This is a follow-up to Desert Rose. These two fics were originally a totally different story based around this song. I chose the names Beset and Amun based on the earlier idea, which got turned around. But I got to create a little lore of my own in the process... Enjoy!
Reviews/ requests/ suggestions still welcome. It may not appear in the way you think it will, but I consider each suggestion.
I don't own the song, NBC, the shows, the characters, any of that fun stuff. Also, again, not an Egyptologist, but having some fun...
Only tell me that you still want me here
When you wander off out there,
To those hills of dust and hard winds that blow,
In that dry white ocean, alone.
Lost out in the desert, you are lost out in the desert.
But to stand with you in a ring of fire,
I'll forget the days gone by.
I'll protect your body and guard your soul
From mirages in your sight. Lost out in the desert…
After the feast had finished, Amun led Beset back to his home. It was very sparse, as he lived alone and was rarely home. He did own a large harp, which Beset eyed with interest. He offered her his small cot and sat on a stool. She began to undress, to offer herself to her new master, but he stopped her.
"I'm sorry," he began, "I seem to have let my impulses get the better of me. You only need stay if YOU wish. As you see, I do not keep many possessions, but I do have the means to care for you... if you wish to stay. I want to know more about you, how you came to be here. I have never met anyone like me before…"
"I at least owe you for saving me. I do not really have anywhere else to go; after ruining the dance, I am surely not welcome among them again…"
"Maybe you can begin by telling me about yourself. How did you come to be a fox-woman?"
"Maybe it was the same way you became a jackal." She laughed. He was pretty sure that her laugh was the most beautiful music he had ever heard. He wanted to hear more of it.
"Please, my lady, I am a wolf. We wolves are much nobler of spirit than jackals. They are but scavengers." She laughed again.
"My parents were both like me… unfortunately they were murdered many years ago by a man who could become like an asp. He poisoned them to get out of a debt. I was very young…"
"What sort of debt?" Amun asked, afraid for the answer.
"My father was a very powerful sorcerer and conjurer. He saved this man's life, but the price agreed upon while he was dying was apparently far too high when he was healed. Fortunately, he was caught and put to death."
"And do you, my lady, possess any of your father's… traits?"
"I can make strong potions and I have a little magick of my own. But I think that is for another night, don't you agree?" She yawned; it had been a long day.
She refused to sleep in the cot by herself, and slept the night on the floor with him. As she curled up next to him, he made a mental note to buy her a proper bed first thing in the morning.
As the days turned to weeks and the weeks to months, Amun never felt more alive. He was in love. Not the kind of puppy love that clouded the minds of the young recruits, this love drove him to be the best. And while he had always been something of a tactical savant, now his goal shifted to dealing the heaviest blow to the enemy while getting the most of their own warriors home to their loved ones. Beset proved herself over and over to be a worthy investment; not only could she dance, but she could play his harp better than he could, and sing beautifully with it. He would often find her brewing concoctions she would sell to the women in the city to help them with aches and pains and heal cuts and scrapes on little ones. Even more amazingly, she could read and she was a brilliant storyteller, and every day the pair grew closer.
If your hopes scatter like the dust across your track,
I'll be the moon that shines on your path.
The sun may blind our eyes, I'll pray the skies above
For snow to fall on the Sahara.
Finally, six months after bringing her into his home, he asked her to marry him and make it official. She asked him to join her on the bed he bought her. He had continued to sleep on his cot next to her to give her space and privacy, and, no matter how many times she asked him, he refused to go any further than chaste kisses. He was a gentleman, after all. She looked at her hands as she spoke.
"I will marry you, but before we do, I want to perform some magick. I have never loved or been loved like this, and I worry that I will not be able to find it again in the next life…"
"The eternal life with the Gods?"
"No. That is not what happens, at least, not what I believe. I believe we will be born again and again until we achieve all we are meant to achieve, however long that takes…"
"So… you want to… what?" he asked, confused.
"I know a way we can bind our souls so that we will always find each other. I watched my parents perform the ceremony many times on many couples, and I know it works. We will be drawn to each other in each life, and we will always find each other. Does that sound like something you would want to do?"
He sat quietly for a moment, then looked into her eyes. "I never liked the idea of my heart being weighed against a feather anyway. Will this make you happy, my love?" She nodded. "Then we shall do it whenever you please… however…" he took her hands into his, "may I ask for an addendum? Perhaps your gift to me?" She cocked her head, questioning. He took a deep breath. "I watched my father waste away after the death of my mother. She was his only wife, and they loved each other so very much. If you can… that is, if it doesn't upset the natural order... I do not want to live more than a day without you sharing it with me. If you die, I wish to die the same day, so we may prepare for the next life together. Can you do anything like that?"
He watched her as she thought. Finally, she answered. "I cannot make promises, but allow me to consult my books and charts. The ceremony will need to be presided over by a priestess, so we can add it to our marriage contract. Just follow the instructions and it will work."
The next morning, Amun woke up happy. His blood was ignited with passion, and he could not help feeling the thrill of life that day. When he came home, Beset met him at the door dressed in her best clothes.
"I consulted my books and charts and one of the priestesses I know. We must be married and do the binding tonight if you wish to include your addition. Does that suit you, my beloved?"
He smiled broadly. "Indeed. I will be ready in a few moments!"
Just a wish and I will cover your shoulders
With veils of silk and gold
When the shadows come and darken your heart,
Leaving you with regrets so cold. Lost out in the desert…
If your hopes scatter like the dust across your track,
I'll be the moon that shines on your path.
The sun may blind our eyes, I'll pray the skies above
For snow to fall on the Sahara.
The ceremony to marry them was very short, as neither had family to incorporate. After those proceedings were finished, the priestess led them into a darker antechamber alight with candles. There, they partook in ancient magick that promised they would find each other in any subsequent life, and that neither would live more than a day without their love. The priestess then showed them to a ceremonial bed with all sorts of strange markings painted on it. It had curtains all around it, also painted with symbols.
"In order for the magick to work, you must consummate your love. Have you done this yet together?" Amun and Beset admitted they had not. "Good, then the bond will be much stronger for it. Take your time. I will speak to you again when you are finished." They crawled onto the bed, closed the curtains, and experienced each other.
When they finished and replaced their clothes, the priestess spoke. "What did you see? You should have had visions beyond what you were doing and into the future."
Beset answered first. "I saw great ships and large rounded pyramids made of white stone."
Amun agreed that he had seen them as well. They went back and forth telling what they had seen, and the other agreeing they had seen the same. The visions had been very blurry to begin, but became clearer and sharper as they got closer, and they both had seen nothing but the other surrounded by light as they had climaxed together.
The priestess was satisfied. "The binding has worked. You may go home now, but I recommend you try to consummate at least once more before the night is over." She winked. "Just in case."
If that's the only place where you can leave your doubts,
I'll hold you up and be your way out.
And if we burn away, I'll pray the skies above
For snow to fall on the Sahara.
Song: Snow on the Sahara by Anggun. From the album Anggun, copyright 1997, Columbia Records.
If you ask me nicely, I *might* be convinced to do an M-rated "midquel" smutfic of the consummation... Just saying, not above it...
