Hi all! Thanks for stopping by for Chapter 2! I want to make a disclaimer: the name "Amunet" I realize is similar to the name of the mummy from the 2017 Mummy film. This fanfic is in no way, shape or form, connected to that film. The name "Amunet" was chosen for a very specific reason.
Either way, please feel free to FOLLOW, FAVORITE, and drop a REVIEW to tell me what you think!
EDIT: I had the change the POV for stylistic choices regarding future chapters. I apologize for the confusion.
1926
Zoraida shielded her eyes from the scorching mid-day sun as the car approached the archaeological site. The rectangular temple was immaculate. The thick lotus style columns peeked through the grand entrance. The sight of a preserved temple made her heart jump with intellectual joy and curiosity.
"What a beauty!" Lord Byron Pritchard announced as he parked near a party of horses and camels. Turning off the ignition, he ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair before tugging on his pith helmet. Zoraida grinned and proceeded to hop over the door of the roofless car.
Jonathon, sitting in the passenger seat, squinted at the temple. "Yes, yes, a beauty indeed. A well-preserved temple usually means well-preserved items inside."
"Archaeologist or treasure-hunter, Jonathon? How would you like to introduce yourself to our colleagues here?" Zoraida rolled her eyes.
"Whatever will get me a drink by the end of this," Jonathon sighed.
"If you promise to behave yourself," she began, "I'll buy you three drinks as soon as we return to Cairo. Byron is doing you and Evy a large favor by taking you with us despite your shattered reputation."
Jonathon muttered in agreement as he sauntered off.
Zoraida removed her wide-brimmed hat, the thick silk scarf securing it to her head catching around her neck. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck from beneath her pinned coiffure. She cursed the hairstyle as she pulled it out of its pins.
It's too boiling hot for nonsense like this. She combed her hair over her shoulder in a thick sheet of dark walnut tresses.
"Are you going to tell me whom the dedicated was for this temple?" She asked Byron, gathering her hair into a disorderly bun on top of her head. Shorter pieces of her hair slipped out from their hold and fell by her ears, tickling her face.
"I already told you everything I know," Byron said as they all strode towards a large mounted white tent.
"Which was nothing." She raised a teasing eyebrow at him while jabbing him in his side with a finger.
He placed a hand between her shoulder blades and guided her towards a tent where the head of the dig site was certain to be. "Which is why I invited you along, dear Zoraida."
"That's a lie and we both know it," Zoraida said through a forced smile.
"Anything to get you out of that dusty museum – Ulysses, ol' chap!" Byron plastered a wide smile on his face, greeting his colleague.
Bent over a desk, a gentleman sporting a tailored jacket and jodhpurs looked up from some incomplete temple sketches. Zoraida could tell from his arrogant grin down to his authentic leather books that she would have her hands full.
"Ahh, Lord Pritchard!" The two cads shook hands and clapped each other on the back. "Good to see you, ol' friend! Thank you for accepting my invitation. We could use someone with your expertise on this dig."
Zoraida made sure to keep a few steps back, casting her eager attention towards the temple. The sooner they got introductions out of the way, the sooner she could explore.
"My pleasure, of course. Let me introduce a few of my colleagues," Byron said, turning to Jonathon who had been moseying about. Hearing his name, he snapped to attention.
"Ulysses McCallister, may I introduce Mr. Jonathon Carnahan." Byron stepped aside for them to shake hands.
"Carnahan!" McCallister exclaimed, his eyes widening. "I knew your father once upon a time, many years ago. Following in his footsteps, I see. Good to meet your acquaintance."
"Likewise," Jonathon said with equal enthusiasm.
Byron held out his hand to Zoraida next and she fixed her gaze on the confused McCallister. She took two purposeful steps toward McCallister whose expression changed to feigned interest.
"And this is Ms. Zoraida LaBelle," Byron continued.
Zoraida's eyes were hard and hooded as she returned McCallister's cold stare. She kept her shoulders back and her head held high with proud indignation.
The Egyptologist furrowed his brow. "LaBelle, you say? As in – "
"My late father, the Egyptologist and renowned temple sketcher, Charles LaBelle? Yes, you are correct," she interceded with a smile.
"Yes, yes… I've worked with him before on quite a few projects. I… was not aware he had children." McCallister tried to choose his words with care.
"You must not have known him that well then," Zoraida quipped at him with a smirk. He bit the inside of his cheek, taking offense to her statement. "He never mentioned you, to my memory. If you knew him as well as you think you did, then you would be pleased to know that I, too, am following in my father's footsteps."
His eye twitched with irritation, and her smirk deepened.
"So it would seem," he said through gritted teeth. "Lord Pritchard, might I have a private word with you?"
He averted his gaze to the English Lord for only a moment. He gulped in discomfort when he turned back to Zoraida and saw that she hadn't broken her harsh gaze and tight smirk.
"Of course, Ulysses," Lord Pritchard said with exaggerated genteel. He stepped forward, winking at Zoraida in passing.
The slight upturn of her lips stretched into a mischievous smile as she stepped backwards, giving a small nod to McCallister before leaving the tent with Jonathon.
Jonathon examined the dig site from where he stood with a loud sigh. "Blazes, it's bloody hot, isn't it?" He mused.
Checking to ensure her most needed tools were secure in the inside pockets of her tan fitted vest, Zoraida gestured towards him and set off towards the temple. "Come along, Jonathon. Let's take a look around."
Jonathon's eyes bulged out his head. "Ah, shouldn't we wait for the good chaps?"
"No," she scoffed, marching away from the tent. "I'm not going to stand around waiting."
The towering temple was truly a sight. Zoraida took note of its familiar architecture; it was comparable to another well-preserved temple she'd visited several times. As she ambled through the entrance to the temple, her gaze shifted upwards towards the part of the ceiling that had crumbled over time. Thankfully, it was only one part of the ceiling. If there was no effort to contain the current damage though, more of it would crumble under continuous pressure and excavation.
The rays of sunlight beamed through the open cracks in the walls and ceiling, the natural lighting guiding her towards new explorations. She placed a gentle hand on a lotus pillar, the stone warm against her palm. The warmth made her eyes flutter shut and she took a deep breath in.
She smelled the dry dustiness of sand, the faintest essence of rosy Rhondinium, and kyphi incense. It reminded her of a perfume that she bought at the bazaar in Cairo, laced with the notes of cassia, mint and cinnamon.
Releasing her breath, the faint rattling clinks of metal and wood sistrums and musical chanting filled her ears.
She opened her eyes and kept moving deeper within the temple. Her arm remained outstretched, her fingertips brushing against the pillars. This was what Zoraida loved about her job. At every new excavation, with a single touch of her fingertips she could smell, hear, feel the history and life from thousands of years ago.
Approaching a wall, faint remnants of hieroglyphs and paintings seemed to glow beneath a layer of dust and sand. She reached into her vest pocket and brought out a soft bristled brush and swept it over the wall. After uncovering the intricate painted figures on the walls she examined their forms and distinctive headdresses. The cartouches next to them revealed more clues.
"Ah, there she is!" Byron's nonchalant voice echo through the complex.
"Ms. LaBelle!" McCallister's came soon after, laced with venom.
"Mr. McCallister, have you learned to whom this temple belongs?" Zoraida asked without turning to speak to him. She simply kept brushing the dust and sand from the wall.
He didn't say anything but a few flustered stutters.
Rolling her eyes, she twisted her head to look back at his reddening face. "Well? Have you?"
He finally inhaled sharply and placed his hands behind his back. He tried in vain to compose himself in the presence of his wealthy friend. "No, we have not."
Zoraida's eyes roamed over the complex, observing the greater details. She flicked my brush between two fingers as she gathered my thoughts.
"Interesting," she stated, pursing her lips. She spied Byron leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed and sporting a small smile. She narrowed her eyes at him and began marching across the temple to the opposite wall. "You told me you didn't have any details, Lord Pritchard."
"I had my suspicions, Ms. LaBelle." Byron smiled wider.
"Don't be cheeky," she warned with a playful grin.
On the opposite wall, she swept her brush over some more hieroglyphs and paintings. Many of the original bold red, blue, black, and green colors were vibrantly on display and free from abandonment. she smiled with intellectual glee.
Zoraida turned back to Byron and McCallister. "You're lucky I'm here, Mr. McCallister. You appear to be excavating a temple for the Goddess Hathor."
The Egyptologist paled at her announcement. "I beg your pardon? How can you be so certain? You've only been here – "
"There are several paintings of her on these walls. A few of her woman form with the cattle horn headdress holding the sun disk. There is also at least one in her cattle form," Zoraida interrupted him, pointing out the areas she had dusted off. "And if you look above, you can see the painted constellations indicating a very early form of the Dendera Zodiac. You know, the one found in the Hathor Temple complex in Dendera?" She directed their attention with her brush to the ceiling above the center of the grand entrance.
McCallister only gaped up at the ceiling. So she continued. "The architecture indicates it was built well before the Dendera Hathor Temple complex. It's much smaller on one hand, and it's not Roman enough. I'd date this temple at three thousand years old, 19th Dynasty, at the start of it anyway. The fact that it's in the center of Thebes directs me to believe there was a royal, a Pharaoh or even a Queen, who had a close association with Hathor and wanted a temple erected to honor her."
McCallister seemed incapable of moving. Finally, he examined his whereabouts to see if any of his diggers were close enough to witness this newcomer showing him up. He cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders. "Thank you, Ms. LaBelle, for your interesting insight. Be that as it may, Lord Pritchard's insight will be sufficient from here on out."
"Oh, I doubt I'll be as insightful as Ms. LaBelle, Ulysses," Byron said, looking amused as he stepped forward. "You see, I have more broad knowledge of Egyptian religious cults and mysticism. My primary focus being Osiris. Ms. LaBelle, however, specifically specializes in female religious participation and Goddess worship. For an excavation like this, she's quite an asset."
Byron and Zoraida exchanged appreciative glances. McCallister seemed to have lost his voice as he tried to come up with something to say.
"I can create a simple layout of the temple and what you can expect to find from here on out. Something more refined than what I saw you looking at earlier," Zoraida offered McCallister. He confirmed her suspicions that he had been the one to draw them when he pursed his lips together. "If you didn't already know, further back in the temple will be the chapel and primary worship space."
Something tickled the backs of her ears.
Zoraida stopped.
It was like a whisper, a light breath on her neck. The space seemed still for a moment as she turned towards the back of the space.
"Zoraida?" Byron cocked his head to the side.
She held up a finger. There it was again, that tickle on her ears. She furrowed her brow. She twisted her body back towards the gentlemen. "Have you found the crypts yet?"
McCallister blinked at her question. "I beg your pardon? Er, no. How can we be certain there are crypts?"
Zoraida hummed, something itching in the back of my mind. She strode towards the back of the temple entering the open chapel space.
Byron, curious and intrigued, followed. McCallister only followed to display his rage.
She walked along one of the walls, her hand brushing against it. She stopped when she looked down at the ground. Stooping, she ran a hand over the ground to brush away a thick layer of sand. With a sweep of her arm she brushed the sand away to reveal a thick square stone slab.
"Mr. McCallister, you wouldn't happen to have a crowbar on hand, would you?" She called back to him.
Zoraida stood by with Byron as a few diggers fetched a crowbar and began to wrench the stone slab from the ground. Jonathon finally had the mind to join them now that something worth his time was discovered. Anything could be down there, he had said.
"Honestly, you could have identified this whole temple by yourself without my help." Zoraida sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Nonsense," Byron snickered. "And miss the genius I just witnessed. I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving you behind."
"You knew exactly what this place was. Admit it."
"I will not, because it's not true. Like I said, I had my suspicions. In my opinion, this is exactly what you needed," Byron said. "It destroys me to see you moping around that museum. Where you need to be is out here in the field."
She swallowed, not wanting to admit he was right.
She held her tongue as the diggers finally craned the stone slab out of the floor and dragged it away. She bolted forward and got to her knees to peer into the opening of the dark crypt.
After hammering a stake into the ground, she proceeded to lower herself into the shadowy space with a rope. It was barely a fifteen foot drop. Nearing the end of the rope, she dropped to the ground and rubbed her hands together.
"A torch and lighter, if you please!" She called back up.
Byron tossed a makeshift torch of wood and cloth down to her, followed by his personal lighter. The flame was slow to catch, but soon she could see more of the space around her. The sensitive flickering light made her tan sandstone skin glow like gold.
The crypts weren't for the claustrophobic. And as Zoraida had suspected, there were jars, chests, and crumbling statues filling the space. By the looks of it, these artifacts have been untouched in over three thousand years.
"Zoraida, is everything alright down there?" Byron called down, his head peeking over the edge.
"It's fine! Come on down! Bring more torches!" She called back up. Her eyes remained on the artifacts.
Faded hieroglyphs marked the walls of the crypt. She brought the torch up to see them better. Running a hand over them to sweep the dust off, she noticed a cartouche. It was almost completely faded. Lifting her hand, she traced the hieroglyphs with a finger.
Bread, the senet placed over the water, the reed…
"A-mun-et," Zoraida sounded under her breath as she read aloud the name inscribed in the cartouche.
Shivers ran through her whole body, her heart racing at an alarming rate. A whisper of a breath brushed past her ear. She spun around, expecting to catch it. She faced nothing but the contents of the crypt. She inched forward, her eyes darting around.
A black chest caught her eye, resting beneath a headless statue of a goddess. Balancing the torch against a statue of Anubis, Zoraida carefully placed the headless statue on the ground. She wiped her hands on her jodhpurs before resting a hand over the lid of the chest. The dark wood was carved with hieroglyphs. The most prominent was the scarab with rounded wings holding the sun disk.
Lifting the lid, the only thing she noticed was a necklace. A turquoise and gold scarab amulet. Taking it into her hand, Zoraida brought it closer to the torchlight. It was in impeccable condition. It had to have been as old as everything else in the crypt. Yet, it could have been mistaken for some old trinket she could have bought at the market. The gold still glimmered by the light of the fire, and the turquoise was bright and vivid.
"What's that?"
Zoraida jumped, shrieking and almost dropping the amulet.
Byron stood over her, chuckling with his own torch as she released a sigh of relief. He'd removed his jacket and rolled the sleeves up of his ivory button down shirt. His sandy waves were free from the confines of his helmet.
"Just…" she swallowed away the last of her fright, "an amulet I found here." She turned her head, eyeing McCallister climbing down the rope.
"It's turquoise, isn't it? That was commonly worn for Hathor, if I'm not mistaken," Byron noted.
She nodded, running her thumb over the stone embedded into the scarab shape. "But this isn't a typical menat that priestesses wore and used. Those consist of strings and strings of tiny turquoise beads. This is an actual necklace."
"It looks too pristine to have been here for over three thousand years," McCallister scoffed, leaning over Zoraida's shoulder. His eyebrow twitched. "It was likely made not that long ago and placed here. Some cruel prank done by some other excavation team, I would think."
She knitted her brows together. "That seems like a lot of work, don't you think? If there was another excavation team here then you would know already, and you wouldn't be here."
McCallister snorted and straightened himself. "It likely has no value, since as you said it isn't typical for a priestess's menat." With that he walked off to look around more.
Byron turned back to Zoraida. "So what do you think?"
She ran her thumb over it one more time. "I think it needs to be looked at some more. It's a peculiar find in a place like this."
"I agree," Byron said. He leaned in closer, casting a quick glance over his shoulder. "If McCallister doesn't think it has any value, keep it. Besides, it'll bring out your eyes."
Zoraida smirked.
He has a point, I suppose.
The blue-green of the turquoise and the gold of the necklace would accentuate the gold flecks within her dark amber eyes.
Like tiger's eye gems.
More characters come next chapter, and one of them's just looking for a good time ;D
Please FOLLOW, FAVORITE, and REVIEW! Thanks for reading!