Sorry to those who read the first version posted – apparently I typed this out a little too quickly and managed to scramble the letters in Ailell's name. Hopefully I've found them all this time if not Aielle=Ailell.
First let me thank my reviewers. My apologies for the delay in posting this chapter but I was on the opposite side of the Atlantic from my computer.
Q me?
Chapter 6: A Bargain with Blade
If looks could kill Amy Z would have drawn and quartered me before I ever even crossed the threshold. I offered her my recorder.
"Just listen" I pled.
She took the recorder and stepped out of the doorway. She gave me a long look and pointed to the hallway "The guest room's the second door on the right. Get some rest."
I think I was asleep long before my head ever touched the pillow….
Far too few hours later I heaved myself out of Amy's guest room and into the kitchen in search of coffee. Amy spared me a single glance while her three companions never took their eyes off their laptops.
"Ugh, how old is this stuff?"
"I brewed it when you called; you're perfectly welcome to brew a fresh pot."
"You're all heart."
"We've been a bit busy" was the testy reply.
"How's it going?"
"More questions than answers" Simone answered as she stretched and rolled her shoulders. Amy offered me her computer.
"What do we have?"
"Ailell of Kells' very brief file including her meeting MacLeod and all her students files. Aganesthes of Tiryns' file with the translations corrected and as many of his students files as we could gather. I have a dozen researchers pulling and updating the rest. I also have all of Rivkah's files. The Tribunal has given me the entire Research Division to use as I see fit. I've got people combing the shelves for any reference they can find." She tapped the screen "And I've got the Legend of Blade."
"The what?" three of us asked simultaneously, Paul never even looked up.
She sighed "The standard Watcher Legend in the Guidebook is…highly edited. What you have on file is the only existing complete translation of the Legend."
Even Paul was starring at her.
"Why haven't I ever heard of this Legend?" I asked.
"It's classified" she replied "Tribunal's eyes only."
"Then how did you get a copy?" Brittany breathed.
"When Rita was murdered in her room"
"Wait a minute" I interjected "Rita Luce was executed by the Tribunal."
"No, she wasn't. The Tribunal had decided to be lenient" her tone held an undercurrent of sarcasm "they found her insane and sent her to an asylum for life. The found her butchered in her room eight days later." Amy face had twisted and gone gray "The Tribunal was petrified. There hadn't been a translation of the full Legend done since almost 400 BC but there were enough partials for them to want it translated properly. They asked me to do it." She squeezed my shoulder "I'm sorry Joe."
"Sorry for what?" I asked thoroughly confused.
"I told you the Tribunal was petrified, when I gave them this they panicked. All that evidence they gave at your trial Joe, they were originally only going to have you expelled, not executed. Read the file, Joe, and you'll understand why they were so afraid."
I took a look at the sheer size of the file "Amy, I don't have time for this. Methos could revive any minute. Just give me the high points. I'll read the rest as soon as I get a chance. Scouts honor."
"Every file including this one has a synopsis, that's what Paul, Simone, and Brittany are working on."
"Amy Zoll, you are a miracle worker."
"Flattery will get you nowhere and you're wasting time. Read."
To all who come after me, know this is a true tale of both caution and warning.
My name is Ammelatu son of Malnalu of Agade. I was once a simple sandlemaker before I beheld Bilgames King of Uruk rise from the dead. That day I was sworn to the Great Cause against the evil Sorcerer of Elam, the Lord of Aratta. We were told of his many atrocities against mankind, of his boundless evil, of his guile, of his cunning. We were sternly admonished to beware his charm and his voice… When our training was complete we were sent out to Hunt. First we Watched, taking careful note of all our quarry's movements and habits. When the Gods deemed that the time was ripe we struck. Killing our quarry quickly with arrows or spears after luring them into lonely places far from help. Once our quarry was "dead" we would bind them securely and bring them to the Gods. Each demon was tortured for information about his fellow demons, his Master, the Elamite, and his Master's plans. They all claimed ignorance in spite of the Gods' great diligence. We told each other that their fear of the Elamite must be very great for them to hold their tongues. Afterward Enmerkar, King of the Gods, would destroy the still bound demon and absorb its Power.
I stared up at Amy in disgust.
"Be glad you're my version. The full text in the subfile is far more graphic."
"In the first eight years that I served the Gods I assisted in the Cleansing of nine demons. In none of that time did I observe any sign of the evil against which we had been warned. But I reassured myself with the honor of Bilgames. It was not until I was assigned to the demon Khinneret that I first began to doubt Lord Enmerkar's words. Khinneret had been Watched longer than any other, for twelve generations the house of Kishura had served Enmerkar in this capacity. But he doubted their loyalty and so I was sent to replace them. No other demon had been Watched so long or so carefully for the Gods claimed that the Sorcerer held her in high favor and deep friendship and it was hoped that as she traveled across the lands that she would lead us to the Sorcerer. She never did but she led us to many others. Some the Gods called to our Cause but some had already fallen under the Sorcerer's spell. These were tortured and slain. Others had never heard of the Sorcerer but would not join, these the Gods slew swiftly so that they would not be subverted by the Sorcerer's ilk
***
For fifteen years I Watched Khinneret and with each year my heart grew more uneasy. As my sons grew to manhood they joined me in my task and were likewise sworn to the Cause. I had, of course, been warned not to be swayed by her beauty nor by her songs, and most especially not by her appearance of virtue. But the longer I Watched the more troubled I became. With every wound healed, with every song sung, with every heart mended, with every peace established, with every war averted I found my apprehension growing. Where the Gods went the lands were in turmoil and the women wept. Where Khinneret was peace followed and the children laughed. Then it came. A bulla sealed with Lord Enmerkar's seal. My hands trembled as I cracked open the unfired clay. The glyphs within spelled out my worst fears. In my first panicked moments I considered warning Khinneret. If I had known the fullness of what Enmerkar had planned I would have, in spite of my Oath. But I remained silent as we rode into Mari***
I f I live ten times a thousand years I shall never forget the look in Khinneret's dark eyes as I loosed the arrow that pierced her heart. We bound her slender wrists and delivered her to the Gods.***
In the fifth day of her questioning Enmerkar began to cut off her fingers joint by joint and toss them in the fire. It was not the worst thing he had inflicted upon her but it tore at my heart. As I turned away Bilgames spoke.
"Please, father, enough."
Enmerkar flushed as fury built in his eyes "How dare you interfere" he rasped in his tortured whisper.
Bilgames swallowed "Kill her if you must, father, but enough. She does not know where his is father, none of them know. Do not do this!"
"So in the end you have betrayed me too."
"No, father, never."
Enmerkar stroked his marred throat and rasped, "You know what he took from me. Now I will take something from him but I will enjoy myself first. If you haven't the stomach for it, leave."
Bilgames bowed low and departed as his bondsman I followed. He almost made it across the formal garden before emptying his stomach. He plunged his head into on the many fountains and scrubbed violently as if to wash away the scene below. My liege raised his head and caught my eye.
"It has to end" he whispered. His eyes where dark pits in his drawn face "The Elamite warned us it would come to this."
"The Dark One?"
Bilgames sat heavily on the lip of the fountain and hung this head "Lies, all of it lies. So much death all to serve Enmerkar's lust. Will you help me?"
"Help you?" I echoed numbly as I felt my world crumbling
There was a mix of steely resolve and pleading in his eyes "I can not stop the rest of them alone."
I hesitated.
"Tell me truly, have you ever observed in all your years as a Hunter a single act of sorcery by your assignments, a single act of evil?"
"No, not by my assignments." I snapped as I felt my rage building "Are you telling me my whole life has been a lie? That all the lives, all the work, all the deaths were all for a private vendetta?"
Bilgames was silent.
"Why now?"
"I swore an oath of allegiance to
Enmerkar. My honor required that I keep
it. Even when I knew it to be
wrong. I have long hoped that Elamite
would put a stop to this himself. I can
only assume that the rumors are true" his eyes were desperate "He is dead and
his Blades with him. I can no longer
wait, I must act. Will you help me?"
***
Enmerkar had too many Gods with him for us to Challenge him directly but I wasn't the only Hunter with doubts. Slowly we formed our own hidden network. It was no easy task to arrange matters so that Immortals might slip Enmerkar's net without arousing suspicious. Then word came. The Sorcerer of Elam had been spotted in Mari. All of us were redirected to pursue this tale. But the rumors twisted like snakes and we were scattered like chafe in the wind, some to Terqa, others to Palmyra, more to Nawar, and to Aleppo. So it was that I, my three sons, and three Hunters came into Ugarit seeking the Elamite. Enmerkar, Litish, Bilgames, and Tusuna followed swiftly for Enmerkar was convinced that his time had come…
The moon was little more than a slender crescent hanging low over the city's docks as the seven of us closed in slowly pushing the man before us into Enmerkar's trap. The torch light was almost painfully bright after the darkness of the shoreline. The black cloaked figure trapped between the four Immortals at one end of the blind alley and the seven of us arrayed across the opening was less than imposing. He was tall even for an Immortal, but even hidden in the folds of his clock he appeared slight especially compared with Enmerkar's bull-like vigor.
"I told you" Enmerkar hissed "I would have you. Shoot him!" He commanded my sons. They drew their bows but at a signal from Bilgames they loosed at point blank range into the Hunters while I kept my own arrow trained on Enmerkar himself.
"Traitor" Enmerkar rasped but he would not come near for the Elamite stood between us.
I choked back my own fear "No, no more. Never again will you use me or my house in your war."
"And with those words you have saved both you and your house" the Elamite's spoke for the first time "for I will no longer tolerate Enmerkar's Hunters."
Enmerkar shrank back behind Litish and Tusuna.
"Let's not be hasty" Enmerkar stuttered.
The Elamite's laugh was as keen as the gleaming sword beneath his threadbare clock "Still no stomach for a fair fight, King of Ur?" His contempt was palatable as his cloak slipped to the ground. Every eye widened in shock and Enmerkar hissed with glee.
"By Ianna" my eldest whispered.
I marveled that the ruined creature before us could even draw a blade much less wield one. He was as drawn and gaunt as a famine victim and his flesh had the unhealthy blue-gray hue of a corpse. His hair lay lank and brittle in an unkempt snarl about his shoulders. But it was the silver hands that were the most disconcerting. It was clear that he had lost his right arm from the elbow and in its place was a rod of silver that glinted dully. In place of his hands were marvels of the smith's art and yet I could tell by the way he handled his sword that they were not the equal of living flesh. Around his head was a band of silver and I wondered how he could see through it or if he was indeed blind.
Enmerkar smirked and without another word the battle was joined, and such a battle. In spite of being out numbered the Elamite held his own for a time but it was clear that his blows lacked strength. Very soon he was backed into a corner but his defense was still formidable for he used his right arm as both a shield and a cudgel and even the mingalai sword of Enmerkar could not break it. Just as the torches were beginning to gutter out and dawn was near the Elamite missed a parry and Tusuna laid his right leg open to the bone from hip to knee. The leg crumpled beneath him and he would have fallen then to Litish's blade but Enmerkar blocked it.
"Mine" he snapped as he thrust his dagger into her chest. The Elamite had taken advantage of the moment's respite to force himself erect, but only by using his sword as a crutch. Tusuna would have moved against him but Bilgames stirred for the first time and laid his sword against his throat. I was stunned when Enmerkar spoke for there was a note in his voice I had never heard before, pity.
"Yield, Mountain King, and I will slay thee quickly."
The Elamite struggled for the breath to speak but all that emerged was a death rattle. He shook his head.
"Defiant to the end" sorrow and hunger warred in Enmerkar's voice "then enjoy the irony of falling to a sword forged by your own hands."
As Enmerkar swung the Elamite lunged snatching the sword away and with blinding speed reversed it to strike off Enmerkar's own head. Tusuna shrieked in protest but before he could move his own head rolled. My sons and I began to retreat while seeking a place to weather the storm of the double Quickening to come but to our amazement the fury was never unleashed. The ghostly gleam passed into him first then the Lightenings massed but instead of lashing wildly they caressed him like lovers and passed gently into him. All except one violent lash the sent the metal band flying from his face and spinning across the ground. He then knelt and yanked the broad bladed dagger out of Litish's ribs. I was surprised when he rose for unlike Enmerkar who had always been exhausted after a Quickening the Elamite's vigor seemed to have been renewed. Indeed he gleamed in the early morning light and now moved with a feral grace. He waited silently until Litish stirred and then he kicked the blade within her reach.
"Pick it up" he commanded.
She trembled and knelt awkwardly before him "Mercy, Lord."
"PICK it UP. You may die on your knees or on your feet but you will not leave this place alive."
"Mercy" she groveled reaching out to touch his feet but he backed out of her reach.
"Do you think I do not know your intentions, witch? Do you think you have hidden your plans, harridan? Do you think I never realized that you had trapped the warlock in his own snare, succubus? Do you think I did not know who spurred Enmerkar to this madness, harpy? Pick. Up. Your. Sword."
The Elamite danced back nimbly as Litish lashed out at his ankles almost before she even had a firm grip on her sword. She lost her unsteady grip on the blade and it skittered away to rest against the wall behind the Elamite.
"That was exceedingly foolish, even for you" the Elamite observed coolly as he flicked the blade back within her reach "Last chance."
"It's no chance at all" she hissed back "This is an execution. Finish it."
The Elamite's sword blade was red-gold in the morning light. Before Litish's essence had even finished merging with is own he turned to Bilgames "And you, what will you do?"
Bilgames sheathed his sword and spread his empty hands "I will not raise my sword against you. Judge me as you see fit."
The Elamite merely repeated "What will you do?"
"I would have peace once more between Elam and Ur and if my life is the cost than I will count it cheaply bought."
The silver sword whispered back into its sheath "Would that you had shown such wisdom when it might have saved us all" the Elamite's tone was as bitter as ashes "You may prevail for a season Bilgames but never again will either Ur or the Quickened know lasting peace. In the End there can be only One." He bent and presented Bilgames with the hilt of his sword "Take your dead and go." The Elamite commanded in dismissal as his attention shifted to my sons and I.
We quailed before him as we remembered those who had fallen by our hands.
"You fear me" he observed "as well you should for I will no longer tolerate this slaughter of my students. You shall be my messengers to the rest of your brethren and these are my words:
The mortal of Enmerkar's Hunters who renders assistance in or gives information that results in the death of one of my Students I will slay as Khinneret was slain with all the torments she faced inflicted in their fullest measure. Under threat of my Wrath you will disband, under threat of my Justice you will destroy all of your Records, and by my Law you will distribute Enmerkar and Litish's wealth among yourselves to assist in your return to normal lives."
"A word, if I may" Bilgames interrupted hesitantly. The Elamite inclined his head impatiently.
"You have said that it is written, in the end there can be only One."
"I have" the Elamite snapped, his patience clearly exhausted.
"Then we, like the mortals, are destined for the dust."
"Now we are" the Elamite replied through clenched teeth.
"Then who will remember us when we've gone?" Bilgames asked plaintively "We have no children, no descendents to sing our praises. Our names are all we have. If the tablets are smashed then even our names will be forgotten."
"Are you suggesting that I should leave Enmerkar's Hunters intact?" the Elamite asked incredulously.
"Not Hunters" I responded "but Watchers."
The Elamite paused thoughtfully before responding "Do you truly wish to spend you brief lives in this endeavor? To spend the whole of your ephemeral existence Watching the lives of others?"
"Yes."
"Then I have three requirements:
First that you Observe and Record but never Interfere. The Watcher who assists another Quickened in the death of one of my Students will still share Khinneret's fate. I will begin as Enmerkar did with a beating that breaks every bone in the body. I will then flay the skin in its entirety and pack the body in salt. Then I shall sever the muscles from the bones, one by one and only when I have laid the ribs bare will I disarticulate, joint by joint, the arms from fingertips to elbow and the legs from toes to knee. The only reprieve I shall grant is that I shall not rape for my tastes do not run so. Only then shall I show mercy and sever the head from the spine. I shall sign my work 'Blade' and under I shall inscribe the name of the Student for whom I have administered Justice. By this and by the fact that no other could keep a mortal alive through such an ordeal you shall know my work. Second you shall appoint a Tribunal drawn from among your number to govern you. The Tribunal that knowingly allows a Watcher to orchestrate the death of one of my Students I shall consider my sworn enemies and they shall suffer under my Wrath, my Justice, and my Law. Their children shall fall under my knife, their parents shall fall to plague, their siblings I shall poison, their spouse I shall rend, and death shall haunt all their steps but it shall not find them. Let my name be struck from all the Records but let every new Tribunal member be warned of my Justice."
"Sweet Jesus!" I exclaimed glancing over at Amy.
"One Hell of a threat, isn't it Joe?"
I had a brief flash of Jack's desperate and despairing face during my trial.
"How often has is been" I had to pause in search of a word "enforced?"
She sighed "Only once that we know, Rome 79 AD but most of the Records were lost. Finish reading Joe."
The Elamite caught my eye "I am not Enmerkar to enjoy my enemy's anguish but I will do as I have declared. Third that the time of the Gathering might be delayed you will establish and administer a Sanctuary, on Holy Ground, for those Quickened who tire of life but do not wish to yield their Quickenings to another. I require as reparations for the Quickened lost that one of your sons and all of his descendents be dedicated to this work. I will teach you to make a potion that will give even a Quickened unbroken rest through the ages."
"But will that be enough?" Bilgames asked.
"No" the Elamite replied flatly "but it may buy us a little more time and with it perhaps the opportunity to choose the hour of the Endgame, time to prepare the unfortunate soul that must bear the Prize."
Bilgames started in shock "You do not already bear the Prize?"
"NO" the Elamite snapped back savagely "NEVER!" He paused and continued more calmly "I have utterly rejected the Prize for myself." He sighed and his shoulders slumped "So now I must seek a soul worthy of being the One, but I despair for I doubt such a soul exists."
"Is it so critical?"
The Elamite's laugh was as bitter as death and he choked on it "You have no idea."
I glanced up at Amy "Where's the rest?"
She shrugged "That's the important points. The rest doesn't paint the early Watchers in a very good light." She hesitated and then picked up a file and licked her lips nervously.
I gestured toward the file "What is it?"
"Rita's file. It isn't pretty Joe."
I took the file. You'd think after surviving a war and being a Watcher for forty years would be enough to prepare one for anything but I wasn't prepared for the wreckage that had been Rita. I hadn't ever liked her. I'd felt sorry for her losses but she killed Ian and she'd tried to kill Mac but that didn't justify this. Nothing could justify what had been done to Rita. Amy's voice was a distant rumble that I only half heard.
"Nobody saw anything Joe. The video surveillance cameras show Rita sleeping and then in a fraction of a second later they show that."
I tried to reconcile the man Amanda had described and what I knew of Aganethes against this. Whoever did this wasn't human, couldn't be human, couldn't be anything but a monster.
I shook my head and closed the file "I need to get back to the barge."
"Simone will take you."
"So" I asked as I settled into the passenger seat "What can you tell me?"
"Since you know most of what we know about Aganethes I'll start with Ailell of Kells. Our earliest Records place her in Kells in 630 AD as a wandering healer and musician. We never managed to keep a full time Watcher on her so our information is spotty at best and generally secondary. We have confirmed sightings all over the known world. Only five confirmed kills and only because the other Immortal forced the issue. Accused of witchcraft a half a dozen times but always escaped. Returned to Kells in 895 AD and began mentoring young Sean Burns."
"Sean Burns?" I glanced up, startled.
"The highlights are in your laptop under Sean Burns." Simone replied while changing lanes. "Ailell of Kells was Sean's first teacher. You should read the full Chronicle."
"I can't read in a moving vehicle" I protested.
Simone gave a long-suffering sigh "That is what Dramamine is for. After she and Sean parted we promptly lost her again. From 940 AD until the 1600's we have only a handful of possible sightings none of them confirmed. That changed abruptly in 1693 when she and Ethan Hawke became lovers. They traveled extensively between the various American colonies throughout the next hundred years. The reason didn't become clear until nearly seventy years later." She paused.
"Master plan?" I prompted.
"It is an inarguable conclusion that Ailell of Kells actively instigated the break between England and the colonies that would become the United States. In fact, I think it is safe to say that without Aielle and Ethan's intervention the colonies would never have rebelled in the first place and that the Revolutionary War would have been utterly lost on at least four occasions without the Hawke's intervention."
"And this isn't taught at the Watcher Academy?" I scoffed.
Simone shrugged "The Hawke Chronicle was officially closed when according to Harish Clay, Carter Wellan, and Ethan Hawke's Watchers Ailell lost her head to Harish and Ethan to Carter. Ailell's Watcher, Talia submitted a conflicting report that the pair had escaped. Her superiors decided that she had become obsessed with her Assignment and all of her work was thrown into question. She was officially retired but she took her retirement and the inheritance the Hawke's had left her and went in search…"
"Ho, ho" I interrupted "the inheritance?"
"Ailell purchased Talia's mother Eliza in 1760 as a house servant on Ethan and Ailell's Virginia plantation Wind Song. She was freed in 1768 as per the contract Ailell had with all her slaves. The family was ordered to leave Ailell's service. Eliza got into a bit of trouble with her next assignment and Talia went to Ailell for help. 1779 saw Talia in her mother's previous position as our agent at Wind Song. Then in 1786 Ailell left her both land and wealth and a plea to marry and enjoy life. Talia spent the next five years searching for her mistress. According to Talia she found them in Georgia and then she dropped the real bombshell. Talia insisted that Ailell was pregnant. She lost any scraps of credibility she might have had with Watcher Headquarters. Everything she'd ever written was collected and buried in the Archives until Peter found them a few hours ago. He'll email you a more complete summary later."
She smiled as she pulled onto the quay "Bon chance."
Amanda met me in the doorway.
"Is he awake yet?"
She shook her head as Mac set a plate in front of me.
"What did you find out?"
"Amy downloaded what little we have but I haven't had much of a chance to sort through it yet." I glanced up at Mac "Where did you meet Ailell?"
Mac poured me a cup of coffee before answering "1689 at the de Valincourts wedding…
Duncan MacLeod stared morosely into his champagne glass as the reception swirled around him.
"Duncan" Gina complained pettishly behind him. He schooled his features before turning. She pouted prettily at him "You're not having fun, Duncan."
She placed a finger on his lips to forestall his protest "You don't lie very well Duncan. Come with me Duncan there's someone I want you to meet." They wove their way through the crowed room to another cluster of Immortals.
"Ailell of Kells may I present Duncan MacLeod"
"of the Clan MacLeod" Duncan finished as he brushed his lips across her knuckles.
Eyes the color of the finest Baltic amber laughed gently at him "Isn't that a bit redundant?"
"I never argue with a lady."
This time she smiled outright revealing perfectly straight white teeth, "Pity, I like a little spirit."
Duncan straightened up and was disconcerted to realize that he had to look slightly up to meet Ailell's eyes. Duncan found himself coolly appraised before Ailell's attention moved to Gina
"Another broken heart Regina?" she asked reprovingly "How many young Immortals were you courting?"
Gina pouted "When three attractive men ask for my attention how could I say no?"
Ailell rolled her slightly almond eyes "My apologies, Monsieur MacLeod, for my student's student's less than honest behavior."
"How could I deny so lovely a lady anything?"
Ailell smiled but this time it didn't reach her eyes "Take care what you promise young one, lest more should be required of you than you can give."
Duncan squared his shoulders "I am a MacLeod and we keep our word or die trying."
"I have no doubt, Monsieur, I have no doubt."
"Would you care to dance, milady?"
She offered her hand in answer and they joined the merry frolic. As they bowed to one another at the end of the dance Duncan allowed his eyes to linger on Ailell's modest cleavage and from there to her slender waist and narrow hips. He inclined his head "Milady is very nimble."
Ailell acknowledged the compliment with a smile "And my lord has a strong arm."
"Duncan, please" Duncan replied as a red headed Immortal joined them.
"Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod allow me to introduce one of my Students, Sean Burns. Sean, Duncan MacLeod" she smiled "of the Clan MacLeod."
Sean smiled warmly "I'm always pleased to meet a friend of Ailell's."
Ailell pursed her perfect lips but did not protest "Are we still sparring tomorrow?"
Sean shifted uncomfortably "I've already made plans to take lunch with the Lady Rebecca."
Ailell's jet black brows shot up "Riv's here?"
"Not yet, she sent the happy couple her profound apologies that she would miss the nuptials and her intention to arrive this evening."
As if on cue the Master of Ceremonies announced "The Lady Rebecca du Bois."
Rebecca was a vision in a dress that perfectly matched her pale blue eyes. She started a bit as her eyes met Ailell's and she smiled as made her way across the floor. She curtsied slightly to Ailell before chiding her severely "I have missed you, dearest friend. Where have you been?"
"Here and there, mostly there."
Rebecca frowned and a flash of anger flickered through her eyes "I have never known distance to stop you."
Ailell dropped her eyes in contrition and cupped Rebecca's chin with one long-fingered hand "My deepest apologies, Riv, it was never my intention to worry you. I have allowed my preoccupation with my own affairs to divert me from the common courtesy, I am sorry."
Rebecca scooped a glass of champagne from a passing servant while appraising Ailell.
"You're too thin, again" she sighed in exasperation "I swear you need a keeper." She crossed her arms "You'll be joining Sean and I for lunch tomorrow." It wasn't a question.
"Only if Sean agrees to spar with me after breakfast" Ailell rebutted.
"Ailell" Sean began only to be cut off by Ailell "Sean, you have a sharp mind and a real Gift but neither will save you if you sword arm is weak."
Sean smiled self depreciatingly "Even if I spared for a thousand years I would never be your equal."
"No one is Ailell's equal Sean" Rebecca rejoined as she glared at Aielle "You will join me for breakfast. Sean will spar with both of us followed by lunch. Agreed?"
Ailell inclined her head graciously while Sean conceded resignedly.
"Now" Rebecca said as slipped her arm through Ailell's "You are going to have dinner."
"But, Riv, I've already eaten" Ailell protested. Rebecca merely linked Ailell's arm in hers and drug her in the direction of the food.
Duncan turned back to the man beside him who was shaking with restrained mirth. Sean schooled his features with effort while wiping his eyes.
"I truly can not think of anyone who needs a keeper less than Ailell." He smiled fondly at the two women "The way Rebecca fusses over Ailell one would think that Rebecca was the teacher and Ailell the student."
Duncan stuttered in his shock "Ailell is Rebecca's teacher? But Rebecca is ancient!"
"Yes well" Sean colored slightly and then brightened "Why don't you join us tomorrow?"
"The ladies did not invite me" Duncan observed.
"But I did" Sean shot back "Please. Otherwise it will be two on one and they are better than I am."
Sean's plea was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Fitz "Who is she, MacLeod?"
"Who?" Duncan asked long-sufferingly.
"That vision of loveliness next to Rebecca you Scottish oaf!"
"Oaf! Oaf is it, for that ye Sassenach can make your own introductions!"
Fitz looked utterly devastated "But I can't. You just don't approach a woman like that. You have to do things properly."
"Indeed" Sean interjected as his eyes twinkled with mirth "Then sir it would be my pleasure, nay my privilege to introduce you to Ailell." Fitz latched on to the idea like a terrier on a ham bone. Duncan stared after Fitz, drained his glass in a final toast to the happy couple, and went home to his empty bed…
"So did you go?" I asked to rattle Mac out of his self-absorbed distraction.
"That fight was a set up. He wanted Methos to break us up. He could have killed me in the first two minutes, Joe." He shook his head "During the fight I thought he was playing with me and I was furious. But he wasn't playing Joe, he was testing me. I should have realized who he was."
"You could hardly expect her to become him" I protested.
"The face, the walk, the fighting style hadn't changed." He stared over my shoulder "I learned more in those two hours than I learned in a year with Connor or Casone" he continued distantly "Not in terms of moves, though she, or he, did teach me several of my best. No, what Ailell taught me was how to analyze my opponent and how to make all those individual moves into the seamless whole."
"Turned the notes into the music? Aren't you assigning an awful lot of importance to a couple of hours?"
"Not notes into music Joe but ditties into symphonies." His gaze flicked back to me "I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for that lesson. She's an incredible teacher Joe. What I fought yesterday wasn't a Challenge – it was a final exam. One that I failed miserably."
"No, you didn't" Methos declared from couch as he rose shakily and tossed Amanda the handcuffs.
"If you had failed Ari wouldn't have wasted forty-five minutes on you." He slumped on one of the bar stools and raised haunted, bloodshot eyes "He would have killed you long before we arrived."
"More games" Mac snapped, disgusted.
Methos shrugged "Plans within plans within plans within plans, MacLeod." He scrubbed a hand over his bloodshot eyes while Mac offered him a glass of orange juice. Methos grimaced slightly and then gulped.
"Thank you. You weren't the only one being tested yesterday." His gaze flicked to me.
"When you see Ari" I must have looked as stunned as I felt because he lips twitched in a pale shadow of a grin "He meant it when he said he wanted to hear you sing Joe. He may not let you see him but rest assured he will see you."
Wonderful I thought The Tribunal will be overjoyed to learn that I've added Blade to my list of Immortal acquaintances.
"If he speaks to you tell him…oh bloody hell forget it Joe."
"I have his number, maybe you should call him."
"Stay out of this MacLeod. You've helped enough already"
"If he hated you then why did he save your life?" I challenge. The Good Lord knows one broody Immortal is enough in anyone's life – I had no intention of dealing with two.
"What are you blathering about Joe?"
"230 and 71 BC and 17 AD."
Methos frowned "What does Aganesthes of Tiryns have to do with it?"
"You actually met Aganesthes of Tiryns?" Amanda asked.
Methos looked even more confused "No but I was informed at great length of what he did for me."
"Ari-El was Aganesthes of Tiryns" I said flatly.
Methos looked like someone had just smacked him upside the head with a 2x4. When he finally spoke it wasn't the question I'd expected.
"Then who did Darius kill?"
"Imhotep" Amanda replied.
"Impossible" Methos shot back "Ari would never allow it."
"He might if Imhotep demanded it a sword point."
"Imhotep drew a sword on Ari?" Methos scoffed.
"Rebecca was there. She saw it happen."
"Oh Au'Brey" Methos whispered and something died in his eyes "In the end we all betrayed you. Joe, just because Ari was willing to save my life two thousand years ago or to talk two years ago does nothing to alter the fact that I threatened his life yesterday."
"So betraying him into the hands of his worst enemy to be tortured for several centuries and then hunting him like an animal is forgivable but a death threat isn't?" Amanda asked incredulously.
"Yes."
One glance revealed that Mac'd gone from brooding Scot to Clan Chieftain mode, Amanda was plotting like a fiend, and Methos was about to give Mac a run for his money for the World's Most Brooding Immortal title. Suddenly I just didn't want to deal with it anymore. Yeah, I know it's a Watcher's wet dream. An Immortal older than Methos. Hell, Methos' mentor for God's sake. An Immortal capable of having children. An Immortal who claimed to have all the answers to all the Watchers' biggest questions. I should have been ecstatic but all I really wanted was to curl up in a quiet corner of my bar with whiskey neat and my guitar and forget the latest Immortal crises. I tried to drum up some enthusiasm but all I could think of was the ache in my bones. Damn, but I was getting old and whether I liked it or not being surrounded by the eternally young wasn't making it any easier.
"Well" I announced into the silence "I've got a bar to run."
Methos shook himself "I'll give you a ride."
I started to say no thanks but I figured it might distract him from his brooding. Methos gave me his usual assistance. Normally I don't let anyone get away with that but Methos really does have a knack for knowing exactly what's needed and when without ever being obvious or patronizing. And he's subtle, so subtle that back when all I thought he was was Don's protégé half the time I didn't even realize what he was doing.
We drove in silence for several miles before he finally spoke "Imhotep. I should have realized. Ari must have truly, truly lost it."
"When did you read Aganesthes of Tiryns file?"
Methos almost smiled "You know Don. You have no idea how many harebrained theories he made me listen to or research."
"Oh, I think I can image. I did my time with Don too you know."
"What'd you mean about Ari?"
"All the theatrics with Darius. Even when Ari was openly acknowledged as a god on three continents he preferred a more low key approach. Way, way over the top, not Ari's style" he murmured as he parked in front of Le Blues Bar.
"Methos. Methos. Don't go pulling a MacLeod on me. I'm too old to baby-sit both of you."
He actually grinned "Wouldn't dream of it, Dad."
"You coming in?"
He shook his head. Life is dire indeed when Methos refuses beer.
"You sure?"
"Dad" Methos mock chided "Are you encouraging me to drink and drive?"
God save me from smart ass Immortals "Be careful."
"Always, Dad" Methos shot back before pulling away.