Disclaimer: Not mine, etc… full disclaimer is on Home page.

Spoilers: none

Rating: R for now…will probably be NC-17 before it is over.

Pairings: Sam/Martouf/Lantash…Daniel/Kataya…Malek/Gwennetha…there are some others that get mentioned, but are not necessarily closely followed. Sam/Daniel friendship will be a must in this story as always.

Summary: DOTQ: A discovery on a distant planet leads, SG1, the Tok’Ra and the Furlings on a hunt that could ensure the survival of the Tok’Ra. Egeria left her children a Message in a Furling temple. Now all they have to do is figure out exactly what the messages mean and where they will lead them…and do it before the System Lords discover the secret.

Summary: Malek’s Story, can be read as a stand alone, although it is part of The Tok’Ra Legacy Series that begins with Blood of My Heart and it actually runs parallel to that story. It follows the events of Blood of My Heart starting around chapter 34 of Blood. There is NOT a separate chapter of Malek’s Story, for each of the last chapters of Blood of my Heart; rather it is a summarization of events as seen from the Tok'Ra's perspective. The romance develops between Malek and Gwennetha but it is both the story of their relationship developing, and the events that happen during those last turbulent chapters of Blood. It is now the second story in The Tok’Ra Legacy Series and is followed by Daughters of the Queen. At one time it was part of that story, but it has since been sectioned out, and made into a complete story in its own right.
I hope you enjoy it.

To go directly to The Daughters of the Queen: Chapter 8

Summary of Daughters of the Queen

Summary: A discovery on a distant planet leads, SG1, the Tok’Ra and the Furlings on a hunt that could ensure the survival of the Tok’Ra. Egeria left her children a message in a Furling temple. Now all they have to do is figure out exactly what the messages mean and where they will lead them…and do it before the System Lords discover the secret and destroy all hope of the Tok’Ra’s survival forever…Unfortunately it isn’t as easy as they hoped and there are some personal complications for some of the characters. We have to settle those while still continuing to follow the discover.

(If you have not read Blood of My Heart, Beloved of My Soul, you can probably still read this, but there will be things that may be confusing…I’ve tried to put in enough that it can be read as a stand alone.)

Chapter Eight begins Daughters of the Queen, Book III of the Tok’Ra Legacy Series. It picks up the story from the end of Blood of My Heart Book I of the Tok’Ra Legacy Series for the Tau’ri side and Malek’s Story, Book II of the Tok’Ra Legacy Series from the Tok’Ra’s perspective. So, if you’ve read Blood, you can skip to chapter eight, if you don’t wish to follow Malek and Gwennetha’s story or you can pick up the bits and pieces of information that were left out of Blood, but put into Malek’s story. I enjoyed writing Malek’s Story and I think it has some interesting developments in it, so I would suggest reading it, too, but felt I should give an explanation of how they all relate to one another. At any rate, the first seven chapters of Daughters will be a treat for those who want to see the romance develop between Malek and Gwennetha and the events leading up to Daughters through the Tok’Ra’s eyes. Starting with chapter eight, we pick up where we left off in Blood and, of course, Malek’s Story. Either way, I hope you enjoy it

Please send feed back to: mytabbycat_1@hotmail.com

Began: December 2004

Malek’s Story

Chapter 1

Fascination

Malek sat at the table in the large dining room and looked across the table at the woman sitting there. She had not been here a hundred and thirty years ago when they had been brought to Avilion, the Sanctuary, to escape Bastet. Even when they had thought her mother would die, she had not come. No one had thought it unusual, for she was a warrior, also like her mother, and she had been involved in desperate fighting during the time of Bastet as it had come to be known.

His host had been different then. He had died only a few decades ago, after they had been together for a very long time. Now he had a young and vibrant host and both of them were finding this woman fascinating. Watching her, he was beginning to know what it was about her mother that had fascinated Lantash and kept him so very much in love, for so long.

She looked a great deal like her mother, too. The same amazing amethyst eyes set at an exotic slant with the same thick black lashes surrounding them, the same golden skin, the same golden hair streaked with differing shades of that color and the same charming smile. The same high cheekbones and supple, sinuous body.

/A body that could lead a man to paradise,/ his host’s voice, whispered to him.

/You are speaking of a Katteri-enti Warrior,/ Malek warned him. /That body can be quite deadly, especially to us./

/Lantash managed to live with one for eighty years from what you have told me and mourned her leaving him intensely, for over ten. In some ways, he never got over her. I have heard you think so several times since we have been with the Tau’ri, and we have only been there for a couple of days,/ Devlin reminded him.

/I would not have been thinking about it at all, if we had not been at the Tau’ri, so the fact that she has been in my thoughts recently is nothing. If she was not also at the Tau’ri, I still would not be thinking of her,/ Malek responded.

/I believe I heard that this daughter is going to the Tau’ri. That she is to be part of our mission./

/Yes. Both daughters and the son are going. Perhaps, an unfortunate happening, since you seem to be becoming enthralled by her,/ Malek, observed tersely.

/Ah, but I am not the only one whose thoughts are straying across this table, Malek, and nor am I the only one with thoughts that are of a very, ah, intimate nature. Our mate has been gone for some time. It would not be unheard of for us to be having these thoughts, when seated across from a woman who is not only beautiful, but also seems to be a genuinely nice person as well. Tell me, is it possible that she is a genuinely nice person? You know these people, I do not./

Malek sighed, knowing Dev would not let up on this until he got his answers. /Yes, it is possible she is very nice. Her mother is a good person. Without her and her people, Bastet would have destroyed us over a hundred years ago. It looks as if we will again owe them our lives, if we come through the upcoming battle alive. Our people will most certainly do so./

/Then perhaps it is as well that we will be able to become better acquainted with the Warrior across from us./

/I will not be averse to knowing the Furling sitting there, or the warrior within the Furling for that matter, but to know her in the way you are leaning toward could be a mistake. Do you realize whose offspring she is?/ Malek asked, his unease obvious.

/If I have been understanding what has been going on, she is the daughter of Kataya the Warrior, a woman who, unless you have been telling untruths to me, you like well./

/That is true, she is, and I do. However, the large gentleman at the head of the table? The one with the distinct air of power about him? That is Artereos./

/Yes, I know. You seemed to know him. I assume he is a special person./

/You could say that,/ Malek, responded grimly./ He is Artereos of Cadwaellon and he is the leader of these people. He has immense power and knowledge, personal power as well as power as a leader. He was born of the mysts of the All, and to my knowledge has only died once. And whether or not he actually died is debatable. No one knows how old he is./

/What does he have to do with the delicious slip of womanhood across the table from us?/ his host asked, almost testily.

/He is her grandfather./ was Malek’s stark reply. Seeming to change the subject, he asked his host, /Do you see the gentleman at the other end of the table?/

/The one with the looks to attract any woman he wanted and the charm to win her? He seems fairly languid and almost bored part of the time, as if he is not bothered by much of anything. Earlier, I thought he had an air of power surrounding him, but looking at him now, I would guess I must have been mistaken. He is just a priest, correct? He presided over the Sevesh lok Twin./

/No, he is not just a priest. He is the greatest Enchanter of the All, a wizard and warlock of immense power, second only to Artereos in Katteri-enti spirit, and surpassing him in his abilities as an Enchanter. He, also, is a First-born. The beautiful woman you want to become intimate with is his daughter./

Malek paused to allow the information sink in a little, before giving a summary, /That makes her the offspring of Kataya the Warrior, who we now know is a Dragon Slayer, and Merdwin of Werllockian, the greatest Enchanter of the All, not even counting that she is the granddaughter of Artereos of Cadwaellon. I think we are both insane to consider it for even one minute,/ Malek stated firmly to his host.

Malek’s host was quiet at last. Perhaps, he had finally convinced him that to become entangled with Gwennetha of Cadwaellon would be a very risky thing to do. He looked up from his plate and found himself drowning in amethyst colored eyes. /What a way to go,/ he heard his host murmur. Malek groaned.

The servants had taken the plates and passed out the port and the mead. Even in this small thing, the Furling showed their respect for both host and symbiote. Each of the Tok’Ra at the table was given both Port and Mead. They had found over the years of the Furling-Tok’Ra alliance, that while the hosts usually preferred the port, the symbiote inevitably preferred the mead. They were always given each, to be sure that both had that which they preferred.

Although the Tok’Ra and the Furlings had an alliance, it was a loose one. The Furlings had come to their aid in a very material way when Bastet had tried to wipe them out, and from what Malek knew, they had mated with one another for the last two thousand years or so. Two of the warriors sitting here at the table were, in fact, offspring of a Tok’Ra and Furling pairing; that of Lantash and the Warrior Kataya.

The Furling had often passed on vital information to them about the system lords and their plans, and they had come to their aid on numerous occasions in many small ways. They had never fought together on the scale they would be this time, so the upcoming mission would be a first in many ways. The last time Bastet had tried to wipe the Tok’Ra out, there had been Tok’Ra, Wiccadian and Furling warriors together when they went in to get Lantash from her. A mission that had seen them only part way successful, for Lantash’s host had died, and Kataya, his mate, had been the one that killed him to save Lantash. What a shock that had been to them. The host had been too badly injured to survive, but still, she would have chosen Lantash, they all knew that.

It made him look again at the woman sitting across from him. What would a love that intense be like? He knew that it had both saved, and then almost destroyed, Lantash, for when Kataya had been called to her homeworld to fight the Goa’uld, she had gone and taken the kits with her.

It had been time for them to start their true training as Katteri-enti, so they had all gone, and Malek had thought that Lantash would die. Such a dark place he had gone to in his mind. The nights he had sat up with him, and the missions on which it was all he could do to keep him from letting himself and his host get killed, were more numerous than he could remember. So a love like that was a double-edged sword, it gave immense joy and terrible sorrow.

Malek had no doubt that if Gwennetha was called by her people to lead them in battle she would go, just as her mother had. And, he had to admit that one hundred years later, the sector Kataya had been sent to take from the depredations of the Goa’uld was almost won. And, in so doing she had become a legend among the warriors of the many worlds the Furling protected. Her daughter would someday be like her in strength and power, for she was a direct descendant of a First-born, as was her mother.

Looking at the gold of her skin and the warmth of her smile, Malek was not sure it was worth fighting against the pull he felt toward her. Perhaps, just once in his lifetime, he too, could experience that which Lantash had once admitted was one of the most exciting experiences he had ever had. Dancing in the fire the Furlings could call, he had told him, was an intense sensory experience, akin to, but not exactly sexual.

This woman was someone he was drawn to in ways he had never been drawn to another and, perhaps, it would not hurt to get to know her, become friends. Feeling someone’s eyes on him, he looked up and across the table, but Gwennetha was conversing with Teal’c.

Turning his gaze up the table, his eyes locked with those of Kataya and Lantash’s daughter, Taesha. She was gazing first at her sister and then at him. Her gaze intense for a moment, she then sent him a dazzling smile, and turned back to someone else that had evidently asked her something, or somehow drawn her attention from him. Thank the universe. That one’s gaze had been entirely too knowing.

/You are very near to letting our body sweat, Malek. What is wrong with you?/ Devlin asked him.

/The sister was watching us. I do not think she was reading our mind, but she somehow knows what we are thinking, I can tell./

/Ah, and she signaled her disapproval, I suppose./ Devlin said, his voice laced with unease.

/No, actually she smiled quite cheerfully at us. So, I do not think that disapproval was in her mind. Perhaps she was thinking that if we were to become involved with her sister, she would have something to hold over her./ Malek said, as his mind worked through all the reasons the sister would have shown such blatant approval.

His host snorted in disgust, or at least attempted too, although a snort was not something one could do well, when not in control of the body,/ You, my dear friend, are losing what is left of your mind, something I never thought I would see happen. If what you have been telling me and I have been observing is true, one sister would not do that to the other, so that only leaves the original idea. She approves of us. It makes sense actually if you really think about it. After all, her father is Tok’Ra. It is only natural that she would approve of a Tok’Ra for her sister./ Devlin pointed out.

/Yes, of course, you are correct. I had not considered that./ Malek replied. /Even so that does not mean that Artereos, Merdwin or Kataya would approve./

/Is she underage then? Is there some law here about this type of thing, of which I am unaware?/ Devlin asked, anxiously. /She does not look too young./

/I have no idea how old she is. I know that she was only a hundred or so when we were last here and that she had chosen to be reborn as herself as her mother has done. The time to become Katteri is shorter when they do that, I believe. Kataya is now reborn as Katteri, but her daughter has many livings to go through before she can attain that. If I remember the talk I heard when we were here before, Gwennetha is actually quite young, and had only lived two or three times since she was born of her mother. Their life-cycle is quite complicated and I do not pretend to truly understand it, so it will do no good to ask me all the questions I can sense clamoring to be asked./ Malek said sternly.

Once more looking up and across the table, he was caught by those beautiful eyes once again. She smiled at him warmly, before transferring her attention to what was being said. He watched her straighten and look at her Grandfather, obviously very interested in what was being discussed.

/Perhaps we, too, should be listening, Malek./ Devlin chided him.

/Yes, we should. Thank you./ Malek returned.

“…interview her and watch her practice and if I find her to be worthy, I will take her as a student,” Artereos was saying.

“There will also be the ceremony for two new knights to be given their rank,” Artereos smiled at Taesha and Lanwin as he said that. He continued saying, “Tomorrow’s ceremonies will take all day as there will also be an entwining ceremony being performed.”

“Truly? Who?” Taesha asked excitedly.

“Truly. The entwining of Samantha and Daniel will take place first. It will be an entwining of their auras only, so it will not be taxing. After that, we will see how Samantha measures up to Katteri standards.” Artereos answered.

Malek watched the shock appear on the two Tau’ri’s faces. /Well, they obviously did not know of this. I wonder what Artereos has up his sleeve?/ He asked.

/I would guess that it has to do with the two couples and this prophecy./ Dev said, after giving it a little thought. /Nothing else makes sense./

/ I am sure we can find out from Lantash later. No doubt the fact that all of them are now leaving the table after telling us to do as we please, confirms the fact that there will be a private meeting between the six of them./ Malek stated firmly.

/Um, Malek. Malek! If you do not answer Gwennetha, I will take control from you and do so myself./ Dev hissed to him.

Looking up into Gwennetha’s quizzical gaze, he was barely able to stop himself from blushing. She was talking to him and all he could do was stare at her. He felt his host take over and heard him say, “I would love to join you in the game room. Please, will you not show us where that is?”

“Bring your drinks if anything is left and follow me. There is a bar in there so you can have more if you wish. I know the symbiote can filter large quantities of it out of your system, so you do not have to worry about drinking to much,” she replied in her calm way.

“Well, actually, although they can filter it out, we end up with a headache if we drink to much and they can only do that for so long. I am afraid that both the symbiote and I could become quite inebriated if we continued to drink large quantities. Not to mention that we would both then feel extremely unwell the next day, which is why you will rarely see a symbiote or host drink to excess. Many assume the symbiote can neutralize the affects, but I am afraid it has a limit.”

“Really. Now that is something worth knowing. I will have to file that away for future reference. So if I ever see a symbiote and host imbibing large amounts of alcohol, then I should assume that, just as the human will do, they wish to forget something that hurts them, at least for a while.”

“I would say that is a fair assessment,” Devlin agreed. “So, tell me about yourself. I am afraid that Malek was not very knowledgeable about you, although I did my best to pry information from him.”

/What do you think you are doing? Give me control,/ Malek demanded.

/Not now, Malek, I am becoming acquainted with this lovely and charming woman. Do be still,/ Dev told him.

/Watch what you say or I will allow the small amount of Port you have had to drink to go straight to your head,/ Malek threatened from his semi-captive state, frustration clear in his voice.

She was laughing, delighted by his comment and she glanced up at him through those impossibly long lashes in the most charming way. “Well, my life story is rather boring. I was born to Kataya of Cadwaellon and Merdwin of Werllockian a little over four hundred years ago. I have been reborn twice. One living I spent about fifty years with the Ancients. I found it enlightening, but not my path, although my brother has been with them since his first death, and I assume he will remain with them for many years to come. He takes after my father and in a few millennia will be a master enchanter.”

“I stepped into the fire during my first living, dedicating my life to overcoming the evil in the universe. I am now, and will always be, reborn as an adult and who I am. The last time I was reborn, I spent many years cloistered here at Avilion learning to harness and direct my energy and working toward becoming a High Priestess, which I did manage to attain not long ago.”

“I am a Katteri-enti Warrior and because I was injured in battle several months ago and unfit for active duty, I was able to spend the extra time I needed to advance to the higher rank of priestess. I have taken over my mother’s position within our government while she is on her tour of duty with the Tau’ri. I will be joining the mission as both a soldier, as I am now considered healed and fit for active duty, and a priestess, although I will not use my Katteri energy. Since I am going as a priestess, my energy will be amassed to use for healing, not fighting.”

“I did not realize you could be both a Katteri-enti Warrior and a Priestess,” Devlin replied.

“One cannot be one without being the other. All Katteri-enti Warriors must first attain at least a third tier ranking of priest or priestess. A minimum of those abilities must be attained before you can even be considered as a possible Katteri Warrior. One could not be a Katteri without the inner balance that comes from the healing abilities.”

“Most do not take their training in the healing and sustaining arts to very high levels. I believe her abilities as a high priestess are what makes my mother such a formidable warrior and so I am following the path she has shown me. It takes great inner strength to be able to become Katteri and not kill indiscriminately,” Gwennetha explained quietly, while watching to see his reaction to her blunt allusion to their killer instincts.

“I am afraid my information about the Furling is very limited. Malek has not explained much to me,” Devlin replied.

“That is understandable. The Furling-Tok’Ra alliance, though strong, is loose at best, and he would have had no reason to even think of us until this mission came up. And you have only been here a few hours today, most of them taken up by preparing for and then participating in the sevesh.”

“I was quite impressed by your insistence on being a second during the Sevesh lok Twin. A joining as tightly woven as my mother and Lantash’s was is a painful thing to cut asunder. It took courage to agree to become an extension of Lantash and Martouf and share in their pain,” Gwennetha said quietly.

Devlin felt heat rise in his face; Malek must be sulking to allow that to happen. He supposed he would have to give way and let him talk to her, too.

“I have to be honest with you, it was Malek who truly wished to do so. We are, of course, friends, but the bonds between Martouf and I are not as strong as the ones between Malek and Lantash. I agreed because it was so important to him to be there for his friend. They have been friends and comrades for a long time and Malek was there, both during Kataya and Lantash’s time together, although he tells me only minimally, and the time after she left. It was,” he paused, not sure exactly how to put what he needed to say, so finally continued mildly, “hard on Lantash.”

Gwennetha closed her eyes for a moment, as if wishing to block out something painful. Sighing, she opened them, and smiled slightly, “I am sorry. That was a painful time for all of us. Especially for my grandfather, for he was the one who called her home. I do not think I have ever seen my grandfather so undecided about what to do. He hated having to recall her, but he also knew that if anyone could turn things around in that system, it was my mother. So in the end, he called her home.”

“As for my mother, although she returned, she wished to die and came very close many times, but it was the risks she took that finally turned the tide in the Pegacian System. We have almost won there and it is because of her and her leadership. So I suppose some good came out of it, after all. I am told that she was much the same after she realized Dayillon would not be returning and at that time, she managed to lead our warriors to free a sector of the Crusian System.”

“My mother was almost inconsolable in her grief both when Dayillon did not return and when she had to leave Lantash, which in turn hurt many other people, but also allowed many worlds to become free. You must understand that Lantash meant more to my mother than her own life. The only thing that has ever come before her love for Lantash and Dayillon, is her duty to rid the universe of the Goa’uld.”

“She walked into the fire during her first living at the age of fifteen and dedicated her life to ridding the universe of them and any other evil that threatened the universe and the All. Nothing will ever stop her from that goal because of that decision. I was not so young as that when I too chose to step into the fire to have my soul thus forged, but still, I did, and so it also will always be a major part of my life.” She stopped speaking and her expression said she was thinking of the past.

Shaking herself free from those thoughts, she turned back to him and said, “I am glad that Lantash had such a good and loyal friend. From what my mother lived through, I know that his life was a nightmare from which he could not seem to awaken and that it went on for years, not just days or months. It is well he had someone there to turn too.”

“She worried about him so much for so long, and I remember how she cried when he found a new mate. She was so hurt,” Gwennetha whispered, as if to herself. Seeming to come back from that time, she added, “But, she was also so happy for him. I think it made her feel somewhat less guilty and she often spoke of hoping he had found a deep and abiding love with his new mate that would make him happy. She was sincere in that wish.”

/I believe I should answer this,/ Malek said firmly.

/Yes, I agree. I do not know enough of that time to do so./ Dev agreed.

Gwennetha watched as Devlin’s eyes glowed indicating that Malek had come forward to take control. She was glad, as she wished to come to know both beings. Her mother had often spoken of the differences in the two, Dominic and Lantash. She wondered if it would be the same with these two.

“Lantash did not care if he lived or died for a very long time,” Malek said bluntly. Then he added, “Rosha and Jolinar, his new mates, were Tok’Ra, and they had a deep and lasting love that endured for almost one hundred of the Tau’ri years. I do believe though, that he never forgot or got over Kataya. I also do not believe that he ever let them know. It sounds as if your mother was much the same. I often wondered if she really cared, since she seemed to leave with little trouble. I am glad to know that the good opinion I held of her was not unfounded, but am sorry also that she suffered so much,” he said, almost formally.

“I, also, am glad to know that Lantash did have some happiness, and please know that my mother, also, will be glad to know that. Although it hurt her greatly, she understood and was glad for him. She taught Lanwin, Taesha, and myself, for that matter, that the heart is a vast place that can hold many loves within it, and that it should cherish each and every one, each and every moment we are given. It is a lesson I hope never to forget,” she finished quietly.

He is nervous, Gwennetha realized. My parentage is holding him back. He knows enough of them to be leery of me, whereas his host does not. I should put his mind at ease.

She looked at him for a long moment, as the thoughts ran through her mind, and she finally said, “I believe you are interested in me and that my family connections are making you uncomfortable. I wish you to be at ease over them, so I will be blunt. My grandfather wishes me to find a mate and my father and mother do not interfere in my affaires. You need have no qualms in being seen with me or in thinking about me in that way.”

“We do not find the interactions between a man and a woman to be something to be hidden or explained. It is a normal function of the male and female. I find you attractive and I am drawn to you. Whether it will develop beyond an enjoyable affair, remains to be seen, but I do not intend to ignore these feelings. Do you?” Her statement was so straightforward and to the point, that Malek and his host were both left speechless for a time.

Finally, Malek managed to say, “I did not think you were allowed to read someone’s mind without permission.”

“I did not read your mind. You are throwing off waves of emotion; most of them quite jumbled and indecision surrounding me is one of the foremost. Sexual feelings are mixed in, as well as trepidation, thoughts of my parentage, and the years you spent with Lantash, after my mother left. I can hardly ignore that.”

“It took very little conjugation to straighten the jumble out and realize that you are attracted to me on a sexual level, but you are somewhat anxious about getting involved with me for two reasons. The first deals with the pain Lantash went through. You are afraid to get too close lest you get burned, so to speak. The second is that the thought of who I am related to makes you feel unsettled. You are afraid that if you sleep with me they will come after you and perhaps turn you into a toad or something… or cut you into tiny little pieces with their claws.”

“All I can do in response is bring it to a conscious level and discuss it with you. We are a very blunt people in some ways, Malek. Why should we both wear ourselves out second-guessing and worrying about things that can be brought out and discussed? Do you wish to know my feelings about you, since I obviously know so much about how you feel about me?” She asked him.

“That would seem to be fair,” Malek managed to say.

Gwennetha nodded, “I find you very attractive physically. I could take you to my bed tonight, and be quite content with the physical release it would give me. However, I will not do so, for I also find you attractive on a deeper level and I wish to get to know both you and your host better. I feel a pull to you that is more than a sexual one and I wish to explore it. Therefore, if the sexual pull is all you are feeling, you can go play in someone else’s sandbox.”

Malek smiled, and then gave a short laugh. “As a Kat-entity are you sure you wish to use that analogy?” He asked.

Gwennetha’s eyes widened and she gasped, choking on a laugh, before saying, “Well, perhaps not, but you get the idea.”

“Yes, I do,” he sobered quickly. “And I must tell you, that although I do find you sexually very attractive, I too, am finding myself wishing to know you better as, I am being encouraged to tell you, does my host.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he continued, saying, “There is, however, something I wish to know that has to do only with me. Some women find the symbiote, the thought of the symbiote to be, well, somewhat, that is…” Malek stopped speaking and shook his head at his own inability to put these deep-seated fears into words. They so seldom admitted them, even to themselves. Drawing a deep breath, he opened his mouth to begin again, when she spoke first.

“When Lantash was brought here by my mother after his captivity, he was almost dead, as you know. She also, was very weak. When they were both better, she would come here and hold him for hours, stoking him and sometimes crying.”

“You would not know most of that, for you were already gone. I came back shortly after you had all moved to the new Tok’Ra homeworld.”

“You have no idea how much love she had and has for him. She loved Dominic deeply, also. Had she truly had to choose one over the other, I am not sure what that would have done to her.”

“That is not the point of what I am trying to tell you though. You are concerned that a human woman could not truly love a symbiote; that he is just excess baggage that comes with the host. You have only to look at my mother and Samantha to know that is a false assumption. The love they each hold for Lantash shines from them.”

“Do not underestimate your own charm, Malek. You must remember that while physical appearance may draw us in, it will not keep us. We must love that which is beyond the surface, to love deeply. So symbiote or human matters not, once our affections are truly engaged. Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, I believe it does. Tell me, Gwennetha, are you very like your mother other than your looks?” He asked her quietly.

“So I am told and I believe it to be true. I have striven to be as much like her as possible, for she has an inner peace and beauty that is very deep. Why do you ask?” She questioned him.

Malek looked at her intently, gazing into those amazing eyes and trying to read her very soul, before he answered even more softly than before, “Because I am beginning to understand how both Daniel and Lantash could love a woman so deeply for so long. If it is a spell your women use, then I must tell you that I believe I am fast falling under it,” he paused, before continuing, “and I have no wish to have it any other way.” The smile she sent him tied a few more strands of the spell around his heart.

This time the groan was from his host,/You are falling in love with her, Malek. I can feel it, too. Are you sure you wish to do this?/ Dev asked, sounding almost panicked.

/As you stated earlier and I quote, “What a way to go.”/

Dev groaned louder, looked into those amethyst eyes and said, dismay lacing his voice,/But, I do not want to tie us to one woman; I just want to play the field, have some fun, maybe visit paradise now and then and…/his voice trailed off as he watched the delicate peach color tinge her cheeks and the lashes sweep down and back up to allow their gazes to lock. /Oh, never mind. I cannot fight it either, so I do not know why I am bothering to even try. So, we are falling in love. Great. Wonderful. Are you sure, we have to keep this platonic for…? Okay, okay, never mind, I get the point; there is no need for such violent thoughts towards me. Try to remember which one of us does the breathing. Yes, yes, I will shut up./

/Thank you. And yes, it will remain platonic until she says different. She may say her parents would not interfere, I am not so sure and I, for one, do not want to become a toad. Whatever that is./

/Do you really think he could do that?/ Dev wanted to know.

/Does it matter?/ Malek shot back. /The important thing is that we do not let your lusts ruin what could be a wonderful relationship./

/Hey, I resent that. We Share those lusts, so just watch it or I will go take cold showers every time it happens. And, you know how you feel about cold water. I will be very sure to stand with my back towards it, too,/ Dev threatened.

/I get the point. And, the Tau’ri thinks the host has little control over our lives. Hah!/ Malek said.

“So have you and your host come to a decision?” Gwennetha asked, letting them realize that she was aware there was an inner conflict over her going on.

“I believe we both agree that we find you to be, not only a beautiful woman, but one who attracts us on deeper levels than that. We are agreed that we would like to become much better acquainted with you. In addition, although we both admit that we would like to take our relationship beyond the platonic, we are willing to abide by your wishes and get to know one another better first. In fact, we both realize it is imperative that we do so, for we believe this could become a very important relationship to us,” Malek said, sincerely.

“Walk me to my room? Most of the others have left for the night. Or, perhaps I should walk you to yours, since you are more likely not to know the way.”

“I would appreciate that very much. Thank you,” he agreed.

/Well, that is not being very honest. You know you never have trouble finding your way around places once you have been there one time./ Devlin grumbled, somewhat irate at what he considered a somewhat underhanded thing to do. Honesty was a trait of Dev’s that could get in the way on occasion.

Malek sighed, /I am not lying, Devlin. I would not know how to get to our room from hers, only from the front door or from the dining area, unless it is in the same corridor, which seems unlikely.

/Oh, I had not thought of that. I apologize./ Devlin said quickly.

“Here we are. I hope you have a pleasant night’s sleep,” Gwennetha murmured as they stopped in front of his chamber door.

“I am sure I will not. I believe my dreams will be haunted by a beautiful woman with amethyst eyes,” he said, his voice husky and low.

“Perhaps I should do something to be sure they are,” she said as she reached up to cup the back of his head and bring it down towards her. Her fingers lightly caressed his neck and he gave a choked groan as her lips claimed his in their first kiss. His arms had a mind of their own and they came forward to surround her and bring her body close to his. He heard himself moan, as she began to pull back and break the kiss. His arms tightened around her, not wishing to let her go.

As she melted back against him with a small sigh, his hands roved over her back and downward over her hips. Her fingers continued their erotic stroking on either side of Malek, until he thought he would explode with desire. Moaning deeply in his throat, he pulled her high against him and then turning her to the doorframe, he pushed her up against it firmly, as his hips pressed into her. His lips left the sweetness of hers to plunder her neck moving on towards her shoulder. He was fast losing control of himself and he knew it.

He wanted this woman more than he had wanted one in a very long time. In fact, he did not recall ever feeling this out of control, this quickly. Moaning again, he allowed his lips to find their way back up her throat and to the soft lushness of her lips. He was drowning and making no attempt to save himself.

A clock chiming loudly nearby brought him to his senses, causing him to break his hold and step back abruptly. “I am sorry. I had no right to be so ungentle. You would be entirely within your rights to retaliate at such mistreatment,” he said, his voice stiff with embarrassment.

“No, I do not think so. I think that now we can both have beautiful and probably erotic dreams tonight,” she whispered, as she smiled at him, then turned and disappeared into the shadows of the hall.

He watched her walk away, momentarily unable to form a single thought and only barely able to stop himself from following her. This need was almost overwhelming in its intensity. Dear universe, he moaned as his brain began to function, what had he done?

TBC

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