THE PRISONERS IN THE PALACE
Part Seven:
She was gone perhaps half an hour. He lay back on his pillows, an occasional
wave of nausea still taking him. When she returned his eyes were closed and
she stood quietly, not wishing to wake him if he were sleeping again. But he
sensed her presence and opened his lids, turning his head to look at her. She
was dressed now in a deep azure blue, simple yet elegant. Her hair was done
up on her head, revealing the full length of her long neck. He felt the red
creeping up his own neck at the sight of her. She was entirely lovely and he
had done.... She saw his discomfit and smiled quickly in reassurance. "Blue is much better,
do you not think?" Blue was certainly well-suited to her. Her eyes shone like sapphires, mirroring
the gown. "I...I...do not know what came over me, my lady," he murmured. "I
cannot begin to...." "There is no need," she interrupted. "Everything is fine." She looked at his
face. "That is, if you are feeling well again." He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Perhaps he moved too
quickly for a sudden dizziness took him. He tried to cover with a smile of his
own. "I am fine," he said. Well, give him a moment and he would be fine.
He did not understand why he had vomited. He had eaten nothing since his
arrival in this place, nothing that could have been rotten or poisoned to disturb
his digestion. Perhaps he was becoming ill? Was the dizziness a sign of that? He
looked at her, puzzled. "You? You are...all right?" She smiled. "I, too, am fine." He did, indeed, catch the wafting scent of jasmine. Much better than what he
had scented her with! Standing, he braced himself as unobtrusively as possible
on a bedpost. "You seem to know my name?" She nodded, watching him carefully, fully aware of his bracing, ready to spring
to help should he start to fall. "May I know yours?"
She lifted her chin in that way she had that always seemed as though she were
gazing at some far horizon. "Brianna," she replied, giving it the Northern
inflection of BREE-uh-nuh. He liked the sound of it. Admittedly, he had never heard it before, and wondered
as to its origin. "You are not a citizen of Rome?" Gallantly, she tried to avoid smiling. "No, I am not. My heritage is Celtic." A Celt? Ah, yes, the glowing hair, the way she pronounced her words. "I have
not been to Britannia myself." "You campaigned mostly in Germania?" she asked.
"There...and other places," he rather non-answered, "but never Britannia." He
straightened, removing his back from the bedpost, feeling steadier on his feet.
"You are far from home." "Further than I've ever been," she replied, looking down at her hands. "You were in Zucchabar, were you not? That is further from Britannia than
we are here in Rome."
She hated it. Hated that he thought they were in Rome, and not only Rome, but
second century Rome. She literally bit down on her tongue to keep from saying
what lay in her heart, that she was further from home because they were captives
in Emerald City. "Yes, I was in Zucchabar," she finally said. "I think, perhaps,
what I meant is because...because we seem to be prisoners in this...place...wherever
it is." "I imagine it is some part of Commodus' palace," he supplied. "I know it...it...looks like that." HOW she hated this!!! "I wonder, though," he mused, looking toward the main panel door, "why no
one other than that one servant has come. There is something very...odd...about
all this." "He, Siddius, is the only person other than you whom I have seen since my
arrival here," she agreed. "I wish he would come back," Maximus grinned. "I find I am hungry now that
I feel better."
She figured, yes, he must be quite empty, but refrained from any comment. The side panel door slid open and Sid walked in, a large tray in both hands. So,
thought Brianna, he DOES watch us. She figured he did, but his quick arrival
was proof. Maximus watched Sid cross the room and set the tray of food on the low table,
removing the old, unused one. He wondered would he ever get used to the sight
of another man so like himself. He shook his head slightly. There had to be more
to it than mere coincidence. There had to. Give him time. He would find out
what lay behind this matter. For now, though, he crossed the room, looking
down at the tray. "Thank you, Siddius," he said courteously. "I was hungry." Sid bowed his head. "I will remove this," he indicated the tray in his hands
with a nod, "and return later to see if there is anything else you need." As he
turned, he caught Brianna's eye, letting her see his little smirking smile.
Maximus' eyes followed Sid's back as he left. "There is...something...about that
man," he said, more to himself than to Brianna, "something I don't trust."
Brianna was pleased. The General had good instincts when it came to the
character of men. Then he bent down, lifting a pear, and took a large bite. She watched him closely, finding everything he did fascinating. She knew his
movie frame by frame. Seeing him do new things still enthralled her. He felt her eyes on him and made a gesture toward the food. "Are you hungry
as well, my lady?" She had no confidence in food that Sid had brought, but as that was likely all
she would ever have to eat in this place, took a small bunch of grapes, figuring
they would be harder to drug. Maximus sat, reaching for some cheese. "What besides Brianna?" he asked. "Besides? What do you mean?" "Your name? What more is there to your name?"
"Oh! Lachliel. Brianna Joreela Lachliel." He paused, a chunk of cheese halfway to his lips. "A very good name," he smiled. She knew he wished to know more about her. That she had obviously been chosen
to be his companion in this place was more than evident. He had to be wondering
...why. Had to be feeling the need to discover who she was, why she was in this
place with him. What information could she give him? "I...," she began, but stopped, startled at his expression. The cheese stayed there, not getting any closer to his mouth. His eyes, which had
been looking up at her pleasantly, were now staring, unseeing. "Oh, God, Sid!"
she sighed. "Damn you, damn you, damn you!" "Now, now, now!" Sid chortled, suddenly there right behind her. "Be nice. You
don't want to hurt my feelings."
She looked over her shoulder at him. "You have no feelings to hurt, Sid. But it's
a lot more than your feelings I'd like to hurt. Where has he gone? What is he
seeing?" "You will be finding that out for yourself, my dear," he smiled. "But...but..." she replied, her eyes widening. "I don't have the chips implanted.
You said I'd just be here...watching when he was elsewhere." "So I did, and so you are." He indicated Maximus. "Is he not quite 'gone' and
are you not looking at him?" "Then what do you mean? How will I find out?" "Did he know, Brianna? Was he aware at all that my sweet potion had taken
him off to some deeper dreamland and he had his chips, um, installed?" "You know damn well he wasn't, Sid!" "Neither were you, my dear, neither were you." "WHAT? Why would you do that? You don't need my thoughts for your program." "True. Your thoughts are quite...irrelevant...to my project. But I need you to be
where he is." "So...I...have two chips, too?" "Ah, no, my lovely one. As you say, I don't need to record you...only him. You
are a cheaper version. One chip. Just one. So that you can be with him in his...
ah...adventures, eh. Matching programs. Togetherness and all that rot." So saying, he reached his hand into his pocket and pressed on a small device.
Instantly she was no more than a wax figure of herself, eyes like blind glass in
her face. He circled completely around her. "Very nice," he murmured. "If I
do say so myself. And I just did." Sid walked toward the door, calling back over his shoulder, "Have fun, kids!"
Maximus stopped, turning in a tight circle, blinking. Where? How? Germania?
Was he in...Germania? The rows of straight pine trunks were as he remembered.
And the snow, the deep bite of the winter wind. But. How? Was he not just...
indoors? What was wrong with him? He looked down the length of himself. His
uniform. He was in his complete uniform, even the woolen cape. He turned more,
his eyes scanning his surroundings carefully. A snow storm had recently passed.
Wet. Strong winds. The way the pines were coated on one side made that evident.
Now he turned, looking up the smooth roadway. Morning? The golden light was
filling the pines just ahead. Where was his legion? Why was he alone? Afoot?
Had he lost his mount? He whistled for his dog, waiting silently for some answering
bark. No. This was not right! He had been inside! He knew he had! How was this
Germania? How could this be Germania? He closed his eyes, lifting his face into
the cold air, breathing it deeply. The golden light penetrated his closed lids and
so he opened them just slightly, squinting into the rising dawn. It was then he
thought he saw a slender flash of blue at the top of the low slope, enveloped
in the glow. His hand went instinctively to his sword hilt.
quietly, motionless, letting her eyes adjust to the brilliance of the sun filling the
air around her, reflecting off the surface of the snow. Yes, it WAS snow! Where
was she? Sid! Sid had sent her here to be with Maximus! Only...only...they
weren't really here as "here" was not real. But, my, did it look real.
She shivered. Her blue gown had no sleeves. The cold felt real enough! Then she
saw him, standing in the road just down the slope, looking up at her. He would
have no idea what was going on, and she could not tell him. She began to walk forward, toward him. Ah, my! He was dressed as the
Commander of the Armies of the North. As she stepped out of the pool of light,
she saw him recognize her and she stopped, waiting for him to approach. By the gods! It was the woman...Brianna...who had been in the palace with him.
Was that not only a moment ago? Had he not just been looking at her, speaking
with her? He quickened his pace, coming up beside her. "My lady," he began,
then immediately noticed the thinness of her garment and his fingers moved to
unclasp his cape. Wordlessly, he swirled it off his back and around her shoulders,
pulling the wolf's fur up about her neck. Satisfied, he stepped back slightly, regarding her. "I do not know where we are
or how we have arrived in this place," he said, then glancing at the woods just
beyond her, continued, "but it may well prove unsafe to be afoot." He was
thinking that if this somehow were Germania, the opposing army could be
nearby. He had no clear idea, though, of which way to go. The pine forest
stretched, endless and white, as far as he could see no matter where he looked.
"Do you know this place?" "No," she replied. "I do not know where we have been sent." "Sent? Why would you say we have been sent?"
"It...it...just seems rather that we have," she stammered. "Do you not think?" "Were we not just indoors...about to eat?" She nodded, not knowing what to say. He looked about them again, at the snow, the trees. "Even Commodus could not
do...this." His voice trailed off and he rubbed his fingers firmly across his
forehead. Brianna sighed quietly. Even if she were allowed, how would she explain Sid's
21st century technology to a 2nd century man? She herself had no idea how
Sid managed this. "Perhaps, Maximus," she ventured, knowing she needed to
say something, "we have been drugged and are not really here?" He stooped quickly, gathering a handful of snow, rubbing his thumb pad across
it. "This is no drug," he said, letting the crystals fall back to the road. "Besides,
you are here, too. Drugs cannot do such things." She blew out a short, sharp puff of breath. "There are many drugs, Maximus.
Drugs that can affect the mind, arcane and little-known drugs. It may be our
captor is familiar with the...the darker arts."
His eyes widened just slightly. Wiping the last of the snow off his hand, he was
acutely aware that the cold and the forest about them were all too real and
must be dealt with. There seemed no way, not yet, of determining how they had
gotten here, but here they were. Matters of survivalneeded attention. He looked
at her feet, shod only in sandals with thin gold straps. "Not the best for walking
in snow," he said, his lips curving in a slight smile. She had been rather steadily becoming aware of that herself. Her toes were
nearly numb with the cold. "Will you permit me to carry you?" Her first instinct was to refuse and she opened her mouth to do so, used as she
was to depending on her own strength. But this was no ordinary situation. She
was there only to react with him. Instead, then, she nodded and he gathered her
easily in his arms. Pulling her feet up a bit, she arranged his cape over them.
All right, Sid, she thought, what next? Knowing the forest was not real, she was
aware that...anything...could come next. The snow off the road was too deep either for walking fast or walking far, not
with her in his arms. He looked both ways down the road, waiting for instinct
to tell him which way to go. No sense of anything came to him, though. Perhaps
it simply did not...matter? So he headed up the slope toward the light. Perhaps...
something...lay beyond.
As he reached the crest of the little hill, the sun's rays streamed all around him,
bringing with them a slight sense of warmth. The road curved sharply down the
back side of the slope and not far into the woods there he could see a much
larger hill with a wide section of sheer rock face. He left the road, making his
way carefully towards that. As soon as his boots stepped over into the deeper
snow, the sunlight behind him began rapidly to fade as though, in some strange
way, the day had suddenly turned from morning to late evening. He pressed his
lips tightly together. Stumbling once over a snow-buried log, he almost dropped her, but managed to
recover and stood there a moment, slightly out of breath. "I can walk," she
offered, but he shook his head firmly and continued on. Not far down the cliff
face he saw a shadowy area that had possibilities. Yes, it was a cave. Good!
Using his boot, he scraped away the snow from little spot and set her down. "One moment," he smiled, then bent and entered the narrow passage. Enough
light remained that he could make out a widened area about five feet further
into the cliff. He touched the dirt floor. Dry. Surprisingly clean. There were no
remains to show an animal had made this its home. A brighter spot of light
caught his eye and he tipped his head up. A natural crack in the stone roof went
all the way to the top of the cliff. An escape route for smoke when he made a fire.
To one side he noticed a dark mound and bent to examine it. A pile of pine
needles. Why? He closed his eyes, putting his palm over them. Arranged. This
had to be...arranged. But...why? By whom? If he were right, there would be...
yes. A stack of dry branches. Oh, gods! He felt like some pet in a wicker cage.
Brianna! She was still outside waiting. "Is...is it all right?" she asked, teeth
chattering. "It is too all right," he said grimly, leading her inside. "Too all right?" "Bedding, firewood," then he lifted his eyes again to the natural chimney before
looking at her and shrugging. Oh, subtle, Sid. Very, very subtle. "Did...did...you say something about...firewood?" she gasped. "Forgive me. You are cold." He set about choosing an assortment of kindling
from the pile, pulled a flint from his small pouch, and within moments had a
small fire going, gradually adding larger branches. She had been gathering armloads of pine needles, moving them somewhat closer
to the fire, then sat down, sliding off her sandals, extending her legs toward the
flames. Silently he came up beside her, knelt and began rubbing her feet.
She studied his face as he concentrated on his task, the firelight dancing across
his cheeks. His strong fingers moved firmly over her skin and soon her flesh
began to tingle with returning sensation. The flames high-lit the blackness of his
hair with an orange glow and she reached out her right hand, her fingers
yearning to touch it. But she curled them back and merely whispered,"Thank
you," to him. He smiled at her. "Whoever is doing...this," and he used his hand to indicate the
cave, "could have provided you with boots."
"I doubt he cares about the condition of my feet," she replied. Do you, Sid? You
bastard! Maximus looked over his shoulder toward the entrance passage to the cave.
Night had come. Even time in this place was not...right. He stood, going to get
more pine needles to make a bed for her. "We should rest," he said. "Who knows
what the morrow will bring for us." Probably a T-Rex waiting in the forest, she thought. Then she became aware he
was making two separate areas of piled needles. "Maximus," she said tentatively.
He paused, his hands full, and looked over at her. "There is but one woolen cape." "It is not...appropriate, my lady." "Being frozen in the night is not appropriate, Maximus," she smiled.
His lips curved almost imperceptively. "As you wish, my lady." And he moved
the two piles together. She settled on her right side, facing the fire. He lay carefully beside her, on his
back, a space of several inches between them. The wide rust-colored cape
covered them both. He lay awake, watching the smoke disappear up the natural
chimney. Perhaps he had been killed in battle and his spirit did not yet realize
it? No, that didn't seem right. His mind went over and over and yet over again
all that he remembered of his running through the tunnel, of waking up in the
bed in the palace, of suddenly finding himself on the snowy road. None of it made
any sense. None of it. So he listened to the crackle of the flames and the sound of
her breathing. She seemed to be asleep, her breaths coming slow and regular.
He tried to stop thinking, tried to match his breathing to hers. Gradually sleep
came and as he sank into it, he turned onto his right side. Sometime in the night, the separating inches disappeared, and his body cupped
around the curve of hers.
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