CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Charlotte frowned when Ardeth drew back from the kiss and smiled down at her. It was in a way that he had never smiled before and it made her feel uncomfortable. "Ardeth...wh-what's the matter?"

He shook his head, his eyes full of laughter. "Nothing, Charlotte, just a matter that I now have well in hand. You should return to your tent, now," he said, pulling abruptly away from her and turning his back.

"Ardeth? I don't understand..."

"Go now!" he snapped and strode away from her, making her stare after him in bewilderment. She did as he bade, walking behind her into her own tent and sitting on the bedding, trying to figure out why he had suddenly started acting so strangely. Now she really thought about it, other things started to strike her as odd, things that had occurred over the last two days. Evy and Rick's behaviour with her last night and this morning...it was all very puzzling and she didn't think she would find the answers without speaking first to her cousin. To that end, she stood back up and moved to walk out of the tent again, jumping back with shock when the flap was pulled roughly open and two Med-jai barged in, each one grabbing one of her arms and dragging her out.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice high pitched with acute fear as she looked at their angry faces. "Please, let go..." She stopped talking when she was out in the sunlight and she saw the group of people out there waiting for her. "Evy?" she said shakily, her wide eyes flying to her cousin. She frowned when Evy shook her head and buried her face in her husband's neck.

Rick glared at Charlotte with impotent rage, as did many of the Med-jai standing watching her being pulled out of her tent. But it was Ardeth who caught her whole attention, standing as he was in front of the others and staring at her coldly, no other trace of emotion on his face.

"Bring her here," he said quietly, his voice totally controlled.

When they pulled her over in front of him, she stared into his dark eyes, confused and extremely frightened by what was happening. She had no idea why everyone was suddenly looking at her as if she had killed someone, or why all the love and affection had disappeared from Ardeth's face. "Ardeth?" she whispered, her lips trembling and her eyes wide. "I don't understand..."

He lifted his hand and struck her across the face, watching dispassionately as she went limp from the blow, only remaining upright because of the hold of the two guards. "You will not speak!" he hissed, his voice only now conveying his anger. "You have betrayed me, you have betrayed my people."

Charlotte slowly managed to get her shaky legs to support her again and she raised her eyes to his, now filled with tears. "What? I've done nothing," she whispered, beginning to feel shock coursing through her, her hands and feet feeling oddly numb.

Ardeth raised his hand again and she flinched, lowering her eyes and waiting for the blow, but it didn't come. "I told you not to speak. I will not warn you again," he said, his voice back to being cold again. "You have betrayed all those you once claimed to love," he continued, breathing unsteadily through his nose as he tried not to see her terrified expression. "For this crime the punishment is clearly written. Your life will be taken from you."

Charlotte took a hitching breath and felt tears start coursing down her cheeks. How could this be? Only minutes ago he had been kissing her, everything had been fine! "Why? What have I done? Ardeth, please..."

This time his hand connected and she fell back against one of the guards, dazed and trying to keep conscious. She was awake enough to hear his voice continue, and she wished with all her heart she actually had passed out.

"Because of you and your lover," he spat, anger evident once more, "many people in my village have perished. You told them how to find us, you imparted information that was privileged as the friend and future wife of a Med-jai! For this you will die," he said, his tone brooking no argument as he was in full leadership role now.

Charlotte's eyes flickered open and she stared at him uncomprehendingly, hope starting to die in her eyes at his stern countenance. "My lover? But...I....Billy! My brother...is he..." Ardeth's hand around her throat stopped her frantic stuttering.

"Because of who you are, because of who your family are, we will not take your head. Instead, you will be given to the desert, and the sands will decide your fate. Your brother will be taken by Evelyn and O'Connell, and raised to be honest. This is my final word." Ardeth's eyes flickered with a wealth of bottled up emotion and then he nodded to the guards and they dragged her away once more, over to a waiting horse. She was lifted onto the back of the animal and her hands were tied to the saddle, the rope looped tightly around her waist so she couldn't move and then tied off. The reality of her situation was only barely beginning to impinge on her stunned mind, but she couldn't find any voice to protest in her shocked state. Her eyes lifted as another horse was led over next to her, and she saw an Arab tied to it in a similar way to herself, a man she had never set eyes on before.

Ardeth stood back and let his men finish binding them, then he nodded to Khalid and the other man stepped forward. He glared at Charlotte like she was so much dirt. "A fitting punishment for the two who betrayed us so easily. Now you can watch each other die, and curse each other for causing the other's downfall."

Charlotte blinked slowly. "Khalid? I don't know this man...please, I don't understand," she said and started crying as she realised what was to become of them.

"You are a convincing liar, but it will not change anything. Save your tears, Miss Carnahan, you will need all that fluid and more once the desert claims you as it's own," he said, bowing his head and then slapping both horses hard on their rumps, making them start moving. Charlotte gave a startled scream as the animals trotted aimlessly on their way, and she had enough time to look over her shoulder and see her family standing watching her go, Evy still cuddling against Rick and unable to look. Jonathan rushed up to the group and watched her go with anger and unease on his face, the anger not directed at her. But she didn't know that, continuing to cry as the horses moved rapidly away from the camp and into the endless oblivion of the desert heat.

Her situation was dire, and she had no idea how it had come to this. The man on the horse next to her was silent, but didn't look in the least perturbed, despite the wounds he bore from an obvious beating, and she wondered again who he was. Ardeth had said something about her and her lover...but Ardeth was her only lover. She closed her eyes and tried to stop the tears from flowing, but it was impossible. Her world had changed from a dream to a nightmare in seconds, and she didn't know why.

As they moved further and further away from the camp, the heat started to make itself felt. It was late afternoon now, but the sun was still hot enough to peel the skin from a person if they stayed out in it too long without some sort of protection, and she had none. They had given her no head covering, nor any water. She was going to die slowly and, she imagined, painfully.

"Don't worry so much, my dear," a voice said and she swung her head around to look at the man next to her, her mouth falling open as she saw the professor sitting next to her instead of the Arab she hadn't known. He gave a laugh at her expression and closed his eyes briefly, opening them and pulling the ropes off his body as if they had never been tied. "You're not going to die. At least, not yet. You see, I need you," he said, smiling warmly at her as if they were just sitting down for a nice meal.

"You...you need...me?"

"Yes. Well, your blood actually, but it's nearly the same thing isn't it? Oh dear, are you confused?" he asked sarcastically and laughed again.

She stared at him, her brain trying to sort out what was going on. "I don't...understand...you weren't there...how did you get here?"

He leaned towards her and grinned, snapping his fingers in front of her wide eyes, making all his wounds disappear in the blink of an eye. "Magic."

"What's going on?" she whispered, a fresh tear slipping from her eyes and drying almost instantly on her hot face.

"Hmm, I suppose I really should explain, shouldn't I?" he said, nodding his head. "Very well, then. You see, I'm the descendent of a very powerful Vizier. Two actually, one named Hapu-Seneb and one, who I think you may have heard of, named Imhotep. A very powerful line of priests and viziers we are, and the power hasn't diminished over the years, no matter how hard the Med-jai have tried to quell it. Anyway, I digress. I need you for a little ceremony, my dear, and I had to make sure that no-one questioned you leaving camp. Therefore, I made you betray everyone you love so dearly, just so they would be glad to see the back of you."

"How? I don't...why?"

"I've already said why, don't be tiresome and repeat the question now. As to how, it's a long story and it's a trifle boring, so I'd rather not go into it. Suffice to say that your precious Ardeth was easy to fool, and I'm quite sure he will be just as easy to kill," he said, smiling nastily at her.

"Why...why would you want to kill him?" she asked in hushed tones, suddenly seeing the madness in his eyes.

"Because he tried wiping out my line, of course. Or rather, his ancestors tried to wipe out my line. They failed, obviously, but they did succeed in killing a girl who Hapu-Seneb was very close to. Revenge has been running through my veins since the moment I was born, and now it's going to be realised." He looked at her with mock sympathy. "Confusing isn't it? Never mind, look on the bright side. I won't let the desert kill you, I'll do that myself, and I'll make it very quick."

Charlotte's brain overloaded as she stared at him and her eyes rolled up in her head, her body collapsing forward over the saddle in a dead faint, the only thing holding her there were the ropes that she was bound with.

Grayson gave a smile and a slight shrug. "Women, no stamina for adventure," he muttered, grabbing the reins of the other horse and leading it along as he kicked his own horse into a gallop, heading to a previously arranged destination.