Disclaimer: I do not own Highlander Davis/Panzer does, this story is only written for fun and enjoyment not for profit. Rated M for language and mature situations.
I want to thank my Beta reader R.J. Bingham. Please go and read R.J. Bingham's Fan-fictions, they are all well written and very enjoyable.
Chapter 11
Cassandra's Life after the Horsemen
After Gwen got how from the Sea Horse Inn she found Duncan and Cassandra to help get the still sleeping Mr. Dawson out of the car. Gwen did not mention her run in with Methos not wanting to cause a problem with Cassie. Duncan was more than helpful tucking his old friend Joe in to bed. Gwen thanked him and then Cassie and Duncan went downstairs to their room, with him still pressing Cassie her for the dirt on what was the history between Gwen and herself. After Duncan and she had settled in for the night Cassandra finally began telling Duncan the story of how she and Gwen met.
FLASHBACK to 975 BC
I was called Zhandra in those days. I had been wandering in the desert for weeks, thirst and huger had taken my life many times. When suddenly I felt the strange feeling that I only felt when the horsemen were near, panicking, there was no were to hide. I looked up to see several riders coming towards me, but they did not look like the horsemen. One was a small woman, followed by two large stronger men both dressed in white desert garb. I was too weak to run as the women jumped off her horse and ran to my side. The woman had fair skin and red hair and looked very different from any other women I had ever seen. She held me in her arms and offered me water but only sips and commanded the men to pick me up and take me with then. I was so weak I only could give out some faint cries of distress before falling into another blissful death.
When I awoke again I was lying on a bed of soft animal skins and was washed and had clean clothes on. Beside me was a bowl of fresh fruit and a bowl of clean water. For the first time in my life I wasn't in a tent but a house; with the window's open and a soft breeze blowing through them. The room did not have many furnishings except the bed and a table with two chairs. But somehow the room was warm and cozy with a fireplace burning keeping the desert chill away. Someone had rubbed my skin with scented oil and had combed out my hair. I sat up and looked around, a servant girl who was waiting at the door ran to tell her mistress that I was awake. A moment later the red haired women from the desert, who was now dressed in fine silks walked into the room and I felt the pain in my head as I always did when the horsemen were near.
"I am Gwenan, by what name are you called? Do you know what you are, do you know we are sisters?" She said in many languages until Gwenan found one I understood.
"I am Zhandra, all my people are dead, killed by the horsemen, I have no sisters, I do not understand what you are saying."
"Zhandra" Gwenan said as she moved closer. "We are sisters because we are alike, we are both immortal, we can not die unless our heads are cut off from our bodies. We do not age, and heal from all injuries, and we can not bear children. Have you met others of our kind, the horsemen perhaps, for they too are immortals like us."
"Methos, and Kronos, kept me captive killed me, raped me made me their slave, but never said I was like them. Cutting their head off is the only way to kill them? They and the others killed my people and held me captive, until I escaped from them, and I have wandered this desert since that day, why have you shown me kindness?" Zhandra said.
Gwenan took a deep breath, and closed her eyes as a tear ran down her cheek. "Zhandra we are sisters, it is custom among our kind that when we find a young immortal, an older immortal as myself offers to teach the younger one our ways. You will need to learn how to wield a sword, but in you I sense a magic power I have not sensed in any other immortal other than myself. You must have noticed you felt a strange feeling when I came in the room – well that is how we sense one another. I am sure you felt it around the horsemen too. Zhandra stay with me and I will not only teach you to use a sword but to harness this magic inside of yourself, have you taken a quickening yet?"
"I have felt that headache or buzz around the horsemen and around you and several other men here in your city. Why would you want to show kindness to me when you surely know the horsemen, why are you not like them?"
"I am not like the horsemen, Yes, I know them but I am older than Kronos and almost as old as Methos I have lived over 1500 years. I too know what it is to live as a captive I lived my first over 400 years as an immortal and a slave. If not for the kindness of another older immortal such as myself I might have died never having a teacher. So Zhandra I do understand your pain, although you carry much too heavy a burden for the 20 years or so you have suffered at the hands of the horsemen. You must learn to let go of your pain and live in the now."
"I will never forgive them for what they did"
"Well, we will talk of this later, but now I must ask you if you know of the power of the quickening?" Gwenan asked me.
"NO" I told her I had never heard of a quickening nor even what it was.
So Gwenan told me to come and follow her. "It is time for you to taste your first quickening, this, man here in the square in chains betrayed me. He tried to kill me and steal from me, he is one of us an immortal. I was going to use him for practice myself but you need healing and understanding of what you are so Zhandra. I give you the honor of taking his head."
I looked at Gwenan with surprise and horror in my face. "How can I do this I have nothing again this man?" I did not understand what she was talking about.
Gwenan took my face in her hands and said. "He has scouted for the horsemen; tell her Yeadon, you have worked with Kronos, and you were sent to look for her. When that seemed impossible you came to my kingdom to gather information you were going to take back to Kronos. Tell her!"
Yeadon spoke, "yes I was looking for you Zhandra to bring you back to Kronos, he had ordered it or he was going to kill me."
Anger built up in me just the thought that Kronos was looking for me trying to get me back filled me with such rage. I ran toward Yeadon, and beat him with my hands. Then Gwenan handed her sword to me, and said. "Cut clean at his neck and sever his head, and gather your first revenge against Kronos."
I picked up the sword, it was heavy and I barely had the strength to swing it but swing it I did and cut Yeadon's head off. It took a moment and all in the square knew to move away but the lighting struck me for the first time and the quickening wrapped around me like a warm blanket filling my soul.
Later I awoke again in my room with a maiden at my side, she again ran for the mistress, and Gwenan came.
"How are you feeling Zhandra?"
"Strange." I said.
Gwenan laughed. "Well that's normal, this was my gift to you but never again, you must earn your own quickening from now on, and do not think that it will be easy, we women have to fight just as hard as any man, but as I said I think you have magic like I do so it will prove to be a great advantage to you in time."
"What magic do you have?" I asked my new teacher.
"All in good time Zhandra now rest you are safe here, these are my people, to these people I am their Goddess because I protect them, and no one will harm you either, as long as you listen to me and learn. You have sanctuary here and not even the four horsemen can touch you under my sanctuary."
"How can that be?" They are all powerful." I was still afraid the horsemen would come and take me.
"They are not all powerful with me Zhandra, Kronos will not dare strike at me, and Methos will not want to, and those two control the others. We are quite safe from the horsemen."
"You know them well then, but how? Zhandra asked.
"You ask too many question girl, all will be revealed in time, just know you are safe just know I have made a deal with the devil, so Kronos will not dare to strike at me, or my people and if he does I will kill him for he knows I am more powerful than he is."
"But what of Methos he is as evil as his brother."
"I know you have pain girl, and what Methos did to you was wrong, but he is not evil, but surrounded by evil. I will not try to convince you or tell you tales of the man I know as Methos, who I knew from another time who was so different from the Methos you knew. For I see in your heart the pain is too fresh and so please we shall not speak of the horsemen again. There is much to learn and much to do Zhandra and a new life to start. Agreed?"
"Agreed Gwenan, I want this new life you speak of and this sisterhood," and we embraced and started a new path in my life.
Back at Gwen house 2002
"Duncan I tried many times to get Gwen to reveal her connection to the horsemen but every time I did she would only have tears in her eyes and tell me we agreed to never speak of them again and held me to my vow." Cassandra asked MacLeod. "Duncan do you know what Kronos and Methos did to her, or why speaking of them always made her so sad?"
"I can't tell you Cassie, It's not mine to tell, I don't know the history between her and Kronos, But you need to ask her yourself again about Methos, all I can say is it's not my place to tell you." Mac said softly.
"But you know Methos well yourself, well enough to have me spare his life."
"Cassie it's none of my business, and besides Gwen is marrying Joe in a few days, what is between her and Methos doesn't matter any more, it ended over 2000 years ago"
"I know you Duncan MacLeod, and it sounds like you think they were lovers. Please tell me because I have asked her thousands of times and she simply refused to say and often cried, and that would make the only sense."
"I said you need to speak to Gwen about this and you will not like the answer she will give you either. But it's her wedding and not the time to bring up old memories and spoil it for Joe either."
"So you tell me Duncan because I see you know."
"Cassandra Methos was her first teacher; Methos bought her in a slave market and freed her from a life of terrible bondage. Methos taught her the rules of the game, and later became her lover. They were lovers on and off again for 2000 years. I guess even during the years he was a horseman, until he thought she died around 18 BC. But she didn't die but was trapped in a tomb in Gaul until 1915 when German bombs opened it. About seven year ago they saw each other again, on two occasions, it was like fire and ice, and they parted ways I guess for good this time since Gwen is marrying Joe."
"They were lovers even during the years he was a horseman! How could she have betrayed me like that after she knew what Methos did to me and my people?"
"Cassie she loved him, more than any of us can ever understand, I shouldn't have told you. Methos saved her from a fate worst than death, she never spoke about her early life as an immortal to you?"
"Not really just that she understood what I had been through."
"I don't know how many years the horsemen had you but I am sure it was nothing to compare with Gwen's experiences."
"Duncan tell me, she never will you know that, how do you know?"
"Joe told me, I guess he had to confide in someone, it's a terrible tale and then I asked Connor if it was all true and he said yes but really much worse than she told Joe, because she didn't want to burden Joe with all that pain. Gwen is a good person she loves Joe too much to put him through all that, if he knew the truth it would be a devastating burden for him to have to carry."
"I don't understand Duncan?" Cassie asked with her eyes open wide.
"All I can say is Gwen was sold into a brothel as a whore by her own husband after he discovered she was immortal. She was beaten raped on a daily basis and killed so many more times than she will ever admit to. Forced to have sex with drunken men who beat her afterwards. Forced to do all sorts of hideous acts because she was a whore and a slave that her owner knew could not die. Connor once said they saved the more difficult clients for her knowing in the mornings light she would be healed of what ever damage they had done to her. Immortals came after her and she took 20 heads while still a slave in the brothels. This went on for over 450 years until Methos saved her. So Cassandra as much as you hate Methos for what he did to you, Gwen loves him for what he did for her. All the time she trained you she hid that from you because she loved you too. I can't image how difficult it was for her having you curse Methos constantly ignoring it completely for your sake. While at the same time in her heart she pined away for the self same man you were cursing. Then sometimes she'd sneak off and have lover rendezvous with him then returned to ignore what you said and put up with you cursing him and never saying a word to you."
"I don't believe it Duncan, why would she have not told me any of this?"
"Casey you were her student and she loved you and wanted to protect you, that's why. You want to know how could she have live with such a contradiction? If you knew the truth would you still have trust in Gwen? You also said she taught you magic too? Gwen is one of the only immortals besides you who is a witch with the magic like you have. Yea your magic is different but still what other immortal could teach you in that way and she knew that too. Damn it Cassie I should have kept my mouth shut, because now I have two women angry at me."
"I am not angry at you Duncan, but I do have to talk to Gwen and find out answers. Do you know the connection between her and Kronos?"
"No and I couldn't say if I did, I only told you because Methos is my friend, and maybe he did wrong in the past, but haven't we all. Maybe he did some good things too. I am not saying I understand or defend what he did to you but that's thousands of years ago. But he helped Gwen and she blames Kronos for his change, actually she hated Kronos for just about everything. I don't know why maybe you should ask her. Now I am going to sleep are you going to or not?"
"Not, I'm going to see if anyone is up in the house."
"Its 2 am good night Cassandra."
Then Cassandra put on her robe and walked out to see what was happening in the house, as soon, as she left her room she felt other immortals moving about. She waited for the elevator to go up stairs and see who was awake.
End chapter 11
Chapter 12
A visit from Methos and the truth about Kronos revealed