Date : 18.10.2011
Title : The Hassansins' Secret
Author : ElaineDex
Chapter : 5 of ?
Rating : M
Pairings : Zolm/OC
Warnings : Some Sexual Content, Romance, Angst, Maybe Some Strong Language.
Spoilers : Possible references to Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time.
Disclaimer : I do not own anything to do with the Prince of Persia franchise. This plot and any O/C's are mine.
Summary : (AU) The Hassansins take on a mission that leads to the discovery of a secret from their past, one that could change their futures forever and Zolm finds out that maintaining emotional detachment isn't always quite that easy.
Dasmine was trying to concentrate on making bread, but the incessant shouting from their royal prisoner below was becoming tiresome and unable to take it any more she thumped the dough ball before her with more force than was necessary and wiped her hands before taking to the stone stairs that led down to the cells.
"Ah…finally!" Zarina said through the bars in her cell door as the maid whom she'd learnt was called Dasmine came into view.
"What do you want?" Dasmine asked, coming to stand before the door, her arms folded beneath her breasts. She was even less enamoured with the Queen or Parthia following an incident the other day; after Zolm had told her to give Zarina something to wear, she had picked out a dress and taken it to the other woman only for them to find that not only was it obviously too short, but it was also a little too big for her slender frame and Dasmine had found herself having to take the garment in slightly at the sides, all the while cursing her own curves and the Queen for being far too pretty and now slimmer to boot.
"I want to know how long I am expected to sit in this cell for…when does he intend to grace me with his presence again?" Zarina replied and Dasmine had to wonder the same thing for she had not seen Zolm since their encounter by the cart.
"How should I know…" she snapped, "I'm not his keeper…"
Zarina eyed Dasmine and sighed. "Do you actually like it here…living with men like that?" she asked and Dasmine immediately felt her defences rise, but before she could say anything Zarina continued, "If you were to let me out, I would take you with me back to the palace…you could serve under me, just think of how much better your life would be Dasmine, living in a bright, airy palace instead of this dismal, dark, hell hole…what do you say?"
Dasmine stared at Zarina as though she had sprouted a second head and then without a word, she turned and headed back up the stairs, leaving Zarina to bang the palm of her hand against the door of her cell in frustration.
When Dasmine got to the top of the stairs she found Zolm stood in the kitchen, his eyes meeting hers and her steps faltered for a moment before she walked around the back of him to return to her dough. She had missed him, but she would be damned if she would show him that this time…
Zolm turned as Dasmine walked by him, following her with his eyes, sensing that she was holding herself back from him.
He didn't like it.
"Is there a problem with our prisoner?" he asked, his voice low and purposely lacking in emotion and he frowned when she replied,
"I think she's missing you…"
Dasmine thumped the dough a couple of more times before sighing and adding, "…she tried to get me to let her out by offering me service under her at the palace."
"And you do not find the offer appealing…?" Zolm asked and even he heard the uncertainty that laced his tone and Dasmine threw him a look that clearly told him that she was offended.
"This is my home," she said, turning to face him. "Unless you would like me to deceive you and then go off living a life without…without…" she couldn't bring herself to say 'you' and instead she stared at him, willing him to say or do something that would give her a hint that he wanted her…
Zolm's hands twitched at his sides, hidden within the folds of his robes. A part of him wanted to reach out to her, to tell her what she wanted to hear…words that he seemed to want to say, but for some reason his tongue could not form them and he remained silent as always. He was never sure why he resisted Dasmine…perhaps it was that he was never quite certain why one so beautiful as she would want a man like him or maybe it was something much simpler…maybe he did not want to need Dasmine. To need someone was a weakness and he should need no-one…least of all a woman and she knew him better than any. She understood what he was…what he did…and she questioned none of it, merely accepted him.
Just then, Nefrat appeared in the kitchen archway, nodding to Zolm.
"The horses are ready…" he said and Zolm looked at him before indicating to the stairs.
"Bring her, bind her wrists…"
As Nefrat moved to do his bidding, Zolm turned to Dasmine once again.
"We will return in a couple of days…" he told her and Dasmine barely nodded, turning back to her dough and Zolm sighed, staring at her for a moment longer before taking his leave.
OoOoOoOoO
Zarina grew weary of trying to discover where Zolm was taking her for he ignored all of her questions. She could not even try to make a bid for freedom as not only were her wrists tied, but her horse was tethered to his. They travelled for hours and Zarina was certain that had she not almost toppled from her horse with tiredness, Zolm would have continued on much later into the night.
As it was, he saw that she seemed tired and reigned in their horses by some rocks and a tiny stream and proceeded to make a small fire. Once it was lit he proceeded to get his own bedroll from the saddle of his horse and Zarina realised that she would have to get her own even with her hands tied as they were.
Sighing, she released it from her saddle and lay it out on the opposite side of the fire from him and sat with her legs crossed facing him.
"Are you going to tell me where we're going now?" she asked and Zolm looked at her and for the first time she realised how startlingly blue his eyes were and she gritted her teeth in frustration when he asked instead, "What do you know of the mark on your arm?"
He never answered her questions and it annoyed the life out of her. Lowering her head to look at the S shaped birthmark on her skin, she ran the tips of her fingers over it and said,
"Nothing…it's just a birthmark, why?"
"Did your parents ever give you cause to think that you were not truly their child?" Zolm asked and Zarina paled, her mouth opening but no words followed. She stared at him for a moment and then regaining her composure said,
"Don't be absurd…" but even as she spoke, she remembered the way her father, the King, had spotted her abilities with snakes in her early childhood and how he had gone to great lengths to ensure that she did not pursue the strange interest. Even on his death bed he had begged her to ignore any further urges she may have and had even muttered something about he should've known better. She had tried to ask him what he meant, but he had then passed and she had never gotten her answer. As she had gotten older, she had of course done as she pleased and had begun to secretly explore her unorthodox talent…she had dabbled, but was no expert.
Zolm regarded Zarina, sensing that yet again she wasn't being entirely truthful and he looked at the fire as he said,
"I believe that there is more to your birth right than you have been led to believe…"
"What do you mean?" Zarina asked, but Zolm was not prepared to say any more.
"Sleep now…you will learn more tomorrow…" he said and even though Zarina wanted to argue, she could tell by the stiff set of his shoulders that she would get no more from him and she lay down on her bed roll, turning her back to the fire and him, trying to not let her own mind wander over what he had been hinting at, but she knew that sleep would be a long time coming that night.
Zolm meanwhile fixed his stare upon her back, gazing through the flames of the fire. He had made this same journey two days ago to seek out Ashtad's wife and to see if there was any point in continuing along this path of suspicion over Zarina's lineage and what the widow of his predecessor had told him had proved to him that it was worth pursuing and he was now looking forward to seeing Zarina's reaction to the revelations he had learnt.
OoOoOoOoO
Azzam watched as the ten fearsome looking men his General had brought before him showed off their individual fighting skills and he smiled wickedly, pleased beyond measure.
"You have done well…" he said and his General bowed in thanks. "Where did you find them?"
"They are from Abarshahr, Margiana and Hyrcania; the best of their chosen…" the General paused to clear his throat meaningfully before finishing "…professions," and Azzam's sly smile widened.
"They should prove a good match for our Hassansin friends, should they not?" he said happily and the General nodded though he had his own doubts, doubts that he would not dare voice.
"Provide them with Parthian soldiers' uniforms…" Azzam instructed, "…they will depart at dawn."
The General nodded and bowed again before taking his leave and Azzam turned back to watch the band of cut-throat mercenaries once more.
"This palace will soon be mine Zarina…" he murmured, laughing to himself before moving away.
OoOoO End of Chapter 6 OoOoO