"Is this what we came here for?" asked Daniel incredulously "A sword, some old armour, a few books and some bells?"
"If we encounter certain creatures in my country then these bells will be the things that save your lives"
"Bells?"
"Bells Daniel"
"Alright you are going to tell us what is going on right now!"
"Daniel I said I would tell you when we reached the house and we're not at the house yet so I'm not telling you until we reach the house so tough. Anyway there's no point even mentioning the armour, in my country this is the kind of armour that will save you so when we reach the crossing point you'll all be getting swords, bows and armour"
"What about bells?" asked Sam
"No, not bells"
"You said that the bells would be what would save our lives" cut in Daniel
"None of you are trained to use them"
"Can't you train us?"
"No I can't Daniel; I only finished my studies and training a few months before I disappeared, with barely any actual field experience. And anyway only certain people can open the book with the right information in"
"We can't?"
"No, most people in my country wouldn't be able to open it either."
"And you can?"
"Yes"
"Why?"
"What? Why does it matter Daniel?"
"It matters because I want to know what is going on here, NOW!"
"Fine Daniel" said Vala through the tears that were forming in her eyes "The truth is that I'm the heir to the throne in my country, I'm also the one who when my mother dies, if not sooner, that will be able to protect my country from the dead"
"The dead, what is this some kind of horror movie?"
"Something like that, there are many types of dead, lesser, greater, mordicants, shadow hands, gore crows etc. The bells let me cross into death and banish the dead spirits beyond the ninth gate, to final death. Only two people can do this at once, the Abhorsen and the Abhorsen-in-Waiting. As for why I can open the book I have an innate talent for Free Magic and I can close it because I'm an uncorrupted Charter Mage that is descended from the Great Charters"
"Great Charters?"
"'Five Great Charters knit the land,
Together linked, hand in hand,
One in the people who wear the crown,
Two in the folk who keep the dead down,
Three and Five became stone and mortar,
Four sees all in frozen water' One is the royal family, my cousins and my uncle, Two is the Abhorsens, my mother, my aunt, my late grandfather and I, Three and Five are the Wallmakers, my cousin Sameth and Four is the Clayr, my late grandmother and my great Aunt"
"Okay, now the Bells"
"I've already said what they do Daniel, the smallest bell is Ranna – the Sleeper, then Mosreal-the Waker, Kibeth – the Walker, Dyrim- the Speaker, Belgaer-the Thinker, Saraneth- the Binder and the largest is Astareal- The Weeper."
"Anything else you'd like to tell us?"
"Well, there's one other thing…" she was cut off by a screech that came from a few metres away. It was a woman in similar clothes to the ones that the woman at the door had been wearing she looked to be about twenty years older than Vala.
"Kyrael!" screeched the strange woman
"Ellimere!" Vala ran to Ellimere hugging her as hard as she possibly could, to SG-1 there seemed to be an almost sisterly bond between them, not to mention a resemblance, possibly a family resemblance.
"We'd almost given up hope of ever seeing you again"
"Sayres are tougher than you might think, especially when they're also an Abhorsen" admitted Vala. The family moment was broken when Daniel noisily cleared his throat and then when he had everyone's attention he raised his eyebrow
"Oh, right, Ellimere this is Lt. Col Samantha Carter PhD, Lt. Col Cameron Mitchell, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c, all members of SG-1, SG-1 this is my cousin Ellimere, Queen of the Old Kingdom."
"Pleased to meet you all, I hope my cousin has not caused you too much trouble"
"Thank you very much for the faith in me Ellimere"
"You're very welcome"
"Hmphh"
"Well it's not like you don't get into a lot of trouble, remember when you brought Kibeth down here with you?"
"Yes I remember"
"I remember your father being pretty angry at you and your mother trying not to laugh"
"It wasn't strictly my fault, I told Kibeth that she wasn't allowed to go out when I wasn't there and not if there was anybody else around but she decided to out exploring anyway"
"Yes, but you're the one who snuck her down here in the first place"
"You know what she's like"
"If you mean like you then I definitely know what you mean"
"I am nothing like Kibeth"
"Well I seem to remember your mother thinking you were related"
"Well that's not true" Ellimere just laughed.
"Actually it is, after the battle with the destroyer, Kibeth brought Nick back to life using her own blood so as Nick's daughter you are technically related to her"
"WHAT" she squeaked as Ellimere just started laughing again.
"Who is this Kibeth you speak of?" asked Teal'c
"Kibeth is one of the great charters, the third bell is named after her" started Vala before she was cut off by Ellimere
"But more recently she has been a servant and friend of the Clayr and the Abhorsen, more specifically my Aunt, Lirael Goldenhand and then to my cousin here Kyrael. All in the form known as the disreputable dog" it was then that SG-1 realised what was so funny and why their friend was so indignant about being related to Kibeth.
"I take it that the one other thing you wanted to tell us was this?" asked Daniel harshly
"Sort of"
"What you mean there's more? What else have you lied about hmm! I mean you didn't even tell us your real name!" yelled Daniel, Ellimere seldom lost her temper but now was one of those times as she whipped out her sword that no one had noticed sheathed at her side. The blade rested against Daniel's throat, close enough that with the smallest flick of her wrist she could easily cut his throat killing him in the process.
A/N: All reviews and Flames welcome : )