Chapter 3: The Escape
Farsiris whirled around and yelled for the temple doors to be closed then she turned back to Evelyn and Rick "we must go, your friends are in no position to fight" she said motioning to Ardeth who was now in a sitting position on the floor and holding his left side. He looked at her and nodded, as did both Evelyn and Rick, Jonathan and Rick moved to help the injured Med-Jai off the floor while Evelyn stayed close to Farsiris who clung to the silver goddess statue like her life depended on it. "Where will we go that he will not find us? Evelyn asked quietly, though her voice trembled with fear when she spoke. "There is one room in the palace where he refused to go during the latter part of his life and will keep away from even in death. It is in the palace and is blessed by Isis so we will be safe there" she answered, looking around at the priestesses who had closed the doors and were arming themselves against whoever was outside. Farsiris shook her head and motioned for them to surround her then looked at Evelyn.
"Excuse me for a moment, I must speak to my sisters briefly before I leave them" she said and Evelyn nodded then shushed Rick who began to protest and took Alex's hand "she will be with us in a moment, these women are prepared to fight to the death for this temple but want her to save herself. So they will need words of courage because their leader will not be fighting with them" she said quietly then turned to watch her cousin. Farsiris walked in front of the crowd of women and winced "I should be fighting with them" she thought and her heart ached as she took in the faces of the innocent priestesses, many who had not yet even become women but still took up arms to fight like men for the temple.
"You are the bravest citizens of Egypt, for you take up arms to defend our divine mother against the curse of the Med-Jai. As of now a large piece of the puzzle leading to a precious artifact has been placed in my hands" having said this she held up the silver statue and a unanimous gasp went up from the women. The older ones knew what it was and the younger didn't but gasped at its beauty "so I must leave you now in order to complete the puzzle, should you be unable to hold up the doors there are secret compartments behind the statues that will fit one or two women. Hide in them and do not fear, I will return soon" she finished and all of the women bowed then proceeded to run around, hiding gold and precious artifacts wherever they would be concealed from intruders.
Farsiris walked back to Evelyn, murmuring prayers to her goddess for protection from evil then looked into the frightened face of her cousin "come, we can leave now" she said and began to walk towards the main chamber of worship. After a few moments there was a huge pounding on the doors but they held firm and Farsiris began to run. "Where – are – we – going?" Evelyn asked haltingly as she ran to keep up with her much faster cousin. Farsiris didn't turn around but answered her as they came to a brief halt and she began to examine the large statues for something she knew was there. "There is an underground passageway leading straight to the entrance to the room I spoke of earlier, however there is a lever concealed in a statue that is needed to find it" she said, feeling around.
Rick sighed "not another secret passageway" he muttered, "I really am tired of these things", Farsiris sighed irritably "well feel free to go out the front door and let us know if you live" she retorted with a humourless smile then turned back to her task, Evelyn went over to another statue and began feeling around it and Alex did the same to another. Farsiris had a feeling that something was not right, none of the statues appeared to have any moving parts and she turned around to look around the room again.
Somewhat perplexed she began to murmur things she had read from an ancient script then something occurred to her, she turned the silver statue over and smiled. There, on the bottom, was a hieroglyph "Evelyn!" she said and Evie came rushing over "what is it?" she asked. Farsiris motioned to the glyph "look for a glyph that matches this one and you will find the lever" she stated then scanned the room again, her emerald eyes finally resting on the sacrificial altar "of course" she thought "the passageway is hidden beneath the altar" she walked across to the altar and search its face for a glyph.
On the back of the cool stone piece she found what she was looking for "I found it" she said softly then pressed the glyph. Suddenly, there was a grinding sound and the entire altar began to move to the side revealing a dark entrance beneath it "aha" she whispered in triumph but was shaken out of her elation by a loud shattering noise followed by the sounds of male voices. Rick, Jonathan, and Ardeth began to move more quickly and Evie ran ahead to peer into the darkness while Farsiris grabbed a torch from the wall behind the altar "forgive me mother" she whispered then cautiously lowered one foot into the darkness, feeling the closest wall.
Having not found anything, she lowered the torch in for light then swore in Egyptian: the walls were bare and the floor made of solid tile. Or at least it looked solid, some of the tiles had hieroglyphs on them and some were blank. "This just keeps getting better and better" Evelyn whispered when she saw the task that faced them. Her and Farsiris exchanged grave glances then both looked back at the men with grim looks on their faces "the walls are sheer stone and the floor appears to be made of different tiles. This passage was built for a young woman who was quite agile and strong but also clever because I bet there are traps to prevent others from gaining access to the palace through this passageway" she explained.
Rick cursed quietly in English "bloody paranoid buggers weren't they?" Jonathan spat and Ardeth shook his head, he looked at the women in front of him and the men who had helped him as well as the young Alex who looked at him then at his mother. He knew that he would not be able to make it into the passageway much less through it and if he tried to navigate the perilous maze of tiles he could end up killing them all. "I must stay" he said heavily "no you are coming with us" Rick said stubbornly and Ardeth shook his head then looked pleadingly at the priestess to provide a level head.
Farsiris was unbiased in her opinion, her religion had taught her to help whoever was in trouble and needed the Goddess's help. Now her own people were in danger and the passageway was the only way for her to survive to fufill her obligations to Isis. One of which was to defeat the evil that had again been released upon them. Farsiris saw the look in Ardeth's eyes and she nodded slightly "no, Ardeth must stay. He will not survive the jump to the floor and even if he does he is too disabled to make it through the traps and tiles alive. If he stumbles and steps on the wrong tile, we could all be killed or trapped within the passageway forever" she pointed out then looked around.
"If he lays on the floor and plays dead then he may be able to survive without the High Priest noticing him. A dead Med-Jai is of no use to Imhotep" she said quietly and Rick's shoulders sagged, Evelyn covered her mouth and shook her head sadly. They all knew she was right and her logic made sense however they had never thought it would come to this, them having to leave their friend behind. Suddenly another loud bang was heard and Farsiris became panicked "we have no time, we have to go, now!" she exclaimed then pushed Evelyn and Alex towards the passage, "you and Alex jump first I will be down in a moment" she ordered then faced Ardeth who was now laying on his stomach on the floor.
She recited the rites of death and forgiveness and asked the gods to have mercy on his soul should he perish. Then she lay a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled slightly "be absolutely silent and they should not hurt you, goodbye my friend" she said and he nodded "goodbye Farsiris, tell my fiancée what has happened to me but do not tell her I was in pain" he said and she nodded "of course, I will do that" she promised then nodded at Rick and Jonathan who both jumped into the hole and left him. She crouched down and leaped to the floor, bending her knees to absorb the shock of the landing then straightened and Evelyn handed her the torch. Farsiris pressed another small button in the wall and the altar slid back into place, leaving no stone disturbed.
Once the alter had closed, she turned back around and held a finger to her lips in the universal sign for silence then leaned in close to Evelyn "just follow me and don't fall" she whispered then waited until Evelyn had passed the message along and nodded. One stone at a time, tile by tile, Farsiris translated and stepped over while the rest of them followed every single step she took, afraid of missing a step or stepping on the wrong tile and dooming them all. A while later they saw a dim light at the end of the passageway which gradually became a brightly lit doorway "the light at the end of the tunnel" Jonathan muttered "this would be the only occasion in which that could be considered a good thing".
Rick nodded in agreement and grasped his son's hand tightly in his, being careful to take the right steps. Finally they stepped out of the tiles and into the light of a hallway lit by the sun which was disappearing behind black storm clouds quickly, the temple was already in the storm. Farsiris opened an elaborate silver plated door bearing the words Princess Royal and the eye of Horus held by a kneeling Isis, a symbol to ward off evil spirits. The door was directly to their left and they entered an elaborate apartment.
Again, as in the temple, figures and names of Isis were everywhere but what was unusual was that most of the statues as well as the décor was silver, not gold. There was a large bed, still clothed in white linen, and a dresser carved out of ebony wood with a polished silver mirror. Evelyn gasped, she had never guessed that such a trove of artifacts could still reside in the palace. The room appeared to have remained just as the occupant had left it three thousand years earlier. Farsiris smiled at the wonder written on Evelyn's face then she moved over to the night table and placed the small silver statue in the blank space that it had come from.
Evelyn realized that this was the room of the owner of the statue and she looked at Farsiris whose smile held more secrets than the Mona Lisa "the woman who owned this room was given the title Beloved of Isis and is also the keeper of that statue" she said "this room was built especially for her by her father and no one has occupied it since she died, her husband and father had it blocked off from the rest of the palace so no one else ever knew it was here. Except the High Priestess of Isis. The passage we came through is the only entrance to this room now" she said then turned and glared at Jonathan "don't you dare touch or take anything in this room or I will feed you to the curse that walks outside" she threatened and that was enough to entice everyone including Alex, to clasp their hands in front of them and stand in the center of the room.
Evelyn looked around but could not see a name anywhere "who lived in this room?" she asked, turning back to her cousin. Farsiris' expression turned thoughtful "a princess and priestess embodied in the same woman, the guardian of a sacred and deadly artifact, a mortal goddess and the daughter of Isis" she responded, saying much but really nothing at all that Evelyn didn't already know. However, Evelyn could guess at who it was "Nefertari's older sister?" she inquired and Farsiris smiled, somewhat surprised at the older woman's knowledge "indeed she was" she answered and motioned to the floor. "We will be here for a while so you might as well sit down or sleep, the sun has gone down and it will be very dark in here soon" she said and went around, lighting torches that hadn't seen flame in over 3,000 years.
As more light went into the room, the room seemed to come to life, the statues glittered and paintings on the walls revealed themselves. All of them depicted a young woman either kneeled in prayer, embracing a rather familiar looking man, or dressed in full royal regalia and being blessed by Isis. Once the entire room was lit, Farsiris sat down with her cousin and Evelyn was finally able to find the woman's name. "Her royal highness Princess Selkenauset Ankh Nen Ma'at" she read then her head whirled around to face Farsiris.
"That woman was Nefertari's older sister which has to mean that she was Seti's oldest daughter" she said and her cousin nodded in confirmation "yes, she was a very important woman in Egypt" she answered then, for the first time in a while, Alex spoke up "then why was she hidden? Why was this room blocked off? and why did that statue end up in Hamunaptra?" he asked. The young priestess grinned at him "well the tale of that statue is quite long but not well known to those outside of the temple clergy" she said then straightened her linens, wincing when Jonathan began to snore loudly.
A moment later the Mona Lisa smile reappeared on her face and her eyes glittered like those of a tiger "get comfortable and I will tell you the story of the Silver Goddess".