Chapter Four
Wandering through the camp, restless with his thoughts, Ardeth decided to seek the Seer without the aide of the Elders. He knew this was not proper, but he was unhappy with the lack of information provided to him in which to carry out his task.
He entered her tent slowly, and glanced about the dimly lit interior. She sat with her back to him; wrapped in sleeping robes, her long gray hair was exposed showing the braid that touched the small of her back. He swallowed hard before speaking. "Forgive the intrusion, but I seek your guidance."
She shook her head but did not turn to face him. "There is nothing I can tell you, my chief."
"Surely there is more than what the Elders have been told," he insisted as he moved closer.
She held up a hand stopping his movement. "That which you seek travels toward you from the east."
"The woman?"
"Yes."
He thanked her and turned to leave when she stopped him. "Sometimes we find that which we do not seek."
"I do not understand," he replied.
"You will, my chief. One day, you will."
When silence followed her strange statement he bid her goodnight and left the tent in search of Azeem and four of his best warriors. That number was more than enough needed to capture one woman.
************
Large and full, the moonlight was bright enough to illuminate her passage through the seemingly endless desert. The days of travel and desert heat had taken its toll on her despite the fact that she was in good physical condition. Several times over the past hour she found herself nodding off until she finally gave in to the need for sleep.
"Do you see this?" Zariah asked, pointing to the drawing she held.
"Yes, Mother," the six-year-old Najya responded. The drawing was of a sphere; perfect in its simplicity.
"This is the likeness of the Sphere of Ma'at," Zariah explained. "The Sphere is made of crystal and was formed by the Goddess Mother from one grain of sand."
Najya shook her head in disbelief. "Mother, that cannot be. One grain of sand would not create such a globe."
Zariah smiled at her daughter; so intelligent and inquisitive, she was not yet aware that in normal society this would be considered a curse. "That is true, darling. In the realm of the norm, it would not, but you must remember that the Goddess Mother possesses a vast wealth of magic and knowledge."
Najya listened to her mother intently, although she did not truly understand. Zariah continued. "Within the Sphere, she contained the magics which kept truth and justice safely balanced so that chaos would not consume the earth." Zariah smiled down at her daughter. "And it is said, if the Sphere is ever broken, the balance of justice and truth can never be repaired."
Najya gasped as she jerked awake. Now she understood the importance of the mission and her need to find the man who would take her to the Sphere increased immeasurably.
Another thing that increased was the feeling that she was no longer alone. The soft whinny of a horse just before a hand reached out to grasp the reigns of the camel brought the feeling to life. The camel stopped dead in its tracks and lowered its head abruptly sending the unprepared Najya tumbling end over end in the sand.
She was grabbed by the upper arms and lifted to her feet by a robed man on each side of her. Unsure of their intentions, she grasped their forearms and leapt upward, flipping behind them. Startled, they released their hold on her and turned to face her.
The first reached to grab her, but she deflected his arm with a downward chop block before spinning and kicking him squarely in his chest, sending him flying to land on his back a few feet away. The second bent at the waist and lunged forward to tackle her. She leapfrogged over him, turned quickly to plant a foot to his backside, and then pushed him headlong into the sand.
Feeling a presence behind her, she turned to see a third robed figure. He approached her, scimitar raised, ready to attack. She had no weapon and he was coming at her too fast. She raised a hand to block his progress. She could only see his eyes; his face was covered by the end of his ghutrah, which wrapped around the lower part of his face and neck. Even in the moonlight she found his eyes beguiling; she watched his eyes fill with confusion when he collided with the invisible wall she erected and landed squarely on his backside.
Najya gasped when he hit the ground. His ghutrah had loosened, revealing his entire face. Her vision...it was the man in her vision. Her momentary distraction was her downfall, while she stared in disbelief at the man on the ground before her; another hit her from behind. Knocked unconscious, she was unaware she fell to the ground into the waiting arms of the man she had been searching for all along.
~~~ To be continued...
Wandering through the camp, restless with his thoughts, Ardeth decided to seek the Seer without the aide of the Elders. He knew this was not proper, but he was unhappy with the lack of information provided to him in which to carry out his task.
He entered her tent slowly, and glanced about the dimly lit interior. She sat with her back to him; wrapped in sleeping robes, her long gray hair was exposed showing the braid that touched the small of her back. He swallowed hard before speaking. "Forgive the intrusion, but I seek your guidance."
She shook her head but did not turn to face him. "There is nothing I can tell you, my chief."
"Surely there is more than what the Elders have been told," he insisted as he moved closer.
She held up a hand stopping his movement. "That which you seek travels toward you from the east."
"The woman?"
"Yes."
He thanked her and turned to leave when she stopped him. "Sometimes we find that which we do not seek."
"I do not understand," he replied.
"You will, my chief. One day, you will."
When silence followed her strange statement he bid her goodnight and left the tent in search of Azeem and four of his best warriors. That number was more than enough needed to capture one woman.
************
Large and full, the moonlight was bright enough to illuminate her passage through the seemingly endless desert. The days of travel and desert heat had taken its toll on her despite the fact that she was in good physical condition. Several times over the past hour she found herself nodding off until she finally gave in to the need for sleep.
"Do you see this?" Zariah asked, pointing to the drawing she held.
"Yes, Mother," the six-year-old Najya responded. The drawing was of a sphere; perfect in its simplicity.
"This is the likeness of the Sphere of Ma'at," Zariah explained. "The Sphere is made of crystal and was formed by the Goddess Mother from one grain of sand."
Najya shook her head in disbelief. "Mother, that cannot be. One grain of sand would not create such a globe."
Zariah smiled at her daughter; so intelligent and inquisitive, she was not yet aware that in normal society this would be considered a curse. "That is true, darling. In the realm of the norm, it would not, but you must remember that the Goddess Mother possesses a vast wealth of magic and knowledge."
Najya listened to her mother intently, although she did not truly understand. Zariah continued. "Within the Sphere, she contained the magics which kept truth and justice safely balanced so that chaos would not consume the earth." Zariah smiled down at her daughter. "And it is said, if the Sphere is ever broken, the balance of justice and truth can never be repaired."
Najya gasped as she jerked awake. Now she understood the importance of the mission and her need to find the man who would take her to the Sphere increased immeasurably.
Another thing that increased was the feeling that she was no longer alone. The soft whinny of a horse just before a hand reached out to grasp the reigns of the camel brought the feeling to life. The camel stopped dead in its tracks and lowered its head abruptly sending the unprepared Najya tumbling end over end in the sand.
She was grabbed by the upper arms and lifted to her feet by a robed man on each side of her. Unsure of their intentions, she grasped their forearms and leapt upward, flipping behind them. Startled, they released their hold on her and turned to face her.
The first reached to grab her, but she deflected his arm with a downward chop block before spinning and kicking him squarely in his chest, sending him flying to land on his back a few feet away. The second bent at the waist and lunged forward to tackle her. She leapfrogged over him, turned quickly to plant a foot to his backside, and then pushed him headlong into the sand.
Feeling a presence behind her, she turned to see a third robed figure. He approached her, scimitar raised, ready to attack. She had no weapon and he was coming at her too fast. She raised a hand to block his progress. She could only see his eyes; his face was covered by the end of his ghutrah, which wrapped around the lower part of his face and neck. Even in the moonlight she found his eyes beguiling; she watched his eyes fill with confusion when he collided with the invisible wall she erected and landed squarely on his backside.
Najya gasped when he hit the ground. His ghutrah had loosened, revealing his entire face. Her vision...it was the man in her vision. Her momentary distraction was her downfall, while she stared in disbelief at the man on the ground before her; another hit her from behind. Knocked unconscious, she was unaware she fell to the ground into the waiting arms of the man she had been searching for all along.
~~~ To be continued...