Fairly short, but the next chapter is the last and it's really short too. This was just a good place to end this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Isis held Ahk's hand as he led her back towards the more populated wings of the museum. She clung to him as something steady, something that could anchor her while reality came crashing forward.

When the sounds of the other displays and the overall 'busyness' could be heard around the corner, Ahkmenrah slowed the pair until they stopped entirely. He guided himself in front of Isis and drew her eye. She was still lost in her own thoughts, but eventually met his gaze.

Ahk's gut twisted with what he was about to say.

"Tonight is the last night of your display." He told her rather bluntly. Blurting it out was the best he could manage.

"I don't understand."

His eyes darted to the floor for a moment and uncertainty drifted into his gut.

"When you sleep tonight," he hesitantly met her eyes. "You won't wake again."

Her brows came together as she processed what he was saying.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because," a lump began to form in his throat. "It's clear you don't wish to be here."

"Is it?"

"Not everyone is ready to wake." He continued Ahkmenrah had to look away from her and chose to keep his voice as clinical as possible when faced with something he never wanted to experience. "Perhaps it's best if you sleep again."

Silence moved between them that lasted seconds, yet felt like an eternity. He continued to look at anything that wasn't her. He wasn't sure he could bare it.

"Yes," she finally said to his shock. Ahk's gaze snapped to her immediately. "Perhaps you're right."

His brows gently pulled together, but he did his best to keep the growing hurt from his face. Instead, he wanted nothing more than to flee the situation he found himself in. Being the epitome of politeness, however, Ahkmerah bowed softly to the young woman before leaving her in the hall to herself. His jaunt was meant to be causal, but his sandaled feet fell quickly against the marble floor.

~!~

Isis was still standing in the entryway to her display staring at her sarcophagus. She didn't want to return to the darkness awaiting her, but she didn't want to remain in this world either. She understood nothing, not the language nor the people she was surrounded by. Those she loved were gone. The world she'd known and grown up in was relegated to legend and it left her swimming. She didn't even have a friend to lean on while trying to come to terms with everything, at least she assumed she didn't.

The soft shuffle of robes behind her went unnoticed until someone darkened her periphery. Isis shifted just enough to see Merenkahre standing beside her with his staff held firm and his stance as rigid as stone. He didn't meet her gaze, but shared it. They both stared at her exhibit.

"This is not our world." He said after a brief silence.

"No," she agreed. "It's not."

The King took a few steps forward until he stood in her line of sight, ensuring he had her complete attention for what he had to say to her.

"My son cares for you." He said bluntly. Isis shifted and diverted her eyes. "I have never seen him take to someone so quickly."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it frightens me." He replied. Isis' gaze shot to him just as the aged man's face relaxed and twisted into sadness. She didn't understand. "My gift to my child, was also a curse I never understood. His tablet, the object that brings everything to life each night, may be new to us, but has been at his side since his death." The sadness in Merenkahre's eyes deepened. "He has spent thousands of years awake… alone."

"That is none of my concern."

Isis stepped around the King, but he reached out and held her arm to keep her near.

"If fear is what's leading you back into that tomb, know that it will pass, child. But regret is something that will linger."

Her brows came together at his cryptic words, but without saying anything else, the King left Isis to herself. She wasn't sure what his objective had been, but it left her more confused than before.

Isis looked once more to her sarcophagus. She was forced to think about everything the pharaoh had told her. Ahkmenrah was left to himself for thousands of years, alone and undying. It was something Isis didn't want to think about because it made her feel sad for the young king. It made her think again about going back to sleep, and she felt as though Merenkahre knew it would.

In the short time she'd been awake, Isis was drawn to the young King in ways she'd never experienced before. She felt as though they were connected somehow, that their paths were meant to cross and it frightened her. She'd never felt anything so strong for someone in her life and she wasn't sure how to proceed. While her mind had been occupied primarily with the strange and new, Ahkmenrah was always there, guiding her and helping her to understand. It endeared him to her and forced her to care about him without even knowing she was. In fact, it wasn't until they were in the Reading Room together that Isis realized just how much she'd grown to care about Ahk.

But this wasn't her world…

Isis found herself repeating that over and over the more she began to doubt her choice.

Tilly's voice suddenly boomed overhead telling her and everyone else that the sun was about to rise. She gave them twenty minutes before then.

Isis lingered in her wing. Part of her wanted to say her farewells to the prominent family in the Egyptian wing, but another part didn't want to see them again. Her resolve was already cracking and if she saw Ahkmenrah again, Isis wasn't sure she could climb back into her sarcophagus.

Thinking better of it, the young priestess headed for her coffin. The lid was marginally askew giving her enough room to leap up and slide in beneath the heavy block. When she was nestled within the personalized tomb, she pressed her palms to the lid and slid it into place over her.

Ahkmenrah stood at the end of the wing and watched as the lid jostled back over her. His brows came together. He'd hoped to see her one last time, to perhaps tell her goodbye, or apologize for the Reading Room, but she seemed to have other plans. Feeling a pit grow in his gut, Ahk made his way through the winding halls and to his own tomb for the night.

As he slid the lid into place, he felt his eyes begin to burn and the undeniable loneliness he'd felt for thousands of years begin to return.