CHAPTER SEVEN

Jean spent a couple more hours washing the clothes. Ardeth and his men had let her be, or so she thought, and she was most thankful about that. When she was rinsing the last robes, two men grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth before she could scream.

"Now listen to me, dolly, don't you dare trying to stop Imhotep's return. For you and all these men shall suffer the consequences."

Ahmad saw what was happening and alerted Ardeth. He ran towards her in blind hatred. He reached them and heard one of the men say, "You are coming with us, Anck-su-namun needs a new body."

"I do not think so" The tall Med-jai grabbed one of the men and knocked him to the sand, as Jean battled the other one.

"Are you alright?" He let his guard down for a second.

"Look out, Ardeth!" Screamed Jean as she leapt towards the first man, who had risen and was pulling out a dagger. He whirled and tried to get out of his way, but the dagger cut his chest, ever so superficially, because before it penetrated deeper, Jean had punched the man, who ran away with his fellow. A group of Medjais quickly mounted on their horses and sped after them.

Ardeth was on the floor, and in a second, Jean was by his side, covering his bleeding wound with her hand. "Come on, try to stand up…good…let's go to your tent"

"I can walk without any aid."

"Hush. Come with me," she commanded.

Many men gathered around them, they tried to help, but Jean told them she could handle it, but she would need water. She didn't realize that at that exact moment she won the hearts of all the warriors who had witnessed the fierce expression of her love and anxiety. He took Ardeth into his tent and laid him on his bed.

"Let me see your wound."

Ardeth ripped his shirt and exposed his chest. The cut was long, but shallow and Jean sighed in relief.

"Does it bother you much?"

"Some. I've had worse," he said, putting up a brave front.

Ahmad entered with a cube of water. "Do you need anything else?"

"Now, thank you. Just stay outside."

"But I have medical experience, Jean…"

"So do I. Out." Her tone was sharp and the boy disappeared.

"Now we'll take care of it, let me see..." First she cleaned the wound with fresh, clean water until it stopped bleeding. The, she pulled out a small jar of antiseptic and dabbed the red, opened mark with the paste from the jar.

She worked carefully, but the man suddenly sucked in his breath through clenched teeth, groaning. "Easy, now, I know it stings but I'm almost done." He closed his eyes, and smiled bravely.

"You…you saved me…" He said after a few seconds.

"Aha, I did. Now I need some…I know!" She ripped her skirt and made him smile by saying, "Don't tell anyone, but I learnt this trick from a very annoying man who constantly pisses me off, but he is really very sweet and caring…" She finished covering the wound and smiled at him.

Ardeth turned serious. "Jean, I am very sorry about today…"

"Forget about it. I can be a real pain in you-know-where too sometimes. Now it is you the one who has to rest. Here, sip some water and relax."

"Your dream was right… you are in danger."

"Yes…I guess I am."

"So much for protecting you."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. You and your men have protected me very well. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here," she reasoned.

"You…you can fight really well," he commented, a bit surprised.

"Yes, but I don't know where did that come from."

Ardeth smiled. "Would you like me to train you?"

"I would love it. But now you have to rest. Let me tell you a story that will help you sleep: Once upon a time there was a princess who lived in a very big castle…"

Smiling and hearing Jean's soft voice, Ardeth fell asleep. Quietly, she left the tent to find Tarek and Ahmad outside.

"How is he?" Asked the two men at the same time.

"Fine, the wound wasn't deep. He is sleeping now."

"Good. Who were those men, Jean?" Tarek sounded worried.

"I have no idea. But they told me that I must not try to stop Imhotep."

"What else did they tell you?"

"That I could be the guest body for…hmmmm…Anaksamun or something like that." The two men looked at her, alarmed. "Who was that?"

"Imhotep's lover. Perhaps it would be better if Ardeth told you the whole story," suggested Tarek.

"Okay. But why do I get the feeling that you are avoiding answering that question?"

"Ardeth ordered us not to talk about Imhotep to you. He doesn't want you to worry and desires to be the first one to tell you about him. And now that I have told you this, he will probably kill me."

Jean laughed with him and Ahmad and then Tarek left to deliver the news to his grandfather. She turned to the young man.

"I am sorry about the way I treated you before, I guess I was quite shocked."

"It is alright, Jean, I understand. But there is something I would like to know…" his voice trailed off.

"What is it?" She asked, smiling encouragingly.

"Where did you acquire medical expertise?"

"In college. And I have also red every single book about it and I have taken care of several sick friends. But I had never cured a stab wound." She smiled again. "So, tell me, Ahmad, what do you do here for fun?"

"We do not have much time left for that," stated Ahmad after giving the issue some moments of thought.

"Geez, now I understand why they say this is a rough life. If Ardeth awakes, tell him I will be at the Nile's rim."

"What will you do?"

"Have some fun on my own."

Jean left the speechless boy to go to the river. There was a lonely palm tree that provided her some shade and there she sat, and without thinking about it twice, she started singing a ballad. When she finished it, she realized that the camp was very quiet; she turned to find that most of the men had stopped doing whatever they had to do and were listening to her.

"This is what I would call 'singing in front of a live audience'." She thought amused, and went on singing.

***

Ardeth had just awakened, and ignoring the headache that was tormenting him, he left the tent, looking for Jean. Amazed, he heard she was singing, and even more amazed, he noticed that his men were listening to her with intense and serene looks in their eyes. When they saw him, everybody went back to their duties and he decided he could use her soothing presence to calm himself. He waited until she finished a song to talk to her.

"Hello Jean."

"Hey." She said, rising her sight to look at him. "Do you need anything?"

"No, no. I enjoyed hearing you sing. Besides, Roxette is a band I like." Her eyes widened.

"You know Roxette?"

"Even us, fierce desert warriors, know something about music," he stated seriously, but with a spark of humor in his eyes.

"Cool."

"And about American slang as well."

"It's good to know that."

"You have a very beautiful voice," sentenced Ardeth.

"That's real nice from you, but I don't."

"Just ask my men. They were charmed by you, just like sailors were captivated by mermaids and their seductive voices."

Jean laughed as he sat by her side.

"Are you ok?"

"Not really. I have an awful headache."

"Then you shouldn't be out here," she scolded.

"I will decide what is best for me."

"Whatever. Come here." She made him lie down, using her legs as a pillow and started rubbing his temples. Her touch seemed to possess magical healing powers and Ardeth allowed himself to enjoy it.

"Someone is coming." He announced a while later and grabbing Jean's hand, he went to his men. "Can you see who it is?" He asked to a warrior.

"Yes, sir. It is Omid, the White Tribe leader."

"Your sharp sight is a true blessing, Rasheed."

"Thank you, master. Shall we prepare a tent for him?"

"I do not think he will stay. Just put things in order around here. We must set the example." The warriors began working proficiently and Ardeth turned to Jean.

"The leader of another tribe is coming and we will have to be the first ones to welcome him."

"We?"

"Yes, he is most likely here for some reason related to you."

"Okay, but I need to change!" She said and ran to her tent.

"Women," whispered Ardeth.