Chapter Text
"There is no honor in certain victory, not for gods, men, or monsters."
Egyptian, New Kingdom, author unknown., translation attributed to TE Lawrence.
No Certain Victory: Prologue
When the tanks of the Reich came into Egypt, they came for more than the canal. They came for more than gold. They came for the ancient power and secrets buried in her sands. They came for the Fuhrer and his greed for the occult and his mad obsession with the holy land. But they found as conquerors had for ages before, that the secrets of Egypt were not easy to take and the might and defenders of the old gods were not quite as asleep or dead as they might have thought.
In the darkness of his long eternal night, Imhotep, once high priest of AmmunRa at Thebes, heard the stirring of the sand around him, and as the curse he had endured for millennia pulled at him again, he heard the call of his god. And once again he opened long dead eyes. But this time beheld the face of AmmunRa, He who is Lord of all Egypt. And Imhotep listened to the words of his god and obeyed. The troops of the Reich never knew what enveloped them in the desert.
The Medjai were not as unaware, nor as ignorant.
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Ardeth pulled his tired horse to a stop finally, and slid thankfully to the ground. One of the younger Medjai took the horse's reins with a smile and led it away. He gave his tribesman an exhausted smile in return and made his way over to the fire."Selim, Arebe, Gamal, Abdul, how are your tribes?" He sat down with the other Medjai leaders.
"Well. And no more stirrings of He who shall not be named that we can find." Selim answered. As the eldest there he usually fell into the role of spokesmen for them all. Ardeth nodded.
"And none here either. We have scouts at Hamanaptra and at the remains of Ahm Shere and yet even our people in Cairo have heard nothing since that last division disappeared out near the Wadi Assaid." He took the glass of karkaday Gamal's second wife handed him with a nod of thanks and reached for the platter of bread and tahini, only then realizing his own hunger. "I do not trust the quiet."
Arebe laughed with his usual warmth. "I knew you would think that. So I asked Emil to send word to Mohammed at the British Museum."
"Mohammed? Why?" He finished the sweet hibiscus tea with a frown.
Arebe smiled again and Selim chuckled. "Because, if He who shall not be named, is moving about. We thought it prudent to know where your friends were."
He smiled a little himself, a bit melancholy at how long it had been since he had seen the O'Connells. Their son must be more than ten years old now. "And are they well?"
"Yes. They do not seem to be aware of the stirrings here. Mohammed said he would send them a message if you wish?"
He nodded a little absently, and then took the paper and ink that Selim handed him. It was a simple enough note.
O'Connell,
The sands stir without wind, and swallow armies whole.
But we have no signs of He whom I shall not name. Take care all the
same, and watch your own back as you guard your family, my friend.
Ardeth Bay
He handed the paper to Arebe and then rose to his feet. "I must leave before morning. I am riding out to Ahm Shere. Forgive my rudeness, my friends, but I must sleep."
"Take care of yourself, Ardeth. We shall need your strength more than I would like to think in the days to come, I fear." Selim replied quietly.
"In'sh'Allah." He replied with a shrug. But he prayed silently to God all the same, that it would not be his will at all.
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"He said what?!" Evie O'Connell asked sharply.
Rick just shrugged and smiled at his wife. "Just that. Watch our backs."
"Wonderful." She rolled her eyes. "Delightful. And just what are we to be watching our backs for this time? Crazed curators perhaps? Half-scorpion men? Or just your run of the mill gravity-defying mummies and reincarnated Egyptian princesses."
"Don't toss stones, love." He smiled a bit more. Evie flushed a bit but smiled back.
"Just another day in our lives, then?" She tossed the long dark hair she'd been brushing over her shoulder. "Nice of him to think of us at least."
"Yeah, he's probably wondering what cursed thing we unearthed and started deciphering or ransacking this time, more likely." Rick checked the bedroom door lock once more just to be safe and then smiled at his wife. "We haven't, have we?"
"Ransacked or deciphered any cursed thing? Not recently certainly. Well, there was that ostracon Dr. Emerson sent, but that wasn't cursed."
"Of course it wasn't." He headed toward the bed Evie was sitting on with a grin.
"Well, if you believe the press, every artifact ever excavated in Egypt is cursed." She began running the brush through her hair again. "So, when are we going to Egypt?"
That changed his plans for exactly what he was going to do with his wife when he reached the bed and he sat beside her with a sigh. "When are we going? Are we even going to consider not going?"
She smiled, that wonderful mischievous smile he loved. "The man who helped us rescue our son from Imhotep and his crazed followers sends us a two-line note from half way around the world warning us that something might be wrong while he's out there in the middle of it." She shook her head with a sigh. "Rick."
He smiled back. "Are we packed?"
She laughed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him firmly. "Of course we are."
"Just checking." He took the brush out of her hand, set it on the bedside table and turned out the light with long practice. "I'll see about booking tickets for the first steamship to Alexandria tomorrow."
"Good."
And that was about all they needed to say.
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Imhotep lowered his arms as the sand finished swirling about the last of the invading soldiers and their machines. Set would be eating well this night. He looked up at the bright Egyptian sun and then bowed.
"Great Ammun Ra, You who are Lord of all Egypt, who hears all prayers, I have done as you commanded. The pale followers of madness are dead. Egypt is safe."
The god of gods of ancient Egypt looked down upon this last priest of his former glory and smiled. "You have done as I have asked. Cursed was your name for generations Imhotep, but no longer by us. Rest now, sleep the dreams of the faithful, and walk once more in the Egypt that was."
And Imhotep closed his eyes and for the first time in thousands of years he slept at peace. If AmmunRa in his great sweep across the sky noticed the tears that wet the sand beneath his last priest's head he made no mention. And Mut drew the cloak of night over the sands of Egypt and the shelter of the earth back over the sleeping man.
When Imhotep opened his eyes he was uncertain for a long moment where he was. The bed under him was soft and smelled of cedar. The air was cool, rustling the linen as the wind moved about the room. He sat up slowly, not at all certain he wanted to interrupt whatever odd dream this might be. He glanced down finally at his hands, blinking in surprise at finding them whole. A sad smile turned his lips for a moment and then he got out of the soft bed and walked across the polished stone floor to the small table against the wall. A bronze mirror lay on one edge, a jar of water and a bowl sat in the center and a chest on the other end. He poured water into the bowl, dipping both hands into it with a pure sigh of pleasure. Then raised them to pour the water over his head and face sluicing it down over his chest and arms. Gods be praised but such a simple joy felt wonderful. He picked up the mirror at last and gazed into it. And blinked, and looked again. He was whole and human and utterly himself. He blinked again but the image did not change. A dream them surely.
He set the mirror aside and walked out through the curtained doorway to the balcony he knew would be there. And there in all its glory was the great temple of Ammun Ra.
"Rest now." Said the voice of his god in his memory. "And dream the dreams of the faithful, and walk once more in the Egypt that was."
He looked over the temple below, recalling how it had looked when he and Anck-su-naumun had walked its shattered halls. He closed his eyes at that. Whether it was her courage or her love for him that had failed him at the last he was not certain. But either one it burnt him still. He turned his back on the temple outside and went in search of the baths. If his god wanted a priest to this temple of times past, he would do his best to oblige.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"You need to sleep, Ardeth." Selim said firmly, taking his young leaders arm and guiding him over to a tent.
"I know, Selim. I know." He nodded, obviously past weariness and into exhaustion now. "You will wake me at dawn?"
"Would I let you sleep through prayers, Ardeth?" Selim smiled as he asked the question.
"Hmm, goodnight then."
"Ma Salaama, Ardeth. Sabah el Kaheer."
"Sleep well yourself, Selim." He was asleep almost the instant he laid down.
Selim smiled at the other Medjai as he walked back to the fire. "I think Allah in his wisdom is merciful enough to forgive our young leader if he sleeps through morning prayers, do you not, Pasha?"
The other Medjai nodded. "I think we could let him sleep all day."
And with that decided they began to plan out the next day.
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Ardeth blinked, trying to recall when he had woken. Then again he was not certain he had fallen asleep. He reached uncertainly for his sword and found it beside him on the bed. He sat up, and then unsheathed the weapon quickly. The room around him was filled with bright sunlight, which only highlighted its unfamiliarity. The low bed he was sitting on was covered in linen sheets of dark blue. And drapes of white hung from the carved posts. Cheetah heads stared out from each post, rings in their mouths holding the fabric. He got to his feet carefully. There was a low table against one wall, a stool in front of it and a chest not far from that. Two more chairs and a carved table with a bronze top sat near the curtained doorway to somewhere and another smaller door on the opposite wall led somewhere else. Not a thing in the room was familiar. He swallowed the sudden rush of panic and headed past the curtains. The balcony overlooked a temple he did not recognize. But it was somewhere in Egypt, he was certain. The Nile rippled in the distance as it always did. He narrowed his eyes against the bright midday sun and frowned. Selim had promised to wake him for morning prayers had he not? And they had been camped not far from the Wadi Natrum that night, no where near a city o r. . . . He looked again at the temple stretched out before him and swallowed. He knew every temple in Egypt, every lost city and ruin and modern sprawl built on the remains of old. And this was not one of them. The columned roof looked to be as large as Karnak's hyper-style hall and yet . . . He looked again, seeing men in clothing he had only seen on temple carvings walking among the pillars. And knew where he
was. Thebes, but not his city of Luxor now, Thebes of Egypt, of Pharaohs, of . . .
"Greetings, Medjai. I was wondering if you were ever going to sleep." Said a voice from behind him. "You will understand, I trust, why I did not knock?"
He turned slowly from the rail, sword still in his right hand little too no good though it might be. Allah, he prayed silently, have mercy on my soul.
The creature smiled, looking not the least concerned. "You would be better served to direct that to a god that might hear you here."
He blinked, and then took a deep breath. "There is no God but Allah."
A chuckle. "As I expected you to say. Come, it is foolish to stand under the midday sun when there is shade to be had just inside. We have much to discuss you and I, Medjai."
"We have nothing to discuss." He replied coldly. Only your death or mine. He added silently.
"It is too hot to fight as well. And the leap from the balcony would only grant you a painful death before you woke once more right here as you are now. Come inside warrior. If you have more sense than a crazed dog." The damned thing turned its back to Ardeth as if he and the sword he held were no threat at all. And indeed, if the creature was already whole and with all his power then what had it to fear from one warrior armed with only his faith and a sword?
Horus, god of Vengeance, carry my prayer to my brothers, so that they may know of the danger we face.
"Now that just might get you a response." The creature's voice carried from inside. "Are you coming?"
He swallowed once and then walked back into the room he had woken in.
"Welcome, leader of the Medjai to the great temple of Ammun Ra, He who is lord of all Egypt." The creature sat in one of the chairs by the small table. "Or at least to this wondrous reflection of what once was the glory of both kingdoms. You have a million questions racing for answers and too much pride to ask a one. Sit. If I wanted you dead, Medjai you would be. I have questions of my own. Sit. The wine is cool." He poured himself a goblet from a stirrup jar Ardeth had not seen before.
"Wine is forbidden." He answered calmly.
A smirk that was almost a smile. "Your god is not a very happy one is he? Water then? Hibiscus?"
He clenched his jaw and said nothing.
The creature laughed again, the sound oddly warm and even seeming genuine. "Ah Medjai, we have a long wait until the others arrive. It is still early even there. You were quick to sleep."
"Others?" He had to ask.
"Of course. You do not think I planned the whole banquet for only you do you? Honored though I am at your presence surely."
He clenched his jaw tight again, only keeping the angry reply in by a bit.
Another smile and the creature sipped at the wine it had poured.
"Creature am I? I prefer my name, or even my title if you can not do me that courtesy.
"I will do you none. And I will see you back in your grave if it kills me." He promised, pleased at the cold certainty in his own voice.
The creature smiled again. "Where do you think I am Medjai? Where do you think I am?"
Allah have mercy, he thought again, suddenly chilled. Then where am I?
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"When will we get to Alexandria dad, mom?" Alex asked as they finished dinner in the liner's main dinning room.
"Tomorrow about noon, Alex." His mother smiled. "Why don't we head back to our rooms and pack just to save time in the morning?" Evelyn had learned the hard way that getting her son to keep his things in order was a never-ending battle.
"Okay mom, it'll be great to see uncle Ardeth again. Maybe I can learn that trick with the sword this time."
Evelyn sighed. "Maybe. Coming Rick?"
"Hmm?" Her husband looked up and then blinked. "Sure." He shook his head a little and then shivered.
"Rick?"
"Somebody walked over my grave I think." He shrugged.
Evie restrained the urge to knock on wood. "I'll be happier when we see Ardeth. And when we know exactly what we're facing."
"You and me both, Evie. You and me both." Rick agreed. He glanced once toward the bow of the ship as they walked along the deck before heading down the stairs to their rooms. "We should have flown."
"It's dangerous enough to take a ship, Rick. What with the blockade and the U-boats and all we're lucky you could arrange it with the American embassy. I'm afraid even father's old friends couldn't have gotten us here as British citizens."
He smiled a little. "Nice to be the wife of a yank for once, huh?"
She smiled back. "It's always nice to be your wife, Rick. It's just a change to be glad you're American."
"Geesh . . . " Alex muttered under his breath. At eleven he was a little better at dealing with the obvious affection between his parents than he had been, but it wasn't a vast improvement. "When did Uncle Jonathan say he'd get here?"
"A week from yesterday. He had a bit easier time being in Morocco but the overland route isn't easy even nowadays." Evie replied.
"Great!" Alex grinned.
"I certainly hope so. Are you all right, Rick?"
"Yeah, fine, just thinking. I do that occasionally you know."
"Occasionally." Evie returned with a smile. "Do you need help packing, Alex?"
"No, mum." He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a little kid anymore."
"Of course not." She replied with a smile, but refrained from ruffling his hair at the last minute. "Good night then, luv."
"Good night, tiger." Rick smiled.
"Night dad, night mum."
"Sleep well." Evie added as their son disappeared into his own room.
"You too." He called back.
"God willing." Rick whispered under his breath, at least that's what she thought she heard. And for some reason she shivered herself and thought the same thing.
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"Eventually your legs will go numb and you will have to sit or fall." Imhotep smiled at the young Medjai who had been standing there silently for hours. Imhotep had read two papyruses and studied his young guest for some time and the man still insisted on standing. It was as amusing as it was annoying. He smiled a bit more. "And if your legs are numb you will be in even less shape to fight should you need to. Sit, Medjai." He tried again.
Silence.
"If I had wanted to bore myself with this sort of company, Medjai, I could have talked to one of the statues. Sit. Or I can summon one of your fellow Medjai leaders in your place and see if they will be of any better company."
He waited to see if that threat did any good. Not surprisingly the young man reached over for the chair after a long moment and pulled it over to where he was standing before sitting. "There, you have managed it and you still have your head and soul. Where are your manners, Medjai? Am I so poor a host?"
"You are a demon from hell, monster. And no host to me."
He chuckled. "I am a priest of Ammun Ra, He who is lord of all Egypt. I was cursed for millennia to be certain. But I am not a demon of your god's hell or any other, Medjai. I will not even claim to be an afreet or a Djinn. I am only what I am." He poured himself another glass of wine. "What will you drink?"
A cold smile. "A toast to your death?"
He smiled back, amused by the young man's devotion. "I am honored to have my continued existence be the center of your world Medjai."
Surprise at that and he could all but see the young man bite back another sharp reply.
"Here then. A toast to my death." He handed the Medjai a goblet of fresh karkaday.
Disbelief and a firm conviction of treachery filled the young man's thoughts.
"Medjai, Medjai, if I wished you dead you would be dead. If I wished you my prisoner instead of my guest, you would have woken in chains and not in bed. If I wished you harm your fellow guests would arrive to find you covered in your own blood. You are here because I wish it, and by my leave. What need have I of poison or trickery? A toast to my death, you said? Let us toast then. I am rather fond of my death myself." He raised his own goblet.
Growing confusion filled the young Medjai's thoughts but finally he sighed and raised his own glass and the paused. A small smile flashed across the bearded face as he swallowed. "Shall I pray for as much acceptance of my own?"
He smiled back. "When the time comes, perhaps. But I hope it will be a long way off. I am enjoying the entertainment too much to let it end."
"I am no man's entertainment, creature, least of all yours."
He sighed. "Medjai you would try the patience of the gods. And you are more entertainment than you know." He leaned back and studied the young man again. He could have used a bath perhaps, and it was still odd to see so many dark curls sweeping the young man's shoulders and know they were his own. He tried to picture the Medjai in the dress and wigs of his own time and then chuckled at the thought.
Confusion and distrust in those expressive dark eyes.
"A moment's amusement Medjai nothing more. Our next guest is about to arrive. Shall I bring him here or let him wait for the others do you think?"
"Leave whoever else you would torment alone, creature." The Medjai hissed and very suddenly he was next to Imhotep, the long sharp sword he had held across his lap held to Imhotep's throat instead.
He smiled just a little and met the young man's eyes. "No." And with that he called on the little power he had here yet and sent the Medjai slamming into the far wall.
"Uncle Ardeth!" Alex O'Connell's voice came from the balcony followed a moment later by the child himself as he ran to the Medjai's side.
And at some other time the despair that crashed over the young man at that moment might have made Imhotep smile. As it was he simply set his goblet of wine aside with a sigh. "I trust I did you no injury, Medjai?"
The man did not answer but he whispered something to the boy beside him in a language Imhotep did not know. He was certain it was the same one he had heard them all speak before. English he recalled it being named but he did not know it.
"Greetings again, young Alex." The odd name sounded even odder amidst the ancient greeting. "Welcome to the Temple of Ammun Ra, He who is lord of all Egypt. We are waiting dinner on the rest of your family of course but they should arrive shortly."
Alex, to give the child credit, tried to be brave, but the fear that gripped him for a long moment was obvious. Then he cocked his head to one side, blond waves falling into his eyes. "Aren't you dead?"
Imhotep laughed. "Quite. It is a rather common state of my existence however, so I have no concern with it. We were just discussing your banquet." He smiled a bit more. "Please, sit." He righted the chair the Medjai had been sitting in with a thought and pulled it back over by the table.
Alex glanced up at the man beside him and then nodded. "Thanks kindly." He followed the Medjai's lead and walked over to sit. "I'm really not hungry, though."
"A surmountable problem, I think." He smiled again, noticing the Medjai's growing confusion. And he locked eyes with the dark-eyed warrior teasingly. "We can enjoy the entertainment before the meal then."
Those dark eyes flashed but the main concern in his thoughts was for the child beside him. And that was all the control Imhotep needed.
"Have you ever seen a man fight a lion before?" He asked calmly. The child's eyes widened.
"Like Daniel you mean?" He asked. "For real?"
"I do not know that name." He shook his head. But he could read the Medjai's concern and fear easily enough, as well as the certainty that he would be the one fighting the lion. Imhotep smiled again and sipped his wine. "Of course we could have it be a crocodile instead if that is more entertaining, or perhaps a fight between warriors? For the fate of the princess?" He looked at the warrior with a smirk. "Preferences, Medai?"
The warrior swallowed once and then nodded. "Crocodile."
He smiled back.
"Really, Uncle Ardeth? They're nasty quick, and mean too." Alex put in.
"He seems certain enough." Imhotep smiled. "Uncle is it?"
No warmth to those brown eyes. "We are brothers, his father and I."
"Ah." He nodded once and then glanced at the doorway. "Speaking of the other guests. Open the door Denmut." He called to the priest outside. "Do come in Princess, O'Connell we are waiting on you."
A flash of hope and joy from Alex. And a more subdued hope from the Medai but more concern as well.
O'Connell growled out something in English his voice harsh. But it was easy enough to tell the concern and fear he had for his son.
"Be civil." He returned with a sincere smile. "Nefertiri, as always your beauty if that of Isis herself. Welcome Princess to the temple of Ammun Ra, he who is lord of all Egypt."
"May he curse your name for all the days murderer." She returned in the old tongue.
He smiled sadly. "A foolish moment of panic and despair that I think I have paid enough of a price for. We are all fools for love are we not Princess?" He looked pointedly at the man beside her and asked in honest curiosity. "Would you not risk the Hom-Dai yourself for the man you love?"
Confusion and fear in her beautiful eyes.
"Leave her be, demon." The Medjai growled in the same language they had been speaking.
"It was a simple enough question. Come now, Princess, Medjai, O'Connell, Alex. We have a full night ahead." He looked at the Medjai leader and spoke softly in the language of his tribe. "You will tell O'Connell to be civil and behave, and you will do the same. Or I will serve you both the heads of those you love for dinner. Do you understand me, Medjai?"
Hatred and fear in those expressive eyes now but then he clenched his jaw and nodded once.
"Good." He smiled. Sometimes the old threats were the best. He watched the Medjai escort Alex over to his parents and whisper into his brother's ear as he clasped his shoulder and Nefertiri hugged her son tightly. O'Connell's eyes closed and the same hatred and fear went through his mind as well but he nodded. Imhotep smiled at him as he opened in his eyes. "Dinner and the evening's entertainment await us honored guests."
"For now." Nefertiri agreed. "Good to see you, Ardeth."
"And you Evelyn. Would that Allah had granted us a better cause."
O'Connell said something else and then rolled his eyes. "Can we try something I know?" He asked in the language of the followers of Allah.
The Medjai looked over at him, a silent question.
"I would prefer to speak a civilized tongue but for the sake of my guests I can make do with that of heathens."
The warrior smiled coldly. "Your hospitality is endless."
He laughed. "Perhaps. Perhaps." He walked past and purposefully brushed against the young man. "Do not try me, Ardeth. You are a poor guest yourself." He teased in the Medjai's own tongue and then headed down the hall. "Do come Princess, everyone will be pleased to see you."
A sudden shyness to the young woman. "You surely don't expect me to-- dress for dinner do you?"
He laughed and then teased her husband a bit. "It would certainly improve my dinner, but perhaps we had best not distract your bodyguard with such a now uncommon show of beauty."
"Bodyguard?" O'Connell asked sharply.
"As you have always been, have you not Medjai, guards to Pharaoh and his wives and children?"
There was a moment of silence and then a chuckle. "Hardly a task we have been called to perform for over a millennia."
"Ah." He acknowledged the point.
"I would be honored of course, Evelyn."
"Why thank you, Ardeth."
"Bully!" Alex put in, in what had to be English again.
He walked into the room where the banquet table stood already filled with all the delicacies he could recall. He took his seat on the raised dias, just to the right of the main seat. "Princess?" He indicated the seat beside him trusting the others to figure out the remaining chairs. He was only mildly surprised and more than a little amused when she took her seat and Ardeth and her husband stood behind the chair instead. Alex sat next to her. "Medjai, Medjai it is a joy to know that some things in this world do not change. Your son has told me he is not hungry yet and as I am certain you dined together perhaps we should eat after the entertainment?"
She smiled at him coldly, more of the honest hatred of Nefertiri in her eyes now and not Evelyn O'Connell's dislike. "What sort of entertainment did you have planned, Priest? I'm short on fencing partners."
He caught his breath at that and then returned the hit coldly. "I asked your son earlier if he had ever seen a man fight a lion or a crocodile. I took the answer to be no. We can remedy that of course. Crocodile was it, Medjai?" He knew full well it had been.
"As you know." Ardeth replied just as coldly.
"Fine. Be sporting to the beast, Medjai. Leave your brother your sword."
Evelyn gasped suddenly and Alex muttered something in English. O'Connell simply gripped Ardeth's shoulder and shook his head asking something else.
"It is done, Rick. Stay by your wife, yes?" Ardeth passed his blade to the other man with a simple formality. "May I keep my daggers creature, or must I do this with my bear hands?"
"That would not be much sport either, would it? Keep your dagger of course." He smiled again. "But only one."
"Ardeth, you can't." Nefertiri whispered, so much concern and fear in her eyes. He could almost feel pity for her. Then he recalled all too clearly her condemning him to the curse he had borne for so long and the horrible pain it had brought him. Let her worry for her friend. She was fortunate he did not feed her son to the beast in front of her.
"Have a little faith in your guard, Princess." The Medjai smiled. And the warmth and odd humor changed his whole face into something much more arresting than Imhotep had noticed before.
"Either of your guard will do of course, Princess." He offered with a smirk. Knowing as she and Ardeth and her husband all knew that she couldn't bring herself to risk him either.
"I chose the challenge. I will fight it." Ardeth said firmly.
"As you wish, Ardeth." He teased, noticing the Medjai's discomfort at the use of his name. "As you wish." He turned to the acolyte beside the dais. "Bring in one of Sobek's children Shusha."
The youth hurried away and a moment later one of the large handlers appeared with a very angry, muzzled crocodile in tow. He could hear the young Medjai's unvoiced prayer, approving more than a little at the choice of Sekhmet for strength. It was telling of course that he prayed to Allah first. But old habits were hard to break. He chuckled. The young were so foolish.
"If this harms him, priest, I will find a way to curse you all over again." Nefertiri promised in a growl.
"I would not even think to doubt that you would try, Princess. Do keep your feet up young Alex, to be safe of course." He smiled at the woman beside him, not at all surprised when Rick O'Connell moved forward between his wife and son, sword held at the ready in his hand. "Warriors." He rolled his eyes and turned back to the floor.
The handler had removed the back strap of the crocodile's muzzle and then at his nod moved to the front of the beast and taking the end of the leash firmly in his hands pulled it free. The crocodile snapped its jaws appropriately and hissed.
He drew his weakened powers to him and directed them at the crocodile. Entertainment was on his agenda, pain this side of the dreaming fierce enough to wake even the exhausted Medjai leader on the other was not. So best to keep him whole. Besides, he thought to himself, the man was intriguing if nothing else. The large lizard swung its head around and then its tail, almost catching the Medjai's feet. Alex caught his breath in another gasp but Nefertiri and her husband were silent.
Ardeth had his dagger in his right hand. His left held away from his body making him appear even larger to the crocodile as the loose black robes he wore billowed out. And the crocodile was none too certain of its attack. He leaned back in his seat with studied indifference. Interesting fight at least.
The lizard snapped its jaws again and then lunged forward, surprising almost everyone with its speed. But the Medjai seemed prepared for the lunge and moved sideways, and then ducked low, leaping over the surprised crocodile and slashing out, a glancing blow only across the beast's back but a blow none the less. Imhotep smiled.
The crocodile screamed in anger the odd hissing screech echoing off the chamber walls and lunged around again, jaws snapping shut and this time there was a tater of black and silver in its jaws. Ardeth swung away again, making it turn in another circle, its legs not quite as quick in that move as straight forward. Another leap that took him up over the crocodile and to the far side of the dais the crocodile lunged again and he leaped, turning somehow head over heels the blade slicing out again and this time scoring a long gash along the creatures back. But it snapped its head back and lashed out its tail and the Medjai stumbled just a bit as he found his feet, whirling in barely enough time to avoid another lunge. Another swipe of the blade as the jaws snapped shut and another slash of red along its snout this time. Enraged it raced forward and in another of those leaps that seemed to almost float he landed on the dias again, only this time right beside young Alex O'Connell. And he grinned, saying something in English and picked the boy up, leapt another time before Imhotep realized he was moving and tossed the startled child right through the image of Mut on the temple wall. Right through the goddess of dreams and into the waking world. And the knife sailed through the air and caught the crocodile solidly between the eyes.
And on a steam liner out in the Mediterranean Alex woke with a scream that roused his parents in the cabin next door.
Ardeth smiled. "Be well." He raised his hand in salute as Evelyn and O'Connell vanished, both of them half-way to his side.
Imhotep leaned back against his chair, considered many responses and then laughed. "Well played, Medjai. Oh, well played."
The Medjai said nothing only picked up his sword from the floor when it had fallen when O'Connell vanished and looked at him in that same silence.
"Ardeth, Medjai, that was truly impressive." He chuckled again. "Ultimately futile of course as they will fall asleep eventually but impressive none the less. And forewarned is indeed forearmed. Oh, well played." He rose to his feet and walked over to the dead crocodile and pulled the knife free. And it was boast enough that he could not help himself. "Yours?" He handed the blade hilt first to the Medjai, the point aimed with calm certainty at his own heart. Ardeth reached out and took the blade, flicking the blood off of it in a quick move and then sheathing it at his belt. "I should of course have you punished for ruining my feast." He smiled as he walked over to the table. "Aknutsun remove the poor child of Sobek will you and see it properly mummified and honored?"
Aknutsun gathered the dead crocodile into his huge arms and walked away.
Imhotep poured himself a mug of beer and turned back to his remaining guest. He shook his head a little at the Medjai's thoughts; relief at his friend's safety, gladness at thwarting Imhotep in anything, a bit of pride at his defeat of the crocodile and in carrying out his friend's rescue, and a sad certainty that his own death was approaching quickly and would be unpleasant at best.
He smiled, sipping the beer slowly and thought as he walked back to his earlier seat. "I seem to be short on guests, Medjai."
The young warrior watched him in studied silence.
He sighed. "Are we back to that again? Come now, Ardeth, they are not your only friends, Medjai. Nor the only ones sleeping this night. I can find other guests if you are determined to be rude." He gestured at the empty seats. Granted, there was not another soul he could call here except those he already had, but the Medjai did not need to know that just yet.
"Are you going to insist on the pretense that I am your guest, monster?" Ardeth asked coldly.
He chuckled. "You are, Ardeth." He rolled the name with a smile watching the Medjai tense again. "If you were not, I would have you stripped, hung from those pillars and lashed until you screamed for ruining my banquet. And that, Medjai, would be only the beginning." He leaned forward, and put all his long horrible death into his voice. "Do you know what the Hom-Dai involves, Ardeth?"
The young man swallowed hard and the thoughts that came to his mind indicated he knew a great deal.
"There are a few more agonies and degradations than you know of course, but that is accurate enough."He smiled again, and got to his feet, walking over to the young man and then meeting those brown eyes. "I lived it, Medjai. Do you doubt that I could preform it in turn?"
Horror and fear and despair that he could feel washed through the young man like the inundation of the Nile. Then finally softly, "My soul belongs only to Allah, monster. I will not fear your curse."
He chuckled. "You do. Though your bravery stands you in good stead, have no doubt. It is a truly horrible way to die, Ardeth. And death is only the beginning."
"My soul belongs only to Allah." He repeated in that same soft voice. "I will not fear your curse."
"And when I have cut all those pieces from you that I will take, and bound you pleading in linen and placed you in the coffin that will hold you prisoner for eternity and I pour jar after jar of scarabs upon you before I seal you away, do you think, for a moment that will mater?"
Silence, but the young man closed his eyes and drew himself in deeper. Faith and strength and courage that Imhotep could almost touch. "I will not fear your curse." He repeated once more in Arabic again. "My soul belongs only to Allah."
He shook his head and then placed his palm in the center of the Medjai's chest just over his heart. "Do you wish to die?"
A deep breath, hands clenching at his sides but he made no move. "No sane man wishes to die."
"Hmm, you will you know. You will beg this god of yours to end it. For anything to take the pain away as you are eaten bit by bit." He sighed. "Is it worth it to have them free for a few hours?"
"It is worth any cost I must pay, to see you locked back in your grave, monster."
He gave the young man a slight smile. "Shall I lock us in together, then?"
A shudder.
"No?" He drew his hand away slowly. "I thought her love worth even that, Medjai. I hope your ideal of honor is worth as much to you."
A long silence. "If they are free, it is worth it."
He smiled again. "Good." He headed back to the table. "Come enjoy your last meal then, Medjai."
The young man took a deep breath. And then with a resigned sigh he opened his eyes and looked over. "Do you truly think I can eat?"
"Hmm, not a good idea perhaps. You'll vomit it all back up when I cut out your tongue no doubt. I certainly did." He poured himself a bit more beer. "Perhaps you should ask your god's forgiveness and get drunk first."
"Perhaps I should."
He smiled and indicated the table. "Beer or wine, Medjai?"
"Wine." The young man replied, a little more strength to his voice.
"Wine it is." He poured a goblet and handed it to Ardeth. "To-- things worth dying for." He raised his own glass.
"To things worth dying for." He raised his glass of wine in turn and then drank it down.
Imhotep smiled a bit more at his guest's uncertainty at the taste. "Shusha, bring the wine." He walked back over to the dias. "Come join me, Ardeth. If you will not eat we can at least enjoy the rest of the entertainment."
A weary sigh. "What shall I fight next, then?"
He chuckled. "Nothing so bloody this time, warrior. We are enjoying your feast now. In your honor, if not for the reason I originally planned. Sit." He indicated the chair Neferititi had recently claimed. Silence for a moment and then the young man moved to sit beside him. Shusha refilled the Medjai's cup and backed away. Imhotep smiled and clapped his hands filling the room with musicians and dancers and laughter. His young guest did not relax at all in the beginning but after an hour or more and three goblets of wine the tension was less. More than a few of the dancers focused their attention on his guest, and he could see both the Medjai's discomfort and half-uncertain enjoyment of the flattery. He chuckled, and took the wine from Shusha to refill the young Medjai's cup. "They are good, are they not?"
"Very, even if it is unseemly."
"Their lack of clothing you mean?" He teased with a smile. "Hardly unseemly for them. It is what is worn, here, now. Our gods are not as unhappy as yours, Ardeth."
A sigh and then a small smile. "There is no God but Allah."
He chuckled. "As you say, Medjai, as you say." He called out a few acrobats and sword dancers to the mix, creating on a smaller scale a royal festival fit for Pharaoh. His guest seemed content for the moment to watch the show and drink the wine. And wonder in the back of his mind when it would end and the horror Imhotep had promised him would begin. He smiled to himself. For now, let him wonder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Rick, if we have the captain blow up the boiler we won't reach Alexandria at all." Evie said firmly.
He turned to look at her and then stopped, seeing the same worried concern in her own eyes that he knew was in his. "I know. I know. I'm sorry."
"We’ll get to Alexandria, then we can find a plane to take us to Cairo, and you can get Izzy to take us to Hamanaptra."
"Why there?" He asked.
She smiled coldly. "Because that's where Anck-su-naumun left the book of AmmunRa."
He smiled back. "Good. Wonder if we can find another spear of Osiris, just to be on the safe side."
"We can try." She looked back over the rail. "I wish I knew where he was."
"You and me both, Evie. You and me both. Luxor you think?"
She shrugged. "Three thousand or more years ago certainly, but right now? What was that? Where were we?"
"I'm pretty sure we were right here sound asleep." He shook his head.
"And Ardeth threw Alex through the image of Mut, back into the real world." She shook her head. "I'm too tired to think, and we daren't go back to sleep."
"I hope he got out too." Rick said finally, wrapping his arms around her from behind.
She nodded and said a silent prayer for their friend both to God and to the ancient deities of Egypt that ruled wherever it was Imhotep had conjured them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Selim looked in on his young leader, not surprised to see that Ardeth had barely moved in the hours since he had fallen into sleep. He debated with himself, but decided the sleep would do him better than dinner.
"He will kill himself before he is my age." Pasha shook his head. "Much less yours, Selim."
Smiling at his friend and fellow Medjai, Selim let the tent flap fall and walked with him back over to the fire where Gamal and others were gathered.
"How is Ardeth?" Arebe asked.
"Sleeping soundly. I think Allah will understand if we let him sleep through tonight and even through morning prayers."
Arebe shook his head. "Allah grant that we do not need him before then."
"In'sh'allah." He agreed. "Any signs?"
"Of He, Who Shall Not Be Named? No. But Elim sends word from Mohamad that the O'Connells will arrive in Alexandria tomorrow."
"God have mercy. If that does not mean that the creature has returned I do not know what does." Pasha glanced heavenward.
Arebe chuckled. "I do not doubt that Ardeth will think the same thing. When he wakes tomorrow we shall tell him he could be in Cairo to meet them. Sallah will meet their boat and see that they make it that far."
"Good. Then we will let him rest, because Allah alone knows when he will get another chance. We shall wake him for the noon meal, even Ardeth is not dedicated enough to go riding out in the heat of the day so we can insure he eats as well."
Arebe chuckled. "You would think he was one of your daughters the way you worry so."
Selim smiled back. "Were he my son I could not be prouder. But I worry not only for his sake but for all our sakes. We need him."
"There is truth in that." Pasha agreed. "So he can leave towards sundown tomorrow and be in Cairo by morning to meet the O'Connell's train."
"Do you think he will mind that we planned this all?" Gamal asked, sipping the strong mint tea his wife poured.
"Perhaps, but by then it will be done. It is as it has always been, easier to apologize than to get permission." Arebe laughed.
"It is." Selim agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ardeth watched the dancers with the flaming torches weave in and out of patterns of flame, keeping track of the swirling sticks and arms and legs was a complicated exercise and one he felt oddly apart from. He had felt oddly apart from most of the unreal evening for the last few hours as the entertainment had continued. But his...host seemed in no hurry to end it. And if he was being honest with himself he was in no hurry either. He shivered a bit; trying once more to push the thoughts the creature's words had brought up deep down in the back of his mind. He had, he supposed, come to terms with the concerns he had had for his soul. He would trust in Allah that he would awake in paradise. But he doubted very much he could face the manner of his upcoming death so calmly. It was, as the creature himself had said, a truly horrible way to die. Allah, he prayed silently, have mercy on me. Let me wake. Then with a sigh he glanced up at the ceiling. AmmunRa, you who was god of Egypt for so many years before the Prophet, peace be upon him, came to this land, hear once more the prayers of the silent. Let me go.
"You truly should eat, Ardeth." His host's voice was full of an odd humor. "How much wine have you had now, hmm?"
He glanced at the goblet in his hand, once again noting the beauty of it, the set of the lapis lazuli along the carved alabaster edge. "One is as great a transgression for Allah to forgive as ten, so I have not counted." He shrugged.
A chuckle and those strong fingers took the goblet from his hand. "Medjai, Medjai, you are drunk."
He blinked at that. Having never been drunk he was not certain if this was what it should feel like or not. He frowned a bit. Wine was an indulgence Allah would forgive him for partaking of, even Mohamed, peace be upon him, had drunk wine. But to be drunk was a greater sin. Then again, Allah was most merciful, and would undoubtedly understand that Ardeth was ignorant of such things and simply wished to face his death bravely. "Better than facing this sober I would think." He nodded in agreement, only then recalling that he had promised himself he was going to stop agreeing with the damned thing.
The thing shook its head with a smile. "Ardeth, Ardeth, I have a name you know. You are such a poor guest, it is a wonder I do not just toss you off the balcony. Did you enjoy the performances?"
He blinked, only then realizing that the music had stopped and the dancers who had been swirling about the room were departing. One of the women who had come closest to him and all but laid across his lap earlier smiled at him again over her shoulder, long black braids falling to the waistband of her short skirt in back and sliding across her uncovered breasts in front. He blinked and then shook his head to clear it.
His host laughed again, an oddly warm sound to his ears. And then a hand under his chin made him look at the man beside him. "Did you enjoy the performance?" He repeated the earlier question in Arabic this time.
Ardeth swallowed. "I did." It had been unique and unreal and oddly beautiful.
"Good." A smile and then a shake of its head. "Will you eat?"
"I thought you did not want me to be sick when you cut out my tongue?" He shrugged a bit.
The creature laughed. "Whether or not you are sick when it happens, Ardeth, will be the last thought to enter your mind. Trust me on this, Medjai."
He assumed the creature was in a position to know so he did not argue.
"Oh, you are so going to hate the morning my young warrior."
He wondered if that's what they were waiting for then. Morning. How long away could it be now? A couple of hours at best? Would Selim go to wake him for morning prayers and find his body dead? Would he seem unconscious there for the time it took him to die here and his soul was freed for Paradise? He was not certain himself on that one.
His host laughed again. "It is indeed well toward morning here, Medjai, but it is barely toward the mid of night were your body sleeps. We are in the time of dreams here, Ardeth it flows differently." The creature had developed an odd delight in rolling his name as if it was of the old tongue. He was certain that it was only done to annoy him but he had found he rather liked the sound after all. Another chuckle. "Come now, Medjai, you have a hard day to face tomorrow without any more help from me. Drink this and then sleep. We will talk after my god has risen for the day and feasted."
He wondered absently if in this place of all places that was not true and drank the contents of the goblet the priest handed him without care. What was in it that would be worse than what was to come?
"Nothing, but some herbs and water to make you less unwell come morning. Come now." Strong hands helped him to his feet. He knew he should argue, struggle even but it seemed so foolish. "You have nothing to fear from me this night at least, Ardeth. It would be hardly sporting or even entertaining right now. We can commence the battle again tomorrow."
He followed his host as the creature led him down a hall back to the room he had first woken in, in this strange world of dreams.
"Rest now, Ardeth. Tahiri will see that you are comfortable. I will see you when you wake."
He tried to focus his eyes on the man as he spoke. "I may sleep until morning, then?"
"Indeed. Or longer if you wish. I have all the time in the worlds after all, Ardeth."
"Then I will do. I am in no hurry to die."
"As you should not be. Good night, Medjai."
He smiled a little. "Ma Salaama."
The creature chuckled. "And your god's peace to you as well, Medjai." And with that it turned and walked back out of the room.
Ardeth did not even feel like arguing with the young woman who took his robes, only keeping his sword and knives, pants and boots. She did not seem to think well of him sleeping in his boots but he was determined.
Sleep came with a soft step and stole away this odd dream and dropped him into nothingness.