impulse to avoid using his name."

"Yeah. Sure do. Got to keep him safe however I can right now."

True to his word of not interfering in their decisions, Jack left the Champions to their own rule-making. It was noisy inside the small cubicle he shared with Daniel. No roof over it and the curtain for a door didn't help block any of the continuing argument. Jack sat on the floor by Daniel, waiting for him to come out of the small space himself. After a while he got irritated at the continual shouts and counter-shouts of the Champions. He sent Lemmel out to tell them to table the discussion or move it elsewhere. It was obviously having a bad effect on Daniel, having to listen to a discussion about the guardians and their drug.

It took a very long time that night for Jack to get to a state of being undressed, in bed, with Daniel in his arms. He lay there in the dark, holding his lover and thinking of what Daniel had just done. Daniel had risked himself, risked his life! He'd risked himself to avert the possibility of a planet-wide war. If the Champions had decided to ride out against every council on Nortvegr, it would have been a continent-wide war.

Morning was unpleasant. The damned window overhead was way too bright. The sounds of waking Champions and stewards irritated the hell out of him and Jack found himself grousing under his breath even before his feet hit the floor.

"Go take a piss," Daniel demanded, pushing his veil back off his eyes as he rolled toward Jack's side of the bed. "Maybe that'll improve your mood. Outhouse."

"You too, then," Jack said, stretching his arms high overhead. Then he scratched his scrotum. "Bath in the Sky hall?"

"Yes. Where are they? Sam and Teal'c."

"Main temple hall. Camped out up in the area that used to be Highborn's gallery. We can just scoot right by 'em, no problem."

"No." Daniel rolled back under the covers, pulling his veil down securely.

"Am I not supposed to push you today too?" Jack asked, pulling his shirt on over his head. "Ulfrik's out there somewhere. He'll wanna talk—"

"Are his eyes still blue? Of course they are, or he wouldn't have been brought here. Does Sam and Teal'c know why every man in your household has blue eyes?"

"Every man?" Jack said, frowning deeply. He pulled his underwear on and searched for his pants. They were under the bed in a wad.

"Every man," Daniel said. "And now you're House to all of them in this hall. Do they all expect me to ... House Ondeil's men all have ... "

"Why in the hell would you think that!" Jack demanded angrily. "Hell, oh hell. Sorry."

"A line of them at this door. That's what I kept seeing last night when I was waking you up."

"No. Not gonna happen. Nobody thinks that!" Jack declared, and immediately was hit with a terrible uncertainty. What if they did? What if Aegis was expecting it? Roskilde already had Odin's smile. He wouldn't be hitting on Daniel for it. He got it from his own Sky. But the others, were some of them expecting it? Had any of them been beating off when Daniel was dancing his way down the table last night? Them with their eyes just below his groin, some getting an eyeful of Daniel's barely covered, tight ass, those pretty, round halves that even now the bed covers were draped over so attractively. Jack gave himself a shake and pulled his pants on.

"Outhouse," he insisted. "Come with me. We'll talk to Roskilde about it. The guy ... He's the one who hosts a Sky. He's got some information I want. Something we need to learn."

"What?" Daniel asked from under the covers.

"About the way Skys might be affected, long term kind of thing, about the goat's hair herb."

Daniel pushed the covers down and raised up on his elbow, studying his lover.

"Come on," Jack implored, holding his hand out. "Let's hit the outhouse and piss up a storm."

"Today you're going to push me," Daniel said calmly. "Tomorrow, I get the day off. Understand? But don't put me under Teal'c. Don't make that happen."

"How the hell can you ask me ... "Jack bit off his words and took his lover's hand, pulling him from the bed. Daniel was dressed just as he had been last night. "And you got clean clothes over in the Sky hall, Lemmel said. What do you want for breakfast?"

He led his lover from their private chamber, coming to a halt by the front entry way of the hall . Teal'c was outside the Hall of Champions, standing on the steps. They'd have to go past him to get to the outhouse. Jack positioned himself in front of Daniel and waved at Teal'c. Then signaled for him to bug out. The jaffa did, with a gaggle of the young Champions trailing him. Each was carrying a bo. Jack smirked. Then he led Daniel, the blond man's head bowed, to the unpleasant-smelling little building. It was a wooden thing, vented well. Daniel had been mildly interested in the city's sewage system a few days ago, but not now. The result of that mild interest was that Jack knew why the place only reeked a little instead of a lot, knew how the city maintained sanitary conditions, and how this system was similar to some ancient, central American city that was nothing but a bunch of two-foot tall ruins now. Majorly boring history stuff. Jack had barely survived the lecture.

They returned by way of the main temple entrance. Inside, they paused by the door while Jack's vision adjusted to the dimmer interior. The place wasn't buzzing yet, but was too busy for Jack's taste. Daniel was a wreck, even now hiding his face against Jack's upper arm. "Sky hall," he said. "Get cleaned up and a shave in there. Then we could hang out in the back rooms, have some food with the other Highborn, okay?"

"Yeah." Daniel murmured, keeping a firm grip on Jack's hand and arm.

Craning his neck to look for Teal'c and Carter, Jack made his way into the Sky hall. So far, so good. A few feet in the dim corridor they turned right toward the bathing area. Then hasty footsteps behind them had Jack whirling around. A veiled sky wrapped in one of the thin, inner cloaks had entered through the arch behind them. He was barreling down the hallway and almost ran into them.

"Whoa there, buddy," Jack said, reaching a hand out to steady him. The cloaked man flinched away.

"Oh, it's you, Jack," the tailor Sky said breathlessly. He had avoided them and was a few feet farther down the corridor.

Jack hastened after the man, pulling his silent lover along. "Ivan. What's up? Problem?"

"Oh. No. No." The tailor shook his head as all three of them stepped into the well-lit bathing chamber.

It was a vast room, making up a fourth of the entire hall. Lemmel had described the place as nearly pitch-black, only illuminated by a couple of candles, and those, shielded from the main portion. Now the place was almost as bright as the Hall of Champions, with its sunroof. Outer windows lined one wall, white frosted glass in most, and colored panes in higher ones. Oil lamps lit the corners brightly. In the center of the chamber was a hot tub, heated from underneath as were the previous spas Jack had seen. This one was made of black marble and had a wide ledge running around the outside. A man could sit up on the ledge and cool off between dips in the constantly heated water. Red-wood benches were spaced about the chamber. Tables and chairs had been moved in. The room was warm and moist, but not cloyingly so. Low benches with buckets of soapy water were in one corner, resting on raised slats which allowed drainage. This area was reserved for scrubbing and rinsing before entering the communal tub.

About twenty Skys were in the room, most in various stages of undress, some helping others bathe, shave or put on dark eye liner and shadow, lip and cheek coloring. A few were breakfasting at the square tables. Usually when Daniel appeared, many of them would rush over to greet him, touch him, kiss and caress him. But since he was being led by the man who'd married him, they kept a respectful distance, gave the newlyweds a little privacy.

The tailor Sky backed up against the wall and pressed his hands to his chest. He was panting.

"Run here?" Jack asked, standing close to examine the man.

"R—Run? No," the tailor shook his head adamantly. "No. Walked."

"Yeah," Jack said, clearly skeptical.

Daniel moved past him, stepping to the tailor's side as he let go of Jack. Both men stared at the panting man.

"Didn't run. No problems this morning then?"

Wide eyed, the tailor pushed his veil back off his forehead. Then he sagged forward, resting his hands above his knees as he fought to get his breath. "Fine. No ... no problems."

"Then what's with the wide-eyed stare, eh?" Jack asked again, a bit more forcefully.

The tailor winced at his elevated tone, wrapping his arms around his chest. He straightened to stand with his back more firmly against the wall. "Just ... Just walked. All the way. Like ... " he paused and glanced around to see if the others were watching. No one was giving them particularly close scrutiny. "Like," the tailor began again. After a moment he brought his hands up to the clasp on his cloak and undid the toggle. Then he held the cloak open just a little, showing them how he was dressed.

"Like?" Jack asked. He stepped aside to let the sunlight from the windows at his back spill onto the tailor.

"Like this," the tailor whispered, raising one leg to show him. "Made them a week ago."

He was wearing solid pants. There was no slit in them. They were slightly low cut, only rising to about an inch below his navel. The groin area was slack, showing no tied bulge.

"Pants," Jack said. "New pants. Nice."

"Think so?" the man asked, sounding extremely pleased with the compliment. "Really?"

"Yeah," Jack said, keeping a smile off his face. "Bet they feel good too. Warmer. No draft."

"No draft." The tailor turned to look at Daniel. "Do you approve, kinsman? Do they make me look ... un ... I mean, not like a ... "

"They look fine," Daniel said, his eyebrows drawn together. "Comfortable. Was it difficult to walk outside among them in those?"

"Gods, yes!" the tailor said, and then gave a nervous laugh. "Terribly. Death, you realize."

"A testing," Daniel said morosely. "That's ... Still, I'd like to have a pair. Maybe the next time I go riding. I used to have a pair when we were down in the low desert."

"Well, yes," the tailor said, shrugging. "The low desert in winter. Surely. But you want a pair for here in the city? Really?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes." Daniel nodded firmly.

"Okay. I'll make them. I know your size," the man added with a wide grin. "Know it. Hey, you've come for a bath?" he asked the both of them.

"Yep. We stink that bad?" Jack asked, giving the man a sardonic smile.

"No, Jack," the tailor answered with an equally sardonic expression. "I won't keep you. I'm going to sit down for a while. Get my self back under control and then ... Gods, I hadn't thought about the return walk back to my place. That's going to be twice as hard. More people in the street."

"Take Lemmel with you," Jack offered as the three walked toward the scrubbing area.

Daniel began to strip. "Join us for a bath if you want."

"Thank you," the tailor said. "I'll just ... well, not being a voyeur, I promise. I'm just ... Have to calm down," he added with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah," Jack said, pointing at Daniel. "Panic attacks—"

"Jack," Daniel said warningly.

Jack pursed his lips and bowed his head, embarrassed at his own tactlessness.

"Oh, I'm going to take the cloak off in a minute. Let the others see me. Hey, did you hear the news? Women are being offered the chance at Championship status. Also women among the city sentries are being sought to come work in the temple." He sat on a dry stool while Daniel and Jack soaped up and scrubbed themselves.

"Yeah, women," Jack said.

"I like women," the tailor said. "I want to meet the one who came through the ring to serve you. I mean, more than just to ... like before. I want to speak with her like one human being to another. How men speak to women and how women may speak back, as if we are real people."

"She'd probably like that," Daniel said. "She's nice."

"Is she?" he asked. "You seem to not like her. I thought maybe she was your enemy, or perhaps she was cruel. You don't speak to her."

"It's not that," Daniel said. "It's complicated. I haven't seen her for a while. We really are friends. Best friends."

"With a Highborn woman," the tailor said, shaking his head. "I can't imagine it. But she's not like the witches. Maybe I could speak to her while I'm wearing my new pants. Though, I'll keep the cloak closed. Wouldn't want to offend her."

"Dress however you want." Jack nodded at the guy. "She won't care. She doesn't have prejudices about what guys wear."

"Doesn't she?" Daniel asked him in a biting tone. "The way I'm dressed? Like a slut?" Gruber was licking at his navel. Daniel bowed his head and brushed futilely at the horrendous contact.

"Please, I'm sorry," the tailor said quickly. "I ... We seem to be the most damaging to each other, we Skys. What I said to you, calling you that ... and I did it many times. It wasn't true."

"It was," Daniel said calmly. "Still is. You see my desire's other servant? The man who just arrived from the south. His eyes?" Ulfrik had what Gruber wanted, what the nasty trader was even this moment trying to gain. Daniel closed his eyes.

"I ... heard about it. I mean, Odin's smile. You gave it to him too?"

"I give all the men in my desire's household Odin's smile."

"Three," Jack interjected.

"Sky," the tailor said, his tone terribly soft now, "nothing that many of them have not done. Many more than three in a household. Some, that's all they're good for. Poor, empty headed ... I had thought they were all to be ridiculed for it. Now that I've spent time in here," he said, waving a hand slowly about the room, "I know it's not true. What your House had you do, you're not to blame. He ... "

Jack frowned, stilling his hands on the rinse bucket for a moment. Soap slid down his sides as he stared at the tailor and Daniel. "Did. I encouraged him with Balin and Lemmel. Encouraged him to play and have fun. I thought it'd lighten his mood. He'd been pretty depressed. I was wrong to do that."

"Not for service? I mean, not for your men's benefit? Payment?"

"No." Jack poured the water over his head.

"Then, I don't understand. I thought, when I saw them, I thought you gave them Odin's smile because of service."

"You mean, because I'm a whore," Daniel said, speaking in a very matter-of-fact tone. "I've let more men than I can count fuck me. Fuck me for money, coins, marks. Whatever I could get. Water and food. Inn rooms and transportation? I've done it. The label fits because I chose whoring over scribing a hell of a lot of times. You have no reason to feel confused." Daniel closed his eyes and dumped a bucket of clean water over his own head, sending rivulets of lather down his body to run between the slats of smooth wood under his feet.

"But I was wrong."

Mutely, Daniel shook his head.

Jack stood and helped his lover to his feet.

Daniel had to pull hard to get away from Gruber's clutching hold on his ankles. Pushing past the guardians grappling at his wrists and groin, he trailed behind Jack, as if being towed out of a bog of filth.

Clutching his washcloth over his groin, Jack walked to the tub and slid in with Daniel, and then leaned against the black marble side. He pulled Daniel to him, situating the man to sit between his spread thighs. Then he pulled Daniel back to rest against his chest.

After a moment Daniel pulled away. He shifted, turning slowly in the hot water and straddled Jack, bringing his knees up on either side of the older man's torso. Then he sat himself between those spread thighs and laid his head on Jack's chest.

Silently, Jack wrapped his arms around Daniel, draping the warmed washcloth over his exposed back and smoothed the long, wet hair back from his face. Calmly, he kissed Daniel's forehead. Soon he felt Daniel's breathing settle down to a slow, deep rhythm. The soft murmurs and gentle activities of the other Highborn in the bathing chamber didn't disturb the man in his arms. Jack closed his eyes too.

Safe. Jack felt he'd finally gotten Daniel into a safe place. They were drifting out on the ocean and it was a calm day. The sun was soft through a blanket of haze. Jack squinted and shifted his grip on the tiller. A single-masted sloop, this was a handy sized vessel for just the two of them. The blue horizon felt comfortable to Jack's eyes. He stood and looked past the small rise of the below-deck cabin, and smiled. Daniel was stretched out, sunbathing in a tiny red thing that did little more than cup his ass-cheeks. He thought about tying off the tiller and going forward to grab those beckoning globes. He'd grab one in each hand and squeeze. Yeah. Just give them a squeeze. Then when Daniel turned over to yell at him, Jack would drop to one knee and kiss him hard. Yeah. In his perfect dream, Jack twisted a loop of rope around the tiller and stood.

Daniel shoved hard at Teal'c, his pale hands splayed across the black man's prominent pectoral muscles. Teal'c laughed and pushed his knees higher, jamming them down with all his considerable weight. Then he thrust forward. Daniel tried to scream at him, to make him stop. Sha'uri. Sha'uri stood over them, staring down. She was watching him being raped by the man who'd kidnapped her, chosen her for hosting, and finally killed her. Teal'c was laughing and Sha'uri turned away, turned her back on Daniel. Jack was now standing beside her and Sha'uri reached out for him. Jack took her in his arms and kissed her. "Ah," Daniel sobbed, "no."

Teal'c crushed his wrists as he raped him.

"--baby! Stop. Stop," Jack said whispering harshly.

Daniel opened his eyes and found Jack gripping his wrists with bruising strength.

"Stop it," Jack whispered again. "Hey. It's me. Me. See?"

Panting, Daniel stilled his struggles. "Let go," he begged. "You're hurting me."

"Yeah," Jack said hastily, loosening his grip and sliding his hands to Daniel's upper arms. He supported the man, held him upright as he gazed intently into his eyes. "See me? Baby?"

Daniel bowed his head, his unbound, damp hair falling over his face. "What ... "

"Nightmare," Jack said, leaning forward in the tub to whisper the word in his lover's ear. "Come on. Take it easy. Lie back down for a minute and catch your breath."

"Nightmare. This was. Not real. Didn't happen yet. Not yet." Daniel gave into Jack's gentle urgings and was cuddled in his lover's arms.

"Settle down. Let's not upset anyone else in here."

"Oh. We're in the Sky hall." He turned his head against Jack's chest. "Did I yell? Everyone looking at me now?"

"Nah. Not really. Just a little noise, that's all. Just rest for a minute. We'll get out and cool off and then you'll feel better."

"Won't."

"Might," Jack said, forgoing his usual stronger contradiction. "Worth a try anyway."

"Try. Yeah." Daniel nodded, sliding his cold hair against Jack's chest.

"Nightmare not a real one?" Jack asked. "Thought they were all real ones. I mean, real stuff."

"This one hasn't happened yet. Well, part of it can't, but part of it will. Sha'uri. She was watching Teal'c rape me."

"Oh, baby," Jack said, his face reflecting the horror in his voice. He gripped his lover too tightly, getting a grunt of protest from him. "Honey, that's ... horrible."

"She turned away."

"Didn't want to watch. I should have turned away," Jack berated himself. Why hadn't he turned away when the guardians were raping Daniel? Saved his lover from that one indignity at least. He could have prevented the anguish Daniel felt about that.

"No. Not the reason," Daniel said. "Not so she wouldn't have to watch. She turned away because you came. You took her ... I mean you were kissing her. On the mouth. She turned away from me, not the rape."

Jack felt him shudder. "She would never have ... Doesn't even merit thinking about. It was a nightmare. Nightmares don't make sense."

"Teal'c," Daniel said. "I can feel him on me, holding me down."

"He would never rape you."

"You sure about that?"

"God, yes! How can you ask that? How in the world can you think that even for one minute? You really awake yet?" Jack asked pushing him back. He peered intently into Daniel's eyes. "We need to ... You need to face him. Have you forgotten who he really is? He'd never do that to you. Never."

"He's done worse. In the grand scheme of things, I mean, can you say he hasn't done worse?"

Jack couldn't meet Daniel's naked gaze. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The grand scheme of things. Here and now, Teal'c would die first. He'd never do that to you. He's not a guardian and you need to know that. This is one nightmare we can put to rest. The others, we'll deal with them as best we can, but this one, we can do something about."

"Can we?" Daniel asked, his voice flat and disconnected from his emotional state.

Jack nodded. "Some things I know. This I know. Lets get out of this boiling pot before we become stew. Go back to the Champion's side of this place, we'll have some chow and put this one to rest."

In the Hall of Champions, Jack held Daniel in his lap. Not exactly his lap. He sat in what had become his usual place, halfway down the banquet table, his back to the doorway to his sleeping chamber, almost directly across from the archway that led into the temple. With his thighs spread, he'd pulled Daniel down to sit sideways in the huge chair, his legs over Jack's left thigh.

Daniel'd pulled the side of his veil over the lower half of his face and remained mute.

Platters heaping with salty, steaming lamb were being set on the long table. Stewards brought the food to the edge of the yellow marble floor as usual, and as usual a Champion had to trouble himself to ferry the dish or stein to the table.

Jack kept his right arm tight around his silent lover's back and used his left to spear thinly sliced bits of the delicious meat and plop them on the oval, pewter plate in front of him. Someone, he didn't even bother to look to see who, set two steins near him. Jack nodded a thanks, but his mouth was too busy to talk. He was savoring the berry muffin he'd split with Daniel.

"Damn, that's good. Who bakes these?" he asked, not honestly looking for an answer. "Crusty and sweet on the top. Damn, I like these."

Daniel munched silently behind the safety of his veil. Jack used the long, two-tined fork to spear up a thin slice of lamb. Then he offered it to his lover, who didn't take it. "S'good. Salty, though. No mint jelly for it. But honey. Somewhere, I saw some ... Ah. Yeah, thanks, Balin."

Teal'c sat across from Jack, his plate untouched. He sipped at the ale and then shoved it away, his face in a dark frown.

"Yeah, T, they have ale with every meal. Even breakfast."

"Ale!" Aegis said loudly, thumping the darker man hard between his shoulder blades.

Jack winced and watched Teal'c shoot the man a look of annoyance. He offered the lamb to Daniel again but his lover turned his head, burying his face harder against Jack's chest. "More muffin? You like the muffins, right?" He got no answer. "That's okay. We'll split another one. Butter on it this time?"

Jack tried to cut a muffin one-handed. Without a word, Balin discretely slit the treat and then slathered both halves with the creamy, white spread.

"Babe? Here," Jack said, pushing the muffin into Daniel's hand. He got compliance; that was all he wished for at the moment. After a while the Champions around them began to drift away, finished with their breakfast. Most carried their dishes and one or two other items with them. Jack chatted with Balin and Teal'c for a bit, discussing the mundane happenings in the temple. Soon, they were the only people left in the great hall. Jack looked around in surprise. Then he saw Lemmel at the archway, silently blocking a Champion from entering. Jack craned his head and looked down toward the outer doors. They were shut.

Balin cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. Teal'c had a deeper frown on than he'd had when he discovered the only drink at breakfast was ale.

"So, T, it's time to get down to business—"

"Are we full yet?" Daniel asked, his voice thin and petulant. "Time to lie down?"

"Not yet, baby. Teal'c, the guardians here, they wore Nirrti's mark. Inked in black, but ya know," he said, waving a finger in the general direction of the Jaffa's forehead, "kind of similar in shape actually."

"I am aware of the similarities in the mark of the dead, false god Apophis, and that of the dead, false god, Nirrti."

"Dead?" Balin asked in startlement.

Jack ignored him. "Yeah, the curvy design. But anyway, the guardians ... Sometimes people here are reacting to them, their things, the things they did, and not to you or anything you've done. Or ... would ever do. I mean ever. You'd never do what they did."

"Perhaps I would, Ondeil. I have done some terrible things in my past service to Apophis. Are we to speak of these now? I will speak of whatever is needed."

"Yeah. You'd do that. Dredge it all up and air the pain and guilt you feel if you thought it'd help, wouldn't you?"

"Indeed," Teal'c said, bowing his head gravely.

"What things?" Balin said.

Again, Jack ignored him. But Teal'c did not.

"In my past I served a false god, as did the temple guardians here. I performed heinous acts. I took—"

"Stop," Daniel begged, his hands clamped over his ears. "Stop. God, Jack. Please, don't."

"Do ye seek to harm the Nyrnortvegr, fellow Champion? I will have ye heart if ye do."

"I will not harm the one you call Nyrnortvegr. I have harmed him in the past. I will, with my life blood, avoid future harm to him."

"Be this true, Highborn?" Balin asked, leaning close to the veiled Sky. "He harmed ye, I can see the right of it. He does not lie. Thus, am I to believe he will never harm ye again?"

"Jack," Daniel protested, shaking his head, rubbing his veil back and forth across his lover's chest. Gruber's nasty fingers were in him, here in Jack's lap. Joslin was pulling at his ankles, threatening to pull him from the chair, despite Jack's protective hold.

"Balin," Jack said calmly, "Teal'c would do anything to avoid harming my wedded consort. Anything, even to the point of sacrificing his own life. I know this about him. My Sky knows it too, but he's just ... forgotten. The drug. I think this is left over from the drug, and then, what the guardians did to him, it's all ending up tied together in his mind when he thinks about Teal'c. It probably wouldn't have happened if when T and Carter had come through the gate, if there hadn't been that standoff. My Sky tried to protect me, to diffuse the situation.

"That right, baby? You thought Teal'c was gonna ... I dunno. Take me or us, take us through the gate against our will. Oh, hell. That's why she was in the dream. Cause he took her through the gate. Crap. I thought this was just about him having the tattoo. The guardians. Oh hell."

"Her?" Teal'c said softly. Then he bowed his head, his face showing recognition of who O'Neill referred to.

"When you kissed Teal'c you were trying to stop him. You were ... trying to save me, baby."

"Like I couldn't save her," Daniel whispered. His voice was so soft only Jack heard him. Gruber's nasty fingers dug deeper in him.

"Yeah. That's the nightmare. Part of it. The other part, the thing, his being on you, that comes from the guardians, what they did."

"I will not harm you," Teal'c said, his head still bowed. "I swear this on my life."

"T, he knows that on some level. But you realize that for the past, what? Almost two years he's been fighting tooth and nail to save me? From the minute we crashed on this planet, he was the only thing between me and death. Daily. He fought every minute, fought a whole society, a whole culture to keep me alive. Hard to turn that off. When Balin came along, that's when my Sky ... That's when he had someone else to help him but it didn't make his life any easier. Kept me easier, but not him. Got worse for him, better for me. Kept him from healing. And here, then I mean things were going bad when we got to the city and then the guardians ... "

"I am aware of the actions the guardians took in regard to your ... your wedded consort. Their actions were heinous. I would never take such an action. Not toward you or toward anyone," he said as he slowly raised his head.

"Yeah. He knows. But I thought it might help to hear you say it."

Teal'c nodded, his face a mask of sorrow. "I will never rape you."

"Not be on me. Ever," Daniel whispered to Jack. He pulled his right leg up into the chair, getting his ankle out of Joslin's grasp.

"Yeah, T," Jack said, keeping his voice calm. "Let's expand on that a little. Can you say you'd never have sex with him. Of any kind?"

"I will never have sex with you. I will never have sex of any kind with you. Human or jaffa sex."

"How they do it. Tell him how they do it," Daniel whispered.

"Ah, baby?" Jack protested mildly. "Details." He shook his head but proceeded to explain. "Teal'c, the way the big guys around here, the way they do it with Skys is ... " Jack shook his head, unable to continue describing the way his lover had been defiled over and over. Jack's throat closed up. He clenched his jaw and kept his gaze steady despite the pain tearing at his heart.

"Shall I explain?" Balin asked, his face matching Teal'c's hard frown.

"Uh." Jack rolled his lips inward.

"It be considered an act of veneration. Do ye know this word, black warrior?"

"Yes."

"The Skys lie on their backs and very gentle, we, very gentle do we then kneel over their delicate bodies. We lift their legs, easy as to not harm and then we use oil to slick our way. We enter them, but ... " Balin drew a deep breath and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "But throughout, we must gaze into their eyes, thus showing our reverence for Odin and his teachings. Honorable to both participants, this makes the act. It be not one of rutting or of sex. To promise to not have sex, this be not ... sufficient to me. Promise and ... but only after ye understand, promise that ye will not position yeself over our House's wedded consort, that ye will not gaze down into his eyes. Promise that ye will not seek to sheath ye hard staff in him and spew forth ye manly juices into his body. This, ye must promise and only for the act of imparting. Promise that ye will not seek or allow to happen an imparting with him."

"I promise I will not seek or allow to happen an imparting with Ondeil's wedded consort."

"Aye. Then also promise ye will not seek or allow to happen Odin's Smile from him to ye."

"Odin's smile?"

"As I have," Balin said, tilting his head toward the jaffa. "The blue of Odin's gaze which my House's Sky did gift me with, from his own manly juices."

Teal'c tilted his head to the side and stared at Balin. "He performed this imparting act to you? And you wish me to rebuff him if he should so desire to use my body in the same manner?"

"Ah!" Balin said, reeling back in his chair. "Nay! Nay. Ever if he wished it I would not ... Be it even possible?" he asked Jack, shaking his head. "A Sky's staff used for such a purpose?"

"Balin," Jack said warningly. "This isn't—"

"I have misspoken," Teal'c interrupted.

"Odin's smile be caused to appear in us when we drink of him," Balin explained hastily. "When we take him in our mouths and draw from him what all men give forth in joy."

"In joy except when the guardians are involved," Jack reminded him. "Or someone's got a bag full of this herb called goat's hair."

"The drug the Champions wish to eradicate," Teal'c said.

"Yeah. That shit's bad. It was done to him and it hurt him bad. The guardians, they smell like the stuff. So you kind of ... "

"My presence is reminding him of the drug and its effect. I can promise I will not seek or allow to happen ... Odin's smile between you and I."

"If I start it ... " Daniel said, his voice now loud enough that Teal'c could hear from across the table. "I didn't mean to, the first time I saw you. I didn't mean to ... I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"I was in no way harmed by your kiss or your touch. I will not allow ... How am I to swear, Ondeil? How am I to declaim that I will in future rebuff such affectionate touches?" Teal'c shook his head, frowning in dismay.

"A terrible thing to ask of any man, that he rebuff a Sky. I could not, on my life, I fear I could not. Did not, in fact. In the meadows under the waterfall with my master's Sky I did hold still and then enter with him what I had no right to. Clearly, he knew then as clearly he must know now, I wished for it with all my soul. The black warrior, does he too wish for this with ye, Highborn? Would he wish to have with ye what I have had?"

"No. I don't think so," Daniel said, keeping his face pressed to Jack's chest. "I don't know anymore. I can't tell. And I just do it. It just happens. I'm broken."

"Oh, baby," Jack said, rubbing his hands up and down his lover's back and arms. "Not broken. Just not okay right now. Gotta give it time. Teal'c really wasn't hurt by what you did. And he's gonna do everything he can to make sure it doesn't happen again, that nothing happens between you two that's sexual or imparting or Odin's smile. None of that. Just give yourself time to think about what he's promised. Let it soak in, okay?"

"Yeah. Let it soak in. And you're not going to put me under him. Not going to make me let him fuck me."

Jack kissed his forehead and stroked his fingers underneath the veil, rubbing his lover's cheek. "Not gonna let it happen, baby."

"Are we sleepy yet? Time to lie down?"

"Yeah. Yeah, honey."

Next: Part 2