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Date Posted: 09:23:05 12/24/01 Mon
Author: Leigh
Subject: Re: Orignal Gemstone 4
In reply to: Leigh 's message, "Orignal Gemstone" on 03:53:05 12/24/01 Mon

They arrived at the outer walls of the Scythian stronghold under the cover of darkness. Nikita and Aella dismounted and tied their steeds to a tree deep in the forest then made their way on foot closer to the gate. The black leather armor the women wore served to hide their presence well as they melted easily into the shadows. In addition, Nikita had donned a mail-linked coif that covered her pale hair and most of her face and neck. Only her eyes, nose, and the skin immediately around it were visible.
Walter had gone ahead of them to make the necessary preparations to help the two women to gain entry. They waited, watching the area along the wall where Walter had indicated he would make the drop.

"I do not like this," Aella whispered. "What if he betrays us?"

"I don't believe he will," Nikita answered, though she had to admit the same doubt had crossed her mind a few times over the past hour.

They continued to lie on their bellies, watching carefully. Finally, a shadow moved along the battlement. They were too far to see if it was Walter, but when the shadow paused, and then a small bundle was thrown over the side, Nikita heaved small sigh. "That's it."

She watched as Aella rose up and crouched, looking around once more to make sure that no guards were near or looking in their direction. Then she dashed over the fifty or so yards to where the bundle lay on the ground, picked it up, then quickly pressed her back to the wall.

Nikita kept a close lookout and when it was once again safe for Aella to cross back, she raised her hands and cupped them around her mouth, then made the hooting call of the Moeru, a night owl that was common in the region.

Aella pushed off the wall and ran quickly back to Nikita's side and dropped down beside her. Immediately she began to pull off her breast-plate and tabard as Nikita opened the bundle that Walter had tossed over the wall. She held up the peasant's dress, noticing the low neckline before she handed it over to Aella.

"Here you go."

Though she couldn't see Aella's face clearly in the dark, she suspected that Aella wasn't at all pleased at the dress that Walter had chosen. To her credit the doyan said nothing as she took the dress and slipped it on over her head.

Aella was thankful that the skirt of the dress reached down passed the top of her boots. She picked up the cloak that the dress had been wrapped in and swung it round her shoulders. "I won't be too long," she said to Nikita, then turned and hurried through the woods to the path that would lead to the front gates.

Nikita took the opportunity to go over the rest of the plan in her mind and entertain several questions she had not wanted to voice earlier in Aella's presence. Questions like, what would they do with Michael if they were able to free him? He obviously couldn't stay here. Once it was discovered that Michael was gone, his uncles would conduct a search to find him. Even if there were many here who wanted him to succeed as their new leader, she didn't know if there were would be any who would willingly risk their lives in order to hide him.

In all likelihood they would have to take Michael, and possibly Walter too, back to Vatia with them. Aella wasn't going to like that and, for that matter, neither would many of the other Vatians. Even if Michael had saved her life, he was still a Scythian and as such would not be easily trusted.

Nikita sat up and leaned back against one of the trees, listening to the sounds of the forest around her as she waited for Aella to return. And what if they weren't able to free Michael? What if they were caught? She closed her eyes and banished the thoughts from her mind. "No" she whispered to herself. "Getting caught is not an option."

*


Aella returned finally several minutes later carrying another bundle in her hands.

"Here." She handed Nikita one bundle that contained a helmet and a guard's robe. Nikita slipped the robe on over her head. The hem fell down to her covered knee caps. Perfect. She belted the robe which had the Wolfe clan insignia emblazoned on the front, then added her sword and dagger. Last of all she placed the helmet on over her coifed head.

Nikita turned and saw that Aella was almost finished dressing to. "Did you have any problems?"

"No. They were already half-drunk from the herbs Walter had slipped into their wine."

After Aella was finished dressing, they both made their way back toward the gate. There was one, rather small looking, guard on duty. Aella took her place opposite him as Nikita moved up alongside him. She looked into the old gray eyes that were tinged with both fear and excitement.

"Everything okay, Walter?"

"Yes," he nodded, his voice revealing more of his excitement. "You remember the way to the dungeon? Good.
There's only two guards on duty. Most likely they're already snoring. Michael is in the third cell on the left."

Nikita nodded once, then crossed over to where Aella had taken up position on the opposite wall. She quickly told her sister what she was to do and the message she was to deliver to their mother if something were to go wrong.

"The shield of Artemis be upon you, Nikita," Aella said, clasping her sister's forearm in hers. Nikita nodded as she squeezed Aella's arm and smiled at her.

"And upon you too, Aella," she answered, then turned and hurried toward the cell of a certain green eyed Scythian.


************


"Michael."

He struggled to open his eyes. Wondering if he was yet again dreaming. But this time the dream seemed real and she was really standing in front of him. Only it wasn't her. It was a man.

A guard. With her eyes.

Michael closed his eyes, seeking the bliss of
unconsciousness to escape to. But the vision before him, the man with the blue eyes shook him harder and slapped his face.

"Michael, wake up!"

His eyes flew open and this time he made more of an effort to focus. He knew that voice and it definitely did not belong to a man.

He blinked and stared through the dim lighting at the guard squatting before him. The coif and helmet hid most of her head. But those eyes. He would recognize them anywhere.

"Vatian?" His throat hurt and his lips were dry and cracked. His voice sounded far away and odd.

The guard blinked and the corners of the blue eyes crinkled. "Yes. It’s me."

Michael struggled to sit up but pain gripped his mid-section, forcing him back down with a soft moan.

"Wait. Don't move yet," she instructed him as she took a key and began to unlock the chains that bound him. He watched her, still barely able to believe that she was there.

“What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Shh. We haven't much time. Can you stand?"

Michael nodded, clenching his teeth against the pain that seared his back as she reached round to help him. Nikita felt him stiffen and heard his sharply drawn breath. She immediately removed her hand and gazed into his eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked, then reached round to lift his shirt. It stuck to his back.

Nikita swore silently. How could they do this to their own flesh and blood, she wondered? Taking hold of his chin she gently tilted his face toward hers and looked into his eyes. "I'm getting you out of here," she said softly. "I’ve got some help outside. But you're going to have to bear the pain though until we can get you past the gate. Think you can manage that?"

He pulled his chin free of her grasp and closed his eyes. "You shouldn't have come. It’s too risky. Leave me."

"Damn it, Scythian," she hissed, "Look at me."

His eyes reluctantly opened and met hers.

"Either you help me or we're both going to get caught and I'll end up right alongside you in this hell hole. Is that what you want?" she asked. He shook his head. "Good," she said, smiling. "Because I don't exactly like the chained and tortured look myself."

She placed one of his arms around her shoulders then reached round him once more, this time placing her hand lower in order to avoid the lacerations across his back, then she stood and half pulled, half carried him up to his feet.

He was breathing hard and she knew he was in a lot of pain. "The guards?" he asked, and she assured him that she had taken care of them. Slowly they made their way out.


*


Aella tapped her fingers anxiously against the sword that hung at her side. Nikita had been gone a long time and she was beginning to get worried.

After a few more minutes passed with no sign of Nikita approaching with this Michael they had come to save, Aella made up her mind that she was going in.

"Watch the gate," she whispered to Walter. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"Just stay put," she ordered. She checked to make sure that all of her hair was still stuffed under her helmet, then made her way quickly across the courtyard in the direction which Nikita had disappeared earlier.

She hadn't gotten further then twenty feet when a loud noise shattered the stillness of the night. And then all hell broke loose.


************


Aella reached for her sword, unsheathing it as she ran forward, heading in the direction from which the sound of loud cursing and fighting could be heard. The sound of heavy footfalls, other guards she assumed, were headed in the same direction.

Her mind began churning, flashing through half a dozen escape scenarios as she determined which would be most feasible for her to get Nikita safely out. Within seconds two options faced her: either she would have to get Nikita to abandon this absurd rescue plan, or, stand and fight.

Both options were flawed. The former, Aella knew, Nikita would never agree to. She could just picture Nikita, sword in hand and attempting to fight off a host of Scythian guards. As excellent a warrior as Aella knew the young M'yrene to be, she would not be able to defeat a whole troop of guards. Especially if she had an injured man to contend with. But Nikita was stubborn. Once her mind was made up to rescue this Scythian named Michael there was nothing Aella or anyone else could do to change it. That meant there was really only one option left; stand and fight alongside Nikita. That, Aella knew, translated into another certainty -- captivity.

Her heart pounded and her heart raced as she rounded the corner at the same time three other guards did. She drew back her sword, ready to launch herself headlong into the melee and fight her way to her sister, when suddenly, she stopped.

The battle-cry died on her lips as she looked upon the two guards rolling about on the ground and realized that neither was Nikita. There was a burst of laughter from the other guards who had arrived at the same time as she did, their swords also drawn, as they watched the drunken guards wrestle with each other.

Aella lowered her head, lest anyone see that she was a stranger amongst their group. She brought her sword arm down. Then she took another step backward as more guards arrived and formed a bigger circle around their compatriots who were rolling about on the ground kicking and punching, but not really causing any permanent damage to the other. Some of the on-lookers began to cheer and a few began to place wagers.

Aella slinked back into the shadows just as one of the balcony doors on the second level opened and a man wearing a dark robe stepped out and bellowed: "What in hades is going on down there?!"

"Tis merely a quarrel M'lord," one of the guards called up as others stepped in and began to break the two drunken guards apart.

The man on the balcony, tall and heavily built, swore and ordered everyone back to their posts. There was a general rumbling of voices as the guards, some of them still laughing, slowly made their way back to whichever corner of the courtyard they had come running from. The two drunken guards were dragged off in separate directions.

Aella stood still in the shadows, waiting for everyone to disperse, then turned to take another route towards the dungeon. She moved with great stealth, trying as much as possible to avoid the light, when a hand suddenly reached out and grasped her arm.

"Doyan!" Nikita whispered loudly. Relief flooded through Aella's veins as she beheld Nikita. "Help me," Nikita whispered, pulling Aella toward her.

It was then that Aella noticed the limp form leaning heavily against Nikita. That, she guessed, was Michael.
Aella quickly returned her sword to its scabbard and moved to the other side of the Scythian. She took hold of his other arm and placed it around her shoulder then slipped her own arm around his back.

"Careful," Nikita directed Aella, as Michael groaned. "His back is torn." Then Aella watched as Nikita reached up with her free hand and smoothed Michael's hair back. "It’s alright," she whispered. "I've got you."

Between the two of them, Aella and Nikita were able to get the semi-conscious Michael out the front gate. They slipped Walter's cloak over him so that he blended more fully with the night. Then Nikita and Aella shed the guard's robes they wore, leaving only their black leather armor on and, after checking to make sure that all was clear, they once again took up the injured Michael and stole across the clearing and into the forest to retrieve their horses.


************

Nikita held the reins with one hand as her other hand clasped Michael's arms which were wrapped around her waist, holding them securely in place so that he wouldn't fall backward or slip.

When they first started their journey Michael had sat stiffly behind her, his face pale, and his skin clammy. He didn't say much except to answer her occasional question concerning his comfort. Nikita knew he was in a great deal of pain and she tried to make their ride as gentle and jolt-free as possible.

She'd removed the helmet and coif from her head. Then she pulled the hooded part of the tabard down, freeing her hair. She gathered the long stands and placed it over her left shoulder so that it wouldn't get in Michael's face then reached behind and pulled his head down so that it rested on her right shoulder.

"Lean on me," she told him. "Rest while you can. It’s going to be a long ride."

Gradually she felt him loosen up. His head became heavier on her shoulder and she could feel the warmth of his breath on her neck. She turned slightly and found that his eyes were closed, his face relaxed. A small smile appeared on her face as she sighed with contentment. They'd done it. They'd gotten him out. Just as quickly as it had appeared, though, her smile faded. They'd gotten him out. But now what did they do with him?

The first order of business, she decided, was to get him well and strong. Walter would be able to help with that. The old man had already spread a thick salve of herbs across the deep cuts along Michael's back, helping to ease his pain.

Nikita's frown deepened as she thought of Michael's condition. What manner of men were these that would torture their own flesh and blood? Bestial barbarians, she concluded. Interested only in the satisfaction of their own greed and abundance. They would probably herald Michael's disappearance as verification of the rumors they'd spread concerning the two of them; the ones about him being in love with her.

What utter nonsense.

She turned again and looked down upon his slumbering features. The movement caused her cheek to brush against his lips and Nikita was surprised to feel a tingling ripple through her, hardening the peaks of her breasts. Quickly she turned away, facing forward once more as she concentrated on the path before her.

She told herself that it was merely a physical reaction. One that was natural when a woman and man were in such close contact. Her body would respond exactly the same way if it were some other man seated behind her. Holding her firmly against the warmth of his body and with his face half buried in the curve of her neck. That thought made her feel better and she relaxed once again.

From a few feet behind, Aella watched and wondered if her sister had any inkling of the turmoil she was headed for. She'd caught a glimpse of the way the green-eyed Scythian had gazed upon Nikita and she'd recognized the look that had been in his eyes. There was an attraction there. A tenderness that had burned in his eyes for a few brief seconds as he had looked at Nikita.

Aella also sensed that Nikita was, for now, subconsciously drawn to Michael. She'd claimed that she owed Michael this favor for his helping her to escape when she had been taken captive. But Aella sensed it was much more then that of a debt being repaid, or a promise being kept.

This man effected Nikita in a way that no one else in her life ever had before. At least, none that Aella knew of. Nikita had a kind, compassionate soul, but, being raised with the knowledge that she would one day be ruler of the Vatians had made her wary of strangers and their motives towards her. And yet, Aella noted, there was no wariness in Nikita's actions toward Michael.

She recalled how Nikita had smoothed the Scythian's hair back and whispered words of comfort to him when he had been in pain. And of how that look of pain had eased at her touch, how his breathing had calmed.

Aye, she thought, with a sigh that was partially troubled. It was not by chance that her sister and Michael's paths had crossed. This was the work of the gods. It was their destiny.

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Replies:

  • Re: Orignal Gemstone 5 -- Leigh, 09:24:43 12/24/01 Mon
  • "Ee-aaa!" I'm right there with ya, Nikita! (r) -- Lindy, 11:53:36 12/24/01 Mon
  • This is so good. I can't wait for more. Menwhile have a merry Christmas (NT) -- jen, 12:00:09 12/24/01 Mon
  • You just made my Christmas that much the merrier.... -- Tracy, 19:25:12 12/24/01 Mon
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