AN: After the monstrosity also know as chapter one, I have elected to cut the remaining parts into something a little more....manageable. Hence the return to thousand word chapters.

Part Two - Blood Tears

Sam was awake with the light of dawn, but the knock on her door still made her jump a little. Without waiting for an answer, Maram bustled in carrying a basin of water and a towel in her hands.

"Good morning," Sam said, rising to her feet.

"Yes, it is." Maram agreed. "I hope the day continues in such a fashion."

Sam was a bit puzzled by the remark and wondered fleetingly if it had anything to do with the empty chair at the table the night before. Something was making Maram sad, but since the woman had covered it up with cheerfulness and Sam wasn't sure it was any of her business, she didn't say anything. Besides, she had plenty of other questions to ask.

"Maram, may I ask you something?" she said politely as she began to wash her face.

"Of course, Major."

"Call me Sam. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone would find...well...I mean," Sam struggled. Applied anthropology always left her flustered. "I didn't see any other women wearing pants last night. Will it offend anyone that I do?"

"I shouldn't think so. You all dress strangely. And many of our girls wear trousers when they go out of town." Her face darkened again. "Why?"

"Well the Crusaders, your - our ancestors, had some pretty particular ideas about women."

"Oh that," Maram laughed. "It has been eight hundred years, Sam. Surely your world has changed too?"

"Yes, most of it." Sam felt a little silly. Still, better safe than sorry.

"One thing the men of Sandiem learned very early on was to respect their women." Maram said proudly. "There were many more men than women originally, when we were brought here I mean, and so marriages and children were greatly important."

"That's why your names are genealogical." Sam reasoned.

"I'm sorry?"

"Never mind," Sam said quickly, filing it away to tell Daniel later. "Thank you for answering."

"It is wonderfully exciting to meet people from Terra," Maram said. "I'll leave you to get ready for breakfast." And she made her way out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

At breakfast, which was much simpler than the meal they had eaten the night before, there again stood an empty chair and place setting. Jack could tell that Daniel was dying to ask why the chair was significant, but the archaeologist refrained from doing so. Instead, he spent the meal trying to figure out which of the Crusades Aeronn's ancestors had been on when they had been taken by the Goa'uld. Since his only clues were linguistic, Daniel was not having much luck. However, given that Aeronn and Maram had both used the expression 'By the Heart of the Lion', Daniel was leaning towards the 1190s.

"What is your plan for today, Colonel?" Aeronn asked as he and Daniel concluded their discussion of Richard I.

"Well, Carter and Daniel were hoping to go back to the Stargate and see the MALP." Jack began.

"What is a MALP?" Maram asked quickly.

"It's a...device that collects information for us." Sam explained. "It records things we would not see by ourselves."

"May I come with you?" Maram asked. "That sounds intriguing."

"Of course," Jack answered. "Teal'c and I would like to see your defenses, if you don't mind."

"Easily done, Colonel," Aeronn said. "I'll take you to Zephrey Richison, my brother by marriage. He understands such things much better than I. I shall accompany Sam and Daniel as well."

They again left their plates on the table when they filed out of the dining room. Teal'c saw a flicker of movement just as the door swung shut, but decided it was not a threat and did not say anything to Jack.

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Zephrey Richison, though separated from Chulak by thousands of years and millions of kilometres, found a kindred spirit in Teal'c almost immediately. Surrounded by such laconic company, Jack felt uncharacteristically chatty as he peppered Zephrey with questions about the strength of the wall and range of the various medieval weaponry while they walked along the promontory. He was just about to voice his lamentations over not bringing Daniel, whom he felt would have better understood the historic weapons when Teal'c finally spoke up.

"Were you able to procure pitch and naphtha Zephrey Richison?" he asked. "Or have you manufactured a suitable replacement?"

Zephrey grinned in a manner that could only be described as wolfish and led them into an alcove on the outer side of the wall. There was what Jack thought to be an unsafely large window through which he could see Carter's party disappearing into the woods. Zephrey pulled a lever and the large cauldron in the middle of the floor rose up into the air, blocking the view. Jack looked perplexedly at Teal'c.

"It was common practice to defend a walled keep by pouring burning pitch down upon those who might attempt to scale it." Teal'c explained. Jack winced. "The practice was maintained here."

"There are deposits of tar to the east of here." Zephrey pointed towards the sun. Apparently, the compass points hadn't changed here after all. "We distill it, but don't use it very often."

"Do the Sanoctem not attack?" Teal'c queried.

"Indeed," said Zephrey, a hint of sadness in his voice. "They do. But we prefer to hold them off by...less extreme measures."

Jack looked at the cauldron again and shuddered, but quickly to hold of himself.

"Do you maintain a watch?"

"Nightly," Zephrey said, leading them back out on to the promontory. "The garrison does four hour shifts from The Lighting to sunrise."

"How long are the nights?" asked Jack, hoping he this would not lead to a discussion about the precession of the equinoxes.

"In high summer they are short, but in winter they can be longer than twelve hours." Zephrey said. "But it is the summers that are the worst. The sun makes them worse, you see."

"Are there enemies other than the Sanoctem?" Teal'c asked.

"No," came the reply. "There are other towns, of course, but we do not fight them, and the Demons have never returned."

"Do you mind if Teal'c and I join your watch tonight?" Jack asked, finally getting to the question he had been waiting all morning to ask.

"Of course. We would wel-" But Zephrey stopped talking and was staring out to the north.

Jack and Teal'c instinctively followed his gaze. To the north were the foothills of what appeared to be a very impressive mountain range. Below them was the thick forest that would encircle the town if not for the clearing. At the edge of the clearing a solitary figure was making its way towards the village. As Jack squinted for a better look, Zephrey pushed past him, his face aglow with unadulterated joy. Within seconds, their guide had disappeared down a set of stairs, and they could hear his muffled shouts as he issued what could only be orders. Teal'c quirked an eyebrow, Jack sighed, and the two of them made their way off the wall.

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to be continued....