Be on the lookout for a slightly obscure Buffy ref, peoples:) (Tigerwolf! Of course I'm not mad at you! How silly of you:) Here's a hint: it's a Riley reference, again;)

I also LOVE everyone who reviewed chapter 9...mithwith, TGG14, Angel Ruse, Laura, cracklyn, Dylan, MBooker, Asilin, Tigerwolf, Seletha, Neferbast, Mythica, Allibabab, Sare, Mija, nefrititi, Katherine, Linser, Jennie, RedLady, Katie, and Ivy (merci pour le 200th review!!!:):):)

As per Linser's request, my recommendation of the day is "The Revolution" by Dylan Shelby. Dreamily romantic and bite-your-nails suspenseful at the same time! Go read it!:)

On a side note, I just saw Spider-Man and WOW!!! Everyone should go see that:)

Also, title belongs to William Goldman. You Princess Bride fans can guess what that means (wink, wink, nudge, nudge;)

Chapter 10

Affection x Purity x Intensity x Duration

He was too far away to do anything to stop it, but not far enough that the details didn't burn themselves into his brain. His limbs seemed tied to the ground as he saw her slowly turn and look her killer in the eye as the woman slowly, agonizingly, pulled the long, sharp blade out of her stomach. The woman and the priest walked arrogantly away, leaving her all alone to sink miserably to the warm red sand. Before he knew it he was beside her, lowering her gently back before she could crumble completely, as if that small gesture might do something to save her. He was vaguely aware of other people, beings that seemed familiar and yet were too fuzzy to place.

She was different, he could tell that. Her hair had changed, her clothes were strange, he sensed wisdom, and an understanding that had not been there before...but in her eyes he could see the sparkle that had so captivated him, slowly fading away behind the tears that pooled in her eyes, and his. She said something, but he couldn't understand her words. He could only focus on her eyes, so sad, and yet eternally hopeful at the same time. She wasn't really looking at him, he could tell that. She was looking beyond him to someone else, someone who held her in his arms as tightly as he would have held his princess. Then, more words...She was telling him she loved him. He didn't need to understand her language to know that. His lips formed a single word..."Evelyn."

And in a moment, she was gone. He had never felt more lost.

Achsu-rai awoke with a start. His chest felt as if it might burst from the hysterical beating of his heart; his breathing was erratic and shaky. It took him a moment for his mind to grasp the concept that it had been a dream, that he was safe in his bed, in the darkness. She was gone...No! No, it hadn't been her, it was someone else. Evelyn...there was no mistaking that this woman, whoever she was, was important...critical to his very survival. He loved her without knowing any more than her name. He needed her. And she was dead...Nefertiri was dead....No! It was just a dream, she was fine, back at the palace, probably not sleeping either.

Achsu-rai freed himself from the twisted covers with some difficulty and, throwing on a wrap to guard against the desert cold, fled from his tent. The Medjai littered about the base camp raised their heads drowsily as he stormed past their makeshift beds. When he did not make any attempt to rouse them, they assumed nothing was wrong and went back to their dreams. Dreams...She was telling him she loved him...

His step quickened as he hastened toward the palace. He had to know she was okay. Somewhere, deep in his heart, he knew she was fine, but he needed to see her. He needed to look into her eyes.

The only living soul he encountered on the way was a shrunken old man snoozing on a cot near her chambers. Achsu-rai had often seen the man, whose name he thought was Tahir, at Nefertiri's side during palace functions. Somewhere from the dredges of his memory Achsu-rai recalled that Tahir had been the queen's servant before she passed on.

Achsu-rai strode past the man and let himself into Nefertiri's room without a sound. She was, as he had suspected, not sleeping. She sat in a chair someone had dragged out on the balcony, book open on her lap, weary eyes engrossed in some historical account or other that she had chosen the other night. It seemed like months ago that he had taken her hand and led her to the library; months ago, rather than that morning, that they had come so close...

Nefertiri jumped a little when she saw a figure standing in the darkness observing her. "Who's there?" He tried to speak but couldn't, happier than he'd ever been just to know she was alive, she was protected. Nefertiri pulled her robe around her with alarm as she saw who it was. "Achsu-rai! What are you doing here?"

"I just needed to know you were alive. Are you all right?" he asked, well aware of how silly he sounded.

Indeed, Nefertiri laughed in spite of his serious tone. "Of course, I'm fine! What happened?"

He struggled to steady his voice as he answered her, resorting to babbling when his distressed mind could not find a coherent way to explain just what he was doing there. "I had a dream. You were...different, we were different...I couldn't save you, they killed you, and I--"

"Who?" the princess asked as she quickly crossed the room, shutting the door behind the Medjai. They were alone, something Achsu-rai had sworn could never happen again. But he didn't move away from her. A long silence punctuated her question as he tried to collect his thoughts. It was just a stupid nightmare; it didn't mean anything. Telling her who the murderers had been in his dream would only throw her world into more confusion.

Eventually she gave up on waiting for an answer. "You're shaking!" she exclaimed, drawing a tender hand across his forehead. "Achsu-rai, it was just a dream! I'm fine!" To prove it, she placed a kiss on his cheek. To her surprise, he did not flinch at her touch. "I trust you, okay?" she continued. "You can protect me against anything, I know it. I'm fine."

"For now," he whispered back, taking her hand and lacing his fingers through hers. "But this was...this wasn't us, Nefertiri. It was like...a different life. What if I can't always protect you?"

"Hey. You called me Nefertiri," she noted softly.

He paused. "...I did."

"Achsu-rai," she said, "whatever happens...in this life, in the next...all you ever need to know is...I love you. Nothing else matters. I know you're not going to say it, maybe you can't, ever, but...I know it. And that's all I need."

Nothing was said for a few moments and Nefertiri began to fear she'd made a mistake. She started to turn away but Achsu-rai pulled her back to him, far too close for a princess and a bodyguard to be standing. "This could get us killed," he said.

"You, maybe," she teased. "I'm my father's favorite daughter, the most I'd get is a scolding."

"You joke about this, but it is serious. Your father is not just any father, Nefertiri."

"He is just a man. People forget that."

"Whether you acknowledge it or not, he could do worse to us than sentence us to death."

"He doesn't have to know. He's too wrapped up in his own love life to notice mine."

"Love?" he murmured, by now so completely lost in her eyes that he hardly knew what he was saying anymore.

"Love," she repeated, as if to confirm somehow that this was right. To approve of their crime, to give two lovers sanctuary...a single word was all it took, one word threaded in and out of their collective destiny...fated, perhaps doomed, to control the lives of two souls in whatever existence they might find themselves in.

There was no moment of anticipation, no lingering delay, simply a thousand years of passion exploding into one fateful embrace. His lips were on hers in an instant, testing, teasing, intoxicated by the taste of her mouth, her tongue. Her perfume filled his senses; everything else fell away and there was only the reality of his princess, finally...his princess.

He broke away only so they could both begin to breath again. It took him a moment to form the words, such was the effect of her hands absently tracing the lines of the tattoos on his chest. His rational mind (although reason was rapidly vanishing) was still telling him that this couldn't, shouldn't, happen. "I should go."

Contrary to his words, however, he continued the kiss down the curve of her neck, stopping briefly to nibble at her earlobe before continuing down to her collarbone. She didn't have the presence of mind to call him a liar, for the delicious chills that errant mouth was sending up and down her body were making it very hard to think. Nefertiri fought to clear her spinning head, somewhat surprised to find that her robe had slid off her shoulders and was now pooled at her feet. "No, don't go," she breathed, clutching at him for support as her resistance weakened under his touch. "Stay, please."

"They will certainly kill us for this," he told her, once again enraptured by the simple fact that her beautiful eyes were staring into his. "Do you know what scares me about that?"

"What?"

He drew her to him once more, marveling at how perfectly she fit into his arms, at how she had the power to make him tremble at the slightest butterfly touch of her delicate fingers...

"I don't care."

...And as is so often the case in star-crossed love affairs, one thing always leads to another...

~*~*~*~

FINALLY!!! It took them ten whole chapters, but they finally got together. Yay! Beat that, Buttercup and Wesley!!! Eager to hear what y'all will say:) REVIEW!!!