Title: The Sword In The Stone

Author: ReganX

Rating: PG/K+

Spoilers: Set in the second half of Season Five, so anything up to that is fair game.

Summary: "For cryin' out loud, Carter, does the name T.H. White mean nothing to you?"

Disclaimer: 'Stargate SG1' and all the characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. As I doubt that the owners would be willing to trade their rights for some magic beans that aren't in any way magical, this is not going to change at any point in the foreseeable future.

Author's Note: I know I shouldn't be starting another story with so many in progress, but this one kept nagging at me.

Prologue

P7A-452, or Armida to the locals, was the kind of planet that Colonel Jack O'Neill was fondest of. The fact that it was Goa'uld free and had been, according to Daniel, for more than three hundred years, endeared it to him right away and the friendly natives who had offered SG-1 the hospitality of the castle, not to mention the feast prepared in the team's honor were not something he was planning to complain about.

As a bonus, the castle's archives, to which the Steward of Armida had graciously granted them access, contained a volume of manuscripts large enough to keep even Daniel entertained and out of trouble and, failing that, the castle itself was a treasure trove of artifacts that would delight the heart of any archaeologist.

"…and the soil samples show a significant concentration of naquadah, probably from a nearby source, and SG-5 found huge trinium deposits in the mountains when they were here. Tor told me that…"

"Carter!" Jack snapped her name, cutting his second in command off. "Save the science talk for the lab geeks." He was aware that he was being sharper with her than was necessary, but after having narrowly escaped an ecstatic Daniel who had insisted on eagerly regaling him with information about his discoveries, he felt that nobody could judge him too harshly for being a little short with the second science twin.

"Yes, sir. Permission to…"

"You can explore to your heart's content with my blessing." There was a distinct note of dismissal in his voice. "And if you find Daniel on your travels, try to keep him out of trouble, will you?"

"Yes, sir." She responded, refraining from pointing out that it was all but physically impossible to do so.

The castle was a huge, stone edifice that managed, nonetheless, not to be damp, dismal or draughty.

Daniel had been in raptures over the intricate tapestries hanging on the walls, so much so that it had been impossible to drag him away until the archives had been mentioned.

Lord Cai, the Steward, a kindly looking man in his late fifties, had granted SG-1 permission to explore the castle and the surrounding country freely, not even insisting that they be escorted by guards.

The displays of weapons and armor caught Sam's eye. Although they were predominantly of a design similar to that of Earth's medieval period, the metal they were composed of was harder than anything she had previously encountered.

Inwardly resolving to ask the Steward's permission to borrow one or two items for study in her lab back at the SGC, Sam was ready to move on when a glint of light caught her eye, drawing her attention to a carved stone base in the center of one of the rooms, a sword jutting out of it.

Lifting it out of the stone, she was surprised by how light it was, it weighed scarcely more than a wooden sword would have.

A line of writing, in a script she couldn't recognize, was carved down the middle of the gleaming weapon.

'Maybe Daniel can translate this.'

To her surprise, the archeologist was not in the library, where she had confidently expected him to be, so she retraced her steps back to the hall where Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c were being wined and dined.

"Sir, have you seen Daniel? I was hoping that he could translate..."

She didn't have time to complete her sentence before a series of astonished gasps were uttered and every Armidan in the hall fell to their knees before her.

"What's going on?"

TBC.

Author's Note: I know that it's short, but please bear with me, it's just the Prologue.