Ch. 11~ Clues
Jeweli woke up from the best sleep she'd had in ages. Yawning, she stretched, and nearly hit the bird sleeping at her head. Horus chattered at her and nipped at her hand, gently. She reached up and started petting him. "What are you doing down here?" She found a pair of leather gloves in one of the boxes and put them on. Holding out her arm, Jeweli called him…and he came. Strange, she'd gotten the impression that Ardeth was the only one able to control him. "Ok, then. Good boy, Horus. Now, let's go find your real hand buddy." She managed to climb the stairs with the heavy bird on her arm. Breaching into the light, she noticed everyone staring at her. Everyone but Ardeth. She walked up to him and put her free hand on her hip. "You wanna explain to me why your bird was practically nesting on my head when I woke up?"
Ardeth looked around sheepishly, before clearing his throat. "I, uh, went down to check on you last night. I wanted to speak with you, but you were asleep. Horus decided he'd rather sleep next to you. I tried to bring him back up with me, but he would not let me."
"What d'ya mean, he wouldn't let you? He didn't seem to mind me this morning."
"I mean, he would not heed my call. It is very unusual for him to ignore me. I even tried to pick him up, but...let's just say, he did not take kindly to that. Perhaps he felt you needed his presence more than I did."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oooookaaay. Look just take your bird, and…if I say I'm going to bed, don't come down there unless someone's dying. Comprende?"
"I understand. Horus." This time, the bird heeded the order and flew from one arm to the next.
Jeweli shook her head and went to sit in the sun. Breakfast consisted of toast and eggs, with a heaping side of what-the-fuck-is-everyone-staring-at? "Can I help you people with something?" and they all turned back to their food.
"Um, Karnak's just ahead, folks." Izzy said awkwardly.
Once they landed, Rick, Evie, Jeweli, and Ardeth jumped down and ran into the temple. The women went inside, while the men searched the train. They all split up, Jeweli walked through the temple, searching for any sign of life. Then, she heard Evie scream, and she set out at a dead sprint. Everyone gathered by a statue with a post and chain in front of it.
"Alex left us his tie. And," she knelt down, "he's built us a little sand castle. It's the Biga Island of Phili. They've gone to Phili."
"Good boy, Alex. C'mon."
Ardeth
At the Island was Alex's jacket laying over a sand castle of the Temple of Abu Simbel. When they got there, Ardeth came back quickly to send a message to the Commanders. After climbing over the side, he noticed Jeweli standing with her back to him, taking in the sight before her. Ramsis II had built this place for Nefertiti, his queen, ad it was truly beautiful, even after 3,000 years of desert sand wearing away at it.
"Jeweliandra?" he stepped up next to her. She didn't respond. He put a hand on her shoulder and shook her a bit. "Jeweliandra."
"Don't bother, chap. She's been like that ever since you all got off. She hasn't moved since she set sight on those statues."
Suddenly, she started speaking in Egyptian. "*Diamond in the rough, lily amongst the thorns. Blood red ruby, lovely rose, gentle hearts. Quiet Bastet, kind and companionate. Fierce Sekmet, all hell unleashed. Shining sun, mysterious moon. Love locked away, find the key, and reveal the Beast long slumbering.*" Ardeth turned her, and saw that her dark grey-green eyes had turned dark brown.
"What's going on?" Jonathan came up beside them.
"I think she is experiencing much the same thing as your sister. Jeweliandra, can you hear me?" Her eyes closed, and when they snapped open, they were back to normal.
"What are you doing?" she pushed his hands away.
"You were having a vision." The other two were climbing over the side now.
Jeweli froze, as if startled, then turned away. "I think I would know if I was having a vision, thank you very much. I'm not that important, that's Evie's job."
Ardeth sighed and made her look at him with one hand under her chin. "Jeweliandra, you are just as important as anyone else here. Even if you do not see it yourself, you have been a constant pillar of strength for your family on this mission. You have been their guiding light in…" Wait a minute.
"What is it? Ardeth, what's going on?" her brows furrowed at his silence.
"That's it."
"What is?" Rick asked.
"The Guiding Light, Sekmet's Blood Rose, Gem of the Nile!"
Jeweli
Ardeth was starting to scare her. He went to Horus as they lifted off, sending him to the Commanders, then came back. He started ranting in Arabic, pacing back and forth. It was strange, seeing him so excited about something, especially when nobody knew what was going on. His usual calm demenor was…still there, but it had cracked slightly.
"Would you please just tell us what the hell you're going on about," Rick stopped him.
"Jeweliandra was having a vision while we were gone. She-"
"It was not a vision! I was just daydreaming and got lost in la-la land. It was nothing."
"Uh, Jeweli?" Jon raised his hand, "Do you know Ancient Egyptian, by any chance?"
"Jonathan, I don't even know present Egyptian. What makes you think I know Ancient Egyptian?"
"Because that's what you were speaking a moment age."
She looked confused, "That's impossible. The most Egyptian I know is 'no' and 'where's the bathroom'. You must have been hallucinating."
"But he wasn't. You were speaking it, Jeweliandra. I was right here. You recited, word for word, the poem of the Warrior of Sekmet."
"What's Sekmet?" Rick asked as they sat down.
"She's the lion-headed goddess, Bastet's sister. The story goes that she has to be kept drunk and incapacitated, least she awake and bring about the end of anything in her way." Jeweli scoffed. "A warrior of Sekmet? No. I've heard of warriors for Ra, Osiris, Anubis, even Horus. The female gods are never mentioned for war. Everyone wants blessings from the males."
"The Madji know many more stories than are written for anyone to read. We are the keepers of legends. It makes sense. Your tattoo can be seen as both Bastet and Sekmet."
"Wait a minute. When did you see her tattoo?" Rick was getting defensive.
"Relax, cuz. I showed him that night I froze up about the snake. I told him about Danial…all of it."
"Oh…well, nevermind the."
"Anyway, how can it? Sekmet is a lion. Their fur is sandy, not black."
"This is true. However, in Ancient times, statues of gods were often painted black, which was considered a holy color. Along with the fact that you recited the poem so accurately, it is the only explanation."
Evie put her hand on Jeweli's knee "Jeweli, sweethear, what did you see?"
"I told you, I was just daydreaming."
"Even just daydreams can be visions. What did you see?"
She almost got mad, almost yelled at them to leave her alone. Why were they so willing to have her be some holy warrior? She almost got up and went back down to the cargo hold. Until she looked at Ardeth. He was begging her with his eyes to tell him. Oh, those eyes. Grr, it wasn't fair, the way he could seem to make her do anything just by turning those sexy gold-brown eyes on her. She sighed. "I was thinking about what it might be like to have been an Ancient Egyptian in a past life. Then, I was in this palace, walking with a bunch of men in black head-dresses." Jeweli looked down at Ardeth's hands, seeing the three spike tattoos there. "They all had the same markings as you do, along their arms and chests, too."
He studied her for a moment, then untied the front of his robes, pulling them away from his torso, revealing several tattoos there, then pulled one f his sleeves up to show he forearm. "They were Madji, the Pharaoh's bodyguards." He motioned for her to continue as he tied his robes back up.
"Well, I guess that's who they were, and I was smack-dab in the middle of them. We walked straight up to the Pharaoh's throne. Somehow, I understood what was said. He asked the guy in the front, 'Have you brought her?' They let me pass to the front and I was introduced as Tutkahafe, a good friend of the Commander. I bowed my head and I could see that I was wearing almost the same outfit as the others, with the same tattoos, but with mine too. Apparently, was supposed to be the personal bodyguard of the princess. Come to think of it…she looked just like you, Evie, except her hair was straight."
"Yes, Seti the first had a daughter, Nefertiti. That was me, Jeweli."
"Oh, well, that makes sense. Anywho, I was in the room when she…you called the Madji to help Seti. I watched Imhotep and Anck-du-namun kill him, and kept you from falling off the balcony. When Imhotep got away, you told me you wanted me to make sure he was found and severely punished for what he'd done. We found hijm at Hamenaptra, trying to resurrect his girlfriend after she killed herself. The Hom-Dai was performed, and that was that. We fell into war, everyone wanted the throne, and I…jeez, I had my hands full trying to keep you safe. Then, one night, I was so tired from all the fighting and assassination attempts. I was patrolling, and your balcony doors were open, so, y'know, I was on high alert. I found the guy about to stab you while you slept. I stopped him, you woke up and called the Madji." Jeweli touched her side, as if there was an old wound bothering her.
"What happened?" Rick asked.
She looked at Ardeth, knowing he already knew how the story ended. "I slit his throat. But…he managed to stick me with the dagger meant for Nefertiti. By the time the Madji got there, it was too late. You were trying to stop the bleeding. The Commander checked the wound…the dagger had been poisoned, cobra venom. I was a goner as soo as the tip touched my skin."
"Tutkahafe died in the arms of the very princess she protected, and the Commander who taught her the secret arts of the Madji." Ardeth told them, breaking the spell. "The first woman to become one of us, and the only one since then. It was her sacrifice that allowed Nefertiti to remain queen, and for the Madji to grow as we have."
"Well, let's hope she doesn't have to sacrifice herself again." Evie looked to Rick, who nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry, you guys. I told you, I'm not part of your prophecy."