Chapter 10
She wasn't expecting Gishoral to be so cold. Intellectually, she knew it had to be chilly simply from the sheer volume of the clothing she and Daniel had purchased to help them "blend in" with Kien Lu's traders, but the actual feel of the frigid air on her face was a shock. She glanced around to see how Daniel was handling the chill, but could see only his back as he helped the other men get the traders' wagon in motion.
The wormhole closed with a snap, and she gave her surroundings a quick once-over. As she expected from the freezing temperatures, the valley in which the Stargate stood was covered with snow, trampled into paths here and there but mostly pristine and blindingly white. It would have been pretty had she been inside of a warm building, gazing out a window while she drank something hot and sweet and had a handsome man or two giving her a relaxing massage.
Alas, no warm building, no mulled wine, and the only handsome man in sight was too busy helping their new friends from the Han family to give her the loving attention she deserved. Resisting the urge to sigh heavily, she plodded along the frozen track. The pair of Jaffa guarding the 'Gate were already glaring at the wagon and merchants with suspicion, so she tried to look as tired and bored as everyone else in the party. As ridiculous as the ploy was, at least she and Daniel were on the planet without being questioned.
Although the city in which they were setting up shop was less than a mile away, the trip took over half an hour. Draft beasts were difficult to train to travel through the 'Gate, leaving the men of the caravan to haul the wagon of wares themselves... uphill and through the snow, no less. It was too bad they were all posing as low-tech merchants, because a motorized transport would have been very useful, especially in the bitter cold.
When they finally got the wagon inside the town's walls, they were shown to the wayside house, where the members of the caravan were to be staying. To Vala's delight and Daniel's chagrin, Lu told the landlord they were a married couple who should have their own small bedchamber within the compound. Sidling up to Daniel, she slipped her arm through his and whispered conspiratorially, "No sleeping on the floor this time, darling. We have an image to maintain."
His eyes glared, but his face smiled as he patted her hand. "Of course, dear," he replied through teeth clenched only just slightly.
"Give your wife a kiss, then," she smiled back toothily.
"Would you look at that? Honeymoon's over already." Disengaging from her grasp, he grabbed their luggage and followed the landlord up the stairs.
"Spoilsport," she muttered, quickening her step to keep up with Daniel's long strides. Once inside "their" room, she dashed over to the bed and jumped on it, checking the bounce of the mattress as she turned around to face him again. "Seems sturdy enough... as long as we don't get too enthusiastic."
The innkeeper coughed and quickly backed his rapidly-reddening self out of the room. Dropping their bags on the floor next to the washstand, Daniel toed the door shut and latched it. "You enjoy doing that to people, don't you?"
"It got him out of the room, didn't it?"
He sighed. "Yeah. So... do we want to start out tonight or wait until tomorrow?"
"Definitely tomorrow. First, I want to talk a little with the locals, find out some juicy gossip--"
"Vala..."
"--Like secret entrances or old trails or whatever," she finished. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have to walk past the fortress to get to the temple. I want to spend as little time as possible outside... it's freezing!"
"You're telling me. I was born in the desert."
"You were?"
He blinked. "I guess I was. It wouldn't have just slipped right out like that if it wasn't true, would it?"
"Probably not," Vala agreed, twisting around so that she lay on her stomach across the narrow bed, feet swinging in the air over her back as she propped her chin up on her fists. "How much more have you remembered?"
"Besides how to fire a zat and move quietly?" he asked, arms crossing his body self-consciously.
"Besides that."
"Not much. I shouldn't be surprised, really... I mean it took me four moons--months to remember my own name. And that's not even my full name."
"It's not?"
"No... I'm pretty sure I have a last name, too." He leaned against the wall and slid down the floor, knees tented in front of him. "Heck, 'Daniel' might not even be my first name, either. I think there's something that goes before it."
"What if it's a title?" she suggested. "Like 'Sir' or 'Master'?"
"Nothing like that."
"Lord? Duke? King? Oh, wait, I already asked that one once, didn't I?"
He chuckled. "No, no, no, and yes, you did. But I'm too garden-variety for any of those titles."
"'Garden-variety' peasants don't speak--let alone read and write--fifteen different languages. Oh, sorry... eighteen, when you add in the common tongue, Tethysian, and Zhiangma, none of which Yuna tested."
"Uh... I think it's more than that, but good point."
"More?" she blinked.
"Um, yeah... I have this bizarre memory of telling someone, 'lo tak meta satak Oz'."
"That's Goa'uld."
"Really?"
"Yes. Who's the great Oz and why'd you say you were him?"
He shrugged. "I guess it was the right thing to say at the time... or maybe the wrong thing. Who knows? I sure don't."
"You're a strange man, Daniel."
"Thanks, Miss Mal Doran. You're pretty strange yourself."
She laughed. "You make it sound like such a compliment."
"It is!" he grinned. "No, seriously! Think about it: being strange implies that you're somewhat different than what societal mores say you should be. That takes imagination, intelligence, and a bit of a stubborn streak to accomplish."
"Well, when you put it that way, I'm flattered." She beamed at him. "Thank you, Daniel." As though suddenly realizing he was being nice to her, Daniel ducked his head, fingers toying with the fringed edge of his scarf. Vala recognized it as the one the villagers from Makosis gave him. "Do you miss them?"
"A little. I lived there for the only four months I can remember. As much as I liked the people, though, I always knew they weren't home." He smiled wistfully, leaning his head back against the wall behind him. "I think Atrus was right: I live in the journey, not the destination."
"Then you and I are kindred spirits! I've never really had a place to call home, either. The apartment at Sarilis' is really just a dwelling... a place to store my riches and plunder, yes, but not a home."
"I think I--maybe--might have... had one. A real home... and family. But I lost it?" He shrugged, then gestured at his right temple. "Everything up here is just so... jumbled. Images... feelings... voices... nothing makes sense. There are just too many holes and not enough solid memories holding the threads together."
Vala sat up on the bed. "You know what you need?"
He swallowed. "Uh, no. What do I need?"
For a moment, she debated teasing him again, but it just didn't go with the mood. "Supper. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."
"Supper... sounds good." He pushed off the floor and opened the bedroom door. Pausing, he extended his right arm for her to take. "Shall we, my dear?"
"Of course, darling," she smiled in return.
Author's Notes:
Woohoo! There were some really, REALLY great title suggestions, but nothing that really 'fit' the sheer scale of this story I am only now realizing is becoming a monstrous EPIC. One of my favorites came from BkWurm, "Only the Good Die Young... and Ascend and Descend and Land Naked with No Memory and Then Later Die Again, Ascend, and Descend in the Buff Again". LOL!!
My best friend-slash-sounding board and I brainstormed over a 90-minute lunch, outlining the key concepts of the story as a whole and wringing every shred of creativity we could collectively muster. Diddly. Squat. After we ate, we continued to chat while waiting for to-go cups of our favorite Southern-style sweet tea. (My brother Daniel and I love to take swigs of this restaurant's tea and pretend to "chew" through the sugar!) We got to talking about one particular plot element when it dawned on me: "Honor Amongst Thieves"!
So a great, big hug to anyone who submitted ideas... even those of you who weren't able to contribute anything but a mental-imagery reminder of leather-clad drool fodder to get me through my work day!