Ma'in, the Imperial city-state along the coast of the Arabian Sea
"Stop in the name of the Sultan!!"
Resisting the urge to go back and finish what they had started, Lo'gan unsheathed his sword when he heard the captain's order to stop running and pulled Mari behind one of the many alabaster columns that divided the long palace corridors. They had initially tried to outrun the palace guards, but it was difficult when you didn't know where you were going and the palace was arranged in mazelike patterns. Eventually the corridors ran out and the three escapees were now at a dead end with nowhere to go.
Glancing at Harabi across the way, who was equally tensed with a stolen saber in his hands, Lo'gan asked him a silent question while the captain of the guard continued to threaten from only a short distance behind them. Having had a better look at the approaching men, the Dawasir held up his hand and opened it three times to indicate that fifteen men were with the captain. Lo'gan clenched his jaw and debated with himself which would be safer; a fight with an entire troop of sabered men now or a surrender until a better opportunity arose later. Feeling Mari's warm panting breath on his arm, however, Lo'gan knew neither was a good enough option. Looking down at her wide, scared eyes, Lo'gan offered a half smile he hoped was reassuring and ran his fingers through his dark hair in frustration, before looking back to the advancing men. For now, distraction could buy them some time.
"Turn the other way and you'll live to see another season!"
Pausing in his instructions to his men on the best way to outflank the intruders, the captain blinked in surprise and quickly turned to look back at Lo'gan, huddling behind a pillar. For a brief second he was taken back to the humiliating fight they had just had. A flash of fear crossed his disproportionate features and he twitched his swollen eye.
"Bold words for a man on the run, desert rat! You have ten seconds to surrender! One……two……"
Lo'gan snorted and was about to reiterate with more baiting when Mari suddenly jumped to life next to him. Her slender fingers on his face distracted him for a second, but he quickly turned to see what she was pointing to excitedly. It was Harabi. He had miraculously found a way out. Granted, it was not the most warrior worthy way, but it would definitely suffice. Clutching at the hand that had touched his cheek and nodding at Harabi's thrilled expression, Lo'gan bellowed down the hall again to buy them some time.
"Perhaps next time! I hope you've grown a pair by then. For now, try and get some practice, I think your queen can teach you a thing or two!"
The captain ground his teeth together and ignoring a few sniggers from his men, continued his count.
"……four……five……six……."
Seeing that Harabi had finally pried open the grate that protected the linens chute with some of the many tools that lived up his wide sleeves, Lo'gan gave the hand he was still clutching an impulsive kiss and dashed across the hallway with Mari behind him. The captain's counting wavered at number nine as he suddenly realized what was happening. He screamed out an order to charge, but it was already too late.
Harabi was sliding down the shaft to the floors below and Lo'gan now stood at the opening in the wall with a flustered Mari watching his every move. On any other day plunging down a dark opening in a wall would have scared her, but at that very moment, Mari was more enthralled with the man that had just kissed her hand than anything else. Lost in the tingle that his lips on her skin ignited, Mari even failed to see the dagger thrown at her. Lo'gan however did see it coming and yanking her into his arms and out of the way in time. Swinging his leg over the edge of the opening, he kicked back and they tumbled down the dark marbled chute together. In a tangle of arms and legs, Lo'gan and Mari fell two floors straight down the darkened chute into a pile of fabric and sheets.
When they landed with a thud only seconds later, Mari was still holding on tightly to Lo'gan, her elbows and knees smarting from the hasty drop. Only when she realized there was a warm weight over her, did she open her eyes. What she found was Lo'gan's face hovering just an inch above hers. He watched intently as Mari blinked at him. Now that he had impulsively tasted her skin, he wanted more, so much more, but again, he couldn't. He could make out Harabi's voice and the guards practically at their heels. He settled for running his thumb gently over Mari's cheek and asking a question in a low voice.
"You okay?"
Mari's gaze flickered from Lo'gan's full lips to his dark eyes. Not sure what to make of either, she nodded nearly imperceptibly with an almost moan.
"Mmm-hmm."
Lo'gan let out a shaky breath and standing up before he lost what control he had left, helped Mari to her feet and gave her a quick once over. The dagger had pinned her skirts to the wall and in the fall, the wispy fabric had ripped easily, leaving most of the green silk behind and her legs uncovered. Lo'gan had seen Mari's hennaed arms, but he had no idea the brownish red ink trailed in designs all the way up her slender legs as well. Flustering under Lo'gan's piercing look, Mari straightened out her black robe with shaky hands and readjusted her hood as best she could with her still connected hands. Realizing he was making her uncomfortable, Lo'gan moved away reluctantly and went to see what Harabi was up to.
The Dawasir was in the process of trying to pull the giant metal staff that was barring the cleaning room door open. Giving Lo'gan a knowing smirk, he moved over to make room for his fellow warrior. Lo'gan gripped the bar and without even looking at Harabi, started counting. At three, the two men did manage to lift the bar and slowly inched it from its place. The slash at Lo'gan's side had stopped bleeding, but it tore again under the strain of lifting the wrought iron bar. Mari watched them anxiously, her own left hand still hurting from the queen's cane and bruised everywhere from the fall down the shaft, but too excited to really care. Hearing the first of the guards slide down the shaft to follow them, Mari ran to Lo'gan's side just as the metal bar finally hit the ground. The three had barely run out of the room when the palace guards hit the tangle of linens behind them.
Moving quickly, Mari, Lo'gan and Harabi ran down a new tangle of corridors in their continuing efforts to escape. Glancing down a window as they passed it, Lo'gan took out his Khanjar once again and motioned to Harabi.
"We're on the second floor now."
The Dawasir nodded and looked around thoughtfully.
"But we still don't know how to get out."
Lo'gan frowned and was about to add a suggestion of scaling out a window when they suddenly turned another corner and skidded to a stop. Another dead end. Only now there were two doors. Lo'gan tightened his grip on Mari and without thinking at all, went to open the left one when Mari stopped him with her lilting words.
["No. Don't."]
Both men turned to look at Mari, eyes bright and panting from their run. Lo'gan was about to ask what was wrong, but Mari pointed to the other door frantically and tried to pull him to it.
["It's this one. This one."]
Wondering for the first time just what Mari knew of the palace, Lo'gan frowned and gave a quick nod to Harabi. Harabi opened it slightly, barely enough to peek in. Seeing that it led to a smaller hallway and was empty, he gave a silent signal that it was clear. Passing through the archway and locking it from the inside, the three palace intruders continued their run; Mari thankful she could finally recall some of the hallways the guards had led her through earlier, Harabi wondering why on earth he was running for his life without a gold coin to show for it, and Lo'gan's curiosity over Mari's role in the palace now starting to gnaw at him.
Within seconds, there were voices at the locked door as the captain's men reached the dead end too. Lo'gan followed closely as Mari tried to recall the places they were traversing. Reluctantly easing his grip on her hand so she could maneuver on her own, Lo'gan followed quietly as Mari led them to a four way intersection. Jumping up when she heard the door that she pointed out just seconds ago splinter under the weight of something heavy, Mari quickly looked back and tried to concentrate on the four possible ways out of the intersection they were in. Seeing a vase down one that she vaguely remembered from that morning, Mari called out and started running.
["This way!"]
Lo'gan and Harabi almost tripped over each other to follow her as the guards finally broke through the door into the wing they were now in. Looking back for a split second to see if they were following, Mari failed to see a servant that came walking out of a room with a mountain of linens in his arms. Mari crashed into him with a squeak and almost fell backwards. Fortunately, Lo'gan was there and righting her gently before she could hit the ground, snarled at the frightened servant who was staring up at Mari from his place on the ground.
"Which way to the stables?"
Caught up in gawking at Mari's exotic features, the man did not even acknowledge Lo'gan until Harabi grabbed him by the arm and brought him up to his feet. They needed directions and Harabi could tell Lo'gan was very protective of people looking at his green-eyed girl. If the poor sap didn't snap out of it soon, they'd be hell to pay.
"The stables! Which way?"
With effort, the man focused on Harabi and seeing the blue guard uniforms for the first time, quickly stuttered.
"Y-yes, sir, they, they……are towards the west side."
Clutching Mari's hand tightly, Lo'gan stepped up to the servant again and roared out in his most intimidating voice.
"Stairs!"
The man cowered and pointed down the corridor they were traveling on.
"Y-you can go through the servant's wing, sir. Make t-two lefts and you'll see them…it."
Snarling once more for good measure, Lo'gan pulled an amused Mari into his side again just as the footsteps of the guards following them could be heard. This time knowing where they were going to, made the going much faster and before they realized, they were in a significantly less appointed section of the grand palace. Ignoring the gasps of surprise at Mari's appearance and a few curious faces regarding the guards uniforms, Mari, Lo'gan and Harabi speed through the wing without any resistance until they finally reached the stairs.
Letting out a triumphant whoop, Harabi led them down the dark stone stairwell. Because the servants were not allowed to light their passageways with oil lamps, it was only when they were all halfway down to the first landing that they realized that they were not alone. A call for `stop right there' rang out and cursing their luck, Lo'gan immediately let go of Mari's hand to charge down to meet whoever was waiting.
It turns out that there were only five guards waiting, but they were still no match for the desert dwellers. While Lo'gan fought them off with his light Khanjar, Harabi worked as best he could with the large and heavy saber, before dropping it and reaching for his L-shaped dagger as well. Seeing that they were pretty much engaged, Mari turned her sights back to the corridor they had just come from. She could already make out the rumble of footsteps fast approaching and the fleeing servants were definite cause for concern. They were essentially trapped in the small, narrow stairwell on either side, but they had come too far to get caught now. Cringing as one of the guards screamed when Harabi slashed at his thigh, Mari ran back up the stairs quickly. Lo'gan saw her out of the corner of his eye and fearing the worst, yelled after her.
"Wait!!"
Mari glanced back to see Lo'gan's panicked expression in the dim stairwell, but quickly ignored it as she bound up the stairs, green silk and black linen fluttering all around her. She burst back into the servant's wing and spotting the captain of the guard and over two dozen men charging straight for her, Mari willed her feet to move. The two or three servants still in the passageway disappeared into rooms and Mari sprinted as fast as she could with her hands still linked, while hoping that the screaming coming from the stairwell were not her brave rescuers. She ran straight to a torch lamp they had passed earlier. Using the momentum from her run, Mari kicked the brass fixture over with a grunt and leapt back as the thick oil that lit the entire passageway spilled across the narrow corridor, closely followed by a wall of flame.
The oil soaked carpets and thick rugs that graced the walls quickly caught fire and in a matter of seconds, the entire path to the stairwell was covered in flames. The captain of the guard halted on the other side of the firewall and quickly ordered his men through, but it was impenetrable and everyone knew it. Mari grinned in accomplishment through the flickering flames at the enormous man and quickly turned back to the stairwell, satisfied that the guards would have to go back and around the entire building to follow them out.
Almost back to the dark entryway, Mari giggled happily and nearly ran right into Lo'gan coming up to get her. The look in his eyes was one of absolute relief at seeing her whole and then shock at seeing the passageway on fire. Mari saw him quickly assess what she had done and with a smirk at the furious captain screaming and carrying on on the other side of the blazing fire, he took Mari's hand again and charged below. Stepping over three bodies without really acknowledging them, Mari faintly wondered if Lo'gan had thought that she had run away. The thought was cut short, however, when she saw Harabi leaning on the landing wall.
Harabi's shoulder was bleeding and frustrated that she couldn't communicate, Mari was about to mime that they stop and tend to him, but the men had other ideas. Exchanging a few words she could not understand, they continued on their way down. Before she even knew it, they were on their knees under the archway that led to an outside courtyard, finishing up their plan. Mari could faintly make out the sea breeze that she sensed the previous night and she could even see the faint glow of moonlight reflecting into the dark archway. Crawling to the entrance on her knees, she smiled when the familiar stars came into view. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since she was last under them and feeling the cuff on her shoulder, Mari's eyes darted back and forth in recognition of all the familiar constellations while Harabi and Lo'gan spoke in hushed tones behind her. She felt more hope than she had in a long time at being a step closer to finding Danea.
Lost in what that meant, Mari failed to see that Harabi and Lo'gan were done talking and that Harabi had snuck off until she felt a finger run down her cheek. Startled, Mari whipped her head around to catch Lo'gan giving her a curious look. He had caught her staring at the stars, something he did often, but that he had never seen anyone else do in quite the same way. Mari flustered and shrugging her shoulders, offered her one overwhelming thought.
["We're free."]
Lo'gan took in Mari's watery eyes and nodded. He didn't really know what she had said, but the words rung out nicely. It had probably to do with the stars, the night or being out in fresh air. It was probably the one thing a person in chains could think about. Lo'gan looked down to the chain connecting Mari's hands. The gold flickered warmly in the moonlight. He had almost forgotten about them. Swallowing carefully, Lo'gan shaped his tongue to approximate the sound Mari had just made and pulled out the short blade from his sash.
"Werrfreee."
Mari's eyes widened and Lo'gan stared at her expectantly, not sure if he had just done something wrong. But then Mari slapped a hand over her mouth and giggled. Lo'gan smirked at the girlish laughter and brought the chain that connected Mari's hands forward. Mari let her hands get pulled, still marveling at the funny attempt Lo'gan had just made to speak Germanian. Anyone in the Jabir clan could tell you that Lo'gan was not the type of man anyone laughed at, but he frankly couldn't get enough of Mari's laughter. Bringing the thin gold chain to the stone floor of the archway, Lo'gan brought his blade high over his head. Giving Mari a raised eyebrow, he offered his new word one more time.
"Werrfreee."
Mari giggled again and before she could move, Lo'gan brought down his sharp blade crashing down to the stone. It created a spark and the gold chain split cleanly in three at the junction where her hands connected to the chain leading from her waist. Gasping at the move, Mari jumped back and brought her hands up slowly. The chains were still surrounding her wrists, but the fact that they were no longer connected to each other caused her giggling to die down and the tears in her eyes to finally spill over. She looked up at Lo'gan's piercing eyes and hoped he understood the gratitude she felt.
["Thank you."]
Lo'gan instantly understood her words. They were the first things she had ever said to him. Nodding slightly, he ventured the response that seemed to have worked before.
"You're welcome."
Mari colored slightly in remembrance and hearing horses nearby, wiped her face. Lo'gan heard it too and distinctly recognizing his own stallion's whinny, took Mari's now free hands and motioned to a wagon in the middle of the courtyard. Mari nodded and seeing Harabi ambling over with two highly decorated horses, gave Lo'gan a horrified look. Chuckling, Lo'gan tore off the rest of his hated blue overshirt and snuck away. Mari watched as he made a beeline to the courtyard gates, tempted for a minute to go with him, but then decided to reach the cart Lo'gan had pointed out instead. Using bales of hay and crates along the way for cover, Mari scurried to the enormous wagon and watched with nervous anticipation as Harabi brought two horses over to where she was.
Mari had been around horses in Battavia, but she had a very uneasy relationship with them. Basically she was terrified of them and they seemed to know this from a mile away. Approaching Harabi tentatively, she eyed the two stout horses with curiosity. Before long, the desert dweller motioned to her and running up to meet him, Mari trotted alongside him towards the courtyard fence, where Lo'gan was pulling the wooden gates open. They were moving slow and deliberately over soft ground to make as little noise as possible. It amazed Mari just how well the horses moved. It seems like they were in on the plan as well, and caught up in admiring the black and auburn stallions, she almost forgot the Dawasir completely. It was only when he pulled her down to the ground next to him that she remembered that he was hurt.
Ripping off a torn piece of her silk skirt, Mari motioned to Harabi's shoulder. The Dawasir let out a sly smile and scooted over, wondering just how on earth he would explain to his brothers about a green-eyed girl. Cognizant of his evaluative gaze, Mari worked quickly to secure a hasty bandage to his shoulder. Unlike Lo'gan, there was a certain deviousness in this Bedouin's eyes and Mari felt like she was on display again. Almost done tying the scrap in place, Mari failed to hear Lo'gan approach until Harabi dropped his smirk and inched back.
Mari smiled in relief at seeing Lo'gan again and wishing she could find a way to express herself past thank you to the strangers, almost didn't notice when he took her by the waist and hustled her over to the black stallion. For some reason, Mari had already known that that particular animal was his. It seemed funny, but they shared the same brooding look and even the antisocial behavior. The animal responded to her with a snort and a cautious step back. Instantly afraid, Mari pressed into Lo'gan, but was quickly brought forward again. This time she watched as Lo'gan stroked the animal's long snout. The stallion eventually stopped fussing and murmuring words she did not understand, Lo'gan took Mari's hand in his. Mari looked at Lo'gan with trepidation, and Harabi wondered out loud if they should just take another horse, but Lo'gan was determined. He was sure Mari could not ride alone and it would only slow them down if that was the case. Looking into her face, he repeated the word `slowly' as he brought her hand to the animal's snout.
Nayif was wary of everyone, only letting Lo'gan ride him for more years than anyone cared to count, but he gradually took in Mari's scent as his master slowly inched her over to him. It was intermingled with that of his master's and that meant she was safe. Even though he could smell her fear, she posed no real danger. Willing to show acceptance, the magnificent animal twitched his ears and turned his long head to nuzzle against Mari's neck. Mari startled, but was held in place by Lo'gan, who faintly wondered how Nayif got to cuddle against her when he was still working his way past holding her hand. Lost in a three way petting, it was Harabi that eventually spurred them to move from where he was already mounted on his horse.
"We are still being hunted down like animals. Do you think we can go now?"
Lo'gan snapped out of his admiration of Mari's timid petting of his tempestuous horse and nodded a frustrated approval. Leading her by the waist to the saddle, he motioned to Mari where to place her feet.
"Here and……there."
Mari nodded and pushed up like she had seen Harabi do. With Lo'gan's support she was up in the saddle in no time, but was soon faced with a dilemma. Her wispy skirts were practically non-existent and her anabbayah cloak was open down the front. Darting her eyes back to Lo'gan every few seconds, Mari hastily adjusted her cloak to cover her legs as best she could. Lo'gan on his part tried not to look, and waited until she was secure before taking his place behind her. Harabi looked up from where he was unwinding his stolen turban and raised an eyebrow. Lo'gan returned his silent prodding with a warning look and clicked his commands to Nayif. It was easier to ride in front, but he wanted Mari comfortable and secure in the saddle for what they were about to do next and the only way to do that would be to have her in front. Giving one last evaluative look to the courtyard, Lo'gan pressed Nayif forward, closely following Harabi into the palace's back gardens.
Lo'gan and Harabi galloped quickly through the abandoned grassy lawns while keeping an eye on the noise and commotion going on in the front gardens. There were still hundreds of people milling about, not to mention blue turbaned guards everywhere, but they had severely underestimated the Bedouin warriors. The captain figured the only way in and out of the palace was through the front gates, and so he concentrated his men there, stopping and checking every guest that left or entered, but Lo'gan and Harabi had no intentions of crossing the heavily armed gate. On their way in that afternoon, Lo'gan and Harabi had done more than stroll through the gardens. Like Mari, they too had been on the lookout for possible escape routes they could use later on. Fortunately for the three of them, there was one that none of the guards would even think of checking until days later.
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000