A/N: Hey! As you all see this shedule thing works perfectly... sorry. I try to be faster. Thanks to all the reviews / follows and favs! They're really appreciated!

Big thanks to lazylittlenomad for her input, she has such great ideas and what she did with this chapter put me to shame! Seriously, you have no idea how bad it was.

Season 3 is a little Cophineless right now but I hope it gets better. The show is still amazing so I have no worries to lose the Cophine spirit any time soon.

This chapter may need some light assault/rape trigger warning, so if you're triggered than please come back for the next chapter and leave this one out. Its not big but I don't want to cause any one of you this trouble.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7

Cosima.

Her mind goes blank. Only a few feet away, stands her Cosima. The elusive woman that has haunted her dreams since forever. And she's being handled like cattle. Her captor is tall and burly, dressed well in finer clothes than she. Yet his feet are filthy. It's a strange contrast.

Delphine holds her tongue. The man has his hands on Cosimas shoulders. His hands are drifting further south, stroking the sides of her breasts, right down to her hips and then to her legs and foot.

'He's searching for weapons.' Delphine realises. There was nothing lustful in the touch like she was expecting. His movements are too controlled, precise. This part of Alexandria was rough, Cosima can't have been the first woman he had used for their 'services'. Experience would justify his cautious approach.

The kind of work these women undertook wasn't safe, they needed to be careful with their choices for the night. But they could not be too picky either. If you were desperate enough, you could easily make a poor decision that could kill you. Over the years many women taught themselves some defensive tricks. Some grouped together, women and men, forming syndicates to rob under the guise of providing 'personal services'.

Cosima's customer seemed pleased what he found or rather didn't. She seemed hesitant for a moment, before leaning to his ear, her long hair falling into her face. A smile creeps across his face. Delphine cannot make out what is being said. Abruptly, he grabs the brunette by her forearm and heads towards the entrance, roughly dragging the brunette along.

Panic starts to set in. She looks around; she has to stop them from leaving! Felix, Felix...

"Felix! You have to get her!" Delphine asks, exasperated. Her emotions whirl into overdrive as she watches Cosima leave the Tavern.

Confused by her panicked outburst, Felix turns to Delphine. "Get who? That woman who was just dragged out?"

"Yes!"

Not granting him time for more questions, she takes Felix by his arm, following the pair out of the Tavern. If he was taken aback by her actions, he doesn't show it. As soon as the door closes behind them, they follow Cosima and her customer from a distance. It's a necessity that they stay inconspicuous, not to draw any unwanted attention to themselves. But they also needed to keep up otherwise they'll lose sight of them.

Delphine can feel Felix boring holes into the back of her head but she can't risk explaining everything to him now. It will have to wait.

They progress further into the ghetto. The streets are somewhat narrower than what she's familiar with. A cloying stench permeates in the air. Washing hangs out of windows like patchwork. Homeless men lie slumped against walls. The sun is almost set; it's becoming harder to see. Every few steps Delphines dares to glance ahead, she's surprised to see Cosima leading the way. She seems to be following a known route.

'There must be a place she already has for these occasions...'. Delphine frowns, unpleasant scenes flooding her mind. Jealousy and fury rise in her chest. 'How often has she used this route already? I should've made her stay in the palace! She'd be safe there! How dare he lay his filthy hands on her!'

"Where have they gone?", Felix's voice snaps her back to the present.

Delphine stops, her right hand stopping Felix from walking any further. She scans the street. There are hardly enough people to conceal them, yet Cosima and her customer are nowhere in sight.

There are two alleyways on either side. As they approach the first one on the right, she can hear voices. Looking up, a small turret is visible on the high wall. Delphine realizes they must be somewhere along the city's edge.

Slowly, they inch towards the voices. She can make out a demanding male voice. It must be them. Delphine fumbles with the small bag of coins she has and pulls Felix closer. His face is a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"Take this!" She shoves the bag into Felix's hand. They still have a chance to interrupt whatever is happening. "You have to offer her more than him."

"Me? For that woman? Are you barking mad?" He whispers, turning to Delphine.

"Just do it! We can't let this continue! Please Felix! Give all of it if necessary, just get him to leave."

The bewildered servant tightened his gripped on the bag of coins.

"What do you expect me to do? Sorry to interrupt but can I have her instead? Here's some coins for your troubles?"

"Anything! He must not touch her!" Her head turns back to the alley, the voices have quieted.

"Go and forbid it yourself. The man will obey you. Have you seen the ring on his hand? He's a merchant; he won't dare risk losing his privileges."

"I must not reveal myself, you know that. Felix, s'il te plaît! I will explain everything later. Just get her away from him!"

Felix sighs in defeat. How can he deny her anything? For years he'd longed to see the Princess express any strong emotions. For as long as he's served her, she always seemed somewhat cold, detached. Barely anything was of special interest. Nonetheless she has always carried out her duties unfailingly. Yet seeing this change in her despite the bizarre situation, he feels compelled to help her.

"Oh the things I do for you... of all the other sweeties in this city, why does it have to be this one..." Checking his daggers are all in place, he takes a deep breath and walks further into the alley.

The man forces his mouth on her, feeling her roughly, ruffling her clothes. She can sense his arousal already. 'Must've been a while,' she muses.
Merchants spent most of their time traveling from city to city. It could be months before they reached their destination. Even then, they could not stay for long before needing to move on.

It's taking all of Cosima's willpower to stop herself from clawing out his eyes. She can't stand submitting her body like this, but she's glad he hasn't ripped her clothes off yet. 'Arrah! Just a little longer and this better be over... or else...'

Earlier he had told her how exhausted he felt, but luckily she managed to convince him to follow her outside. If he had taken her to a private room, her plan would completely fail. The man's movements are growing clumsier. 'Thank Isis. Any minute now...' Although his movements have slowed, his enthusiasm hasn't faded. His hands are trying to work their way beneath her robes...

*cough* "Excuse me, but I'm afraid I have to interrupt."

A lithe figure continues to approach them. The Merchant continues his actions ignoring the intruder but Cosima is surprised and also embarrassed enough to push him away. Glassy eyed and confused the merchant looks at her. It takes him a moment to realize they are no longer alone. Slowly, he follows her gaze.

"What do you want? Can't you see we're busy here!" The Merchant growls. He makes a grab for Cosima, but she steps back. Angered, he tries to move forward towards her but loses balance.

"Yes, I can see that", the lithe man replies, with a hint of annoyance. "Look I need an easy and fast distraction, Madame", Felix addresses Cosima with a smile. Felix's eyes do not leave the Merchant. He needs to be careful. If things take a turn for the worst, Felix knows he needs to strike first.

"Well I found this 'distraction' first. Search for another!" the Merchant barks back. His attention is turned back to Cosima. The brunette looks to the Merchant then back to Felix.

"I must insist. Here are some coins for your troubles. Please, leave her to me." Felix takes another step forward, displaying the coins in his hand.

"Piss off boy! Take your gold elsewhere!"

The Merchant makes a grab for Cosima. Her arms are now trapped in a vice like grip. She can feel the intruder's eyes on her. She doesn't like this. Her plan did not consider this scenario occurring. Cosima flinches at the humorless laugh of the Merchant before he pushes her back into the wall.

"Why don't you just wait a few moments? I won't be long, and then this little beauty here is all yours." The Merchant slurs.

'Well aren't you a charmer...', Felix mutters, rolling his eyes.

"I'm afraid I don't have the time. Just take these coins from me and go." Felix commands more forcefully. For a moment, he's sure the Merchant will take his offer. But at the last moment he swats his hand away. The coins clatter to the ground.

"How many times do I need to tell you? Piss OFF!"

The Merchants starts to stumble away, dragging Cosima with him. His uncoordinated movements are now more pronounced.

'Oh great, now what'? He can't let this drag on. The Princess and he must return to the Temple before the gates close. But not without the Princesses prize. In his current state, the Merchant would be easy to subdue. This may leave him with a bad headache but it's the least of Felix's concerns right now.

Felix strides towards them, hands flexing. His palms are already sweating.
The Merchant slowly turns his head back to look, hearing him move. Before he can say more, Felix forces him into the wall. Cosima manages to leap out of the way, watching on horrified as he smashes the Merchants head against it.

The Merchant slumps to the ground with a groan. Cosima is shocked. The young man is panting slightly, leaning against the wall. He wipes his brow before turning to face her.

Cosima stares back.

"Do you want to gawk at me for the rest of the night or get whatever you can from him before he wakes up?" the intruder remarks.

Cosima is in half a mind to run off, this guy is clearly trouble. He's well-off, that much is obvious. Her eyes trace the emblem on his daggers. Falcon. Royalty. SHIT! The last thing she needs now is to have a run in with more Royal guards. Especially given what happened last time.

The intruder raises his eyebrow. Cosima realizes she needs to say something, fast.

"What happened to plausible deniability?" Cosima says, with her signature quirk. Maybe she can charm her way out of this one.

He rolls his eyes. "Look sweetie, I haven't got all night to banter. My pores are crying for a bath and if I don't, I'll have you to blame for my stress acne. Take what you want from him while you can so we can get moving."

'We? What the hell has he got planned?!' Did he really still want her service after this? For some reasons she didn't believe that. He didn't seem to have any interest in her. So what did he want? It could be some sort of trap, but at this moment in time she hasn't much of a choice.

She spots the gold necklace and rings on the Merchant. They could be pawned for enough food to feed her family until the next harvest at least. She takes the necklace but only 2 of his rings. He still has three left, including the ring of the Merchants Guild. She's caused him enough trouble already. Getting a new Merchants ring would take forever, if the Authorities even allow him a new one.

"Aren't you forgetting something?", the Intruder remarks, pointing to the dagger and remaining rings.

"You see where we are, right?", Cosima gestures around. "He's as good as dead without a weapon."

"Aren't you a saint?"

Cosima shoots him a glare.

"And his rings? Do you hope he hurts someone else harder with them?"

She notes his sarcastic tone but doesn't reply. She already has his coin bag as well, that was easy to swipe earlier. Cosima wasn't cruel. No matter how much she despised The Merchant, he probably had a family to support too. Perhaps it was foolish for thieves to waste such an opportunity, but she was no thief. All of this was only done out of necessity. When her Day of Judgment came, she would defend herself to Osiris. Maybe her intentions would turn her scale to her favour. If the Gods could not spare her for her actions, then what kind of Gods were they?

"STOP in the name of the Pharaoh!"

She freezes. Another person is jogging towards them. The figure is tall and slender like a dancer, unusual for a guard. Then again the young man already there is not so different. As the figure draws nearer, she can make out long hair flopping about in the low light.

"By Isis, I thought you'd left me to the dogs! Everything is done." the Intruder says to the tall figure.

"Thank the Gods! Are you okay? Is she okay? This was taking so long; I thought something happened to you."

The tall figure has a womans voice. Melodic with an unusual accent. As she steps closer, Cosima can see fair curls and hypnotic hazel-green eyes. 'You've got to be joking...'

It is the Princess from days before. The Princess who saved her from the wrath of the Royal Guards.

Princess Delphine.