I own and claim no rights to the motion picture, 'The Mummy,' or 'The Mummy
Returns.' Only characters not featured in either movie are created by me,
as well as the plot, and no similarities to any other fics are intended.
.........................................................
Fate
..........................................................
Rick O'Connell paced Ardeth's tent, something Ardeth himself had done mere hours earlier. "What the HELL happened to, 'I am sure that she will at least get a decent proposal' or 'it is guaranteed that she will at least be betrothed' huh?" he yelled.
Ardeth sat on pillows next to a very sick looking Alex. "Forgive me, my friend, it was unavoidable. My daughter was to be betrothed to a warrior named Nassor, but just yesterday he pulled his suit. You and Evee gave your word that the boy would marry my daughter if no husband could be found and--"
"Only because you said that there was no way she would not be unavailable," Rick interrupted. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, is there anyway for you to get this Nassor guy to agree to marry her?"
Ardeth looked insulted. "Your son's betrothal has been announced. To go against it would disgrace my daughter and any husband she would take. For your son to deny this when he was promised to her long ago, even if he had a way out, will mean the end for Sithathor. She will not be allowed to stay here, no matter what I want or say, and will never be accepted among the Medjai again. It is law. Alex's denial of marriage will shame her, and make her seem unworthy to all."
"Well, maybe if you hadn't said anything, we could have found a way out of this!" Alex cried, finally speaking up after spending the last half hour since his 'fiancée' fled, looking like he was about to spew.
"To do so would disgrace her more! Your betrothal is no secret here. I told your father that the other Medjai leaders had wanted this marriage, and I was truthful! Since the promise was given, all but the younger Medjai have had the knowledge that if she is unmarried now, she will be married to you!" Ardeth defended.
"Well, do you think that the other Medjai made Nassor not want to marry her?" Rick asked.
"No," Ardeth denied fiercely, "no Medjai would interfere in such a way! We are honorable people. She would have been married much earlier, except the first man died of a snake bite, and now Nassor has decided to remain unwed."
Rick growled in frustration. "What the hell can we do then?" he demanded.
Alex looked at Ardeth expectantly, hoping that he had an answer.
Ardeth smiled sadly. "He must accept his fate. Alex will marry Sithathor-- -"
"The hell I will!" Alex exclaimed.
"Then you have as good as killed her," Ardeth told him.
Alex hung his head in his hands and debated fiercely with his conscience for several minutes. "Damn it to hell," he finally muttered, surrenderingly.
.......................................................
Evee, Mia and several women of the Bay tribe stood inside the tent of Siamun, preparing Iset for her bridal night. After undressing her, they placed her in proper robes that would entice her new husband. Throughout this ordeal, Iset's face had remained impassive to the whispers and muffled giggles. She focused more on the worried woman with a beauty that declared her Egyptian heritage. As the women rubbed perfume and oils on her arms, neck and face, she told the woman in heavily accented and broken English, "No worries. Sithathor make son good wife. My sister will bring pride and goodness to home."
Sati looked up from preparing her daughter's marriage bed. "Sithathor is great woman. Your son will love her." Her English was surprisingly good.
Mia gave them fierce looks, and the women returned to their work. The woman positioned herself comfortably next to Evee. Evee shifted uncomfortably, as a bad feeling overcame her senses. Mia smiled at her. "You will be careful with my daughter. She can be very disobedient, but if you use the hand, she will behave."
Evee frowned. "You mean beat her?"
Mia nodded.
Before Evee could reject that, the tent flap was thrust violently back, and Sithathor entered, her beautiful light brown eyes slightly red, her body trembling. The girl's waist-length raven black hair was wild and unkempt. Evee listened as the girl spoke in the words used by the Medjai. "I am here to pay homage to my sister."
She went and knelt by Iset's feet. The younger girl joined her on the floor hugged Sithathor tightly. Whispering to where only Hathy could hear her she murmured, "All is well. Do not fear what will come."
Sithathor returned the hug, and muttered, equally as soft, "How will anything be better now? I am betrothed to a man I have only seen once a year for but a few days. He and I rarely talked, and now he and I are to be wed? What sin have I committed to allow this to happen to me?" She moved out of Iset's embrace. "What if my mother was right? I am truly deserving punishment."
Iset shook her head. "Your mother has nothing to do with this. This is our fate. To obey and live. We are women," she murmured. "We can not do anything to change what will become of us, and Alex O'Connell is a good man. A hero. You will make him a good wife, yes?"
Sithathor pulled away, and stood up. "I don't want to be anything to him! He is not even an Egyptian!" She turned to leave, then noticed Evee. Switching to English, she told the older woman, her voice choking "I am so sorry." Then she was gone.
Iset watched her with a heavy heart and sighed. 'She is caught to her fate now,' she thought. Iset allowed the women to finish their preparation. When her hair was perfumed and she felt like she could handle it no longer, Mia stood and ordered them all out. "Leave the bride to await her husband," Mia cried, amidst the giggles and well wishes. Before leaving, Mia whispered in Iset's ear, "Do not worry about rising early tomorrow. A bride should not have to work after a tiring night."
Iset knew a dark blush had spread across her face. Mia and Evee left the tent together, leaving Iset to lay herself on the bed and await her husband.
Several hours later, long after Iset realized that Siamun would not be joining her this night to fulfill his duties as a husband, the new bride felt hot tears fill her eyes. She laughed bitterly. 'What a happy bride I make.' The tears spilled, hot and free, even after she fell asleep.
.......................................................
Ardeth and Rick sat in his tent the next morning, speaking in a serious manner. Both men looked up as Sithathor walked in, followed closely by her mother. "I won't marry him," she said.
Ardeth sat back in his seat, his face stern. "Oh?"
"I will not marry that man. I WON'T."
Mia moved to her husband's side. "You see what I have said? She is terrible! She has shown disrespect to you, the O'Connells and even her own future husband! You should---"
Ardeth held a hand up, which silenced his wife. "What is wrong with this marriage, Sithathor?"
Sithathor jerked, startled. She hadn't expected her father to ask her opinion. Truthfully, she expected her father to chastise her, and shame her, but at least she would have left knowing she had spoken her mind, instead of simply bowing to her father and mother's dictates.
"I---he is not Medjai! He is a foreigner, a man of no true standing among our people! You would sell me to this man and his family but I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" the last words were shouted. Rick and Ardeth gaped; the former because of her fiercely disagreeable tone, the latter because she actually HAD such a tone. Sithathor continued, all the more aware that she may be punished in the worst way for what she was about to say. "I was meant to be the wife of a great Medjai warrior. A man that had standing, as is my right as the daughter of a Medjai leader! I don't even know this man. Yes I like the O'Connells, but to become their daughter is something entirely more serious! I---I won't simply bow down to your wishes because I am a woman! I am Sithathor Bay, a warrior in my own right, though not in the eyes of men. If I had been born a man, this would not be happening." Sithathor felt herself breaking in the calm face of her father. She might have been able to continue if he became angry. She would have felt justified then, but he only stared at her with calm understanding. "Please father. Please don't do this to me!" The tears that she had held back flowed forth for what seemed like the millionth time in the past several hours.
Everyone jumped when Mia smacked her hand across Sithathor's face with enough force to turn the girl's face violently to the side. "How dare you!" Mia hissed. "You are lucky your father has managed to find you a husband at all. Your foolish illusions of become a warrior has scared off all prospective husbands, and you inability at regular womanly chores is a disgrace to this house...I am surprised the boy wants you at all---"
"Enough!" Ardeth shouted. He eyed his wife furiously. "Leave us."
Mia stared at him in shock. "I am your wife! She is nothing but a daughter. One who has been disrespectful and---"
"I said LEAVE US!" the Medjai yelled. Mia flushed an ugly red, turned her back to her husband and laid a look of pure hatred at Sithathor. The older woman left muttering. Only Ardeth, Rick and Sithathor remained.
Ardeth came up to his daughter and lay a hand gently on her face, caressing the cheek her mother had hit with fatherly love in his eyes. "I am so sorry my child. It is done."
A silent tear fell down Sithathor's face. "But father---"
"No!"
Ardeth's tone was somewhat hard. Sithathor closed her eyes in defeat. Ardeth continued in a softer tone. "It is to late. It is all arranged. You and Alex O'Connell are to be married tomorrow night. Your wedding sheath is at this moment being finished by Sati and Iset. Your marriage tent is being erected tonight, and all the guest of last night are remaining to witness it. In two days you shall be leaving as the wife of Alex O'Connell. I trust you will be the dutiful wife? You will not bring shame to my name?"
Sithathor lifted tear-stained eyes to her father and smiled faintly. "Of course not father. I will go to Omari's tent now, to be fitted into my wedding robes." Dejectedly, she turned away and left the tent.
Ardeth returned to his seat solemnly, to continue speaking of a dowry to Rick. Though Rick and Evee protested on receiving anything from Ardeth, he insisted.
"What was that about?" Rick asked.
Ardeth paused for a moment, then "Just came to tell me about how happy she is to marrying your son."
Rick raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I wonder what she does when she is sad about something."
........................................................
Sithathor stood outside of her father's tent and breathed deeply.
"You may have his favor, but your influence ends now!" her mother snarled.
Sithathor's eyes closed and she sighed. Then she opened her eyes. She straightened her spine, and felt an angry spark in her heart. All her life she had loved this woman, even after all she had done to make her feel like she was nothing but the dirt under her feet. But now she was to tired to try, and to weak to care. "Mother," she said. "There is one good thing that comes from this marriage." She turned her back to the mother she had wanted all her life. "I get the hell away from you." Then she moved to the tent of the mother she had always had.
........................................................
Iset and Sati looked up from their embroidery. Sithathor moved to sit beside Sati and laid her head on her lap. Sati put her sewing aside and stroked Hathy's hair gently. Hathy wanted to cry, had cried for hours on end, but now it seemed the emotions were abandoning her. "Do not fear child. He is a good man. You will learn to love him. It is the way of the Medjai women. Be there for him, love him, and his love for you will come in time."
Sithathor simply nodded. She hated when they said things like that. Women are suppose to do that, women must accept this, never do that, never be that, never know this...damn it, she wasn't weak. She was a woman, yes. But strong.
Sithathor winced. Okay maybe she wasn't so strong now. But usually she could contend with the best of them.
Iset eyed her new sister with something of admiration...and envy. She continued to sew the silver and black wedding garment to be worn by Sithathor on her wedding. The color was striking against Hathy's beautifully tan skin.
Sithathor looked up at her friend, and felt selfish. This was the day after her best friend's wedding, and she was wallowing in self-pity. She should be helping her friend, instead of being so selfish and only caring about herself. Hathy sat up and removed the embroidery from Iset's hands and put Iset's hands in her own. Iset eyed her cautiously, and with some amusement. "What?" Iset asked laughingly.
"How has your first day as a wife been?" Sithathor asked.
Iset's smile disappeared. She looked down at her hands in shame. "I am not a wife. Not yet. I am still a bride."
"Still a---" Understanding dawned on Hathy's face, immediately followed by anger.
Iset wrung her hands. "My husband does not want me." Her eyes filled with tears, and Sati made a small sound of distress.
Sithathor gently put Iset's face in her hands. "No more crying. We have cried enough to fill the Nile. Be strong. You are Iset Bay. Remember that." The girl rose to her feet. "Now, on to that idiot pile of camel shit brother of mine." The other two women's jaws dropped as Sithathor hurried out of the tent, her anger a palpable aura around her.
...........................................................
Alex watched as Ahmes and his brother Siamun sparred in the circle of Medjai. The blur of furious punches and kicks ended abruptly when Siamun knocked a winded fourteen year old Ahmes to the ground. Siamun turned to Alex, a smile on his face. "This is how the Medjai fight," he said proudly. "With honor and courage. Whether it is with sword or fist!" The men around him grunted in approval. The younger boys of the Bay family, Musa, Peyes, and the mischievous little Cleo watched the show from behind a pile of firewood nearby.
"It's very good," commented Alex. "Much like we fight in England," he added.
"Really," a voice muttered. "I thought Englishmen were cowards who fight like women."
Alex stiffened. Siamun frowned fiercely at the speaker. "Nassor, you must not show disrespect to my guest."
Alex relaxed. "Ah, Nassor. Now I understand."
"Do you Englishman?" Nassor growled. "Let's fight and see how good Englishmen really are."
Alex frowned. "I am not going to fight you---"
Nassor laughed. "Like I said. He is like a woman. Weak, and scared."
Siamun ordered the laughing men to be silent, but Alex was puffed up in rage. "Alright then," Alex said, "Let's do it." Siamun looked at his friend worriedly. Alex smiled. "I'll be fine Siamun. My folks taught me well."
Slowly Alex and Nassor circled each other. Nassor was the first to attack, aiming low kicks, that if Alex had not blocked would have ensured no children in his future. "I thought Medjai fought with honor," Alex muttered. The next few minutes were a blur, as both tried to get a blow in. Finally, when Nassor went to punch Alex in the face, Alex ducked and aimed a hard blow directly in the middle of Nassor's stomach. The shocked man sank to the floor wheezing and panting for breath. Siamun hurried over to Alex, approval written all over his face. Alex used some of the last of his energy to say, "So now you know...Englishmen...are fighters."
Neither man registered the silence of the men until a familiar feminine voice broke the silence. "Siamun!"
"What?" Siamun asked, turning quickly. He had time only to look surprised as a fist connected with his face with a big force. He leaned forward quickly, cradling his face. "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU WOMAN!" he screamed.
Sithathor screamed obscenities at Siamun that Alex had never heard a woman utter---in any language! Finally, her anger almost spent, Sithathor grabbed Siamun by the front of his shirt. Muttering low enough for only her brother and Alex to hear, "When I leave, if I hear so much as a whisper that you have hurt Iset in ANY way...father's hope of getting grandchildren by you will be destroyed. Do you understand?"
Her younger brother nodded. She released him and walked away, completely ignoring Alex. Ahmes came up behind the men and smiled. As Siamun massaged his bruised jaw, moving it back and forth, his younger brother Ahmes grinned at Alex. "That, my friend, is going to be your wife! Good luck!"
Alex stared after her, as a slow grin appeared on his face as well.
...................................................................
The night of her wedding, Sithathor was NOT in the best of moods. Her mother had complained to the women on her dress, the preparations, the food...
Now Sithathor stood wrapped in her silver and black sheath, waiting in Omari and Sati's tent for her father to get her for the ceremony to begin. Sithathor smiled as Iset and Sati entered. Iset frowned. "You gave Siamun a bruised jaw...it was almost broken."
Then the girl's frown disappeared, and was replaced by a smile. "I don't like what you did, but thank you for doing it."
Sithathor smiled. "If you need me, I am only a car, boat, train and camel away!" All three women laughed. Sithathor's laughter died as her father entered the tent and surveyed his daughter with pride.
"You are beautiful my child. Alex is a lucky man." Ardeth took a golden headdress decked in jewels from under his robes and placed upon her head. "From the City of the Dead. A gift from Evee, to you." He took a golden ring from his ceremoniously ringed hand. "From myself. Handed down from the women of my family. If my mother was alive, she would present it to you." Sithathor struggled not to cry as she put the ring on. Her father looked at her one finally time. "You have become a woman," he murmured, as Sithathor watched in silent confusion as her father looked ready to cry. He hugged her to him tightly, and his daughter clung to him fiercely. They pulled apart, and Ardeth smiled down at her. "It is time."
Silently, Sithathor followed him out of the tent, to her husband and toward some new life...and she was scared as hell.
**********************************************
A/N: Hey, how is this one? And you know what is funny? I told ya'll not to expect long chapters, and I can't seem to stop writing for a long time once I get involved in this fic. Ah well, you don't mind right? BIG thanks to the reviews from RickEvie4eve, NMChist, Egyptian Princess and eva! Loved your comments! Oh, and sorry for the unusually spelling of Evee's name. You know who it is, so it's all good! Please R/R and tell me what you thing of this chapter! Take care!
.........................................................
Fate
..........................................................
Rick O'Connell paced Ardeth's tent, something Ardeth himself had done mere hours earlier. "What the HELL happened to, 'I am sure that she will at least get a decent proposal' or 'it is guaranteed that she will at least be betrothed' huh?" he yelled.
Ardeth sat on pillows next to a very sick looking Alex. "Forgive me, my friend, it was unavoidable. My daughter was to be betrothed to a warrior named Nassor, but just yesterday he pulled his suit. You and Evee gave your word that the boy would marry my daughter if no husband could be found and--"
"Only because you said that there was no way she would not be unavailable," Rick interrupted. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, is there anyway for you to get this Nassor guy to agree to marry her?"
Ardeth looked insulted. "Your son's betrothal has been announced. To go against it would disgrace my daughter and any husband she would take. For your son to deny this when he was promised to her long ago, even if he had a way out, will mean the end for Sithathor. She will not be allowed to stay here, no matter what I want or say, and will never be accepted among the Medjai again. It is law. Alex's denial of marriage will shame her, and make her seem unworthy to all."
"Well, maybe if you hadn't said anything, we could have found a way out of this!" Alex cried, finally speaking up after spending the last half hour since his 'fiancée' fled, looking like he was about to spew.
"To do so would disgrace her more! Your betrothal is no secret here. I told your father that the other Medjai leaders had wanted this marriage, and I was truthful! Since the promise was given, all but the younger Medjai have had the knowledge that if she is unmarried now, she will be married to you!" Ardeth defended.
"Well, do you think that the other Medjai made Nassor not want to marry her?" Rick asked.
"No," Ardeth denied fiercely, "no Medjai would interfere in such a way! We are honorable people. She would have been married much earlier, except the first man died of a snake bite, and now Nassor has decided to remain unwed."
Rick growled in frustration. "What the hell can we do then?" he demanded.
Alex looked at Ardeth expectantly, hoping that he had an answer.
Ardeth smiled sadly. "He must accept his fate. Alex will marry Sithathor-- -"
"The hell I will!" Alex exclaimed.
"Then you have as good as killed her," Ardeth told him.
Alex hung his head in his hands and debated fiercely with his conscience for several minutes. "Damn it to hell," he finally muttered, surrenderingly.
.......................................................
Evee, Mia and several women of the Bay tribe stood inside the tent of Siamun, preparing Iset for her bridal night. After undressing her, they placed her in proper robes that would entice her new husband. Throughout this ordeal, Iset's face had remained impassive to the whispers and muffled giggles. She focused more on the worried woman with a beauty that declared her Egyptian heritage. As the women rubbed perfume and oils on her arms, neck and face, she told the woman in heavily accented and broken English, "No worries. Sithathor make son good wife. My sister will bring pride and goodness to home."
Sati looked up from preparing her daughter's marriage bed. "Sithathor is great woman. Your son will love her." Her English was surprisingly good.
Mia gave them fierce looks, and the women returned to their work. The woman positioned herself comfortably next to Evee. Evee shifted uncomfortably, as a bad feeling overcame her senses. Mia smiled at her. "You will be careful with my daughter. She can be very disobedient, but if you use the hand, she will behave."
Evee frowned. "You mean beat her?"
Mia nodded.
Before Evee could reject that, the tent flap was thrust violently back, and Sithathor entered, her beautiful light brown eyes slightly red, her body trembling. The girl's waist-length raven black hair was wild and unkempt. Evee listened as the girl spoke in the words used by the Medjai. "I am here to pay homage to my sister."
She went and knelt by Iset's feet. The younger girl joined her on the floor hugged Sithathor tightly. Whispering to where only Hathy could hear her she murmured, "All is well. Do not fear what will come."
Sithathor returned the hug, and muttered, equally as soft, "How will anything be better now? I am betrothed to a man I have only seen once a year for but a few days. He and I rarely talked, and now he and I are to be wed? What sin have I committed to allow this to happen to me?" She moved out of Iset's embrace. "What if my mother was right? I am truly deserving punishment."
Iset shook her head. "Your mother has nothing to do with this. This is our fate. To obey and live. We are women," she murmured. "We can not do anything to change what will become of us, and Alex O'Connell is a good man. A hero. You will make him a good wife, yes?"
Sithathor pulled away, and stood up. "I don't want to be anything to him! He is not even an Egyptian!" She turned to leave, then noticed Evee. Switching to English, she told the older woman, her voice choking "I am so sorry." Then she was gone.
Iset watched her with a heavy heart and sighed. 'She is caught to her fate now,' she thought. Iset allowed the women to finish their preparation. When her hair was perfumed and she felt like she could handle it no longer, Mia stood and ordered them all out. "Leave the bride to await her husband," Mia cried, amidst the giggles and well wishes. Before leaving, Mia whispered in Iset's ear, "Do not worry about rising early tomorrow. A bride should not have to work after a tiring night."
Iset knew a dark blush had spread across her face. Mia and Evee left the tent together, leaving Iset to lay herself on the bed and await her husband.
Several hours later, long after Iset realized that Siamun would not be joining her this night to fulfill his duties as a husband, the new bride felt hot tears fill her eyes. She laughed bitterly. 'What a happy bride I make.' The tears spilled, hot and free, even after she fell asleep.
.......................................................
Ardeth and Rick sat in his tent the next morning, speaking in a serious manner. Both men looked up as Sithathor walked in, followed closely by her mother. "I won't marry him," she said.
Ardeth sat back in his seat, his face stern. "Oh?"
"I will not marry that man. I WON'T."
Mia moved to her husband's side. "You see what I have said? She is terrible! She has shown disrespect to you, the O'Connells and even her own future husband! You should---"
Ardeth held a hand up, which silenced his wife. "What is wrong with this marriage, Sithathor?"
Sithathor jerked, startled. She hadn't expected her father to ask her opinion. Truthfully, she expected her father to chastise her, and shame her, but at least she would have left knowing she had spoken her mind, instead of simply bowing to her father and mother's dictates.
"I---he is not Medjai! He is a foreigner, a man of no true standing among our people! You would sell me to this man and his family but I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" the last words were shouted. Rick and Ardeth gaped; the former because of her fiercely disagreeable tone, the latter because she actually HAD such a tone. Sithathor continued, all the more aware that she may be punished in the worst way for what she was about to say. "I was meant to be the wife of a great Medjai warrior. A man that had standing, as is my right as the daughter of a Medjai leader! I don't even know this man. Yes I like the O'Connells, but to become their daughter is something entirely more serious! I---I won't simply bow down to your wishes because I am a woman! I am Sithathor Bay, a warrior in my own right, though not in the eyes of men. If I had been born a man, this would not be happening." Sithathor felt herself breaking in the calm face of her father. She might have been able to continue if he became angry. She would have felt justified then, but he only stared at her with calm understanding. "Please father. Please don't do this to me!" The tears that she had held back flowed forth for what seemed like the millionth time in the past several hours.
Everyone jumped when Mia smacked her hand across Sithathor's face with enough force to turn the girl's face violently to the side. "How dare you!" Mia hissed. "You are lucky your father has managed to find you a husband at all. Your foolish illusions of become a warrior has scared off all prospective husbands, and you inability at regular womanly chores is a disgrace to this house...I am surprised the boy wants you at all---"
"Enough!" Ardeth shouted. He eyed his wife furiously. "Leave us."
Mia stared at him in shock. "I am your wife! She is nothing but a daughter. One who has been disrespectful and---"
"I said LEAVE US!" the Medjai yelled. Mia flushed an ugly red, turned her back to her husband and laid a look of pure hatred at Sithathor. The older woman left muttering. Only Ardeth, Rick and Sithathor remained.
Ardeth came up to his daughter and lay a hand gently on her face, caressing the cheek her mother had hit with fatherly love in his eyes. "I am so sorry my child. It is done."
A silent tear fell down Sithathor's face. "But father---"
"No!"
Ardeth's tone was somewhat hard. Sithathor closed her eyes in defeat. Ardeth continued in a softer tone. "It is to late. It is all arranged. You and Alex O'Connell are to be married tomorrow night. Your wedding sheath is at this moment being finished by Sati and Iset. Your marriage tent is being erected tonight, and all the guest of last night are remaining to witness it. In two days you shall be leaving as the wife of Alex O'Connell. I trust you will be the dutiful wife? You will not bring shame to my name?"
Sithathor lifted tear-stained eyes to her father and smiled faintly. "Of course not father. I will go to Omari's tent now, to be fitted into my wedding robes." Dejectedly, she turned away and left the tent.
Ardeth returned to his seat solemnly, to continue speaking of a dowry to Rick. Though Rick and Evee protested on receiving anything from Ardeth, he insisted.
"What was that about?" Rick asked.
Ardeth paused for a moment, then "Just came to tell me about how happy she is to marrying your son."
Rick raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I wonder what she does when she is sad about something."
........................................................
Sithathor stood outside of her father's tent and breathed deeply.
"You may have his favor, but your influence ends now!" her mother snarled.
Sithathor's eyes closed and she sighed. Then she opened her eyes. She straightened her spine, and felt an angry spark in her heart. All her life she had loved this woman, even after all she had done to make her feel like she was nothing but the dirt under her feet. But now she was to tired to try, and to weak to care. "Mother," she said. "There is one good thing that comes from this marriage." She turned her back to the mother she had wanted all her life. "I get the hell away from you." Then she moved to the tent of the mother she had always had.
........................................................
Iset and Sati looked up from their embroidery. Sithathor moved to sit beside Sati and laid her head on her lap. Sati put her sewing aside and stroked Hathy's hair gently. Hathy wanted to cry, had cried for hours on end, but now it seemed the emotions were abandoning her. "Do not fear child. He is a good man. You will learn to love him. It is the way of the Medjai women. Be there for him, love him, and his love for you will come in time."
Sithathor simply nodded. She hated when they said things like that. Women are suppose to do that, women must accept this, never do that, never be that, never know this...damn it, she wasn't weak. She was a woman, yes. But strong.
Sithathor winced. Okay maybe she wasn't so strong now. But usually she could contend with the best of them.
Iset eyed her new sister with something of admiration...and envy. She continued to sew the silver and black wedding garment to be worn by Sithathor on her wedding. The color was striking against Hathy's beautifully tan skin.
Sithathor looked up at her friend, and felt selfish. This was the day after her best friend's wedding, and she was wallowing in self-pity. She should be helping her friend, instead of being so selfish and only caring about herself. Hathy sat up and removed the embroidery from Iset's hands and put Iset's hands in her own. Iset eyed her cautiously, and with some amusement. "What?" Iset asked laughingly.
"How has your first day as a wife been?" Sithathor asked.
Iset's smile disappeared. She looked down at her hands in shame. "I am not a wife. Not yet. I am still a bride."
"Still a---" Understanding dawned on Hathy's face, immediately followed by anger.
Iset wrung her hands. "My husband does not want me." Her eyes filled with tears, and Sati made a small sound of distress.
Sithathor gently put Iset's face in her hands. "No more crying. We have cried enough to fill the Nile. Be strong. You are Iset Bay. Remember that." The girl rose to her feet. "Now, on to that idiot pile of camel shit brother of mine." The other two women's jaws dropped as Sithathor hurried out of the tent, her anger a palpable aura around her.
...........................................................
Alex watched as Ahmes and his brother Siamun sparred in the circle of Medjai. The blur of furious punches and kicks ended abruptly when Siamun knocked a winded fourteen year old Ahmes to the ground. Siamun turned to Alex, a smile on his face. "This is how the Medjai fight," he said proudly. "With honor and courage. Whether it is with sword or fist!" The men around him grunted in approval. The younger boys of the Bay family, Musa, Peyes, and the mischievous little Cleo watched the show from behind a pile of firewood nearby.
"It's very good," commented Alex. "Much like we fight in England," he added.
"Really," a voice muttered. "I thought Englishmen were cowards who fight like women."
Alex stiffened. Siamun frowned fiercely at the speaker. "Nassor, you must not show disrespect to my guest."
Alex relaxed. "Ah, Nassor. Now I understand."
"Do you Englishman?" Nassor growled. "Let's fight and see how good Englishmen really are."
Alex frowned. "I am not going to fight you---"
Nassor laughed. "Like I said. He is like a woman. Weak, and scared."
Siamun ordered the laughing men to be silent, but Alex was puffed up in rage. "Alright then," Alex said, "Let's do it." Siamun looked at his friend worriedly. Alex smiled. "I'll be fine Siamun. My folks taught me well."
Slowly Alex and Nassor circled each other. Nassor was the first to attack, aiming low kicks, that if Alex had not blocked would have ensured no children in his future. "I thought Medjai fought with honor," Alex muttered. The next few minutes were a blur, as both tried to get a blow in. Finally, when Nassor went to punch Alex in the face, Alex ducked and aimed a hard blow directly in the middle of Nassor's stomach. The shocked man sank to the floor wheezing and panting for breath. Siamun hurried over to Alex, approval written all over his face. Alex used some of the last of his energy to say, "So now you know...Englishmen...are fighters."
Neither man registered the silence of the men until a familiar feminine voice broke the silence. "Siamun!"
"What?" Siamun asked, turning quickly. He had time only to look surprised as a fist connected with his face with a big force. He leaned forward quickly, cradling his face. "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU WOMAN!" he screamed.
Sithathor screamed obscenities at Siamun that Alex had never heard a woman utter---in any language! Finally, her anger almost spent, Sithathor grabbed Siamun by the front of his shirt. Muttering low enough for only her brother and Alex to hear, "When I leave, if I hear so much as a whisper that you have hurt Iset in ANY way...father's hope of getting grandchildren by you will be destroyed. Do you understand?"
Her younger brother nodded. She released him and walked away, completely ignoring Alex. Ahmes came up behind the men and smiled. As Siamun massaged his bruised jaw, moving it back and forth, his younger brother Ahmes grinned at Alex. "That, my friend, is going to be your wife! Good luck!"
Alex stared after her, as a slow grin appeared on his face as well.
...................................................................
The night of her wedding, Sithathor was NOT in the best of moods. Her mother had complained to the women on her dress, the preparations, the food...
Now Sithathor stood wrapped in her silver and black sheath, waiting in Omari and Sati's tent for her father to get her for the ceremony to begin. Sithathor smiled as Iset and Sati entered. Iset frowned. "You gave Siamun a bruised jaw...it was almost broken."
Then the girl's frown disappeared, and was replaced by a smile. "I don't like what you did, but thank you for doing it."
Sithathor smiled. "If you need me, I am only a car, boat, train and camel away!" All three women laughed. Sithathor's laughter died as her father entered the tent and surveyed his daughter with pride.
"You are beautiful my child. Alex is a lucky man." Ardeth took a golden headdress decked in jewels from under his robes and placed upon her head. "From the City of the Dead. A gift from Evee, to you." He took a golden ring from his ceremoniously ringed hand. "From myself. Handed down from the women of my family. If my mother was alive, she would present it to you." Sithathor struggled not to cry as she put the ring on. Her father looked at her one finally time. "You have become a woman," he murmured, as Sithathor watched in silent confusion as her father looked ready to cry. He hugged her to him tightly, and his daughter clung to him fiercely. They pulled apart, and Ardeth smiled down at her. "It is time."
Silently, Sithathor followed him out of the tent, to her husband and toward some new life...and she was scared as hell.
**********************************************
A/N: Hey, how is this one? And you know what is funny? I told ya'll not to expect long chapters, and I can't seem to stop writing for a long time once I get involved in this fic. Ah well, you don't mind right? BIG thanks to the reviews from RickEvie4eve, NMChist, Egyptian Princess and eva! Loved your comments! Oh, and sorry for the unusually spelling of Evee's name. You know who it is, so it's all good! Please R/R and tell me what you thing of this chapter! Take care!