Chapter Ten: Ancient Wisdom, Ancient Truths

She followed Ardeth as he walked down the narrow spaces between the tents of the Medjai camp. There were a lot more of them here than there were at the oasis the night before, and strangely enough, the idea that there were so many Medjai around made her feel comfortable. At least, should something go wrong, they would be there to see to it.

The first thing she noticed about the camp was that it was arranged in an efficient manner - a military manner. There was easy access to the horses and camels just beyond the edge of the camp, and the smaller tents seemed clustered in a protective, yet orderly, formation around a grouping of larger tents near the middle.

She was familiar with such a camp arrangement - her expedition group had used it often enough, whenever they made camp in the jungle. However, back there they had been more worried about jaguars and other big cats coming into the camp and making a quick meal of them all. Here, they were more troubled about something much more powerful than the average jungle cat.

Ardeth finally came to a stop in front of one of the larger tents in the center of the camp. Unlike the others, which were made of some rough, dark cloth, this one seemed to have been made of finer materials. The flaps of the entrance were pulled back, but there was a curtain of merrily tinkling beads covering the way instead.

A few moments later, a young woman of around twenty or twenty-one emerged from the doorway. She was dressed in a loose, flowing top and trousers of dark blue cloth, while her face and hair were partially obscured by a diaphanous dark blue veil, studded in parts with tiny silver dots. Her eyes, the only feature of her face left clearly visible, were of a deep, onyx shade, but clear like obsidian, and slanted in that peculiar way that made women of Egyptian blood particularly beautiful - even if the rest of their bodies was veiled and swathed with cloth.

For a single, fleeting moment, Catherine felt rather jealous.

The young woman glanced up at Ardeth, and lowered her gaze immediately. "Lord Ardeth. You have come to see my mother?"

"Yes, Farida," Ardeth responded. He glanced briefly at Catherine. "I have brought someone who wishes to ask for her advice."

"Ah, and that would be the English baroness, would it not?"

The voice that said those words was different: deeper, more commanding, but still feminine. Another figure emerged from the shadowy depths of the tent: it was a woman, dressed in the same style and colors as the young woman Ardeth had called Farida, but she was not veiled like the latter. Her eyes were dark, but they did not have the clarity of Farida's. Instead, they seemed shadowed and shrouded: the eyes of someone who had seen too much, and knew too much.

Ardeth bowed respectfully to the older woman. "Lady Farrah, thank you for coming here when I asked."

"It is an honor to be of service to you, Lord Ardeth," Farrah said, lowering her eyes and tipping her head downwards slightly in her own form of a bow. She turned her gaze to Catherine. "Are you, then, the lady whom Lord Ardeth spoke of?"

Catherine nodded, and, unsure of what to do, bowed herself. "Yes, I suppose I am. My name is Catherine Ashlar, but please, call me Catherine."

Farrah nodded, waved her hand. "Come inside then, Lord Ardeth, Lady Catherine."

She smiled to herself as she walked into the interior of her tent, heading for that part that she used when dealing with guests. She caught sight of her son, Javed, sitting in one corner of the room, his eyes intent on the scroll of papyrus that he had unrolled on his knees. When he looked up at her, she waved her hand in a gesture that indicated he should leave the area, and in the meantime, bring in something for their guests to drink.

Javed blinked once, twice, and then nodded. He rolled the scroll up, and then headed towards another area of the tent just as Ardeth and the young woman whom Ardeth had called Catherine came in.

Farrah looked at the girl with a critical eye. She was tall, even for a Western woman, and rather thin, as if she had not been eating well at all. In spite of that, however, she had a few beautiful qualities. There was a delicacy in her features that was quite pleasing, and her eyes were remarkable: as gray as the clouds when the nourishing spring rains come to water the desert and renew the cycle of life.

She smiled at Catherine, seeing the discomfort on her face. "Please, sit," she said, indicating the chairs that were positioned around a nearby table.

Ardeth did as she asked immediately, and Catherine did the same, though with a little bit of hesitation. Farrah smiled kindly at the young woman as she, too sat down. "Lord Ardeth has asked me to come here because you had an unusual dream. In my family, it is a duty handed down, from mother to daughter, to keep all the secrets of the Medjai from when the Pharaohs yet ruled these lands until the present."

"Can you truly give me the answers I am looking for?" Catherine asked softly, and when she looked up at Farrah the wise woman could see that her eyes were turbid, like the surface of a lake disturbed by raindrops.

Farrah smiled. "I cannot promise to give you definite answers, for no human being can do that unless they are touched by Allah. All I can give you are explanations."

Catherine gave a small smile, but it did nothing to lift the perturbed expression that had settled on her face. "If that is all you can give me, then that will be enough. It's certainly much better than knowing nothing, after all."

Farrah nodded her head. "Very well then. Tell me of your dream."

And so she did. Farrah listened with closed eyes to the story that Catherine told her, and it was as if she could see the scenes in her mind, seeing them against the dark backdrop of her closed eyelids. And as listened, she felt a dark foreboding creep over her heart.

"And…that is all I can remember."

Farrah opened her eyes again, and looked at Catherine. "I see. Before I go further, I must ask: what do you think of the idea of reincarnation?"

Catherine blinked once, but she replied: "I do not discredit it, though I do find it a little hard to believe. Evie...Evie says that she is the reincarnation of an Egyptian princess named Nefertiri, and Evie would never lie."

Farrah frowned. This was going to be a problem, but since she had come for answers, she would have them. "Then I do not know if you will accept what I am about to say, but I shall say it, regardless. It is possible that you are the reincarnation of a High Priestess of Hathor, the one who was named Meritites. She was leader here, in Dendera, during the reign of Pharaoh Seti the First."

"Then why is it that I do not remember anything?" Catherine paused, and her brow furrowed. "Evie told me that when she regained her memories of her life as Nefertiri, everything came flashing back to her immediately."

"When Lady Evelyn got her memories back, the process was induced by Imhotep's magic," Farrah replied. "Such memories do not come back immediately, all at once. If that were the case, then the one remembering would quite possibly go mad. No, Lady Evelyn's case was the exception, not the rule: she is a very strong woman, that she was able to regain all her memories of that time. In your case, these memories are returning to you gradually. That is the normal way of things."

Catherine nodded. "I see." Another small smile crossed her face. "I do not quite understand why these memories are coming back to me, or what they are about, but... I hope that they are nothing too worrisome."

"I pray that that is the case." But Farrah knew that her words belied what her heart told her. She had felt it the moment she had set foot here in Dendera: something that had been slumbering for ages was once again beginning to stir, and though it was nothing like Imhotep or the Scorpion King, it was troubling nevertheless.

But there was no time for that now. For all she knew, what she was thinking was nothing more than her imagination over-extending itself. She focused instead on the light of the fact that this young woman could possibly be the reincarnation of the priestess Meritites.

A small smile curled on her lips as she glanced at Ardeth. Hmmm, perhaps I am not too far off, she thought as she looked once more at Catherine. "May I have a look at your hands, Lady Catherine?"

Catherine blinked, surprised. "My hands? What for?"

"I would like to read your palms - if you do not mind, of course."

"Oh, no, I do not." Though she did so hesitantly at first, Catherine extended her hands to Farrah, the palms facing upwards.

Farrah smiled her thanks, and glanced down at the young woman's palms. Immediately, her brow furrowed. "I was right," she murmured, tracing the lifeline on Catherine's right palm. "You have lived before. This is not the first time that your soul has come back through the reaches of time to walk upon this earth once again. You are an old soul, older than you appear to be."

A small, sardonic smile appeared on Catherine's face. "I certainly feel old. That must explain it then."

Farrah glanced up at her, and she, too, wore a knowing smile on her face. "That may be it." Once more, she focused on Catherine's palm. "You have been wandering as well, and for two reasons: to protect something that you swore to protect, even beyond death, and to find someone - the one whom you gave your heart to long, long ago."

She glanced up, and there was no denying the blush that tinted Catherine's cheeks. She did her best not to smile. So she was right, all along.

Catherine laughed softly, and nodded. "Well, I suppose that you are right, about the second part, at least. I guess I have been looking for someone, but... It has been rather difficult."

"You should not look for love; it will be love that finds you," Farrah said, reciting an old truism that had happened more than once to the people around her. She wrapped her fingers around Catherine's, and folded them over the young woman's palms, pushing her hands back to her. "I must have some time alone to think about everything that you have told me. If you have another dream, please, do not hesitate to come here and tell me about it. The more you tell me, the easier it will be to find out what they are all about."

Catherine smiled - a genuine one this time - and nodded. "I will, I promise." She looked at Ardeth, and said, "Do you mind if I leave? I have to go and meet up with Evie: I promised her I'd meet up with her to do the initial survey of the dig site."

Ardeth shook his head, and stood up as well to escort her to the exit of the tent.

When they were gone, Farrah shook her head, and smiled to herself. "You do not look for love; it finds you," she murmured to herself. She smiled again, and allowed herself a small laugh.

Yes, love did find a person - and sometimes, it was to be found in the most unlikely of places.

NOTES:

Forgive me for the very long delay in getting this chapter up. A lot of things - other fan fiction pieces included - have gotten in the way, along with school. My Muse is of the most fickle sort, and does not wish to remain on one story for very long; hence, this has been placed on the back burner for a while.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Belphegor - I am glad that you are pleased with the previous chapter. And yes, Alex is a most curious little boy - something that has gotten him in trouble, as was seen in the second movie. Catherine's past is quite important, as was shown in this chapter, but there is something in the more recent past that is of great importance as well. But I shall speak no more of it, since that will involve making spoilers.

Nevertheless, I thank you for taking the time read this story, and for your continued support. I hope that you did not mind the long time that I did not update this story, and I hope that you will keep on reading in spite of the long lapses that I do not post.

Lilylynn - Again, I thank you for your continuing support. Your reviews are always much appreciated.

Lady sernna Valerious - Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope that you enjoy this one as much as you enjoyed the others, and I hope that you did not mind the long delay in updating.