CHAPTER FOUR

Ardeth awoke at dawn and yawned, rubbing his eyes and then running a hand through his hair, his turban now laying beside him where he had put it the previous night. Sitting up, he looked behind him through the opening of his tent and saw that she was still asleep, curled on her side now with the blanket drawn up over her shoulders. He wondered how much sleep she had managed to get on the first night with those men. Not much, probably, what with all the worry about her brother. Well, he decided, she wouldn't have to worry about that for much longer. He would find the little boy for her. He had assigned Amir to watch the O'Connell's house when he had discovered from a source in Cairo that they were coming back to the country and looking for a bodyguard. Amir was one of his most trusted men, even though he was still only twenty. What had happened with this woman? Had Amir been watching her and, if so, how did she come to be in her current predicament. All this he would find out when they returned to the city which, after one more night's camp, they would do.

He set about helping his men pack up what they would need, leaving the tents standing for the next watch of Med-jai to take over. When it was nearly time to leave he pulled back the tent flap where Charlotte was sleeping and bent down to her, placing one hand on her shoulder to give her a gentle shake. Her eyes snapped open at the touch and she shot upright, staring at him with a mixture of fear and surprise. He puzzled at the look for a second until he realised that this was the first time she had seen his face, he had been wearing his turban and face covering the day before and she had fallen asleep before he took it off.

"You...you have the same markings as Amir," she said, staring at the tattoos on his face. In truth she could think of nothing else to say, transfixed by how incredibly handsome this man was. His eyes were a rich, dark brown, his hair long and nearly black, curling gently down to his shoulders. He wore a beard, like many of the men in this country she had discovered, and its neatly trimmed darkness framed a full, sensuous mouth which at the moment was curving into a warm smile.

She raised her eyes back to his, struck dumb by the glitter in them, at the way they seemed to see right to the heart of her, as if she had no secrets.

"Good morning, Miss Carnahan. Did you sleep well?" he asked politely in his sexily accented voice, his lips still twitching at the fascinated perusal he was receiving. He was used to such looks from women. He knew he wasn't ugly, knew he was well built and attractive to the opposite sex. Most westerners, however, were more scared by him than attracted, usually finding his dark untamed looks and tattoos fearful. This one looked to be a little different from the others, judging by the way she was staring at him.

"I...yes...I..."she cleared her throat and tried again. "I slept very well, thank you, Mr...?"

"My name is Ardeth Bay, you may call me Ardeth, as the O'Connells do," he said, taking her hand and helping her to stand up.

"You know Evy and Rick?" she asked, her eyes rounding in surprise. "Of course you do, you mentioned them last night didn't you?" Then she frowned, thinking back to one of the letters Evy had sent her. Yes, his name was familiar, but how did he fit into Evy's life?

"I know who you are!" she said as everything suddenly slid into place in her weary mind. "You helped them find Alex at Ahm Shere and...weren't you with them when they killed that Imhotep person at Hamunaptra?"

Ardeth was faintly shocked that she knew so much about him, but he supposed Evy must have told her all about her adventures. "Yes, that was me."

"You stand guard over Hamunaptra don't you?"

"Yes, that is the reason we found you last night," he said, watching her expression change.

"That place was Hamunaptra?"

He nodded and frowned, seemingly uncomfortable with talking to her about this subject. "Come, we must begin our journey or we will have to camp out for two nights instead of just one," he said and led her out of the tent and over to his horse. He glanced down at her troubled expression. "Would you prefer to ride in front of me or behind me?"

"Oh, well...won't I have a horse of my own?"

He shook his head. "We have no other animals to spare. The animals that belonged to your captors have unfortunately been injured and should not bear any weight. We did not realise we would be bringing anyone with us."

She realised that he had had every intention of killing every person he found. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"You were there against your will, that was obvious, therefore you were not a threat. Cover your head," he told her, helping her to pull up the robes until her hair was out of sight again. "The sun can be unforgiving, and you must remain covered in this way. Do you know why the men took you to Hamunaptra?"

"They said I was going to be a sacrifice, that they were going to raise Imhotep. But I don't understand," she continued as he pulled her up onto the horse in front of him, seating her across the saddle with both legs hanging over one side of the horse instead of sitting astride the animal.

He saw her surprised expression. "This will be more comfortable for you. I noticed while we were watching you that you were not accustomed to riding an animal for an extended period of time," he explained and she nodded, admitting to herself that this was actually far more relaxing. She watched as he put on his own headdress, the edge covering the tattoos on his forehead, but leaving his face uncovered.

"Thank you," she said shyly, wondering how the journey would be with his body pressed so close to her own and her view of the world beginning and ending with him. She cleared her throat and continued her previous conversation. "Evy said Imhotep went into the underworld at Ahm Shere, so why did they think he was here?"

A frown appeared on his face as he reached around her to take the reins. "I am not sure. I had intended to question them before they died, but..." he tailed off and decided against telling her that had she not been in the way he would not have had to kill the taller man. "But I do not think that they were working alone, from what my informants in Cairo have told me. This is something we will find out when we reach the city." He turned the horse and shouted for his men to follow him. Charlotte stared at him covertly as they began their journey, wondering at the strange tattoos he bore. "Do they mean you're a warrior?" she asked quietly, indicating the markings on his cheeks.

His eyes dropped to her face and studied her in a tense silence. "In a way, yes, they do."

"The men who took me said something about using me as an insurance policy against the Med-jai. Do you know what the Med-jai is?"

He smiled as if something amused him. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"The Med-jai are a 'who' not a 'what'," he explained.

"Who? Oh, I see. So, who are the Med-jai then?" she urged.

"I am a Med-jai, as are all these men," he said.

She waited for him to elaborate and, after a few minutes more of nothing, she realised he wasn't going to say anything else. She tried to think of something else to ask, worried that she could have become so empty headed in such a short time. Her thoughts were interrupted when he finally spoke, but the subject had changed.

"What are you to Evelyn O'Connell?"

"I'm her cousin, her father's brother was my father. He died a long time ago and my mother remarried, that's where my little brother came from," she frowned as she thought of Billy. "I hope he's alright, he was so upset when they took him away from me."

"That is hardly surprising. Where is your mother and her husband? Why was he not keeping an eye on you both?"

"My mother and stepfather died last year, so now it's just me and Billy." She shrugged, but he could see that it was a painful subject.

He studied her small frame sitting stiffly in front of him. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-two. Billy's four and he can be real handful at times. I hope he's giving whoever has him hell right now!"

Ardeth chuckled at the venom in her tone and Charlotte turned in time to catch a breathtaking smile on his face. If she had thought he looked handsome before then she would now have absolutely no doubt about his charms. He was devastating, far beyond the realms of any man she had ever met before and she found it difficult to drag her eyes away.

He noticed her fascinated stare and returned it in equal measure. He had noticed that morning that several of his men had been staring at her wide-eyed, noticing the obvious difference between her long golden locks and the ebony hair of the women in the village.

"You remind me of Evelyn," Ardeth said to her after a lengthy silence.

"I do?" Charlotte frowned in confusion.

"Not to look at, just something about your ways, your personality, I suppose," he explained, sparing her a brief glance before resuming his inspection of the endless sand dunes.

"Oh, I see. I've never really thought us similar before, but I suppose we must be in some ways. Of course, I know I don't look anything like her. Evelyn's very pretty," she said shrugging her shoulders.

Ardeth frowned down at her. Did she not think she was pretty? He turned her face toward him. "And you do not think that you are?"

She smiled wryly. "I know what I look like. I get stared at because I have unusual colouring. Evelyn gets stared at because she's pretty. It's an entirely different thing." She said the words without a trace of bitterness, just a flat resignation.

He was stunned. She really had no idea of her own looks. "But you are very attractive, do you not realise this?" he asked her, studying her small face. Her eyes were large and a warm, golden brown. Her nose was small and straight and had a smattering of freckles across it and her lips were full and sensuous. She had thick, dark eyelashes and smooth, pale honey coloured skin. He could not imagine a more attractive woman of any race and felt himself stirring at the sight of her. The only thing marring her looks now were the dark bruises where she had been beaten and he gritted his teeth with regret. He would have liked to have treated those men in a similar manner.

Charlotte stared up at him, feeling a frisson of alarm at the intense and almost angry look he was giving her. "What's wrong?"

He noticed her sudden apprehension and forced the anger down. "It is nothing. Merely the thought of what those men did to you." He frowned again as a sudden thought occurred to him. "Miss Carnahan, I must ask you...did those men...hurt you in any other way?" He faltered slightly.

"In what way?" Her brow wrinkled in confusion as she stared up at him, wide-eyed.

He studied her for a minute before replying, taking the time to think of how to word his next question. "Did they hurt you in the way only a man can hurt a woman?"

Her eyes widened as understanding set in and she blushed. "Oh, you mean....I...no, no they didn't. Just...er...what you see," she mumbled and turned her head away to study the desert.

He smiled reluctantly at her embarrassment. "I am sorry to ask you such things, but there can be consequences from such an attack and you would have to be seen by a healer. It is good to know that things did not get that far."

She turned back to him abruptly. "You really think that they would have...?"

He nodded, deadly serious. "It has happened before. If a virgin sacrifice is not what is required then the men sometimes feel that it is permissible to rape the girl before the sacrifice takes place."

"It never occurred to me that they would have eventually tried anything like that!" She shuddered at what might have happened.

"But then, you are innocent, are you not?" he asked her, pinning her with his intense eyes. Her blush grew hotter still and she couldn't begin to think of how to answer such a personal question. His hand came up and stroked her face gently before holding her chin. "Are you not?" he repeated, his voice deep and almost husky as his eyes lowered to her mouth.

His head actually started to move down toward her, his intent clear, when a cry went up from the lead horseman in the group and they all halted. Ardeth jerked back from her and dropped his hand away from her face, looking as if someone had slapped him.

Allah! What had he been about to do? He shook his head to clear it and looked up as Khalid rode toward him.

"Ardeth, it is time to stop. We must eat now," he told him, speaking in Arabic. He glanced at the petite woman in Ardeth's arms and nodded a greeting to her, not blind to her flushed face or Ardeth's apparent stunned state. "Is this wise, my friend?"

Ardeth frowned. "Is what wise?"

"I am not a fool, my friend. I have eyes and I saw what you were about to do. Perhaps it would be better if she rode on my horse for the remainder of the journey?" Khalid gave him a smug grin which infuriated him.

"I was about to do nothing!" he snapped.

"No?" Khalid rose one eyebrow and continued smiling. "She is very pretty. I would have no objection to taking her the rest of the way."

"She will remain with me!" Ardeth said, his voice low and angry.

Khalid nodded. "As you wish, my chief. I shall ride next to you," he said and rode back to the other men, giving Ardeth no time to argue.

"What were you talking about?" Charlotte asked, still trying to recover from the fact that he had nearly kissed her.

He looked down at her and shook his head. "That is my business, not yours," he said angrily and got elegantly down from the horse, reaching up to pull her down and stand her in front of him. He held her arms for a mere second to make sure she would not fall and then let her go, turning and striding away from her.