Desert Destiny SL - Kam to Skye

[Men of Skye]

Kam heads to Skye

Three weeks, and his patience with the Amir had grown very thin... The Amir had closed the borders in order to prevent international meddling in the crimes he installed upon his own people to ensure his reign. Kam was ready to offer his own life to end the Amir’s reign of terror against the Berber people; but deep down, Kam hated Abu Said Uthman for what he had done, and what he was doing, to Briseis. Poor Kam watched from afar as Bri and the Amir’s harem was paraded like an animal in a herd. He knew if he tied to save her and were caught, both of them would be killed. The only way to save Bri was to leave... to get help as soon as he could.

Now, two more weeks and his arrival in Skye would mark him for death for the murder of Briseis... But clothed as a beggar once more, he stayed near the Church receiving alms for the poor... waiting for the chance to enter the castle.

As Kam reached Skye, Briseis was faced with a challenge that would bring a note to her former glory as a midwife. The Amir's third wife, Vashti was with child and for three days had been laboring to birth the child. The physicians were at a loss of what to do. For three days she had pains and had pushed and nothing. The child would not come. There were rumors that Vashti was going to die and the palace began to hum with rumors of who the Amir would take as a new wife knowing full well the man relished having three wives, a full array of dancers and harem to accommodate his lust.

Nobles, servants, and slaves alike all passed the hall where the wife Vashti was known to be lying in, trying to bring the Amir's child into the world. The Physicians came and went, came again only to stand out in the hall like idiots. As Briseis passed with the ring of harem who wanted to try and get a closer look into the lying in room, Briseis paused even daring a look at the guard who pushed her to catch up with the lingering group. Inwardly she was antsy, her mind was telling her to move on, not to risk it all the while she was biting her cheek, fighting with what she knew of her freedom before and being a midwife to what she was now. Just one of the Amir's harem. For a second more she bounced in place before she took off, weaving through the guards assigned to the hall with her own guard from the harem hot on her tail.

"Move it" she hissed at the guards at the door and broke through them like a knife through butter and the physicians coming out of the room who evidently stopped the guards following her.

"If you want to live...if you want your baby to live...then get up.." She spoke hurriedly to the sweat soaked and swollen bellied woman in the bed.

Vashti was heaving in the bed, clearly she had just had a wallop of a labor pain and was looking at Briseis as if she had grown two heads. "Excuse me? You are a physician?"

Pulling her hair back, Briseis drew to the bed and threw the covers back from the bed and ushered Vashti by her arm out of the bed. "No, just please... I know what I am doing." She ushered in a soft voice now speaking more then she had in the month she had been here. Ushering Vashti by the bed, she soothed the woman's back as she had her lean over the bed. "Now rotate your hips" She soothed gently to the woman's ear as she settled her hands against Vashti hips and began to roll her hips in a circle.

"Hey, get your hands off her!" The guards had broken from the wall of physicians and stormed the rooms.

"Leave Her!" Vashti boomed as another contraction hit. "GEEEET OUTT!!" She screamed high pitched at the guards who all stopped in their tracks and back peddled out the doors.

"That's it, my lady, now squat and push. I am here; you're going to be fine." Briseis soothed with only a minimal glance to the back peddling guards as she moved down to help keep Vashti thighs open and aligned to open her up for birthing.

For an hour the guards paced the halls listening to Vashti scream and groan and Briseis quiet murmuring within. Even the Physicians had been sent away and now waited with the guards arguing now about the woman filth attending Vashti and how the woman would kill her. The Amir had been alerted to Briseis defiance and her whereabouts but they would not cross the third wife of the Amir; so they waited until a baby’s cry filled the halls. Even the guards could not stop their grinning for the relief of hearing the baby cry as well as the shocked look of the Physicians faces.

The doors were flung open not long after and Briseis emerged dirty and no worse for wear as the physicians hurried in to tend the woman now happily holding her newborn in the bed.

"We've got orders to take you before the Amir" One of the guards had recovered from his shock and relief to sternly bark at Briseis. Not even the threat of the Amir's rage had soothed the smile from Briseis face. "Very well...take me to him."

As he roamed the market, he saw the heads of two men placed upon pikes... What had these men done? Was this the punishment of those who crossed the Mo’r Triath? Would he be the next to be piked? That afternoon, he saw the Mo’r Triath riding into the castle, and he followed quickly, hiding to the side amongst others less fortunate... and as the guards saluted their liege, Kam snuck in through the gate.

Stealthily, deep inside the castle, he removed the garb of a beggar and found clothing as a servant. Using his skills, he managed to get into the kitchen. Carrying a tray of food from the kitchen, he made his way thru the corridors. Once chance was all Allah offered the man... Now hidden in the shadows of the corridors, Kamenwati waited his chance to meet Lord Adam and offer what knowledge he had of the Berber situation.

Adam left Ebony Hall and rode his white horse around town, with no particular destination determined. All the while, he would see people coming and going, living their lives in peace and tranquility. This mixed with decisions as to what may soon turn into a full-blown war... especially one of the seas.

He tugged the reins of the battle-horse and wheeled it into the stables of the castle. Dismounting, his long slow strides carried him into the corridors... As he walked along, he was shadowed by one hidden in the darkness... as he passed an intersection of the castle, the shadowed one stepped out and stopped the Mo’r Triath...

Bowing down to one knee, Kamenwati, the Moroccan warlord, now hunted as a traitor, presumed dead, knelt before the Griffin of Scotland. “MiLord, forgive this humble one and pray yu smite me not.” His hands were extended with palms upward, head bowed deep almost to the knee.

Adam stopped abruptly and reached for his sword at the hip. Only when the man bowed submissively did he see he was no danger. “How did yu get in here?”

Kam did not look up... “MiLord, I shall explain all, but I must warn yu of yer request for trade with the Amir of Fez... May I speak freely MiLord?”

“Rise, walk with me... and speak freely...” Adam bade the man freedom to rise and speak... Kam rose and took a position slightly to the side and rear of the Mo’r Triath... “MiLord... I have just returned from the lands of the Amir... and all is not well there...” And as the two men walked thru the halls, the man of the Desert spoke softly, and the words he uttered soon gave Adam a look of concern... followed by a few curses...

Pausing in the corridor, Adam grasps a servant by the arm. “Summon th’ Mo’r Okesula and the Lady Claramae tae the Great Hall... Ah shall bae there... oh and the Lady of the Letters tae...” then he released the young man and headed for the Great Hall with his unexpected visitor... Adam stood and waited and bade the dark skinned man to rise and follow him... standing upon the raised platform, Adam sat in the raised chair...

Adam and Kam were discussing what was transpiring in Fez... the Amir had, for years been demoralizing his people to the extent of death and torture... The Amir had closed doors to outsiders, with one tendency... the French privateers... both set on securing the Pillars of Hercules... Adam leaned to the side, his elbow upon the chairs arm... "Then what is yae seek o'me, sir...?" Kam bowed his head... "I was born Egyptian... of a Moroccan Father... I come to see Lord General... but he is elsewhere...time is urgent MiLord... my ... wife... Briseis is enslaved......" Adam looked at Kam and started to speak but was interrupted by the opening of the doors of the Great Hall...

Adam looks at the knight with the lady, then looks to Kam... "yaer wife sir? My reports says yu killed her, burned the cottage down with her in it..." he rubbed his chin... "but we found nae body..."

Kam interrupted... "MiLord, I did not kill her... we were attacked..." he raised his shirt and showed the scar...then a guard tapped his shoulder and made him wait to be allowed to speak... "My apologies MiLord..."

Adam shook his head and motioned the guard away... looking back to the knight and the translator... A smile crossed his face as Bess, his beloved wife... and Claramae... his beloved Governor entered the Great Hall... "Good day tae yae all..." as he watched Bess take her place, and the others paid respect... "This is Kamenwati... a leader of Morocco... banned as a traitor because he fell in love with the beauty of Skye... and a lass..." then he began to fill in the missing information about Briseis, the midwife, was not murdered by Kam, but enslaved by the Amir... and how Kam was almost murdered as well... "Sae yae see... Ah 'ave been betrayed by the Muslim King... and Lady Janice, I pray yu are well... and Ah apologize for wot yae been thru..." He pauses... "Ah bae much concerned... Fez is threatening the closure of the Strait... as well as Espania..." once again a pause... "Ah want free trade for Skye and the Nations... Ah wan tae be afore France n Spain in lead of trade... Ah know wot Ah want... how must Ah proceed?" He looks to Kam, then the others, one by one...


Looking at Kamenwati... "Sir, yu shall have yer meeting with Lord General... I shall give him authorization to handle Fez... with yu as an advisor to Skye on Middle Sea affairs..."

Kam just smiled, his head down. "Allah be praised. Thank you MiLord..."

Kamenwati stood to the side, his head bent well down... His countrymen would call them infidels... especially the King and Queen... for they took no religion... but he stood silent, the beliefs of his countrymen meant nothing to him... for Briseis calls Skye home... and his was with her... for now, he yearned for her safety...and freedom...

Kamenwati would venture to the home of the Lord General... a place he had been several times before. This time, he would walk right up to the door and knock... except guards around the home hindered his way... still he did not give them cause for alarm, nor reason to apprehend him... He was announced...

The days had been shorter though the sun remaining if only for an extra few moments. On the wind he could smell the spring, the warmer weather, and the sun waiting through dark endless clouds. Maahes longed for the break in the weather, finding it easy to get lost in the pits of his despair with the bitter cold. He had let himself fall too far, or so he felt; the years without battle wearing down as a man whose life was spent in the heat of a fire seemed listless--empty. Too many nights did he find himself wondering the grounds of Red Wall in wish of something new. He loved his wife, he loved his children, and was very thankful for his life--but idle hands could only venture for too long without blood.

"M'lord." The page had sent for him, only to find him in oversized stuffed chair by the fire, the leather of it seeming fit of an African king and decorated just the same. As the man announced the Egyptian, burning amber eyes took hold the man and would not release. It was a test of strength, a test of loyalty and in the same sight--Maahes tore him apart, like a Lion on the hunt.

"You have come a long way..." He spoke out of reason, though the meaning held double, for he did come far from the city, but even further then Egypt. A heavy hand came to offer him the seat across from him, a place where the family cat was already spread out.

Kamenwati was no stranger to scrutiny... and to be torn apart by Maahes. Born an Egyptian, raised in the land of the Berbers, namely in Fez, Morocco, Kamenwati stood tall, not near as tall as Maahes, but still he stood strong before the mountain of a man. “Yes MiLord, I have come a long way... and my journey is not yet complete...” Pausing, he shifted weight to both feet, his hands behind his back, one hand over the other.

“My journey is for self and not country. My woman is held captive by the Amir Abu Said Uthman, in personal retaliation against me.” He looked at Maahes, then looked down as he spoke. “My mission in Turas Lan was to spy upon the Mo’r Triath, to gain information and report back... but I met a woman... a Briseis of Carnia, your wife’s midwife... and we began a relationship.” He paused and took a deep breath... “She was taken from our home, and her shop burned down... and I was accused of her murder...” he looked up... “Since then I have explained all this to the Mo’r Triath... and with the information I provided him, I was allowed to approach yu for assistance, MiLord.”

It was then and only then that Kamenwati knelt, his hands beside his feet, head bowed. “It is urgent one must be prepared for the worse... The Amir has cut off all trade with the outsiders, calling them Infidels, as it was in the Crusades... Now he has been negotiating with French privateers... his intent is to invade the lands of the Spaniards, to control the Strait...” he looks upward at Maahes... “MiLord, I am a warrior, once a general of the armies of the sands... now I seek a few men to accompany me to retrieve my woman... and to cause havoc amongst the Amir’s intentions. I beseech yu... provide me swords as to cut down my enemies... I shall raid their camps, take what is needed, and to hideout to fight again and again...” his eyes dropped down once more, and he mumbled... “My woman MiLord, I fear the worse for her with the Amir...”

[Men of Skye]

The thought he had heard such a story twisted through a dark mind, void of any true depth past the intrigue of battle; the war that turned inside it. Maahes was not a man who had such passion, heavy emotion, but he did understand what it was like to love. His wife meant the world to him, and it was written across his face as the man before him spun such a web of the truth. Holding up a hand he wished the man's silence.

"Woah. Hold there, stranger. Let us start with a name." The man across from him was eager, this he could tell. However, if time was on their hands how could he not wish to rush? He listened once again, taking a deep breath as he opened the book of blank parchment and started to sketch out words. Would any be surprised to know such a man could indeed write?

Kamenwati had been invited inside the office of the Lord General, the small path would pass the great war room of the Arena, a place that was handled with smaller manners as this--and not of national security.

"So you simply wish to go in and get her? A simple operation of stealth?" Words so foreign on his lips, and seeming out of place. "The Amir are not so easy, Kamenwati." A name that sounded just right over his tongue, one of the few on the Isle.

"But this you must know..." Maahes gave the man a look over his shoulder, "Or you would not be standing here asking for help." For a moment he was silent, watching as the man's eyes dropped and with it his heart.

"Briseis is woman of Skye, held against her will. She will be returned to you. All who claim sanctuary on this land are protected by our force. If I have to personally go get her, I will. I fear not the Amir, but they have much to fear of me." With that he turned away from the man once more pressing open the door to the large room where the maps were stretched over tables and walls, and men were moved like a game of chess--risk.

"I will send for the maps of trade route we have with that land, but show me now?" He motioned to the table where a few scrolls were already undone waiting for eager fingers to find the right path. Maahes wanted to see the path the man wished to take, and the order he would go about sketching it.

Kamenwati was eager... eager to be reunited with his woman... and to free her of the clutches of such a dastardly man. Still, the mammoth of a man raised his hand to silent him. He moved not, but remained stolid.

“Amir Abu Said Uthman... and the privateer, they call him, the Expensive One...” he offers as much information as he could to the Lord General... “He is always dressed in elaborate clothing, MiLord...”

((OOC note: du'chere does mean expensive one in French))

It had been the first time he had been anywhere in Turas Lan... specially the Arena, the Lord General’s playground... and the elite training area. Even now, they were secluded to the man’s own personal office. A Spartan office indeed, save the lone, small, family-painting upon the wall, positioned where the Lord general could see it daily.

“MiLord, if I could command an army and face certain death to defeat the Amir, I would... but for now, I shall settle for a few men and resources to go get my Briseis...” he looked directly at Maahes... then averted his eyes before he spoke again. “I would offer my life for her safety MiLord General...” he nods as the General spoke of sanctuary.

“I would sail south...” Kamenwati began to quickly draw the north sea, the huge sea, the strait of Gibraltar, and the middle sea, and finally Fez, in Morocco... He showed how he would sail from Turas Lan, down the coasts of France and Espania... and out to the center of the Strait... “There, I would put a small boat in and sail to the coast of Morocco, here... then across land, I would make my way south to the lower edges of the city..."then he roughly drew a map of the city and the palace... “The Amir’s palace in located here...”

Looking up at the Lord General... then he looked back to the paper and drew the Palace... “There are twenty or so, guards along this wall, but at the far end of the Palace wall, is a tunnel that leads into the Palace... It is an escape passage for the Amir. There are only a few guards, here, inside... a small force could gain entry and overpower all the guards...”

Kam’s description of the route and subsequent actions proved to Maahes, the man had experience in this sort of military action; and he had detailed depiction of the Palace grounds... just as he had been a guard or something of the sort. Kamenwati had eluded the fact that he had been the former Amir’s, Abu Said’s father, general at one time, until the Father was murdered and Abu took over as Amir.

“Here and here are the harem quarters... Bri could be here, here, or here, in the Amir’s bedchambers.” Kam gritted his teeth, then looked at Maahes. “To escape, we would go back thru the tunnel to awaiting horses...” he paused... “If we are successful, Allah be praised... if we fail, then may Allah have mercy upon our souls...” then Kam stood erect...

[Lord General Maahes Asad-Aziem]

The way the man carried himself was enough to spill the truth a hundred times about the heart of this man. He was eager, ready, and willing to die just for the cause of bringing the woman he loved home. Maahes could easily respect that in a man, but here he was gambling on a stranger. One that had said his reason was to spy? Amber eyes regarded the man lightly, moving to the captains of each division as they came forth having been called.

"Bring my wife to me. She'll sail you there. She knows that trade like the back of her hand." Though inwardly he worried deeply of her state, but perhaps if he could get her there; out into the world she would find her healing much faster. "And if she refuses, then I will ready you another." He spoke between his teeth.

Amber eyes then passed to the tall archer male who had so happily been a loyal soldier, "Brin. Danae can not be far. Summon her, get her here. I think a ranger is best to lead this, with you at her side." He looked to Kam. "I shall ask for volunteers first..and then will draft you out a fleet."

Maahes never had problems finding those eager to dive in, this was perfect time for a new recruit to offer their will and desire to prove their worth--advance further. Hardly any turned away the invitation to be part of the army, but now more so then ever Maahes worried of what was to come. Lands like this were barbaric in their own right, with rules unlike their own. Turning to the few who gathered now in the small war room.

"Let it be known one of our own has been captured, kidnapped, and just as we would any mother of this Isle we shall seek her out and return her home. We meet at high noon tomorrow in the great war room." With that he gave a nod to the few gathered, as game of chess begun, and the knights moved to gather their men.

[Dame Danae Galanos]

It was at a time of the day where most knew just where to find the copper skinned femme fatale. She had just finished a drink or two at the local tavern and was on her way back to re gather her men and dispense them through out the city as well as the surrounding area. One could never work to hard in keeping a home safe, at least that was what Danae thought. However, as she rounded a corner of a street, she spotted someone coming toward her and upon a closer look, recognized the man to be that of one of the Lord General's. With Merick and Balian behind her, she paused and held up a single hand to have them stop as well.

When all can to cease, a message was delivered from the lips of the man that had been sent to find the Commander. A simple nod was granted to him and with a look to her two men that followed, the three of them would follow the Lord General's man back to where he had came. There was a knock upon the door before Danae, Merick and Balian would appear after following in behind the Lord General's man. Icy blue hues would look from the messenger, to the visiter Maahes was speaking with and then the Lord General himself. Merick and Balian kept their distant respectfully and allowed business to continue to commence as she awaited to be addressed.

Danae knew this must have been something of importance seeing as how Maahes had sent for her. Rarely did the Lord General request her presence on more... friendly and less fortunate reasons. Danae would take a step forward and give both men a nod of her head before she spoke up. ``Lord General... I understand you sent for me. While I am sure it had something to do with needing me, my skills or perhaps my men, I'm also sure that the reason behind those very things has something to do with the man here.`` she said as she gestured toward Kam with a tilt of her head. ``So why don't we skip the introductions, save them for later and get right down to business then.``

By appearance alone, one could quickly come to the assumption that this woman, a Commander, a Talion, meant business when it came to what was requested of her. She wasn't one for satin or lace, she was all about cotton, leather, and steel. Danae cared very little about the finer things in life and preferred the forest as well as the land itself over any structured building. However, she did follow orders and directions and when asked of her, stayed where requested or wore what was needed in order to blend in with her surroundings. Be it dresses, furs, or even mud... there wasn't anything this woman wouldn't do to have a successful outcome for whatever the situation might be.

Danae wasn't being disrespectful at all. It was just how she tended to be when it came to obtaining a goal or accomplishing a job that was requested of her. Even before it was asked of her really. Of course, Maahes would know this as they had been friends for five years or so since they met within the lands of Avaria that fateful day. He would expect nothing less than her eager nature to do whatever it was that was needed. Kam on the other hand, well, hopefully over the course of time that they would have to spend with one another with the up coming journey, would learn this and better understand the Greek warrior.