The Priestess (PG-13) Chapter 2 of ?
Title: The Priestess (Chapter 2)
Recipient: [info]muses_keeper
Prompt: I like to receive a story with a quest, where John/Elizabeth and maybe others are solving a Quest… Maybe something ancient related. The idea came from SG1, season10 episode “The Quest”
Rating: NC-13 (at least so far)
Word Count: Unknown, I'm still writing it!
Betas: aleynarose
Spoiler: None
Elizabeth opened her eyes and stared up at the billowing silky material above her. The cool breeze that fluttered over the top of it wasn’t completely kept at bay by its presence and, as such, served to cool her skin just a little too much. Stretching a hand down, she groped for the covers she seemed to have kicked off in the night and pulled them back up to her chin.
“No, you don’t.” The woman’s voice to her right wasn’t much of a shock, and she turned to see her room maid Eleanor standing watching her with hands on her hips. “I just turned those covers down to wake you up. You’re not going back to sleep.”
Elizabeth yawned in protest. “I’m considering a new rule. That no one disturb the Lady Priestess before midday.”
“And how many of your marshals will follow that rule?”
She considered for a moment, listing the men in her head before kicking the covers to the side and slipping off the bed on the opposite side to Eleanor. The woman let out an exasperated breath and grabbed something from the chair behind her before moving around to Elizabeth’s side of the bed.
“You only make things harder on yourself when you do that.”
“Really?” She said coyly. This game never grew boring between them - the small battle of who was really in charge of the room. “I’m not the one who had to walk around the bed with my petticoat and corset.”
Eleanor gave in to the grin far too quickly and as Elizabeth raised her arms so her nightdress could be removed, the woman gave her a swift smack on the bottom. Out of her nightdress and into her undergarments - petticoat and with the corset wrapped around her middle - Elizabeth started to mentally count down from ten. She knew, without a doubt that before she reached the end of her count, either someone would knock on the door or Eleanor would pull too tight on her strings in retribution. She made it to three before the knock came and almost as if she’d jumped at the sound, the strings were pulled tight.
“One of these days, I’d like to know what the air tastes like.”
“Absolutely,” Eleanor said, and Elizabeth could hear the touch of sarcasm and knew what was coming. “All it will take is for you to meet some strapping young man, let him court you, marry him and then bare his child.” She moved around and patted Elizabeth’s stomach before heading for the door. “You can then taste all the air you would like while you grow fat.”
“And then you can squeeze the life, air, and fat out of me the first chance you can to get me back into to this thing.” She turned and vanished behind the changing screen as Eleanor opened the door. Elizabeth laughed at the abrupt ‘she’s not ready yet’ the woman said and then the door was shut before anyone on the other side could even open their mouth. She unhooked the top of the dress hanging on a peg behind the screen and crouched down to pick up the hem. It was always easier to take the dress over the head. The fuss with her green petticoat was just not worth the trouble of going the other way.
She pulled the dress down her body, secretly wishing, as she often did, that they would give her more than one style and colour. Always wearing the same thing was boring and even the different coloured petticoats were no longer amusing or enough of a change. But that was the price of being the Lady Priestess. She slipped her arms into the long sleeves, sparing a moment to check that the sleeve trains hadn’t been caught somewhere in the process and then began to tie the laces at the front of her dress.
Admittedly, the dress could have been much worse. Watching the women in the city nearest her, she had managed to pick out a dozen dresses that were beyond ugly in every way, shape, or form. Yet, the women wore them as if in a battle for the worst possible outfit. Though she knew it was more of a battle to be dressed the best, or have the lowest neckline without being indecent. Her own neckline, when done up properly, was squared across the top of her breasts. The corset underneath didn’t come up nearly as high, and the gaps left between the sides of the dress' front always gave the men a good view of her cleavage - at least she hoped it was a good view.
Often, as she was doing now, she would purposely slacken the strings after passing the line of her underclothes, giving her just a little more space to move without feeling trapped and showing off just that much more of her breasts. If anyone ever noticed, they never commented. Stepping back around from the screen, Elizabeth crossed the room and pulled open the double doors to her sitting area. Everyone on the other side of them instantly shot to their feet. She smiled, trying hard not to let them know she would always enjoy catching them off guard.
“So, gentlemen,” she said, moving across the room and pushing open the doors to the balcony. “What news have you brought me today?”
~*~
“How did she do it?” John demanded, running his hand along the wall, trying hard to find the line that showed him where the wall changed. There wasn’t one, and Todd’s silence at the three times he’d asked that question was beginning to grate on his nerves. Giving up, he turned sharply to the Wraith and glared. “How,” he said slowly, drawing every word out, “did she do it?”
“I do not know,” Todd said just as carefully. John raised his gun and Todd hissed at him. “The room is sensitive to one person only.”
Instantly, John knew Todd had planned for either him or Elizabeth to go missing, leaving one or the other from Atlantis with him to solve the whole riddle. Chances were, Todd knew what to do next, but wouldn’t offer the information.
“Where is she?” Todd almost growled at him.
“There will be another way out of this room. One for their selected and one for us.”
“Why do they have a ‘selected’ to begin with?”
Todd waited for just a moment. “The most important person in your group is taken in trade. The puzzle of getting the ZPM is to work out how to receive both the ZPM and your important person back at the same time. Failure to solve the puzzle will result in Doctor Weir’s death.”
John had to bite his tongue to stop from following the impulse to shoot the Wraith on the spot.
“All those who enter the chamber, must leave it, or Doctor Weir’s life is forfeit,” Todd added.
“And if I decide Elizabeth is more important than the ZPM?”
“We may leave with or without it. But we cannot leave less one person.”
“That is not the truth.” John turned sharply to the additional voice and found himself face to face with a man dressed in black robes. The hood up over his head made John shiver with the feeling of having the grim reaper so near. The man took a step forward and reached up to push the hood down. The soft face and pleasant smile were a complete contrast to the outward appearance, and for a moment John added the boy's face to his collection of ‘Elizabeth’s children’ mental photographs. John swallowed, considering that he wanted children a little too much or that this world was seriously playing games with them.
“What’s not true?”
The man bowed his head. “My name is Avid. I am the keeper of the passage. My purpose here is to explain how to get you what you want without too much loss. I only appear when one or more of the group is unsure why they are here or what they must do.”
“Well that covers me. Couldn’t you have appeared before Elizabeth vanished?”
“I could not.” John quirked a brow. “Elizabeth,” the name sounded strange on his lips. “Was payment for the information, or, had you known your purpose, she would have been payment for the chance to get your wish.”
“Makes perfect sense. Why Elizabeth?”
“She is the more valuable.” Avid looked briefly at Todd. “Neither you nor Elizabeth had any interest in the Wraith in your company; however, you had strong feelings towards each other. Had that been her only value, the choice of which to take would have been mine. There were other aspects I needed to account for. The strong sense of respect you have for each other is just as equal, but you have a sense of duty to her as your leader that she does not have for you. This aspect led me to believe that were you to leave here without her, others would be displeased. This makes her the most valuable member of your party.”
“Alright. So how do I get Elizabeth back and what we came for?”
“Firstly you must understand a few things. This room is different for the people who come. It is based on the thoughts you have for the chosen.”
“Wait, how can you know Elizabeth would be the chosen before we got here?”
Avid smiled. “You left your world three hours before you arrived here. Our linkgate stores you for long enough to determine which of you would be more important.”
John quirked a brow. “Okay.”
“The images on the wall represent the situation they have placed before you.” He indicated the far wall where Elizabeth stood looking down over a people as though she were a queen and they her subjects. “She will know nothing beyond her situation. She will not remember you or your relationship, but she will have the sense of your relationship - will be drawn to you as she was on your world. You can take from these images what you can, an understanding of her character, where she stands in the city, and where your required object is. There are no clues on how to retrieve either on these walls.
“There can only be one outcome of your visit here, though there are four possible ways that outcome can go. Firstly, you can visit the city, collect your item, retrieve your third person, and leave the cavern to return home. Secondly, you can retrieve your third person and leave the cavern to return home. Thirdly, you can collect your item and leave the cavern to return home. Though in this outcome, Elizabeth’s life with end when you exit this room. Lastly, one or two of you can leave this cavern empty handed or with something you did not come to collect and all your lives will be ended when you exit this room.”
“So we all leave together, with or without the ZPM or one or more of us dies?”
“One or all,” Avid corrected. “You may sacrifice Elizabeth to collect your item.”
“Can I sacrifice Todd to take Elizabeth and the item?” John asked. Avid merely smiled.
“There is one last thing you need to know. Collecting your item and retrieving your third person will not be as simple as you think. You cannot leave the city with both at the same time, though you two cannot separate.”
“So I can’t leave the city with the item, and leave Todd to get Elizabeth?”
“Correct. You must leave the city together, then both return together for the other whatever was left behind.”
“Okay, then I have a question.” Avid nodded. “How do we get to the city?”
Avid smiled, took a step backwards and merged into the wall leaving a door in his place. John stared dumbly for a moment before he swallowed, licked his lips and moved forward.
“So long as I don’t have to drink any little unmarked bottles or eat cakes that say ‘eat me’ on them - Into wonderland we go.”
~*~
As a little girl, Elizabeth remembered walking the market places with her guardians, looking at all the trinkets and materials that people brought. Back then, people never paid her much attention, skirting around her but continuing with their normal business as they always did. That was when she was a child, though, unimportant and nothing more than a potential Priestess to them. There were always three or more children who could become that higher level to them, but until that day came, they were just children who needed to be given just a little bit of space and leniency. As a higher level adult, you get given a wider circle, heads bowed and every stall or shop you paused would give you their undivided attention with a worried expression. At the top - where Elizabeth was now, though, was a completely different story.
Word that she was out of the palace spread like wild fire. The first mutters were always the easiest to hear, and if the day out was planned, she could almost guarantee everyone in sight of the palace would see the assembled marshal, and information that she was out in the city would reach the walls before she even set foot outside. No matter what street she turned down she would find people bowing to her, as if they’d known the path she would take. Sometimes it was frightening to see, that someone from the end of one street would let the next know she was coming. In the market place, everyone would stick to the sides, approaching stalls only when they were sure she wasn’t going their way, and the stall and shop owners would be ready, waiting to help and often offer up tasty treats or a drink as she moved. She could never accept. Her head marshal, always at her side, would clear his throat as a reminder to words he would always say before leaving the palace. “We don’t know if any of these people would rather see you dead - food could be poisoned.”
She could understand his reluctance, his concerns, but she found it annoying. For hundreds of years and Lady Priestesses before her had been loved, never feared and never hated. The necklace around her throat held a crystal that kept their shield working for as long as she was alive. Anyone attempting to kill her would endanger the whole city. The end of her life before a new Lady Priestess was ready would open their lives up to attack from other continents and alien races the likes of which had only been heard of in stories. Not only that, she helped her people. The system of living they had meant no one went hungry - there would always be a lower class, closer to the walls of city, but should they find themselves really struggling to live then Elizabeth would help them with food and attempt to find a way to improve their life - if only a little.
They were protected, happy, and comfortable with their lives. If crime broke out - as it sometimes did, then the criminals would be stopped by the constant presence of the royal marshal. A trial would be held in all cases and Elizabeth would be sitting in the room with a view of all parties involved and listening to the information given. The final decision on his guilt or innocence was her choice as the punishment he would receive for the act. No one had walked away feeling she was unjust or showing favouritism. To her, there was no upper and lower class in the city; there were only her people, the people she loved and cared for daily.
As she turned onto Market Street to find the path through to the outer wall completely clear, she caught sight of something, movement along the top of the wall. She stopped, watching the three marshals gather close to the gate as another, already on watch at the gate, stood up and indicated down to the outside of the city. Her curiosity peaked and she looked back down at the gate at the far end of Market Street. There was nothing in sight.
A gasp from the side made Elizabeth and her marshal turn quickly to look at a woman. It was a moment before she realised the woman was staring at the ground just in front of Elizabeth’s feet and she looked down to find a toddler sitting on the ground reaching for her dress. Her little fingers curled around the side of Elizabeth’s dress just as big green eyes turned to look up at her. Elizabeth smiled before reaching down to pick the girl up. Off the side of her vision, the woman stiffened. She was moments away from asking the child her name, regardless of her ability to answer, when people near the gate began to shout and several began running away.
Elizabeth moved quickly, crossing the distance to the woman she handed over the girl and began purposefully striding through the market towards the gate. She passed several marshals attempting to calm the crowd, their voices loud enough to catch attention. She saw the young marshal as he turned and spotted her approach and watched him swallow hard before he stepped out in front of her. He gave a very nervous short bow before daringly looking her in the eye.
“I'm sorry, Priestess. I can't let you approach the main gate. There is a Wraith in the area.”
Her eyes flicked to the gate over his shoulder, and she took in the form dressed in black. He didn't look like a Wraith; in fact he looked shockingly familiar. Her brow creased for a moment before the man wandered to the side to someone he was with and a shiver of dread passed down her spine. The man was with this Wraith. It seemed to be the only reason her marshals hadn't shot the beast. She looked up at the walls again. The three marshals who had moved along the wall earlier had their weapons trained on them. A marshal outside the gate approached them carefully.
“Alright,” Elizabeth said turning her attention back to the young man. “I'll wait here if you have that marshal report to me when he re-enters the city.” Swallowing, the man nodded and moved away to carry out her order.
“Why would anyone befriend a Wraith?” Elizabeth turned to look at Cayton, her main protector. It was a reasonable quest and one she hoped the man outside was asking.
~*~
John paused in front of Todd, fixing the Wraith with a daring glare; this was entirely his fault after all. He was about to ask Todd why he had to be such an inconvenient monster when someone else spoke.
“State your business here.”
He turned and took in the middle-aged man in a military uniform.
“We're here to speak with your queen.” John replied.
Confusion crossed the man’s face for a second. “The Lady Priestess doesn't accept strangers on the first day in the city, and we don't accept Wraith or their collaborators in.”
Lady Priestess? “Trust me, if I didn't have to be seen with him I wouldn't.” The man stared at him with a blank expression. John moved away from Todd and closer to the officer with a smile. “I'm Major John Sheppard, come from a planet we named Atlantica. We were told you had something in your city that would help us; I was hoping to trade for it.”
“You may enter, he may not.”
“That's a slight problem.” John licked his lips. “You see, I'm stuck with him, if I pass your walls without him, we both die. Now while I don't care much for him, I would like to go back to the woman I love.”
“Even if I were able to ask the Priestess, the wraith may not enter.”
“Maybe you can talk her into coming down here to talk to me. Gate closed if you want.”
The man’s face hardened. “I will do no such thing. Find a way to enter without him and you might get lucky to catch sight of the Lady Priestess today.”
He turned and walked away before John could think of a response. He turned back to glare at Todd who gave him another horrifying grin.
~*~
It was only a minute after the conversation on the other side of the gate ended before the marshal appeared before looking more uncomfortable than the young man standing behind him. She quirked a brow, more on the idea that she needed to teach her people to relax in her company than in question.
Belatedly, the man gave a quick bow. “Lady Priestess.”
“Who is he?” She asked, careful to keep her tone calming.
“He tells his name as Major John Sheppard. He also tells that he's bound to the Wraith and wishes to trade with you for something that will aid his people.”
“Something specific?”
“He did not say, Priestess.”
Elizabeth turned to look at the man on the other side of the gate. He was still standing a good distance from the Wraith fidgeting with something on the ground. The twinge of something familiar flooded her again, persistent and shockingly soothing. She took a step forward and was shocked that the man had reached out and taken her arm.
“Lady Priestess,” he said, quickly releasing his grip. “I don't trust anything he has said.”
She regarded him for a long moment. “Then gather the marshals and have them ready to fire if he tries anything.” She stepped around him and headed for the gate amazed that her personal guard hadn't tried to stop her. Though they knew better than to try and influence her choice and simply stuck to keeping her safe.
She stopped a few steps from the gate, listening as the marshals gathered around her and readied their weapons. As they settled, she felt the wind blow the white material of her dress, showing her petticoat off to anyone watching her. She didn't care, and running a hand down her stomach licked her lips and straightened her back.
“Major Sheppard.” She watched as he turned to the gate, a flicker of shock passed over his face before it turned into pleasant surprise. He took her in from head to toe and finally started moving towards her. She watched him, the way he moved and watched her. The flick of his eyes to the petticoat as the wind picked it up again made her brow quirk and then raise to join the first as his eyes came back, lingering at her cleavage on the way.
“You must be the Lady Priestess,” he said stopping only a step away from the gate. Several of the marshals around her stiffened and adjusted their grips on weapons.
“What is this item you believe we possess?”
“All business. Okay. It’s a power module. We use it to power our city. There are only a few left and we've... lost the ability to make more.”
“You bring a Wraith to my city, frighten my people, then expect to simply walk in and trade for this power module. Tell me, Major, what were you going to do if I refused to give it to you.”
He smiled. “Sweet talk you?” She didn’t smile. Not a single muscle in her body reacted to the joke. “I have no intention of hurting anyone. I'll keep him in my sight or shoot him myself if he tries anything. In fact bring him in, lock him up and only let him out when we leave.”
“And you?”
He visibly swallowed. “If you want, have me guarded, I won't object. Lock me up when I'm not discussing the trade. All I ask is that you listen to me. I'll surrender my weapon; you can take anything from me you think is dangerous. I just want some time with you. Doesn't even have to be alone. But I would like to walk to you with some amount of privacy.”
She studied him again, wondering why he was so familiar, why she could so easily agree to letting him have anything he wanted. The idea of him in her bed brought a touch of a flush to her cheeks but she didn't look away from him.
“Master Cayton.” She waited for him to step forward. She didn't take her eyes off John.
“Yes, Priestess?”
“Allow them entry. Lock the Wraith up near the gate with heavy guard, then bring the Major to the palace.”
“Yes, Priestess.”
“And master Cayton,” she turned to look at Cayton. “Deprive them of all possessions.”
“Yes, Priestess,” he said with a smile.
Recipient: [info]muses_keeper
Prompt: I like to receive a story with a quest, where John/Elizabeth and maybe others are solving a Quest… Maybe something ancient related. The idea came from SG1, season10 episode “The Quest”
Rating: NC-13 (at least so far)
Word Count: Unknown, I'm still writing it!
Betas: aleynarose
Spoiler: None
Elizabeth opened her eyes and stared up at the billowing silky material above her. The cool breeze that fluttered over the top of it wasn’t completely kept at bay by its presence and, as such, served to cool her skin just a little too much. Stretching a hand down, she groped for the covers she seemed to have kicked off in the night and pulled them back up to her chin.
“No, you don’t.” The woman’s voice to her right wasn’t much of a shock, and she turned to see her room maid Eleanor standing watching her with hands on her hips. “I just turned those covers down to wake you up. You’re not going back to sleep.”
Elizabeth yawned in protest. “I’m considering a new rule. That no one disturb the Lady Priestess before midday.”
“And how many of your marshals will follow that rule?”
She considered for a moment, listing the men in her head before kicking the covers to the side and slipping off the bed on the opposite side to Eleanor. The woman let out an exasperated breath and grabbed something from the chair behind her before moving around to Elizabeth’s side of the bed.
“You only make things harder on yourself when you do that.”
“Really?” She said coyly. This game never grew boring between them - the small battle of who was really in charge of the room. “I’m not the one who had to walk around the bed with my petticoat and corset.”
Eleanor gave in to the grin far too quickly and as Elizabeth raised her arms so her nightdress could be removed, the woman gave her a swift smack on the bottom. Out of her nightdress and into her undergarments - petticoat and with the corset wrapped around her middle - Elizabeth started to mentally count down from ten. She knew, without a doubt that before she reached the end of her count, either someone would knock on the door or Eleanor would pull too tight on her strings in retribution. She made it to three before the knock came and almost as if she’d jumped at the sound, the strings were pulled tight.
“One of these days, I’d like to know what the air tastes like.”
“Absolutely,” Eleanor said, and Elizabeth could hear the touch of sarcasm and knew what was coming. “All it will take is for you to meet some strapping young man, let him court you, marry him and then bare his child.” She moved around and patted Elizabeth’s stomach before heading for the door. “You can then taste all the air you would like while you grow fat.”
“And then you can squeeze the life, air, and fat out of me the first chance you can to get me back into to this thing.” She turned and vanished behind the changing screen as Eleanor opened the door. Elizabeth laughed at the abrupt ‘she’s not ready yet’ the woman said and then the door was shut before anyone on the other side could even open their mouth. She unhooked the top of the dress hanging on a peg behind the screen and crouched down to pick up the hem. It was always easier to take the dress over the head. The fuss with her green petticoat was just not worth the trouble of going the other way.
She pulled the dress down her body, secretly wishing, as she often did, that they would give her more than one style and colour. Always wearing the same thing was boring and even the different coloured petticoats were no longer amusing or enough of a change. But that was the price of being the Lady Priestess. She slipped her arms into the long sleeves, sparing a moment to check that the sleeve trains hadn’t been caught somewhere in the process and then began to tie the laces at the front of her dress.
Admittedly, the dress could have been much worse. Watching the women in the city nearest her, she had managed to pick out a dozen dresses that were beyond ugly in every way, shape, or form. Yet, the women wore them as if in a battle for the worst possible outfit. Though she knew it was more of a battle to be dressed the best, or have the lowest neckline without being indecent. Her own neckline, when done up properly, was squared across the top of her breasts. The corset underneath didn’t come up nearly as high, and the gaps left between the sides of the dress' front always gave the men a good view of her cleavage - at least she hoped it was a good view.
Often, as she was doing now, she would purposely slacken the strings after passing the line of her underclothes, giving her just a little more space to move without feeling trapped and showing off just that much more of her breasts. If anyone ever noticed, they never commented. Stepping back around from the screen, Elizabeth crossed the room and pulled open the double doors to her sitting area. Everyone on the other side of them instantly shot to their feet. She smiled, trying hard not to let them know she would always enjoy catching them off guard.
“So, gentlemen,” she said, moving across the room and pushing open the doors to the balcony. “What news have you brought me today?”
~*~
“How did she do it?” John demanded, running his hand along the wall, trying hard to find the line that showed him where the wall changed. There wasn’t one, and Todd’s silence at the three times he’d asked that question was beginning to grate on his nerves. Giving up, he turned sharply to the Wraith and glared. “How,” he said slowly, drawing every word out, “did she do it?”
“I do not know,” Todd said just as carefully. John raised his gun and Todd hissed at him. “The room is sensitive to one person only.”
Instantly, John knew Todd had planned for either him or Elizabeth to go missing, leaving one or the other from Atlantis with him to solve the whole riddle. Chances were, Todd knew what to do next, but wouldn’t offer the information.
“Where is she?” Todd almost growled at him.
“There will be another way out of this room. One for their selected and one for us.”
“Why do they have a ‘selected’ to begin with?”
Todd waited for just a moment. “The most important person in your group is taken in trade. The puzzle of getting the ZPM is to work out how to receive both the ZPM and your important person back at the same time. Failure to solve the puzzle will result in Doctor Weir’s death.”
John had to bite his tongue to stop from following the impulse to shoot the Wraith on the spot.
“All those who enter the chamber, must leave it, or Doctor Weir’s life is forfeit,” Todd added.
“And if I decide Elizabeth is more important than the ZPM?”
“We may leave with or without it. But we cannot leave less one person.”
“That is not the truth.” John turned sharply to the additional voice and found himself face to face with a man dressed in black robes. The hood up over his head made John shiver with the feeling of having the grim reaper so near. The man took a step forward and reached up to push the hood down. The soft face and pleasant smile were a complete contrast to the outward appearance, and for a moment John added the boy's face to his collection of ‘Elizabeth’s children’ mental photographs. John swallowed, considering that he wanted children a little too much or that this world was seriously playing games with them.
“What’s not true?”
The man bowed his head. “My name is Avid. I am the keeper of the passage. My purpose here is to explain how to get you what you want without too much loss. I only appear when one or more of the group is unsure why they are here or what they must do.”
“Well that covers me. Couldn’t you have appeared before Elizabeth vanished?”
“I could not.” John quirked a brow. “Elizabeth,” the name sounded strange on his lips. “Was payment for the information, or, had you known your purpose, she would have been payment for the chance to get your wish.”
“Makes perfect sense. Why Elizabeth?”
“She is the more valuable.” Avid looked briefly at Todd. “Neither you nor Elizabeth had any interest in the Wraith in your company; however, you had strong feelings towards each other. Had that been her only value, the choice of which to take would have been mine. There were other aspects I needed to account for. The strong sense of respect you have for each other is just as equal, but you have a sense of duty to her as your leader that she does not have for you. This aspect led me to believe that were you to leave here without her, others would be displeased. This makes her the most valuable member of your party.”
“Alright. So how do I get Elizabeth back and what we came for?”
“Firstly you must understand a few things. This room is different for the people who come. It is based on the thoughts you have for the chosen.”
“Wait, how can you know Elizabeth would be the chosen before we got here?”
Avid smiled. “You left your world three hours before you arrived here. Our linkgate stores you for long enough to determine which of you would be more important.”
John quirked a brow. “Okay.”
“The images on the wall represent the situation they have placed before you.” He indicated the far wall where Elizabeth stood looking down over a people as though she were a queen and they her subjects. “She will know nothing beyond her situation. She will not remember you or your relationship, but she will have the sense of your relationship - will be drawn to you as she was on your world. You can take from these images what you can, an understanding of her character, where she stands in the city, and where your required object is. There are no clues on how to retrieve either on these walls.
“There can only be one outcome of your visit here, though there are four possible ways that outcome can go. Firstly, you can visit the city, collect your item, retrieve your third person, and leave the cavern to return home. Secondly, you can retrieve your third person and leave the cavern to return home. Thirdly, you can collect your item and leave the cavern to return home. Though in this outcome, Elizabeth’s life with end when you exit this room. Lastly, one or two of you can leave this cavern empty handed or with something you did not come to collect and all your lives will be ended when you exit this room.”
“So we all leave together, with or without the ZPM or one or more of us dies?”
“One or all,” Avid corrected. “You may sacrifice Elizabeth to collect your item.”
“Can I sacrifice Todd to take Elizabeth and the item?” John asked. Avid merely smiled.
“There is one last thing you need to know. Collecting your item and retrieving your third person will not be as simple as you think. You cannot leave the city with both at the same time, though you two cannot separate.”
“So I can’t leave the city with the item, and leave Todd to get Elizabeth?”
“Correct. You must leave the city together, then both return together for the other whatever was left behind.”
“Okay, then I have a question.” Avid nodded. “How do we get to the city?”
Avid smiled, took a step backwards and merged into the wall leaving a door in his place. John stared dumbly for a moment before he swallowed, licked his lips and moved forward.
“So long as I don’t have to drink any little unmarked bottles or eat cakes that say ‘eat me’ on them - Into wonderland we go.”
~*~
As a little girl, Elizabeth remembered walking the market places with her guardians, looking at all the trinkets and materials that people brought. Back then, people never paid her much attention, skirting around her but continuing with their normal business as they always did. That was when she was a child, though, unimportant and nothing more than a potential Priestess to them. There were always three or more children who could become that higher level to them, but until that day came, they were just children who needed to be given just a little bit of space and leniency. As a higher level adult, you get given a wider circle, heads bowed and every stall or shop you paused would give you their undivided attention with a worried expression. At the top - where Elizabeth was now, though, was a completely different story.
Word that she was out of the palace spread like wild fire. The first mutters were always the easiest to hear, and if the day out was planned, she could almost guarantee everyone in sight of the palace would see the assembled marshal, and information that she was out in the city would reach the walls before she even set foot outside. No matter what street she turned down she would find people bowing to her, as if they’d known the path she would take. Sometimes it was frightening to see, that someone from the end of one street would let the next know she was coming. In the market place, everyone would stick to the sides, approaching stalls only when they were sure she wasn’t going their way, and the stall and shop owners would be ready, waiting to help and often offer up tasty treats or a drink as she moved. She could never accept. Her head marshal, always at her side, would clear his throat as a reminder to words he would always say before leaving the palace. “We don’t know if any of these people would rather see you dead - food could be poisoned.”
She could understand his reluctance, his concerns, but she found it annoying. For hundreds of years and Lady Priestesses before her had been loved, never feared and never hated. The necklace around her throat held a crystal that kept their shield working for as long as she was alive. Anyone attempting to kill her would endanger the whole city. The end of her life before a new Lady Priestess was ready would open their lives up to attack from other continents and alien races the likes of which had only been heard of in stories. Not only that, she helped her people. The system of living they had meant no one went hungry - there would always be a lower class, closer to the walls of city, but should they find themselves really struggling to live then Elizabeth would help them with food and attempt to find a way to improve their life - if only a little.
They were protected, happy, and comfortable with their lives. If crime broke out - as it sometimes did, then the criminals would be stopped by the constant presence of the royal marshal. A trial would be held in all cases and Elizabeth would be sitting in the room with a view of all parties involved and listening to the information given. The final decision on his guilt or innocence was her choice as the punishment he would receive for the act. No one had walked away feeling she was unjust or showing favouritism. To her, there was no upper and lower class in the city; there were only her people, the people she loved and cared for daily.
As she turned onto Market Street to find the path through to the outer wall completely clear, she caught sight of something, movement along the top of the wall. She stopped, watching the three marshals gather close to the gate as another, already on watch at the gate, stood up and indicated down to the outside of the city. Her curiosity peaked and she looked back down at the gate at the far end of Market Street. There was nothing in sight.
A gasp from the side made Elizabeth and her marshal turn quickly to look at a woman. It was a moment before she realised the woman was staring at the ground just in front of Elizabeth’s feet and she looked down to find a toddler sitting on the ground reaching for her dress. Her little fingers curled around the side of Elizabeth’s dress just as big green eyes turned to look up at her. Elizabeth smiled before reaching down to pick the girl up. Off the side of her vision, the woman stiffened. She was moments away from asking the child her name, regardless of her ability to answer, when people near the gate began to shout and several began running away.
Elizabeth moved quickly, crossing the distance to the woman she handed over the girl and began purposefully striding through the market towards the gate. She passed several marshals attempting to calm the crowd, their voices loud enough to catch attention. She saw the young marshal as he turned and spotted her approach and watched him swallow hard before he stepped out in front of her. He gave a very nervous short bow before daringly looking her in the eye.
“I'm sorry, Priestess. I can't let you approach the main gate. There is a Wraith in the area.”
Her eyes flicked to the gate over his shoulder, and she took in the form dressed in black. He didn't look like a Wraith; in fact he looked shockingly familiar. Her brow creased for a moment before the man wandered to the side to someone he was with and a shiver of dread passed down her spine. The man was with this Wraith. It seemed to be the only reason her marshals hadn't shot the beast. She looked up at the walls again. The three marshals who had moved along the wall earlier had their weapons trained on them. A marshal outside the gate approached them carefully.
“Alright,” Elizabeth said turning her attention back to the young man. “I'll wait here if you have that marshal report to me when he re-enters the city.” Swallowing, the man nodded and moved away to carry out her order.
“Why would anyone befriend a Wraith?” Elizabeth turned to look at Cayton, her main protector. It was a reasonable quest and one she hoped the man outside was asking.
~*~
John paused in front of Todd, fixing the Wraith with a daring glare; this was entirely his fault after all. He was about to ask Todd why he had to be such an inconvenient monster when someone else spoke.
“State your business here.”
He turned and took in the middle-aged man in a military uniform.
“We're here to speak with your queen.” John replied.
Confusion crossed the man’s face for a second. “The Lady Priestess doesn't accept strangers on the first day in the city, and we don't accept Wraith or their collaborators in.”
Lady Priestess? “Trust me, if I didn't have to be seen with him I wouldn't.” The man stared at him with a blank expression. John moved away from Todd and closer to the officer with a smile. “I'm Major John Sheppard, come from a planet we named Atlantica. We were told you had something in your city that would help us; I was hoping to trade for it.”
“You may enter, he may not.”
“That's a slight problem.” John licked his lips. “You see, I'm stuck with him, if I pass your walls without him, we both die. Now while I don't care much for him, I would like to go back to the woman I love.”
“Even if I were able to ask the Priestess, the wraith may not enter.”
“Maybe you can talk her into coming down here to talk to me. Gate closed if you want.”
The man’s face hardened. “I will do no such thing. Find a way to enter without him and you might get lucky to catch sight of the Lady Priestess today.”
He turned and walked away before John could think of a response. He turned back to glare at Todd who gave him another horrifying grin.
~*~
It was only a minute after the conversation on the other side of the gate ended before the marshal appeared before looking more uncomfortable than the young man standing behind him. She quirked a brow, more on the idea that she needed to teach her people to relax in her company than in question.
Belatedly, the man gave a quick bow. “Lady Priestess.”
“Who is he?” She asked, careful to keep her tone calming.
“He tells his name as Major John Sheppard. He also tells that he's bound to the Wraith and wishes to trade with you for something that will aid his people.”
“Something specific?”
“He did not say, Priestess.”
Elizabeth turned to look at the man on the other side of the gate. He was still standing a good distance from the Wraith fidgeting with something on the ground. The twinge of something familiar flooded her again, persistent and shockingly soothing. She took a step forward and was shocked that the man had reached out and taken her arm.
“Lady Priestess,” he said, quickly releasing his grip. “I don't trust anything he has said.”
She regarded him for a long moment. “Then gather the marshals and have them ready to fire if he tries anything.” She stepped around him and headed for the gate amazed that her personal guard hadn't tried to stop her. Though they knew better than to try and influence her choice and simply stuck to keeping her safe.
She stopped a few steps from the gate, listening as the marshals gathered around her and readied their weapons. As they settled, she felt the wind blow the white material of her dress, showing her petticoat off to anyone watching her. She didn't care, and running a hand down her stomach licked her lips and straightened her back.
“Major Sheppard.” She watched as he turned to the gate, a flicker of shock passed over his face before it turned into pleasant surprise. He took her in from head to toe and finally started moving towards her. She watched him, the way he moved and watched her. The flick of his eyes to the petticoat as the wind picked it up again made her brow quirk and then raise to join the first as his eyes came back, lingering at her cleavage on the way.
“You must be the Lady Priestess,” he said stopping only a step away from the gate. Several of the marshals around her stiffened and adjusted their grips on weapons.
“What is this item you believe we possess?”
“All business. Okay. It’s a power module. We use it to power our city. There are only a few left and we've... lost the ability to make more.”
“You bring a Wraith to my city, frighten my people, then expect to simply walk in and trade for this power module. Tell me, Major, what were you going to do if I refused to give it to you.”
He smiled. “Sweet talk you?” She didn’t smile. Not a single muscle in her body reacted to the joke. “I have no intention of hurting anyone. I'll keep him in my sight or shoot him myself if he tries anything. In fact bring him in, lock him up and only let him out when we leave.”
“And you?”
He visibly swallowed. “If you want, have me guarded, I won't object. Lock me up when I'm not discussing the trade. All I ask is that you listen to me. I'll surrender my weapon; you can take anything from me you think is dangerous. I just want some time with you. Doesn't even have to be alone. But I would like to walk to you with some amount of privacy.”
She studied him again, wondering why he was so familiar, why she could so easily agree to letting him have anything he wanted. The idea of him in her bed brought a touch of a flush to her cheeks but she didn't look away from him.
“Master Cayton.” She waited for him to step forward. She didn't take her eyes off John.
“Yes, Priestess?”
“Allow them entry. Lock the Wraith up near the gate with heavy guard, then bring the Major to the palace.”
“Yes, Priestess.”
“And master Cayton,” she turned to look at Cayton. “Deprive them of all possessions.”
“Yes, Priestess,” he said with a smile.