A Loving Brother

" So, are we going to meet up with the commanders?" Rick asked walking up to Ardeth and started walking beside him.

" Yes." Ardeth answered.

" Do you think they will help?" Rick asked.

" I do not know. Hopefully they will." Ardeth answered.

" Well, they helped all the other times, so why would this be any different?" Rick asked

" It's not, but the commanders well, sometimes they help and other times they see it as a test for only us." Ardeth answered.

" Oh, well, then, that…just isn't right." Rick replied.

" It is very right, it is how you prove yourself as a Medji." Ardeth said.

" Ok, so let me get this straight, you wake up some royal dead guy, who tries to take over the world, and they reward you by giving you a test?" Rick asked looking puzzled.

" No, you wake him up, and it becomes a test." Mariana said trying to make it easier for Rick to understand.

" But…" Rick said.

" Darling, give it a rest, they know what their talking about and that's all that matters." Evy said in a laughing way.

They all laughed.

" Um, if you don't mind my asking, who exactly are these guys we are going to see?" Izzy asked and everyone realized he was there.

" The commanders of the 12 tribes of the Medji." Ardeth answered.

" Oh…alright…do they have guns?" Izzy asked nervously.

" No." Ardeth answered with a bit of a laugh.

" Oh, well, that's good…that's very good." Izzy finished, relaxing again.

" But…they do have really big swords…" Rick said jokingly.

" Wh…great, now I'm gonna get stabbed!" Izzy said sighing.

They all burst out laughing. Rick walked back to Evy.

" So, if we end up going against Kurai again, which I'm sure we will, what do you think we will run into?" Rick asked her.

" Take your pick darling, Scarabs, mummies, a few curses and perhaps a few mortal servants." Evy answered enthusiastically.

" Hmmm…I would have to say…all of the above." Rick said sighing.

" I think you should tell them, after all, they are the only living family you have, and they are here to help us. They have every right to know every detail that could effect the outcome of this fight." Ardeth said again trying to persuade Mariana.

" Yes, they are my family, but so are you, you're the only one who needs to know because it will only effect you." Mariana answered stubbornly.

" You are wrong, my young Medji, it wont effect just me, it would effect them as well because it would throw them off guard, and would most likely make O'Connell do something drastic, that could endanger his life." Ardeth replied.

" His life is already in danger, it has been for 10 years." Mariana said.

" All I am saying Mariana, is they should know, but it is not my choice, I could tell them, but I would be going against your wishes. But just so you know, O'Connell cares about you and doesn't want to lose you either. You are his own sister." Ardeth said and left it at that.

" Uncle Jon, your not afraid of them are you?" Alex asked.

" Of course I am! They have swords…and tattoos…which is not a very good combination by the way." Jonathan answered.

Alex laughed.

" Ya-kah wont hurt you and neither will the other one." Alex said to his uncle.

" My name is Shakiri." the other Medji said.

" See, Ya-kah and Shakiri wont hurt you, they will protect us." Alex aid.

" I hope so." Jonathan replied, still looking at them.

Mariana sighed. Ardeth was right…she needed to tell her brother what shed seen…maybe in the future…maybe…it wouldn't be true. She shook her head of her emotions and put on her Medji face.

" Rick…I…I need to talk to you….please." she said calling Rick to the side.

Ardeth looked at her inquisitively…and expecting what it was about, issued everyone out of the room so that only the siblings were there.

" What is it Mariana?" Rick asked, confused.

Mariana took a deep breath.

" I….well…I had a vision…and in the vision…Ardeth…was killed by kurai…and…I…" Mariana tried to finish, but couldn't and broke into a fit of tears.

Rick was startled…he never had really seen Mariana cry…but he took Mariana by the shoulders and pulled her close.

* So that's what was bothering her…and she must have told Ardeth…poor girl…I wont let him die…I promise Mariana* he thought.

Feeling comforted, Mariana whipped her eyes and pulled away from Rick's loving grip…(just so yall know, it was a hug, not a kissing thingy…Evy would kill him).

" Thank you….Rick…for being there…sorry I had to." she started, but Rick put his finger in the air to hush her and kissed her forehead.

" It's okay little sis….whenever you need to talk, just pull me aside okay? I'll be there for you." Rick said and smiled.

Mariana smiled back, her Medji mask long but forgotten, and together they left the room to join the others.

" Say, you fellows wouldn't happen to have anything to drink would you?" Jonathan asked Yakah and Shakiri.

" Yes." Shakiri replied taking out a canister and throwing it to Jonathan.

" Great, just what I need." Jonathan said smiling and he took the lid off and took a sip. Suddenly he spit it out into Yakahs face.

" It's water!" Jonathan spatted.

Alex was laughing. Yakah wiped his face off.

" Yes, if is." Yakah answered.

" Its not whiskey!" Jonathan moaned.

" Of course it's not uncle Jon, they are desert people, they only drink water." Alex answered still laughing.

" But…" Jonathan argued.

" Listen, why don't you just go get some of this drink you want." Shakiri said.

" Hey, that's a good idea…but what about.." Jonathan started.

" We will watch the boy…it's what we are here to do." Yahkah said.

" Right, well, is there a code?" Jonathan asked.

" A code?" the Medji's asked.

" Yeah, you know, like knocking twice so you all know its me." Jonathan answered.

" Are you serious?" The Medji asked.

" We don't need a code…if anyone comes in…we have our weapons." Yahkah said.

" But you should have…" Jonathan started.

" There is no code! Get your drink before we give you our own code." Shakiri said hinting towards his sword.

" Right then, I'll be back." Jonathan said and walked out the door.

" I surely hope not." Yahkah said.

" Your uncle…is he alright in the head?" Shakiri asked Alex, who laughed.

" Yeah, he's alright, just nervous." Alex answered.

Rick and Mariana met back with the others.

" How long till we get to these people?" Izzy asked.

" It will be a few hours." Ardeth answered. " We are making good time." he finished looking at Mariana who smiled.

Rick walked past Ardeth and gave him a look that said " I know."

" Well, we should get going." Ardeth said.

Rick walked over to Evy and stood beside her. She looked at him puzzled.

" Right, lets go." Rick said.

" Very well." Ardeth replied and they started walking again.

" Did you tell him?" Ardeth asked Mariana quietly.

She nodded.

" He said he would not let anything happen to you." Mariana said

" That is all he said?" Ardeth asked.

" That's all he said that you need to know about." Mariana said smiling.

Ardeth smiled back and they continued walking.

Rick was walking with Evy. They were behind all the others. Rick could tell Evy was wondering what was going on.

* Should I tell her? I mean would Mariana want me to?* Rick thought. * I mean, Mariana told me because I'm family, and she knows that Evy is all that matters to me. And Mariana knows that this is something everyone needs to know about, and she probably knows that I would tell Evy so that she would not be left out, and put in danger.* he concluded.

" Evy…" Rick started

" Don't." Evy interrupted

" What?" Rick asked.

" Don't tell me." Evy said. " Not if your not sure that I should know, for whatever reason." she answered

" Evy…I…w…" Rick tried again.

" I don't want you doing something that she might not want you to do…besides, I'll probably figure it out on my own." Evy said with a grin.

Rick smiled back. * Your so smart.* he thought as he looked at his wife. * That's why I love you…or one of the reasons anyway. If I ever lost you permanently…* he thought, but shook himself free of them. He didn't want to think about it.

Ardeth was proud of Mariana for her bravery in confronting Rick about her vision. Ardeth hoped that what she had said wouldn't impair her fighting….hopefully she'd be more alert…for fear of truly losing him. All this Ardeth was thinking while Mariana stared at him.

She knew he was thinking about her…but didn't want to draw attention to the fact that she knew…so she quickly looked away and focused her mind on the business at hand.