**** Okay, I'm thinking maybe I've got this writers block thing licked....hmm, maybe not. Still, I have ideas popping into my head, this can only be good.****

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Ardeth came off watch just as the sun was rising and he went straight to Charlotte's tent, easing inside after looking around quickly. She was laying asleep on her side, her hair a riot of tangles around her head, and he smiled at the picture she made, his chest clenching with emotion. To think that this sweet creature would soon be waking up in his bed every morning, he thought, and his smile widened. He discarded his weapons and outer robes and lay down next to her, drawing her slight body back against his as he spooned around her.

Charlotte stirred in her sleep and unconsciously pressed back against his warmth, murmuring unintelligibly when he nuzzled her neck. She only came awake when he chuckled against her skin, and her eyes shot open as she turned her head, staring into his warm, melted chocolate eyes and smiling drowsily. "Good morning," she murmured, blinking to try and keep her eyes open.

"Good morning to you, my sweet. Have you slept well?" he asked, his voice deep and smooth, the sound of it making a shiver work it's way up her spine.

"Mmm-hmm," she murmured, her eyes losing their fight to stay open and drifting closed again as he wrapped his big arms around her.

"Go back to sleep, my heart," he whispered to her, closing his own eyes and sighing contentedly. "We have some time yet before the others arise."

Charlotte barely heard him, her breathing evening out again as she fell back into a dreamless sleep, lulled by his deep breathing and warm body.

When she next opened her eyes it was to find herself alone, and she looked blearily around the tent, seeing that the sun must be fairly high in the sky for so much light to be coming through the canvas. She wondered briefly if she had been dreaming Ardeth's morning visit, but surely not. Her dreams couldn't be that vivid, or that tactile. She hadn't imagined his arms closing around her waist or his sexy voice whispering in her ear. She shivered as she thought about him and instantly smiled, wondering how she had ever become lucky enough to meet such a man. Her life in England seemed distant and dull now, and she knew that both her and Billy would have a far better life here, no matter how primitive some people may think it. It suited her.

She yawned and stretched and forced herself to get out of bed, her body feeling oddly languorous this morning. She stretched again when she stood up and hurriedly set about cleansing herself with the ever present washbowl full of water, donning some fresh clothing and venturing out of the tent into the blinding sunlight.

The first person she saw was Rick and he gave her a hard glare, looking like he wanted to say something and then turning away and walking off, leaving her staring after him once again. Evy turned when she made her way over to the dig site and she gave her a tentative smile.

"Good morning," Charlotte said, suddenly unsure of her welcome and not knowing why. There was definitely an air of tension surrounding them, and it confused her. "Evy, what's the matter with Rick?" she asked, frowning as she sat down near her cousin.

"It's nothing, just...what happened last night. He's still a bit shocked and frankly, Charlotte, so am I," Evy said, looking worriedly at Charlotte.

"I'm confused," Charlotte said, about to find out exactly what it was that had offended her cousin, when Grayson came up to them.

He had been waiting for Charlotte to appear and he had seen Evy start talking to her. The last thing he needed was Evy telling her what she had seen, at least just yet. Eventually it wouldn't hurt for the young girl to find out she had been kissing him, but for now ignorance of the facts suited his purpose. "Good morning ladies," he said jovially, grinning at Evy when she gave him a strange look. "Ready to find some more artefacts?"

Charlotte looked up at him and gave him a friendly smile. "Certainly. What are we looking for today?"

"Whatever we can find, dear lady," he said, bending and taking her hand to pull her to her feet. Evy watched the way he held her cousin's hand and the familiar way he put his other hand in the small of her back, guiding her away, and she hoped Charlotte would be a little more circumspect today. She shuddered to think of what would happen if Ardeth saw them together. She sighed and shook her head, knowing there was nothing she could really do about it except keep an eye on Charlotte and make sure she didn't get hurt.

They spent the best part of the morning digging in the sand, and Charlotte seemed to spend an awful lot of time sitting near Grayson, at least to Evy's eyes. Rick saw them and scowled, stomping off again with gritted teeth to stop himself from giving the girl a good shake and punching the professor on the nose.

Ardeth appeared shortly before lunch time, and he smiled fondly down at Charlotte as he came to inspect the dig and see what had been found.

"He doesn't seem to have noticed anything," Evy said to Rick worriedly, chewing her lip.

"Let's just hope he doesn't," Rick put in, frowning again. "I can't believe she's acting like this. I never thought Charlotte had loose morals, but after that little show last night, I'm not so sure. Maybe Ardeth wasn't far wrong when he called her what he did."

"Rick! That's not fair," Evy protested, taking her angry husband's hands. "We don't know why she let him kiss her, but I'll find out soon."

*****

Halfway through the afternoon there was a thunderous sound of hooves, and the Med-jai stood up en masse, looking towards where a cloud of sand could be seen. It was the riders returning, but there seemed to be some urgency in their approach, and it stopped all the workers. Everyone waited to see what was going on.

Grayson gave a secretive smile, knowing what this arrival heralded, and he saw Aslar jump down from his horse and approach Ardeth, gesticulating wildly. It was his cue to start proceedings again, and he used his power to tweak everyone's minds, settling the seed of doubt firmly in their subconscious. It would be so easy now, he thought, so easy to make them believe that this girl they all trusted had betrayed them so ruthlessly. Now all he had to do was wait for an opportunity to get Charlotte on her own. He didn't have to wait long.

Rick watched as Ardeth's expression grew horrified and he looked over to them, and he ran over to the other man to find out what had happened, Evy and Jonathan close on his heels.

"What's happened?" Rick asked him as soon as they were close enough.

Ardeth tightened his jaw. "The village has been attacked," he said without preamble. "Aslar has just returned. My family...some have been wounded, others...dead."

"Oh my God, the children," Evy said with mounting horror.

"They are unharmed," Aslar said, looking at Evy with slight contempt. "They are with Ardeth's aunt at this moment."

"It seems that a rival tribe were given the location of our village," Ardeth continued, his face grim. "The elders told Aslar who had imparted such information, but I cannot believe..."

"They would not lie, Ardeth, no matter how much you may wish it," Aslar said, his eyes flitting to Rick and Evy.

"No!" he snapped, making Evy jump. "She would not do this! I must talk to her."

"She? Who?" Evy asked, her heart beating faster with sudden fear. Surely they couldn't be talking about70;

"Charlotte," Aslar said, his mouth drawn into a sneer.

"You can't be serious!" Evy gasped out, one hand going to her throat as she stared at the other man. "She wouldn't do that! For heaven's sake, her own brother was there!"

"And that must be why he was not harmed," Aslar said, nodding.

"Where is she?" Ardeth asked, looking down at the sand in front of him, his expression still grim.

"She's right there..." Jonathan began, turning to find both Charlotte and the professor gone from where they had so recently been standing. "Oh."

"I will find her," Ardeth said, walking off in search of his bride, anger evident in every line of his body.

"Oh dear God, this can't be true," Evy whispered, blinking back tears. Rick put an arm around her and pulled her in for a cuddle.

"I hope for your cousin's sake you're right," he said, thinking again of the kiss they had witnessed. It took on a whole new meaning in the light of recent events.

******

Charlotte had been staring up at the others when Grayson took her arm, pulling her around to face him. "Charlotte, I think perhaps it might be best if we packed some of the things up. It looks serious, and we may have to leave suddenly," he said, smiling as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"What do you think has happened?" she asked, absently picking up some of the small digging implements and putting them in the box he held out for her. She so wanted to go to Ardeth, but he looked pretty busy at that moment and she didn't want to get in the way.

"I'm not sure. But it could be that there are raiders coming close, so we must be prepared. Here," he said, handing her a box of artefacts, smiling reassuringly at her. "Let's take these things to the tents shall we? We can come right back."

Charlotte looked one last time at the small group and then followed the professor in the opposite direction, soon losing sight of the others as they went over the top of the sand dune. She put the box in Rick and Evy's tent as directed, carefully covering everything up before she left the tent. When she got outside she was surprised to find Ardeth standing there, and she smiled up at him.

"Ardeth! Is everything alright?" she asked as he moved closer.

He smiled lazily down at her and lifted one hand to brush the hair from her face. "Everything is perfectly fine, do not worry yourself," he murmured, his other hand going to her waist to pull her against him.

"You seemed a bit tense," she said, letting him wrap his arms around her.

"No, it was merely news from some of my men, nothing for you to worry about. Come, Charlotte, I have missed you this morning, and we are all alone. Do I not deserve a kiss?"

She smiled brightly up at him and raised her hand to touch his hair, frowning slightly when she saw the odd look in his eyes. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

"Of course," he said, his voice a little harder, but still smooth. "Kiss me."

Her eyes dropped to his lips and she stood on tiptoes, meeting him as he bent his head and covered her mouth with his, kissing her with a wealth of emotion she hadn't felt in quite that way before. It felt...odd, but not unenjoyable, and this was Ardeth, so she gave herself to the kiss, closing her eyes and melting against him.

To the real Ardeth, it was a sight he would have given his life not to see. The woman he loved, whom he thought loved him, was standing in the arms of his mortal enemy, and seemingly of her own accord. His heart almost stopped beating as he watched them kiss, his Charlotte with Abu-Ibrahim, the leader of the tribe who had just attacked his village. Aslar had said that there was no doubt it was Charlotte who had betrayed them, but until now he couldn't believe it. Now he had no choice. A wave of pain washed over him, so intense that it almost brought him to his knees, but he forced himself to look at them, taking his fill of her betrayal so he would never forget. He was vaguely aware of Evy and Rick coming up next to him, heard her faint gasp of shock, and then he turned and walked away.

"Oh my God," Evy said, tears filling her eyes as she watched Charlotte with yet another man.

"Who is he?" Rick asked Aslar as the other man joined them.

Aslar spat on the sand, surprising him. "He is the leader of the attacking tribe. He will die for his sins this day!"

"How did she know him?" Evy asked, letting one tear fall.

"What does it matter? Everything we just heard is obviously true. Damn her, she risked the life of our daughter!" Rick snarled, one hand going to his gun as he seriously thought of shooting the couple right there and then.

"How could I not have known?" Evy said, turning her back on the embracing couple. "Oh God, Rick, they'll kill her."

"Good, it's what she deserves. Christ, to put her own brother at risk like that? What sort of woman is she?"

"They can't kill her," she said softly, closing her eyes and trying to stop the unusually strong anger from claiming her.

"They'll do what they will, and we can't stop them," Rick said, putting his arm around her and hugging her tightly. "She doesn't deserve your tears Evy. Libby could have died because of her!"

"I know," Evy said, letting him guide her away. "This just feels wrong."

Rick filled Jonathan in on what had happened and the thinner man frowned. "She wouldn't do that," he said immediately.

"We just saw her with the man, and he had his tongue down her throat! Now tell me again she wouldn't do that!" Rick snapped, stalking off to find Ardeth.

Jonathan stood where they had left him, frowning. Charlotte wasn't the sort to betray anyone, why couldn't any of them see that? Regardless of what they had seen, he was unable to stop a shudder of horror from rippling through him. This was wrong. This was...just wrong.

*****

Aslar smiled as he looked at what appeared to be Abu-Ibrahim kissing Charlotte. He knew it was the professor, and so far everything had gone as planned. Now all he had to do was make sure that a desert death was what was ordered.

He turned and went off in search of Ardeth, trying not to smile at how well the plan was working out. After a lengthy search, he finally saw Ardeth standing by the river, his face blank as he stared at the water.

"My Lord?" he said, moving to stand beside him. "We must decide what to do with them."

"Do?" Ardeth said, his voice as blank as his face, and Aslar almost felt sorry for him. Almost. But he had waited for years to hurt this man, and he was going to enjoy every moment of his pain. Eventually he would kill him with his own hands, and that was another thing to look forward to.

"Yes, my Lord. You have not given us any orders, but surely we cannot allow them to leave?"

Ardeth frowned at his words and turned to stare at him, regaining his senses somewhat. "No, we cannot let them leave. They will receive the same punishment any other would receive for such a crime." His voice was as dull as his eyes.

"Death?"

Ardeth nodded. "It is what will be expected."

"Even the English girl?"

"She has betrayed us all. The elders will accept nothing less than her head," Ardeth said grimly

"Yes," Aslar said, bowing his head in agreement. "Unless..."

Ardeth's eyes narrowed. "Unless what?"

"Ardeth," Aslar said, reverting to a more familiar address. "She is not of our kind, she is kin to people who are good friends of yours. The elders would realise this, and would accept another form of punishment in this case, I am sure."

Khalid walked up as Aslar was speaking, and he frowned sympathetically at his friend, knowing the pain he must be going through even though his face was blank. "What is this other punishment?" he asked, making Aslar look up at him briefly.

"It has the same outcome, but it does not require your own hand to deal out the fatal blow," Aslar said, trying to look as sympathetic as Khalid did. "We let the desert take them."

Khalid nodded, knowing how it would affect Ardeth to have to remove the girl's head himself. And it was certain that he would have to be the one to do it. "He is right, my friend," he said, patting Ardeth's shoulder. "This way would be better."

Ardeth remained silent for a long time, his eyes returning to the Nile as if drawing strength from it. "Very well, let it be so," he murmured finally, his heart shattering inside his chest as he uttered the words.