Thank you everyone, once again, for your warm reviews. We're heading down the home stretch.

Disclaimer: Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis

Chapter12.

They rode back to their original hiding spot as quickly as possible, and were lucky enough to avoid any more entanglements with the soldiers. Galian was beside himself with anger, anger geared towards himself more than towards the situation. Because of him, they had nearly been killed times without number, and were running short of supplies fast. It was only a matter of time before they were caught, and he would either be sent to the slave brigade, or more likely hanged, and Aoife would be married off to the most mean-hearted and evil man in all of Calormen.

As they were eating what was left of the fruit, settled in their snug little crevice, Aoife noticed the dejection on her friend's face. She could give a very good guess as to what was going on inside his head, and, far from wanting to say "I told you so," she instead wanted more than anything to cheer him up.

"Don't worry,"she told him, in between bites, "we'll make it home alright. This is just a little setback.."

He laughed dryly, "A little setback? We're possibly three hours from Archenland, and the only thing in our way is a gigantic fortress housing close to a thousand soldiers, with more coming every day. A little setback, really..."he muttered, turning back to his berating thoughts.

"Surely there's another way around?"

"Of course there is. Tell me which you prefer, the seventy-five foot climb to the top of the plateau, followed by a hundred foot drop down a smooth rock face, or perhaps the ten mile ride to the coast, with the entire Calormen army on our tail?"

"Don't be an ass, Galian. I'm being serious."

"So am I. Trust me, the only way north is through that fortress."

Suddenly, something caught Aoife's eye, a dark figure standing out against the white sand. Twilight had just fallen, so it was difficult to make out the figure clearly, but it was a soldier beyond the shadow of a doubt. Presently, Galian noticed it too, and the two sat with their breath held as the soldier moved closer and closer to the trail that would take him to the cave, and eventually, their hiding spot.

"Shall we wait for him to find us? Then ambush him?"Galian asked.

"I doubt he'll come up here by himself once he finds the horse. He'll go back for reinforcements. No, we've got to take him now,"Aoife corrected, reaching for her bow.

"Are you sure you know how to shoot?"

"I'm a fair shot."

"Define 'fair'."

"Six out of ten?"

Galian rubbed his head, sure that he was developing a headache, but allowed Aoife to proceed with her set up. While she sounded like a fountain of confidence, Aoife had never lacked it so much in her entire life. She prayed for steady hands and a clear shot, and with one last breath, let her arrow fly. In a half second, they saw the soldier fall dead to the ground.

"Great shot,"Galian commented, the first joyful words he had said all night. The two rose to investigate the catch, and while they couldn't' make much of his face, they could see the eyes and mouth open in fear and pain.

Aoife wasn't exactly sure what happened next, one minute she was peering into the face of the dead man, the next she was leaning against the rock wall, short of breath and feeling sick to her stomach. Though this was the second man she had killed, it was the first time she had actually looked into the face of someone who had died by her hand. She cursed herself for being so weak, until Galian came and put an arm around her soldier, "It's alright,"he whispered, "I would have been more worried about you if you hadn't felt this way. It's shows that you have a heart, and a big one at that,"and he held her while she cried.

When she was done, she whispered into his shoulder, "Take him away. I don't want to look at him again."

"Alright,"he said, and tugged and pulled the dead body out of view. After a few moments, he returned to check on his friend.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine,"she reassured him quickly, and they began the walk back to their hiding spot. Presently she asked him, "He wasn't a soldier, was he?"

"He? No. Besides missing the armor, he was too short, and not as dark. He was probably an islander."

"What's he doing here?"

"Oh,"he grunted, sitting down in his usual spot in their little crevice that was beginning, for better or for worse, to feel like home, "He's probably a bounty hunter. I've heard of them being hired when the Tarkaans were looking for a fugitive."

"This time the fugitive being me."

"Of course,"he agreed lazily, settling down for a nice sleep. Aoife, on the other hand, had no intention of letting him sleep.

"How many bounty hunters do you think they've hired?"

"Oh,"he yawned again, "ten or fifteen. You being so important to Shameth and Suruv, and knowing how much money they have, they probably hired as many as they could."

She let it go for the time being, that is, she no longer asked him about it. While he drifted off into carefree slumber, she stayed awake, keeping guard and thinking. The terrified face of the man kept drifting in front of her. So this is what it's like, she thought grimly. This is what's it's like to be the fearsome warrior, the brave adventuress. This is what Galian faced each night when he fell asleep. The faces of the men he had killed, their terrified, ugly, contorted faces, as if cursing their killer even as they died. No wonder he hardly ever slept. She tried not to let her mind wander, but wander it did. What sort of man was the bounty hunter? Was he married? Did he have children? A family that would probably never see him again?

She fell asleep, and his face haunted her still. It loomed in and out of the dark, alternately screaming and cursing. She noticed every detail, the lines on his face, the dark irises of his eyes, the dingy color of his teeth, everything. There he was; the bounty hunter. That bounty hunter. Always there.

Wait a second.

She bolted upright, snapped immediately out of her sleep. That was it! Of course!

She darted to her sleeping partner, "Galian! Galian! Wake up! Oh, wake up you fool. I've got it!"

"What th-what on earth are you shouting about? Do you want to attract every damned bounty hunter and soldier?"

"I've figured out how we can get past the fortress!"she exclaimed, so happy with herself she was nearing dancing.

Galian was, however, by no means as thrilled. He was having a wonderfully deep sleep, something that didn't come that often to him, and he was none to pleased to be so rudely awoken. He finally grumbled, "Alright, let's hear it,"in the grouchiest of voices, figuring that if he had to stay awake, he intended on being as irritable as he possibly could.

"It's simple. You pretend to be a bounty hunter."

He stared at her, certain he had heard her wrong, "What?"

"You heard me. What if you took me to the fortress and told them you were a bounty hunter? It would be a perfect way to get inside without raising too much suspicion."

"You're mad. You're mad, or possessed, or something. You're suggesting we walk right into the fortress? Just walk right in?"

"Like you said, the only way to go is north. I know it sounds foolish, but listen for a moment. They're not looking for you. You'll be able to scout the fortress with less than the usual suspicion, and you can find a way out. Surely there's a postern gate or a time when soldiers are being relieved, that we can sneak out. Meanwhile, I'll be in captivity, so security will be more lackadaisical. They might even start sending the extra garrison back to Tashbaan."

"I doubt it,"Galian muttered, rubbing his head, "Entire companies can't leave in a day. Besides, suppose they put you in prison? How am I supposed to get you out?"

"Do what you usually do: come in swinging."

"I can kill seven or eight guards, Aoife, not a thousand."

"You won't have to fight a thousand. Just six or seven. The others won't notice us because we'll be dressed up as soldiers."

"What?"he nearly shouted in a high pitched voice.

"It's perfect. We'll blend in."

"It's not prefect, it's the most foolhardy and reckless plan I've ever heard. And I absolutely refuse to go on with it."

"Galian, please, trust me. Aren't you the one who always risked it all? The one who went for all or nothing? Aren't you?"

"Usually I am. It seems the roles have been reversed,"he replied sardonically.

"Galian, if you've never trusted me before on this journey, trust me now. Please?"

He sighed, "Not fair. Not fair at all."

Her face lit up with hope, "Then we'll do it?"

He stood reluctantly, and nodded. After all, he thought, all or nothing.

Morning found them striding down the path that led to the fortress, the reins situated so that it looked like Galian was steering but in fact it was Aoife who was directing the horse, a very complicated procedure to say the least. They had done their best to make the entire ordeal look like there had been a struggle, even to the scratches on Galian's face so that it appeared she had tried her hardest to fight him off. He, on the other had, had absolutely refused to do any physical damage to her, and while they had a big row about this, Galian held his ground, and Aoife had to settle for looking as dirty andbed ragged as she possibly could, so much so that she was almost not recognizable. Galian, on the other hand, looked nothing like the man he did when he left Tashbaan; he had considerably dark stubble around his face, and his hair had grown out a bit, not to mention the clothes he had borrowed from the dead bounty hunter made him look (and no doubt feel) much grander than he really was.

They were hailed a good mile before they even reached the gate, and told to stand still until a squad reached them with a stern Tarkaan at it's head.

"Who are you and what in Tash's name do you have there?"he asked harshly, obviously not a patient man.

"My name is Aneirin,"Galian told him, in his best islander accent (they talk slower than Narnians, and their vowels are more drawn out), "I have brought you the young woman everyone's been looking for,"for the effect, he sharply yanked Aoife's hair, so that her head, which had been hung as if in shame, would be shown to the group.

The captain narrowed his eyes, and said, "We'll take her to the Tarkaan. He'll know if she's genuine or not. If you're another one of these accursed bounty hunters bringing in some strange woman you acquired from some ungodly whorehouse, so help me I'll cut your ears off and hang them from my saddle." (A/N: line taken from the movie Purgatory, a very good movie, I highly recommend it).

Surrounded by the guardsmen, Aoife and Galian were led inside the haunting fortress they had dreaded for so long. The sight of soldiers walking, chatting, mending, eating, and doing whatnot in every direction unnerved the two of them greatly. It was a short ride to the keep, and Aoife was jerked down roughly off of the horse, followed closely by Galian, who was determined not to let her out of his sight before he absolutely had to. The massive doors were thrown open, and they were led up several stairs and through several rooms before they were finally brought before one of two men they had wanted to see least in the world and knew they were most likely to see. Sitting behind a desk, vain as ever, was Shameth.

With a smirk Aoife would have been glad to knock clean off his face, he strutted across the room, and grabbed Aoife roughly by the jaw.

His evil smile grew larger, "Oh, it's her alright. You men can go,"he nodded to the soldiers, who proceeded quickly out of the door, while their captain remained. Shameth tightened his grip on Aoife, looking at Galian, "Did she suffer? Did you hurt her badly? She should have had the life beat out of her, little whore that she is!"and he savagely threw her to the ground. It took all of Galian's self control not to attack him.

Shameth walked back to his desk, pouring himself a glass of wine, not thinking to offer his guest any. After taking a few sips, ones that wouldn't likely help his temperament any, he turned to Galian, "Well, done, my young friend. I don't believe I caught your name."

"My name? Oh, Aneirin. From Terebinthia,"Galian said slowly, well aware he was losing his fake accent.

"I see. What town?"

"I lived all over."

"I see,"Shameth said again, then moved on, "Where is her companion?"

"Her companion?"

"Yes, my scouts told me there was someone else riding with her. Where is he?"

"I killed him."

"You killed him? Why? Who was he?"

The more lies Galian told, the more he knew he would get himself caught in them. Nevertheless, he spoke on, "I knew not his name, only that he was another mercenary from Terebinthia as well. He was getting away with my prize, so I killed him."

"Competitive fellow, aren't you?"Shameth said slyly.

"You would be too if you had lost your last three assignments to him."

Shameth laughed, "I suppose so. Now, about payment..."

"I want three hundred crescents."

The joke was over for Shameth now. If there was anything he hated, it was parting with his money, "The price agreed upon was one hundred-fifty,"he said sharply.

"Yes, well, I had to take extra precautions,"Galian pushed, in his most business like and toughest voice.

"Like what?"

"For example, like killing the other mercenary. And making sure your own men didn't mistake me for the quarry and kill me on sight. Not to mention the fight this girl put up..."

"You can't handle one petite girl?"

"I don't suppose you could either, or else you wouldn't have lost her in the first place..."

Aoife grimaced as she lay on the floor. Making Shameth mad wouldn't lead to anything beneficial. By the look on his face, he probably was about to order that Galian's head be cut off.

The order never came though. The fury was evident, but Galian's death warrant wasn't signed yet, "Two hundred. That's my final offer, and I suggest you take it, or my captain's sword falls."

Galian stared down Shameth, something he was good at doing, and for a moment considered opposing the deal and killing Shameth and the captain on the spot. But, of course, that would have caused more trouble than they wanted at the moment, and in the end Galian agreed, on the condition that he would be allowed to see Aoife safely to the dungeons. Far from suspecting any foul play, Shameth allowed him to follow and he and three guards took her to where she was to be kept. It wasn't a dungeon, as Aoife and Galian had been expecting, but a very secluded room, in a tower on the westernmost side of the fortress, a room without windows and smelling strongly of feces and rotted hay.

She was locked in, and two sentries were placed outside her door. They proceeded back down the winding staircase, passing door after door, doors, Galian was told, that led to additional sleep quarters for the soldiers. They final reached the main door, and a sentry was placed inside the door, and two more were placed on the outside. Evidently, Shameth had no intentions of letting his future bride escape again. As for Galian, he was taken back to Shameth's office, given his two hundred crescents, and told he was to leave in no less than three days. In the meantime, he was expected to entertain himself.

Entertain himself seemed a joke, he thought, as he left the keep. He really wasn't altogether sure where he was going, he just seemed to be wandering about, looking for a clue or a helping hand or anything that would be beneficial.

Aslan, he thought, show me how to get out of here.

Something caught his eye. One of the soldiers had stopped dead in his tracks, and was looking Galian keenly in the face. Feeling enormously uncomfortable, he resumed his course, but the figure followed him. He was pushed into an alleyway, and found himself looking into the face of none other than the honorable Captain of the Guards, Pericles himself.