Chapter 13

This happened in the last chapter: Sam and Jack's were submitted to the Arrow of Eros, a strong aphrodisiac supposed to test fidelity to one's spouse. As they both passed, they were reunited in a bedroom to give way to the lust the drugs had built up in their bodies. When they joined the others, they found them ready to test the fidelis on a couple of young betrothed..

.

The young couple was made to stand behind the arch of the fidelis, facing the statue of Hera and the other people in the room. As they were holding hands, the priestess linked their forearms with a white ribbon and Daniel placed a little twig of olive tree on their joined arms.

"You will now walk through the fidelis. If Hera is satisfied with your choice of mate, she will sign you both with her seal. If she believes you are wrongly assorted, the link will dissolve and you will be free to find another. Now go!"

The priestess stepped aside and to the front of the fidelis while the apprehensive young couple took a few hesitant steps under the arch. The whole apparatus glowed and Jack was almost confident it would fill with water the same way the stargate did, but the glow fainted rapidly and the couple stood there, uncertain and afraid of the goddess' doom. As the priestess joined them again, they dared look at their arms. The olive twig was gone, but not the ribbon. Vesta removed it slowly and lifted it up for all to see that the link hadn't been taken away by Hera. Cheers erupted at that, but Arachne wasn't ready to rejoice yet. The link wasn't dissolve, but had they been signed? She bowed to examine their arms closely.

"Look! Look Hippolytus! The sign of Hera!" she squealed, pointing at the two minuscule marks. The young man squinted to look where his betrothed was pointing and there he saw them, two small olive twigs tattooed on their wrists. Overjoyed and humbled that the goddess would honor them with her seal, he gathered Arachne in his arms and embraced her as tears were filling their eyes.

When the priestess had witnessed and acknowledged the sign of Hera, the young couple climbed the few steps down from the fidelis and mingled with the crowd to receive their congratulations, proudly showing the little twigs on their skins to whoever would look at them.

"Did you know it would do that?" Jack asked Sam after the young couple had left them.

"No! I helped build the machine and calibrate the crystals but the technology is beyond anything I've seen, I had no idea what to expect! The outcome could have been anything!"

"Jason, Atalante please join me" the priestess called. They turned to look at the origin of the voice, and found themselves terrified as they realized she stood again behind the arch of the fidelis, a white ribbon in her hands...

.

"Oh what the hell" Jack resolutely said. "When that ribbon disappears, at least you won't have to put up with my snoring anymore Carter" He took her hand and dragged her toward the machine.

"You don't snore Sir" she said softly. He stopped, surprised.

"I don't?"

"No..."

"Well.. good to know. Let's get this over with!"

They climbed the few steps to the arch, walked around it and joined Daniel and the priestess. She linked their arms with the ribbon and Daniel silently placed a new twig on it. Then she repeated what she had said for Arachne and Hippolytus, and stepped aside, waiting for the couple to walk under the arch.

"... ready?" Jack asked.

"Ready Sir" she said, although she was obviously very nervous.

They took a couple of steps and the arch glowed again but this time there was an electrical blue lightning running on it and before the two officers had any time to react, they were struck down and flat on their stomachs. Scared to death, the little group of witnesses was screaming, shocked. Daniel was the first to react and reach for his friends.

"Sam! Jack! You OK?!" he asked, helping them to sit up.

"Yeah.. fine.. Carter?"

"I'm fine Sir" she absently answered.

"OK, what was that?" Jack asked, looking around for any new threat. But Sam didn't answer. She was staring at their arms, disbelief all over her beautiful face. The ribbon was still there, but the twig too, despite the impact of their fall.

"I don't believe it! Nothing happened!" she exclaimed. "The twig should have been dislodged, if nothing else!"

At that instant, the priestess crouched down to them and examined their linked arms.

"This doesn't make sense. The goddess has neither removed the link nor the twig. She neither approves or disapproves of your union. I don't understand this"

"Yeah well, who cares?" Jack said curtly as he struggled to get up to his feet again. "Just remove that stuff and we can all go home"

"You are disappointed" the priestess stated.

"What? No! It doesn't matter, that's bullshit anyw..." he was interrupted by a sharp elbow in his ribs. "Ouch! Why did you do that for?" The glare Sam was throwing at him made him shut up. He was not sure if she was pissed at him for nearly saying he didn't care for Hera, in the middle of the temple, or if she was pissed at him for not caring that the fidelis hadn't work for them. Well, he did care, but he couldn't say it out loud now, could he?

Meanwhile, Vesta had undone the knot and was removing the ribbon from their arms. Oddly enough, the twig was still lying there and wouldn't budge. The priestess ended up drawing the ribbon from under it, but when she finally was done...

"Carter..? I can't move my arm!" Jack said, alarmed.

"Me neither Sir! I... It's like I'm glued to you?!"

.

They had tried everything. Pulling, pushing, tearing, they were well and truly glued together by their forearms, the little twig firmly in place on the top of them. Jack was pissed to no end, Sam worried but already trying to understand and find a solution. They had followed Daniel to his library where he was trying to find the texts on which the fidelis's creation was based. Meanwhile, the priestess and Hadrian were devising on the meaning of Hera's message to Jason and Atalante.

"Could it be that they were not meant to be a couple but only companions?" Hadrian wondered.

"That is the legend of the Argonauts, but those two aren't the original bearers of the names..." Vesta answered. "The goddess wants them to be together, she didn't remove the link, on the contrary she made it inextricable and kept her twig firmly on it. She clearly signed this link with her sign! Why would she link them in such a fashion?"

"To show us that those two have to be together? But they are already married... it doesn't make sense!"

"Or... are they really?" the priestess wondered.

"What do you mean Highness?" Hadrian wanted to know.

"Are they really married? In the sense Hera means for her children to be married...?"

"I'm sure they are!"

"Has any of your servants seen them being intimate together?"

"Er.. not that I know of.. I've been told they are very...private. But I'm sure they are bonded!"

"I'm certain of that too. The way Atalante took care of Jason when he was wounded is proof enough, but I noticed that she was reluctant to touch him. At the time I thought it was astonishment at the wand's power, when his wounds were healed, but now I have to wonder..."

"Alba!" the priestess called. An elderly servant approached them. "Alba, you attended the room where Atalante and Jason were taken. What did you see?"

"They helped themselves with food and wine My Lady, but the bed remained undisturbed"

"You may go, thank you". The servant bowed and retreated while the priestess and Hadrian exchanged somber looks.

"How did they resist the call of Eros? And why?" the older man worried.

"I do not know Hadrian, but you've been deceived!" the priestess was indignant. "Tiber! Bring me Atalante and Jason!"

.

"The priestess wants to see you immediately"

"What does she want with us now?" Jack growled at Tiber.

"I do not know. I was told to bring you to her"

"Sir, maybe they found a solution?" Jack doubted that very much and glared at her for being so positive. Nonetheless, he followed, since she had begun to walk and he was still attached to her arm. Daniel followed, eager to help.

The priestess was pacing the room, obviously furious. Tiber left as soon as his duty was done, and closed the door behind him. Hadrian was watching the trio, trying to understand...

"You deceived us!" Vesta accused.

"Er.. what do you mean?"

"You are not married under the law of Hera!"

"Hey! We never said we were!" Jack protested.

"Atalante told me you were her companion when I first approached her"

"Yeah well, I am. As is Daniel here and Teal'c! We are a team!" Jack yelled.

"So you never understood that we believed you were a married couple? Why did you let Hephaestus give you a double cell? I am certain he told you those were only for married couples! How did you not have intercourse all this time you've slept in such close proximity? How did you not mate under the spell of Eros?!" Hadrian was more and more upset.

Both Sam and Jack remained stubbornly mute. Daniel was looking from his friends to their accusers and back again, trying to understand what this was all about, until Hadrian came with a new explanation:

"By Hera, of course! I am sorry Jason... I never thought of that..."

"Eer.. What do you mean? Thought of what?" Jack asked, confused.

"Males would try and keep impotency a secret, but there is no shame, we have many remedies..."

"Impotency?! Are you nuts?! I'm perfectly fine thank you!" the Colonel yelled, his male pride offended. Neither Sam nor Daniel could refrain a snicker and Jack glared at them to make them stop. At that moment, Io burst into the room, clearly agitated.

"Vesta, Hadrian, look what I found!" She was brandishing a couple of bluish rings. "They bear your seal Hadrian! I found them under the fidelis!"

All eyes turned to Jack and Sam.

"Hera freed you! She doesn't want you to be slaves in her city!" the priestess exclaimed reverently.

"We are free? We can go?" Jack eagerly asked.

"The rings fell off? The machine must have activated the opening mechanism.." Sam said.

"Maybe all of this happened because slaves aren't supposed to be married in the first place" Hadrian pondered. "This could have tempered with the outcome of Hera's doom.."

"Who cares about Hera's doom!" Jack interrupted angrily, lifting their linked forearms. "Look! The machine did this! The same machine can undo it. Could we just go to the part where Carter fixes it and we can all go home?"

A silence followed.

.

"I think you should go through the fidelis again" the priestess said. "Now that you are free of your slave-rings, you can legally be married under the sign of the goddess"

"Could you stop with that? There is no such thing as a goddess, she's a goa'uld and she's gone, what you are looking at is nothing more that a piece of rock!" Jack spitted, shocking both the priestess, Io and Hadrian, who all started protesting and cursing him for his barbarian views.

"Sacrilege! You are no child of Hera! You will be banned from her city! This is why she couldn't bless your union, you're a... a...!" the priestess was out of her mind, she couldn't find a word strong enough to express her distaste at the abominations she had just heard.

"Jason! How could you soil the temple with such blasphemy?" Hadrian supplied, although not as shocked as the priestess.

"By Hera, Jason! The goddess will seek revenge on both of you for those words! Please ask for her mercy before it is too late!" Io begged.

Over the chaos, Daniel was trying to calm everyone while Sam was dragging Jack away to try and prevent him from another insulting outburst.

"With all due respect Sir, we really don't need that! We need those people to undo this -she lifted their joined arms- and to free Daniel and Teal'c!"

Jack was at first a little pissed to be dressed down for telling the truth, but he could see that she was right and ended up looking sheepishly at her.

"Sorry Carter.. I know you're right.. I'll keep my mouth shut and let you do the talking"

"OK.." she said, checking him for signs that he was being sarcastic.

"OK" he smiled. Reassured, she took him back to the others.

"Alright" she said. "Vesta could be right. I think we should try and go through the fidelis again. The material in the rings could have interfered with the scanning process"

Io looked overjoyed, Hadrian and Daniel were curious and the priestess moody, but they all followed when Sam and Jack stepped out in the corridor and walked back to the main room of the temple.

"I will not call upon Hera for this!" the priestess growled as she was watching Jack and Sam climbing the steps to the fidelis.

"Please Vesta! Have mercy on them!" Io begged.

"He soiled her name! I will not.."

"Hera is bigger than this, Vesta" Hadrian intervened. "She does not care what Jason thinks. We know she is a goddess and so does She. Do not let an ignorant turn you away from your duty to Her" he smiled. The priestess bowed at the soft reprimand and joined Daniel beside the couple.

"Linus, do you have the ribbon?" she asked.

"We really don't.. ouch!" Jack stared at Sam in surprise then remembered his promise to tone his temper down. "Sorry..."

Satisfied, Sam returned her attention to the priestess who was now lacing the ribbon around their forearms, struggling to slip it under the ever-present olive twig.

"Once again you are linked by the divine ribbon. Let Hera show us her will. Now go through the fidelis!"

Sam locked eyes with Jack, who acknowledged her with a nod, and they took the few steps to the arch. This time it glowed without the blue lighting and the couple emerged on the other side without being thrown down on their faces.

"That went well" Jack commented, turning back to look at the arch as the glow fainted.

"The twig is gone!" Sam bleached.

Vesta had a smug smile on her face as she undid the knot on the ribbon. Jason could not doubt Hera now, could he? She had shown them her might! She held the ribbon up for all to see Hera's might, then she showed the blessed couple two small marks on their wrists.

"Hera has spoken!" she turned around to the others in the room. "She has signed them, they will forever bear the seal of her blessing!" Vesta was radiant, reveling in her victory over the barbarian's lack of faith. While the others' attention was on the priestess, Jack asked:

"You OK?"

"Yes Sir" Sam lifted her eyes to him, she could see he was worried about her reaction, so she smiled shyly, which triggered a little twinkle in his eyes. Soon they were both smiling brightly, then Sam broke the eye-lock, wanting to look at their marks again.

"Sam...?!" Jack warned when he sensed her movement.

"I... My arm is still attached to yours!"