All right, we're getting closer. Sorry it took so long, I didn't get a chance to sit down and edit until today. Thanks for all the great reviews and encouragment I've received so far! Happy reading, and keep up the reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the movie and/or video game.

Chapter 12:

Tamina woke up to an empty bed for the second morning in a row. She grasped at the cold sheets under her fingers knowing exactly where Dastan was despite all of her attempts to dissuade him. The faint sound of men yelling orders drifted through the open window and, while Tamina understood the need for discipline and training with the upcoming battle, she still wished she had at least been able to say goodbye to Dastan before he took off.

She took a deep breath and pulled herself out of bed. She quickly dressed without her attendants and made her way to the High Temple for her morning rituals. Before she reached the temple, a Persian courier met her just outside the door and bowed respectfully.

"Excuse me for disturbing Your Highness, but Prince Dastan has requested your presence this afternoon in the throne room," the man said.

"Did he?" Tamina answered. "Did he explain the reason for this request?"

"No, Your Highness. But I believe that he and their royal Highnesses Prince Tus and Prince Garsiv have initiated the final phases for the training. I expect that the entire army will be released from active duties for today as soon as they have completed today's tasks."

"Thank you," she said with a small nod of her head. The man bowed and walked back down the corridor.

"Princess?" Siriah said as she stood in the open doorway.

"Yes, we will start with the blessings," Tamina answered as she walked through the temple door.

Dastan was waiting impatiently for Tamina to meet him in the throne room. The courier he had sent said that she had agreed to meet him, yet he had been standing in their meeting spot for almost an hour. He was counting the number of stones in the wall opposite him when he finally heard her voice.

"You must be crazy," she said in a lighthearted tone. "That wall will not speak to you no matter how hard you stare at it."

Dastan turned to find his young wife staring at him with an amused smirk on her lips, eyebrow arched and arms folded gracefully across her chest.

"If you hadn't abandoned me to my solitude I wouldn't have had to resort to staring at walls," he replied with the same smirk.

"I believe you were the one who abandoned me early this morning. You only have yourself to blame," she countered as she approached him. He threw his hands up in defeat before wrapping them around Tamina's waist and pulling her toward him.

"It's not something I take any pleasure in," he leaned in to kiss her gently.

"At least say goodbye before you leave next time. Waking up to you missing is not something I want to become accustomed to."

"Believe me, it's not a practice I wish to repeat."

"Good," she smiled and kissed him again. "So what is this meeting about?"

"I was just coming to make sure you fulfilled your promise."

"And what promise was that pray tell?" Tamina asked hesitantly with her eyes narrowed.

"Your promise to take me on a tour of the palace," he smiled.

"I suppose I can take some time out of my day today to show you around," Tamina teased. "After all, you were so kind as to do the same."

Dastan ignored her comment and offered her his hand. She took it and they left to their first stop: the gardens.

"I had no idea the palace was this large; it doesn't seem as if it can hold all of these secret rooms and corridors," Dastan commented as he and Tamina walked through another corridor that looked identical to the one they had just left.

"The palace was designed to deceive those who are unfamiliar with it into thinking they know where they are going. As you get further and further from the main floors, the more intricate the passages become," Tamina explained. "Only the guardians can navigate the passages so easily without getting lost."

The two rounded another corridor and Dastan found himself back in familiar territory; the throne room.

"Is that a challenge?"

"No, just a fact," Tamina answered nonchalantly.

"Nothing is ever easy around here is it?" he asked Tamina. Tamina smiled and shook her head.

"Dastan, there is something I wanted to ask you. After all this is over with Kosh, can we talk about you becoming a Guardian? I understand that I am asking a lot from you, but I just want you to understand why I wish you to become chancellor."

Dastan thought for a long moment before he answered her.

"When the battle is over I will agree to talk with you about it. I still don't think anything will change my feelings on the matter, but I will listen."

"It's amazing to me how you become so unreasonable whenever the Dagger of Time is brought up," Tamina muttered under her breath.

"It seems perfectly reasonable to me," Dastan chimed in argumentatively.

Before Tamina could retort, the Royal Healer of Alamut walked in with his apprentice close behind him.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness," he said bowing to Tamina. "We were just on our way to find Prince Dastan and administer a tonic to him."

"He is right behind you," Tamina answered with a knowing smile on her face. Dastan grimaced as the healer set his eyes on him and walked over to him.

"Your Highness," he repeated with another low bow.

"Hello Sharim," Dastan said with an overly fake smile. "What nasty little concoction have you cooked up for me this time?" Tamina slapped his right arm as she came to his side.

"You shall be relieved to know that it was not I who made the tonic for you, but my apprentice. He is still young so he is more guided by his taste buds rather than his knowledge of herbs."

"That is a comfort," Dastan replied. "Where is your apprentice anyway? I should very much like to thank him."

The healer pointed to a rather short boy standing near the door who looked slightly nervous.

"That is not the same apprentice that was in my bedchamber a few days ago," Dastan noticed.

"No, Your Highness. That man is an apprentice healer of the Guardians. As Royal Healer I am charged with training all healers within the palace walls."

"The Guardian Healers travel with the Guardian of the Dagger," Tamina explained. "The Royal Healer has a duty to attend all members of the royal family so cannot always travel with the Guardian."

Dastan listened to all of this with an uneasy feeling. The man he had recognized but not placed the day he had initially recovered from his poison had been troubling him, though he was unsure why. He had seen him before and Dastan was afraid it wasn't under friendly terms. Then it clicked.

"Does he have access to the temple?" Dastan asked suddenly.

"Yes, all the Guardians do," Tamina answered puzzled as what that had to do with anything they had just been talking about.

"Guards!" Dastan yelled running toward the doors he and Tamina had just come through. "Guards! Get to the High Temple now!"

"Dastan what is going on?" Tamina asked as she ran to catch him.

"That apprentice is the spy who told Nizam about the dagger. My guess is he is still working for the Hassansins feeding them information."

"How do you know this? He hasn't done anything to trigger alarm within the Guardians," Tamina argued.

Dastan stopped and took a long deep breath. He turned to face Tamina who was standing a few paces behind him.

"A few minutes after Tus died before time was reset, you came in through the side window. One of the guards loyal to Nizam was dead on the steps and you noticed his hands had the same henna on them that the Guardians wear. I recognized him when he and Sharim were in the room after I woke but only just realized how I knew him."

"That can't be," Tamina breathed disbelievingly. "That would mean that we are—"

"No longer pure," Dastan finished for her. "We have to stop him before he can say anything else to the Hassansins."

"This way," Tamina answered quickly and determinedly.

Tamina maneuvered them through the passages without any problem. The guards Dastan had called for were waiting silently outside the door with weapons drawn. Dastan drew his sword as well and stepped to the front of the group. Tamina stepped up as well and took a sword from one of the men standing behind her.

"What are you doing?" Dastan whispered to her.

"I'm not going to stand here and wait for you," Tamina answered slightly insulted. "I am just as capable of defending myself as you are. Besides, it's my temple."

"Fine, but stay behind me," Dastan hissed as he pushed the door open and ran into the temple.

The room was quiet. Only the faint wisps of smoke from the incense that Tamina and the other Guardians had burned earlier that morning seemed to stir the silence. Dastan gestured for the guards to fan out and remain quiet. He grabbed Tamina's hand and pulled her along behind him despite her attempts to shake him off.

"There! By the window!" one of the men shouted. Dastan turned toward the open window behind the altar just in time to see a figure jump out of it.

He rushed to the window intending to follow the man, but Tamina's hand grabbed him around the waist to stop him. The scene below him explained her actions. The man had underestimated the jump to the adjacent roof and fallen into the courtyard below. Dastan knew instantly that the man was dead and, with him, whatever information he had about the Hassansins.

Tamina dropped her sword and let out a frustrated sigh before turning to leave the temple.

"Where are you going?" Dastan asked as he followed her.

"To tell your brothers that their plans may have been exposed and to summon the Guardians."

"Tamina, wait," Dastan tried as he turned her around to face him. When she looked at him, the countenance of the Princess of Alamut replaced the soft features of his wife. He understood at once that she had things to tend to and that interfering with her plans was not going to help her. He released her forearm; she spun on her heel and left the temple.

It took Dastan a little while to find his way back to the main floor of the palace. By the time he had realized he wasn't entirely sure how to get back, Tamina had disappeared from view. He wandered through the hallways becoming more and more frustrated before he finally ran into a servant who pointed him in the right direction.

He found his way to the room he, Tus and Garsiv had been using as a council room to strategize their battle. He noticed immediately that things had changed. There was urgency in the way every person in the room was moving. Tamina had obviously informed Tus and Garsiv already.

"Tus," Dastan called as he walked up to him. Tus looked up briefly from the scroll he was holding in his hands and immediately returned his focus to the document.

"Where have you been?" he asked distractedly. "Letting your wife take care of everything?"

"What's going on?" Dastan asked ignoring his brother's jibe.

"We're changing our plans a bit as a result of the return of the patrols and the conversation I have just had with Her Highness," Tus explained.

"What's changed?"

"We are going to evacuate the front half of the city to the back half of the city. Kosh is approaching from this direction," Tus started pointing at a spot on the scroll he held in his hands. "If we can keep the people as far away from the front line as possible, Garsiv and I think we should be able to limit the amount of chaos in the battle."

Dastan nodded his agreement and Tus continued.

"We also think that we should initiate your part in all this earlier than originally planned."

"How early?" Dastan asked.

"Tonight. The Alamutians said that there is a ridge here where you can hide until the attack." Tus pointed to the opposite side of the map.

Dastan clenched his jaw a little before he answered.

"All right. I will have my men ready to leave as soon as it is dark enough to leave unnoticed."

"You are still determined to do this?" Tus asked giving him his full attention for the first time. Dastan nodded his response. "You are a good man Dastan. Make sure you come find me after this mess is over with," Tus smiled as he clapped him on the shoulder.

Dastan returned the gesture and walked off to give the order. He knew that his men would not have a problem leaving ahead of schedule, but there was one person who would have a problem with it: Tamina.

After Dastan had given all the orders and ensured that all of his men were informed of the plan, he made his way back to his bedchambers. He knew that within the next few minutes, his wife was going to be upset with him and his resolve to follow through with his mission was going to be tested. He took a few deep breaths as he approached the doors and, with a rush of courage, he walked through them.

The room was quiet and he couldn't see Tamina anywhere.

"Tamina?" he asked the empty space. He checked all the rooms that broke off from the main chamber but didn't find her. He finally walked out onto the balcony after noticing that the curtains, which were usually shut to block out the intense light of sunset, were wide open.

"There you are," he said looking to his left.

Tamina was seated on the ground in front of one of the lounges using it as a backrest. Her posture was rigid and her legs were pulled up to her chest. She remained silent; she almost looked uncomfortable which was unusual.

"Why didn't you answer me?" Dastan tried again. Again, silence.

Dastan walked over to her and touched her shoulder gently. She jumped slightly when she felt his hand and looked up at him. Dastan was stunned at the look he saw.

Her eyes were bright with tears; the usually immaculate kohl that lined her eyes was smudged and leaving a trail down her cheeks. Dastan kneeled next to her, not breaking eye contact with her.

"What's wrong? You're trembling," he said as he reached out to cup her cheek with one hand and hold one of her smaller hands in his other.

She took in a shuddering breath with a half smile leaned into his palm. Dastan ran his thumb along the trail on her cheek soothingly.

"A prophecy has been set in motion today," Tamina whispered. "A prophecy that will end the need for the Guardians."

"That means you could be released from your duties as Priestess?" Dastan said trying to understand her sadness.

"No. It means I am to end the Guardians." Dastan's eyes widened but he remained silent. "The prophecy says 'The Guardians will come to ruin as nothing can last forever in peace. They will be betrayed by one of their own as discovered by the High Priestess and Guardian of the Dagger of Time. Duty and sacred law will demand her to return the dagger to the Gods, for man will have become so corrupt in that time that none will be worthy of their gift. Man will slowly fall further and further until they will be out of reach of redemption.'"

Dastan's jaw tightened as he pieced together what she was telling him. The man that had informed the Hassansins was a Guardian and had corrupted the purity of the Guardians. As Guardian of the Dagger, Tamina was expected to protect the dagger by taking it to the secret temple. Dastan's only experience with the secret temple answered how she was supposed to protect it; she was supposed to sacrifice herself by placing the dagger back in the stone.

"I was afraid something like this would happen," Tamina admitted breaking the silence that hung over them. "A conflict of interest between the duty to my faith and the duty to my heart."

"This can't be happening," Dastan breathed finally. He let go of Tamina's hand and got up. He slowly walked to the opposite side of the balcony and banged his hands angrily on the railing as he dropped his head.

"You just can't go to the temple. Stay away from it," Dastan said with finality.

"I can't just choose not to go," Tamina answered defensively. "Now that the Guardians have been compromised, the dagger is in even more danger than ever before. I don't have a choice."

"There is always a choice, Tamina."

"Funny how that argument didn't seem to cross your mind a few days ago."

"What are you talking about?" Dastan questioned.

"You chose to accept Tus' mission, Dastan. Even when you had the choice to decline," she countered using his own logic against him.

"That is completely different than this situation," Dastan exclaimed turning back to her.

"How so?" Tamina yelled turning her head for the first time to meet his gaze.

"Because I have a chance of coming back from my mission where as yours can only result in certain death."

Tamina felt the tears well in her eyes and she looked away again. Dastan regretted the words as soon they left his mouth and the sight of her reduced to tears again melted away the rest of his anger.

"I have been prepared for this day since the moment I could understand the importance of protecting the dagger. I was never meant to fall in love and now I see why. In order to perform my duties, I will have to break my own heart," Tamina whispered.

She folded her arms on top of her knees and dropped her head. Her shoulders shook softly as she sobbed.

There was no way around it. Tamina knew what was expected of her and she had to accept it as her destiny. The Guardians would end with her, the world would be safe and she and Dastan would be parted forever.

She only realized Dastan was still there when he had taken a seat next to her. Without a word, he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He traced her spine lightly with his calloused fingers and just held her.

Tamina looped an arm around his neck and clutched at his shirt with her other hand. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and cried. Dastan's arms pulled her tighter to his chest and he pressed his lips to her temple.

When she had exhausted all of her tears, Dastan broke the silence.

"Is there a time limit of some sort with this prophecy?" he asked quietly.

"Not that I am aware of; it just says that the Guardian has to return the dagger to the secret temple," she answered as her voice cracked. Tamina laid her head against his shoulder and listened to the soft, even breaths escaping his lips.

Dastan thought on this for a second and pulled her closer.

"I'm not really sure what to say," he admitted. "You understand your prophecies and rituals better than I ever could. But, I can't believe that your Gods would reverse time, bring us together, only to take you away again. Maybe this prophecy was meant to be fulfilled after we've lived a long and happy life together. Maybe I'm not meant to survive this battle and you were meant to protect the city in a way that no army ever could."

She pulled her head back to look at him.

"Your faith amazes me every day and has even changed me. Don't abandon it now when you need it most."

He leaned in and kissed her affectionately.

They sat in silence for a while watching as the last of the sun's rays disappeared from the night sky. Tamina was still in Dastan's lap and his arms were still draped around her. She could feel him become restless though, the longer they sat there.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she leaned against his chest.

Dastan shifted uncomfortably. The last thing he wanted was to upset her again, he was sure his resolve would fail him if he made her cry. He couldn't avoid her though.

"Tus has asked me to begin the mission earlier than originally planned," he started. Tamina turned to look at him. Dastan couldn't bear to see the pain in her eyes so averted his own.

"We leave tonight," he finished.

Tamina felt her breath hitch in her throat but managed to hold back her tears. She wasn't used to being out of control of her emotions. She turned back around to face away from Dastan.

"How long before you have to leave?" she asked when she was sure her voice was strong enough.

"A few hours," he said quietly.

Tamina squeezed her eyes shut as she took in the information.

"We should be able to see the beginnings of Kosh's army by late afternoon tomorrow," Dastan continued. "Tus and Garsiv expect the attack tomorrow night."

"And where will you be when the fight has started?" Tamina got up and slowly walked to the railing.

"Between you and Kosh," Dastan said following her. He rested his head on her shoulder and rested both of his hands on the railing in front of her, trapping her in his presence. She leaned into him and let out a deep breath.