CHAPTER EIGHT
When Jean went back to his side, he couldn't do less than commend her common sense, for she was wearing a black and gold silk tunic that didn't cling much to her forms, but was of good taste and one of the most suitable outfits to wear while meeting one of the toughest leaders. Of course, she had covered her hair with a golden veil that made her green eyes stand out beautifully. Ardeth took her hand and they both waited for the man.
He got to the camp promptly and dismounted in front of them. He appeared to be twenty years older than Ardeth and had an imposing presence.
"Harum Bara shad!" he said to the commander of the Med-jai and made the ceremonial sign.
"Welcome, Omid," greeted Ardeth in English, "this is Jean Marquet." The man didn't even bother to look at her.
"That is why I am here. I would like to talk to you alone, although I doubt this infidel will understand what we say." Jean didn't understand the man's words and Ardeth gave her hand a firm squeeze.
"Speak in English, Omid. Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of her. What is more, I want her to hear what you have to say."
"If that's your wish." He cleared his throat. "I am here to tell you that we have received the news about the alleged return of Imhotep and we believe this woman is a fraud."
Ardeth's eyes widened as Jean could barely keep her jaw from dropping.
"I doubt it, my man." He took her arm and showed the Med-jai symbol to the visitor.
"She could have done it herself."
"And why would she do such thing?"
"Maybe to steal Hamunaptra's treasure."
Jean could no longer contain the fury that had been building inside her and snapped at Omid.
"Look, Mister, first of all you are not superior to me, so give up the attitude. Second, do you think that I would go through all this and abuse of these men's trust just to steal a stupid bracelet or something like that? It's very sad; you must have been betrayed many times as to be so paranoid. And third…well, I think that with the first two reasons I've made my point!"
Omid's expression made Ardeth want to burst into laughter.
"Are you going to allow this infidel to talk to me like this?" He hissed.
"Omid, please, Jean is here to help us and I trust her. And I am the Chieftain."
"But, sir…" The man was beginning to act respectfully.
"Now, go to your tribe and tell them that we welcome Jean in ours. The one who questions her good intentions is questioning me; the one who disrespects her, is disrespecting me. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Master. I will leave now."
"May Allah be with you."
Omid mounted and rode off. They both stood side by side, watching the figure of the Medjai ride into the desert until it disappeared over the rolling sand dunes. Jean was wordless, Ardeth had acted so confidently and with such an authority that she was amazed.
"Thanks for standing up for me," she whispered.
"They are good men, but sometimes they forget who the Chieftain is and, even though I hate to, I have to remind them of my position. I have dealt several times with this kind of situation, but thanks to Allah none of them has challenged my claim to the leadership."
"What would happen if one of them does?"
"We would have to settle it in a fight to the death," he answered matter-of-factly.
Jean was horrified.
"What?" she said incredulously, fear and horror consuming her.
"What you heard, Jean. But it rarely happens."
"God…you could be killed…"
Ardeth cursed under his breath when he saw how frightened she had become.
"We can all be killed in one way or another. Do not worry about me."
"But I care about you."
Ardeth smiled and reached out a hand to touch her cheek, both of them unaware of Kasim's prying eyes.
"I will be fine."
"I hope. Did Omid mention something about a treasure?"
"Yes, it is believed that somewhere inside Hamunaptra lies the wealth of Egypt. But we do not know its location."
"Aren't you supposed to? I mean, your ancestors must have known where it was."
"Indeed, but Hamunaptra has been sinking in the sands since the times of the Egyptian Empire and the entrance to some chambers has been blocked. We believe the treasure one is among them. And unless you digged for about a thousand years, I doubt it you would be able to steal the gold, as Omid suggested."
Jean smiled. The sun was setting and they could see that the men had started setting the table and preparing the evening meal. Jean joined them in order to help and in a short while, they were eating. She wasn't very hungry and asked to be excused. Ardeth glanced at her leaving towards her tent with a worried look in his eyes.
"How are you feeling, my boy?" Asked Ahmed.
"It was just a shallow wound, and Jean took good care of it."
"Those men wanted her to be Anck-su-namun's host body," said Tarek.
"Allah help us…"
Looking at him, his grandfather smiled sadly.
"You are a lucky man, Ardeth, to have a woman like her stand by your side."
He nodded but the older man didn't miss the shimmer of rage in his eyes at the thought of compromising Jean because of a sour love affair three thousand years ago. Kasim had been very silent, but then blurted out a sentence that surprised everybody.
"You must marry her."
"Uncle, please, give me a break."
"I saw you two out there. You touched her." Kasim said, accusingly. Tarek almost fell off his bench.
"What happened exactly, Ardeth?" Asked Ahmed.
"I told her about our Code of Honor, and she got scared, fearing that someone could kill me."
" Did you tell her about…?"
" No. I didn't want to worry her any more than she already was, so I just comforted her, it was a very innocent gesture," explained Ardeth.
"But you can't show affection towards a woman in public!" Persisted his uncle.
"Says who?"
"The rules."
Ardeth was furious. "Screw the rules, uncle. And now, if you finished judging me, I will go check on Jean. And, by the way, I will spend the night with her. Tarek, grandfather."
With a nod, he got up from his bench and left the table. She walked his way to Jean's tent and entered, to find her sleeping. Ardeth got in bed next to her, fully dressed and without daring to touch her. He fell asleep almost immediately.
The temperature dropped sharply as the wind picked up and that woke him up. Ardeth had chosen to camp behind some dunes to shelter them from the wind, but he couldn't do anything about the cold, and that night was the coldest he had experienced in months. He felt Jean trembling and lifted his head up to look at her face. She was still asleep, but shivering and Ardeth noticed that the robe she was wearing was of very thin material, not suitable for the harshness of the desert nights. He pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and gently pulled her tightly against him, to absorb as much of his body heat as she could. She moved suddenly, and he was afraid he had awakened her. He felt her trying to move, so he loosened his hold on her to see what she wanted. He waited patiently while she rolled all the way over, so that now she was facing him, and she cuddled herself against his chest, but without pressing it, as if, even in her sleep, she remembered he had been wounded. Her hands unconsciously clutched the material of his black robes. Her face was against his neck, her head fitting into the hollow between his shoulder and jaw as she slept. He brought his arm back down around her, holding her tightly against him as he closed his eyes.