Chapter 7 – The Pharaoh
Sir Randolph Varne strolled quietly through the darkened museum. It was after hours, and he had the place to himself. As a patron of the museum, he had a set of keys. Idly he scanned the displays. The ones in this room were from the Ptolomaic period - Cleopatra and that ilk. He sniffed disdainfully and wandered toward another room. Here were the artifacts he was more familiar with, the ones from the 18th and 19th dynasties.
He paused near a display of wall paintings from a tomb in the Valley of Kings. Many of the Royal mummies, including Seti I, Ramses II and III, and Tuthmosis I, II and III had been removed from their tombs during the 21st dynasty and hidden away because of rampant tomb robberies. They'd been stripped off all valuable objects, even including the gold leaf on the sarcophaguses. This cache of mummies had been discovered in the 1880's. A second cache of Royal mummies, including Amenhotep II and III, Ramses IV, V, and VI, Seti II and Merneptah was discovered in 1898. The mummies from both caches were now in the temple of Deir el-Bahri, across the Nile from the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak. Sir Randolph's lips tightened at the thought. He understood the reasons for the removal of the mummies, but it didn't mean he liked it at all. Certainly the tomb of Ramses II had suffered extensive flood damage over the many, many years since the great Pharaoh had been laid to rest. A grave error in judgment, Sir Randolph thought, placing the tomb in an area prone to flooding.
Sir Randolph moved down the hall a few steps to a large glass case containing various items such as jewelry, small statuary and other funeral effects. Taking one of the keys from his key ring, he unlocked the case. Reaching in, he carefully lifted a beautiful pectoral collar from its stand. Reverently he placed it around his own shoulders, adjusting it so that it lay perfectly, stroking the center engraving of the god Osiris, surrounded by lapis and carnelian stones. The imperfect reflection in the open side of the glass case may have shone an incongruous sight of a man wearing a conservative business suit and tie topped with elaborate ancient Egyptian jewelry. What Sir Randolph saw was the reflection of a mighty king, resplendent in a white linen robe, jeweled armbands and the majestic blue and gold crown of Pharaoh. He smiled slightly at the sight. Ramses II, mighty Pharaoh. Ramses the Great.
It had been true, Tia mused ruefully. Even while no one had seemed to pay attention to her, she'd felt the eyes on her back. Her stern-faced captor had handed her a blanket and gestured to a place by the fire, then had spread out his own blanket barely two feet away. Every time she'd stirred in the night, she'd seen the sheen of dark eyes watching. When she'd finally fallen asleep, it had seemed no more than a few moments later that she'd been shaken awake.
"It's dawn, Miss DeWitt." Ardeth said briefly, as she blinked and looked blearily around at the camp. The warriors were shaking out blankets and readying their horses. "It is time to go."
"Where are we going?" Tia asked, rising unsteadily and running a hand over her hair.
"To the Bey encampment," he answered, taking her blanket and folding it with his own. "I must take you to Lord Asim."
Tia looked up as six of the men rode off toward the dig site. "Where are they going?"
"To cover up what you and your friends uncovered," Ardeth replied, "and to bury your companions."
Tia fought back the image of Steve falling beneath the hooves of the black horse. "Why did you have to kill them?"
"Would you have left if we'd merely threatened you again?"
Tia looked at the ground. She knew the answer to that. "But to kill them...."
"It was my duty, Miss DeWitt," he replied unemotionally. He began saddling his mare. Tia watched dully as he swiftly arranged the tack.
"Duty," she repeated. "Is that all?"
He smiled slightly as he made a final adjustment to the saddle. "Isn't that enough?" Without waiting for a reply, he stepped forward, grasped Tia around the waist and swung her into the saddle. She scarcely had time to gasp in surprise before he swung up behind her. Ardeth reached around the woman to pick up the reins with his left hand. His right arm wrapped around the Tia's waist and held her against him. After a quick glance around the camp to be sure the other warriors were mounted and ready to go, Ardeth pressed his legs gently against Midnight Song's sides and urged her into a ground-eating canter. There was a long way to go.
The trip back to the Bey encampment seemed endless to Tia. While sitting upright on the horse was a definite improvement over lying face down across the saddle, the nearness of the Medjai warrior was more than a little daunting. With one arm he held her firmly against his body. She could feel his breath against her hair, feel the muscles of his strong thighs against her own as he guided the horse. She could smell him – leather, sweat and horse. Not unpleasant, but disturbingly masculine. This man was a killer, she reminded herself severely. He was a backward tribesman with little or no knowledge or appreciation of the modern world.
Ardeth too, was finding the journey a trial. As Midnight Song was unaccustomed to carrying this much extra weight, he kept her pace to a steady lope so as to avoid exhausting her. It would be easier, he thought with annoyance, if the woman was not quite so attractive. This morning was the first time he'd seen her in the full light of day, and he'd been struck by the unusual color of her eyes. They were a light, tawny brown, nearly gold. Cat's eyes, he thought. It had been several months since he'd been with a woman, and holding such a young and pretty one this closely was testing his self-control. He could feel her ribs rise and fall beneath his hand as she breathed, felt her shoulders rub against his chest as they moved in unison to the rhythm of the horse's gait. Her hair smelled faintly of some floral perfume. He gritted his teeth and squeezed Midnight Song's sides to coax her into a faster gait, and tried to ignore the feeling of Tia's thighs pressed up against his.