Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. If I did, I would be a rich movie director named Stephen Sommers.

Author's Note: Thanks to all my reviewers. Sorry it took a while for me to get this section up. I've had a ton of homework. You'll notice this chapter is a lot shorter than the first chapter - the rest of the chapters will all be like this one. Hope you like it!



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The Reunion



Four days had passed since the attempt on Nefertiri's life had taken place. Since then, Evy had been kept in her room all the time by the stern Med-jai. The only time she left was when she insisted on practicing with her sais. Her room was gorgeous, much more lavish than the mansion she and Rick owned. But four days of staring at the same four walls, no matter how beautifully decorated, got to be a little much.

Evy flopped on her bed for the five hundredth time that day. There was nothing to do here! There weren't any books to read, and for her, that was torture. She couldn't talk to her maids, because all they said was "Yes, Princess." She was dying to talk to Rick, hear someone tease her and disagree with her. Rick could be simply infuriating at times, but the playful banter that went on between them was just a part of their relationship.

Evy sighed. She was just so bored. All at once an idea came into her mind. Evy lifted her head, and a glint entered her eyes as an evil smile cracked her lips.

All at once, before she knew what she was doing, she was jumping up and down on her bed like a lunatic. She was grinning and laughing like a little kid, having the most fun she'd had since her journey through time. But just then one of her servants entered the room, carrying a pile of folded-up sleeping gowns.

"Princess!" she exclaimed, dropping all the clothes. Evy guiltily jumped off the bed.

"Ah - I was just -" Words failed Evy. "I was just testing the bed," she offered lamely.

"Yes, Princess. If you say so. I came to tell you that your new Med-jai bodyguard is here. You are to go down to Pharaoh's throne room to meet him."

Evy sucked in her breath. "Oh, yes of course," she answered. Please let it be Rick, please let it be Rick, she prayed.

"Oh. One other thing," the maid added. "The High Priest Imhotep is back from his pilgrimage. He will also be in the throne room."

Evy felt her blood freeze in her veins as she forced herself to nod.





Rick impatiently waited in an outer room to the throne room. What was taking so long? He felt nervous and self-conscious in the new clothes the Med-jai had given him. All he was wearing was a leather kilt, sandals, and two knife straps held across his chest. He had almost refused to put the stuff on, but then he remembered that he had to play the part of Neharon. In any case, Evy wouldn't care about how he was dressed. If she even recognizes me with this hair, he thought, touching his shoulder length hair.

Just then the doors in front of him opened. The two men holding them open nodded at him.

Rick took a deep breath and began to walk forward. Okay, look confident, he coached himself. You are Mr. Tough Guy Rick O'Connell/Neharon. Play the part. He walked toward the front of the gold-covered room, taking long, deep strides and wiping every hint of a smile off his face.

Rick had been told what to do by the Med-jai. So when he reached the end of the path, he went on his knees on the cold stone floor and bowed deeply to Pharaoh, without ever looking up. Looking at the Pharaoh without permission was a serious offense, punishable by death. So as much as Rick hated to do it, he submitted himself to this man, whom the Egyptians called the Living God.

"Pharaoh Seti," Rick heard a man announce. "I present to you Neharon, bodyguard of the Princess Nefertiri."

"Stand up, Neharon," Seti commanded. "Let my daughter and me look at you."

So Rick stood up, and looked at the face of Pharaoh Seti. The man whose treasure had filled the dark chambers of Hamunaptra had an ordinary face. If Rick had seen him on the street three thousand years in the future, he never would have thought he was anything special.

"Hmm. I approve of this Med-jai," Seti announced. "What do you think, Nefertiri?"

"I also approve," a female voice replied. Like a dream, she stepped out of the shadows of the Pharaoh's massive throne. Rick looked at her, and their eyes connected. It was Evy!

Rick felt like he had stopped breathing. Evy was safe, she was all right. Everything would be fine now. . .

But then a voice came from the other side of Pharaoh. "I do not like this man," it said. "I do not think we should trust him with the job of protecting Princess Nefertiri."

Rick's body stiffened. He looked at the man who was also stepping out of the shadows. Light shined on the tan, bald head, and reflected in the eyes of Rick's mortal enemy as the man glared at him.

Imhotep.





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Author's Note: I'm not sure if everything in here is historically accurate. If not, please tell me, but no flames, all right? Reviews are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Please tell me what you think of this!