Chapter 1: King's Gambit
000
The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves: 1. e4 e5 2. f4 White offers a pawn to divert the black e-pawn. If Black accepts the gambit, White has two main plans. The first is to play d4 and Bxf4, regaining the gambit pawn with central domination.
000
Sabah was going to kill them. She was going to kill everyone involved in her department starting with her TA's – one in particular – and then she was going to kill herself.
Smashing her face into the mess of papers strewn across her makeshift desk, Sabah hardly noticed - or cared - as her pen stabbed a hole in her notebook and started bleeding ink all over her notes.
Why in the name of Thoth did she think becoming a college student would be a good idea?
This was hell.
The closer it got to the holidays the less brain cells the other students in her class decided to use, the more the papers and assignments they were assigned to do piled up, and to top it all off she was basically doing the latest group project on her own.
Add in Ewan Moore almost daily finding of her and interrupting her work for completely asinine reasons instead of doing his own work like he should be doing – he was a TA, he shouldn't have the fucking time to be this social, she wanted her grades back damnit – she was ready to tear her hair out.
Or break down crying.
It was a toss-up most days.
So far she was settling for option three and hiding out in one of the store rooms for the South and Inner Asia part of the Oriental Studies department.
She'd originally tried the numerous coffee shops and libraries around Oxford, but Ewan apparently frequented them all the Nile damned time.
(She was one of the better students in the program, having a leg up in the fact that she was a nerd who considered her chosen topic of study her favorite pastime.
Add in her father and older brother who had Doctorates in Egyptology and who were more than happy to share their love and obsession with the rest of the family and she was practically living and breathing Ancient Egypt.
If Ewan wanted to get on good terms with her father and brother so badly why didn't he just talk to them instead of wasting her time?)
So, storerooms.
The lighting sucked in these places and the various crates gave her splinters, but at least here there wasn't a cat demanding attention and sitting on her laptop.
She loved her baby to pieces, but Toka just wouldn't let her work in peace at home because he wanted pets.
And she was weak.
Sabah didn't want to be working and as soon as Toka hopped in her lap, she would cave like wet tissue paper to his demand for pets and end up doing nothing.
Which was sounding really tempting right about now.
Putting her pen aside Sabah began rhythmically thumping her head onto her makeshift desk in time to her already pounding head to try and banish those thoughts and, hopefully, relieve some of her pent-up stress.
No such luck.
Was it possible to die from stress at twenty-two? Her family didn't have any history of heart disease, but a heart-attack felt very probable in her immediate future if her group didn't start contributing to this damn project with more than copy-and-paste answers from their textbook for their final case study of the semester.
Add in the amount of caffeine she was downing to stay awake and work on the rest of her papers she was surprised her heart hadn't given out yet.
As it was, she was a twitching mess, like a junky looking for their next fix.
…Maybe she needed a nap.
Maybe.
Just a small one.
Sabah frowned blearily down at her notes, ink swimming in and out of focus, before letting her head fall down again with a loud thump.
Scratch that, she definitely needed a nap.
She could just climb into a crate and sleep, out of sight in some place nice and dark where no one would be able to find her.
Or in a sarcophagus.
A sarcophagus sounded better, they were longer and more human shaped than a crate.
Cozy.
They had replicas of ancient sarcophagi in her departments' storeroom.
Her jacket would make a decent enough pillow if she bunched it up with her scarf.
The South and Inner Asia department probably wouldn't miss a few of the replicas of the clothing for the time period so she could have a nice enough blanket.
She'd sleep for an hour or two then get back to work.
Yes, that sounded nice.
"You look like your brain's about to spill out of your ears, Miss Sabah."
Shifting slightly to the side Sabah gave the amused looking janitor a flat look, unable to stop her left eye from twitching slightly as she squinted.
"My brain stopped working about a week ago. It wouldn't be that great of a loss."
"But it would be one more mess for me to clean up," the janitor told her mournfully, eyes going wide and watery as his bottom lip stuck out, "You wouldn't do that to me, would you Miss Sabah? Not this close to the holidays?" Sabah's face went even flatter.
"My cat pulls that off better than you."
The watery eyes disappeared immediately as the janitor clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Beaten again by fuzzy animals. I'm losing my touch."
"You're nearly sixty. The closest thing you can get to cute at this point is senility."
His face spasmed like he'd bitten into a lemon.
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Miss Sabah." James muttered dryly. Pulling herself upright Sabah stuck her nose in the air, tossing her braided hair over a shoulder for good measure as she adopted the most snobbish voice she could muster.
Coincidentally, it sounded suspiciously similar to one of her group mates.
"But James, what else would brighten the monotony of your day if not for me and my razor wit?"
"Vacuuming first thing Monday morning while all the hungover students cringe in agony." James replied, wry humor twisting his face up into a smile. A moment later all humor was replaced by seriousness. "Still, I think it's best if you went home for the day, Miss Sabah. You have that look in your eyes again."
Eyebrows furrowed "What look?"
"The same look you had right before I found you on the floor not half an hour later crumbling a granola bar into pieces and crying hysterically." Sabah flushed.
"That was one time!"
"And I would like to keep it that way." James told her firmly, "You're one of my favorite students on this campus, Miss. I would hate for the stress to kill you."
"It's not the stress that's going to kill me," She whined, draping herself over her notes again so she could bury her head in her arms. "Why are all my group mates so lazyyy? Whyyyy?"
"This is coming from the girl that typically skips meals if she didn't bring anything with her because having to walk to a café would be and I quote, 'troublesome'?"
Sabah stuck her tongue out. "I'm not lazy when it comes to school."
"But still lazy."
"Yeah yeah, I'm a bloody hypocrite. But I'm a hypocrite with an impressive GPA."
"Then taking the weekend off won't kill you." James said mildly.
Sabah straightened up, "But-"
"But nothing," James cut in firmly, "You're exhausted and barely functional. Go home. Sleep. Or better yet, go to your parent's house and sleep. They'll feed you."
"But-"
"You're not sleeping in the sarcophagi again, Miss Sabah. You scared a class half to death the last time you did. Go home. Eat. Sleep. Preferably in that order."
"I have work." Sabah stressed, trying to keep her papers in place as James started shoving them into her bag haphazardly. He only pried them out of her grip and stuffed them in with the rest.
"Work from home." He ordered, hooking an arm around her shoulders so he could forcefully drag her from the room. "I know you finished your part of the group project a week after it was assigned so stop trying to do your groupmates' portions. Now shoo. Go. Be gone! I banish you from these lands until the time that you are mentally stable, pain free, and no longer sleep deprived."
Stumbling a bit from the light shove Sabah turned around to give him the stink eye, shouldering her bag as she did so.
"I'm a college student. Those things kind of go hand in hand."
In reply James hefted the mop he propped by the door, waving it around wildly and jabbing it in her direction, "I banish thee!"
Sabah yelped. "I'm going, I'm going!" Ducking under a wild swing she started off down the hallway. She paused at the end of the corridor long enough to shake her fist at the janitor. "You will rue the day you banished me. Rue!"
A small bottle of pills was winged in her direction, smacking against her leg and sent skittering down the hall. "Take some aspirin for your headache before you drive home!"
Sabah couldn't keep from cracking a grin, "Thanks James! You're the best."
"I'm well aware. Now go already."
Sending a half-arsed salute towards the janitor Sabah set off at a jog.
James was right she admitted to herself, albeit grudgingly. Taking the weekend off wouldn't set her back too far, and maybe the radio silence with her classmates would make them sweat enough so that they actually got off their arses and do something.
Popping the top on the bottle and dry swallowing a couple of pills Sabah set off towards her car, mentally praying she didn't have a ticket from parking in a faculty spot again.
She did, in fact, have a ticket.
It was promptly shoved in the glove box with the six others that she would have to pay before the semester ended.
For a few minutes Sabah just rested her head against the steering wheel, debating whether she should actually drive or just sleep in the car. She had an SUV, she could lay down the back seat and fit comfortably enough.
The backseat wasn't that comfortable though, and more importantly, it didn't have her cat.
Cranking the engine Sabah set off towards home, more on autopilot than actually focusing on where she was going.
Dropping her bag by the door Sabah managed to make it as far as her couch before collapsing, tugging the knit blanket there around her like a cocoon and smashing her face into the cushions.
She stayed awake long enough to register the feeling of a foreign weight and warmth settling against her torso before she was out like a light.
000
"Sabah, wake up."
Gentle shaking. The warmth on her side shifted and moved with a cranky meow.
"Wake up."
"Nnneee"
More shaking.
"Stahp go away."
"Wake up."
"Noooooo~"
Curling up tighter, Sabah pulled the blanket over her head.
She was hiding. No one could see her under the blanket. She could keep sleeping.
Yes.
More sleep for her.
The blanket was suddenly ripped away, sending Sabah sprawling to the ground as someone practically screamed in her ear.
"GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE! YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE! YOU MAKE ME HAPPY~ WHEN SKIES ARE GREY!"
Shrieking, Sabah grabbed the nearest cushion and attempted to smother the intruder at the same time Toka yowled and lunged for their head.
They both missed because the arsehole that was her little sister had thrown herself backwards the minute she finished singing and scuttled out of reach.
Rania gave her a grin, all sunshine, rainbows, and schadenfreude. "Good morning, sister dear."
Sabah threw another cushion.
"No."
"I believe the appropriate response is 'good morn-"
"No."
"I made breakfast."
"..."
Sabah's stomach gave a traitorous rumble.
"And tea."
"...Morning." Sabah greeting grudgingly.
Rania snorted, rising to her feet and dusting the non-existent dust from her trousers as she made her way back into the kitchen area of their shared flat.
"Go and feed your furry dictator. Breakfast should be done by then."
Sabah reluctantly complied, stumbling around like a drunkard getting to where she kept the cat food before settling down at the small table with sigh, kneading at the bridge of her nose.
"Did you have to wake me up like Amir does?" Sabah whined and Rania only shrugged, most of her focus on the pan she was still stirring.
"You weren't getting up."
"All my siblings are arseholes."
"But you still love us."
"Only the gods know why." Sabah muttered, smacking her hands against her face trying to wake herself up more. "You said there was tea?"
Rania tilted her head towards the electric kettle they kept by the fridge as she cracked an egg into the pan. "Water's done. Just pour it in the teapot. I already put in the lemons."
"You might not be so bad after all." Pouring the hot water into the pot, Sabah took a moment to just inhale the tang of citrus and honey. "Wasn't it supposed to be my turn to cook?"
"I'm lulling you into a false sense of security." Rania said, placing the pan of food on the table next to the tea pot and cups Sabah had brought to the table, "And you look worse than you normally do, so I figured you needed it."
All of which was true. But this was her sister, so she had to deny it on principle.
Sabah gratefully loaded her plate. "I don't look that bad."
"If you looked in a mirror you'd crack it."
Ok...ouch.
"We share a face Rani, so you're basically insulting yourself." Sabah reminded blandly, which only made Rania sniff.
"I'm the pretty twin."
"I think you mean arrogant. You really need to stop mixing up your adjectives."
"Eat before you pass out again."
Sabah wrinkled her nose and poked at her food suspiciously with her fork. "You didn't poison it did you?"
"Eat your food, ungrateful swine."
The banter done with, they settled into a comfortable silence and dug into the food, draining the teapot in minutes, refilling it as needed, and occasionally tossing scraps of egg and toast to Toka who had decided to stop sulking about his joint wake-up call with his owner to lurk beneath the table.
The spoiled brat was a master at begging for scraps. He may not have made any noise, but it was hard to ignore a cat that was weighed a little over thirteen kilograms propped halfway on your lap and following your fork with his eyes.
Giving in Sabah put a couple of sausages on the floor for the maine coon to finish off.
"You working today?" Sabah asked absently, not taking her eyes off her cat.
"Not today, but I'm supposed to go in on Sunday." Rania muttered around the rim of her tea cup. "You?"
"I'm thinking of taking the full weekend." Sabah admitted reluctantly, "I need to catch up on sleep before I completely lose it."
Rania snorted and tossed another sausage in the air for Toka to catch. Completely unhindered, which wasn't the norm.
"Where's Gremlin?" Sabah asked, absently looking around for the little furry shadow that normally stalked her cat.
Rania scowled. "Locked in his cage," she grumped in exasperation, "He got into my bag again."
"Oh?" Sabah grinned eagerly, "What did he take this time?"
"My eyeliner, glasses, phone, and wallet." Rania ticked off on her fingers.
Sabah snorted tea through her nose, collapsing on the table in a coughing fit and choked laughter. Her sister's ferret really was the best.
"Did you get all your stuff back?" Sabah asked once she could breathe again.
"I still can't find my eyeliner." Rania admitted blandly, "I was hoping you could help me look since you're free."
"Have you checked under the fridge? He figured out he could fit under there last week."
Narrowing her eyes, Rania got up from the table and grabbed the torch they kept by the window. Clicking it on she peered under the fridge.
Kneading her forehead, Rania switched off the torch. "Why did I want a ferret again?"
"Found your eyeliner I take it?"
"That and what looks like six socks, the bra that I had thrown away, and my missing laptop charger. Seriously, what was I thinking?" Rania lamented, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I must have been out of my mind when I bought him. I knew he was going to be a handful. The first thing he did when I tried to play with him was try to bite through my hand. That should have been a clue, but noooo. I had to buy the ferret."
"He keeps life interesting and you love him."
"That doesn't diminish my desire to tie him in a knot at all."
"Hey, that just means he's family." Chugging the rest of her tea, Sabah went to get a coat hanger so they could start fishing out the things under the fridge.
000
"I should smoother all of his toys in Bitter Apple Spray." Rania muttered, tossing the recovered clothing into the washing machine, the bra back in the trash with the lid securely closed this time, and her laptop charger well out of reach of the furry menace.
"Then you'd have to wash them all." Sabah reminded, nursing another cup of tea.
"The satisfaction I would feel would outweigh the added work."
Sabah blinked in bemusement. "You're really stressed, aren't you? Your fuse is a lot shorter than usual."
"Well, you're not the only one whose running on practically no sleep and caffeine." Sinking down into her chair with a sigh, Rania gratefully took the cup Sabah and refilled. "I might just call into work tomorrow so I can catch up on sleep too. I nearly broke down crying when my pen ran out of ink yesterday." Flicking her eyes up from the cup, Rania raised an eyebrow. "I am surprised you actually decided to come home instead of crashing in the store room again."
"James banished me. Apparently I scare the rest of my department when I sleep in some of the replicas."
Rania choked back a laugh. "We need to get the man something nice for Christmas for putting up with us these past couple of years. Gods know it can't be easy."
"He loves our crazy. It matches his sense of humor."
"Who said I was crazy? You're the crazy one." Rania said tartly. Sabah playfully stuck out her tongue.
"You just have a better poker face so you don't get caught."
Rania rolled her eyes, but her lips were turned up into a barely visible smirk as she sipped at her tea.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence after that, the purring of a cat the only noise for a while until Rania put down her cup with a delicate 'clink'.
"Speaking of presents, Teta sent us something. It came in the mail yesterday." Getting up, Rania walked to the front hallway and grabbed the package off the side table by the door, bringing it to the kitchen.
It was a relatively small box, only about two hand widths wide and relatively light. As the package moved a soft jingling could be heard.
Plopping back down in her seat Rania waved the box in the air. "Do you want to do the honors or shall I?"
Looking down at the cat sprawled across her lap and hugging her left arm, Sabah just raised an eyebrow. Rania rolled her eyes.
"Right, stupid question. How could you possibly inconvenience your furry overlord?" Sabah stuck out her tongue.
Rania rolled her eyes again, but obligingly got up again to get a pair of scissors to cut through the tape.
Inside were two ring boxes, labels with their names were scrawled across the top of each with more tape. Prying her arm free from Toka, Sabah took her box and immediately opened it. Instead of the ring she was expecting, she saw a tangle of thin golden bands, bent in weird shapes and all connected at a center point. What looked like random bits of red stone dotted the bands.
Sabah had no idea what this was supposed to be.
Rania, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what it was, ooh-ing and ah-ing over her own box as she examined the bands with blue stones embedded in hers.
"These are amazing! Where did she even find these? No, more importantly how much did she pay for these?! With how detailed they are they must have cost a fortune!"
"Wanna fill me in on what they are? Please? Because I'm drawing a blank. How are they worth anything? They look like a mini messed up slinky."
"Messed up- do these look cheap to you?" Rania demanded incredulously, pointing at her own set. "These are real gold and old gold at that. And look at how detailed these bands are! They're tiny and still have engravings on some of them. And that's not even taking into account the stones!"
Sabah held up her hands and patted at the air. "Okay, okay, chill Rani. I'm not saying they aren't detailed, but I still don't know what they are."
Rania's glare didn't let up in the slightest, "They're puzzle rings, you absolute walnut."
"Puzzles?" Sabah's eyes lit up, "Bril! So if I put these together it should form a ring?" she asked eagerly.
"Don't you ever pay attention when Mama talks about some of the antiques she insures? If you had it would be obvious."
"Those were Turkish weren't they?" Sabah asked absently, already fiddling with her puzzle. "They weren't Egyptian. Why would I bother with Turkish jewelry?"
"So we can have work conversations that don't have anything to do with Egypt?" Rania offered wryly, starting to work on her puzzle as well.
Sabah snorted, "You and Mama are outnumbered."
"So you keep reminding me." Rania rolled her eyes before focusing back on her puzzle. "Still, these look like antiques. Why would Teta buy these? They had to be expensive."
"She might've gotten them from Aam." Sabah offered, not taking her eyes off the puzzle, "He always brings weird things home, but he does find some treasures every now and again. We've gotten a few gifts like that from him before."
"Still…" Rania paused with her fiddling, looking conflicted. "These are expensive. Is it okay for us to keep them?"
"You know Teta won't let us give them back," Sabah reminded, "We'll just need to pool our money and give her a really nice gift when we go back to Alexandria this summer." Sabah glanced at the tea pot on the table. "Should we go for broke and buy her a new tea set? She liked that glass and gold one she saw on display the last time we went shopping with her. It came with a table."
Rania thought about it, hands automatically playing with the golden bands again. "We'll need to start saving now. Even then that will be pushing it with our salaries."
"Sounds like a plan!" Sabah hummed cheerfully, shooting her sister a wink. "We'll need to thank Teta later for giving us something to do with our time off."
"I thought we were going to catch up on sleep?" Rania asked wryly.
"We have puzzles." Sabah stressed, waving her own in the air for emphasis. Rania looked back down at her own, rubbing a thumb over the tiny fragments of blue stone embedded in the bands.
"Just an hour or two." She decided, "I still have to be at work tomorrow so I'll need to catch up on sleep before then."
Sabah smiled happily, bouncing up from her chair. "Then let's move to the living room. We can lay on the couch and pass out as we like so we won't have to move too much."
"I call the chaise."
"You'll have to kick Houdini off it first." Sabah smirked, hooking a thumb in the general direction. Confused, Rania turned to look at the chaise. And her ferret trying to reach the lamp shade from the back of it.
"Gremlin!"
000
Thirty minutes later, both sisters had fallen asleep, hands slack with the puzzles dangling slightly between their fingers.
They didn't even stir as gold glowed, forming a mist of light that wound around their arms and sunk into skin.
Shadows rustled in the corners.
Author's Note: Not my usual fandom but this story idea's been in my head for a while. Update schedule for this or anything else is unknown. I work in healthcare so saying things are crazy where I live would be putting it mildly. Enjoy, stay safe, and for the love of Ra wash your hands.