Sam looked up when there was shouting outside the yurt. She'd slept fitfully and woken frequently as injuries stiffened and hurt or there was noise in the camp outside the yurt. Breakfast had been more tea and then Sam had remained sitting tied to the bed while the other women in the yurt got on with household chores and spoke quietly.

The day dragged on. Sam had been trying to shift her wrists around in her bonds when she looked up at an even stranger noise than usual.

There was definitly cheering and other calls outside the yurt. Nya glanced at her, then pulled her veil across her face before she followed Chotan, Hyurl and Saikan from the yurt. Sam pulled at the ropes around her wrists again and sighed.

The shouting went on for quite some time, but eventually it shifted to sound more like a party than a mob on the verge of rampaging.

Chinua entered his yurt, banging the door back against the felt happily. There was a big grin on his face and he looked pleased with himself as he strode across to one of the beds and took a seat.

Saikan and Nya followed Chinua back in and he clapped his hands towards them.

'Bring me mutton and tea for now and airag for later.'

The two women did as they were instructed and as they pressed the food and drink into his hands he seemed to remember that Sam was there and looked across the yurt at her again. The self-satisfied look didn't leave his face, but he did glance up at his wife.

'Saikan, it is safe to return to the women's place now. All have pledged their loyalty to me. You should rest so that my son grows strong inside you. We have a busy day tomorrow.' Chinua placed his hand briefly on Saikan's belly and smiled to her.

Saikan nodded and pulled the veil across her blushing face before leaving the yurt.

Chinua spooned some of the stew into his mouth and looked intently at Sam over the edge of the bowl while he ate.

Eventually he sat the empty bowl down and Nya whisked it away. Chinua picked up his tea and sipped at it, still looking at Sam.

'So, demon women,' he started.

'Carter,' Sam interrupted him. 'I have a name. Carter.'

She expected anger from this young man who appeared to have risen to power in the wake of Turghan's death, but instead he looked amused.

'So, Carter,' he started again with deliberate care. 'I owe you a debt of gratitude for helping me achieve what is rightfully mine.' He waved his hand in a magnanimous gesture, 'I will not have you beaten for your insolence.'

'You set me up!' Sam snapped. 'You deliberately tied the rope around my wrists poorly and you deliberately stood with your knife within my reach. You wanted me to attack Turghan.'

Chinua smiled, 'Yes, but it was only so that I could secure what was mine. My father was Khan before Turghan murdered him. I am grateful to you for your part in securing my heritage.'

'Grateful enough to let me go? I could be dangerous in your camp. I could tell people things and I will continue to be insolent,' Sam warned him. 'Just let me go and you will never have to see me again.'

'Oh no,' Chinua replied. 'I can't let you go. I have harnessed the power of the demon woman. The men and women of this camp fear you and I am going to use that fear. You will be my talisman of power.'

'And if I attack you as I attacked Turghan?'

'You would not have the chance, but if you did, I would kill you. Now come,' Chinua's manner switched rapidly between dark threats and a much lighter tone. 'The night is young and as lively as the party is, we must sleep because we are moving tomorrow.'

'Tomorrow?' Nya asked and Chinua nodded. 'We would have to move soon anyway, winter is coming and I want to put the memories of Turghan's time as far behind us as possible sister.'

Sam kept silent. She knew that she would have to escape tonight to have any hope of getting back to the Stargate, but she was still securely bound.

XXXX

When SG1, minus Sam, and with the three SGC personnel who were both military and able to ride a horse competently, returned to Mughal's camp it was in a state of extreme disarray. There were signs of the recent battle. The turf had been torn up all around the camp by hooves, at least one yurt had been set on fire and there was a line of bodies laid neatly together off to one side. It was a sobering sight and they approached the camp slowly.

It was Abu who spotted them and walked over. He no longer wore the embroidered silk clothing that he had when they had last seen him, nor the hat. Instead he wore leather armour and his head was bare. He bowed his head slightly. Everything about his manner and demeanour seemed to contrast his earlier self, but he still smiled at them.

'You have returned, with more men. You are welcome in my camp,' he told them.

'Thank you. Could we speak with your Father?' Daniel asked.

Abu's face hardened again, 'My father no longer lives. Chinua took his life in vengeance for Turghan's death. I am chief now.'

'We are sorry for your loss,' Daniel said automatically.

Abu bowed his head in acceptance, 'You seek to trade for Carter once again? I cannot leave my camp, but I will send my most loyal bondsman to guide you. Although he must stay out of sight of Chinua's camp. It would not be favourable for you if he were to be seen. I will lend you horses.'

'Thank you,' Jack told the boy.

'I am sure you will lead your people well,' Daniel added.

It was not long before they were all sitting astride the strong Mongol ponies and riding away from Abu's camp.

Kirick, the bondsman, rode in virtual silence, which was okay because most of the rest of them were concentrating on staying on their horses and keeping up with the pace he set. They pushed on and only rested when it was impossibly dark, which they all appreciated, as much as the riding made them sore.

They fired up the smokeless fuel blocks, heating their MREs and sharing them with Kirick, who initially chewed his own cheese and mutton, but eventually tried the beans and sausage Daniel offered him. He was grudgingly impressed, somewhere underneath the pride. He brought tea out from somewhere inside his clothing and made enough for everyone in the group. It was unexpectedly salty and Daniel couldn't help laughing slightly when Jack nearly spat it out in surprise.

Kirick slept on the ground without any blankets and with his arms pulled up into his clothing despite the significant chill in the air that had developed within the two days they'd been gone. The rest of them relied on the sleeping bags and tents they'd brought this time and Kirick watched them set up camp with open fascination.

They struck camp and moved on at dawn. Kirick chewed on more dried mutton as he rode and the rest of them snatched bites from cereal bars and other snacks.

They reached the area where Chinua's camp had been before lunch time. Jack looked ahead through the trees and knew that they should have seen the white of the yurts by now, should have seen outer guards, or herd animals at a distance. He didn't voice his concerns, but he caught Daniel looking at him with concern.

Their fears were realised when they reached where the camp had been and looked at the blank areas imprinted on the grass where the yurts had been. They pulled the horses up and looked around the area and then questioningly at Kirick.

'They have moved south,' Kirick explained. 'Winter is coming and all the tribes move to winter grazing in the south. We will be going ourselves soon.'

'Can we catch up with them? When will they have left?' Daniel asked quickly.

Teal'c dismounted and walked through the remnants of the camp. Kirick urged his horse forward in a slow walk and looked around.

'They left yesterday,' Teal'c concluded and Kirick nodded in agreement before he spoke, 'They will be moving slowly and driving the herds before them, their trail should be clear to follow. If we ride hard we could catch up with them in a day and a half.'

Jack wanted to say yes. He wanted to order everyone straight back into the saddle and after them, but he couldn't help glancing at the men he had and feeling how uncomfortable he already was after only two days of riding, never mind advocating four days in the saddle. Then there was the food front. They had enough to last the extra days, but it wouldn't be comfortable. They could make up the ground and carry more supplies if they had ATVs and they could send a UAV ahead of them to make sure they were heading exactly where they needed to. However, on the other hand that meant a day and a half riding back to the Stargate, time back on earth requisitioning what they needed and then setting off after the other tribe all over again. He didn't know which way would actually be quicker overall and there was no way he was leaving Carter with a Mongol tribe any longer than was strictly necessary.

XXXX

The morning that the tribe had struck camp there had been some indecision about what to do with Sam. Women and girls drove the carts laden with the dismantled yurts and all their other worldly possessions, along with any boys who were too young to ride on horseback all day. Men rode on horses and drove their herds of sheep, goats and yet more horses and ponies ahead of the great column of carts. Chinua didn't trust Sam on a cart, even if she was bound and gagged. Eventually he set her on a horse, custom be damned, and tied her hands securely to the saddle while he held onto the reins from his horse. She started off with the scarf pinned across her face, but after the first hour it had fallen loose and when Chinua noticed he had just shrugged and continued ignoring her. Sam looked around and behind them almost the entire time, fixing landmarks in her memory so that she could find her way back when she finally got away from them.

She managed to keep that up all morning and most of the afternoon, but as the day dragged on her muscles began to burn with the unfamiliar action of gripping the horses back with her thighs and it became harder to concentrate on the route that they were taking.

That night Chinua had shooed Chotan, Hyorle and Nya from his yurt. He informed them that it was his yurt for him and his wife and told them they could use his old yurt. Sam was taken into the first yurt though and Chinua had finally unbound her hands. He'd ordered Saikan to serve dinner to both of them before she ate her own and then laughed when Sam jumped up to help her.

'You are a contradiction. You protest if you are treated as a woman and if you are treated as a man. You don't know what you want!'

'What I want is to be treated as an equal,' Sam had snapped back at him as she helped pour the tea. Saikan gave her a dirty look, which didn't help Sam's mood. She ate her food in silence, oblivious to the gentle words that passed between Chinua and Saikan over dinner.

After dinner Chinua looked at Sam. He took hold of some ropes again and approached her.

'If I thought you wouldn't run, I wouldn't bind you. As it is, I don't trust you at all.'

Sam thought about resisting, but in the end the throbbing of her existing injuries put her off. She knew someone from earth would be chasing after her and getting killed trying to escape wouldn't do anyone any favours.

Chinua secured her to the frame of the bed. He patted her on the shoulder and left the yurt. Sam heard Saikan moving around for a while and then she left the yurt as well. Sam sighed to herself in the darkness. She slept after a while, stirred briefly when Chinua and Saikan returned to the yurt and then slept again.

The next morning they moved on again. Sam was tied to the saddle of the same horse and walked alongside Chinua. She concentrated on landmarks again, when she wasn't distracted by aching muscles from the riding she wasn't accustomed to.

'Are you struggling Carter?' Chinua asked after a while. He sounded almost genuinely concerned.

'My people do not ride horses to the extent yours do,' Sam explained.

'Yours is a poor people then.'

'No, we travel my other means. We have great carts that don't need horses for power,' Sam explained.

Chinua scoffed, 'How can a cart move without a horse!'

'It has an engine. There is a substance, gas, that is ignited in the engine to make power that drives the wheels round.'

Chinua frowned at her and seemed to think it over before shaking his head as if to dismiss the idea of a world without horses. 'Horses bring power. Do you go to war in these horseless carts?'

'Sometimes, we also go to war in great boats made of metal and we have ways of dropping weapons onto our enemies from a great distance away.'

'Now I know you are lying,' Chinua told her and Sam shrugged.

They walked in silence for a while, surrounded by the sound of the herds of goats and sheep that were nearby.

'There are stories, from the old world,' Chinua said after a while. 'From before the Gods brought us here. Some of our kin fell under the sway of the trinkets of foreigners. They built cities of stone and grew weak and rotten within the walls, but they also told stories of great machines that could launch balls of fire over city walls.' He looked at her as if she could confirm or deny those stories.

'I've heard stories of the old world, but I am not as knowledgeable as others within my tribe, they could tell you much more. I did hear that you used to have a very large empire.'

Chinua nodded, with a flash of pride, 'We were a great people once. Perhaps we will be great again.'

Sam remained quiet and shifted again in her saddle as they walked. Chinua looked up at the sky and the clouds. Sam copied him, wondering what he was seeing.

'There's a storm coming,' Chinua said warily.