Hello!
I'm back! Sry it took me so long to update; I was on a wonderful
vacation.......ooooh, I miss it! Anyway, here's the next chapter....wow. I have
a lot of new reviewers! Let's welcome all of them! Cheers applause
etc. Lol. Ok. The new reviewers are:
Cari and funnygal2205! Thanx, you guys! And thanx to Deana and Imhotep's Lover
for their excitement for the story J, and to Nakhti for
being an awesome reviewer and for telling me happy b-day, and to EvelynCO27
simply for bein such a gr8 best friend and sweetie (it was great seeing you!)
and to funnygal and Cari and Nakhti and....geez. There's too many people to
thank! Anyway, I love you all so much! Your last reviews made me sooooo happy!
*blushes* thanx to you all........and Nakthi, thank you for saying all that
about me being such a great writer for my age. And Cari, thanx for getting hooked
on my story (lol) and for being such a sweetie ;), and funnygal, thanx for
telling me I have major skills. Lol. I feel so special! OK, gang. Though it
took me FOREVER to write, here's the next chapter:
Chapter 12
Later that night, after the golden sun had sunk beneath the waves of sand, and after the silver moon had replaced it, Evelyn and Alex sat together in their tent, arguing.
"Alex, one child is hard enough to watch out for! I mean, you get into so much trouble, and I really don't think-"
"Mum," Alex replied, "I'm not like most other kids. Shanala'll be a breeze to take care of!"
Evelyn had a sudden vision of Alex and Shanala racing through the house, screaming at the top of their lungs, arguing always…running into priceless vases…
"Alex, I just don't think your father-"
"I'll ask him! C'mon, Mum! Please! I need a little sister! Please, please, please?"
Evelyn looked down at her son's desperate face, and she sighed, "Alex…it's not my decision…"
"Yes it is. Just say yes, please Mum?"
"Alex, I-"
"Mum! Please?"
Evelyn moaned, looked off into the distance, and bit her lip. Alex was persistent, though, and he came over and hugged her, "Mum.…please? Please, Mum? This is all I ever want again for my entire life!"
"Alex, Darling, what if your father and I…well…I mean…does it have to be Shanala?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because…it's just…something about her…I…I really want her for my little sister. Please, Mum. Just say yes?"
Evelyn watched him carefully, not for the first time noticing how alike he was to his father; in that case, it was pointless. Rick was one of the most stubborn human beings on the planet. Combined with her own resolution, Alex had to be more bull-headed than anyone she knew. Finally, closing her eyes, she whispered, "Yes."
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Shanala hated explaining things. It just seemed to be such a hassle, and she hardly ever did well. She always got people confused and angry, and she didn't want to do that…especially now. She swallowed hard and leaned against the tree behind her. Rick was sitting next to her, his head turned towards her, and Ardeth was next to him, also looking at her. Jonathan and Izzy were in a corner of the woods arguing over some unpaid debt, and from what Shanala could see, they were both very angry.
She focused her attention back on Rick and Ardeth, and then sighed, "Alright. I'm terrible at explaining things…so bear with me."
Rick nodded, "Ok."
"Alright. Well…you all know now that Anck-su-namun was my stepmother, right?"
They all nodded.
"Ok. Well, there was a reason that she married my father other than for the apparent."
"Which is?" Rick asked.
"To be queen and/or get to Imhotep."
"Figured."
"Right. Well, that reason was…to put it simply, to kill me."
Rick and Ardeth raised their eyebrows but said nothing, so Shanala
continued.
"See, Anck-su-namun was born and raised to hate Isis's Blessing."
"Why?"
"Because…well, see, Isis is known to most as the pure goddess…the good, kind, sweet…anything like that, goddess. Now, as I'm sure you're aware of, Anck-su-namun is anything but any of those things."
Rick snickered, and Ardeth nodded, a smile on his lips.
"Ok, ok. I get it. Anck-su-namun is anything but...all that, but...that doesn't explain about how she was raised to hate Isis. I mean, normal parents don't raise their kids to be evil wenches," Rick stated, still laughing.
Shanala turned deathly serious, "Rick, she didn't have any parents."
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Lock-Nah was going to kill him. He swore it on his own life. His jaw was throbbing with every minute that passed as he clenched his teeth in anger, trying to ignore Alex's mocking.
"Hurry up!" he snapped, shoving Alex forward.
"I am!"
"No you're not!"
"I'm going a fast as I can!"
"No you're not!"
"Yes I am!"
"No you're n-"
"Enough!"
Alex and Lock-Na both jumped as Anck-su-namun's voice cracked through the air like a whip. They both turned to her, who glared at Lock-Na and stated, "You are acting like a child!"
Lock-Na faltered, and Alex was pleased to see that he looked both angry and ashamed. They had been walking all night and all day, and now that they had reached the outside of the tomb, Alex was feeling a lot better…and therefore, more rebellious. "Aww! Did wittle Lock-Na get his wittle feelings hurt?"
"Shut up!" Lock-Na snarled, swiping at Alex.
Alex chuckled deviously, continuing forward. "When's my dad gonna be here?" he asked Lock-Na.
"How should I know?"
"It's your job. You're supposed to know when to gather your men and all that..."
Lock-Nah rolled his eyes, and then muttered, "Perhaps...a few more hours."
"Hours? I can hardly stand looking at your face for a few more seconds!"
Lock-Na clenched his teeth together and growled, "I'm warning you…one more word…"
"I'm warning you…one more word," Alex mocked.
Evelyn turned then, shooting her son a warning glance just as Lock-Nah lashed out with his fist and hit Alex in the back of his head. Alex stumbled forward and collapsed on the sand, clutching his skull and glaring up at Lock-Nah.
"Alex! Are you ok?" Evelyn raced past the soldiers seperatimng her from her son and dropped next to Alex, "Darling...oh...I told you not to do that..."
"I'm ok, Mum."
"For now," Lock-Nah snarled, "But I swear to you, Boy, that before this day is through, you will die at my hand."
Alex normally wouldn't have minded Lock-Nah's words, but he had said them with such severity and promise that Alex's courage faltered for a split second. That was enough time for Lock-Nah to turn and storm away, his hand resting at the sheath of is sword.
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"No parents?" Rick was getting worried that perhaps he would have to explain the entire 'birds-and-bees' story to Shanala after all, no one could be born without parents.
"Oh! I mean, she had parents...but they gave her up to my grandfather as soon as she was born."
"Thank God," Rick muttered, "...wait. Why was she given up...?"
Shanala bit her lip and began walking forward. Rick jerked up his guns and knapsack and raced after her, motioning to Ardeth and Jonathan to follow.
"Well," Shanala said, looking behind her to make sure that Rick was following, "She was given uip as a guilt-offering."
"Guilt offering? For what?"
"Her father."
Rick stopped and frowned, "Well...what did he do? I mean..."
"I'm getting there," Shanala replied calmly, stepping over a fallen log, "Her father was very poor and very unpopular in Thebes. He was a robber and a swindler, and he would even kidnap for money. E was greedy and selfish...traits that my grandfather despised."
"Go on," Rick said simply snapping his fingers behind him to shut up Jonathan, who had been raising his voice to get above Izzy's cries of "You greedy, selfish, lying, conniving-"
"One day, Anck-su-namun's father went a little too far. He thought up a plan to get into the palace, and he attempted to murder my grandfather's scribe."
Rick raised his eyebrows, 'This is getting good."
"It qwoulnd;t have meant so much to any other pharaoh with any other scribe," Shanala explained, stopping for a second to catch her breath, "But my grandfather and his scribe had been friends for life. In fact, their children were betrothed to each other from birth."
"Wow. Nice."
"Yea. After my grandfather found out of the attempted murder, he summoned Anck-su-namun's father to his throne and sentenced his to death. However, a proposition was made: If my grandfather let him live, Anck-su-namun's father would give up his first born to be a slave."
Rick coughed, disgusted, "Ridiculous slime."
"No wonder she's such a wench," Jonathan pout-in.
"No wonder you're such a coward!" Izzy challenged.
Jonathan opened his mouth to fire back, but Ardeth interrupted, "But...this does not make sense. Anck-su-namun was your father's mistress...therefore, it doesn't seem to fit that she was a slave and that your father still married her."
"Yea. And I thought your dad was betrothed to the scribe's daughter?" Rick added.
Shanala turned and giggled, "Ok, ok. I'll explain. Your right, Ardeth. It makes no sense at all that my father would marry a slave. It was actually a law that anyone of royal descendants couldn't marry anyone lower than a scribe. However, my grandfather didn't take Anck-su-namun as a slave. Instead, he just took her in as a sort of daughter. He allowed her to live with some of his most trusted advisors."
"Oh, ok. So she wasn't even raised by your grandfather?"
Shanala shook her heads, "No. She wasn't. Now, to Answer your question, Rick, my father was betrothed to the scribe's daughter, and he married her. However, she died soon after giving birth to me, so he re-married Anck-su-namun."
Rick knocked himself on his forehead, "Of course. I knew that."
"But...there's still something that makes no sense," Jonathan said, "And that's why Anck-su-namun grew up to hate you. I mean, she was raised by your grandfather's most trusted people..."
"Yes. She was...and that's precisely why she grew to hate me and anyone else in my family."
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