Sinbad looked at Maeve in astonishment; she truly was the strongest woman on earth, wasn’t she? He smiled softly at her through his sadness. "Maeve, are you sure?"

"As sure as you are." She turned her head back to the gods and Mordred. "What do we have to do?"

Aphrodite stepped back, gesturing to Mordred to take center stage. "She’s all yours, timekeeper."

Mordred managed a small smile. "As we stand here, Xaldar has escaped from his holding cell, with the aid of his most loyal guards, and is planning the death of you, Sinbad. He will kill you tomorrow mid morning, after kidnapping Maeve in an attempt to force her into marriage, threatening her with the lives of your brother and your companions, who do not survive tomorrow’s events anyway. You all die as you try to rescue her, one by one, you all slowly fade from this existence." The crew’s eyes opened in astonishment.

Firouz spoke up, "But surely with your advanced warning we could..."

Mordred held up her hand. "Don’t you think I thought of that Firouz? It’s not going to work, I have checked and rechecked, the only way to stop tomorrow’s massacre is for Maeve and Sinbad to go into the future, into my time, and stop old Xaldar from coming back and changing history. Only then will the lives you all were intended to lead be brought to fruition."

"Old Xaldar?" Doubar questioned.

Maeve gasped and cleared her throat. "It’s King Andrais, isn’t it? The king is Xaldar from the future... I knew something was different about him; his voice was too familiar."

Mordred nodded. "Aye, Andrais died years ago in an enemy camp across the sea. Xaldar picked that moment to return in time and take over his place; so much so did he resemble his aged father, that no one was the wiser, only Tayia had to be removed and the queen killed for his ruse to be complete. Yesterday was Tayia’s time to die, but instead poor Nicholan got in the way. The Xaldars had to scramble to change their plans, only this time it involved the deaths of all of you except Maeve." Mordred sighed as Dermott flew through the room, listening quietly to the sound of his cries, the long dead voice echoing pleasantly in her mind. "Even poor Dermott didn’t escape the blood shed. He was cut down only minutes after Sinbad died, defending your lifeless body, sailor." Mordred smiled in Sinbad’s general direction, a wistful look coming onto her face. "He wouldn’t leave your side, even in the event of his own death; the last thing I saw through his eyes was my own face; he gazed upon me as his own life was fading, meeting his final rest upon your chest, then everything became dark again, and my poor Dermott was gone. The emptiness in my heart and mind was astounding, the shock to my system almost more than I could handle. I decided then that I could no longer go by the name Maeve; I was not the same person; my husband, my brother, my life, all died right there with all of you. Why I was cursed to be the only one left living I don’t know, I only wish I had died that day, so that my blood could have been spilt in battle, in honor, rather than course through the veins of this useless body one moment more."

Maeve brushed her hands across her eyes, striking at the tears coursing over her cheeks, unable to stop thinking over Mordred’s words. Her face hardened and she clenched her jaw. "What exactly do we have to do?"

"If you meet me here two hours past dawn tomorrow morning, I will lead you into the future. Xaldar used a tiny talisman to come back in time, a powerful talisman that he wears constantly around his neck. That talisman allows him to remain in this time and to interact with his alternate self. I have no such need of such an object; my powers allow me to do the same." She added on, anticipating their next question. "You will have to use any method in your power to stop Xaldar."

"Why couldn’t you do it? You’re the time traveler." Sinbad frowned.

"Aye, all powerful, all knowing, all for nothing. Xaldar was my husband, Sinbad, and I was unable to stop him from wreaking the havoc on my life he has. I cannot stop him now; it’s up to you."

Sinbad clutched Maeve closely, a knot forming in his stomach. "And our life together will be lost?"

Mordred nodded slowly. "Your life together as it would be in this time line will be lost; your life together in your original time line will not. Whether you marry or go your own ways, I have not the knowledge, for it is out of my power to see alternate lives, but many lives lost will be saved to live fully what they had planned."

"Where is the future Xaldar now?" Doubar muttered looking around suspiciously.

Mordred shrugged. "His part in all of this is rather sketchy; apparently he doesn’t do anything very important over the next few hours; it’s mostly today’s Xaldar that we have to worry about."

Sinbad turned to Aphrodite and Zeus. "What is your business in all of this?"

Aphrodite blushed and Zeus glared down at her. "My daughter’s overzealous behavior caused her to spread the knowledge of this talisman to a handsome young mortal during a moment of, shall we say, weakness. This mortal took it upon himself to tell the future Xaldar of the location of the talisman, making all of this my beautiful daughter’s fault. Aphrodite."

The goddess blushed violently. "Yeah, yeah, all right, it was my fault. I screwed up everybody’s lives, rub it in." She sighed. "Guys, I really am sorry, for mortals you two have been really cool. Because of my big mouth we’re trying to fix things, even though it is rather late."

Sinbad sighed. "Will you do one thing for us if we decide to put things back the way they belong?"

Aphrodite nodded. "What ever is in my power."

"Give Maeve back her sight."

Zeus shook his head. "I’m sorry but we can’t change the past anymore than it has already been done. If we start changing things now, something could change that would wipe Mordred here out, making all of this impossible to fix."

Sinbad’s eyes narrowed. "Give her sight back to her for one night. Just for tonight and we will do what you request. We aren’t going to be running around the palace trying to change things, we just want one night."

"Sinbad, you don’t have to speak for me."

"Maeve, let me do this. We need this time, and we need it to be perfect. If this is going to be our first and last night together as husband and wife, I want you to be able to see, to know that our world was perfect, even if it was short lived."

Aphrodite turned to her father. "Daddy, we owe them this."

"They’re mortals, we owe them nothing."

"Fine, I owe them this. Give her her sight back until they are prepared to leave in the morning. That shouldn’t change anything direly important."

Zeus glared at his daughter, but finally caved; he was always a sucker for Aphrodite’s whims. "All right, fine, she can have her sight back for twelve hours."

Sinbad smiled. "Thank you, Zeus."

Zeus grumbled and disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Mortals." was the last word to reach their ears. Aphrodite giggled.

"Maeve, I’ll give you your sight back in an hour... just let me go calm daddy down, we’ve really ruffled his feathers tonight...he’s not used to losing." Aphrodite laughed, and with her eyes twinkling disappeared after her father.

Maeve turned to face Sinbad, cocking her head at him. "I guess I owe you a thank you."

"You can repay that thanks tonight." Sinbad smiled wickedly as he whispered into her ear.

Maeve forced herself to laugh slightly, but her heart was heavy. One night.

******************************

Maeve and Sinbad smiled their way through the rest of dinner, accepting the congratulations of the townspeople, and the sympathies of those who understood the gods’ demands. Mordred had made herself scarce, misting away soon after the gods had left under the final instructions of not to forget meeting her. Two hours past dawn tomorrow morning, or Sinbad, Dermott and all were dead, and Maeve’s life would be ruined; that’s not something they could forget easily.

Three quarters of an hour later, Sinbad touched Maeve’s arm lightly. "Aphrodite will be back soon; let’s make our apologies and meet her in our chambers." At Maeve’s nod, she and Sinbad rose to their feet.

Braving the teases thrown at them by their comrades, Maeve allowed Sinbad to lead her out of the great hall and down the corridor to their room. "Do you think she’ll stick to her promise?" she asked, just for something to talk about while they waited.

Sinbad nodded slowly. "She certainly seemed adamant enough about helping us tonight."

"And I was too." Aphrodite faded into the room. "Hello, you crazy kids, what’s happening?"

Maeve smiled. "I’m glad you decided to show up, Aphrodite. I don’t usually get my hopes up about things, but today I made an exception."

Aphrodite smiled. "Well, let’s get on with it then." With a wave of her hand, Aphrodite raised her eyebrows at Maeve and a flash of light surrounded the sorceress. Without realizing what she was doing, Maeve closed her eyes to protect herself from the flash; then she had to laugh.

"I can see!" She cried out in joy, turning to allow the sight of her beloved to sink into her mind.

"Well, duh, I told you I’d give you your sight back. Okay, kiddies, enjoy! I’ll be back in twelve hours to finish our deal." With a quick smile she faded out of sight.

Sinbad turned to Maeve, "I guess that leaves our evening up to us."

Maeve rolled her eyes skyward as she gloried in the sight of him; she smiled wickedly. "Why, what ever shall we do to pass the time?"

Sinbad laughed as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him, making a point of looking into her eyes as he lowered his mouth to hers. You know, they were right, the eyes really are the windows to the soul. Maeve’s soul lay bared before him, and he knew that she loved him completely; Allah, let their sacrifice be worth losing this.

With that sobering thought, Sinbad’s arms gentled around her, and he led her over to the bed. He would treat this time as if it were their first time, for Maeve had seen nothing previously. Now was the time to go slowly, to choose tenderness over passion, love over lust; they did have all night together.

As he slowed his actions, Maeve smiled softly; he was used to being in control, but not tonight; tonight they would share the power, for she held as much power over him as a woman could over a man. She was going to lead him into temptation, and only she could deliver him from the passion she knew he would feel. Tonight was going to be her night to play.

Moving her foot slowly behind Sinbad’s legs, Maeve pushed him lightly, causing him to fall backwards onto the bed. His face registered the shock he was feeling, but before he could move, Maeve crawled onto the bed after him, and straddled his hips. Slowly her face broke into a soft smile as her fingers moved to the silky black vest he had covering his new dress shirt; with in moments the soft material was flying through the air over her shoulder. That won her a smile from her beloved; she had forgotten exactly how beautiful his face truly was, she whet her lips and moved to draw open his shirt. Soon, inch after glorious inch of sun bronzed skin, toned muscle and a tantalizing trail of dark curls met her sight. With a raised eyebrow, she greedily drank in the sight of him, memorizing every detail of his chest, her fingers playing in the coarse hairs. Sliding the shirt over his head, she dropped it to the floor and allowed her mouth to follow the trail her fingers had previously traveled.

Sinbad groaned as her warm lips met his skin, and her tongue began trailing circles against his flat nipple. He swallowed hard as her teeth grated against his sensitive skin; gently she nibbled on him, reveling in her power over him. Her mouth slid slowly across his chest, sending bands of sensation coursing through his body; she drew her kisses upward, to his neck, her tongue tasting him gently. Desperate for further sensation, Sinbad reached his hands out to remove her dress, Maeve smiled lowly and shook her head. She took his wandering hands in hers and moved them to his sides.

"You’ve had your time, love, right now, I get to play." At the crestfallen look on his face, Maeve leaned forward and brushed a whisper of a kiss across his lips. "Have no fear, Sinbad, you’ll soon be free to do what ever you please, but only when I'm good and ready to relinquish control."

Her body shook gently as she laughed, causing Sinbad to close his eyes, and draw in a sharp breath. In one fluid movement, Maeve drew her wedding gown off of her body, paying no heed to where it landed. She felt him take in the sight of her, his whole body tensing beneath her as he held his breath. His hands clenched at his sides in an effort to not rise and caress her, but he would do as she willed, for the moment.

Moving to the foot of the bed, Maeve quickly slid her own boots off, and then began to work upon removing his. Lace by endless lace unwound in her hands, and soon she was rising over his body once more, her hands moving to his hips. Raising his hips from the surface of the mattress, Sinbad eagerly moved to help her remove his pants, feeling the cool evening air against his warm skin, and her sudden intake of breath as he lay naked before her. Sitting back, Maeve gazed at him in wonder; her own body had not lied to her, for she knew he was a magnificent man, but the sight of him astonished her, and for a moment made her hesitate in her exploration.

That was the moment Sinbad had been waiting for; reaching up he entangled his fingers in her hair, and pulled her head down so that her mouth met his, but he could not turn her under himself, her body remained solid atop him. Sinbad raised an eyebrow as he nibbled on her lower lip. "Still want to be in control?"

Maeve nodded, with a slight blush. "For now; have patience, sailor."

Sinbad grumbled, "Easy for you to say, you’re not being seduced by a sorceress."

"Sorcerer’s apprentice, now shut up."

With that the sorcerer’s apprentice pushed the captain back deeper into the blankets, and went about showing him what true magic really was.

*********************************

The light shining in through their window was what awoke Maeve the next morning. Her body cried out as she forced herself to stretch but she paid it no heed; this morning’s discomfort was well worth the memory of each moment of last night. Her heart ached as she gazed upon the beautiful face of the sailor, her sailor; it was almost time for them to meet Aprodite and Mordred in the great hall, almost time for their stolen moments to end.

Regretfully she slid her body up against that of her husband, moving her lips to his neck, trailing little biting kisses up to his mouth. With a groan Sinbad’s startling blue eyes opened, at first sparkling at the sight of her, then dulling as he realized the sun was shining around them.

Maeve never even had to say a word as he drew her into his arms; two hours, they had two hours and there was no time left for games. Time had brought them together, they had considered it their friend, something that would always be there for them so that they could work their way through life slowly, making sure they understood everything. But now their friend had become their mortal enemy; if they should choose to ignore times passing, he would die and she would become the atrocity that was Mordred; if they should choose to recognize times passing and do what was requested of them, they both would die and another Maeve and Sinbad would take over in their places.

Their kisses took on a desperation that hadn’t been there earlier, and as they sank into each others embrace, they worked to sink into each other’s souls. The only way they would survive this together, was if they were one.

*********************************

Very slowly Maeve and Sinbad made their way into the great hall, neither of them touching the other for fear that they could never let go. The door opened and they stepped into the presence of Aphrodite, Zeus, Mordred and their friends; they sighed and approached the small group.

Sinbad looked straight into the eyes of the king of the gods. "All right, we’re here as promised."

Zeus laughed, "Now, I take the sorceress’s sight away, and watch as Mordred takes you into the future. Then my part will be done; and perhaps I can get on with my life instead of trying to fix the lives of mere mortals." He turned to Maeve. "Now, say your good-byes to your sight or whatever you’re going to do and lets get this over with."

Maeve turned to face Sinbad, and tried to memorize the details of his face before turning to look back at Zeus. "I’m ready, Zeus, do what you must." At the sound of a voice in her mind, she looked up to the window to see Dermott perched high above her.

"I will be your eyes, my sister, you will never need to fear."

"I fear not blindness, my sweet, not with you and Sinbad by my side."

"And by your side I will always be." Dermott watched as Zeus moved to take away Maeve’s sight. As the god’s hand rised, Dermott turned back to Maeve. "Keep your eyes on me, sister. As you fade into the darkness fill your mind with my image and I will keep you company there."

And so she did; her sight, perfectly clear, began to grow spotty, morning shadows became deeper, eventually covering everything; the shapes of her friends and family faded into shadows themselves. The only constant was Dermott, her only focus his beautiful eyes, eyes that went with her into the pitch dark of blindness, eyes that stayed with her once she returned to her black world, eyes that comforted her as fear did indeed overwhelm her, familiar eyes, loving eyes, eyes of the one she had to save from his doom.

Swallowing her fear and readjusting to the absolute dark of her existence, Maeve turned to face the gods and Mordred. "It is done; now we must go about destroying this timeline."

Mordred nodded. "Aye. If you and Sinbad will stand here, between these two pillars, I will be able to focus my energies better to transport the three of us into the future."

Doubar scowled and held up a hand. "Hold on, lady. We are all going, not just Maeve and Sinbad. There is no way we will allow them to walk into an unknown danger such as this with out back up."

Mordred shook her head. "No, Doubar, you must stay here and make sure time does not change. As long as someone in this timeline recognizes the power that is being used, the future will remain the way it is now, allowing Maeve and Sinbad to accurately time their actions and to the proper locations. If you and the others were to come with us, no one would be left here to defend the past, no one would recognize the changes being made in the future, and therefore the future would change unpredictably. If that were to happen, too many things could go wrong with this mission. As soon as Sinbad and Maeve stop my Xaldar from returning though, the entire timeline will fall apart at the seams, returning us all to the points in our lives we became affected by the waves. We can not afford to risk the entire mission when merely your staying here would anchor everything."

Firouz shook his head. "Mordred, I’m afraid I must argue with your interpretation of events; the instant something happens here, in the past, then it should be reflected in the future. Whether Doubar, Rongar and I realize it’s happening or not, nothing should be able to stop the ripples in time."

"Firouz, may I remind you that I am the keeper of time? I do know what I am talking about. Interruptions in the space/ time continuum such as the ones we have made and are yet planning to make are very touchy issues; I can no more explain why time happens this way than you could explain the red waters in the waterfall behind Thalderon."

Firouz looked at her for a moment then shrugged, "Well, actually, the red isn’t exactly the color of the water, the image of the color is caused by the sun glinting.."

"Firouz, no offense, but shut up." Mordred scowled. "He never changes does he?" Slowly she positioned Maeve and Sinbad between the pillars of the altar, turning them away from her. She stood between and behind the two, with the rest of the crew spread out behind them facing her. Everybody’s backs were to the door, so when it slowly opened and a dark shadow slipped into the room, not a person noticed.

Not a person noticed when that shadow drew a vial out of its pocket and dipped an arrow head into the liquid within. Not a person noticed when that arrow was then cocked into a cross bow. And not a person heard the quiet click of the release on the bow when the arrow shot through the air.

What the group did notice was Mordred scream out in agony, the arrow shaft protruding from her back, and her fall to the floor, her body stiff and frozen.

Maeve turned in confusion, reaching out for Dermott to show her what had happened; the bird would not however, keeping his mind closed to her; seeing herself lying dying on the floor was not something Maeve needed to have on her soul.

Sinbad rushed to the fallen sorceress, hoping to Allah that she wasn’t mortally wounded, but as he moved his hands to the old woman’s back, the stench coming from the wound confirmed poison. He looked up helplessly at Firouz. "Can you do anything for her?"

Firouz slowly shook her head. "Nothing beyond making her comfortable. I cannot counter the poison."

"Sinbad." Mordred’s weak voice wavered out to reach the sailors ears.

"What is it, Mordred?" he asked gently.

"You must go to the future, you must stop this from happening."

Sinbad shook his head. "How can we now? You cannot send us there, and Maeve doesn’t have the knowledge yet for such a task."

"But my Xaldar has the talisman. Maeve can work it. She has the power. She just has to believe in herself and in her quest. If she truly believes what she is doing is the right thing, the talisman will take you and her to the future. That is the secret of the talisman, you must believe in your task, believe in yourself, believe in the future...." Mordred’s voice began fading away, as her head fell back to the floor.

Sinbad frowned. "But where do we find this talisman? You said it hangs only around Xaldar’s neck... Xaldar is gone, disappeared, how do we find him?"

Mordred opened her eyes one final time. "He is near; he did this. He won’t go far now. Our lives are over. He knows this. He will be near. His time has come. It is over. Now it is time for you and Maeve to live." Mordred lay down, a whisper of a breath crossing her lips. "Go with peace, my beloved."

Sinbad smoothed the old sorceress’s hair away from her forehead, gently closing her eyes. Remembering a phrase Maeve quite often used, Sinbad leaned down and whispered in her ear, "May the road rise up to greet you, where ever you are going." And upon that, she who was once Maeve faded from the sight of mortal eyes.

Maeve felt her go, knowing that Mordred had been that presence in her mind from the time the crew had stepped foot on Thalderon. Maeve sighed sadly, the old woman had had a hard life; even though Maeve knew without her help, she herself would have been destined to become that decaying, tortured being, Maeve was grateful to have been able to meet her. Who could say, perhaps someday, in another time, they would meet again. Until then, Maeve had a sworn oath to uphold, and uphold it she would, no matter what the consequences.

"Sinbad," she said, softly, reaching her hand out into the darkness, "We have to find Xaldar, and remember to keep your eyes open for our Xaldar too. She never told us exactly what time to expect his attack, and we cannot allow ourselves to be killed. I refuse to end up like her."

Sinbad nodded. "Crew, we have a king to find!"

********************************

Continued in Shared Admissions: Part Twelve, Section Two

Go to Shared Admissions: Part Eleven, Section Two

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