Thorns of the Ashrai
NC~17
 
Summary:
Taking place after the episode "Fractures":
D'argo visits the Luxan planet he had left his son Jothee so long ago to protect him only to have him betrayed into slavery. His family remaining here expects him to avenge his son's honor in his taking a visionary vigilance of an Orican temple known as the Ashrai.
by
ChianaGray
10/22/01

The Luxan woman gazed out from her ledge high on the wall yards behind where D'argo, Chiana and Jool had stepped inside. She raised a thin glass vile, taking its leaf shaped top off as her emerald green eyes gazed up.

D'argo breathed in, his eyes fluttering as he took in the divine scents that swept into the hall, his body spasmed in subtle, building climaxes.

The Luxan woman raised an instrument to her lips. It was shaped in a wide swirl, thin and copper looking with small pieces for a chime dangling from one of the curves of the coil. The music that escaped from it came out in mystical tones that swept in hollow echoes through the massive hall.

D'argo found himself in some kind of dream. He lay in total bliss in a bed of pillows, sighing with pleasure, wiggling slightly as Jool poured a thick ointment on his chest from a glass vile and began to rub it down, spreading it over him, her fingers just teasing the loin cloth around him along his hips, slipping underneath.

"Whoa!" D'argo gasped, lifting his head as Chiana took his hand, smiling to him with a cut of her eyes.

"You remember this?" She asked softly as she brought his hand up along her thigh with a seductive moan of pleasure.

"Yes!" D'argo shouted as he threw his head back. "Oh yes!"

He blinked up at the ceiling that began to blur back into his vision, licking his lips. "Aaahh..." He looked down, gaping at Jool and Chiana who were watching him as if he might have lost his mind as they paused in the long corridor.

"What are you doing?" Jool asked.

Chiana glanced down him with a small smile, "are you finished?"

The Luxan woman gazed out from her ledge high on the wall as she set her instrument down and drifted the top of the vile to her ointment through the air again.

"Hua!" D'argo gasped as he reached out, stumbling and grasped the wall. He nearly came to his knees as he felt Jool press against him from behind, grasping his hips as Chiana swayed in front of him, breathing out her sigh of desire as her fingertips came along his torso.

The Luxan woman closed the vile again, setting it in front of her crossed legs, closing her eyes as she slowly drew her gold hair tankas from her shoulders and tied them behind her.

D'argo swallowed hard, sucking in his breath as Chiana came in front of him and tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. "Are you alright? Maybe - maybe we shouldn't visit these Luxan's."

"I'll be fine," he nodded dreamily as he rested his hand on her shoulder. "It's just ahhh ... um ... the smell here is very - intoxicating."

"Right," Jool nodded sharply and ushered to them. "Shall we?"

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They stepped into a large court yard that was semi - gardened. There were over thirty Luxan's gathered here. One approached. He was almost a foot taller than D'argo with black hair streaked with silver strands of his coming Elderhood. His emerald green eyes were intense, piercing into D'argo as he crossed his arms, raising his head as if to display his warlord's tattoo on his chin. The other Luxan's became silent, gathering into a circle around them.

"You walked through that hall?" He asked as a younger Luxan came to his side.

"It is time for the meditations of the women," the younger one charged. "You should have known better. Who are these strangers with you, what part of the land have you come from?"

D'argo drew his qualta blade and held it before himself with the tip down, grasping the hilt with both hands as he lowered his head. His eyes remained unstraying on the older Luxan. "I have come from a Leviathan. I came to take the Ashrai. I am Kha D'argo, I serviced beneath General Kha Dekru'shoa."

The Luxan's began to mutter among themselves restlessly as the older Luxan facing D'argo sucked in his breath, drawing his shoulders level.

"I am Kha Ja'kra," he growled as he stepped closer to D'argo and grasped him by his chin. He forced D'argoes head up, glaring into his eyes. "Are you worthy of that tattoo, Kha D'argo?"

"Yes," D'argo hissed. "Worthy enough to assist Orican Nilaam in her right of passage. My general lives because of this tattoo."

Ja'kra grasped one of the rings pierced into his collar bone and tugged at it. He hissed back at D'argo with a deep, rattling growl. "Ashrai ... will judge that. Luxan!"

D'argo laughed as he suddenly snatched Jo'kra's wrist, narrowing his eyes. "Did your mother tattoo that warlord's mark on you?"

Ja'kra's eyes flared, raising his head as he drew his shoulders back again. "I will take Ashrai with you, Kha D'argo. Do not fail, the disappointment I will have for you will be far worse than the loss of Jothee to slavery."

"Jothee," D'argo blinked slowly as he stepped back and rested the flat of his blade on Ja'Kra's shoulder. "Is a free man."

"So you have seen your son," Ja'Kra growled as he drew his own qualta from his back, resting its blade on D'argoes shoulder as he narrowed his eyes. "You have come to Gis'raun Luxa to judge us. I knew the day would come. I knew you would do this, do so with me."

"What," D'argo spoke calmly as he widened his eyes with a slight tilt of his head. "Take Ashrai with you because of my son?"

"Why else would you?" Ja'Kra scowled. "I was here when his uncle sold him. It is only right you take Ashrai with me."

"I didn't come to blame you," D'argo stated gently as he let his qualta slip from Ja'Kra's shoulder the same time he did. "I came to see where he had once been, when I left him in my sisters care. I don't want to take Ashrai with you. I will take it alone, for myself. If you may welcome us now, we would like to enjoy our stay."

Ja'Kra nodded slowly as he sheathed his qualta. He batted the younger Luxan with him in the shoulder. "Escort D'argo and his women to quarters! Prepare them for a fest, we shall celebrate his coming! Go! Someone is to die this moon!"

"Would you mind telling me what the frell all that was about?" Chiana asked as the young Luxan began to move like a fire was under his heels, taking them out of the courtyard back into halls.

D'argo sighed heavily as he gaped into the young Luxan's back. "Ja'kra is my uncle. Gis'raun Luxa is a sanctuary. For generations our warriors have come here to retire from their warriorisim and pass down their knowledge to apprentices. It's where I left my son in my sisters care, to protect him. They failed to protect my son, they expect me to avenge him in a challenge of Ashrai but it is a great temple of the Oricans. I want to take the Ashrai alone."

"What did they mean by someone dying this moon?" Jool asked as the youth lead them into a very large room with thrown pillows and furs in one elevated corner for a bed. The center of the room conatined a small, shallow pool for warm baths.

Chiana turned her attention to the silks and leathers and plates of fruits and wines several women began to bring in.

D'argo sighed again as he sat down. "No one is going to die. I'm not taking any challenge."

"Some welcome home," Chiana laughed uneasily. "They expect you to kill one of them for letting your sister sell Jothee to slavery? Did you know this stuff when you decided to come here?"

"Yes," D'argo looked to her solemnly.

"You could die taking this Ashrai," Chiana stated more than asked as she returned his gaze with a haunted look. "Couldn't you."

"Chiana ..."

Chiana nodded sharply as she looked away, closing her eyes. "Yeah."

"Chiana, wait." D'argo stood again as she began to leave. "You know this is something I needed to do. I've thought about it for so long. I may never have this chance again."

"I'm going for a walk," Chiana muttered. "Thanks for the information D'argo."

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Chiana made her way through the halls until she came to what looked like a sparring room, attracted in her curiosity to the sounds of someone's gruffs and shouts. She stood at the entrance, tilting her head as she watched a Luxan of her own height practicing with a halberd, dressed in cloth pants and a kilt wrapped around his waist. His body was a light gray with darker shadowings. His hair was black as well as his Luxan brow that ended at the bridge of his more humanoid nose. The dark shade came across his eyes and lips just like a Nebari though he looked more like some kind of tiger. His black eyes turned to her sharply as he stopped what he was doing.

"Name's Chiana," she smiled shyly as she slipped in against the wall. "You wouldn't want to show me this Ashrai would you? My - my friend, he wants to take it. I'd like to know a little more about what it is."

"I'm Wraud," he bowed his head slightly as he rested the halberd against a rack. He put on a vest that came to his hips as he stepped to her, searching her eyes wonderingly. "Did you ask me because I am half Nebari?"

"Ohhh," Chiana gaped at him in awe as she tilted her head. She looked him over again, her hand reaching out to touch his chest. "I - I thought ... Luxan and Nebari weren't compatible for children."

"I don't know," Wraud smiled. "Haven't met any other half Nebari besides me and the two others who live here. I would like to show you the Ashrai but it is forbidden to go in. It could mean allot of trouble."

"Well just point the way," Chiana smiled as she leaned into him and trailed her index finger across his chest. "I'll find it myself."

"I'll take you as far as we may go," he smiled as he looked down at her hand and then lifted his eyes up to her, seeming even more cat like, almost like a snow leopard. "Ashrai is the temple of the Orican's. We hold very many kinds of ceremonies there. Which one is your friend going to hold?"

"I dunno," she shook her head as she followed him out into the hall. "He just said he wants to take the Ashrai alone. Is it dangerous for him? He could get killed couldn't he."

Wraud lead her farther down into the undergrounds, pausing as he came to a long hall of arch ways. He stepped through one to a balcony. She followed, gazing down at a long, deep cavern crack. In the very center of it was some kind of large fortress with four long walkways leading to it.

"This is the heart of the Ashrai itself," Wraud explained. "I can only imagine your friend wants to go here. You have to stay inside for five solar days in a gauntlet. If you succeed with your life the Orican's will hear or bless whatever it was that lead you to hold the gauntlet of Klothar. Many go to become warriors or prove they are worthy to take someone's daughter for their mannen. Others will go to just to face the torments of the great warrior and know what Klothar suffered for five days in the hands of the Gods, so that his beloved Orican Nishry would be spared execution by them for bestowing him a beloved gift. The most worthy of these are said to be allowed to see what the beloved gift was."

"That's it?" Chiana scowled as she grasped the side rail.

"It is considered a very great honor," Wraud smiled slightly as he looked to her. "Is he going to do this for you?"

"Me?" She wondered, her lips parting as she awed at Wraud. "Why would - no, I mean - I think he's going because of his son. He left him here to keep him safe and he was sold into slavery instead."

"Then you must take even greater care," Wraud nodded slightly as he turned to leave. "He will have come then to avenge the honor of his son. Those who sold him into slavery will receive the justice of the Orican's. They may try to stop him."

"Even if he takes this alone? What - what if someone offered a challenge to him? Take this Ashrai with him?"

"They would battle together or against each other the five days," Wraud spoke gently as he returned to the hall. "The challenger is offering himself as the one to take vengeance on for the son. It would be better if he did go with him, Chiana. If your friend goes alone his son's honor being restored will be at a much greater risk of not being granted."

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The young Luxan woman stepped through the doorway, her dark eyes settling on D'argo where he was laughing in the crowd of the fest, a goblet in one hand, his other wrapped around Jool. The tables were lined with foods where Rygel glided down them, eyeing each item with fascinated interest.

"I'll stay long enough," Rygel was commenting. "To show you barbaric scoundrels how a true dominar should eat! Haha!"

Chiana entered then with Wraud, pausing as she slipped close into a corner. She swayed slightly where she stood, tilting her head with her lips parted as she watched D'argo kiss Jool rather passionately on the mouth and then laugh as he poured her goblet.

She creased her brows, slanting her jaw slightly as if she were trying to decide if she should go bash them both over the head ... or join them ... "Ooh."

"Kha D'argo!" The young Luxan woman roared sharply in a commanding tone. Silence greeted her, the crowd stepping back to clear her path as she stood in a stance, grasping the hilt of the yard long sword at her side. "Why didn't you say you were coming? Why don't you go to the house of your sister Vidraan and drag her out kicking and screaming! Her mannen is dead, my father, executed for what he has done to Jothee, why couldn't that be enough for you! I demand you take Ashrai with my uncle Ja'kra! I demand you!"

D'argo walked up to her, studying her eyes carefully as he took her face into his fingertips. "Tasha ... how you have grown ..."

Tasha sucked in her breath through her teeth as tears welled into her eyes, streaming down her face freely as she stepped back from D'argo and unsheathed her blade. She placed its tip into D'argoes chest. The crowd began to roar in protests as her uncle Ja'kra and his four sons raced to her, stopping short around them, shouting out her name in almost unified growls and rattles as the Luxan language filled the room.

"Is this the man whose vengeance for his sons honor, hangs over my families head?" Tasha charged as she glared, snarling her face as she growled back at her cousins, booming out a low, rattling growl like a jaguar. "You drink believing we die, dangling on the mercy the Orican's may hold for us in D'argoes gauntlet! Bhaaa'khuuu, Dijua kwa'na! Dash'bu Qwa'shi jo'boch! You're all cowards! I want Kash'bu'Den!"

"NO!" Ja'kra screamed at her. "Tasha go home you insolent little frelling curr!"

"Kash'bu'Den!" Tasha charged with a sharp snap of her head, sending her tendons flying as chestnut strands of her hair flew into her fiercely snarling face. She drew back from D'argo, raising the sword in both her hands up to her shoulder, her foot rising almost resting on her knee. "Kash'bu'Den! How dare you take Ashrai for Jothee alone! How dare you!"

"Tasha," D'argo spoke softly as he slowly blinked his eyes. "Where is my sister?"

Tasha narrowed her own as she raised her head, remaining poised with her blade despite her tears. "Shu'shey Ja'woars. Imprisoned to shame. She may never be seen again. Her mannen sold your son for a barrel of raslak."

"Do not deny your fate was sealed to be the same!" Ja'kra shouted. "Nnnnyaaa! Twice I kept you from being lost to his gambling with the Zenetan's! Thwrath Gwa! Khi Tasha, go home!"

"Khash'bu'Den," Tasha commanded more quietly as she raised her sword more along her shoulder, the tip of her suede boot nearly touching her knee.

D'argo let a deep, low growl escape from him as he unsheathed his qualta. He stepped back as he raised the hilt to his own shoulder. He gave her a slow nod. "Khash'bu'Den."

"Pa'Tauckh!" Ja'kra almost spat as he curled his lip at D'argo. "She'll kill you. Decline."

"If I decline Tasha will be further dishonored. I will not decline Vidraan's daughter."

Ja'kra narrowed his eyes as he stepped back."Then you are as good as dead."

D'argo cried out as he swung out with his blade. Tasha blocked with a light foot speed as she stepped her foot into him. She turned as she swung her back foot around, ending up behind him, swinging her blade down to slice into his legs. Her blade clashed instead with a chair that came jostling down into them. Instead of D'argoes knees she sliced into the seat of the chair. Her eyes lifted from beneath her brows at Chiana.

Chiana let out a long, deep sigh as she curved her head at Tasha, her eyes wide as she raised herself at her knees, drawing out her arms as she revealed the pulse pistol in her hand. "I don't know what you two think you're doing ... but I like his knees right where they are. Do that again sweetness?"

Tasha closed her eyes as she straightened, lowering her head as she sheathed her sword.

"Chiana," D'argo shook his head as he turned to them. "You cannot interfere."

"I yield," Tasha stated tonelessly as she opened her eyes to stare at the floor without expression.

"Please," D'argo growled softly as he touched Tasha's shoulder. "Take me to Vidraan. I want to see her."

Tasha cut her eyes to him, raising her chin up from her shoulder to him as she took in her breath. "You will never see me alive again if you do not take Ashrai, with me."

"Tasha," D'argo tilted his head with a heavy sigh. "You are a woman. You cannot take Ashrai with me. I have the right to take Ashrai alone, and keep my reasons for going. Respect that. If you will all excuse me now, I will go find my sister ... alone."

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"How dare you even suggest the challenge to Ashrai!" Ja'kra shouted into Tasha after D'argo left. He grasped at the cloths of her shoulder and pulled his dagger. He sliced into them, cutting her cloths away from her shoulder. Tasha stood as still as stone as she reached for the cloth, grasping it tightly to keep her breast from becoming exposed as she stared without expression at the floor. Her cousins surrounded her, cursing in Luxan as Ja'kra wrapped one of her tanka's around his fist and squeezed, pouring a turrent of Luxan at her as she came to her knees at his feet from the pain.

"Stop it!" Chiana shouted as she came over Tasha and pointed her pulse pistol into Ja'kra's face. "Frelling stop!"

"That is your second move in disfavor of our customs, Chiana." Ja'kra snarled as he forced Tasha up and pushed her into Chiana. "I caution you, you are not immune to our dealings of discipline just because you are Nebari. This is our world. You take her home."

Chiana left with her, taking Tasha to D'argoes quarters area to find her a fresh shirt to put on. "I can't believe this," Chiana grumbled to herself as she rummaged through the cloths and silks to find her something. "So what's the matter with you, huh? You almost kill D'argo but you let that old man push you around like that? What were you thinking? Just how bad can a woman not enter this Ashrai? Isn't it about some Orican female and her boyfriend? I thought Luxan's were matriarchal."

"I have long been in disfavor here," Tasha stated as she looked to her. "Because a woman has never become a warrior on Gis'raun Luxa and that is the path I've chosen for the sake of my mothers honor as much as my own. They feel the women do not need to enter the Ashrai because they already have high moon and give birth. One is true, the other is man talk based on tradition in of itself, because no woman has taken the Ashrai ... because no woman has become a warrior here."

"Well," Chiana tocked her head as she stood up with a tunic and handed it to her. "I guess you want to take this Ashrai then, on your high moon, to - uh, what?"

"I would never enter Ashrai on high moon," Tasha spoke solemnly. "But I will take Ashrai with Kha D'argo because I question the order's rule that no woman may become a warrior by the passage of the Ashrai. D'argo will not accept Ja'kra, but he must accept someone, my mother and I have lone waited for this return to restore honor ... You are D'argoes woman."

"Ahhh, no." Chiana shook her head as she eyed her. "I mean, I was his fiance' once ..."

"Then I will take you with me," Tasha stated as she raised her head.

"Hey," Chiana sighed softly as she narrowed her eyes, tilting her head. "I'm not going. What're you going to do, make me? That wouldn't be very helpful to you looking so frelling honorable would it?"

"It would if I was a man," Tasha said quietly, her eyes softening sadly. "It's different here Chiana. This isn't a Luxan village, it's a world of the Orican's, monastery for the warriors who retire from battle to be its guardians ... sanctuary for the orphan's, wounded and escaped. If I am going to leave it, I will do so with honor in my family, as a warrior. You have seen Ja'kra, I am forever under this thumb like a stray dog sore to his eyes every time he sees me for the actions of another. If it were the way tradition calls, I should be in the same shame as my mother, my face to never be seen again because I'm my fathers daughter. Without a son, there is no one but D'argo or Jothee to restore us."

She flicked her head up, her tongue lashed out, the prongs on the end of it snapped into Chiana's neck. Chiana gasped as she jerked back, grasping her neck as she crumpled to the ground.

"So I will be the son," Tasha muttered as she picked Chiana up.

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D'argo rested his hand on the ancient bars that divided him within the dark cave from a very ancient setting among his people. Tall lamp lights were along the marble stone walls where tapestries and ancient Luxan weapons hung. A circular alter to one wall was coated in vials, incense and candles amid precious stones. The floor was carpeted in tapestry, in the center of it sat a Luxan female garbed in the older cloths of their great grandmothers. Her tankas were tied back like Nilaam, entwined with a headdress of a dark shroud that hid her face from the lacing that came down the crown of it. She was cradling an elaborately made wand encased with rare stones as if it was very precious to her. After a moment she lifted the wand to a frame set before her and began to move it in slow, careful strokes. Thin trails of light began to appear within the frame, even finer than etches of cutting glass, almost more like a shining silk embroidery.

"Vidraan," D'argo barely whispered as tears welled into his eyes. "Why?"

"You listen to too much dren, D'argo," her quiet voice came as she continued the strange art. "What did they say this time, I'm in Shu'shey Ja'woars because I wait for your revenge? Think no more of it. I have been here long enough that your shame is returning at all ... but we have long waited for you ..."

"You know I would never hurt you," D'argo winced his eyes as he grasped tightly to the bars, his tears running hot down his cheeks. "Did you do this to hurt me?"

"Never," Jidraan hissed as she set the wand down and stood. She came to the bars, easing to him almost in fear to be so close. She reached out slowly, grasping his hands tightly as she looked into his eyes through the transparency of her veil. "I am here because I was ashamed of my mannen. He sold my nephew, I was outraged. MY Shu'shey had him executed for what he has done! I had waited for so long to find something he would do that would be enough to the others! I was ashamed ... that Jothee would free me of him, bring me joy by becoming a slave."

"No!" D'argo gasped, crying as he lifted the veil from her face and touched her cheek. He snarled his face as he gazed into the lost look in her eyes. "Vidraan please, come out. Go home."

"I would," she lowered her head as she touched his hand, pressing it tighter against her cheek. "But Ja'kra has seen fit that I stay. He claims that I have no one to bring me honor, that I should rot here until you or Jothee have come to seek your justice."

D'argo raised his head, his eyes widening. "Tasha ..."

"Is a girl," Vidraan smiled, a soft chuckle escaping her as she tilted her head and touched D'argoes cheek bone with her finger tips. "You look so miserable. But, you are here. You will take Ashrai. I am complete now ... Tasha can rest her efforts to speak for me."

"She should have killed Ja'kra."

"With her cousins, that would make matters only worse." Vidraan said quietly as she drew back and returned her veil over her face. "Take your Ashrai, D'argo. I have been free since the day your son was sold. All will be fair. You may come see me after Ashrai at home, I'll cook a banquette ... if you live."

"I swear it Vidraan," D'argo nodded slowly as he let his hands slip from the bars. "You are going to leave this Shu'shey and return to your daughter when I am done."

"So the Orican's tell me," she muttered. "I am patient enough. All will be set right. We shall see."

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The inside of the Ashrai fortress had a large, square courtyard. Steps lead up to a platform beneath the beginning of the roof. What served as the entrance doorway looked more like the image of a Luxan woman in her robes holding on to a thorning vine that snaked around her.

Tasha walked up the steps with Chiana on her shoulder to two poles to the left of the door. She shackled Chiana between them, hoisting her up to a standing position by the chains. Chiana barely opened her eyes, dressed in only a Luxan kilt.

Tasha stood beside her, waiting in a long silence. It was several arns later before D'argo entered the court yard of the Ashrai fortress. Tasha came to the steps, facing him as he froze still, gaping at her and Chiana half hanging from the chains. Chiana's eyes peered to him worriedly from beneath her throw of bangs though she didn't move.

D'argo let out a low, guttural growl as he unsheathed his qualta. "Tasha, what the frell are you doing?"

"Challenging you," Tasha narrowed her eyes as she unsheathed her blade. "You'll have to go through me to release your female."

"Do you have any idea what you've done!" D'argo bellowed as he moved for her. "Get her down, now!"

"You have denied accepting one of us for the vengeance of Jothee's honor for the last time!" Tasha shouted as the double doors into the fortress court yard boomed into a close behind D'argo. Gunshot-like snaps echoed through the crater the fortress hung in the center of as all four doorways into each court yard locked. Tasha stared into D'argoes eyes with a drowning sadness as she adjusted her position on the steps. "I will no longer live in this shadow, prisoner to things, I! Didn't do!"

"You remind me so much of Jothee, and your mother." D'argo spoke gently as he eased forward. He tilted his head as a harsh gruff escaped him. "Do not stand there and tell me this is for the restorations of Jothee's honor, Khi Tashhhhaaa! You have defied the order of the temple warriors! It's Ja'kra you should have faced and challenged, not me. Why?"

"You saw her," Tasha glared into him. "I want my mother to lift her head, in a place that was supposed to be her sanctuary! Instead it is her prison? What is worse than being Luxan, is being surrounded by cowards who fear a woman step foot in Ashrai! There is no honor in this place! It died when I was refused justice for Vidraan because I was not her son to stand for her! Stand to me D'argo, and face me!"

She leaped from the steps, their swords clashed, she swung away from him, sweeping her blade down. He blocked and then kicked out, jabbing her with the side of his foot into the side of her knee. She fell on the knee, gasping as she raised her sword, blocking his blade from his down ward chop. D'argo screamed out, his eyes flaring as he pressed down until her own blade came against her tankas. He let out a deep, rattling hiss as he drew his blade back to his shoulder and stepped back.

Tasha drew the tip of her blade in a circle across the stone floor to her back, glaring up at him as she adjusted her position, stretching one leg out behind her as she leaned into her bent knee. The finger tips of her other hand barely touched the floor. Her nostrils flared as she curled her lip, a deep low growl escaping her, rattling nearly to a hiss.

"D'argo!" Chiana cried out, struggling in the chains as she looked behind her. A Luxan came down steps along the fortress to its roof from behind her, snarling his face as he uncoiled a whip and lashed it. It snapped, its sound echoing out through the court yard. Chiana tensed as she sucked in her breath and then let out an agonized scream.

D'argo screamed as he came to his knees, a lash stinging across his back. Tasha threw her head to one side, gasping as the cloth at her back was razor ripped, her blood beginning to seep through it.

"Chiana!" D'argo bellowed as he ran for her. He was stopped short at the pillars of the steps, a wall of thin red streaks bouncing him back. He cried out as he struck the wall with his qualta and then shifted it to its rifle position, firing into the red streaks. The shots were absorbed.

"Each time you spare me, we will all suffer," Tasha stated.

D'argo screamed as he flung himself around to her and charged. Tasha swung up, meeting his blows with her counter moves. She swung down in block of his blade, turning as she smashed the pommel of her hilt into his nose. He cried out as he shook his head, involuntarily dropping to his knees. Tasha growled, hissing wildly as she wrenched her face, stepping away from finishing her strike. The lash rang out. They screamed, Chiana letting out a strange, wild wail on the intake of her breath.

D'argo let out a roar as he fought Tasha across the court yard, cornering her into the wall of red streams. He swung out with his qualta, slamming the flat side of its rifle position across the side of her head. She fell, crying out as another lash shot its way down their backs. Chiana screamed, the sound of her pain driving D'argo almost insane with hyper rage as he snatched Tasha by her throat and hoisted her high up into the air, slamming her against the wall of red streaks.

"Ashu'ja Bash'dojuka!" D'argo snapped as he slammed Tasha against the wall again. "I did not come here to avenge Jothee's honor! Get it through your head! I came here! So that I could try to learn how to forgive Chiana for sleeping with my son!"

He let go. Tasha fell unconscious to the floor as the wall cleared away. The Luxan recoiled his whip as he began to fade away behind Chiana.

D'argo looked up sharply, gaping as two curving black horns shot out at the base of the door, their tips connecting to the vine the image of the Luxan woman was holding. There were two more holes on each side of the stone along the door, two at the mid section and two more on each side at the Luxan woman's head.

D'argo ran to Chiana, cutting the chains away from her. He began to cry as he knelt to her collapsed form and cradled her into his arms. "I'm sorry Chiana. I shouldn't have done this! I never meant for anyone to come with me. I was doing this for myself."

Chiana wrapped her arms around his neck, brushing her lips across his ear as she kept her eyes closed. "You came here because of me ..."

D'argo sobbed as he held more tightly to her, burying his eyes into her shoulder.

***************************************
 
Chiana pulled Tasha's tunic from her, leaving her to her sleeveless shirt as she put the tunic on. She pursed her lips as she narrowed her eyes on the unconsious girl, paying little attention to D'argo as he returned from one of the other four court yards with a pile of furs and blankets.

"Can you explain this place?" Chiana asked as she squatted down to Tasha and moved her shoulder to inspect her back. She and D'argo no longer had the lash marks, but they remained on Tasha, cutting into her deep enough to be alarming. "What is this gauntlet of Klothar exactly?"

"Well," D'argo sighed heavily as he carried Tasha to a blanket and laid her down to tend to her wounds as best he could. He nudged his head towards the door to the inside of the fortress of the Luxan woman. "That is the image of the Orican Nishry. If all three of those locks along the door come in place we'll be allowed inside to see the beloved gift she was to have given Klothar that angered the God's. The five days of trial represent the suffering Klothar went through to defend his Orican from God's and prevent her execution."

Chiana looked to his eyes, raising her brows as she waved one of Tasha's tanka's at him. He sighed heavily with a roll of his eyes as he waved his hand. "I know, I know."

He turned to the rest of the furs, laying them out as the lights of the massive cave they were in began to dim, sunlight leaving the cracks above that exposed the cave to the top side. "We'll sleep, I hope. The next trial may come at any time if any. There have been warriors who just sat here the entire five days with nothing ever happening."

He grumbled to himself as he curled into his own furs, staring at the court yard wall as the torches along it began to glow and then light with a subtle blue fire. It reminded him of his first battles as a boy, sleeping in the camps of his father's general. He was lucky if he could fight for a rag of a blanket in those days, grouping with some of the other scruffed, tattered boys just to steal scraps of food from the other, older men. Often they were too war worn to even care.

Between PeaceKeeper's and Scarren's in that time there was still the fierce, rival clans of the Charrid's. He had fought on this planet against them as a boy. He had known a great joy here, an honor to die for something worth protecting to his people. He simply did not know of any other place that could have been more trusted to him to protect his son, keep him safe. He was beginning to wonder now, especially because of Tasha, if Gis'raun Luxa really was what he had always thought of it. Things had been far harsher when he had been here to protect it. He was sleeping now right where Charrid's had slaughtered over a hundred of their warriors and royals and ate them. He was here when that story was made even though he never saw. What he did see was the Charrids he had to help drag out of here, dead without any apparent causes after their morbid fest. Ashrai ...

He was near to sleep when he felt warm flesh snuggling against him. He touched, breathing in the familiar smell of Chiana's hair as his lips drew through her hair. His hand came to her bare hip. "Chiana," he muttered softly into her ear as she scooted closer into his warmth. "I'm not with you, remember?"

"It's cold," Chiana spoke softly as she closed her eyes and pressed her back against his chest. "I'm not sleeping by myself."

D'argoes eyes fluttered, warmth flooding up through his body from his groin and down his thighs as he gently squeezed her hip. "I could have gotten you more blankets." He muttered softly.

Chiana ran her cheek along the fur as he wrapped the blankets over them, opening her eyes slowly as she laced her fingers over his and brought his hand to her breast.

D'argo felt as if every emotion he felt for her was going to explode through him. His hands trembling as he brushed his lips down the back of her neck, sighing deeply to himself as his chin caressed along her back.

"D'argo," she whispered.

"Shhh," he brought his fingers to her lips as he closed his eyes. He rested his head into her back. "Sleep Chiana."

She sighed as she turned her lips away from his fingers, closing her eyes as she rested into the fur.

*****************************************
 
Swirls of light came through the fortress. Tasha screamed as she seemed to become enveloped in swirls of light. Hands formed out of the floor, grasping her body down where she lay. Light flashed out of her mouth, beaming out of her eyes as she screamed.

"Tasha!" D'argo screamed as he ran for her. Chains lashed around him, snapping into the rings in his collar bones and pulling him down to the floor. He grasped them, screaming as he forced to remain on his kees.

Chiana ran, gasping in her fear as she hit the wall and began to climb it. She got to the top, crying out in a wild scream as a hand in the wall grasped her ankle as she brought her foot to the top of the wall. Another grasped the foot still placed on top of a jutting stone. She yanked her hands up from hands in the stone trying to grasp them to her chest. She tilted her head, gaping at the deep canyon below her that was now filled with a thick mist. Shadows seemed to be crawling up the sides of the fortress wall, thier silver eyes flashing at her. A shadowed form seemed to leap at her. She screamed agan as she lunged to one side, grasping the top of the wall. "No!" She cried out as hands formed out of the stone, clenching her wrists.

"Not worthy!" A Luxan woman shouted as she began to apear in the center of the court yard. She pointed down to Tasha the more she materialized. "You are not worthy of this place! You are banished Khi Tasha!"

"Chiana!" D'argo looked to her franticly as he yanked at the chains trying to pull him down to the floor. "Close your eyes!"

"No," Chiana shook her head as she struggled with the stone hands then screamed as their grasp tightened. She pulled her head up, clamping her eyes shut as the shadowed form brushed its fingers across her neck. "Frell!"

"Chiana, This is a battle of our fears, our truths," D'argo growled. "And you are here against your will! Close your eyes!"

Chiana shook her head, gasping as she saw over a dozen Luxan men and women apear around Tasha. The stone hands let go of Tasha as the Luxan's surrounded her, hoisting her up into the air. They began to stick their hands inside her body as she screamed. They seemed to be pulling things out of her. A Luxan woman yanked a pouch out of Tasha's back while another reached through her chest, pulling out the form of a small falcon. Tasha screamed in terror and agony as a Luxan woman pulled a saffire medalion from her head, another ripping gold trimmed feathers wrapped in leather fringes from her legs. Another yanked at her arms, Tasha's cloths somehow managed to remain as what looked like a small luxan sheild decored in feathers and beads was forced from her shoulders.

"No!" Tasha weeped as she was thrown to the ground again. They grasped at her, pulling at her and holding her down as a long nail was brought to the back of her head. She whailed in her fear and pain as they began to hammer it, nailing her head to the floor. She remained alive through the torment as they continued to reach into her body, digging through her back in search for any "items" remaining. Her hands were grasped by arms from the floor and held up by her wrists behind her as the Orican stepped forward, glaring down at her as the different items were placed at the feet of her robes.

"You're hiding something!" The Orican charged. "Give it to us!"

"No!" Tasha whailed as she tucked her knees into her chest. She began to cry, sobbing as more things were somehow pulled from the lashes across her back and added to the pile. "No!"

"We banish you!" The Orican bellowed. "You do not diserve these things! Look at this! These are for men, for Elders, for children! You are none of these things! You will return everything ever given to you, you have stolen! Give me what you are keeping from us!"

"Tasha!" D'argo shouted. "Defend yourself!"

"You made me come here!" Chiana formed around Tasha, crouching along her head as she narrowed her eyes. "You defied the order! Kidnapped me! Admit to it!"

"Do not admit," the Orican charged as she stood over Tasha.

"Tha -" Chiana shook her head as she barely breathed, trying to yank her foot free from the stone hand clenching it. "That's not me ... Tasha! That's not me! Tasha!"

Tasha screamed as she grasped the nail driven through her forehead into the ground and tried to pull up with it. "Deu'ja Eysha, Ejerai! Deu'ja!"

"Give me what you are hiding from us!" The Orican demanded. "NOW!"

"Klothar Da'ju bo'jaku Koshash!" D'argo bellowed vhemunantly as he thrashed his head. "Arrrausha ka'dishan!"

"Maaaiiiii!" Tasha bellowed as the Luxan women began to dig thier hands into her again. "Some one help me please."

"Mercy!" The Orican shouted angrily as she planted her foot in Tasha's shoulder. "You plead to us for mercy! Do you want these things we have stripped from you? Do you want these things we have told you to give back to us?"

"Yes!"

"You stole!" The Orican charged. "And you came here a woman! How dare you unworthy tralk!"

"Give them back to me!" Tasha pleaded as she grasped the Orican's robes and pulled them to her. "Don't take from me!"

She sobbed as the Luxan's disapeared around her. "Don't take from me!"

"You are banished," the Orican hissed as she raised Tasha up and placed her hand on Tasha's forehead. The long nail clattered as it fell to the floor. She let Tasha go, turning her glare to D'argo as the girl fell to her hands and knees.

D'argo raised his head as she began to aproach him, grasping his qualta. "I question you're authority!" He rang out with a deep, glutteral growl, flaring his eyes as the chain holding his right side pulled him down to his elbow. He glared into the Orican beneath his brows as he strained to unsheath his qualta from his back. "You are untrue!"

The Orican opened her mouth, letting out a cobra like hiss as her tankas swirled back from her shoulders. She began to fade, her eyes shining into glints at D'argo as she disapeared.

D'argo jerked back as he was released, the chains falling away from him. He roared as Chiana fell from the wall, landing into their blankets with a harsh shout. D'argo ran to Tasha, grasping her up into his arms as he knelt. She trembled, crying as she opened her fist clenched around the long nail.

"They banished me," she sobbed. "They took my Ti'ku'che."

"No," D'argo shook his head, tears welling to his eyes as he ran his cheek bone across hers. "No, it is a trial Tasha. They couldn't take those things from you. It can't be."

Chiana crouched to them, gazing over the court yard worriedly as a deep hollow boom resounded through the cavern and the second prongs locked into place on the doors of the Luxan woman, the tips of the horn like locks snapping into place along the vine she was entwined with. She looked to D'argo wide eyed, her heart pounding through her chest as she swayed slightly, drawing her elbows back. She tilted her head as she gaped at him. "I want out of here."
 
***************************************
 
Tasha felt a cold chill run through her as she aproached the fortress steps. She swallowed, her body aching and sore. She felt as if she had been chewed up and then spit out, stripped of her strengths, her totems, her pride. She felt as tattered as the warriors who faced true battle, unsure if she was truely banished. She wouldn't really know until this was over, if she lived. Her insides continued to weep, desiring some kind of solace as she watched Chiana on thier scrounging for food.

"This was a brilliant plan," Chiana grumbled as she tilted over a vase close to the door of the Luxan woman figure. She glanced at Tasha as she came walking up the steps. "Lock yourself in a fortress for five days without food and water?"

"We aren't supposed to bring anything," Tasha spoke quietly as she looked to her, her eyes distant and solemn. "The Ashrai would provide if it saw fit."

"Oh," Chiana narrowed her eyes as she stood. "You aren't even supposed to be here because you're female, what am I supposed to be. It's okay to drag me in here with you but it bends the rules too far if you'd at least had a few food cubes stuffed down your shirt?"

"In custom I may bring a sacrifice," Tasha said in the same even tone, her eyes unstraying from Chiana as she stood. "If this were as it should be, I would be Ja'kra, and you would have been my mother's son, or Jothee. But it isn't that way is it?"

"My point being why not just go all the way," Chiana tilted her head as she winced her eyes. "You broke the rules Tasha, and D'argo isn't even here for what you warriors are so worked up on. It looks to me like you dragged both of us into something that's your ... Ashrai. You're the one who wants to see D'argo avenge his son."

"I want my honor," Tasha said more amunantly, her eyes widening as she crossed her arms. "And my mothers. I will be a warrioress as so many, even Orican's and our matriarch's have been. Gis'raun Luxa forgets this is no longer the battle fields of the Krau'den. I remind them. Ja'kra would like to see us remain as we are, under his thumb, for political reason. Because, I remind them."

"I believe you," D'argo stated as he came down the steps to them with a small bundle of food and a vase of wine. "It is true, Ja'kra would despise you if you became a warrioress through the passages only meant for the men. But you brought Chiana against her will, endanger her life. I do not excuse your action. You defied the order to get here Tasha, you defied the customs. You have taken it upon yourself to partake in a right without the way it should have been done, with you two being men. If we do get out of here, Ja'kra may try to have you exicuted for what you've done."

"Like I said," Tasha looked to him solemnly. "I question a sanctuary that does not make us feel safe. What's one man? My father. It has never been just him, it is the order here. Where are the Orican's now while I have been chained to my mother's feet and denied my path by one man? Ja'kra, he is no better than my father was."

"They're warriors," D'argo blinked slowly with a heavy sigh as he sat down and opened the bundle of food. "It is a shame you are not in Luxa, this would be very easy for you. No one would think twice of you being a warrioress. Maybe, that's why you are here to begin with ..."

He looked up at her as she gaped at him. He smiled softly as he motioned across from himself. "Sit down and eat."

"I don't want to," she shook her head as she stared distantly to the floor. There was a lost, haunted fear in her eyes as she held her crossed arms closer to herself. "Spirits of Ashrai banish me, they don't want me here either. They picked over me like Charrid's over Luxan bones."

"With three more days to go," D'argo muttered quietly as he looked to his food. He curled his nostril as he held back the morsel of raw meat he was about to stick in his mouth. "Aaaaaw!"

"Gha!" Chiana snarled as she slung hers away from herself, shivering as it slaped against a pillar and began to slide down. "That's just great! This was real food just a microt ago! What are they going to do to me, starve me to death?"

She stood, letting out a deep sigh with a sway of her head as she narrowed her eyes on D'argo. "I can't believe you put yourselves through this dren on purpose. You came here to forgive me? Why don't you forgive yourself for leaving Jothee here."

"Oh that's exactly what I expect from you." D'argo stated flatley as he stood.

"Yeah?" Chiana gaped at him as she set her jaw. "Maybe if you'd tell people what's going through that thick Luxan head of yours, things like Tasha and me wouldn't happen. Then you might - might of had this Ashrai all to - all to yourself."

D'argo growled as he swung away. "The LAST thing I have to listen to is this."

"I don't think so," Chiana furrowed her brows as she slipped around to him, peering to one side to try to catch the corner of his eye as he stopped. "I'm - I'm scared. What's going to happen to me in here? If we survive it ... D'argo, they drove a nail through Tasha's head! And - and why didn't her lashes heal? Is that all this gauntlet knows, to scare us, hurt us? What kind of fine thing is that?"

D'argo eased to her, looking gently into her eyes as he rested his finger tips on her cheek. "You shouldn't even be here. I don't believe they are going to do anything to you."

Tears welled into Chiana's eyes as she leaned her cheek into his fingers, taking his wrist as she gasped softly. "You could have talked to me. You never - you never talk to me even when I was with you. D'argo, frell this warrior dren! I want to go back to Moya with you."

"Like you talked to me," he sighed as he slowly blinked. "Instead of sleeping with my son?"

Chiana looked away as she dropped her hand, crouching to the top of the steps. She shook her head as she brought her hands to the sides of her face. "I've done worse things for worse reasons ... and I've spent enough time scavenging for food wondering if I might find a place safe enough to sleep at night, it's not something I would put myself through on frelling purpose! I wish you could do this without me."

D'argo turned away and walked up the steps along the side of the fortress to the top of it. It was another court yard here though the walls seemed even higher with steps leading up each corner to small square platforms where a single pillar stood on each. The center of the court yard held a tall statue of a Luxan warrior with his arms streatched out, his mouth open in a silent cry. His eyes were made of blue diamonds. His armour was plated gold with green in very fine details, down to the grooves in his qualta and the braiding of his belt. His tatoos were swirling cuts of ebony. D'argo stood staring at the nine foot tall figure for long moments, wondering what Klothar's battle must have been like for him, to face God's for his beloved Orican.

**********************************************
 
"Tock, tock, tock, tock, tock, tock, tock!"

D'argo gently pressed his finger tips to his temples, wincing as the flat, striking drum continued for over an arn. It began to hurt in his temples until he couldn't think anymore. He cried out as he came to his knees in front of the statue. He felt more than saw the Luxan men who came around it and grasped him up. They carried him to the other side of the top court yard and chained his wrists, streatching his arms out from one side of the wall to the other. He hung his head resting on his knees, consumed in the painful sound, his body throbbing in pulse to its ceasless banging as it seemed to continue into the night fall. He began to feel as if nails were trying to be driven into his temples. He grasped the chains, screaming as he finaly lifted his head. One of the Luxan men snatched him by his chin, sneering as he waved a roasted piece of meat under D'argoes nose and then laughed as he took a bite. He chewed as he peered into D'argoes eyes.

"Hungry?"

"Stop," D'argo barely muttered. "The pounding, stop it."

"I don't hear anything," the man snorted as he looked to the other men with him. "The general's pet, says he hears something!"

"War camp drannit," a second snorted as he came around D'argo and kicked his legs farther apart as he wraped one of D'argoes tanka's around his fist, yanking his head back. "We never expected you to be worth much in your life D'argo. Shu'ju'Bha! But to steal your general's tatoo? You disgrace us."

"To'bas," D'argo scarcely breathed in recognition of the men. "Dorn ... you aren't real. You died in the battles here."

"Is he speaking?" A third glared into D'argo as he stepped up. "I didn't hear him ask us for permission to speak!"

"I am no boy," D'argo winced as the pounding continued, gasping as To'bas yanked on his tanka again. Dorn growled as he unsheathed a dagger and rested its tip into D'argoes exposed neck.

"You want manhood from us," Dorn snareld. "You'll have to fight for it. I see a boy, what do you think Khra'joa, you see a boy?"

"Kheh!" the third coffed as he took D'argoes qualta from him. "He's too ugly to be anything else, do you still sleep in the dirt with those tralks you called companions?"

"You are all dead," D'argo glared into him as he strained against the chains. "And I'm no boy. Take this off of me and I'll proove it to you."

"Proove it to me," Dorn almost cooed as he planted his foot on D'argoes thigh and leaned into it, studying his face as he traced the tip of the blade down D'argoes neck. D'argo hissed, slaming his eyes shut with pain as trickles of his black blood peppered up from the daggers path. "That feels real enough doesn't it? So you could still die with us couldn't you? Are you hungry D'argo? Are you thirsty, does your head hurt?"

D'argo moaned as the pounding became louder, beggining to feel more like his mind was being slowly ripped open. "Stop," he grimanced and then screamed. "Stop!"

"Poor D'argo," To'bas chuckled as he knelt behind him. "Proove something else to us."

"Ohhh yeah," Dorn sneered as he pressed his foot into D'argo. "There's a Nebari with you. Maybe we could take her off your hands. She'd like us better than you did."

D'argo growled deep in his throaght, his tounge lashing out, striking Dorn in his eye. Dorn screamed, grasping at it as he fell away, hitting the floor.

The Luxan's laughed, several more sitting at a table made for a fest, eating and drinking. One of them kicked Dorn's still form as several Charrid's ran to him, screaming as the grasped him by his arms and legs and began to drag him away.

D'argo gaped at them as To'bas let go of his tanka.

"Come!" One of them offered, motioning to D'argo as he laughed. "Get up, join us!"

"Unchain me."

"Nonsense," he stated as he narrowed his eyes into D'argo with a cold glare. "I order you to come here."

"Unchain me!" D'argo roared as he thrashed his arms, forcing himself to stand. He glared back as he lowered his head, flinching as he tried to shake away the pain of the continued pounding.

Khra chuckled lightly to himself as he turned to the table filled with foods and poured himself a goblet. "Unchain me, unchain me, I'm no boy!"

"You're all dead," To'bas muttered in a mock crying tone into D'argoes ear. "You aren't real, unchain me. Stop the pounding."

"Aaaaaaahh!" D'argo roared as he thrashed himself, ratteling deep within his throaght as he bared his teeth, letting out a deep hiss like a cobra intertwined with something like a panthers scream.

"Oh please, here," a Luxan royal stood, nudging his head to D'argo from the table as he slung a piece of fruit at him. "Happy now? I don't hear enough humbleness in your voice D'argo. Ask me for permission to aproach to my satisfaction."

"You can," D'argo growled in a low tone. "Go FRELL yourself!"

The Luxan's burst into laughter.

"Go frell yourself," To'bas snarled as he pressed himself against D'argo, grasping him by his hips.

D'argo curled his lip, straining tighter against the chains as To'bas kicked his feet farther apart.

"D'argo!" Chiana's voice shouted through the court yard.

"Cha!" D'argo gasped with releaf as fear for her leaped into his chest. "Chiana! Look out!"

He suddenly came loose of the chains. He whirled around, swinging at To'bas as he backed away. His fist went through him as he disapeared. "Come back here coward!" D'argo roared.

Chiana wandered towards the sounds of D'argoes shouts and screams cautiously. She smelled subtle traces of a meal somewhere. Water came to her mouth as she came along the statue. She tilted her head as she listened, her gaze catching the table filled with foods and wine. She sniffed it, glancing around herself as she eased along the wall to the table. She dared to it, searching for D'argo beneath her bangs before she stuffed something into her mouth and chewed. The taste was very fine, even better than the foods at the banquet. She gazed back down with interest, eating more swiftly in hopes to catch it before it turned into something else.

D'argo sighed heavily as he came from the corner, tenderly touching the soreness along the sides of his head as he looked up to Chiana stuffing her face like a theif about to get caught. Her eyes met his wildly, for a moment in fear as she shifted uneasily. They softened then, smiling as she motioned to him. "Hey, get the frell over here. Were you going to keep this all to yourself or what?"

"I ah ..."

"Shush!" Chiana eyed him as she bundled several meats and breads into a broad cloath. "I'm gonna try to get some of this to Tasha before it turns into some dren again."

"Listen," D'argo sighed as he caught her by her shoulders as she moved to leave. He looked into her eyes, sighing as he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her into him. "Neither one of us will ever scavenge again, Chiana."

"Uh, sure." Chiana smiled up at him as she pushed away, searching his eyes as she wondered at him.

"I ah," D'argo closed his eyes as he shook his head. "I didn't really ... that is, I - I couldn't understand why you slept with Jothee after ... after we both have been through so many things. Chiana, I had thought I was - different ... to you, because we've both had to survive in ways that aren't so un-alike. You were on streets, I was a boy in warrior camps. I had to fend for myself, fight or steal for anything and hold my ground to keep it. I um, I am enraged that we would come down to scraping for life - like you did ... instead of just saying no. I guess, I wasn't going to listen because we aren't in those places anymore. I want you to understand, you don't have to ..."

Chiana touched his lips as she tilted her head, aweing into his eyes as her lips parted. "I don't think," she glanced her head to one side as a half smile crossed her face. "I don't think, I met you before ... what's your name?"

He wiped the long strands of ash white hair from the side of her face. He felt his heart sinking, aching in the sadness she would never be his mannen, wondering about so many things he had ever misunderstood. "I'll expect you to demand no less from the rest of your existance Chiana. You don't have to just survive."

"Yeah," she smiled as she swayed at her hips against him, drawing her fingers down his chest. "D'argo ..."

"Go on," he sighed heavily as he kissed the top of her head. "I want to stay here for a while longer."

"It's your gauntlet," she shrugged as she slipped away and then turned to him. "You want to be alone?"

"Yes," he muttered as he turned to the table and wrapped his fingers around the goblet the royal had been drinking from.

Chiana watched him for long moments, shifting at her shoulders as she swayed slightly. "I - I thought - I thought you were different." She smiled uneasily, letting out a sharp breath as she twitched her head. "You ah ... you change things ... D'argo. I - I - I take care of myself ..."

She shifted again, waiting, searching for more words as her heart raced wildly through her chest.

"I won't be long," D'argo said softly without turning to her.

"Sure," she nodded as she stepped away.

**********************************************
 
The final lock placed on the door of the Luxan woman. D'argo gasped, turning his attention to the door as it began to swing open.

Tasha stood to her knees, crying out a loud trill as she raised her head.

Chiana sat up, blinking sleepily as she looked to the door, standing with D'argo.

The three walked inside, comming into a large chamber filled with items and draped in silks. In the center of the room stood a small pillar. D'argo stepped to it, his lips parting in awe as he gazed down at the small glass vile delicately traced with intricate designs in gold.

"It's a vile of Ven'ru," he stated quietly as he looked to Tasha. "It is an ointment only for the matriarchs. No man may touch it."

"Ven'ru," Tasha barely muttered as she waved her hand over the fine, delicate vile.

Chiana eased around them, gaping at the vile. She glanced at them in some disbelief this was all they had went through for as she drew her arms back in her stance.

"Take it, Tasha." A woman spoke.

They turned, silent as the woman aproached them, removing a veil from her face.

"Vidraan," D'argo gaped at her as he took a step towards her.

Vidraan lowered her head as she extended her fingertips from her chest to them. She looked up at Tasha from beneath her brow with a small smile. "I am the keeper of the Ashrai."

"No," Tasha's eyes widened as she came to her knees at her mother's feet. "No ..."

"One of them," Vidraan mused as she ran her fingers through Tasha's tankas. "Take the ointment. It would please me. You do so well Tasha, you punish yourself too much. You are going to make a fine warrior in Gis'raun Luxa. A fine warrior."

"Vidraan," D'argo took in his breath as he stepped to her.

"You may go now," Vidraan smiled as she looked into his eyes. "There is nothing more here. I told you you would release me Tasha ... and D'argo. I tried to tell you ..."

Chiana sighed heavily as she swung herself around. "I'm sooo out of here!"

"Chiana," D'argo growled.

"No," Chiana shook her head as she continued out. "I need a bath, I'm hungry, I'm kidnapped, I'm practicly scared out of my pants and tortured for five days ... and this door isn't hitting me in the eema on my way out."

D'argo shook his head as he drew closer to his sister. She chuckled as she patted him on his chest. "Go on brother. We'll finish this. We waited long enough for your return, thank you, for not seeking vengence. This wound closes for us, I pray yours will come to do the same someday."

"This wound," D'argo wondered at her. "Is?"

"Tasha of course," Vidraan sighed as she lifted her daughters face by her chin and gazed saddly into her eyes. "Tasha is accepted as an aprentice to the Orican's, I have strived and suffered greatly with the Orican's to see this day for us ... they knew it was coming better than any of us had ... I've much to deal with you yet child."

D'argo eased away from them, staring as Tasha wrapped her arms around her mothers waist and buried her cheek into her stomach. He bowed his head to them slowly as Vidraan embraced her daughter. "I will wait at your home for that dinner your mother promised before I leave ... Orican."

end