PARADISE

Sam felt a dizzying weightlessness, she could tell she was lying down though. She opened her eyes and found herself on the silkiest bed and pillows imaginable. The lavish room before her spread out to open balconies over looking the sea which allowed a breeze to flow with orange blossom perfume through the gauzy curtains around the bed.

I must have passed out.

As she got up her royal blue gown, which was a little too fitted and long enough to reach her feet, caught the golden sunlight and she couldn't believe how good it felt to wear a dress. Famished she forgot everything else when she saw a small round table in the centre of the room laid out with fresh fruits. She held one of the figs up to her mouth and ate it slowly, only afterwards seeing him move on the other side of the room.

He was sitting still and simply watching with an innocent curiosity that turned to voyeurism as she licked her fingers. The game was up, though, so he crossed the room, dressed in the same fabric, an Egyptian style wrap, looking absolutely perfect. Sam was speechless.

"I tried to stop them," he said, "but it seems they must gild everything," he ran a hand along her shoulder and looked at the feint sparkling silver on his fingertips, "almost everything."

The servants had dressed him that way and subtly bronzed his skin with pure ground gold and olive oil. She could even see it through his hair. The medallion didn't look out of place against his flawless, bare chest.

"Do you know what you did?" he asked gently.

The weight of it came upon her and her balance faltered in dizziness as he held her upright, watching her expression intently.

"Yes I know. I know what I did."

"Samantha," he repeated her name to regain her attention, "Samantha, it's alright. He was not innocent."

"I'm not sorry."

"Neither am I," he said letting her go as he thought. "There was something wrong with him... you know that right?"

She didn't know what he was talking about.

"I knew it when he looked at me, out there in the field. He wasn't my brother anymore. Torres never moved like that and it wasn't just the injuries. He shouldn't have taken a captive as host. I guess he just didn't know any better."

"Where are we?" she asked.

His eyes sparkled, "my room," he grinned devilishly.

"How did I get here?" she asked curiously.

"I don't even know how I got here. I only just woke up."

"Where did you sleep?"

"Where did you?" he said raising his eyebrows.

She froze staring at him and tried to wipe the trying-to-remember-if-anything-interesting-happened-the-night-before look off her face. She decided on a more important question, "Are we alive?"

He looked down at himself and then around the room, then turned back to her smiling, "I don't mind if we're not."

She was charmed.

She blushed, "my god, Martouf, I've never seen you look so... and you've never talked to me that way before. Or looked at me..."

"I've never felt this way," he admitted.

Unable to take her eyes off him, she subconsciously leant in. He looked even more radiant, if that was possible.

"Is Lantash there?"

He moved in close, "yes." They didn't switch over, though.

"Then who's that standing out on the balcony?"

"No-one," he said not letting the question distract him from the desire at hand. He hadn't noticed anyone out there anyway.

She slipped her arms around his body and they simply stood that way together, relaxed. Then he tilted her head with his hand and kissed her as passionately as she had kissed him before.

"If we are alive will you be my queen?"

Her head fell back as she laughed, "What a cad!"

"Don't say that," he growled seriously, "Its not true."

She caressed him tighter and lay her head onto his shoulder, revelling in the feel of his skin. She was soon overcome with annoyance, though and broke free, rather forcefully -- he was reluctant to let her go just yet and his gorgeous features took on an insolent scowl as he followed her out into the balcony to see who was there.

"Oh, that old thing!" he continued to scowl and threw a careless arm over the statues shoulders as though it were an old pal.

"Oh my. That's disturbing," she said, only half teasing, walking up to study it. "You know, I almost thought you and Lantash had split into separate bodies for a moment there," she grinned and for a long time stood there until he went and grabbed a sheet off the bed and threw it over the thing.

Jade eyes.

"Tell me, your father didn't know about your blending before he came to us; when did you tell him about Jolinar?" he said as he moved to the railing taking her hand in his as she joined him there. A beautiful, colourful parade was going on down below in the city.

"UhÉ" she chewed her bottom lip, "he was a bit upset... apparently Selmac found out first."

"What was he upset about exactly?"

She chuckled and walked over to a bench to sit down and he followed after putting a large ceramic jar upside-down over the sheet on the statues head. "Everything."