Chapter Twenty Four
Not long after her little show, Vala found herself chained to a wall in a much smaller cell than the one she and Daniel had been taken to upon first arriving here over a week ago. Her hands were chained above her head, and another thick chain linked her ankles together with barely enough room to walk. She pulled at the chains to no avail, hoping to loosen the metal hook holding her arms above her head. She tried standing on her tip toes so that her hands could reach the clips in her hair and hopefully use them to pick the locks, but she could only just barely brush the top of her own head with her fingers.
"Ever the resourceful thief," the man from the Lucian Alliance laughed as he unlocked her cell door.
"Can't blame a girl for trying," she returned with the best shrug she could muster. "So when do you turn us over to your boss?"
"Oh, you aren't going anywhere. You see, in order for this to work, we had to really convince your people that they would have their justice." The corner of his mouth lifted as he looked her up and down. "They had to believe that Qetesh would pay for her crimes."
"So you turn me over to them and take the rest of SG1 to your boss? I'm curious as to when exactly you're planning on taking off with them and how you're going to convince the Kasinans to let you? SG1 hasn't wronged them, after all." She hoped she wasn't being too obvious. She needed to know if there was a chance for the Odyssey to get here before the Lucian Alliance had her team.
"The Kasinans believe they are allied with you, Qetesh."
"Qetesh's crimes against the Kasinans date back far before even the formation of SG1. My people are not that naive," she challenged.
He was walking around her now, circling her as best he could as he observed her from every angle available. "Weren't you once said to be the goddess of sex? Perhaps I should test that out before your execution. Grant you one last favor before death. What do you think?"
She tried to swallow back the bile in her throat at his insinuation. "I think that if Qetesh were here, she would choose a much finer specimen of a man than you. One who could actually please her."
His eyes darkened at this, throwing the back of his hand across her cheek. "I think you should realize that I'm the one calling the shots here." He pulled his knife out of his belt, running the blade lightly across her cheek. "Which means you should learn to play nice. Change your mind yet?"
Vala tried to force her voice to remain steady as his knife pulled at her black t-shirt, cutting the neck line open. "I think you can slice me up any which way you like, but I'll never play nice."
He ripped her shirt open, exposing her skin to the chilled air of the cell. "Have it your way."
"What are you doing?" Amotis's voice cut through the bounty hunter's fun.
"Interrogating the prisoner," he responded through gritted teeth.
Amotis could see the fear in the woman's eyes, frowning at the site of her bloodied lip. "Until she has been brought before the elders, no harm is to come to her. It is our custom."
The man rolled his eyes as he pushed Vala away from him, his eyes holding promise for the pains he would cause her later. "What are you doing here, Amotis?"
"I have been charged with preparing the accused to stand before our council." He glanced down to the garments in his arms. "This matter demands privacy."
"Fine, just make sure you keep a gun on her at all times and keep your distance," the man warned before brushing past him.
Amotis looked to the woman he once loved, watching as she took shaky breaths and squeezed her eyes closed. "Are you alright?" He couldn't help but ask, feeling the pain of seeing the form of the woman he was to marry in such a state.
"What do you care?" she shot back. She opened her eyes to look at him with question. "Why did you help me?"
"It is our custom that you must be brought before the elders before going to trial," he repeated.
"Where was this custom when you nearly stoned me to death?" she challenged.
He swallowed hard. "It is because of that incident that our customs have changed. There were those who believed you, felt we were not just in so swiftly sentencing you to death."
"And were you among them?"
He turned his head away from her. "I was not. My Vala perished when the demon entered her body."
"Daniel was right," she said with a resigned sigh as she dropped her head, "you never loved me. If you did, you would not be able to bear to see these horrible things befall me."
"And what about the horrible things that have befallen us since you sent your army here?"
Her head snapped back up in confusion. "My army? Qetesh hasn't had an army since she was overthrown. And then killed once she was removed from me," she added.
"I speak of your new army," he clarified. "The Ori army."
Vala let out a humorless laugh. "They weren't my army!"
"No, you allowed your own daughter to lead them. And when you began to lose your hold over her, you killed her. Along with your Tau'ri friends."
Her eyes rounded. "That's...not exactly the way things transpired," she said slowly.
"Do you deny that the Orici was your daughter?"
"No, but--"
"And that you helped kill her?" he pushed as he took a step closer.
She tried to bite back the guilt that she felt from the small truths in his words. Truths that it seemed their Lucian Alliance friend had twisted for his own purposes. "So let me get this straight--you believe that I am Qetesh, a demon who inhabited the body of your fiancé and ruled in a bloody manner over your planet until she was overthrown. And you also believed that as Qetesh, I gave birth to the Orici in an attempt to control the Ori armies?" She shook her head. "How can you not see the thousands of holes in that story, Amotis? And when did you become so incredibly stupid?"
"I will not allow you to twist my mind!" he practically growled.
She could see the doubt he was trying to hide from her. "Why would the Tau'ri aid a goa'uld, Amotis? They were responsible for the downfall of the System Lords."
"No doubt to gain you more power!" His argument was weak, even in his own eyes. "I am going to unchain you so that you might change into attire that you had once left behind, demon. So that you will not garner any sympathy by appearing as a human."
She shook her head sadly. "If I play this little game of dress up for you, will you do something for me?"
"I will not help you escape your fate!"
"Not me." She paused, trying to make sure her eyes reflected the sincerity she felt in this plight. "I need you to make sure my friends are freed."
"So they might come to your aid?"
"No. So that they aren't killed. This man you have chosen to place your trust in is from the Lucian Alliance," she tried to explain.
"Yes, whom we have been trading with for many years now."
She stared at him for a moment, slack jawed. "Are you serious? You're complicit to befriend a bunch of thieves and murderers? Since when!"
"They have never stolen from us nor caused any of our people harm. They have only aided us in capturing and putting to death any false god that dares come through our doorway."
She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Meaning me."
"You as well as the other," he responded.
"What other?" she asked intently.
"One of your many former lovers," he retorted as he unchained her. "We will continue to kill any of the others that come to here in search of you."
Vala was not only puzzled but also deeply troubled by this. "He was looking for Qetesh? What did he look like?"
Amotis dropped his hands as he thought this over. "Actually, he was searching for our Vala. He wanted information on her." He gave a shrug as he went back to unchaining her. "He did not believe us when we told him she was no more. He began to question when it was that she was taken by Qetesh."
"And you have no idea who he was?" she asked once more, curiosity overwhelming her.
He knelt at her feet, fiddling idly with the chains as he tried to remember. "I do not remember his name. I do recall the symbol of his Jaffa, though." He dropped the chains from her ankles beside him, using his finger to draw a symbol in the dirt near him.
Vala dropped to her knees in front of him as she examined his drawing. "That's Ba'al's symbol...when was this, Amotis?"
"Perhaps two seasons ago, I believe," he answered before looking at her with a pained gaze.
"That can't be. The Tok'ra killed the last Ba'al clone over a year ago," she muttered to herself before feeling his stare. "What?"
"How is it I can look at you and speak to you, and only see her though I know it to be different?" He dropped his head. "I feel hope swell in my heart that you have been speaking the truth, but the words of others tell me not to hope."
She lifted his chin, giving him a warm smile. "You know me, the old me, better than anyone else, Amotis. Your heart is telling you that it is me, Vala. That's why you haven't pointed your gun at me. Your instincts are telling you that you have nothing to fear."
He jerked away, standing up so that his shadow fell over her as his expression darkened. "You use my sentiments for Vala against me. I will not fall for your trickery. You will change and then you will be presented before the council, who will see you for the demon you are."
"And what of my request?" she asked as she stood up. "Will you see to it that my friends are returned back to Earth?"
He breathed in a shaky breath as he thought over her request. "Only after they have taken you to trial beyond their reach will I see to their freedom."
"Taken me? You mean my trial won't be here?"
"No, we learned that this was not suitable with the one you call Ba'al. He showed his formidable powers as a demon once his trial had begun. A blinding light surrounded us, and we were suddenly in the midst of his many Jaffa. He brought his followers to us. Many died that day."
"So you think that if the demon doesn't know where they are, they won't be able to bring in backup." She couldn't help but role her eyes at their logic. "That makes no sense at all! If he's all powerful, he's be able to draw his forces to him regardless of whether or not he knew where he was. And furthermore, what you witnessed was the beaming technology of his ship that had come to retrieve him. It wasn't magic, it was technology! How can you people still be so stupid after all this time?"
"Enough! You will dress and then you will come with me. Now!" With that, he turned and walked to the edge of the cell, his back turned to give her privacy.