Chapter 4: Evy's Dream
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At night they stopped to rest the horses and eat a hasty meal, and Evy asked about the story they all wanted to hear.
Rick sat next his wife, with Alex pressed against his other side. He had one arm about the boy's shoulders, and Alex, who recently had begun to shrug off such overt signs of affection -- considering them embarrassing -- did not try to draw away. On the other side of Evy, Jonathan listened to the tale, wide-eyed with astonishment.
"The father of Lock Nah was a powerful man, and he had many wives," Faisal ibn Sheik said. "Kadyn was only Lock Nah's half-brother, but they were as close as brothers bound by blood. Both boys grew to become strong, charismatic men like their father. But where Lock Nah defied the Med-jai in every way he could, scorning us and our customs, Kadyn conformed more and sometimes urged his brother to see reason. Lock Nah would not wear the tattoos of the Med-jai, as you saw, but Kadyn did. In such ways were the brothers different."
The nine other Med-jai formed the rest of the circle. They all knew this story, but they listened intently -- hoping, perhaps, to hear something different in it this time.
"The leader of the Med-jai at this time was Sohail Bay, and he was wise and cautious, a good man. His wife had died shortly after bearing him his only son, and for the rest of his life, he honored her memory and did not take another wife."
Evy nudged him slightly, and Rick pretended not to notice. They had never talked about her death, and he did not intend to start tonight. Not here. Not while they were still in Egypt.
"Sohail led us well, but he was already old when his son was born and eventually he grew sick and weak. Lock Nah saw this and began speaking out against our leader, agitating many of the youths in the tribes to join with him. Soon an entire faction of the Med-jai was under his spell."
Faisal looked at Rick. "Do you wonder why Ardeth did not put a stop to this?"
Rick cleared his throat. He did not, as a matter of fact, but the question made sense. "Okay. Tell us why he didn't."
"He was devoted to his father, and his love for Sohail blinded him to the truth of what was happening among his people. He knew it but chose to ignore it."
Faisal's dark eyes bored into his. "In the year the French were slaughtered at Hamunaptra, Lock Nah challenged Sohail Bay for his leadership."
This surprised Rick. He had always been a bit curious as to how someone as young as Ardeth led the Med-jai, but he had never thought to ask. He realized now that Ardeth had only taken command in the same year Rick had first seen him high on the clifftop, watching as Rick ran away from the massacre at Hamunaptra and the voices that whispered under the sand.
"It is the right of any Med-jai to challenge the leader, but this had not been done in centuries. Lock Nah was the first to be so arrogant.
"Sohail could not refuse. He and Lock Nah battled."
At his side, Alex snuggled closer, and Rick pressed his son's shoulders tight. After their return to London, it had been months before Alex stopped wanting to sleep with them at night, his sleep wracked by dreams of the man who had abused him throughout Egypt. He knew it could not be easy for Alex to hear this story about his kidnapper.
"Lock Nah bested Sohail, and brought the leader to his knees. He had Sohail on the point of his sword, when he demanded to be named as the next leader." Faisal lifted his eyes heavenward, then looked back down at Rick. "Sohail announced his son would be his successor, then slashed his own throat on Lock Nah's sword."
Evy let out a cry of sympathetic pain. Rick said nothing, but he hugged Alex a little harder.
"Ardeth Bay, the new leader of the Med-jai, took up the challenge his dead father had left unanswered. He bested Lock Nah in combat, but although he had the right to kill his foe, he did not. He chose to show mercy, and instead he exiled Lock Nah, casting the man out of the Med-jai forever."
"I bet he regretted that decision," Rick mumbled, and cursed the words as soon as he spoke them.
But Faisal was not offended. "He did," the warrior said. "For shortly after Lock Nah's banishment, Kadyn Nah arrived to confront Ardeth. He denounced the leader, and proclaimed his self-exile. He was now longer a Med-jai, either, he said. Before all who watched, he took a knife to his face and cut himself, removing the tattoos that had marked him as Med-jai. Dazed and bleeding, he rode away, and we did not see him again."
Alex poked his head out from under Rick's arm. "What did Ardeth do then?"
"He did nothing. It was Kadyn Nah's choice to leave. Ardeth could not stop him."
Rick lifted the hand that had been draped over Alex's shoulders, and touched his cheek. "He really cut himself?"
"I saw it," said Faisal ibn Sheik. "I am Commander of the J'hia tribe of the Med-jai, and I am second only to Ardeth Bay. I witnessed his rise to leader, and it is my hope and my prayer that I do not witness his fall."
Rick said nothing to this, wondering if he would ever get used to the slightly dramatic way the Med-jai spoke.
Faisal stared into the fire for a moment, then stirred. "It is late," he said, "and we must ride before the dawn. You should get some sleep." He stood, walked out of the circle of light cast by the fire, and disappeared into the darkness.
He had learned a lot about these people tonight, Rick reflected, and even more about his friend. So why did he still feel that he would never fully understand them?
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That night, Evelyn O'Connell had a dream. It was not of Ancient Egypt, like she had dreamed before, but it had the same truth to it. She beheld her dream and she knew it would come to pass.
She saw a cluster of tents on a rocky spit of land beneath a high cliff. Men were shouting and firing guns, and most of them were dressed in black robes, but one of them wore a white shirt and had blue eyes, and she knew him as her husband and was afraid for him.
"Enough!" The man who shouted was tall and muscular, and he looked like the man who had almost killed her in her own home, except that old scars marred the beauty of his dark face. Before him was his prisoner, bound and helpless. He held a knife to Ardeth's throat, and his eyes flashed with rage. "Enough, or he dies!"
Immediately all movement in the camp came to a halt. Rick froze, his gun aimed at Kadyn Nah's head.
"Put down your weapons. All of you." Kadyn Nah spoke quietly, confident of his victory.
As one, they obeyed. Rick laid his pistol on the ground with tangible reluctance.
High on the cliff, where she watched it all, Evy began to tremble.
For a moment they all stood still. Ardeth made no move to free himself from his captor. The leader of the Med-jai stared steadily at Faisal ibn Sheik.
Kadyn Nah glared at the black-robed warriors. "You will give us Hamunaptra."
"And if we do not?" asked Faisal.
As his only answer, Kadyn moved the knife at Ardeth's throat, pressing hard enough to draw blood. The Med-jai did not flinch or even blink.
"Never," Faisal said.
Ardeth began to smile.
Evy leaned forward, a cry rising in her throat. But she was here only as a spectator, and the events of her dream were beyond her control. She knew what would happen next, but she was powerless to stop it.
"Faisal ibn Sheik, I name you!" Ardeth cried. "Lead the Med-jai!" He whipped his head to the side, slashing his own throat.
"No!" The scream broke from her, tearing through the air.
Ardeth's knees buckled, and he fell. Shocked rage widened Kadyn Nah's eyes.
Rick, her darling husband, dropped to one knee and scooped up his gun. Before the pistol was more than a few inches off the ground, he fired.
Kadyn Nah staggered back, a dime-sized hole in his forehead. Still wearing that expression of surprised anger, he collapsed.
"No," Evy sobbed. "No! No!"
Faisal ibn Sheik and the Med-jai did not move; they knew the truth. Only Rick ran to Ardeth, his face twisting with grief. One hand reached forward, then was snatched back. "Oh, God." The same helplessness that had seized him when she died in Ahm Shere took hold of him now. He knelt there, in tears, unable to move.
Evy buried her face in her hands, sobbing desolately.
****
Jonathan was a sound sleeper, but his sister's cries reached him and tore him from sleep. Still befuddled, he leapt to his feet, turning in circles, looking for danger. He was horribly aware that he was unarmed, and as he spun about, he half-expected to see the grinning figure of Imhotep walking toward them.
Instead he saw Evy, sobbing in Rick's arms. Alex stood nearby, his hair corkscrewed, blue eyes full of worry. "Mum?"
Rick shooed him away. "She just had a bad dream. She'll be all right." He looked around. "Jonathan?"
Falling into his usual role of chaperone, Jonathan walked up to Alex and gently led the boy away from his parents. "She'll be fine, Alex," he said, hoping he sounded more certain than he felt. It was not at all like Evy to get so upset.
As though she had heard his thoughts, Evy sat up, pushing Rick away. She looked around until she saw Faisal ibn Sheik, who stood a discreet distance away along with the other Med-jai, who had come running at the screams.
"You can't do it," Evy said. "It will all go wrong."
Faisal frowned and walked forward. "Can't do what?"
"You can't go in there like you've planned," Evy said. "If you do, Ardeth will die."
The Med-jai took a deep breath. "You had a dream," he began.
"A dream that showed me the truth!" Evy snapped. She was angry now, her brown eyes flashing. With her long hair tangled about her shoulders and one sleeve of her blouse sliding down, she still looked beautiful, and for a moment Jonathan almost didn't recognize her. What had ever happened to the little girl he had known, the child who wore her hair in braids and who whispered tales of fantasy to him at night when they were supposed to be sleeping?
"Listen to me," Evy said. She recounted her dream, and Jonathan winced when she reached the end and told them about Ardeth's suicide. "If you go in there and attack them like you did with us when we were at Hamunaptra, the events of my dream will happen," she said flatly.
Rick turned to Faisal. "Why would you attack a camp of only four men?" he asked.
"There are more than four," Evy and Faisal said at the same time.
Jonathan sighed. He supposed they ought to have expected it. But he was still disappointed. Why did things always have to be harder than you hoped?
"How many are there?" asked Rick.
"Fifteen, at least," said Faisal. "Possibly twenty."
"That you know of?" asked Jonathan, worried by the implications behind that statement.
"We have been aware of Kadyn Nah's presence out here for a few months," said the commander. "As long as he remained where he was, we were content to let him be."
Jonathan shook his head. There was another decision Ardeth must surely be regretting by now. "So how will we do this, then?" he asked.
"There's only one way," Rick said quietly. "A large group attack won't work. Seems like someone's got to sneak in there, grab Ardeth, and get the hell out of there."
Jonathan stared at his brother-in-law, and was completely unsurprised when Rick added, "I owe your leader a debt I can never repay. But this way, maybe I can start."
Faisal ibn Sheik looked at Rick for a long moment, then he slowly nodded.
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