Arabians and Dancing Swords.
By LatanyaDisclaimer: I don't own anything to do with the Mummy (damn) or Ardeth Bey and the Medjai (double damn). Vous etes mon amour, ma vie = is French for 'you are my love, my life'.
Chapter Eight: Galloping horses.
Ardeth climbed up through the window of Tahirah's room with excitement boiling in the pit of his stomach. When he looked around, he wondered where she was and why there were no signs of her having been there at all. Glancing over the bed, he spotted a letter addressed to him and picked it up. Frowning, he lifted his eyes to stare at the mirror and noticed another letter in the reflection.
"By Allah, what is going on in here?" He picked up the second letter and opened it.
'Mon amour Ardeth, I hope you find this letter and read it for if you do not, then all is lost. As for the other letter, it is fake and was written by one of the maids. My grandfather has betrayed us having found out from the maid Bella – she who I once called my friend – about the plans we had made to run away this night. He is sending me to Alexandria and from there, to my grandparents in England. Ardeth, believe me when I tell you that I love you and I would never let something like this happen by choice but Kareem Bahil is powerful here while I am just a woman. What I cannot work out is why he would be so angry to hear that we wish to marry? I thought that you and he were great friends. Mon amour, you must come after me. I am traveling in a guarded caravan but the number of horses slows us down with us for I am taking all of my horses to England with me. If you can rescue me, you will prove to Kareem Bahil that our love cannot be stopped. I love you Ardeth Bey and I hope you can save me for my grandfather has threatened me with severe punishment should I ever return to Egypt. You must prevent me from leaving for I go not of my own will. Remember this Ardeth Bey, vous etes mon amour, ma vie. Your loving bride, Tahri."
He stared at the letter before ripping open the other and glancing over it. Growling, he tore the fake one up and slipped the letter from Tahirah inside his robes. "You will pay for this Kareem Bahil for I do not like being betrayed by those who I counted as friends."
Going back out the way he came in, Ardeth hurried over to his band of men and leapt onto his horse's back, "We ride for Alexandria!"
Taking a deep breath, Tahirah looked around the camp shrouded in shadows and darkness. She was dressed only in loose black cotton pants and a shirt but she knew what she was looking for. If her Japanese swords were to be found anywhere, they would be in Zahir's tent. When she found the tent, Tahirah listened carefully to try and determine if he was still awake.
Once sure that he was not, she crept in and looked around. Grinning when her eyes came to a rest on the delicately made silk bag that she carried the two swords in, Tahirah cautiously lifted it up and backed out of the room. Returning to her own tent the way she had come, the woman managed to avoid any of the guards who were patrolling the place.
"Ardeth, where are you?" She whispered, sitting down on her bed and opening the back to take the swords out.
They had had to stop early because one of the cart's had broken. When he'd hastily arranged for his granddaughter to leave Cairo, Kareem had made sure that they would be traveling in the most secretive way he could think of – as a poor caravan with carts. At least they would be traveling slowly enough for Ardeth and his Medjai to catch up with them.
She lifted her head; sure that she could hear horses in the distance. "Could they be here already? It is not possible for Ardeth would have gone to my room in the early hours of the morning yesterday. Well, I suppose if they galloped their horses for most of the distance, they could have made it here."
Standing up, Tahirah strapped the belt around her waist and made sure that the wakizashi and katana were both situated correctly and in the best possible position. Then, pacing around the room, she was lost in thoughts about Ardeth for a moment before she remembered her last conversation with her grandfather Kareem Bahil.
'I was at first willing to encourage Ardeth Bey in his affections for you granddaughter but the man has proven to me that he cannot be trusted.'
She glared at him, 'What do you mean? Were you aware of Ardeth's intentions towards me?'
Shaking his head, Kareem replied, 'Aware? Indeed for Ardeth Bey came to me in search of aid in regards to permission to woo you. I thought it would be interesting to see him try and so, I conceded permission to him. However, he has disregarded that permission by going behind my back and arranging to steal you away.'
'You have got to be kidding me! You gave Ardeth your permission to woo me and now you are making sure that we cannot be together because we decided on what we wanted to do? This is amusing I must admit for I am an independent woman and you have no real control over my life; I can marry anyone I want and Ardeth Bey is the man I want to marry." Tahirah snapped at her grandfather in anger.
'You can marry any man you want, just not Ardeth Bey. Let him go Jessica because you are not for a man like him. Go home to England or New Zealand and take your horses with you. Perhaps you will find a man there who is deserving of you and who will treat you like you should be. I will not have my only grandchild marry herself to a man who's life will always revolve around his duty to protecting things out in the desert.'
'Do you wish for me to kill myself Kareem Bahil? For that is what I will do once I reach either of those places. Send me to England and I will kill myself. Send me to New Zealand and I will still kill myself. If I cannot be with Ardeth Bey, I will be with no one at all and you will have no granddaughter.'
Kareem shrugged, 'So be it for it would mean that you were not with a man who I have decided is unfit to be your husband. Forget Ardeth Bey and the Medjai.'
"No grandfather, I will not forget Ardeth Bey and the Medjai." Tahirah shook herself out of her thoughts and looked around in confusion.
Sure that the sound of horses was getting closer, Tahirah rushed outside with the bag she had packed to go off with Ardeth, slung over one shoulder. There were shouts from the guards and the sound of pounding hooves on the sand suddenly filled the camp. Spinning around, Tahirah saw the Medjai all around and she broke down and laughed.
Ardeth gave orders that no one was to be hurt if they could get away with it and he set off around to find Tahirah. When he saw her, she was surrounded by Kareem's guards – some of them facing her with their swords drawn while others were facing out. Watching in amusement as Tahirah attacked the guards with her Japanese swords. He could tell that the guards did not want to harm her but she was giving them no choice but to defend themselves.
She growled, launching herself at the weakest spot she could find in the circle of men around her. "Now, if you were smart men, you'd get out of my way. Don't you see that you've all lost? The Medjai are here and Ardeth Bey will take me away."
Zahir parried her blow and growled back, "We have a job to do Miss Alexander and we will do that job so long as we still have you within our grasp."
Swinging around with both swords, Tahirah confused him enough to force the guard back, "Yes, you say to but right now I can see a gun aimed at your head and the man holding it will not hesitate to kill you if he thinks you will do me any harm."
"Tahirah, duck!" Ardeth yelled, throwing a knife at Zahir.
He knew that she would catch it mid-air before it hit the guard and so she did. Lashing out with a hand, Tahirah grabbed the hilt of the knife just inches from Zahir's face. Going forward with the motion, she stabbed his shoulder and leapt out of the circle and bounded towards the nearest Medjai warrior. Cantering towards her, Ardeth grabbed her as he went past and lifted her up onto the back of his horse. Holding one arm around her waist, he whispered in her head softly.
"Several of my men are getting your horses. Do not fear Tahirah Alexander for you are safe now."
Relaxing against him, she closed her eyes. She could feel the power of the horse beneath her and the strength of Ardeth all around. "Fear? I have nothing to fear now that you are here and I am with you."
Laughing, Ardeth replied, "You are a cunning woman Tahirah Alexander. I do not know how you managed to make sure things went your way but I am glad that you did. Now, we must hurry because as soon as those guards are ready, they will come after as though the very idea is foolish."
"The guards will want to get me back at all costs for grandfather will be furious when he finds out that you were able to steal me away from so many guards. He will be even angrier to find out that I, myself, killed three of them in order to escape. Ardeth, is it true that he gave you his permission to woo me?" Tahirah asked.
"He did and I cannot begin to fathom why he changed his mind so drastically."
"Grandfather believes that you have proven to be unworthy of me by arranging things behind his back. He told me that you went behind his back and against his wishes when you arranged with me to steal me away without telling him."
They fell silent and she listened to the pounding of the horses' hooves beneath her and all around. The Medjai warriors had all re-grouped and many of them rode with long reins attached to the horses belonging to Tahirah. Ardeth could feel her trembling from the chill and he realized that she was wearing light clothes for sleeping in. As soon as they reached a safe place to stop and set up camp, he removed his cloak and placed it on her shoulders. Wrapping the cloak around her body, Tahirah smiled thankfully at him with eyes filled with love and adoration.
Standing beside her, Ardeth watched his men hurry about and set up a camp for them to rest in. It was arranged in such a way that if the guards had managed to follow and they decided to attack, the warriors would be able to defend the camp to the best of their abilities. When his tent was set up, the Medjai chief offered his hand to the woman and led her over to it.
"You can hide yourself away in here Tahri." He told her, "You'll be safe in here."
She smiled at him, "Ardeth, what about you? This is your tent, I recognize it well enough."
Returning the smile, he pulled her against him and kissed her, "What do you mean, what about me? I will be right here with you."
"Really?" Tahirah asked with an arch of her eyebrow, "In here with me? And what will your men out there think of that?"
"They will think that their chief is looking after his new and exotic wife." He spoke huskily, staring into her glittering blue eyes. "The night is still young Tahri."
Pulling back from him, she walked away over to the other side of the tent and put her bag down. Unbuckling the belt around her slender waist, Tahirah removed the swords carefully and let them rest on top of the bag. "The night is still young indeed but I am not quite your wife yet Ardeth Bey… or am I? You know that I do not know your culture yet."
Ardeth went over to his bedrolls and sat down to remove his boots, "If we spend the night in here together, we will be seen as wed. That is basically it. Then when we reach my home, the Elders will bless us and a feast will be given to honor our marriage."
Frowning, she turned around and placed her hands on her hips, "You neglected to tell me that things were as easy as that Ardeth Bey. If you had, I probably would have snuck into your tent the night you rescued me from those bandits."
Laughing softly, he shrugged, "You can pretend that I have just rescued you from those bandits again beloved. I did not tell you because I did not think of it but now you know and what are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all." She walked towards him with a glint in her eye, "Tell me Ardeth Bey, what will you do if Kareem Bahil comes after me and goes to your home in order to find me? Will your Elders allow him to take me back?"
"No, they would not because among the Medjai, women are expected to be strong and independent among us. However, when dealing with the outside world, our women act like any other Arab women would. That is something you will have to learn to deal with if you plan to live happily there as my wife. But, you will also have to learn to deal with duties for you are the wife of the chief of the first Tribe of the Medjai." He looked up at her suddenly as if to ask 'you're not going to change your mind now are you?'
Tahirah smiled reassuringly at him and nodded, "I understand and you should well know by now that I am willing to learn anything for you. And, as you know, I have been working very hard at learning Arabic so that I will not be out of place."
Kneeling in front of her, Ardeth took hold of her hands and stared up at her, "I love you Jessica-Tahirah Shari Alexander, I hope you know that and that you will never forget it no matter what."
"I would never forget how much you love me and how much I love you in return Ardeth Bey." She smiled at him.
Pulling her down against him, Ardeth maneuvered her so that she lay under him on the bedroll, "You didn't see that coming did you my love?"
Giggling, Tahirah replied, "Of course I did mon amour but I chose to ignore it. Now that you have me beneath you, what exactly do you plan to do with me, oh so powerful conqueror?"
"I plan to make you my wife." He kissed her hungrily.
Sighing, she relaxed into his grip, "Ravish away handsome prince of the desert for I am yours."
"I know." Ardeth smiled at her lovingly. "I know."
Is this the end?
