Sha're and Skaara were kept under the care of the healers for three days in total after the successful procedure to free them from the control of their Goa'uld. Temporary quarters in the longer-term care ward outside of the city were allotted to them by the Furlings, and they then stayed there for two more days before they were allowed to return to Abydos, the intervening time being one final check that no unexpected problems arose. The need for that arose considering the fates of some of the other freed hosts. The bodies of the hosts of Cronus and Sokar, possibly kept in torment for centuries, had been overtaken by rapid aging soon after the procedure was completed because of the absence of their symbiotes. They, at least, had died free and died at peace, cared for most tenderly by the Furling healers. Since knowledge of their original homeworlds was not accessible nor the customary rites for the dead among their peoples, the Furlings had buried the two former hosts among their own dead on Numantia, carrying out all the burial rites that they would for their own people and burying them with all honors due to prisoners of war.

The hosts of Nirrti and Heru'ur had survived the procedure and not succumbed to the same rapid aging that had killed the hosts of Cronus and Sokar, whose names the healers had unfortunately not been able to discover before their passing. For now, that survival, however, was largely … physical in a way. They were not comatose or brain-dead, but both were horribly traumatized, the reports were. Nirrti's host was almost catatonic, and Heru'ur's host was not altogether … with it, either. They would be kept under the care of the mind-healers and well-cared for until they recovered enough to care for themselves and express a preference of a world where they would like to be taken or … until they passed. They had survived, but the evils of the past could not be undone in an instant just by freeing them from being puppeted by their symbiotes. The struggle for freedom was not over yet. Sometimes the mental battle, the battle within, could be the hardest of all.

And the extracted symbiotes? What happened to them? Their execution was carried out by the Army. What then? Daniel was not quite sure he liked the answer once he heard it, though he understood why the Furlings had done it. The gathered bodies of the symbiotes had been burned on a pyre and then buried in a marked grave on a distant world, not Numantia, of course. Part of him felt that the Goa'uld did not deserve even that after what they had done to Sha're, to Skaara, to the others. The Furlings were doing for their enemies what had not been done for them during the Great War, honorable burials and marked graves.

On the 25th of Duumm, five days after Judgment, five days after Freedom, Sha're, Skaara, and Daniel departed Uslisgas for Abydos. This possibly marked an end of the era for Daniel. Whether or not Daniel would remain on Uslisgas working for Sujanha long-term, it was time to go … home … his other-home. It was time to take his family home. It was time for Sha're to meet her son, for Skaara to meet his nephew, for both to see the family and friends since that horrible day when Apophis had come through the Stargate, attacked the gate-guards, nearly killed Ferretti, and taken Sha're, Skaara, and the others away. That day seemed so long ago, but it was a day that would remain firmly fixed in Daniel's memory … forever. Sometimes he still remembered the sound of screams, the smell of charred flesh when he passed through the gateroom on Abydos.

It was ironic how some memories you wanted to remember forever, you forgot, and how others, which you wanted to forget, you remembered.

For a couple of weeks, there would only be Abydos, his family, and peace and quiet. No war, no ships, no paperwork. Just family and peace. It would be a time to reconnect … almost get reacquainted with Sha're in a way. They had had such a short time together after the first mission to Abydos and before Apophis came. And we've both changed so much since then. It would be a chance to spend more time with Shifu, uninterrupted time, who was growing like a weed. It would be time for Sha're to meet the son whom she had not seen since he was a newborn. And now he's almost … a year-and-a-half by earth-measurements. She had missed so much. Some missed chances could not be made up, but new memories could be forged.

The mental scars that Sha're and Skaara faced from their captivity were deep, but now they were free and safe, and it might take years, but one day the scars would (hopefully) heal.


For Daniel, being on Abydos felt like coming home. It was complicated for him having multiple places that he considered home simultaneously, but his life was … unusual. Abydos had been his home for one of the best years of his life, especially considering what it preceded, and in many ways, he had felt more connected to that planet as a home than he had to earth. His family had died when he was a child—that memory of his parents, the one he had had to relive over and over and over in the Gatekeeper's pod was also one he wished that he did not remember quite so clearly—and his grandfather had rejected him, refusing to adopt him and thus abandoning him to the mercies of the foster care system.

His friends and colleagues at university had thought his theories about redating the pyramids were nuts (and that he was kinda nuts, as well), and by the time Catherine had recruited him for the Stargate Program, he had had no money and no home. All of his worldly goods had fit in a single bag. After returning from Abydos, he had enjoyed his time with SG1, had been friends with all of his teammates, but there had always been friction between him and Jack, despite their time on the first mission to Abydos, because of their widely different viewpoints and approaches to their missions. Those differences had spawned hard feelings and vicious arguments more than once. And Daniel had struggled to find his place on earth … again, to feel like he actually belonged there at the SGC, especially after missions where weapons and advanced technology were the be-all and end-all.

Daniel had been rather transient on earth, and that, he figured, had played a role in how much more attached he now was to Abydos and Uslisgas. There, he had found the family and the friends whom he had always struggled to find on earth. And yet, now, Daniel felt torn, his ties pulling him this way and that between the two planets. As generous as Sujanha's offer to let Sha're and Shifu move into her house had been, it was a decision that could only be made jointly with Sha're. Would she want to leave to Abydos, the only home that she had ever known? Would she want to live on a planet like Uslisgas, which was not a desert world? Though I'm sure Apophis' worlds weren't all sun and sands. Would she be even comfortable living in the same house as Malek, feeling her presence anytime Sujanha-Malek were at home, after Amaunet?

That would be a long conversation … for later. Sha're had not even met Sujanha yet, and the housing offer … and Malek … had not been a conversation for those first few recovery days. That would be a conversation for later.


Going home.

Those words were so simple. The action was comparatively simple in some ways.

And yet … sometimes going home was not so simple. Sometimes, after a long absence, home was not the same as it had been when you departed, not the same as how you remembered it. Other times … home was the same, but you were not the same, and that complicated the homecoming just as much.

For Daniel, coming home—coming back to Abydos—was simple.

For Sha're and Skaara, it quickly proved to not be quite so simple. (Even for Sha're, who had spent those couple of months on Abydos during her pregnancy, though much of that had been spent in quiet and isolation in her father's 'house'.)

There was the pained shadow in Skaara's eye as they stepped through the Stargate and he saw the gateroom, his last memory of which had been that desperate fight against Apophis and his Jaffa.

There were the cringes and flinches at sharp, unexpected movements or sudden noises behind their backs and Skaara's desire to never have his back to a door, a harder prospect with a tent whose 'canvas' could be slit with a sharp knife.

There was the utter devastation in Sha're's face when she saw Shifu again … a babbling, toddling, bright-eyed little boy and not the babe in arms that she remembered. The pictures that Daniel had shown her and the stories that he had told her were one thing. Actually seeing the change with her own eyes … having it hit home how much she has missed … proved quite another for Sha're. He would reach out for Daniel, whom he recognized, and call out happily for his father, but his mother … Shifu did not recognize Sha're despite Daniel's best attempts to show his son his only picture of her. If he had not been such a happy child, willing to be held even by strangers, their first meeting would have been even harder.

Then there were the childhood friends and companions who had passed these years in peace and the gulf that had formed because of the differences in experiences. It was not even necessary any longer to keep a constant guard upon the Stargate!

Then there were the night terrors that sometimes left them screaming in their sleep, sometimes in Abydonian, sometimes in Goa'uld, that sometimes left them starting awake, cringing away from the kindly hands that tried to wake them.

Abydos was still home, but Sha're and Skaara were not the same people who had been taken away those years ago.

(They had been, essentially, POWs for years … held in conditions worse in many ways than what Jack might have seen during his Black Ops days.)

And mental scars … those took much longer to heal than physical injuries.


While their homecoming, at first, had not been all that they might have hoped, Sha're and Skaara slowly settled back into daily life on Abydos. Life was not all hunky-dory, but they began to readjust to some semblance of life as it had once been, sun, sand, 36-hour days, and all. While still twitchy, Skaara began to seem less like he was about to jump out of his skin, and Sha're threw herself into her new role as a mother and not just to distract herself from her non-reptilian demons or to make up for lost time.

After they had been back on Abydos for 10 days (by Furling measurements) or about 7 days by the longer Abydonian measurements, Daniel finally found a chance to broach the topic with his wife about where to make their (for the moment, at least) permanent residence: Abydos or Uslisgas. With the Stargate, it was easy to travel from Uslisgas to Abydos to visit family, but with the travel time from the village to the pyramid and with the time difference between the planets, commuting from one galaxy to another to keep working for Sujanha would not work so well, Daniel figured. He felt torn between the two sides of his life, but he wanted what would be best for Sha're and Shifu, most of all.

It was late one evening after the evening meal. The suns had long since set, and the stars were shining brightly outside in a nearly cloudless sky. The heat of the day had faded with the setting suns, and the night chill of the desert was upon them. Within their tent, however, the fire burned brightly and warm, and there were animal skins and woven blankets to keep off the remaining chill. Daniel could still hear the drifting sounds of laughter and singing and music from elsewhere in the village where the evening festivities were still lasting into the night. There were no creaking floor-boards to step on to accidentally wake their baby who had just gone to sleep here on Abydos, but it had still taken him three times to actually get Shifu down to sleep and get him to stay asleep before he could return to the fire and to Sha're.

"You are quiet tonight, my Dan'yel," said Sha're. Kasuf's daughter had always been sharp-eyed and keen-minded, but Daniel's face was expressive, and it took little effort to read his moods and thoughts off his face like words out of a book.

Daniel shot her a quiet smile, his eyes flickering back between her beautiful face and the glowing embers in the hearth. "Just thinking," he murmured.

"About?" Sha're asked, her skirts rustling in the quiet as she shifted. "If you can speak of it." Daniel had told her some about the work he had been doing for Sujanha, and Sha're knew that there were some issues about which he could not speak.

This isn't fleet business.

Or anything like that.

"About home," Daniel replied softly, wary of waking Shifu, who was sleeping nearby. Let third time stay the charm. "About where we should make our home. Abydos or Uslisgas, since earth is lost to me for now." The story of the Tollan and his exile from earth had been one that he had recounted to her several days earlier. Sha're's eyes had flashed fire, and her words about Maybourne, about the president, about the possible fate of the Tollan had been razor sharp. Sometimes these days she was a little warier, a little jumpier, a little quieter, but what she had suffered at Amaunet's hands had not extinguished the fire of her spirit that had burned in her heart since before the days she had helped lead the rebellion against Ra.

"Where do you want to make our home?" She asked. There was a time for soft honeyed words and a time for bluntness. Somewhat shy and quiet, Sha're sometimes was in public, but not so much in private, not for a long time, their first meeting being a great exception. She was a woman, but much could be learned among the elder women of the villages of Abydos, and Sha're knew how to lead and how to advise. The influence of those who worked in the background could have great power of its own.

Daniel gave a quiet snort. "I want both, but I can't have both, not really, and not right now. But it's not all about what I want, either." It was not possible to have absolutely everything that one wanted in life. Life didn't work like that.

You deserve to have Abydos again … after everything the Goa'uld took from you, from us.

Abydos was home, but so was Uslisgas now. He had quickly become accustomed to his life among the Furlings. He enjoyed his work with Sujanha. He liked her. She and Ruarc and Ragnar and Jaax and Asik and the others, they were all his friends. He felt torn between his two homes. In peacetime, it would be possible with the Stargate to travel back and forth, but Sujanha and her bodyguards and aids were so often absent from Uslisgas, gone more often than not. Reaching them when he was on shift, tracking them down could be complicated. But what about Sujanha? How would she handle the change? She needs me. Or did he want to be needed?

I think I want to stay on Uslisgas for now. But it wasn't all about what he wanted.

"As long as I am with you and we have our son with us, I am content," Sha're said simply. "And if we go to Us-lis-gas, we could return to visit my brother and father, yes?"

Daniel nodded. "The Furlings set protections over the Stargate and over Abydos itself. No Goa'uld can harm us here. It's always safe to return."

"There is work to be done, yet. The demons are not all defeated. My demon is gone, but others remain. And you are helping Commander Su-jan-ha with this fight. You could not just leave, yes?" Sha're asked, stumbling slightly on the less familiar Furling words.

Welllll …

"Sujanha would need to find a replacement for me, but she would release me from her service if I asked. Trying to find a way to find you, to free you from Amaunet, was one of the main reasons I left the Nox and came here … there … to the Furlings in the first place. Sujanha understands that." This wouldn't be a great time for me to leave, I think, with what's going on, but … "No one would force me to stay."

"If there is work still to be done to defeat the demons, then you should … we should … return there," Sha're said simply, "if there is space for all of us."

Now the tricky part …

Daniel bit his lip and removed his glasses to mindlessly clean them to give him a second to think. "The Furlings pay me well. I could easily find a place for all three of us to live separately. I told you before that I've been staying with Sujanha since I came to Uslisgas…."

Sha're nodded.

"The first night after you were freed, Sujanha came to check on you, us. She offered that, if we wanted to stay on Uslisgas, that all three of us could stay at her home. There's plenty of space for you in my room, and there's a spare room that can be modified for Shifu. Sujanha's often gone anyway with the war and all."

Sha're brow furrowed, and she was quiet for several minutes. "Why?"

Daniel gave a sad half-smile. "Why? I can't say for sure, but I think she's lonely. Most of her family died during the Furling's … last war, and being Supreme Commander is a heavy burden. It's not conducive to having friends … subordinates, yes. Friends, not so much. She likes having me there. She's good company, rather quiet, good natured. It's an older house but has everything we would need. It's within walking distance of the city, but it's out in the countryside and has a nice garden with all sorts of colorful flowers."

"That was kind of her. I remember her … She came once or twice to my cell and after they took the demon away. She always seemed kindly but … distant."

I hadn't known she'd come by. I must have just missed her, since I was never gone that long.

Physically or otherwise? She was probably keeping her distance because of Malek.

Daniel nodded. "Sujanha has … a lot on her mind. It's not always being Supreme Commander … especially politically."

Sha're's gaze sharpened. The specifics of politics varied by world and form of government, but political problems and squabbling leaders were a constant. Given Kasuf's position, Sha're was no stranger to this. Many would talk, overlooking a quiet woman in the background.

"But that does raise one issue you need to know about before you decide whether you would like us to stay with her or not…"

His wife gave him an inquisitive, puzzled look.

"The main reason that Sujanha would have kept her distance recently when visiting you is because … she is Tok'ra. She has a symbiote, whose name is Malek. Sujanha saved her life after her previous host was mortally injured in an earthquake some … moons ago. Sujanha did not want you to feel her symbiote and …" freak out "be frightened or worried." That needs a little warning first.

Sha're was silent, so Daniel continued. "After everything that happened with you and Skaara, it was hard for me to be around the Tok'ra at first, but I have some good friends among them now. Malek … can take a little getting used to, personality wise, but she's … a good person, loyal, smart, canny … She looks after Sujanha, who … really needs someone to."

A lot of someones, some days.

"The Tok'ra helped save me from Amaunet. They helped save my son," Sha're said softly. "I cannot live in the past. They are not like my demon. As long as I know before I meet them, that is enough."

"Are you sure? I want this to be as much your decision as mine."

"Yes."

Sujanha's it was then.


On the fourth of Vekix, Daniel, Sha're, and Shifu left Abydos for Uslisgas. Though the Furlings would have allowed him to remain in Asteria and build a new life there if he had wished, Skaara remained on Abydos among his people, hoping to rebuild his former life there. Daniel was pleased that he was going to get what seemed like to him as the best of both worlds, literally and figuratively, as the saying went: his family whole again and his continued presence on Uslisgas with Sujanha and the others. There would be many visits to Abydos in the future, though. Both Sha're and Daniel were determined that their son would not grow up totally separated from Abydos, which was such a vital part of his heritage and culture, just because they lived on Uslisgas. Quick travel through the Stargate made that possible.

For now, as they stepped through the Stargate, life seemed good. Sha're was free and safe. Shifu was free of the weight of his status as Harcesis with the hunted-status and possible madness that came with the genetic knowledge of all the Goa'uld. They were together again, and they were a family. There would be setbacks in the future, adjustments, difficulties, along with plenty of culture-shock and adjustments for Sha're, especially, but for now life was good.

One of those adjustments made itself known as soon as the three emerged through the Stargate on the citadel of Uslisgas. Sha're craned her head back, gently bouncing Shifu in her arms to readjust his weight, as she looked around the great hall with wide eyes. The sheer size of the hall combined with the majesty and solemn grandeur of the statues of heroes past made an impact that all the overdone gaudiness of Goa'uld architecture could not match.

Then Sha're looked around … closer to floor level … and started violently, which roused a startled cry out of Shifu. Daniel's head snapped around—his attention had been drawn away from them for a few moments as he set down their couple of bags long enough to send a message to Sujanha about their arrival—to see what was wrong. Nothing looked out of the ordinary to him. There were some other people farther down the hall … a couple of Furlings—with his eyes, it was hard to tell whether they were Maskilim or Sukkim—a Dovahkiin soldier and an Iprysh, talking at the base of one of the statues; and much closer … a Vos-Mell.

That's it, I'm guessing. Abydos had larger predators of its own, including desert creatures of the feline variety. There were, however, few remaining races in the Milky-Way as visibly different as the Furlings and their allies were, save for the Ohnes and the Asgard, whom Sha're had never met. Or the Dovahkiin.

Is that Long Claw? Maybe.

Sha're edged closer to him, her eyes fixed unsurprisingly on the polar-bear-sized tiger. They scared the dickens out of me at first, too. "Is it dangerous? It will not attack us, will it?"

"No, of course, not!" Daniel quickly reassured her. "That is one of the Vos-Mell, a race allied to the Furlings. They wouldn't hurt anyone." Well, anyone here. The Goa'uld, sure, especially if that is Long-Claw. Anyone who messed with Anarr … well, that would probably be the last mistake they ever made in this life.

Together, Daniel and Sha're, still carrying Shifu, made their way outside, leaving the others in the hall to their travels or their contemplations of the past. The system of checks and passwords that protected access to and from the Stargate was something that he could explain to her later. Spring had transitioned into summer in their absence, and the sun was shining brightly over the capital city as they emerged outside. Daniel wished idly for a pair of sunglasses, but Sha're seemed to luxuriate in the bright warmth. Abydos is warmer, but this is a warm day for here.

"It is warmer," Sha're noted, studying their surroundings with keen eyes as she did so. The last chill of late spring had still been clinging to the weather by its fingertips around the time they left. At least, it wasn't cold and rainy. That would have been harder for her to face.

"It's summer now here," Daniel replied, "though it doesn't usually get much warmer than this … at least while I've been here." Weather would be another adjustment for Sha're, though not as bad as it would have been if she had never lived off Abydos before.


Daniel deliberately beamed them to a spot just a little way from the house so that Sha're could see more of the countryside and the area around the house as they walked up the street and then up the stone walk to the house. The flowers in the garden were in full bloom, and their rich scent filled the area and nearly made Daniel start sneezing.

Sha're seemed rather nervous at the prospect of really meeting Sujanha for the first time, and Shifu was getting a little fussy, picking up on her nerves. Daniel had long ago gotten over any nerves in Sujanha's presence, but he did readily acknowledge that the Supreme Commander could be somewhat intimidating, mainly when she wanted to be. For annoying politicians. I wonder how Janth is doing these days. He's sure not winning any popularity contests after that stunt he pulled, calling the vote. That backfired on him.

The front door slid open automatically as they approached, which made Sha're start slightly. Shifu was just looking around with wide eyes at all the unfamiliar sights. Daniel set their bags down in the front hall, urging his wife far enough forward that the door could slide shut behind them. The house was quiet. Where was Sujanha?

A few seconds later, there was a deliberately loud noise from the back of the house, and Sujanha appeared a few seconds later from the direction of her library. She looks well. She was moving easily … but slowly and stopped just within symbiote-detection range. That could tell by Sha're's resulting shiver. For a moment, no one spoke.

It was Shifu who broke the silence and the hint of tension first.

After she had come to earth and the situation with Nirrti's bio-weapon had been resolved, Janet and SG1 had taken Cassandra out to the park, and Jack had arrived with a new little doggy for the girl. He had told her that there was a rule on earth that all kids had to have a dog. Shifu was much too young for a dog, especially when the responsibility for taking care of it would have been dumped on Kasuf or others in the village. On one of his visits several months earlier, Daniel had, instead, brought his son a small stuffed animal that he had brought in the Great Market. The stuffed animal had quickly become one of Shifu's most favorite toys, but it had only been much later that the toy's resemblance to Sujanha registered with Daniel.

The little boy must have thought that his favorite toy had suddenly appeared in gigantic form, for his little face lit up like a beacon, and he leaned out of Sha're's arms, crying out "Baba," which was what the toy was called.

For a moment, Sujanha looked utterly dumbfounded, and Daniel pressed one hand across his mouth to try to hold back the laughter that was bubbling up in his chest.

Sha're began to smile softly as she tried to keep Shifu from tumbling out of her arms in his attempt to reach "Baba"-personified.

"Well," said Sujanha dryly but with fond amusement, "that is different from how I'm usually greeted."

Now Daniel did laugh.


There were adjustments for Daniel, too. Having Sha're and Shifu with him seemed normal now, but slotting them into his routines on Uslisgas—waking up with her beside him and reminding himself that this was real—was different. The biggest change for Daniel, however, came not at home, but at headquarters. A couple of days after their return to Uslisgas, on his first day back at work—Sujanha was largely remaining in Asteria due to the grounding of much of the fleet—Daniel was flabbergasted to see Ragnar, but not Ruarc, for the entire day. The two brothers were not joined at the hip, but seeing them apart for such a stretch of time was unusual and jarring. Daniel had wondered on multiple occasions during his time on Abydos how his friend, who had done so much for him during his early days with the Furlings, was doing.

The answer was, unfortunately, not well.

Still struggling in the aftermath of the Diagoth disaster, Ruarc had taken an indefinite leave of absence to deal with … whatever was going on … and get his head back on straight. That was the sense that Daniel had gotten from Ragnar's explanation, though he had not put those thoughts into so many words. Ruarc had lost someone close aboard the Diagoth, though who exactly was never specified. Ragnar may not know. When Ruarc's struggles had begun to affect his work, he had been forced to make the hard decision to temporarily leave his position for his own good and for the good of Sujanha, whom he was sworn to protect.

Distracted bodyguards … that could end badly.

Poor Ruarc … I wish there was some way I could help.

Vylt Arvahrel, an Iprysh warrior and member of the Imperial Guard, had been assigned as Sujanha's second bodyguard during Daniel's absence. Like Ruarc, he was quiet, but it was not the same comfortable, natural silence. The interesting thing about Vylt, however, was his armor. Most Iprysh had heavy-duty armor that seemed fitting for front-line shock troops. Vylt, however, had been a scout, and his armor was lighter and more streamlined and sometimes seemed to even change color. How does that work? The other notable thing was the small markings that dotted several spots on his armor. Clan markings? Unit insignia? (There was so much that he did not know about the Iprysh.) Daniel was very curious and had made a mental note to talk to Vylt … after he had spoken with Ragnar to ensure that asking such questions would not be (a) offensive or (b) forbidden for some reason.

It was a question that he would have asked Ruarc once upon a time.

But Ruarc wasn't there.


Shifu's enthusiastic greeting towards Sujanha that first day had broken any tension there might have been otherwise, and Daniel and Sha're quickly settled into new routines in their new home and in the city. Community with one's family, whether close and extended, and the sense of belonging that came from being part of such a group had been a major aspect of village life on Abydos. The fact that Sujanha obviously lacked that—or would, without them—coupled with the melancholy fondness with which she watched them sometimes, a look that she was not as good as hiding as she thought she was—made Daniel feel sad and moved Sha're to pity. His wife had a kind heart and thriving protective instincts, and as they would soon find out, even Sujanha could become subject to Sha're's maternal fussing.

"Is Sujanha ill?" Sha're asked Daniel one night as they were lying in bed going to sleep five days after their return to Uslisgas.

That depends on what you mean by ill …

Daniel rolled onto his side, facing his wife. With the lights off and his glasses off, sitting on the bedside table, he could just make out the fuzzy outline of her form on the other side of the bed. "Is she sick right now, no, but I don't think that is what you're asking."

"She barely eats." Sha're's frown was almost audible. "She picks at her food like a child. She holds herself stiffly. Every move she makes … it is like my father's father when he became old … every step requires thought. Her … hands … shakes." Her paws, yeah.

Sujanha's good at hiding things … sometimes.

But when you're around her enough, it's really obvious. An open secret. Though, granted, at home, she was not bothering to try to conceal the symptoms.

Daniel thought for a moment about how best to explain in brief. It was too late for a long explanation. "Many, many years ago, Sujanha was betrayed and poisoned. She nearly died and never fully recovered. Her right side is weaker, and she is often in pain. It takes away her appetite, so she mainly just eats the same things over and over. She knows what won't make her feel sick," Daniel replied softly. "But do not speak of this outside the house. It is known but not spoken of."

"Maybe if she had real food … Did you know there are no cooking things and nothing to cook in this entire house?" Sha're seemed horrified at the very thought.

"We are gone a lot of the time and home at uncertain intervals," Daniel explained. "Even with the frid … the cold box … it's hard to keep food from going bad. I am not even sure whether Sujanha knows how to cook. She gets food deliveries and has since before I arrived, and that's … just how we kept on doing things." Food deliveries, fridges, and Furling 'grocery stores' were being or were going to be an adjustment all of their own for Sha're, used to Abydonian ways of gathering, storing, and preparing food. At least the 'farmers' markets' had near enough equivalents on Abydos.

"You have been eating this … delivered … food all this time?" There was almost a note of horror in Sha're's voice.

"Yeah?"


When it came to marriage, there were times that it was wise for a husband to shut up and say the equivalent of "Yes, dear." After the revelation that Daniel and Sujanha had not been eating home-cooked food, Sha're had decided that both her husband and Sujanha, for that matter, definitely needed looking after, especially in terms of food, not that the stuff Sujanha had delivered tasted anything like the frozen food or the takeout that he had bought on earth … more than a few times. When Sha're raised the change at dinner the next night, as an almost done-deal after discussions with Daniel during the day about how cooking might need to be adapted to Sujanha's needs, Sujanha was almost too flabbergasted to even oppose the idea. The only thing on which Sujanha would later put her proverbial foot down was that any money for groceries or cooking equipment could come out of her bank-accounts, not Daniel.

Making food and haggling for supplies was not something Sha're was a stranger to, and quite quickly, Sha're was set loose on the 'farmer's markets' and the 'grocery stores' of Uslisgas. Daniel was not sure whether he should laugh or feel sorry for the merchants.