"Tell me of your past without me.."

[Anulia of Amora]

Aislin Creed-Aislin had already called for the servants to bring a fresh pot of tea, some whiskey and some food for the general, herself and Anulia. Malick was out side the door, having already had food and not wanting more since he could move about when others would need to stay put. Currently Aislin sat at the corner of the room in a chair with her feet propped up on another that was across from her with her journal in her lap and a quill and ink blot balanced on her thigh. After the food had been brought in, she had placed her book aside and rested her plate on her lap so she could start eating it at a fast pace, much like a military male would, though not a drop was spilled.

Anulia of Amora-Anulia had not left Maahes' side in three days. There was no need to when food and water was brought to her. As soon as the beef and potatoes were given to her, she looked to the still sleeping Maahes and moved the plate by his bed, hoping the smells would awake him. She did not care about the stare or the look that Aislin had given her when she started to cut the beef up as well as the potatoes into smaller pieces in case he wanted to try some. Would the woman not do the same for others she cared about? Anulia had made only one request herself and that had been a bowl of hot water to be brought in so she could bath some of herself and then Maahes. Anulia did not even bother to ask Aislin to leave as she gave a nod to the servants and told them to shut the door behind them. Moving to the ground off to his right, she knelt down on the floor with her back facing him and placed the bowl in front of her. Like some exotic ceremony, she started to undo her robes and the wrappings about her body, baring her top and leaving it exposed to the air as they pooled down around her hips, exposing that scarred back to Aislin and a sleeping Maahes. With graceful movement she reached into the hot bowl to grab the cloth and pulled it from the water, letting droplets rain down into the bowl to create that beautiful sound found only in nature, before the cloth was twisted with both hands to get the extra water out. Slowly, with her right hand, she began to wipe the cloth all over her body, over her larger breast, around her shoulders and to caress her neck. She got as far as she could along her back before squeezing the cloth to send water running down along her scarred spine before the cloth was returned and the process was repeated

General Maahes-The fever had broke now, and visitors came and went. The entire day had slipped away into the afternoon until evening fell again. So much time was falling away from the General, and his men would do everything to prolong the trek without him. Though all knew that this battle was one that would be without their leader. Out of his mind he had told Danae many things that had not made sense, speaking half in English and the rest in his native. Pirates and slaves, Anulia and Tommy; All subjects that passed over his mind and left his lips. Tommy, being the most important. In many of his fevered fits he cried out for her, just wanting to know she was safe. For her to come home, anything other then this horrible state of wondering. Yet now he was trapped, he couldn't move from the bed nor even roll over and it was best he spent most of his time asleep. Being held down would destroy the bandages and send him into another uproar. He had slept the entire day, but as his lungs pressed out a cough the back of his hand raising to capture his breath would signal his return to the world. Dark amber eyes almost appeared to glow in the fire light, a yellow orange sight as he parted his lids to look about the room. Anulia's silhouette caught his attention the skin blazing against the warmth of the fire, and the water soothing to his eyes. "( You do not have to remain here, I will be fine.)" He knew she had not left his side, though in turn would he have left hers? Seeing her in the nude was as normal as it got for them, though the scars that chased her spin were something he'd like to never see again. Raising up despite the pain he'd prop his body up on his elbows enjoying the change. Maahes was not one to be held down, nor pressed on his back. The healers would surely find this out very soon. Aislin's form was then taken in, her figure looking so much smaller then he remembered, but perhaps it was just the dim lighting of the room. He'd meet her eyes but would say nothing, as vague memories of the entire event started to rise back up.

Anulia of Amora-Anulia's head turned as she heard that cough, making her chin press to the left shoulder, right where the star birth mark rested, darker brown against the mocha colored skin. At first she was about to turn around and then he spoke, making her stop in her turning so her back was still facing him. While she did not face him fully, it would not have mattered. Had Maahes ever wanted her for her body before, he could have had it a long time ago. "( I know. You are healing well each day. I wish to be here, or I would have left already.)[/i]" it was said in that soft tone as she moved back to face the window and finished bathing herself. The sides of her curves showed now and then, but nothing more. Her scars were her own, much as others had. She was conflicted with wondering if they were ugly and in turn made her the same, or if they were what made her truly unique.[/color]

Aislin Creed-Aislin was not even looking at the two as she finished her mal and then leaned over to place the plate and fork on the ground. Moving her feet from the chair opposite of her rear, she placed boots to the ground and stood, stretching her tall frame out before they carried her towards Maahes. "Being stubborn will only keep ye in my care longer. Remember that well aye. Let us have a look." she did not hesitate to reach for the bandages and undo them from his torso and chest. The leeches and maggots had been removed from his body, leaving it to heal on it's own for a bit. If Aislin saw any signs of it flaring, she would have to do it all over again. So far, he looked better then he should. The smell of his wound was not something one could turn their nose away from, for it was potent due to everything she had to give him. Sage was pressed to his wound to help counter the poison and so far, his skin was returning to normal everywhere save for the area around.

Anulia of Amora-The sound of water moving about in that bowl could be heard before Anulia spoke while still facing the wall.``( Who's markings do you wear upon your chest?)[/i]`` Anulia had a marking, one she did not understand yet[/color]

General Maahes-Maahes would watch Aislin move much like a child would watch their doctor after the first time they received their shots. Weary eyes moved over her frame and he would press back against the pillows as she did her work. "I can not sit here much longer," It hit him all of a sudden, that no sign of Galen was present or any means of word about the boy. "Has my son been here?" No one had heard from Galen since the entire event, and he was on one of the ships, had he made it back to Avaria? Would you tell Maahes that in his condition? Perhaps Anulia was a saint in that moment asking of marks that were scars now across his body. A R under one arm moving over his chest. Nothing compared to what Tommy had or went through, but enough to tarnish any touch that would be given to his own skin. He would not answer her, not now, and not in front of another. Frankly she'd be lucky to get the answer from him. He took a deep to smooth out his burst of emotion and turned his head back to Aislin. "I need to get out of this bed."

Aislin Creed-Ocean eyes shifted to Maahes' face quickly as he said he could not sit there much longer. Where had she heard such words before? A long time ago when she first met her husband, Eamonn. Much like she had with him, she tried to look at it from his point of few. As he spoke of Galen, Aislin felt her ehart do a small skip of the beats it shared with her child inside her body before she cleared her throat. Anulia's strange tongue was a distraction, but it seemed not good enough. ``Very well. Ye may get up out of the bed, but ye will let Malick help ye and do nay go beyond the walls of the castle. To do so, will be ye death. Ah can only save ye so many times.`` she straightened and moved for the door. `` Ah Shall find out of ye son in the mean time. ``With that, she traded places, moving out while Malick moved inside and towards Maahes to offer a hand and help him up.

Anulia of Amora-Anulia redressed her top and moved to stand, seeing Maahes would be moving along some where before she walked towards him. Skin was still glistening from the water as the candle lighting hit it and a soft smile was offered to him as Malick helped him stand without a problem. ``Would you like to go to the gardens? It is close and the open air could do you some good`` a hand would be offered and should he need it, she would move his arm over her shoulders to help support his weight if he did not want Malick to do so. The weight to bare from Maahes was not one she would ever complain about, for she had chosen to help him. He was a heavy male, but with Malick close by, she knew that should he fall, another would be there to help where she was weak. The night could not show the beauty of the garden in full, but what torches were lit throughout the area, sent glows over some of the flowers. The smell of it was all around them, becoming stronger with each deeper step they took into nature. Anulia had not said much since coming out. She noticed his brush off to the question about the markings and heard when he asked about his son. His son was more important then anything else at the moment, but there was little any one could do until they found him. Feeling Maahes' muscles tension, she paused them by a bench carved from rock and waited to see if he wished to take it. They had been walking some time and rest might be best for a few moments before going on.`` I come here a lot, to think and see the beauty of the world. In the daytime, it is more alive. Tell me Maahes, do you have beauty in your new life?``

General Maahes-A seat wounded wonderful, as his right leg was starting to go numb. He had worried about relying to heavily on her and for the most part was moving himself. However there had been a few steps he would not have made had it not been for Anulia's good will. The air hit the bare skin of his chest in a wave of cool crisp Celtic air. The fresh greens of the garden and the sounds of church bells entered their surroundings and in many ways helped keep him in this trance of peace. Perhaps part of his well mannered temper was to be blamed on the medication, but no one knew the deep meaning of this woman at his side. Easing onto the bench proved to be a challenge, as he could not find a position where the stitching was not compressed. However Maahes was a big boy, and this was nothing compared to what he was used to. "There are not words to best fit the presence of Avaria. The high mountains are a sight in their own. Some even come covered in snow." He wondered if she had been given the chance to see such a treat. A world of change then what they are both used to, even more so then he. Maahes didn't come from a jungle, he came from pure barbaric sands. He just switched from one side of the nation to the next. Maahes turned to his side then to look at her, to finally sit down and flat out look at her; as if trying to figure out if she was real or an illusion. Yeah so what he was a little loopy, but a smile formed over his lips; a peaceful well mannered smile. Everytime his eyes find her he has to wonder if at any time he was gonna wake up, and she was still dead. "Do you like your new world?" Asking her as if searching for any reason to keep her there and in his company.

Anulia of Amora-Where many liked silence, Anulia had this need for knowledge of any kind. Learning more about Maahes' life now was knowledge of sorts. Anulia could be silent when it was needed, but silence would not help her understand. He was same and yet, so different. Anulia kept a soft smile on her face as he eased down, waiting and shifting with him to help him find a position that best fit him. Even when he sat down, he was larger compared to her. Finally, she moved by his side, lacing her fingers with his, so use to the touch now that she wanted it more if he would give it to her. Anulia had not changed too much. She still held that bright and glowing smile of hers that seemed to light up her face, yet now there were lines upon her face here and there from age. She was, more mature. Chocolate eyes met amber and with his soft smile, her own grew. How handsome he was when he smiled, if only it was a little wider. ``Snow? It sounds beautiful. I have heard about it from others, but not had the chance to touch it. I assume it will become real then.`` At his next question, she did not hesitate in her answer. ``I like, the idea of it. Still, it is unfamiliar to me at times and I feel the small ache for something else inside. I have...lived three very different lives by now and my mind is struggling to understand them all. Would you share we me, how you have come to be... General? What happened, after I was taken? I can not remember everything. I will need your help for that.``

General Maahes-A flash of the arena entered his mind and he took a deep breath. "I would not fight anymore. I would not allow them to make me either, they held nothing over my head that could make me. I wanted them to take my life, but.." If anyone was listening, they would be amazed at how much Maahes was talking, as it was like prodding an ass up the hill to get more then three words from his lips. "They sold me to. Apparently there are men out there who use men like me." His hand came to mindlessly rub his chest as if scratching an itch but his skin did not crawl with the same feeling. Her touch suddenly was invading and he would let his hand slip away. Chills crawled over his flesh like spiders walking down his skin. He could feel their tiny legs and the webbing they left behind. The palm of hand rose up his arm as in trying to rid himself of their invasion wanting to catch them only to realize they were not real. "I shared space often with Tommy, he would test our will and place us in cages in the dark smaller and smaller they would go with wheels and ropes. She taught me English." Stated very dry, for the memory was enough to rid him of any emotion. "She broke us out, and I will forever be in her debt." His English was so smooth now having been speaking it for close to 7 years, but words still ran together in places and struggled to be free from his lips. "We came to a kingdom in war with another, suffering from the plague and close to ruins..did what we do best." They cleaned house. "Apollo made me his General when he took the throne I will serve long at his side." His eyes would fall to the bandage over his abdomen, and a hand would fall over it lightly. "I will have much to work off from the will of others." He turned his face to hers, "Thank you."

Anulia of Amora-Many women would have thought it to be romantic that a man like Maahes would say such a thin, but Anulia knew how hard that must have been. Back then, it was his nature to fight, what he was bred to do and to stop...she could not imagine him doing that. It was a tender thought and feeling and while not surprising she know thought her actions had set off a chain reaction. As she listened, she was feeling that more and more. Tommy, she heard that name before. The woman who he was trying to find, the one they said ran off with the traitor. Now, she understood his tension when the topic was brought up. Tommy meant a great deal to him. When his hand fell away, she did not chase it down and make him hold her, though she noticed his actions and to help him feel at ease, she did it to his other arm that was closer to her as well, as if helping to chase the chills and feelings away. In a sense, he had lived three different lives as well. As he spoke of how he and Tommy were treated, Anulia felt her own flashes and her smile had long since died into a look of calm. She would not judge him, for there were times when others could over power, but it did not mean one was weak. When his eyes looked away from her, she did the same, facing her eyes forward to look at the blue bells ahead of them. Many flowers were closed, waiting for the sun to come and warm them. ``You seem to have lived a few lives yourself. There, is no need to pay me back or be in my debt. You saved me from many things a long time ago Maahes. Rape, forced to bring life into this world only to have it enslaved, beaten, used as a whore among the men. I do not know if anything I will do in this life time will pay you back for that. I am sorry, you and Tommy saw torture and torment from another human. I know, understand why you became tense that one time when I spoke of her. It ....does not make you weak Maahes. It makes you strong, because you have survived it and you have not become the demon that had done such to you. Do you believe that Maahes? Do you believe you are stronger because of it? I do..`` Anulia had faced her own demons twice over. And still, she was kind. It was not so hard to do. `` Those who must torment others...are the weak ones.``

General Maahes-"He is dead now, so what makes me weak Allah struck down." He took a deep breath and sat back wincing alittle as the motion was a bit much. "My God will take down all of those who do wrong." Anulia was like a vision even though she passed her eyes in another direction. and he would follow her gaze to the flowers until returning them to her features. "Where did they take you?" He wanted so badly to ask about the scars on her back, but it wasn't his style to be so bold. When she spoke about her past, and what he saved her from the thoughts were more then he could bare. Like yesterday he could remember their first meeting, how scared and young they both were. Placed to breed, like animals on display. It was going to be hard to leave her here, but just knowing she was well and alive soothed an ache in his soul. "How did you escape?"

Anulia of Amora-Chocolate eyes turned to him while a hand rose to push back the waves of her chocolate and onyx colored hair from her shoulders. Allah? For a moment she tried to think on who this was, for she had heard it before. Where, when was still a blur. The breeze lifted slightly to send the scent of flowers around them again and add to that calm in their conversation. Truly, this was the most she could remember of them talking. Years apart and years to grow, seemed to have done some good. Anulia would never think Maahes was weak. Not in a million life times. ``They took me beyond the walls of our home. I was punished to the point of death. I only remember, the sound of water around me and seeing your face as darkness took over. I think, they dumped my body into a river, believing the water would finish what they could not break. I....can not remember the pain oddly enough, just the events. When I awoke, I came to find myself back in the jungles with those of darker flesh around me. `` The sadness in her features as they dropped, she could not hide.``I did not escape that time Maahes. I was a bad mate for you, and I would not go to another, so they wanted to put me down. I was of no more use to them. As it seems...you were not as well after I left. `` Eyes went to his chest for a moment before she looked back to his features. ``Might I be so bold as to say, are the letters upon your chest from that...male? I too...have such a brand from another...``

General Maahes-Mate was sun an uncivilized word yet somehow it fit them. He listened to her story and confirmed what he believed to be true. All of his fears about her had come true in a sense. Though she was not dead he could only imagine the kinds of pain she went through. "It is nothing compared to what Tommasina has on her back. He did not desire my flesh like hers, as much." The palm of his hand ran over the scars that were slowly being recovered by the dusting of hair. His face would bend to run his eyes over the scars of a life he gladly had almost forgotten about. Yet, that was what the markings were for, so they would not forget. Her words hit home of being a bad mate, as he punished himself for years. It was because of his own stubbornness that separated them. He would not lay with her in the bed, and do as they wanted; but that was not to say the desire had not been there. She was beautiful, by all means any any man would want to share a bed with Anulia. Yet, there had always been that wall to separate them. "Will you show me?" Though half of him didn't want to see it; just pretend she was perfectly ok and has never been hurt.

Anulia of Amora-Anulia felt the concern for this woman named, Tommasina and the pain she must have went through. Anulia could understand only to her own extend. She lowered her gaze to his palm where that massive chest was healing and yet, scars would always remain. No matter what, they would always remember some small part of these things. It was simply about if they would let the pain drag them down. ``Yes.`` Anulia did not even hesitate with him as she moved the sleeve of those wrappings up on her right arm, exposing the scarred wrist that had been rubbed raw at one point and the branding from a hot poker in the shape of a bird like creature upon the inside of her forearm. It had hurt, that pain she could remember, but still, her sadness had left her face and now she gave a small smile. `` I do not belong to this man, for he is dead. Instead of letting his mark remind me of the pain and torment, I let it remind me that I alive and he is not, that I am free, despite his many words. Do you know..many people that have seen my scars have asked how I can smile so brightly as if my life had always been filled with peace. I tell them, it is because after all has been said and done to me, my mind is my own and I stand, breath, life and love where they can not. Fears is a mind killer...`` She sighed and smiled a bit more as she looked to him. ``I have many scars from these men, but I am trying to see the beauty of them and remember they mean I am stronger then others believe.``[/font]