AN: Welcome back to the world of Mummy. =) Hope you enjoy the chapter,
thanks to Irene for serving as beta, and well, I changed my pen name
because Kei5 annoyed me. If I had wanted to e Kei5 I would have signed
up as Kei5. Anyway... Its still just plain Kei.
Review love?
(Reviews= Updates... Really!)
******************* Akayla Bay: Chapter Eleven ********************
"Why are we stopping here? We have a schedule to maintain, you know…"
Alex grinned as Akayla grumbled but followed as they backtracked to one
of the few prominent desert towns, built around an oasis deep within the
dunes that had hidden Akayla's people and their secrets for centuries.
Days of hard riding had finally turned his skin a deep tan that wouldn't
burn. He didn't match Akayla yet, and probably never would, but only
his bleached blonde hair showed him as someone who might not belong
to the fierce land, and the fiercer people who ruled it.
The odd thing was that he did belong. She never would tell him, but
the Englishman, for all his Otherness, held love for the desert night
in his eyes and spoke with the lilt of those who knew that time stopped
in the sands.
Perhaps that was why so many were lost in the desert. There was no
sense of time in the changing dunes, no feel of permanence, little proof
of immortality. Even gods fell. Akayla thought of Maat's
task and wondered what price the Goddess would require her to pay. Her
father had bought his life for a fee never named, but before it was all
over and done, Kayla knew she would be weighed and tested. Hopefully
it wouldn't be her heart used for the scale like the tests of old.
She would prefer to return to her people with all major organs
included, but she would do her duty, no matter how difficult. It was
Ardeth's last request, only request, of a daughter he loved too well.
Who loved him back so much, she would never be whole without him.
"We're stopping because if I don't miss my guess, my family will have
returned from their trip and, finding me gone, will have grown worried."
She snorted, "Well you do have the unfortunate habit of getting yourself
into the worst trouble…"
Alex O'Connell laughed, full throated, and she wanted to laugh with him
because he was so like her people in some ways and yet different enough.
Different enough to make her feel different; to make her feel human,
like a woman.
"Your family didn't know you were coming?" she asked as they rode
through the roads surrounded by leaning, decrepit, dust covered
buildings. Merchants hawked their cheap wares from camel tents in the
alleyways and street urchins clambered under the hooves of their mounts.
He shook his head. "No, they were off exploring Asia, Callie and my
parents. My Uncle Jonathan stayed behind in England for both trips.
He wants nothing more to do with adventuring. He has enough gold to
last even him a lifetime."
Her dark eyes narrowed and flickered to his ring finger on his left
hand. Akayla's mouth tightened as she studied the unmarked finger
but she simply asked, "You don't wear her ring."
Alex looked at his companion with confusion darkening his pale eyes.
"Who's ring? I don't…" Understanding dawned on his tanned features
and the smiling face broke into a huge grin that showed off even
white teeth and the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. "Callie is
my little sister Kayla."
She paled and flushed with the foreign feeling of embarrassment.
Medjai warriors had little time for tender feelings. Akayla could
have done without the lesson in humiliation.
She watched the Englishman ride ahead and silently fumed with all
the tattered dignity she could muster.
************************************************************
Akayla caught up to him at what passed for the local post office.
Alex was dismounted and sitting comfortably with feet propped up on
the scarred table as he balanced easily on a three legged chair.
He held a yellowed and somewhat torn letter in his hands as he read
it eagerly.
"Well?" she demanded crossly, accent thickening her words and
deepening her voice.
He shot her one of those unguarded smiles which caught her so off
guard, and which came so frequently of late, before thrusting the
letter at her. "Go on," he encouraged with a patronizing air that
made her fingers itch for a knife, "you can do it."
"Bloody Englishmen…" she muttered but obediently turned her attention
to sheets of battered paper. It took her awhile to puzzle out the
words, written in a hand so different from the one that had been
teaching her for the past week, but she was brilliant, for all her
lack of a formal education. "It sends condolences for… for Ardeth,
and wishes safety for you, along with a quick return."
"Very good." Alex took the letter back and folded it up before
putting it inside his shirt pocket. "Just let me write a reply and
we can be on our way after a bite to eat. Excuse me if I'm tired
of our cooking."
She snorted with cool disdain. "Thor is tired of our cooking. I
have no objections to that, especially since we've already wasted
most of the day."
"I was thinking on that actually, we could save more time if we
took a train, or a plane even…"
"No."
"But…"
"No."
He turned and glared at her. "Be reasonable."
"No."
"Kayla…"
"My feet will not leave the ground."
Alex paused and tried not to laugh. "You sound rather firm about
that."
She snorted. "I heard enough of my father's stories- planes,
trains, and balloons included. We'll stick to horseback, thank you."
This time he did give into laughter, and the urge to reach across the
distance between them with a familiarity that grew every time he
dared it. Tanned fingers ruffled her dark hair, giving the dignified
Medjai a rumpled, somewhat exasperated look that made her seem all
the more appealing for her sudden lack of habitual seriousness.
He tried very hard not to think about if she would taste as rumpled
as she looked. Mere Englishmen weren't supposed to taste the sun.
thanks to Irene for serving as beta, and well, I changed my pen name
because Kei5 annoyed me. If I had wanted to e Kei5 I would have signed
up as Kei5. Anyway... Its still just plain Kei.
Review love?
(Reviews= Updates... Really!)
******************* Akayla Bay: Chapter Eleven ********************
"Why are we stopping here? We have a schedule to maintain, you know…"
Alex grinned as Akayla grumbled but followed as they backtracked to one
of the few prominent desert towns, built around an oasis deep within the
dunes that had hidden Akayla's people and their secrets for centuries.
Days of hard riding had finally turned his skin a deep tan that wouldn't
burn. He didn't match Akayla yet, and probably never would, but only
his bleached blonde hair showed him as someone who might not belong
to the fierce land, and the fiercer people who ruled it.
The odd thing was that he did belong. She never would tell him, but
the Englishman, for all his Otherness, held love for the desert night
in his eyes and spoke with the lilt of those who knew that time stopped
in the sands.
Perhaps that was why so many were lost in the desert. There was no
sense of time in the changing dunes, no feel of permanence, little proof
of immortality. Even gods fell. Akayla thought of Maat's
task and wondered what price the Goddess would require her to pay. Her
father had bought his life for a fee never named, but before it was all
over and done, Kayla knew she would be weighed and tested. Hopefully
it wouldn't be her heart used for the scale like the tests of old.
She would prefer to return to her people with all major organs
included, but she would do her duty, no matter how difficult. It was
Ardeth's last request, only request, of a daughter he loved too well.
Who loved him back so much, she would never be whole without him.
"We're stopping because if I don't miss my guess, my family will have
returned from their trip and, finding me gone, will have grown worried."
She snorted, "Well you do have the unfortunate habit of getting yourself
into the worst trouble…"
Alex O'Connell laughed, full throated, and she wanted to laugh with him
because he was so like her people in some ways and yet different enough.
Different enough to make her feel different; to make her feel human,
like a woman.
"Your family didn't know you were coming?" she asked as they rode
through the roads surrounded by leaning, decrepit, dust covered
buildings. Merchants hawked their cheap wares from camel tents in the
alleyways and street urchins clambered under the hooves of their mounts.
He shook his head. "No, they were off exploring Asia, Callie and my
parents. My Uncle Jonathan stayed behind in England for both trips.
He wants nothing more to do with adventuring. He has enough gold to
last even him a lifetime."
Her dark eyes narrowed and flickered to his ring finger on his left
hand. Akayla's mouth tightened as she studied the unmarked finger
but she simply asked, "You don't wear her ring."
Alex looked at his companion with confusion darkening his pale eyes.
"Who's ring? I don't…" Understanding dawned on his tanned features
and the smiling face broke into a huge grin that showed off even
white teeth and the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. "Callie is
my little sister Kayla."
She paled and flushed with the foreign feeling of embarrassment.
Medjai warriors had little time for tender feelings. Akayla could
have done without the lesson in humiliation.
She watched the Englishman ride ahead and silently fumed with all
the tattered dignity she could muster.
************************************************************
Akayla caught up to him at what passed for the local post office.
Alex was dismounted and sitting comfortably with feet propped up on
the scarred table as he balanced easily on a three legged chair.
He held a yellowed and somewhat torn letter in his hands as he read
it eagerly.
"Well?" she demanded crossly, accent thickening her words and
deepening her voice.
He shot her one of those unguarded smiles which caught her so off
guard, and which came so frequently of late, before thrusting the
letter at her. "Go on," he encouraged with a patronizing air that
made her fingers itch for a knife, "you can do it."
"Bloody Englishmen…" she muttered but obediently turned her attention
to sheets of battered paper. It took her awhile to puzzle out the
words, written in a hand so different from the one that had been
teaching her for the past week, but she was brilliant, for all her
lack of a formal education. "It sends condolences for… for Ardeth,
and wishes safety for you, along with a quick return."
"Very good." Alex took the letter back and folded it up before
putting it inside his shirt pocket. "Just let me write a reply and
we can be on our way after a bite to eat. Excuse me if I'm tired
of our cooking."
She snorted with cool disdain. "Thor is tired of our cooking. I
have no objections to that, especially since we've already wasted
most of the day."
"I was thinking on that actually, we could save more time if we
took a train, or a plane even…"
"No."
"But…"
"No."
He turned and glared at her. "Be reasonable."
"No."
"Kayla…"
"My feet will not leave the ground."
Alex paused and tried not to laugh. "You sound rather firm about
that."
She snorted. "I heard enough of my father's stories- planes,
trains, and balloons included. We'll stick to horseback, thank you."
This time he did give into laughter, and the urge to reach across the
distance between them with a familiarity that grew every time he
dared it. Tanned fingers ruffled her dark hair, giving the dignified
Medjai a rumpled, somewhat exasperated look that made her seem all
the more appealing for her sudden lack of habitual seriousness.
He tried very hard not to think about if she would taste as rumpled
as she looked. Mere Englishmen weren't supposed to taste the sun.