Truth or Dare !!

[Men of Skye]

While it was difficult to get back into the routine of things, Briseis had done what she always did, adapted the new and pushed forward so it was several days following the lake and only a few days since she had met with Ealora and Maahes. She had put some of the money he had given her to the side, for the store and the rest well, she knew where that would be going but for now she enjoyed the time between appointments to spend it with him even though he was spending every night laying next to her. She never asked him nor begged him to stay but he never said he needed to go, instead they continued to talk, laying side by side or one of them sitting by the bed while the rested upon it. It didn't matter the topic, she adored each moment for she could look at him without shame where others it was still difficult to look at them.

Time mattered not to Kam now… The Amir and his orders were the farthest from his mind. His days were busy checking on the Skye King and his family, or performing odd tasks about the city for a few copper gryphons… money tucked away for later to spend on themselves… his nights spent with whom he considered a friend and hopefully more.

Maahes had made her think though, Ads was a good healer of the mind? Could she cure her of the mind of a slave when she had been born to it? If she did, what would that leave her, Briseis, as? She didn't voice this to him, not wanting to burden him more then he all ready had on his shoulders. That was just the way she was. Yes, there were nights that passion was ignited in them, it was always there, bubbling beneath the surface but just when heavens gates seemed to open, the gates slammed shut again. She would stop, that memory always keeping her a step from the true fires of euphoria.

Oh yes, something more for sure as the days past and the nights lying next to her made his insides as a volcano… They would hug, lie together in one another’s arms… and as one leaned to kiss the other, the passion ignited in them both… only to cool when things got heated. Frustrated to no end inside, he would not display it to her… for he knew something in her past prevented her from fulfilling both their desires. He knew she wanted to… he could almost smell it… Never would they discuss it. When she was ready, she would bring it up… til then he would just enjoy whatever he was able to…

Several days had passed since their frolic at the lake. Or at least that was the best word to describe the passionate embrace they had shared and that Briseis had put to a quick and unexplained stop and yet he had never showed signs of being angry with her. Instead he had told her of his life. Or at least about the mermaid in his life. It was a story she was eager to hear but also a story that left her confused, at least about why he was still here. Clearly the amulet he had showed her had been a dominate thought in his mind throughout the years he had carried it. She liked to think she had given him a clue to truly figuring out the mystery of it all. The clue was that it was in the desert. Never did the thought cross her mind that she was the one keeping him here, not holding him prisoner by any means except by her friendship...or what seemed with each passing day, something more than a friendship, something that hadn't yet been given words to describe it.

It was one night that changed everything. He had fallen asleep first. This was certain for she was still weaving a story for him when she looked up to find him asleep. She was not offended, she had kept him up late the night before and had needed to get up early the day after for appointments throughout the day. That day she had sent him out the door promising he could 'come home' in the evening for dinner, which she always made for them (steamed vegetables or cut fruit, never meat) but she didn't want her patients to start getting curious and for him to do his job the right way, he still needed to be a shadow, to everyone but her.

Home !! Their private lives, away from all public eyes, was their own world… by day, two people enjoying friendly company, or even business association… by night… lovers, passionate beings to a point… though never consummating the relationship… But it was home to him… moreso than the barracks in Badis, or horseback upon the desert sands, or even the small house he had at the end of the street by the river. Home? Yes, here with Briseis, in a foreign land.

As promised, he had come home for dinner, the last of the appointments had left an hour before and she had made dinner. She never asked him what he did for the day, then again she never needed to ask, he would tell her but she never asked in case he was spying on the Mo'r Traith and that information needed to be kept secret. Tonight it had been dinner, a small game of chase around the tiny apartment (which honestly she couldn't even say anymore what had them chasing one another) until he caught her in the room and they both tumbled to the mattress laughing between gasping breaths until his lips found hers and passion ignited in a furious fire that left him without a shirt and her blue Carnia robes scattered to the floor. Yet again she stopped him, panting from the amount of strength it took to stop him this time but also from the deep need to want him to continue and the fear of a memory that wouldn't allow it. She stilled him, promising a good story and halfway through weaving the tale about a winter princess and a summer prince, found him asleep. Crawling up the mattress from sitting on the floor, her arms wrapped around his torso as she leaned in to lay her head against his chest. The gentle drum of his heart within his chest was what lulled her to sleep.

Sometimes he arrived after all appointments had left; sometimes he had to wait around the corner, but to her, his timing was impeccable, always arriving after public eyes were gone. Sometimes he would tell her of the odd tasks he had performed, then handing her half of what he earned… other times, he would simply smile and shake his head; that would prove he was keeping tabs upon the Aberdeens.

After dinner, she would either tell a story, or he would spin one of his tales of the desert adventures… or they would… as this evening unfolded, he chased her until she let him catch her… Brown eyes met blue… touch catered to touch… lips caressed lips… and as the ritual went, they were embraced in the throes of passion… only yet again he was stalemated… Grumbling a bit, he agreed to lay still as she told him a story… wanting to tease her about her being the coldest winter princess… he simply bit his lip and smirked.

Tonight made it different because she dreamed different. This was not a dream of watching others. She was back in Carnia, the house slaves were taking clothes to be washed, her load always infinitely more light then the others. During these days, her hair was always bound backward and a hood kept the golden curls hidden from the world. The women were singing while they worked, Briseis small voice joined in though she wouldn't have said she was an angel amongst cackling, she had a fair voice until someone noticed something in the water. A body. The women retreated, begging Briseis to come with them to get help but Briseis had shoved her robe over her head, taking with it her cloth hood and dove into the water. The women were gone by the time she had pulled the body into the shore. It was a man, his dark hair matted against a tan smoothed face. He was badly beaten, his face a roadmap of blue, black and purple bruises and cuts. Briseis heart cried out for the pain inflicted upon him, no doubt felt until he had passed out. They had dumped him, left him to die… but this wasn't his time, the Gods seemed to whisper to her as she leaned over his body upon the sand. His eyes fluttered and she startled back before offering him a smile as her hand cupped the side of his cheek. Such pain in his eyes, no doubt he was hurting and Briseis did the one thing that came to mind to ease that pain, she leaned down to press her lips against his own. People were calling her, her masters voice, which sounded quite angry, brought Briseis back from kissing his lips. Her hand slowly removed itself from his cheek as she looked up towards the voice and then sprinted upward, collecting her clothing to put on while she ran back to them. Leaving him there, for no doubt she would have been punished to be found naked with some strange man she had pulled from the water.

Briseis awoke with a gasp, clutching tightly against him, her head rose from his chest. Not wishing to disturb him in his sleep, she lay her head against his chest again. It was still deep night outside. She had not slept long but now as she lay against him, she didn't know she could go back to sleep. The dream now burned so sharp against her mind. Not a dream. That wasn't a dream her mind nagged at her. Yet how could she not of remembered? His face, beaten and bruised swam within her memory, not the dream, the memory. No, she couldn't have been, she was a woman. She couldn't have been his mermaid. She never had a tail. For an hour or so, she lay away, raising as he took a breath and falling back down as he exhaled. Finally, it was easy to find sleep again, exhausted as she was with playing the dream memory back over in her head and but this time when she dreamt of the water, she was swimming until she found a large enough rock in the water to sunbath upon. A brief glimpse of a shadow on shore caught her sight and she ducked behind the rock to keep whoever it was from seeing her. When she had peeked back, the shadow was gone and so she had pulled herself up and lay back against the curved rock, half sitting up. In her sleep, Briseis laughed, mermaid indeed, the rock... the water and pose, very mermaid like. Just as soon as the laugh came, her brows knitted downward, focusing on the dream or more disturbed by it. She had started singing again, now all alone, it was her own voice that was carried on the water and then there was a splash and she caught a body jumping from a small round boat. This time the dream did not get to play itself out as Briseis sat up in the bed, pulling herself from the dream, making herself wake up.

Light was creeping across the floor. Early morning. Raising a hand, she brushed the dishelved mess of golden curls backward as lids closed over her eyes and she heaved a small sigh. She did not get to ease herself long, pounding on the door downstairs at the shop roused her from the bed, finding her robe on the floor where he had tossed it in their heated passion the night before, she shrugged it over her shoulders.

"Briseis!! Oy Briseis!!!"Aban called from the other side of the door. "Mrs. Hennesy told me to come get you, She be havin the baby!" Even muffled, Briseis could make out the words. Raising her hand, she signaled to him she heard him then held up a finger to give her a minute before racing back upstairs. Scrounging up paper and pen. She scribbled: I'm needed. Be back when I can. ~ Bri' and set it on her pillow next to him. Pausing, she leaned over him, her hand touching at his cheek as she smiled down at his sleeping face. Leaning down, she pressed her lips against his own, only a moment and then she forced herself away and fleed out the door with Aban hot on her heels.

He must have fallen asleep… hard, for he did not even feel her move from the mattress. He made a mental note not to work so hard, if hard work made him sleep. Nearly rousing from the bed, he felt the paper against his hand… picking it up and reading it. Placing it against his nose, he could smell her hand… and it caused a smile to form.

That simple smell… that simple gesture made his mind rage back to the days of youth… the Amir’s daughter… her smell… the beating… and the sight of the Sea’s bottom made his perspire. Still again the mermaid saved him as she came into memory… her smell, though the memory appeared as if it was even moreso familiar…

Reaching under the mattress, he withdrew the pouch he had hidden from Bri… pouring out the contents he smirked wickedly… He was unsure if the vendor had brought her money yet as he looked down at her Mother’s jewelry he had bought days before, the day of the picnic. “She’d better get paid…” he mumbled softly.

Hearing the front door open, he quickly stuffed the jewelry back into the pouch and stuffed it under his side of the mattress… rolling to his back, his hands under his head, fingers interlaced.

[Men of Skye]

The night was cloudless, the stars shining bright like tiny beckons in the black abyss above. It had taken nearly the whole day for Mrs. Hennesy to have her baby. In the end though, it had been worth it. As she held her new baby son and her husband looked on with pride and adoration, it made her job worth it. It made the past worth it. Her own violent miscarriage where the baby had been stillborn and her life hanging in the balance was now nothing more than a cliff note in her history and no one here knew about it. Strangely enough, birthing healthy babies to happy families helped, it made her miscarriage worth it. Where would she have been had she not miscarried? Still a slave... and Kam... would never have known her. His mermaid.

A smile touched her lips as she walked slowly home. What had been a shocking discovery of memory now seemed so peaceful. What had been hard to comprehend now made perfect sense. She was his mermaid. Though the fantasy of it now died in the realization of it all. It came with it the knowledge that while her history had never seemed to be linked to a happy future, it now was. She was meant to know him, she was meant to be a part of his life. Though she wasn't certain on what the future held for them, she was certain she was meant to be with him, if only to guide him, if nothing more than a friend, though she felt so much more, she would accept what the Gods had put at her feet. The stars seemed to twinkle, matching her thoughts with agreement of their own and it gave her an idea. So it was an hour more since the baby’s birth and she left, that she returned home.

The door jammed as the key turned the lock inward and she huffed as she shoved it open. Letting out a sigh, she moved to pull the door up to keep it from scrapping the floor and shut it properly. She made a mental note then to send a note to Perry to see if he could help fix that as he had promised before she turned into the shop. "Kam?!" She called into the open space, knowing if he was there he could hear her from upstairs. Shrugging her cloak off, she threw it over an empty table as she made her way to the stairs that lead up to her apartments. There was no being quiet with these stairs but she took her time up them and turned the corner from the top into the bedroom doorway. Him laying there with his hands behind his head, she chuckled and cokeed her head to lean against the frame. "Have you slept all day?" she questioned with a teasing twinkle in her eye as she pushed off the doorframe to move over to him, holding her hands out, her fingers wiggled at him so he would take the hint and take her hands. When he had, she pulled him up off the mattress. "Come on, I have a surprise for you... but..." she released his hands and grinned. "You have to catch me to get it..." No sooner were the words out of her mouth then she was flying out of the bedroom, golden hair bouncing behind her as she took the stairs two at a time, she didn't run through the shop, oh no, she opened the back door and flew out into the alleyway behind the shop to the stairs that lead to the roof, she paused only a second to make sure he was following before she rounded the stairs and bounced up them and jumped the rise on the building that lead held the flat roof above it.

The gaze at the ceiling in thought was broken as he heard the door downstairs scrape against the floor. “Upstairs girl…” he responded when she called out his name. “Sleep took its toll, yes… all day, no… Contemplation has its place with idle hands…” the Berber accent intermingling with his English as he smiled at the blond with the cute expression. And with her challenge and took her hands. He attempted to pull her down atop him, but she resisted and instead pulled harder. As he rose, he lurched at her and laughed as she eeked, turned, and ran… “I’ll get yu wench…” he teased but found himself surprised that she ran out of the shop, instead of into it… though he followed her still.

As he exited the shop into the alleyway, he found her bounding up the stairs toward the roof. Quickly, he followed suit and taking two stairs at a time just to catch up. Above, she disappeared onto the rooftop, his lip quirked in uncertainty.

Oh clever little minx, she had been gone the whole day and an hour longer than normal. Quiet as a mouse she had set up the roof with a picnic for dinner and pillows for seating. Stopping short of the blanket and pillows laid out over the rough roof surface, she turned and opened her arms to be caught, embracing him around the neck as her lips met his and a small moan vibrated against his lips from her voice. "mmmm, surprise…" She murmured against his lips as she loosened her arms about his neck. "Look..." Her head tilted as she looked up at the stars above them. There was a meteor shower tonight and as she spoke, three separate 'stars' shot against the pitch black night. "Now how can people claim the Gods love to torture us when they make such beautiful shows for us to watch?" She hummed as she unwrapped her arms from his neck and led him over to plop down upon the pillows. She knew then she wanted to tell him about her dreams, or rather her memories but she wasn't sure how she was going to go about it. Was he going to laugh at her? Tell her it was all because he told her the story of his mermaid? Would he believe her or would he be mad thinking she had made it all up?

As he one-handedly jumped on the ledge, he halted immediately… Surprise was not a word that would have described him right now. As he just smiled and took her into his arms, the kiss, a small one, was followed by one more intimate. “Yes girl, I am surprised… tis pleasant, and yu may spoil me…” Looking up at the meteor shower, he glances back down at her, his hand caressing her cheek… “Allah has provided something most beautiful… and most dangerous…” his thumb resting at her chin, the rest of his fingers against the back of her neck. In this position, he could very easily snap her neck with one flick of his powerful wrist… but his touch proved differently. It was most seductive and gentle… “Tis as if I have had yu as part of my life from the very beginning… I know not what it is, nor do I care… as long as I keep this feeling always…”

Falling slowly with her upon the pillows, his hand remained at her neck and chin… the thumb caressing the skin that covered bone. Softly, his voice chimed seductively as he spoke… “Coming to Skye… to perform tasks of a dastardly man… has turned out much differently than I ever expected. So far from home, yet familiarity surrounds me…”

"I..." She started then stopped. No not yet, she had just come home. Tonight but not just yet. "I got paid well today, Mr and Mrs Hennesy were so pleased to have a son, they paid more then what was agreed upon, and then in the market, the vendor who I sold some jewelry too, he said someone bought my mother’s jewelry." The smile on her lips slid a bit. "It was…" She paused and pulled in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh before continuing "the only thing I had left of my mother, but... I am glad it sold, I hope whoever bought it, treasures it as much as I did. I parted with it to get the money to rent this place, so I cannot regret my actions. I nearly have enough for this month’s rent." She had been keeping the money he had been giving her separate from her income, she hadn't been able to refuse him, he wouldn't allow it and she didn't feel right putting what money he earned into her expenses. "It was only jewelry right? Besides, she used to sing me to sleep every night, it’s the same song I sang for years later. Although I haven't sung it in a long time. That alone always keeps her with me." The truth was, she hadn't sung it since she had saved him the second time from the water. Turning, she grinned at him before flopping back to lean on her side against a pillow.

His hand released her and propped himself up… chocolate brown eyes looked upon her while she spoke. Once again she changes the course he set upon… and he curses mentally… but the expression was one of happiness… “Tis good that yu are well-paid for services performed…” he pauses… “The vendor?” he tried to hide the smile. “Ah yes…” then he smiles, the words uttering forth softly… “If yu cage a canary… it will sing for you still… yet it is caged…. Set it free… If it flies away, nary to return, t’was meant to be… but if it returns, then it will sing for you a song of freedom…” he was referring to the jewelry, among other things…

There she was… lying upon the pillows… beautiful… seductive… enticing… as if she was a princess of the desert. He smiled and sighed.

She wanted him to know about his mermaid, her; and then again she didn't. She was terrified what it would mean to know. His life was not here, it was in Morocco. If he knew, would he feel compelled to stay? He was meant for so much and if he knew, she would be keeping him from that. There was no doubt in her mind that she wouldn't be locking him to her but he would make the decision to stay near his mermaid. She couldn't do it, even as before she wanted him to know. She now couldn't do it. To know would mean he would forget about the destiny the Gods had planned for him. She did not want to stop him from his destiny, never thinking for a moment that she was part of it.

He glances to the food, then to her… rolling slowly on the pillows to near her… A thick accent, softened by a charming tone, his hand rested upon her belly, as he edged his body close to her. “Today, in your absence, I decided to forego my commands of the Amir… I have taken upon myself not the future of the Marinids… but the future of you… You have much to offer, and I wish to partake… My life there was in constant strife…” he paused, his hand finding her face, his eyes search her face. “In the days past since we met, my life is not complicated… I would trade a thousand slaves for you… I would relinquish my world alone for one in which we share…”

Leaning back against the pillows, she relaxed with his touch were usually she stiffened and then relaxed. Perhaps it was the meteors shooting across the sky or the intimate setting she had created for them. No it was his touch, with every passing day she began more relaxed, less flinching as if waiting to be struck. That warm touch of his was melting the slave away from her heart and leaving the humble woman behind. Her hands pillowed behind her head against the cushions and as he scooted closer and used that one hand to pull her closer, one hand moved from behind her head and cupped his cheek. Sapphire eyes seemed to pierce through the night, shining brightly as if she were standing in the sun. Her head tipped back, pressing against the arm behind her head as she dipped her head back to look at him better. Her heart caught in her chest with his words. What was he doing?! Her fingers stilled in their caress of his cheek. Such sweet and tender words and yet all that rang in her head for a moment was that he was forgoing HIS Desert....for her.

Then slowly, the rest of what he was saying sank in. Honestly she could not of said it better, he put into words what she was still trying to figure out and it in that instant became clear. He wanted to be with her, as she wanted to be with him, one world that they both shared, together. Her hand fell from his cheek to catch his hand at her own cheek as her lips trembled, her hand tightened against his as she leaned her cheek against his touch and a single tear fell from the side of her eye and dripped down upon their joined hands. "Kam.." She choked and shook her head despite his hand being there against his cheek. She wasn't denying what he was saying, she just couldn't put it all into words. She wasn't good enough for him, he deserved someone who could be a proper wife, someone who could give him children. Her hand lifted from his to caress his cheek again as that faraway look clouded over the chocolate eyes she stared into so often.

He had committed himself to her right then. He was willing to forsake all for her. Why? He did not know… he felt compelled by something stronger than his own will… For the second time in his life, he was making a decision based upon illogical reasons… the first was to dive into the waters of the Sea to find his siren… though he almost drown a second time, relegating himself to remain underwater far too long in searching for her.

"Kam...Kam" She had spoken his name several times as he stared out into the abyss of the night sky. Shifting against the pillows, she pulled out a few containers containing their dinner and waved it under his nose. "Hungry?"

Frozen upon the pillows… seconds seemed upon hours… his hand caressing her face… His body was excited, his heart pounding… Blood rushed hard in his veins… A mere touch from her seemed as though lightning from the sky bore down upon him… He wanted to kiss her… to covet her completely… to make physical touches cause the stars to pale… And back to reality she brought him again… mentioning food. Retracting his hand, he smiled and nodded. “Yes thank you…”

For a while they ate in silence. She had no idea what he was thinking about but she could not stop thinking about what he had said, about the caged bird, abandoning his mission from the Sultan, staying with her... everything was a blur running through her mind. One thing and then another, it was all making a loop but the ones that stayed the longest was the caged bird, and of course, his declaration that he wanted to stay with her. She paused from putting a slice of pear into her mouth. Her tongue snaked out to lick against her lips as she set the fruit slice back into his container. Shifting, she leaned against her side on the pillows, watching him eat instead for in this instant, her stomach was twisted, not painfully but enough that hungry had left her.

Passively seductive, she licked her lips and he watched her in silence. He wanted to capture her mouth with his, to press upon her body with his own weight. Taking the slice she once held to her lips, he slid the fruit between his lips, and sucked it into his mouth with a sigh.

"You have been..." She inhaled a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh "So much to me Kam... I may have been released from slavery but I have been in a cage since before I met you. The door was unlocked but it wasn't until you came along and opened the door to the world that I was released, but I couldn't fly away, I have always been tied to you. More than you know..." She stopped here to look at him. She had wanted to tell him, then didn't but in him declaring in so many words, his love for her, she made the final decision. This was it. Her life had always been him, had always meant to be tied to his. It wasn't locking him down in telling him. Pushing against the cushions she rose and moved about the roof, trying to find the words on how to start this.

He leaned against one arm, his hand supporting his head as he looked at her, the soft fruit being chewed, then swallowed. “No slave desires freedom more than one restrained… until… until the slave is set free… then the slave is afraid of its new world…” She rose, and he watched her move about… her words <I have always been tied to you> a sort of puzzle for him…

"You know… I can still remember the day I was caged. I never regretted my life, never regretted the service I gave my Master. Oh, up until that day, I used to sing my mother’s song nearly every day. The ladies used to love to sing with me, usually when we went down to wash clothing. I don't remember how old I was, but I remember that day. For some reason the clothing loads were moderate, not that difficult to carry, we took them down to the beach, near where there was this rock formation out in the water. I remember the water was so cool, the sand was warm, and we washed clothes without our shoes, feeling first cool water, then warm sand on our feet... and we sang…" As she spoke she moved to sit against the ledge of the roof, a hand raised to push the golden waves of her hair behind her ear as her eyes closed over her eyes.

Kamenwati sat up, crossing his legs and watched her, listening inventively.

Inhaling a deep breath, she did not let it out in a sigh this time but instead, began to sing. Briseis would have never categorized herself with a siren's voice, there was a soft note to the voice that now raised in song and yet something sad and still, something familiar perhaps.

(Here is the song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J2lVnT65pw)

"Lay down your head
And I'll sing you a lullaby
Back to the years
Of loo-li, lai-ley
And I'll sing you to sleep
And I'll sing you tomorrow
Bless you with love
For the road that you go "

Elbows were placed upon his knees, his hands folded into fists and his head lowered to them. Her voice!! Sooo familiar!! Chills crept up his spine.

Slowly her eyes opened to look him in the face as she paused in her song. "I will remember that day for as long as I live, for it was not only the day I was caged, but while we were washing clothing, one of the women saw something in the water and we all looked. A man was floating, dangerously close to sinking beneath the water. The women scattered, afraid of what was in the water. I was not afraid, for the first time in my life. Something told me, to save this man from the depths of a watery grave… so I threw my clothes off and dove into the water.." She paused again and pushed off the wall, moving a step closer to him as she began to sing again the next verse of the song.

"May you sail fair
To the far fields of fortune
With diamonds and pearls
At your head and your feet
And may you need never
To banish misfortune
May you find kindness
In all that you meet"

Memories flashed back to the days of the Amir’s daughter… his assault upon the Amir’s orders… and being cast into the water… his blood staining the waters of the Sea. Again the chills spiked upon his spine and crept into his neck, raising the hair upon end.

Again with a lull in the song, for the music to ascend to the ear, the thing they were missing but she paused all the same as she moved closer to him. "He was breathing, oh so shallow but I pulled all the strength my body had to get him to shore and out of the water. He was so beaten and bruised that my heart cried out to him... I put my hand against his cheek..."

The mermaid!! The scene came rushing back in his memory of that day… for what he remembered. He had suffered such a beating, not to kill, but to remember the assault… Offered to Allah as a sacrifice to the Sea... yet saved by a disciple of Neptune…

Again she stopped as she slowly sank to her knees before him and rose a hand to his cheek, her thumb stroking against the heated flesh. "I didn't think about it, I leaned down to press my lips against his. His eyes opened for only a second while my master was calling in the distance. Such brilliant eyes, it is a wonder I ever forgot, but perhaps I adapted it out, to survive...I had to run though then with my master's voice calling and it was that day I was locked in a cage, safely guarded. I never understood why my Master was so mad… but I don't think I could ever of known. That by rescuing him, I changed his destiny to the path it was supposed to be, nor did I know… I would see him again." Again she paused and inhaled a breath to again sing for him.

"May there always be angels
To watch over you
To guide you each step of the way
To guard you and keep you
Safe from all harm
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-ley "

All that is Allah… she was speaking about him!!!! She sank to her knees as a slave before a Master, and yet, when she touched his face, her hand was like a heated rod, burning his skin, but he loved it… His heart raced… He wanted to grab her, yet his arms refused to work… they were so heavy.

"The next time I saw him, was years later. I had finished my chores for the day and had been given time to leave the house so I went to the shores again where I had last seen my brilliant brown eyed sir. I loved to swim then, as I do now. I swam out to the rock formation and lay upon it. Though caged, I still loved to sing... and sing I did, until I noticed a figure on the shore. I slipped down behind the rock so this figure would not see me…" Once more, she paused and sang again.

"May you bring love
And may you bring happiness
Be loved in return
To the end your days
Now fall off to sleep
I'm not meaning to keep you
I'll just sit for awhile
And sing
Loo-li, lai-ley"

He continued to listen to her words… words so sweet, that he was intrigued… charmed… and she sang once more; the memories clouding his mind, as it processed what had happened, with her words in the present.

Sitting back upon her heels, sapphire eyes traced his face from left to right, searching his face. "I began to sing again, seeing as this stranger was gone and then there was a splash and I saw a round boat drifting, and a figure trying desperately to swim towards me as I sang. He slipped beneath the surface and again I was pulled by a force to rescue this form. Lower and lower he was sinking and I kicked hard to find him, my hand reaching out to his..." Her hand slipped from his cheek to capture his hand. "My fingers found his, so warm against the cold water and again I pulled all my strength to get us to the surface and to get us to shore... again his eyes briefly opened to meet mine as I lay over him. Again I began to sing for him as his eyes closed. And there I was found again with him, by my Master, who had come looking for me...that was the day the lock was placed on my cage." Inhaling again, her voice rose in the last verse of the song.

"May there always be angels
To watch over you
To guide you each step of the way
To guard you and keep you
Safe from all harm
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-ley
Loo-li, loo-li, lai-ley"

Now she had explained the reason he could not find his mermaid… not that she had abandoned him, but was caged… locked away from him… The burning hand now took his… the chill upon his spine had faded and now took the form of her before him. His chocolate eyes searched her as if attempting to read ancient texts. Still his mouth refused to utter words in retort… Touch and hearing were the only functions that operated now.

Her locked fingers with his, raised, raising their hands so his hand pressed against her heart through her blue midwife robes. "I never stopped to think, a golden haired and sapphire-colored eye woman would become a mystical mermaid that changed a man’s destiny more than once, when she was simply... just a slave." She stopped again, needing a breath, she pulled one in sharply but from there she didn't know what else to say and so lost track of holding that breath in for the reaction in him.

He could feel her heart racing… Was it from his touch, or from the after effects of singing? His eyes peered deep into sapphire jewels… Words were failing him… but what was in his heart spoke volumes… Could his eyes relay what he felt? Finally, as she sat in front of him, he moved his feet under him, rising to his knees. Pulling her with his hand, he brought her to her knees facing him, his height, even upon knees together caused him to look down. “You… shall always and forever be my mermaid… my savior… my slave… I am indebted to you for my life… and my life belongs to you… lest you open my cage and make me fly away…” he offered her a smile.

[Men of Skye]

The truth of her wild heart beat was not only his touch and from singing, but from her admission. Of not knowing how he would react. His stillness had frightened her. In one moment she saw him lashing out, saying it was not true and then her eyes opened, to find him staring so silently at her. Brown eyes speaking more volumes then perhaps he even knew. Speaking a language only she seemed able to read and understand. As he sat up and pulled her with him, her free hand moved to wrap around his middle, pressing against his back as her head bent and she fought the urge to look away from him. Old habit sometimes pulled hard. Tilting her head back, she looked up at him, the urge to look down had passed as her lips turned slowly upward into a grin with each word he spoke. "It was always you, it was always meant to be you…" she replied in a deep breath of relief. Relief of what? That he had not raged, that he believed her. That he felt, what she felt, though neither seemed to make the words appear and be spoken.

Slowly her head dipped as she wiggled her hand from his own, her other slipping from behind his back and joined the other in their trek downward to the bottom of his shirt and pulling it upward until his arms moved up and she was able to free it from his body and toss it, discarded to the blanket beside them. Trembling fingers found the flesh of his sides. Still burning hot, he seemed to carry the heat of the desert with him at all times and memory flashed back to a time not so far away when her naked flesh lay against his own in cold waters of the lake. Letting out a sigh, her eyes slid closed as she lay her head against his bare chest. It was not to hear the drum of his heart through his chest but the deep rhythmic breathing of his lungs.

The embrace they shred seemed to fire the heart and excite the body… his nostrils flared and his eyes dilated unconsciously… yearning, want, need filled his mind as she raised his shirt, his arms freely extending upward to allow the removal of his white shirt. Chocolate brown eyes darkened with desire. If Allah sought a reason to destroy them, now would be the time… to incinerate them from their own heat. The deep rhythmic breathing quickly shed its pace and shorter, rapid breaths filled his lungs.

Lids remained closed as her arms wrapped about him, yet loosely, not holding him in place but rather searching, exploring as she pulled in each deep breath along with her own as the pads from her fingertips explored the heated flesh of his back. Ever so slowly, her head turned from its press against his chest. Her forehead found the beat of his heart against it. Just as she moved her head, her fingers to moved, from the valley of his back to the round of his sides. Lips parted as she inhaled a breath of air, pulling in the sharp coldness of it, letting it chill the inside of her throat before exhaling it, letting her warm breath wash over the roll of his pecks before her head lifted, her fingers traveling up his arms from wrist to shoulder as her head rose, tilting backward as lids opened to behold the look of him.

The look in her face was perhaps hard to define, hard to put words to, the very words that alluded both of them. Something askew to desire, destiny, destination, passion, fire....love. Lips were still parted, in taking a breath as if she were going to say something before knees propelled her upward and she captured his lips with hers letting her hands find his face on their own. Weaving her fingers within the depths of his hair as her body pressed against his own invitingly, shivering with the need and the want of him as the heat of his body poured into her own.

Her kiss was devastating to common sense… the destruction of prudent judgment… replaced by the fanciful desires of intimacy…

The pound of her heart seemed to echo out through her ears. Could he hear it? Did he notice the change in her body, previously so tense and unsure, now melded against his own like silk wrapped around a curved body? Perhaps it was the heat of him, perhaps it was the heat they both shared in their passionate embrace. It was there that memory, pressing at the back of her mind but held off by the fire of his skin, the burning needs of not a slave, but of a woman and yes of a man. That need, so very pure and previously untouched was virtually unknown to the woman now seemed to beg and burn beneath the skin for the touch of him. For something she was not sure of in that small part of her brain that still held a small part of reason to it.

He believed in miracles… not in the religious kind, but the passion between man and woman… and she was working miracles. No slave, nor free woman, had given him as much pleasure as he was enjoying now. For whatever reason, he knew not, but he did believe in miracles. For now, she was in control. Former slave, now a working free woman… his mermaid… his dream was now coming true. He did believe in miracles.

He was energized… alive and he wanted to continue… He began to lose track of time and location… She had saved his life… twice… and now a third?

Briseis had known nothing of miracles. She hadn't thought much of miracles or destinies until the fateful day she had met him on the beach, three times in fact. Past and then present. It wasn't until the present that she truly understood the meaning of destiny, that deep-seated pull within her to save his life twice now. Now destiny made sense, now miracles made sense. It was a miracle that enflamed and impassioned a slave to save a life she knew nothing about, but it was also destiny. That the two were now tied could only mean one thing. Legendary. This was the type of situation. They were the type of people that legends were written about. They just didn't know it yet.

The sun was tinting the dark sky a flame red in the far distance. Oh, for sure, time was lost, but mattered not. The Truth had been told, and the Dare had been acknowledged and performed. “Good morning…”

Sapphire eyes met chocolate browns as her head lulled against his arm that had flopped down to the blanket. A small smile curved the edges of her lips. "Good Morning" the soft singsong voice hummed in a reply as her arm curled over his muscled chest, still rising high and falling with heavy breaths.

Yet shadows were lurking in the corners, clinging heavily to any that would offer it shelter against the rising sun. Shadows that held secrets and plots, just waiting to drive the destiny of Briseis and Kamenwati even further.