Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or ideas from the Mummy movies, but all others are my own.

AN: I didn't expect to start the sequel to The Governess for a while yet, but I spent most of my weekend either on a plane or in a car, so I had plenty of time to write. If you haven't read The Governess, then I would suggest doing so before reading this one unless you enjoy being confused. I love to hear what you think so please read and review.

Governing Hearts

Chapter 1 Bittersweet

Josephine sat silently in the crude hut that had been designated for her. The plush pillows beneath her were the only furnishings that the hut could boast other than a makeshift table that she was afraid to put anything on for fear that it would surely collapse.

In her lap was a volume on late Roman politics. Beside her sat others texts on everything from Shakespeare to Bedouin customs. She had spent the last three days simply sitting upon this very pillow studiously reading everything she could get her hands on.

It had been three months since Ardeth had come back in to her life, five since he had been killed and brought back to life. And it had been one long month since she had felt his touch. He had told her that things would be different when they reached the village, but she never could have been prepared for the ostracism she had been subjected to since her arrival. No one had spoken to her except Naji, Rashid, Asif, and his wife. However, even Naji and Rashid had become icy in their demeanor unless they were sharing a meal with her and Asif's family. Asif had been appointed her guardian until she married Ardeth because Asif was already married and because of his injuries he had yet to be put back on full duty. Not to mention, he was one of few who was willing to do the job.

"Miss Montgomery," Josephine raised her eyes to see who called her name. "Miss Montgomery, the men have returned from patrol," a feminine voice called from outside the entrance of the hut. Josephine dropped her book carelessly, as she jumped off the pillow. She pulled her veil up and threw a shawl over her shoulders as she bound excitedly out of her home to meet Asif's wife who waited for her with Asif beside her. Nasira was heavy with child, but that didn't stop her from being one of the most vivacious women Josephine had ever met. Though Nasira's veil covered most of her face and hair from the harsh sun, it revealed a very rare pair of violet eyes which stood out upon her short and curvy figure.

"Hurry up, Asif," Nasira called behind her as she and Josephine hurried off to see Ardeth returning with his patrol. Asif limped quickly behind them, knowing it was useless to try to keep up with his lively wife.

Josephine pushed carefully through the crowd to watch Ardeth ride in. Immediately, she noticed a gash in the sleeve of his thick robes. His men looked like they had come from battle, and Josephine grew worried.

Nasira was right behind her, and Josephine could hear the soft gasp as Nasira saw the condition of the men. Ever since Asif's injury, she had become very excitable around the warriors. If they were bruised, she nearly had a panic attack. So when she saw Ardeth's patrol sporting wounds and bruises, it was fortunate that Asif had caught up with her to catch her as she fainted. Nasira was a very strong woman, but nearly losing Asif had torn her apart.

"Nasira, habibti," Asif called gently as he held her close in his arms. He was healing well, but supporting the extra weight of his pregnant wife was still rough on his weakened body.

Josephine was torn between aiding Asif with Nasira, and rushing to Ardeth's side. She knew that he needed to maintain his image in the tribe, but her heart bled to be by his side. In the end, she turned from him and walked to Nasira's side helping Asif hold her weight.

"You should go to Ardeth, Miss Montgomery. I can take care of my wife," Asif offered, but Josephine waved it off.

"You could barely stand on your own two feet this morning, never mind carry your very pregnant wife. I will help you; it's no trouble. Ardeth will be too busy to see me anyway," Josephine said dispassionately as she rearranged Nasira's veil to cover her face again.

"Don't speak like he doesn't care for you. Ardeth needs you more than anything, but he still needs to learn how to balance his duty with his own needs," Asif said wisely. Josephine would have retorted if she had believed he was just defending his chieftain instead of speaking the truth. Josephine never doubted Ardeth's love, but she was becoming wearier by the day. It wasn't easy living in a place where you felt unwelcome, especially if the one who was supposed to want you there was never present.

"I'm sorry Asif, I'm just worried," Josephine sighed as they began to make their way through the crowd again. People moved aside and inquired after Nasira's condition, but Asif put their minds at ease. Josephine just walked with them silently lending her support to Nasira as she began to come around. Josephine didn't look back to where Ardeth was still mounted in front of the crowd, nor did she see when he gazed at her with longing in his amber gaze.

XxXxXxX

"Rashid," Ardeth called to his second in command as he tried to put the villagers' at ease even though his men looked as though they had been through battle. Luckily, they had all come back alive. Some had worse wounds than others, but none were so bad that they could not ride by themselves.

"Yes, my lord?" Rashid asked as he maneuvered his horse beside Ardeth's. Rashid, as usual, was in the best of health. He was not only a good fighter but a smart one. He rarely came back with more than a scratch or two unless they were truly in heavy battle. Ardeth had known him since childhood, and he still didn't know how Rashid did it. If it were any other man, Ardeth would have thought that he simply stayed to the edges of the fight or ran from it completely, but not Rashid. Ardeth knew Rashid ran straight into every battle with as much pride and enthusiasm as Ardeth himself. If he didn't, Ardeth wouldn't have made him his second.

"Try to put the people's fears at ease, and gather the elders. I must go see Josephine," Ardeth ordered in a voice the only Rashid could hear. Rashid nodded respectfully and pulled away from Ardeth to complete the task. Ardeth maneuvered his stallion away from the crowd and in the direction of Asif's home.

It had been too long since he had seen Josephine. She had been the only thing he looked forward to by coming back to the village. He knew that the news he brought with him was not going to be received well by the elders, and he felt the weight of his duties bearing down on him again. However, the thought of just seeing Josephine waiting for him in the crowd upon his arrival was enough to ease his worries. So, when he saw her back to him leaving the crowd without even greeting him, he became both worried and angry.

He couldn't help it that he felt her disappearance as a rejection. He couldn't help that just the thought of it made his anger rise. He told himself that Nasira's time was getting close and her wellbeing was more important than a simple greeting, but he couldn't help the thoughts that were flying through his mind as he urged his horse a little faster.

Ardeth knew he should probably wait until his nerves calmed, but he knew that he didn't have the time to waste. His patrol had noticed that Ahm Shere had begun to grow again, and he worried that this was a bad omen. Then his men had met with another tribe on the way back to the village only to be attacked. Ardeth had been confused when his men were met with open hostility instead of passive acceptance. The Med-jai had few true enemies in the desert because most tribes realized that what they did was necessary.

The Med-jai outnumbered and outfought the opposing tribe, but after the battle Ardeth couldn't help but feel that something was not right. It could simply be a coincidence that the oasis at Ahm Shere seemed to be growing out of nothing and that they were met by a hostile tribe on their return, but Ardeth knew that coincidences were often just tools of fate.

Ardeth saw Josephine disappear into Asif's hut carrying a bucket of water as he rode down the alley that housed both Asif's hut and Josephine's. He dismounted and entered the small home without announcing himself. He saw no one in the main room of the hut, so he waited instead of entering Asif and his wife's private chamber. As he waited, he heard voices filtering out from their room.

"Josephine, what are you doing tending to me? You should be making sure that your betrothed is well," he heard Nasira fuss from behind the curtain that served as a door to the room down the corridor.

"My betrothed is not heavy with child, so I think that your health is a bit more important than a couple of his scrapes. He wouldn't let me fix them anyway," he heard Josephine say. He could hear the forced laughed in her voice, and wondered what she was trying to hide.

"That's no reason and you know it. Look, I am fine now. I have Asif here, and I don't need anything but rest. So, why haven't you gone to him?" Nasira asked, and Ardeth felt his heart skip a beat, unsure if he wanted to hear Josephine's answer.

"It is not that I do not wish to see him; it is that I doubt he has time to see me or is in the mood to have me underfoot like a small child who needs attention. He has things to do, and has made it perfectly clear in the past that his duty comes first. Why should I go fuss over him when he is perfectly capable of handling himself, just to ignore you when you have no one by Asif to take care of you," Josephine sighed.

Ardeth felt his gut clench at her words. So, she believed that he didn't need or want her around? He didn't notice that his fists were clenched until he felt warm liquid seeping down is arm. He unclenched his fist and pushed away the material of his robe to see that he had balled his fists so tightly that the scab on his bicep had torn open again. He let out a soft curse and began to rise not wanting to dirty Asif's humble home with his blood and the filth from his travel.

Ardeth was about to leave when a voice stopped him. "Where are you going?" he heard the soft British accent that had lulled his mind to ease for the past week during his patrol. Ardeth turned slowly to see Josephine standing in the center of the small room, wringing her hands in her skirts as she looked at him with uncertainty.

"I have things to see to, and I figured that you were busy with Nasira. I didn't want to bother you," he said, but he could tell that Josephine didn't believe him. They had become very good at reading each other during their short relationship, and they found that lying to each other was futile.

"You were listening?" she said as she took the seat that he had just relinquished. He nodded silently, but turned and came closer to her. Her eyes were weary behind her veil, and her body language was one of defeat. She looked so much older than enthusiastic young governess he had met in a pyramid at Giza.

"Do I disappoint you so much that you do not even wish to see if I am well?" he asked softly as he stood before her.

"You are not around enough to disappoint me," she said in her own whisper as she met his eyes with her own. "The last time I rushed to you when you arrived, I was told firmly that my actions were socially unacceptable by anyone and everyone I saw for days afterward. Not to mention, I was personally berated by you during dinner with Nasira and Asif because you have an image you must keep and all sorts of other nonsense. So, I decided to be the good betrothed of a Med-jai chieftain and kept my distance," Josephine explained with less firmness that she had hoped for. She couldn't stay mad at Ardeth for long especially when he was standing in front of her looking as uncertain as she was feeling.

Ardeth mentally cursed himself as he knelt before her. "I am sorry if I have put you off since we arrived here. I know this isn't easy for you, and I haven't been able to be with you through this like I wish I could. Today, when I saw you leaving the crowd, I…" he paused and Josephine jumped in quickly.

"I was worried, but I didn't want to get you in trouble. I figured that if you needed or wanted me, you would send Naji or someone for me. I'm sorry I wasn't there," she said as she held out her delicate hand to him. Ardeth took it without hesitation and pulled her into his embrace. He quickly pulled her veil away kissed her passionately for the first time in over a month. He held her tightly to him as he gently explored her mouth until they heard someone clearing their throat. Ardeth instantly stepped back and looked at the intruder sharply. Asif stood at the edge of the corridor that led to his and Nasira's room. He had a small smile on his face as he watched Josephine cover her face again quickly.

"Don't stop on my account, my lord. Just don't get caught, or I'll be the one who takes the beating," Asif said as he turned around and returned to his wife. He had ventured out of his room only because he heard silence between the two, and he worried that something was wrong. When he saw them embracing, he couldn't help but smile. However, he also knew that it was his duty to prevent such things from happening. It was hard for him to stop them because he remembered how he and Nasira would go to so much trouble just to get a single kiss without being caught. Not to mention, Ardeth was both several years older than him as well as chieftain.

When he was sure that Asif was gone, Ardeth approached Josephine again but this time she held a hand out to stop him. "Let me look at your arm, please?" she asked softly as she reached for his heavy sleeve.

"It's nothing," he said as he tried to pull his arm away and capture her lips again.

"Well, that nothing is seeping blood down your arm and consequently onto my tunic," she said as she pointed to the bloodstain on the sleeve of her shirt. Ardeth's face was blank, but she could sense his defeat.

"I just tore the scab a little, it's really…"

"Nothing, I know, but it would make me feel better to have a look at it," she said with a sweet smile as she captured his arm and tugged up the sleeve before he could stop her, only to reveal a long gash that stretched from mid-bicep to elbow. She showed no sign of shock, but she glanced up at him with a sarcastic look. "Nothing at all," she drawled as she held his arm still.

"It didn't even need stitches," Ardeth said as he tried to pull out of her grasp.

Josephine shook her head and pushed him back onto a chair and gave him a look that threatened dismemberment if he even thought about moving. She turned and walked down the hall to fetch Asif before she slipped out of the hut to collect her healing supplies from her own. When she returned, she found Ardeth sitting quietly with his sleeve rolled up. Asif was not there, and she looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Nasira wanted attention," he said in answer to her unasked question. "Come here. I want to talk to you," he beckoned her with his uninjured arm, and she went to him without protest. He pulled her onto his lap before she could escape, and she let out a small shriek as she fell onto his knee.

"I need to clean your wound," she protested, but her complaints were met with several soft kisses to her neck which remained uncovered by either her veil or clothes. She playfully swatted him away and tugged at his arm. "If anyone sees us, we'll both be in trouble," she said seriously although she was still smiling.

"That's what I need to talk to you about. We are going to wed sooner than we planned," he said authoritatively, but Josephine didn't take his tone to heart. She just smiled as she gently washed his wound and cleaned away the blood. When she didn't protest he continued carefully. "We'll be getting married within the week," he said coolly as he felt her tense in his lap.

"Within the week?" she asked incredulously. "But how are Evy and Rick supposed to get here with Alex in less than a week. What about my sister, and Jonathan, and Jalal, and everyone else you promised would be there to see us. We decided that if we were going to have the ceremony for your tribe, then all of my friends could be present," she accused as she tried to pull away from him, but he held her tightly.

"I know what I promised, but it can't be helped. My patrol found unrest at Ahm Shere, and we were met with a hostile tribe on the way home. Something isn't right, and I don't want to leave you here alone without some promise that I'll come back for you," he said as he held her tightly.

"A wedding isn't going to bring you back alive. A wedding isn't going to stop the villagers from disliking me. A wedding isn't even going to bring us closer together if you're just going to run off to battle afterward. This engagement is a promise. It's a promise that one day we'll be together for always and for each other. It's a promise that when the time is right we'll belong to each other, and not a moment sooner. So, why are you pushing when we barely seem to know each other anymore?" she asked as she finally pulled out of his arms.

"I died once, and I realize that next time I won't be coming back. It's…my duty…to produce an heir," he said softly as he looked her straight in the eye.

"I see. Well then, by all means. Why are you even waiting till the ceremony? We could have a litter of little Med-jai running around already," she said with hurt shining behind the tears that freely fell from her soft brown eyes.

"Josephine," Ardeth said softly, but she had already fled the hut. All he caught was a flash of her long brown hair as her veil floated to the floor catching the late afternoon light.

XxXxX

So, what do we think, a new adventure for our favorite Med-jai? I'm going to apologize now because I don't know if I'll be able to post regularly because I need to get a new computer, but I'll try to post as often as I can. Until next time, I look forward to seeing what you think of this.