CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Charlotte sat with the others eating her breakfast, trying desperately not to let her recent experiences show on her face. She was sure they would all know, but no-one seemed to be looking at her any differently.

"Ready for a go at digging today?" Evy asked her, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the prospect of further excavation.

Charlotte nodded, looking very nearly almost as excited as her cousin. "I am. Would it be alright? I mean, I don't know how to do it, and I don't want to damage anything."

"It will be fine, don't worry. I'll show you how to dig carefully, and you can just follow my lead. Who knows what we might find?"

"Something dangerous, something deadly, possibly something that will curse the entire world to darkness..." Rick said, frowning when Evy put her hand over his mouth.

"Ignore him, he's a pessimist. Come on, let's leave misery guts here and get some tools!" Evy said, removing her hand from her husbands face with a gentle stroking motion and then standing up.

Charlotte followed her, looking around to see Ardeth, but he was obviously still with his men. He had crept out of her tent just as noises could be heard from some distance away, leaving her with a soft kiss and a wicked glint in his eyes. She had been grateful that no-one appeared to have seen him go.

Grayson glanced up from the work he was doing when he saw the two women approach and his eyes narrowed appreciatively on Charlotte. It was a shame that he wouldn't be able to enjoy the young girl before she was sacrificed, he did love women. But it just wasn't possible. Aslar had informed him only that morning that he thought he was being watched, that they both were, so they were going to have to be very careful. He gave cheery smile when Evy stopped next to him and crouched down, looking at the small pit he had been digging in.

"You made an early start!" she said, poking a finger in the sand. "Have you found anything interesting?"

He stared at her and shook his head, his eyes dropping briefly to her cleavage before reluctantly returning to her eyes. "Not yet, but I have high hopes for this location."
Evy nodded, trusting his judgement as he had always been uncannily good at locating treasures. "Hmm, well, point me where you want me. Charlotte's going to help me today, if that's no problem?"
"Indeed? No, it's not a problem at all, I assure you," Grayson said, giving the younger woman a look that made her shiver. "I hope you make your first discovery today, and you must enjoy yourself." He smiled at her strangely and then turned back to Evy, telling her where she should begin, and he watched them walk away to start work. A gut feeling told him they were very close to finding something and he raised his eyes to the top of the sand dune that they worked below, spotting Aslar watching him. Although he couldn't make out his face, he knew what the other man's expression would be like. He was absolutely certain the he would be wearing that irritating sneer, impatient to begin the trail of his legacy. Well, he would have to wait, Grayson thought with a smirk, at least until they found something in all this damn sand. Years of archaeology had brought him only minor fame and even less fortune, and he had been biding his time until he could fulfil his own destiny. Aslar wasn't the only one with ancestors, and it was fortunate for the other man that they had the same goal in mind, or else Grayson would have already arranged his death.

****

They worked all day under the blazing sun, stopping only for lunch. Charlotte gave no complaint for the temperature she was working under, finding it quite fascinating, even thought she had started to feel a bit woozy in the heat. She sat back on her heels after a few hours and tipped her hat back on her head, wishing she was bald. Her hair felt heavy and uncomfortable pinned at the base of her skull and all it seemed to be doing was soaking up the sweat that ran steadily down her neck. She wondered if she should have it all cut off, as was the fashion now, but she didn't think she would be able to bring herself to do it. A sigh puffed out of her as she tried to detect a slight breeze, but there was nothing to relieve the absolute stifling pressure of the air around her. She hadn't realised what hard work this could be. Everyone else made it look so easy, although Evy appeared to be as hot as she was.

A gasp of shock escaped her when two hands came down on her shoulders, pulling her up to her feet in one swift movement. She turned in surprise and breathed out with relief when she saw Ardeth looking down at her. "You scared me!" she said breathlessly, one hand against her throat as her heartbeat calmed down.

"I did not intend to startle you, my lady," he said, the smile he gave her telling her that he was remembering every detail of what had happened that morning. "I am merely concerned for your welfare. You have been out in the heat for too long now, and you have not taken enough water."

Charlotte found herself smiling softly up at him, loving the fact that he cared about her. "Have you been spying on me?"

"I have watched you all day, so I could be sure you were taking care of yourself. I see you are not, therefore I must take care of you myself," he said, taking her arm and pulling her along next to him as he walked towards the tents, climbing up the slope of the dune carefully and making sure she had no trouble with the steep uneven surface.

"Where are we going?" she asked, having difficulty keeping up with his long legged stride.

"Somewhere you can sit in the shade and take refreshment," he said as they neared the tents, and a grin lit up his face when he looked down at her. "Somewhere I can be alone with my heart."

Charlotte felt her stomach flip over at his words, and a blush of pure delight suffused her face. "You make me feel so special," she whispered, staring at him with awe. "No-one ever made me feel that way before."

"Then that is their mistake, my heart, because you are special," he replied, stopping and taking her hands in his, the darkness of his eyes glittering with emotion. He opened his mouth to say something else when a shout went up from the dig site, breaking the spell.

"We had better go and see what has caused such excitement," he said, looking momentarily unhappy until he saw how disappointed she was at the interruption. With a swift look around to be sure they weren't being observed, he pulled her into his arms and bent to give her a kiss that left her legs shaking. He drew back to look down at her, his gaze heated, his hand brushing her hair tenderly away from her flushed face. "May I come to you tonight?"

Her blush deepened, but she nodded, longing to feel again the sensations he had given her. "I look forward to it Charlotte," he whispered, smiling warmly at her. "Now, before we go back you must drink," he continued, pulling a water skin off his shoulder and holding it out to her. "You must be in good health for tonight," he said in a slow, deep voice, his lips parting in a wicked grin as he watched her start drinking straight away, her eyes widening at his words.

After she gave the skin back to him, they went over to the dig site once more, finding Grayson and Evy hunched over a small pit whilst a group of diggers chattered excitedly. Obviously they had found something of importance, and Ardeth helped her down the slope until they reached the edge of the small crowd.

Rick and Jonathan were standing off to one side and Rick nodded as Ardeth joined them, his hand tucked possessively under Charlotte's elbow. "How you doing, buddy?"

"I am doing well, my friend," Ardeth replied, smiling at Rick. "What is it they have found?"

Rick shook his head and shrugged. "Damned if I know, we can't get near enough to see anyway. But if I know Evy, she'll be rushing over here at any second so she can show us!"

Sure enough, a short while later Evy jumped up and looked around her, grinning when she spotted them standing not far away and she ran over to them, pushing her way through the workers. "Look!" she said excitedly, holding out her hands. She was holding an intricate silver bracelet, small writings covering the metal all over. "Isn't it beautiful? Such exquisite craftsmanship," Evy continued, turning the jewellery over in her hands and studying the engravings. "I can't quite make out everything on here though. The outside doesn't make much sense, it's very disjointed. Gray said that it's probably because you need all three bracelets together to read what they say. That would make some sense I suppose, since the Egyptians often did strange things like that. The inside is almost completely unintelligible, unfortunately."

Charlotte stared at the bangle and reached out to touch it, feeling an almost imperceptible tingle in her fingertips when they made contact with the metal. "It's so pretty," she murmured, staring at the strange hieroglyphs on the surface. "Have they found the other two yet?"

"Not yet, but Gray thinks they'll be deeper in the pit, perhaps buried one under the other at intervals. He said that the tomb in Deir el-Bahari had writings that said something of that sort, so I fully believe we'll have them all by the time it gets dark." Evy grinned at her husband as he took the bracelet from her, studying it carefully.

"Very pretty. I suppose you'll be wanting a replica of this when we get home?" he asked her, arching one eyebrow knowingly.

"Well, it is nice, and I'd look good wearing three of them wouldn't I?" Evy said, batting her eyelashes up at him, making him laugh.

"Well, yeah, I guess you win honey. You'll have to make drawings of these so we can get them made correctly though," he said, rolling his eyes at her triumphant look.

Ardeth watched the by-play between the couple and gave a small smile, his eyes shooting to Charlotte to find her looking at him in return, and he took her hand in his and placed a small kiss on her fingers.

Jonathan watched all of this with bemusement, still finding it difficult to believe that this man was human. He shrugged and turned his attention back to the bauble Evy was holding. "Is it worth anything?" he asked, naming the one thing that he really and truly believed in - profit.

Evy shot him a disgusted look. "The value of the silver wouldn't be too high, but the market value for an artefact of this standard would be astronomical. But you, dear brother, are not having it!"

"Did I ask for it?" he asked, arching his eyebrows and pursing his lips. "I was merely interested, that's all."

"Yeah, sure you were," Rick muttered, smiling at his brother-in-law. "We know you too well Jonathan. Don't be too disappointed, I'm sure there are other things you can get your grubby hands on!"

"Jolly good!" Jonathan said, almost rubbing his hands together with the thought of any money coming out of this trip. He wasn't remotely insulted by the way Evy and Rick spoke to him, he knew that deep down - very deep - they liked him well enough. He turned to Charlotte. "Want to come and look at what the professor's doing, old girl?"

"I'd love to," she said, smiling at him and then biting her lip when she looked at the man she loved. "If it's okay?"

Ardeth smiled and nodded, his eyes warm. "You do not need my permission to leave my side, my lady. But I freely give it," he said, bowing his head slightly and releasing her hand slowly. "I have duties to perform, so I shall have to leave you anyway."

"Oh, okay, but....I will see you later won't I?" she asked quietly, looking worried.

Ardeth gave her a sexy smile and raised one eyebrow. "As we have spoken about," he replied, grinning as she blushed. He bowed again and then walked away, his faint chuckles floating back to her from a distance away.

"I can't say I've ever really seen him smile like that," Jonathan said as he led her towards the professor. "I think he's smitten with you, young Charlie. Are you sure you really want to marry him?"

"I do, I love him," she said softly, looking over her shoulder once more at the retreating figure in black.

Jonathan smiled. "Then I'm happy for you, old girl. You deserve to be happy, more than anyone else I know."
Charlotte impulsively hugged him, feeling cared for possibly the first time in her life. Evy and Jonathan had always been there in the background for her, and they had never judged her, just accepted her as she was. Her own mother had never done that, and now it was too late to wish she had. She was grateful in a way that she would be the one bringing Billy up, because she would hate for him to get a complex.

"Ah, well, well," Jonathan said, sounding a tad uncomfortable with her show of affection. "We should see what Grayson's doing, shouldn't we?"

She drew back and nodded at him, grinning when a big smile broke out on his face. "I'm glad you came Jonathan, it's fun being here with you."

"At last, someone who appreciates me!" he said loudly, shooting a narrow eyed glare back at Rick before turning his attention to where the professor was crouching down. "I say, Professor, care to share your finds with us?"

"Of course!" Grayson said, sounding more excited than Charlotte had yet heard him. "You've seen the first bracelet of course? Well, look, here's the start of another. They just buried them in the sand, can you imagine? Not even in a box or anything. Still, apart from a touch of tarnishing, they're in remarkably good condition. I only hope all three are here!"

"I expect they are," Jonathan said, looking interested for a change. "Need any help at all?"

"No, it's really a one man job, but feel free to stay, Jonathan. You too, Charlotte," he said, smiling a her in that weird way again. "I'm sure this will hold a lot of interest for you." Because it will involve you in ways you can't even imagine now, he thought, his eyes glinting wickedly before he dropped them back to his work.

*****

After another couple of hours Grayson triumphantly laid the three bracelets out in front of him, staring at their beauty and seeing far more. Unlike the others, he could see the power these baubles could grant him, and so his happiness knew no bounds. His eyes flicked up disapprovingly when Ardeth joined them, sitting far too close to Charlotte for his liking. She had to be a virgin for the ceremony to bestow the great power to him. Aslar had told him that even though Ardeth was acting like a fool, he would not forsake his morals or a wedding ceremony, so he trusted that Charlotte would remain innocent until he needed her. But the way she looked at the robed man made him uneasy, there was far too much emotion in her eyes. He shrugged, perhaps it was just love, he thought, something he had never felt before. A smile tugged at his lips as he continued watching them. As for physical love, that was something Charlotte would never feel. A pity, he thought, blissfully unaware that she had already lost the innocence he so needed.