Disclaimer: The plot is mine! As are a brunt of the characters!

Author Note: Sekhet has to be one of my favorite characters in all the stories I've ever written. Sometimes she's wise and cautious. Sometime she's stubborn and childish. She's so real. That's what I really, like about her. She seems very real. I hope ya'll enjoy her as much as I do!

Thanks a ton to my reviewers! Don't worry, everything will be revealed soon. Soon...

Raven "Siren's Muse"

Chapter Three: The Eye of Ra

The next morning I was awoken to a knock on my door. "Ms. O'Connell, wake up! We're going to leave without you!"

It was Talib of course. I moaned, rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. The door was thrown open and someone stomped in. I was picked up blankets and all and dropped to the ground. "Didn't you hear our guide?" Alex asked, a bit annoyed...he always seemed to be annoyed as of late.

I glared at him defiantly as I picked myself up off the ground. "I heard him perfectly." I spat. "I simply did not wish to respond."

He left in hurt anger and I stared triumphantly out the door and threw the end of my blanket over my shoulder as if it was a cape. "And you call me roguish." observed Talib as he leaned against the doorpost.

I glanced at him exasperatedly. "There were easier ways to wake me up. He was just plain rude. As are you. I'm still in my nightclothes, for heaven's sake."

Talib smiled impishly. "And you look utterly captivating."

"Turn around!" I ordered, my cheeks turned several shades of red in the span of a second.

He did so, chuckling a bit. I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and held it closed. "Get out." I spat. "Tell Alex I'll be ready in ten minutes."

"As you wish Ms. O'Connell."

He left and shut the door, still chuckling.

It took me a moment to get my dignity back. I did, finally and set about to combing out my hair and washing my face. Having accomplished those tasks, I took out a flowing, airy, tan skirt and a loose white blouse. Feeling properly in order, I slipped the locket around my neck and slung my pack over my shoulder and hurried out the door. I found the men in the little dining room on the bottom floor. They were just finishing breakfast. "Glad you could join us." Alex said with a frown.

"It would be a better breakfast if I did not have to see you." I said, with a sickening sweetness...the morning had put me in a horrendous mood, I missed the look on Alex's face.

I ate quickly and swept out the door into the heat. It was stifling. I gasped and fanned myself with a thin hand. I didn't care where I was going. I simply wanted to go. A hand grabbed my arm. "Unless you'd like a less principled thief than I to abduct you, I suggest you not wander off." breath tickled my ear and out of reaction I swung my hand back, it was imprisoned by a hard grip.

I spun about to face the unusually light face of Talib. He must have some English blood in him. I mused.

"Are you listening to me?" questioned the thief.

"Of course not." I said briskly. "If I don't listen to my brother, why in Ra's name do you think I'd listen to you?"

I yanked my arm from his grip and smiled sweetly. "Your brother is right, you are infuriating."

"And you, are much too bold for a mere guide."

"A mere guide that saved your sorry life?" he asked, lightly.

I frowned. "A thief saved my life. An unprincipled, poor-as-dirt thief that was stupid to have a conscience."

"Do you wish me to give you to those men?" he hissed...a bit like an angry cobra...although, I must admit, I had never seen one.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Would I? You try my patience, Ms. O'Connell. Flighty, like all English women. One emotion to the next...unbalanced, as you might say."

"I'm sorry you hate English women. I'm not English, I was born in Egypt."

"You slander poor Egypt." he smiled slightly.

I was in a terrible mood, fighting nonsense with a thief that had happened to save my sorry life the previous day, I was hot, thirsty, and the long trip here was finally taking its toll on me. So I did what any woman in crisis would do. Well, what I would do anyway...I slapped him. Full across the cheek too. The look on his face made me burst into laughter. Angry, annoyed, hysterical laughter. He was right, I was flighty. I spun around and glanced up to see an annoyed, but slightly amused Alex stepping out into the bright sunshine. "Shall we depart?" I asked Alex.

He grunted--did I mention how much I utterly HATE that?--and we were off.

We saw our old house. It currently occupied, so we couldn't go in. I glanced up. Wondering at the place where I had taken my first breath. I sighed and closed my eyes.

Color. Light. Golden. An eye. The sun. Death.

My eyes shot open and I glanced around quickly. Alex, Giles, and Talib were no where to be seen. I saw a great pyramid looming high into the quavering hot air and the bright sky. "Gorgeous." I muttered.

I strode up to the tall, golden door, my bejeweled hand touched the handle, my bracelets clinked together musically. A dry wind picked up, blowing about my thin, white garment. The doors swung open and I saw inside. There was a man sitting on a throne. He was tall...terribly tall and very handsome. He smiled. "Welcome, Sekhet. My Eye."

My eyes shot open and I glanced around quickly. The old house stood before me. Its memories fresh in mind. How could I remember? "Sekhet?" called Alex. "Hurry along."

I obediently hurried to catch up with them, several yards away. Talib glanced at me a bit anxiously, but didn't speak. I frowned.