Xuxiq, 6545 A.S.
Ardea, Asteria

Late one-night, Sha're awoke from a deep sleep, the last wisps of a pleasant dream of Abydos—of home with her family, with Dan'yel and Skaara and their father, of sand and safety, of freedom before the demon came—fading from her mind. Without opening her eyes more than a crack, the young woman rolled over, pulling the bed coverings up to her chin to keep off the chill in the air. A long moment passed before the enormity of her actions sunk in, and when it did, Sha're came to her senses with a start and sat up.

She had awoken.

She had fussed with the bed coverings.

She had sat up.

Not the demon.

Not Amaunet.

Not her captor.

Sha're herself had done those things.

With her heart pounding in her throat, Sha're looked around her prison chamber as she struggled to stay calm. Her cell was the same as it had been when the demon had taken them to bed hours before: the same illusions that made her chamber look like her father's tent on Abydos, illusions that both soothed and increased her homesickness. Sha're rubbed her fingertips across her night-dress, feeling and reveling in the roughness of home-spun fabric on her fingertips, a simple action with simple sensations that she had never valued so highly until she had lost control of her own body to the demon that was her captor. Sha're could feel the demon's horrible presence at the back of her mind, a slimy sensation like fruit gone bad, a sensation that made her skin crawl.

The demon slept … but just for now.

Sha're did not know how long her reprieve would last.

Sha're pushed back the covers on her bed and rose to her feet. Goosebumps sprang up on her arms within moments. The room was unusually chilly, but for the moment, Sha're didn't care. She could feel. She could feel. After appropriating one of the smaller coverlets on the bed as a makeshift shawl, she padded across the room to her cell's doorway. Her captors had given her a small time-piece like Dan'yel's watch, though different, and they taught her how to tell time. She knew one of her guards would come by her cells on her rounds very soon.

Sha're had four female guards who took turns guarding her cell. Each guard was present two days out of every week. They made their rounds every half-hour during the day and every two hours at night, though one was always nearby and always came when Amaunet shouted and raged. The Furlings had treated her well for all the months and months she had been confined in their keeping after her Dan'yel had taken her from Abydos to keep her safe and after she had given birth to Shifu.

The Furlings had treated her well, ignoring Amaunet's raging imprecations and violent fits of temper. They never treated her harshly in return, no matter how badly Amaunet acted. Sha're was always spoken to with kindness, and sometimes her guards brought her those favorite foods that she liked best. Dan'yel must have told them what I like. Her guards even gave her simple things to read to help pass the time. Amaunet occasionally deigned to read them when the boredom became too overpowering.

Sha're was kept separate from the Jaffa prisoner and the other Goa'uld prisoners—for her safety, they emphasized—but Sha're did not lack for human contact. Dan'yel came as frequently as he could. Her guards spoke to her, and there were others who came, figures with strange faces like great creatures who looked at her with pity and spoke to her with kindness.

Sha're wondered how her son was faring, where he was now, how big he was. Dan'yel came by often to see her, but in her cruelty and pettiness now that her power had been taken away, the demon let her have a glimpse of her husband and then locked her away in their mind until Dan'yel had departed. Sha're longed for news of her family, news of her son, and wondered whether Skaara was here, as well, or what his fate was.

Clutching her make-shift shawl tightly to her shoulders, Sha're waited at her cell door just inside the energy barrier—it was like the shield on the demon's kara kesh and kept her inside, though it did not hurt her to touch it—that blocked her from exiting her cell unless it was lowered. Not long after, she heard footsteps, and her guard, S'Manatek, appeared around the corner. A tall, thin human, with dark grey hair and eyes, she was one of the Boii, or so she had said. What the significance of that designation was, Sha're did not know.

S'Manatek stopped dead as she came around the corner, surprised to see Sha're by her cell's entrance, especially that late at night when she usually slept. She touched her collar and then asked in somewhat stilted English, "Are you in need of anything, Amaunet?"

"May I have some water, please?" Sha're asked quietly. The demon had been in a dark mood that day and had eaten and drunk little at the evening meal. Sha're felt quite thirsty as a result.

S'Manatek's surprise only increased, if the look on her face was anything to go by, when Sha're, not Amaunet, answered. The demon, unlike some among the System Lords, never used the host's voice. "Sha're?" The guard asked cautiously, approaching a few steps further on silent feet. Most of the guards spoke to Sha're in English, though a few only addressed her in Goa'uld.

"Yes," Sha're replied with a hesitant smile at the kind guard. "I awoke, but the demon sleeps … for a time."

S'Manatek just looked at her for another long moment, her face cycling through a range of emotions. "There are small mercies in the darkest of times. I will return in a moment."

The guard went back the way she had come, but within only a minute or two, she returned carrying a pitcher of water in one hand and a blanket draped across the other arm. She put both items on a small platform just outside the cell-door, and then in a flash of light, they appeared inside Sha're's cell. It was a casual use of technology that even the Goa'uld could not do.

False gods!

"I am sorry for the chill in the air," S'Manatek said, as Sha're wrapped the blanket, warm as if it had been lying in the sun, around her shoulders and then poured herself a cup of water. "There have been problems with the ventilation system because of recent weather. It should be fixed soon."

Sha're nodded, her attention focused on the cup of cool water. Water had always been precious on Abydos, a desert world, but she had never appreciated such simple pleasures so much before. "Do you know of my Dan'yel?" She asked, after she had slowly downed two cups. "Of my son?"

S'Manatek stared at Sha're for a long moment, her face puzzled and uncomprehending. "I do not understand," she said. "Daniel Jackson comes often to see you. I thought … the hosts knew what occurs even when not in control."

Sha're eased herself down to the floor and tucked her feet underneath herself. "I usually do," she replied softly, "but my demon is cruel. She hurts me, but still I fight, so when my Dan'yel comes and tells me about my child, she locks me away so I cannot see or hear."

It was one of the cruelest punishments her demon could inflict.

Far worse than the pain originally used to keep her compliant.

S'Manatek's expressive face twisted with horror. "I know little," she replied, "but I will tell what I know."

After making a few strange motions with her hands, she moved back to lean against the wall across from Sha're's cell and began to speak. S'Manatek did not have a gift for storytelling but had a clear voice and a direct and simple manner of speech. She spoke of Dan'yel and her boy from what she had overheard in Dan'yel's conversations with Sha're, of the great commander and hunter who helped lead the fight against the demons in a far distant land, of the progress of the war and the demons who had fallen (Sha're was sure that her demon would be pleased to hear of the enemies of her pharaoh who had perished), and of many other things as well.

As S'Manatek came towards the end of her brief tale, Sha're felt the demon begin to stir in the back of their mind. Something must have shown in her face for S'Manatek abruptly fell silent, before speaking a few final words, "One day you will be free. We swear it on our honor."

Sha're was calm.

When she had awoken, the thought of the demon taking back control had frightened her, but now she had hope, more than she had had before, after hearing of the downfall of the demons.

Her family and her people would be safe.

Her demon could hurt no one else any longer.

One day, she believed that she would be free again, and until that day came, she could wait with hope and peace in her heart.