Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 10:52:34 -0800 Reply-To: Perri Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Perri Subject: What's Past is Prologue (3/7) X-To: fkfic-l@psuvm.psu.edu What's Past is Prologue (3 of 7) By Perri Smith Copywrite 1994 Ais had been gone for less than an hour when Michael heard the slight thump from the doorway. He left the bed instantly, paranoia hitting. It was too soon for Aislyn to be back. He took her spare sword from her duffel bag and moved silently to swing open the door. He saw Aislyn sitting against the wall, staring ahead into nothing. A strange sword lay on the floor next to her, partially wrapped in her leather jacket. With shock, he realized that tears were running slowly down her cheeks. They, with the sword, told him everything he needed to know. "I'm so sorry, Lady," he said quietly, kneeling beside her. She didn't seem to hear him, just stared off into space. He reached out and gently pulled her against his chest, lifting her easily as he stood and carried her into the room, shutting the door behind them. He carried her to the couch and sat with her on his lap, stroking her hair tenderly. "Someone killed Deirdre." He could barely hear her forced whisper. "I know," he whispered in return. "I know." She began to sob then, racking sobs that shook her body as she clutched him. He held her tightly and let her cry, feeling a burning rage begin to rise at the bastards who had caused his lady this grief. As the tears soaked his T-shirt, he remembered the first time he had held her like this.... *%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*% Connaught, Ireland, 1183 The small Norman patrol moved carefully through the forests on the edge of Connaught. The chiefs controlling the area had proven to be as hard and as treacherous as the rocky territory they had been successfully defending since the invasion had begun fifty years earlier. Michael followed the patrol more out of amusement than hunger, for blood or for revenge. He felt a certain liking for the people of Connaught -- anyone who could present such frustration to the Norman bastards, a frustration his own Saxon people had not been able to cause -- was worthy of respect. Still, war always presented opportunities for a feast.... The distant sound of screams had become ordinary, so it took a moment for these to penetrate. A woman's screams, high, harsh and agonized, piercing through the night. He tried to ignore them, as he had ignored so many others. But something in the cries struck at old wounds he had thought healed. He ruthlessly shoved away the old memories, but the woman's screams kept pulling them back. Finally, he gave in and took to the air, following the sound. It was a only a few minutes before he found the woman -- a child really, not more than fifteen, lying on the forest ground trying to fight off five soldiers. Three bodies were stacked near her, friends or kinsmen perhaps. But it was not the bodies that prompted the sudden rush of rage. It was the sight of the girl's kirtle, torn and bloody, pushed up around her waist, her blouse torn open. It was the sound of her cries for mercy, mixed with the laughter and curses of the soldiers as they crouched over and around her. Memories blurred his vision, as the girl's pale red hair became blond, her cries became his sister's, mixed with his own bellows of helpless rage. That same bellow, no longer helpless, burst from his chest. He flew into the clearing, running into one of the soldiers with all of his vampiric strength, sending him flying into a tree. Bones broke audibly before he slumped to the ground. Michael landed and faced the other soldiers, disarming and killing two more of them before they had time to blink. He turned and faced the other two. They had begun to reach for their swords, but froze at the sight of his glowing yellow eyes and the fangs revealed in his snarl. He reached for them, and they ran. They didn't get very far. Micahel finished with them quickly, resisting the bloodlust with all of his strength. The girl needed him now, He could help her, as he had not been able to help his sister. He went to her, gently pulling down her skirts. She fought him, not understanding, but she was too weak -- he barely felt her blows. Admiration for her courage mixed with renewed rage at the bastards who had preyed on this child. "Hush, cuilain," he soothed her in her own language. the endearment felt strange on his tongue. "Hush now, you're safe. They can't hurt you any more." He didn't know if she heard him, or was just too tired to fight anymore. Either way, her body went limp in his arms. She met his eyes, shivering, trying to hold her blouse together. He wrapped his cloak around her, cradling her in his arms, feeling a long-dormant sense of protectiveness rise in him. When the shivers became sobs, he held her tenderly as she wept. *%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*% How could he have known then what would happen? he reflected. That the child in distress would become his partner, his best friend, for better than 800 years? That she would share his long life, though in her own way? He looked down at Aislyn, who had finally stopped sobbing and sunk into a restless sleep. He smoothed her hair out of her face, wiping away some of the tearstains. She felt so deeply, always had. Her emotions had always been the one thing he could never protect her from. "And would I want you to stop feeling, Lady? As I had before you?" he murmured, knowing the answer even as he asked. Aislyn slept for most of the day. She finally woke, rolling over on the couch and blinking swollen eyes. Memory returned when she saw Deirdre's sword, still lying on the coffee table. "Oh, God." Michael heard her moan, and rose from the easy chair opposite her. He didn't speak, just put a hand on her shoulder and kept it there while she struggled again with the grief. It never got easier for her. "Thanks," she said a minute later, pushing his hand away. He let her, standing to walk to the room service tray across the room and give her a little privacy. He returned with a sandwich, putting it in her hand. "I'm not hungry," she tried to tell him. As usual, he didn't listen. "I will stand here and watch until you eat that. And if I become vilely sick watching, it will be your own fault." Despite his matter-of-fact threat, he was already turning a little green at the smell of the roast beef. Aislyn took a bite to placate him. It tasted like sawdust. She took another. Michael nodded in satisfaction. He went back to his chair, taking Deirdre's sword with him. He unwrapped it from the jacket, inspecting it, reading its history in the thousand tiny nicks and scratches on the blade. "Where did you find her?" he asked quietly. Aislyn kept eating automatically. "An alley by the Embarcadero. I just missed the fight." "Do you have any idea who she fought?" She shook her head, trying to force down a mouthful of bread. "She never said. Just that she had run into something that had become dangerous to all of us. Nothing else." He nodded, still looking at the sword. He could remember the woman who had wielded it, remembered how she had made Aislyn laugh so long ago. He adjusted the jacket to look more closely at the hilt of the katana. A small key fell out of the jacket's pocket. Aislyn reached for it instantly. "Maybe..." she muttered, looking at it, then at Michael. "Maybe she left something in her hotel room, something about who ....killed her." She dropped her sandwich and started for the door. Michael caught her before she went three steps. "It's another two hours to sunset, Ais. We'll wait." She started to argue, but he held up his other hand, still holding the sword. "One Immortal has already die today, Lady. You will *not* become the second. We'll wait." She glared at him, but he held his ground. She had no choice but to give in. __________________________________________________________________________ Perri "There comes a time 'tween life and death FOLC when all men stop to catch their breath. Knightie We ask the stars why and question our lot, DDEB2 The heavens open wide and reply 'Why not'" ___________________________________________________________________________ =========================================================================