Chapter 1

Traveling

From the moment of her capture, Sam's first day and night was a good preview of daily life until she arrived at the home of "Lord Raimak."

The guard on the last watch woke everyone about five in the morning, by Sam's reckoning. They seven of them would eat a very quick breakfast before setting off at a brisk pace. It was fairly difficult for Sam to keep up. Her hands were tightly bound behind her back and nothing but deer trails cut through the thick foliage. Even so, "Grey Eyes" seemed confidently aware of how to traverse the forest and its maze of trails.

Their march would continue ceaselessly until around midday. Evin called a halt and he and his men immediately set up a very temporary camp, save for the guard who watched Sam. Personally, she thought it was pointless to set a watch for her. Where would she run? It's not like she knew the area, and she was bound in a way that did not agree with racing through the tangled undergrowth, deer trails or no.

After the noon break, Evin had them take down their camp and they began another trek. This continued until dusk. One man watched Sam, which was of course such a huge surprise, while the other five went about their camp duties. Usually this meant that one would work on the fire, another would begin preparing dinner, and the other three plotted that night's watch.

Grey Eyes, known more commonly as Evin, was the leader and he took equal part in every chore but watching Sam. Not that she was having any problem with that. He had an unprovoked loathing for her so that whenever he did lower himself to talk to her, he was snide and about as friendly as a rabid bear.

All in all, the first night was almost a blessing to Sam. Yes, she was tired and both her hands and feet ached, but it was the first time in what felt like ages that she made it through an entire night without a single nightmare.

When she awoke the next morning, however, she reconsidered her appreciation of the previous day's abuses. Her arms and legs were so stiff and sore it was all she could do to stand up and trudge on. Fortunately, her muscles decided to loosen up for the most part before noon.

She was glad when Evin called an early halt. With nothing better to do than pick a place to sit and be bored, Sam decided to observe her new captors.

First and foremost was Evin, the leader. Sam guessed he was around thirty-five, which seemed to be the general age of his team. He was relatively thin, though he leaned more toward the muscular side. High cheekbones bordered a straight nose and full lips. His skin was naturally pale, hair dark and short, and eyes a dark stormy grey. His complexion reminded Sam a lot of someone from an old black and white picture.

Though most of the men worked as a single unit, Sam had been a second-in-command long enough to figure out who held the position in this team. He was tall and lanky with a mess of blonde hair, stunning light blue eyes, and an ever-present good nature. It had taken a few hours the previous day, but Sam found out that his name was Tíllin. If any of Evin's group could be called a potential ally, it was this man. His kind personality endeared him to his team and Sam herself decided he was pretty difficult to hold a grudge against for long; though she was supposed to be his captive, Tíllin made a genuine effort to make small talk during what little rest time they were allotted.

Derak and Gerrad were twins. They were both tall and well-built with auburn hair that gave off a healthy sheen in sunlight. The thing that set them apart from any other twins Sam had met—which was decidedly few—was their eyes. One had emerald green eyes as unchangeable as their namesake, while the other had hazel eyes that were soulful and guarded in equal measures. These two said little, though they made it clear that they would not try to befriend Sam but neither would they treat her as Evin did.

The fifth member, Freyd, was by far the most aloof and difficult for Sam to figure out. Right off, however, two things immediately stood out. The first, most outward, were his eyes. Unlike the others', Freyd's were wide, golden, and unblinking. Unnerved, Sam's mind flashed to an image of a cat's eyes. The second thing was more troubling. Freyd possessed an inner stillness so that, while his muscular bulk took up space, his presence felt as small as a mouse's. In this, Freyd was a painful reminder of Teal'c. Aside from that, Freyd was tanned, though not nearly as sun bronzed as Tíllin, with neatly cut hair that fell to the nape of his neck. Sam suspected if he allowed it to grow out, it would fall in a think, brown cascade of waves. Even though he treated her with some amount of quiet respect, Sam wasn't sure how close she could get to him, not with how he reminded her of Teal'c.

Lastly, was Reñid. Already, Sam disliked him far more than she did Evin. Reñid was an obnoxious brownnoser that acted so overly determined to be on Evin's good side that he made sure he made Sam's life a misery. As far as she could tell, he tried to match, then exceed Evin's every mood. If Evin wanted to snub Sam subtly, then Reñid would come out and make a pronounced insult. When Evin, became enraged, Reñid was the one to foster and adopt Evin's temper. She grimaced slightly. It couldn't be bad enough that Reñid naturally looked similar to Evin, if a little darker and much shorter, but he had to act like an idiot merely because he felt he needed to impress a jerk. She held little, if any, respect for such people, but had contempt in abundance.

With a silent sigh, Sam sat back and tried to conserve her energy. Lunch was a luxury none of them could afford, not with an extra person in tow, so the seven of them made due with lounging around and resting up. She was annoyed to realize that none of the others were nearly as bothered as she was by the brutal pace Evin set. They almost seemed to relish it, and a couple of the boys shifted restlessly, clearly ready to move on.

Their wish was soon granted and once again, the septuplet was on its merry way again until dusk, which was about seven hours later. Sam happily sank to the cold, hard earth. Normally, she was sure she would not be as bothered, but it was startlingly hard to keep a relentless pace with her hands bound behind her back.

Mercifully, in order to allow Sam the pleasure of feeding herself, someone would untie her hands, after carefully binding her feet. Evin clearly was taking no precautions. She wondered why he was so paranoid about her escaping. She would ordinarily assume that a prisoner could be fully unbound, but unerringly watched for the duration of their brief freedom. Instead, Evin refused to allow her even that simple luxury. Apparently, whoever sent these people on her trail was overestimating her. Then there was also the chance that this was all just a case of mistaken identity. Sam was not sure if she wanted that to be true. If the men had the right person, then there was a chance she would be put to death. If only she could have been granted such a joy several weeks ago.

As the rope was loosed from her hands, Sam chafed her cold, unresponsive fingers together. Why do they have to tie the stupid thing so tight? she wondered.

Dinner of stale bread and scant cured meat in water was a quick affair. Sam managed to choke her rather disgusting portion down, more out of habit instilled by Harädna than anything. Afterwards, sleep was slow in the coming, but once again dreamless.

The next morning was similar to the previous evening. After eating, one of the twins—whichever one had the green eyes—looped the rope around her hands, once again too tightly for comfort.

Day four began much as the last few had, with one unpleasant difference: the sky clouded up and rain started pouring. The myriad of trees kept the worst of the drizzle off the travelers, but by the noon break everyone was drenched and miserable, even Tíllin.

The only good thing Sam found in the whole uncomfortable situation was that she was getting her first bath in days.

The next day, the sky was feeling mischievous. It let off the downpour long enough for the seven of them to go from soaked to damp, and then it let loose more rain. The twins and Tíllin grumbled under their breath about the moisture, cursing whatever gods were in charge of the weather. Their religion was something that puzzled Sam, when she wasn't wallowing in the misery such rain naturally invoked. Often, she heard them swear to "the gods," but there was never any specification. Was that all anyone ever prayed to, or were there actual individual deities?

Other, more immediate things (like water and "nature") soon rose to her attention. Habitual as ever, Evin quickly had everyone set off again.

The sixth day saw many improvements with one problem. Sometime around midnight, a nightmare pulled Sam from an otherwise restful sleep, but one sleep had fled, it was gone for good. She remained awake the rest of the night and was in a foul mood the next day. As a result, Evin put Freyd on guard duty.

On the bright side, she noticed the forest thinning and the deer trails widening so that two people could walk comfortably abreast. What was even better was the complete halt of wet weather.

Around the noon break, Sam dismally noticed Freyd gazing upward. "I cannot smell any more rain on the wind, nor do I see it in the clouds," he commented.

"Thank the gods!" muttered Tíllin, a slight grin on his lips as he untied Sam's bonds. With a sigh of relief, she rubbed her hands together in a vain effort to get them warm. He continued, "I was beginning to get tired of being bitten by those damn flies every time the rain stopped." Realizing that he had at least been able to use a free hand to shoo said flies away, he cast a sympathetic look in Sam's direction and added, "But you couldn't do much about them." He thought about a safer topic for a moment. "So, you hungry yet? I'm starving!"

Sam shrugged, determined to stay in a bad mood. Even so, she found it relatively amusing how Tíllin constantly thought with his stomach. She was amazed he was up to journeys like this one.

Absently, she kept chafing her fingers. "How much longer until we reach your destination?" she asked softly. It would not do to attract Evin or Reñid's attention and get Tíllin into unnecessary trouble.

Tíllin, however, grinned brightly in response. It was the first time she had ever directly asked any of them a question. Usually she remained quieter than Freyd, which was almost a noteworthy accomplishment. Happy to be the one finally asked, he said, "Well, we've technically reached the end of the Mellak Forest. I'd guess we are still about a day or two off from the nearest settlement." Without warning, he jumped up and snatched a couple of sticks of smoked meat from their supplies. Wordlessly, he handed one to Sam. She took the offering and gnawed at it, though her appetite was shriveled to almost nothing again.

"I have to say," Tíllin began, never one to enjoy silence, "I certainly hope Lord Raimak decides to spare you. You're certainly not what they've accused you of being, so that increases your chances by a lot. You're too nice anyway. But I really wish you would at least give us your name. It's better than saying, 'Hey, You,' or 'Excuse me, but….'" He drifted off.

"Regardless of what you think my chances are," Sam murmured, "if your 'Lord' Raimak decides to kill me, then you shouldn't have to hear something you won't care about in less than a week."

"That's not a fair assessment," Tíllin retorted. "You're not one to say what people will care about in a week or a year."

Sam shrugged again. "What is so significant about me that you'll remember in weeks and years to come? You meet hundreds of people in a lifetime. You can't expect to remember every single person you encounter." She wrapped her arms around her knees and stared into the fire.

For once, Tíllin stayed silent.

- o - O - o - O - o - O - o -

True to Tíllin's word, signs of life started dappling the clear green landscape. Man-made trails and roads were about the extent of what she saw, but signs of life were signs of life. Beggars couldn't choosers, now could they?

"Tonight," Evin announced, "we sleep in real beds, gentlemen!"

Everyone but Freyd and Sam erupted into cheers. Freyd allowed himself a small smile, while Sam refused to respond.

Their newfound happiness was swiftly apparent in the pace. Sam stumbled after, struggling to stay ahead of the twin that guarded her today. When she lagged, he was patient, but barely, and encouraged her to speed up.

That night, they found was made up a passable village, complete with an inn. All but Sam were allowed to bathe in the local bathhouses, which made her feel dirtier than ever, especially since the guys cleaned up fairly well.

Rooms had to be doubled up that night. Evin and Reñid took one, the twins another, and Tíllin, Freyd, and Sam were put in the third. Because there were only two beds, Sam was forced to take the floor between the beds, a fact neither Tíllin nor Freyd seemed to like very much. Later, Sam realized that was due to the fact that both of the guys felt awful about letting a lady be treated like a dog or worse. It wasn't until that later day that she was able to fully appreciate that fact either.

The sun was intensely bright the next day. Sam awoke stiff and sore from the wooden floorboards. Her ankles and knees ached from being so tightly bound together for the night, though that wasn't entirely unusual, since that was how she typically slept as a captive.

The next day, everything flew by in a blur. Scenery passed whimsically by and around three in the afternoon, or so Sam reckoned, a stony grey wall emerged from the hilly grasslands. Closer inspection showed two white battlements rising slowly up from behind the wall.

So that's where Raimak lives, thought Sam, heart sinking. The nearer she got, the less she wanted to arrive. She put the feeling down to unnecessary anxiety of her fate, which would likely be determined quickly after she set foot on the other side of the walls.

'Traveling' is by Utada Hikaru. I understand like ten of the words overall in the song, so I don't know how accurately the song itself describes the chapter, but I figured the title is suitable enough.

R&R