Disclaimer: I don't own squat, not a damn thing. Well, I own a rather nice pair of red Converse high-tops, but that's it. As far as Ardeth, Evy, or Rick, no, sorry, not mine. The OC, however, is mine. Flames will be used to light my backyard barbecue pit. Please R&R, I'm desperate.
-Belle
Lira kept her breathing deep and controlled. There was no sense losing her cool now. When Joshua had tugged her from her seat it had been just the pull she needed to release the ropes. Now she just needed him to believe she was helpless just a little bit longer. She looked at the men in front of her. The stranger was fuming, both guns clinched tightly in his fists. He wasn't a man to come this far only to lose. Ardeth, on the other hand, kept his face blank and deadly calm. His eyes however, betrayed the same heart-rending fear that had possessed Lira only moments before, when she had thought him overpowered. The sight of this man, so stalwart and noble, betraying such strong emotion nearly broke her heart. He couldn't stand being powerless in any situation, and she knew she'd have to find a way out of this herself.
It was all a matter of biding her time. Joshua was slowly heading toward the door, his left arm wrapped tightly around Lira's chest and upper arms, pinning them to her sides. His right hand held the gleaming blade pressed against her throat. He was moving towards his left, so as to avoid Lira's would-be rescuers as much as possible. Each time he took a shuffled step with his right foot, the knife against Lira's throat loosened ever so slightly. Ardeth was looking on. He couldn't risk an attack, not with a blade held to the girl's throat. So he stood by, fuming helplessly. Lira moved in rhythm with her captor, and desperately tried to ignore the helpless torment written across the Medjai's tattooed face. Within moments, she had the pattern of Joshua's movements down, and with great anticipation she awaited the next shuffling step. The weapon smith had taught her this trick, but this was the first time she'd ever had occasion to need it, and she hoped desperately that it would work. Her stomach was in knots, her pulse pounding, but still she kept her breathing steady and her face cold and calm.
After what seemed an eternity, he made that shuffle with his right foot and the blade loosened. In a flash, her hands flew up, the rope still attached to her left wrist. She grabbed the inside of his right wrist with her left hand, digging her fingers into the sensitive nerves as she forced the knife away from her throat. Her right hand she brought slamming into his funny bone, grabbing his elbow tightly so that when the momentary tingling paralysis wore off, she would maintain control of his arm. Ardeth's eyes grew wide in panic as he watched her throw her head back as far as she could, slamming into her captor's chest before she spun in towards her left shoulder. She shoved Joshua's elbow with all her strength and ducked down, still in her leftwards spin.
Within a moment, Lira was out of his grasp, crouching. She threw herself backwards away from him and felt two strong hands catch her under her arms. She looked up for a moment to see a wash of relief in those deep, devastating brown eyes. Lira then averted her gaze to the man in front of her. It had worked. The knife he'd held to her throat was buried deep in his left shoulder. Blood poured out over his white shirt and his face was contorted in pain..
Ardeth pulled her further away from the blond stranger and leveled his sword at the strange man who'd threatened her. The dread had passed, replaced by an anger that brewed silent and deadly beneath the surface. Rick saw this, and though he trained his pistols on the man, he made no move to interfere. In no way was he willing to get in the middle of this. Ardeth withdrew the twin blade from his side and the stranger paled. He handed it to Lira, in no mood to take any chances, and slowly advanced, stepping across the body of a fallen Bedouin warrior. What had once been arrogant, piercing deep green eyes looked stricken with panic. Joshua pulled the knife from his shoulder with a grimace and holding it in a sloppy guard position, he stumbled his way backward toward the window.
Not a word was uttered as Ardeth continued to advance, his features more frightening in their stern calm than had they shown any anger. The stranger was starting to grow pale from the blood that gushed from the wound and through his clasped fingers. The sad little knife he held offered no defense. Apparently he'd realized this and it dropped limply to the ground. Joshua continued to back away. He let the fear show as clear as day. After all this man had shown great mercy to an old enemy. As his back came flat against the window frame, though, he realized that there was no mercy for him in the warrior's dark eyes, and his heart sank. The blade, wickedly waved, was now inches from his throat. Had he been a religious man, perhaps he would have prayed, asked for a reprieve or to be absolved of his sins. As it was he only grew paler and awaited the final blow.
A sound of footsteps in the hallway caused Rick and Lira both to swing around towards the door. The feet where running and as the door swung open, slamming against the wall, Ardeth looked away for a split second. Joshua saw his chance and he turned, covering his face with his arms and smashing through the window. Ardeth was greatly relieved to see two of his warriors standing there, weapons at the ready, but as he heard the sound of shattering glass his heart sank. He spun and leapt toward the window, hoping to catch an arm or a leg before the man was able to escape, but it was too late. Below the window was a cart filled with bolts of fabric. It was a lucky jump, and Joshua quickly recovered, throwing himself out of the cart and running unsteadily down the street with all possible haste. The fabric merchants shouted after him, angry for the shards of glass and bloodstains in their precious cargo. Ardeth swore under his breath.
The Medjai escorted them safely back to the fort. Lira never uttered a word, not surprising in her state. Rick and Ardeth spoke in hushed tones about the man who'd escaped and what threat he might pose. More than likely, Lira would not be up to traveling for at least a couple days; so helping her flee Egypt wasn't an option. Instead, when they reached the fort, Ardeth sent one of the two men to hurry and gather as many of his warriors as were known to be in Cairo and bring them back. Staking out the fort was the only real option. When Rick pledged to stay with them at the fort, Ardeth tried to talk him out of it, arguing that Rick had to get back to Evy and Alex as soon as possible. In the end, it was a moot point as the vivacious brunette greeted them as soon as they walked through the door. Evy was incensed, asking where they'd been, and Rick was understandably upset that she wasn't on her way to London. There was very nearly a fight in the middle of the lobby. It was an exhausted Ardeth and an exasperated Jonathan who convinced Rick to let it slide. Ardeth assured them that the fort as well as their individual rooms would be well guarded.
Rick almost made a crack about what a great job the Medjai had done guarding things prior to that, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
Finally, it was decided to retire for the night. Ardeth bade each of his friends a good night, he was determined to stay downstairs and await his men's arrival. They needed to know who it was they were looking for. Lira hung back from the others for a moment, reluctant to go upstairs. Her legs were dead tired, and with all that had happened she felt that she owed Ardeth a thank you, or even an apology. In the end, all she managed was to look at him with a mixture of sorrow and gratitude. Ardeth understood, and gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She smiled faintly and followed three people she'd never met upstairs.
It was only a few moments before Ardeth's men showed up. Six capable warriors were present and he informed them of the situation. The Medjai were accustomed to finding people based only upon a detailed description, and Ardeth put every faith in them to perform their duty before heading upstairs to turn in. He wanted first to check in with Lira, and when she did not answer her door he checked with the O'Connells. Evy answered the door. The room was bathed in pale amber light and beyond her he could see Lira seated at the table by the window with a steaming cup before her. Alex sat across from her, staring at the stranger with interest. Ardeth returned his gaze to Evy who smiled knowingly.
"She's fine, Ardeth. Not a scratch on her. We're just going to give her some tea and let her settled down and then we'll see to it she gets to her room alright." she assured. Ardeth smiled faintly in gratitude.
"Thank you, my friends." The door closed silently and he disappeared into his room.
Evy returned from the door and pulled up a chair next to Lira and Alex at the table. Lira was stirring her tea, staring at the swirls made by the sugar. Rick was busy changing clothes. When he came back out, Evy frowned at the holsters still fastened about his shoulders. Alex slid from his chair and ran to Rick who picked the boy up, hugging him tightly. Joining the women at the table, he sat heavily in the chair Alex had just vacated, and pretending to pay a great deal more attention to his son… in an attempt to avoid putting undue pressure on the woman seated across from him. He definitely could see why a man like Ardeth would find her attractive. She was courageous; he'd seen it in the way she'd stood against her captors with little fear, and how in the blink of an eye, she'd cleverly escaped the blonde man threatening to slit her throat. Even the way she'd taken the Medjai's sword, and held it with excellent stance and posture. The calm familiarity with which she'd wielded the weapon was incredible.
"Rick, must you keep those guns with you?" Evy finally opined, "I mean, is it really necessary?"
"I'm not taking any chances." He replied softly, hoping that the woman across from him wasn't paying attention to the conversation. No need bringing up painful details. There was silence as Evy understood. Something very important obviously happened when Rick and Ardeth disappeared… something that in all likelihood involved the young woman seated beside her. She let the issue drop until later when she was alone with Rick, instead turning to the quiet stranger. Her cheeks had taken on a healthy glow since she'd been sipping the warm tea, and her green eyes looked a little more relaxed than when she first arrived. Her short auburn hair was a bit of a mess, but she was otherwise unharmed.
"I'm sorry we've not really introduced ourselves." Evy began. The woman looked up at her calmly and smiled, "My name is Evy, well, Evelyn really, and this is my husband Rick. You could say we're all old friends. That other man was my brother Jonathan, and this," she looked proudly at the blond boy still in Rick's arms, "is our son Alex."
"So he told me." Lira smiled. Rick and Evy couldn't help but chuckle and Rick squeezed the boy, ruffling his hair. "I'm Lira."
"Very pleased to meet you, Lira." Evy said, offering her hand, which Lira shook graciously. There was a moment of silence as Lira sipped some of her tea. Finally, Alex's head began nodding to the side, and Rick figured it was time to put the boy to bed. Evy gave Alex a kiss on the forehead and promised she'd be there in a moment to help tuck him in. As Rick left the room, Lira looked up at Evy with a sad smile.
"I'm very sorry about all this." She said softly. Evy looked at her with a warmth that was uniquely her own.
"What could you possibly be sorry for?"
"For getting you all involved. Your husband's right keeping his guns with him. There's a dangerous man out there. One who wants me dead, and if he knew you were helping me, you could be in a lot of trouble." She responded, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. With all that had happened in the last few weeks from thinking her fiancé dead to having that same man hold a knife to her throat, she'd not once cried. Now as she saw this family, so happy and hospitable, she truly regretted all she'd done. She never should have left the fort on her own. She just had no idea.
"Don't be silly. This is all out of your control. I trust Ardeth's men. They're deeply dedicated and more than capable. You shouldn't worry yourself. You've been through a lot, what with your fiancé passing away and all." Evy reassured, but as Lira diverted her eyes to the engagement ring that still sat on her finger, Evy immediately wished she could take the statement back. "I'm sorry, I…" she started, but Lira shook her head and pulled the ring off her finger.
"No, no, it's not anything you said." She stared at the ring and twirled it between her fingers for a moment. "He tried to kill me today." Evy looked at her in shock and Lira turned her head toward the window. It was open and the breeze flowed in, lifting the sheer curtains in graceful billows. With a flick of her wrist she tossed the ring out the window. "I think I'm ready for bed now."
A/N: OK, Here's the new fancified beta'd chapter. YAY! Let's have a shout out for Elrowen who's had a tough time getting internet access after her move. Anyway, My thanks to picchic, Pirate Gyrl, chocolatejet, Lita Lightening, Little Raven-Hawk, Lucy, the anonymous poster from October 8th, Akira, Irish, solitairebbw218, and RampantLioness. Thank you all so VERY VERY much! I'm all warm and fuzzy inside now.
