Author's Note: "Dai yu" means "good." Least that's what it sounded like what she said in the movie for the word "good." hehe And of course, "Ny," means "no."

And, please read and review!

Jen

Chapter Twelve

"Taken"

Seti's Palace

Thebes, Egypt

1290 BC

(Three days later…)

Imhotep entered the temple of Osiris, looking forward to the long awaited solitude he would receive within. Walking hurriedly, he made his way toward the inner chambers to finish with the cleaning and replacing of various statues, which were meant to embody the souls of the deities of both the Upper and Lower kingdoms.

As High Priest, only he was allowed into the inner most sanctum of the temple where the gods were said to receive their offerings from the priests and followers of their sects. Food was always left, incense was burned, and fine goods were presented to the divine for them to consume, but Imhotep's mind was not on his duties, as he walked for his destination.

Tragedy had stricken the royal family this evening. Seti's youngest child, Layla, with whom he shared with one of his concubines, had passed. Her death had been sudden, for she had contracted a plague mysteriously over night after playing with some local children in the barley fields by the Nile. She had been but nine years old.

Imhotep had just come from the embalming tent where a select few of his priests worked on the body's preparation for the soul's journey into the next life. The smell had been nearly unbearable with all the bodies that had, or were to begin the mummification process, but he had grown accustomed to the rotting stench of the dead and was able to stomach the aroma; however, there was something even more despicable and sickening looming in the air as he had gazed at the body of this mere child.

He could not help, but to ask repeatedly why Osiris had taken her. Ordinarily, such a thing would not have bothered him. He had prepared many children for the afterlife in his days as a priest, but this one was different. He had known this child. He had been training her in the ways of Osiris, for she had desired to become a priestess. As Seti's daughter, the pharaoh wished for her to be instructed by the best, and so he had left her in Imhotep's charge. This child's passing was devastating and Imhotep found that his heart was heavy with the burden of how one so young could have befallen such a terrible and tragic fate. It was beyond his understanding. Everything that had happened since the day he'd met Anck-su-namun had caused him to question his beliefs… Even while he remained true to his duties, inside he was no longer faithful and felt a certain anger toward the gods, which dictated the life he and Anck-su-namun lived.

Continuing on his way, he stepped now into the heart of the outer chamber, hoping that his tasks would distract him from his grief and blasphemous thinking… but he did not get any further than this, for an unexpected interruption took place…

A shadowy form knelt before one of the windows for those seeking guidance from the priests who waited behind. The hour was late and Imhotep's priests were now in bed with their dreams, and so, he knew no one would be around to hear whomever it was, yet still they waited, their back to him. From head to toe, they were covered in a dark, hooded robe and though this person was concealed, Imhotep could still tell that beneath the flowing garbs, hid a woman by the accentuated curving at the hips.

Swallowing down the lump formed tightly in his throat, which threatened to make him choke, he stepped closer in complete silence. Somehow a part of him already knew who it was, for there was a familiar sensation drawing him to her. He feared and prayed for himself to be right and he found himself compelled to listen to the softly spoken words of the one he loved…

"Lord Osiris… I come to you, forgotten until now to ask you why you have not taken me instead of her. My life has nothing; I am nothing. Everything dear to me I have lost. My parents abandoned me to this fate. I have no friends to call my own, you have claimed my sisters, all of Egypt is either jealous, afraid, or disgusted by the ground I walk upon, and… the one I love-" She gave a sigh, shaking her head. "No, it does not matter... I am through praying for something that will never be given. I accept that you and your kind have abandoned me… but I cannot accept… Why did you not take me!" She stopped and let her face fall into her hands, her body shaking from the tears, before she again lifted her head and continued slowly with conviction owning her voice.

"If you will not claim me… then I will do it myself…"

A dagger was pulled from the confines of her blackened robes, glistening from the full moon above with an eerie foretelling of the death it would soon inflict. Imhotep's eyes widened and his breath caught over the seriousness of the act about to take place. He watched, as Anck-su-namun stood, lifting the dagger with two hands into the air. His body seemed to betray him, as his mind screamed for him to move, but everything happened before he could draw even a single breath. Anck-su-namun, with the dagger high above her head, plunged it deep into her stomach, her body doubling over and it was then that Imhotep's mobility returned.

"Ny!" he screamed, springing forth to catch her as she sunk to the cool floors of the temple. He carefully brought her to the ground and laid her head gently upon his thighs, hoping to make her comfortable. She looked up at him with a distant expression upon her face, pale, as blood soaked her robes and the ground beneath, her hands falling limply from the dagger's golden hilt. Slowly her eyes rolled and her head fell to one side, as she released her final breath.

"Anck-su-namun!" cried Imhotep, touching her cheek and shaking her in a panic, as though it would bring her back. He would not accept this. She could not be gone.

Tears found their way into his eyes and he choked them back unsuccessfully, while shaking his head at her lifeless form.

"No… Anck-su-namun… Why? WHY!" he screamed for all of Egypt to hear, before closing his eyes and bringing a hand to his face to cover it. He did not know what to do. Why had she done such a terrible thing, and all because of a child's death?

No- He knew why. It was all because of him, Seti. It had to be. He must have done something to her again and now more than ever Imhotep loathed, despised, and hated the pharaoh more passionately than anything else, or anyone ever could a human being.

"Oh, Anck-su-namun…" he wept, wishing with all of his breaking heart that he had told her long ago that she was everything to him. But now… it was too late…

A thought suddenly entered Imhotep's mind, one that carried with it a message of hope, yet also the unthinkable. His head slowly came back up from his hand, as he pondered what he had just contrived. It was not too late. He could fix this, but it would mean defying the very gods he served. The Book of the Dead lay in its holy resting place in the City of the Dead. He would have to travel deep into the desert and carefully conceal the body, but doing such a thing would most likely incur Osiris' wrath…

Imhotep gulped at what he was considering. But… would the god really punish him? Yes, it was forbidden to bring back the dead once they had passed on, but after the years of torment she had endured and the countless prayers left unanswered by them both, didn't Osiris owe it to them? Didn't they deserve to know love? Imhotep found that when he searched deep within himself that the answer was "yes." The god of the dead was in their debt. He loved Anck-su-namun and he would be with her. He would give her a chance at life again and do his best to make every second of it worth it to her. This, he vowed.

Gripping the dagger, Imhotep pulled it from Anck-su-namun's stomach, wincing slightly at the sound it made when leaving her body. Blood covered the golden blade and dripped onto the ground, as Imhotep leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Now we are apart, but soon you shall be returned to me…" he whispered, as he lifted Anck-su-namun into his arms to lay her aside. He knew he could not leave the small pool of blood which she had left, nor the dagger for any to find come the sun's return.

And so, he quickly washed away the blood with water from a bucket left near one of the sacred pools and stored the dagger inside his robes, before retrieving Anck-su-namun and leaving for Hamunaptra.