~October 1927~

Sand and silt had worn away from the banks along one of the Nile's many distributary channels near the lands of what once was Per Wadjet. Their recession revealing a hidden treasure, a sarcophagus bound in oiled leathers, reeds and waxed clothes to keep it safe in travel. A truly unusual site that earned far more interests when it was revealed to bear the name of the Goddess Maat and the famous mark of Uadjet, one of the Goddess protectors of the Pharaohs. Curious researchers and historians came to see this strange marvel that bore the face of a woman but no markings naming her royalty other then the rearing cobra. Even the name was not placed within the cartouche that denoted the rank of a noble. Further curiosity came with the marks of the golden masked Tutankhamun and his father, Akhenaten engraved above the woman's heart; one of whom was recently found within the grand Valley of the Kings and whose wealth lay fresh in everyone's mind.

An antique of such unusual origins drew members of many organizations and through the darkened streets of Cairo suspicions ran rampant as to what, or whom, had been brought back to the Museum in the heavy sarcophagus. Sightings of the mysterious Medjai only spurred the mounting rumors. With memories of Imhotep's plagues from a year prior still the source of nightmares for them, no one was very enthused to have a whole new curse possibly set upon the people of Egypt.

Their anxiety, however, was of little matter to the three women that walked among the growing shadows of twilight. Flowing black robes and heavy hoods kept those curious eyes that chanced to glimpse them from seeing what lay beneath. They came to the museum with expectations of finding resistance and they weren't disappointed. Well armed guards stood before the gates and further beyond atop the stairs; a new precaution since the last incident. Those of the museum had apparently learned some small lesson but had obviously forgotten their last trespass. The figure that stood at the front of their small entourage didn't even move but her sisters knew what was wanted of them. They moved so fast, the guards at the gate didn't even have time to raise their rifles before they were unconscious on the ground; their attackers completely foregoing the gate went straight over it instead. Nimble bodies scaled wrought iron and brick as if it was a mere set of stairs. Unfortunately, the clock started the moment the first hit was landed.

One of the guards at the door hurried inside to alert others as the threat of readied shots were shouted out over the short concourse. The two women didn't care and forged ahead, crisscrossing to avoid the bullets that whizzed past them. None of the guards seemed to pay attention to the calmly walking woman behind them. The third almost politely opened and closed the gates at her back keeping an alert but sedate pace and allowing her companions to easily clear the landing of guards. The moon had claimed the violet sky and spilled over the limp figures that littered steps and stone. It was almost serene as she joined them before the heavy doors that failed at hiding the sound of more men waiting beyond.

All they would see when the hinges groaned and the doors opened was a plume of silver white smoke before a black streak tore through and into their ranks. Four men went down fast to a billow of ebony muslin and in the chaos that ensued, she was joined by her sisters. They flanked her from the shadows and culled their own share of the group. Shots and shouts echoed in the grand foyer but didn't last long.

The guard that had escaped further within to raise the alarm had reached the inner offices, his panic only confirming the sounds that trailed him from the front of the museum. Eleven men garbed in robes of blue and black stood against the walls while another took a center spot just outside of the door's swing. His broad shoulders and narrowed waist were not hidden by the array of weapons that he adorned nor the layers of cloth that wound about him. His head wore a heavy turban that framed an angular face where deep brown eyes fringed with kohl turned to the man at his side and met alert blue spheres beneath golden brown lashes. Two polar opposites both reacted the same.

The darker called out orders to the men with him before looking back to the other, "we will go see who has come to visit, O'Connell. Keep her away from the sarcophagus until I return."

"I beg your pardon?" Ardeth, I..." the shrill reply came from a petite, and noticeably pregnant, woman who had been sneaking closer to the heavy stone artifact in the middle of the room when the roll of two pairs of eyes looked back at her, silencing her protest. Grumbling under her breath she pouted and took those few stolen steps back towards the desk.

Looking back at his friend, Rick O'Connell tried to keep his wife in his peripheral, "you better hurry; the couch in our room is not big enough for me."

"Rick!"

Just barely hiding the humor in his dark gaze at his friend's frustrated groan, Ardeth Bay turned to follow the guard back to the entrance; four other Medjai staying close on his heels. Evie's protests the only other sound above the pounding of their feet that could be heard as they raced towards the foyer.

Moonlight spilled down from the glass dome above and illuminated a single figure standing in its midst; bodies of unconscious guards lay all around her. As they emerged from the central corridor she made no move to escape or attack. Each man looking from her to the jumpy guard that had backed up into them when he saw only one. His shifting eyes alerting the Medjai to the fact there were more. How many they couldn't tell but the one they could see had infiltrated the museum without even looking winded, not that they could really tell with the long fall of robes. A nagging reminder of unearthly beings weighed heavily in the air the longer she quietly watched them from the shadows of her cloak.

Ardeth took the risk and stepped forwards, his strong hand resting upon the guard's shoulder in a silent urge for him to stay back that was gratefully complied with. His dark eyes studied the phantom like being before him. A frown creased the close trim of his beard as his commanding voice cut across the silence towards them, "I will not assume to know your intentions but you have brought violence with you which will not be tolerated. Who are you and what is your business here?"

"What if I said that I was here to kill all those that have defiled the burial of a High Priestess? What would you do then... Medjai?"

Her words drew him up short, they were almost playful despite the severity of the question. The feminine voice was heavy with the accents of the desert and just as confident as his own, "if that is your intention then we will have no other choice but to stop you." The ring of swords resounded against the high ceiling of the museum but it was dull compared to the laughter that rose from the woman. Like a fine tuned instrument it washed over him. "You would laugh after threatening those under our protection?"

All laughter left her voice and it turned sharp as an icy wind swirled around the hem of her cloak; a brief glimpse of golden sandals shining in the light, "what is now under your protection was only permitted because we chose to stay in the dark, Medjai."

"Who are you?"

Slender hands exposed themselves from within her robes and rose to push back the weight of her hood. Upon her fingers, polished metal glinted as clawed tips gently curled against airy fabric. Even more decoration encircled her wrists and guarded her left forearm. The face that was revealed was covered by a leather mask painted gold. The only mark upon the featureless cover were eyes that formed the looped U of a cobra's hood. Long black hair unfurled over the swell of her breast to the chime of flashing gold beads about hundreds of slender braids. She looked the very image of the face carved upon the cover of the ancient sarcophagus.

"We are the Mukauadjet and our life has been the protection of the Pharaohs long before the Medjai were even breathed into existence. Lower your weapons, we have only come to lay claim to what is ours. There will be no bloodshed so long as there is no further opposition."

Her revelation was not lost on the warriors and with a single nod from their leader, they returned the lethal blades to their scabbards. Showing his empty hands Ardeth drew into the light making the much shorter woman tip her head back to look up at him. Yet, despite her height, he felt a flicker of trepidation shiver along his spine. This woman held onto an air of danger, one he was suddenly wary to test no matter his skill, "then let us lay a truce here and now."

"For now, Medjai." That tiny hand stretched forth in offering and he took in a hearty grasp against her forearm. His muscles tensing beneath the threat of her claws but he didn't pull away which drew a nod from her. "Come. Let us look upon the face of our sister."

Not releasing his grasp Ardeth watched as the doors closed and the two who had stayed hidden revealed themselves from the shadows. He was expecting more. Some part of him almost wanted there to be more then three, anything to explain the efficient infiltration that lay all around them but no others came forth. The pair had removed their hoods as well showing masks both different from each other and the one that stood before him. Their hair was bound in similar braids but the lengths were not the same. Even the decoration that was bestowed upon each were different; the one to his left more so with vulture feathers woven in her braids.

A sudden gasp of breath from the forgotten guard was his only warning that something was wrong before the warm glide of a snake curled out over his forearm and up towards his elbow. He didn't jerk away, lowering his gaze to the all too familiar form of a Cobra winding his path from within the sleeve above his fingertips. "Would you threaten our truce so soon?"

"I threaten nothing, Medjai, he is merely curious as to whom still holds onto me."

"I see. And if I remove my hand?"

"Do so slowly."

He couldn't miss the teasing in her voice nor the slight look the other two shared behind her back but he did as she said. His hand carefully releasing her forearm so that it could slip away from beneath the press of her relaxed companion. When he was completely free of the threat he bowed his head to her unable to fully hide the wary quirk of his brow. "Please, follow us. We will take you to the sarcophagus."

"Many thanks," lifting her hand towards her neck the scenting snake drew himself fully from within her cloak and bound about the slender line of flesh, draping her shoulders, his docile actions making him no less threatening.

Ardeth turned to lead them into the inner rooms of the museum, his accompanying warriors taking up the rear with the guard the furthest behind. The man's frightened eyes continuing to look back at the exit, then the women, then the exit. One of his glances was caught and held by eyes hidden behind the dark holes of a golden mask. The mere sight of it sent him sprinting for the doors with dark laughter licking at his heels.

"You find amusement in fear of others?" She didn't reply to his question, her soft laugh tapering off to a smokey moan that had Ardeth's throat going dry. The reaction shocking him enough to avoid any further questions should his voice betray him.

Beyond the library, Evie grew more and more antsy. Not just because she worried for Ardeth and the others but because she wanted to get a closer peek at the gilded lid. Her husband, on the other hand, continued to gently prod her away so long as their friend was out of the room he wasn't going to let her get any closer. The new Curator, Etienne Drioton, stood curiously next to the perturbed woman wondering more over Rick's show of weaponry then just who had disturbed their research. Compared to the other men in the room he was clearly no obvious threat with his thinning hair and portly build. He was going to ask about the duel revolvers in the American's hands when the doors opened to Ardeth's return. The small party of golden masked figures following in his wake.

The trio drew instant interest from Evie but her sudden step towards them was duly thwarted by the sturdy blockade of her husband's forearm. He was waiting for the okay from the Medjai before holstering his revolvers. "I see we have guests."

"They have come to make claim over the sarcophagus," replied Ardeth from where he stood at the side of the woman bearing the lethal serpent. "I believe we should let them do as they need, O'Connell."

"I have no problem with that."

"I do," Evie piped up, finally getting the chance to sidestep the wall of flesh as he put his weapons away. "We found it and there are no markings on it that says it belongs to any special sect. It looks like a ceremonial burial to a deity."

That childlike laughter rose again from the mask causing the snake to shift slightly against the vibrations and halting Evelyn's progress dead in its tracks. "Oh, it so much more then that." Nodding to her silent counterparts, she continued to observe the woman who was equally observing her. "I can not tell you everything but I will give what I can if you will let us take objects from within that are not to fall into other hands."

Evelyn wanted to pout but a slight nudge from Rick and she threw her hands in the air with a huff, "fine, fine. Alright, but I want to watch."

"You may watch but the men must leave."

"I don't think so," Rick stepped protectively before his wife much to her chagrin.

Her irritated slap against his arm didn't move him and inch, so she gave him a slight shove, "will you calm down. I will be just fine."

"Evelyn..."

"Don't take that tone with me."

"I'm sorry but the last time you said you'd be fine I had to cross a desert and rescue you from a mummy, so I think that you would understand why I'm not willing to leave you in here alone."

Amusement continued its hold on the smokey voice of the other woman, drawing curious looks from all but her companions who had already withdrawn two ornate daggers from within their robes as they moved towards the sarcophagus. "You need not worry. I am sworn to protect the innocent. Your wife will not come to harm in my presence. Not when she is heavy with child."

"See? And you'll be just outside the door."

The thin line of his lips clearly screamed what he wouldn't repeat. He didn't trust them and it was taking every ounce of will in him to lift his hands in defeat and step back out the door. His eyes not once leaving his wife's face until Ardeth and the last of the Medjai began to close the doors. Only then did he find his gaze locked with the leader of the trio. His eyes narrowing in a silent threat that could almost be felt through the thick barriers.

A long held sigh fell from behind the golden mask before it was carefully lifted away and to the side allowing Evelyn the full view of her young face. "I thought they'd actually fight to stay in here. Men are such a problem sometimes."

"Who... who are you?"

"It is a long story, Evelyn. One that I can not tell you without approval. I'm sorry."

Despite the rejection of learning more about this rare race, Evie couldn't help but continue to dwell over how young her and her two companions looked. Not one of them looked as though they were old enough to marry let alone wield the lethal weapons that came into view as dark robes were removed. For some reason Evelyn had expected them to be wearing pants or robes closer to that of the Medjai but what was there was... They looked like they had stepped off the paintings that lined the walls of tombs. Light, diaphanous fabric flowed down from thick golden collars into short draped dresses. Wide belts cinched in tiny waists and long gold threads crisscrossed up their calves from woven sandals. Each one carried a number of weapons. The woman that bore the snake mask had two of the most interesting, and least Egyptian, pieces. A long Kilij hung from her left hip and two chakram were looped on her right. Daggers, darts and those imposing claws were the smallest of their weapons.

"Then who are you?"

"Unfortunately, my answer would be the same."

"You can't tell me your name?"

Shaking her head the leader stepped towards the side of the sarcophagus where her companions awaited the go ahead to initiate the opening. "Our names are only revealed at our death and to our sisters."

"Can you tell me who is in there? What she means to you?"

"That I can do... to an extent," she lifted a hand for her to stay several feet back from the sarcophagus, "Watch, Mrs. O'Connell... You are about to see the face of the last High Priestess born to the Mukauadjet."

With a brush of fingers two slots were revealed on the lid that were just big enough for the daggers to slide into, one above the head and one at the feet. The symbol of Uadjet and lower Egypt lay in relief at the top center of the side beneath the slot while the symbol of Nekhabet and upper Egypt was done much the same upon the side at the head. Each weapon crested by the Goddess that matched the slot it went into. The cruel metallic sounds resounded around them before a low rumbling vibrated the ground as the two women forced the mechanism to unhinge with a twist of the embedded weapons. What sounded like gears clicked beneath the heavy stone and central nameplate as the lid trembled and rose up. A little platform divided into nine, one inch by one inch, squares. Making a little show of the amazing lock, the leader clicked together the claws that adorned her fingers before softly brushing the dirt away from once deeply engraved hieroglyphs.

"I am glad that we arrived before you attempted to open this, you would not have lived if you tried to pry it."

"A trap..."

"Many traps actually. We like to keep our secrets." Pressing down upon the glyphs that spelled out the name of their Goddess Uadjet, she took a few quick steps away just narrowly avoiding the sudden violent eruption of four long blades that snapped out from the center, two on each side, slicing towards the ends. The deadly trap almost beautiful in its lethal genius. At her side, the egyptologist was agape with shock, her hand absently settled over the roundness of her belly. "Keep watching, that's not all."

Being made to stand outside was like telling a tiger not to strike a wounded deer for Rick. Just something about those women had his hackles raising. His tense frame looked ready to spring back inside after his wife at any sign of danger even though his words were directed to the dark man next to him, "Alright, what's going on?"

"They simply want what is theirs."

"I get that but how do you know that they are who they say they are."

"I don't."

If his face could be any more bland Rick could easily have resembled one of the featureless masks that surrounded the sarcophagus. "Sometimes working with you is a real pain in the ass, Ardeth."

The taller man let a low chuckle rumble in his chest, "I trusted what I felt in her words."

"Yea, like that hasn't gotten our asses into hot water before."

"Um, if I may, uh, interject, gentlemen?" Nervously pushing his spectacles back up the bridge of his nose, Etienne cleared his throat before pressing on. His thick French accent rolling from his tongue in slightly clipped English, "what do we know about them?"

"I've only heard the name the one woman mentioned once before and it was by accident as a child. Mukauadjet. The Daughters of Uadjet, the rearing Cobra that strikes down any who seeks to harm the Pharaoh."

"You mean the one that's on all of the crowns?"

"Yes, O'Connell but if you ask for anything more I can not tell you. They were supposed to be myths. Legends that have been passed down for over fifteen hundred years." Ardeth's voice was distracted, wondering if it could possibly true but after all they'd been through he was unable to deny it could be a possibility. "Our only hope is your wife's innate ability to get information out of people."

Raking his hands through his hair, Rick was about to comment when the floor began to tremor and the sound of blades cut through the air from inside the other room. Locking eyes with Ardeth, he bolted for the door tearing it open despite the protested shout at his back. "Evelyn!"

The sudden intrusion made him the immediate center of attention with four pairs of eyes focused blandly upon him. A single golden mask hastily returned at the sound of the doors opening. The serpent that lay beneath it reared up with a warning hiss towards where Rick stood.

"I told you that there was nothing to worry about, Mr. O'Connell, I have kept her back from any danger as I said I would."

"Then what was that?"

"We were simply unlocking the mechanism that holds the lid closed." For a moment it seemed that her gaze shifted to Ardeth before turning to Evie, "your husband is a very jumpy man."

"Well, he's not without his reasons."

Slender shoulders shrugged in indifference as she turned back to watch the other two women remove the daggers, "the doors may stay opened but you all must return to the corridor."

Sharing a confused glance between them, Ardeth and Rick backed out of the room again, watching as Evie curiously stepped closer to the immense stone coffin while the leader motioned for the weapons to be removed. Careful hands shied away from the blade edges as they were pressed down, pushed in and finally, with a soft click from each, removed from the edge. Their full lengths equaling that of their wielders' arm.

By now even Etienne had come to stand between the two other men. While he wanted to observe what was happening with the stone container he, much like Ardeth, was loathe to admit his eyes wandered over the revealed bodies of the young women surrounding the sarcophagus. Slender figures far more exposed then any they saw on a daily basis moved with pure confidence. There was strength in each of them that belayed their stature. Mumbling to himself the elder man forced himself to lock on what they were doing as each woman, even Evelyn, took a blade in their hands and slid it into the top of the four columns at each corner of the sarcophagus. For a moment nothing happened. Then the trembling began again. Small plates fell away at the base and black sand poured out spreading across the smooth floor. The whirring of gears again echoed from within and lid shook, seams cracking over the surface, dividing it into four pieces that sectioned away on rising pillars.

"My God... it's ingenious. I've never seen anything like this in any book or..." Evie stumbled over thoughts that mirrored Etienne's own. "I don't think even the Bembridge scholars have found anything like this."

"Then we've been doing our job."

"Are you going to destroy it?"

A small sound of contemplation rose from the snake bearer's throat, "No. We have been granted permission to leave the majority of it in your care."

"Really?"

She nodded in reply as she moved to help her sister's with the heavy sections, "we have been in the shadows so long that we are fading away. I think they've finally decided it's time to claim our place in history."

Even with three of them the pieces were ridiculously heavy but each time Evie moved to try and help she was shooed off. A fact that was not lost on the three men at the door. Rick and Ardeth had even moved to go help but the snake bearer's gaze bore down upon them with a power that was confusing and alarming all at once. Why she was the only one still wearing her mask added to the numerous questions rolling through their heads.

Evelyn, on the other hand, was on the sarcophagus the moment it was cleared of the lid. She got a few minutes to see the burial in its entirety before the other women begun to remove items, her dark eyes trying to observe a bit of every piece they took. Soft voices offering prayers, pleading for forgiveness for desecrating their sister's rest, could be heard as they worked. Golden capped scrolls, parcels bound in once brilliantly colored cloth and several ceremonial weapons were taken and secured in long pouches that had been hidden beneath their robes. Evelyn's muttered curses drew smiles upon the faces of the two unmasked women and their pace seemed to slow slightly to give her the gift of seeing just what was within.

Back at the door curiosity was becoming a very hard to resist temptation for the trio of watching men. Etienne especially was practically pacing with how badly he wanted to get close to the sarcophagus, his normally placid body animated to the point Rick and Ardeth were briefly distracted by his absent mumbling. Sharing another look between themselves, they turned back to the scene inside. Rick's gaze upon his wife, watching every excited movement she made; her hands dipping in right along with others. Dust lightening the deep burgundy of her blouse where the round curve of her tummy kept brushing against the side. The amusement in his eyes not missed by the tall Medjai next him but it was the still masked woman that had drawn the warrior's interests. It was quite easy to forget that she wore a lethal serpent around her neck as if it was nothing more then another necklace.

Without the disguise of her cloak, Ardeth was able to fulfill his early curiosity of what had lain beneath. Sinew replaced softness and a thick arm guard on her left forearm was engraved to resemble snake skin. Her mask was shaped to her face and he had no doubt that it would only fit her. He'd noticed as they'd walked from the foyer that the delicate beads encircling her braids were each decorated with intricate designs. It was the thin material that wrapped about her body, however, that grabbed his attention the most the longer he looked at her. The lamp light surrounding her shifted with every movement she made turning the fabric pure white at one angle and then teasingly translucent at another.

Finally pulling his eyes from her, Ardeth found Rick giving him a sly smirk. He'd been caught and before he could keep himself from looking away, he glanced to the men at their backs. Two of the elder Medjai had moved closer to get a look inside and he hadn't even noticed which was probably how Rick had realized he was preoccupied. Unfortunately they seemed to notice as well and when their eyes met he realized that there may be a few questions later that he really didn't want to reflect on.

"So, if I may?" Evie's voice rose over the dull silence leaving her to wait for permission to continue. She had removed a thick outer mask and revealed another beneath; it was an exact replica to the one that was being worn at her side and in seeing it she couldn't hold back her questions any longer.

"Ask anything, Evelyn, the worst is that I will not be allowed to answer."

"You mentioned that woman in this sarcophagus was a High Priestess but I can't help but notice that she has the same mask underneath as the one you wear."

"Our masks denote family not rank. The eldest daughter earns the right to wear her mother's mark upon completing the trials set forth when she comes of age."

"So you're a matriarchal culture?"

"In a way, yes. Our sons are allowed to have lives of their own but they are never told of the sect nor are they allowed to witness any of our practices."

"What about their husbands?"

"Marriage is not really... Most children are born through agreements with sons of our other sisters. the father will usually have little to no part in rearing the child if it is a girl. Often times the sons are given to the father's family to raise but we keep our daughters. Many of our sisters remain unmarried until the day they take their final breath. It's just too hard to keep the secret and if we wish a family we must resign our place."

"So you sacrifice family for duty."

"Yes, Evelyn."

"Please, call me Evie."

"Evie..." Lifting a final scroll from beneath the feet of her long dead ancestor, she hid it away and shifted to step from the sarcophagus. "We are done here."

Her words seemed to be an silent command as the trio replaced their cloaks upon their shoulders to hide the items that now lay beneath from the view of the men who were waved back into the room. It didn't surprise her in the least that the Medjai took up their places along the walls once more nor that Ardeth chose to stand closest to her. He seemed to radiate the heat of the desert through the layers of his robes. The scents that clung to him mingled shockingly well with the smell of lamp oil and musky potpourri. It drew her gaze up to him where she found his eyes already seeking out her own. The curiosity there was mixed with something else that caught her off guard.

"You've left nothing!"

Etienne's panicked voice tore her from the expressive gaze and pulled a sigh from her hidden lips. "There is more then needed left behind. Be appreciative that we've left you anything at all. In our entire history we've left almost nothing in our wake for anyone to find. This fluke is in you favor."

"Yes but... but..."

"Do not give me reason to overturn the Council's decision, Curator. I have the authority and I have no qualms in removing everything from this museum." The chilly severity of her voice kept him from arguing further though she could still see his protests in his eyes. There was no greed and it wasn't that she didn't understand, she did, but she had her orders. Adjusting her cloak she turned to Evelyn again not bothering to get her full attention from the remarkably preserved mummy, her words spoken to both the Curator and the egyptologist, "Perhaps I will put you in contact with someone that would be better able to provide you with information permitted to those outside of our sect."

"I would like that," Evie responded absently as she tested the hold of the molded face mask. It gave easily and left her speechless as the face beneath was revealed. Unlike so many other mummies it wasn't dried and wrinkled. This face was like the molded leather of their masks and could have been freshly buried. "What is... How? This mummy has to at least be of the same age as the one found in the Valley of the Kings but she looks like she just died!"

"Its a special process that has been handed down by our sect or generations."

"Can you...?"

"I can." The slight brush of a strong body at her side sent a shiver along the younger woman's spine. A dark figure teasing the edge of her vision as Ardeth angled to look within the sarcophagus, a intrigued rumbling rising from his chest and heated breath caressing the shell of her ear. It drew her up short for a moment, the pause turning Evie's eyes to her, "our... our bodies are drained of blood and the organs removed much in the way most mummies, however, it is done just after our death, before the body has a chance to grow cold. The blood is pulled from the body through several incisions by long pipettes where a mixture of several liquids in pumped in to replace it."

"You mean like modern embalming?"

Nodding to Etienne, she continued, "yes, very much so. As you would take water to make a pump in a ship or a siphon that is how it is done. Pulverized salts, purified alcohol and heated fat are pushed into the body through one vein on the neck and inner thigh of the same side while the blood that is forced out is removed from the opposites of each. The mixture and body are kept warm in heated water. Only after all of that are the organs carefully removed from an incision in the side. The brain is taken through the nose." From across her, Rick snorted and rubbed at his own nose. His obvious distress over hearing that little bit of information was amusing to the Medjai who's low chuckle was just barely kept hidden with how close he stood to her.

"An incredibly advanced technique to have been used so long ago is simply amazing."

"Well, Evie, ideas are born of past influence. It doesn't always work this well from what I've seen before. I do know that the wash of alcohol and purified fats over the body helps to both dry and remove anything that would eat away at the body. As a matter of fact, for a month prior to burial the dead are set to soak in heated vats of the mixture after they've been prepared. It is allowed to cool and congeal after being buried in the cool sands near the delta. When the body is removed the layer of fat is gently scraped away and they are wrapped in bandages coated with warm sap, even the face is painted with it."

"Like a bug in amber..."

"Correct, Curator."

"All of the wrappings that were around he sarcophagus, were they part of the preservation as well?"

"No. Those were for transporting the body to the land of our Goddess, Per Wadjet as you would know it. They probably did help in preventing any water from damaging it though."

"Why was this was of embalming not done on the mummies of the Pharaohs?" Evie's new question had the leader looking to her companions before she sighed and nodded to them, "can't you answer that?"

"I can. The Priests that were advisers of the Pharaohs refused interference from the ways that things had been done. Our way was still new even to us when this sister was interned, that with the fact that our burials are secret left us without real proof that it worked and they wouldn't let us show them on the body of a noble." No one in the room missed the scorn that laced the word 'Priests', an apparent common link between her group and the Medjai. "As I said, this is an unusual case and she will eventually turn to dust now that it has been opened."

"It's a pity..."

"That it is, Evie."

Clearing her throat in the contemplative silence that followed, the younger woman took a step back in order to turn towards the exit, finding her body stepping right into the solid barrier of the Medjai that had been standing behind her. Her body drew stiff as the snake she possessed shifted, rearing its head to focus upon Ardeth and flatten its hood. Neither of them moved. No one did that had been watching. It swayed dangerously, it's tongue flickering out to find the heat and scent of the man at its master's back until her voice rose breathlessly into whispered words that tried to calm him. It was Egyptian that had been used centuries before, close to but still nothing like that which was heard around the Cairo of their time.

A few minutes was all it took to calm the serpent back to its rest but it had felt like an eternity for the two pressed to tightly together. Heat stole from one to the other and back again. Their breathing and hearts shifted to meet each others pace and if he hadn't been in a deadly stare down with the lethal snake, Ardeth would have been looking down at the dark braids crowning her head. The moment the threat was gone though, she stepped away leaving them both feeling cold and under the curious looks of those around them, uneasy.

"It is time for us to take our leave."

"If we find anything more, who should I get in touch with?" It was Evelyn who asked and the fact she'd been so close to the agitated snake had Rick fingering his revolver in case it moved again.

Looking back to the petite woman she motioned for her sisters to head for the doors, "Keket Mosi."

"Miss. Mosi?"

"You know her, Etienne?" Ardeth asked, his question mirrored in the curious looks from both Rick and Evie.

"Well, if it is the same person then, yes, she's been working for the museum for several months now." Suspicion rolled off Ardeth and Rick in waves at this little tidbit of information. It meant that they probably had someone on the inside which may risk other interests in the museum. Their uneasy looks catching Etienne's attention though he didn't now how to pursue the questions he saw there.

"Yes, that Miss. Mosi. She has long been seeking the history of our people out of curiosity over a myth she found some years ago. Thus far she is the only one that has our Council's blessing in chronicling the limited information we release."

"I had no idea..."

"Well, you wouldn't have, sir, she was given our blessing for reason," which quietly meant that Keket could keep her mouth shut.

"Yes, of course."

"And what of the men that are unconscious beyond this room?" Ardeth's sudden question drew her up short and forced to woman to look back at him. Despite not seeing her face he felt an odd pinch in his gut as those fathomless openings focused upon him again.

"None of them are dead, if that is what you are worried about. They will wake in a few hours with little more then a slight headache."

Ardeth frowned, though whether it was because she didn't show remorse for her actions or to show his displeasure in their prior tactics he didn't really know himself. Unable to maintain contact with that blank gaze he looked to where Rick loomed near his wife, failing to keep Evie from poking and prodding the remaining artifacts in side, "very well. Would you wish an escort from the city?"

"We are big girls, I am sure that we can find our way, Medjai."

"I'm sure you can... We will oversea the care of your..." motioning to the sarcophagus, he found himself at a lack of title to call the woman inside.

"Sister," she added.

"We will oversea the care of your sister as we do all other artifacts important to us."

"Thank you for that..." He seemed to know she was smiling beneath the soft leather and warmly returned it. A strange moment was shared between them but nothing more then that could be allowed as she too looked to the tall American that had so blatantly begun staring between her and his wife. "Care well for your family, Mr. O'Connell and blessings be upon the child." He didn't seem to know how to take her words so he merely pursed his lips and furrowed his brow, grunting out a response that made her laugh. Her companions waited obediently at the doors, their hoods pulled up to once more to hide their masks. "I will contact Miss. Mosi and alert her to the fact that you know of her connections to our sisters so she is not surprised when you approach her. Be blessed by God."

They were not followed when they stepped from the room, though she could feel their eyes upon them. Nor did anyone trail after them through the foyer and when they descended the steps of the museum where still unconscious men lay. They had kept their word and the Medjai had honored theirs as well for now it seemed. All in all it had been a lot easier then they had suspected and once out of earshot of any that might step from the museum the other two finally broke their silence.

"Was that wise? Giving them your name, Keket?" asked the youngest of the trio, her short hair swaying against her shoulders under her hood.

"Edjo, I am more then capable of maintaining my guise when needed."

"With how that Medjai was staring at you, I hope that you can fool your own mother."

"Let us hope that I will not have need to be in his presence anytime soon then, Fatima," the tallest woman's observation made Keket's shoulder's slump slightly making her serpentine companion shift and brush along the pulsing vein in her neck. She played indifferent, even in her own mind, while they had been inside just so she could remain on task but now that they were away from the museum there was no way to ignore the heat that she had felt. The strength of the body that she had been pressed against. He was Ardeth Bay. The Ardeth Bay. There was no one else he could be. A Chieftain of one of the twelve tribes of the Medjai. Imposing and alluring, she practically had to shut herself down to avoid the way his presence had played upon her senses. "Not that I should have anything to worry about. Men are only as observant as the moment."

"What ever you wish to believe. He stared at you so hard when you were digging around in there I was certain that the back of your skirt was going to catch on fire." By now both Edjo and Fatima were giggling to themselves even as the eldest tried to keep her face straight beneath her mask.

"Both of you have been in the sun too long." shaking her head she finally pulled up her hood, shadowing her mask and giving the cobra the warmth from the evening wind that it had been seeking so tightly against her throat. "We have to get back to the others before nightfall, sisters. I would rather not incur the wrath of the Council if we are gone any longer then needed and we have a long ride a head of us."

Their teasing laughter stopped at the thought of the Elders in the Council and their pace quickened. Thanks to their words, however, Keket couldn't help but let her mind drift back to the man with dark brooding eyes and frowning lips. Some thing told her it would not be the last time their paths crossed. No matter how much she hoped it would be true.