Disclaimer: I don't own squat, not a damn thing. Well, I own a rather nice pair of red Converse high-tops, but that's it. As far as Ardeth, Evy, or Rick, no, sorry, not mine. The OC, however, is mine. Flames will be used to light my backyard barbecue pit. 37 hits, one review. I know at least some of those hits must have read the thing. So please, please throw a busy writer a bone. I am doing this for you after all. My thanks to Braelyn, anyway, for taking the time to drop me a line. You're a peach.
-Belle
Ardeth refused to subject the stranger to a grilling by the council. Undoubtedly, she'd gone through a lot, and being bombarded by accusatory questions from a room full of belligerent, distrustful old men was not going to help her mental state. Instead, a meeting was held to decide who would do the questioning and exactly what would be asked. At the recommendation of Bahir, Dalal Bay was selected to question the girl. Not a single man had been allowed in to see her since she'd awakened. All decided that for the sake of her mental clarity and getting honest answers, it was best to continue on this course. Then, it was only down to decide what should be asked. It took three hours, but it the list was finally narrowed down. Once the meetings was dispersed, Ardeth took some time to sit down with his mother and rephrase some of the questions to make them sound less assuming and threatening. Finally, Ardeth bid farewell to his mother and headed across camp to where Marid was saddled and ready to go. The O'Connells had sent word that they would be vacationing in Cairo. He'd not gone to see them yet, but he hoped to catch them before they left. They could perhaps take the woman wherever it was she called home.
"Ardeth!" his mother called after him, and he turned, "What should we tell the girl?"
"Tell her that I've gone to find some friends who will take her home." he called back before turning once again toward his own tent. It was a few days ride to Cairo, and he needed to travel quickly.
Over the next few days, the camp settled. There's some truth to the whole "out of sight, out of mind" theory. The camp practically forgot about the stranger, and day by day she regained her strength in the privacy of the healer's tent. Dalal took every advantage of her chance to mother the girl. For whatever reason, she'd not been able to get pregnant again after Ardeth was born, and she'd always wanted a daughter. It was rare that any woman ended up in the healer's tent unless she was pregnant. Usually these women had their own mothers by their sides. Now, there was this mysterious woman here. They knew nothing of her past, and Dalal guessed she was perhaps only two or three years younger than Ardeth. It was hard not to take a maternal affection for her. Several of the women had brought clean linens, robes, and even a few hair clips for the young woman. Lira was endlessly grateful for their hospitality, and she hoped someday she could find a way to repay them, whoever they were.
Lira still knew very little of the tribe she was living amongst. She'd only seen the inside of the healer's tent, but it was impressive. Her cot was plush, with finely woven blankets and silk pillows. There were bottles and phials in cupboards, thick volumes of books on the bookshelves, and several other cots not unlike her own. The thick canvas kept the place reasonably illuminated but still shady and cool. It felt warm and welcoming, like her own living room. The tunic, slacks, and robes she now wore felt like nothing she'd ever worn. Joshua hadn't exactly bothered to warn her how to dress in the desert. Now she wished she had gotten more into this trip. She'd had a chance in Cairo to buy some more appropriate and authentic clothing. Then again, Joshua had thought it was too touristy. He'd also argued that the flowing robes simply wouldn't fit a 'civilized' woman.
The issue of her fiancé was only now coming back to her. What was she going to do now? Joshua had taken care of everything. Lira was an orphan. She had no family to return to, at least none that she knew of. Joshua had been everything to her ever since she was thirteen. She'd grown up in an orphanage in the mountains of mainland Greece. The note her father had left indicated that her parents were from Turkey. Her mother had died during childbirth, and her father didn't feel he could care for her on his own. She knew her birthday, at least, few orphans had that. Joshua she'd met the summer after she turned thirteen. He was vacationing with his family. Normally they stuck to the Greek Isles, but this year they'd ventured onto the mainland and rented a bought house in the mountains. From then on, he and his family spent every summer at that vacation house. Even when she'd turned eighteen and left the orphanage, taking a job in the city, she'd hike up into the mountains every weekend and spend time with Joshua. This went on every summer until she turned twenty one. Then, one summer, the house was empty.
Lira met up with Joshua again by chance four years later in the streets of Athens. They began spending a lot of time together, growing closer every day. He'd seemed to find his own fortune beside his parents, and Lira was working as a bank teller during the day and a hotel desk clerk by night. Joshua seemed so glamorous to her. He was confident, successful, and he made her laugh. She never did find out how he made so much money, but he always managed to find a way to distract her from those thoughts. Then, finally he'd proposed, and she'd accepted. She was thrilled. She'd known him for so long, since they were practically children. It seemed like a story out of a fairy tail. So why didn't she feel more grieved at her loss? That notion had been haunting her ever since she'd regain consciousness. Maybe that was just it. She was still dazed, unable to cope. It was denial. That had to be it.
Finally, one day, she had to talk to someone about it. Dalal was the most logical choice. She'd talked about her husband and her son so often, Lira assumed the older woman have more insight than herself. So, over breakfast, Lira told Dalal her story, and the older woman listened with rapt interest. By the end, though, she seemed greatly troubled. Lira couldn't imagine what had upset the woman, all she had wanted was advice. She was troubled as to why she didn't feel worse. She never could have predicted the response.
"Quite simply, little one, you cannot grieve for a man you never really knew." Dalal answered, her brow knit together, "My goodness child, no man amasses such wealth without a lot of publicity unless he's making his money illegally. You have no idea where he went on all those business trips, you don't know where the money came from, and you agreed to marry him."
"But I did know him," Lira defended, "Or I thought so. I mean, we were so young when we met. We knew each other..."
"For fourteen years up to this point, but you're forgetting that four year gap. You have no idea what that man was up to. After four years he should have had a more interesting tale than 'I started my own business.'"
"Well, I..." Lira had no more to say. This had not gone as she expected at all. Dalal's face softened.
"I'm sorry, I do not mean to be so rash. It's just that, if your fiancé was involved in anything shady, that attack may not have been a random occurrence. The bedouin will accept compensation for certain... services. Additionally, you may still be in danger, and through you, us as well."
Cairo was the same bustling mess he'd remembered. Ardeth kept his head and face covered until he reached the hotel. He couldn't believe the O'Connells would be staying in the same hotel they'd visited four years prior. Additionally, or so he'd heard, they hadn't traveled alone. Ardeth could only image the child born of two such free willed, stubborn people. He found out at the desk what room they were staying in, and that they hadn't checked out yet. Ardeth made his way to the third floor and quickly located their room. He had half a mind to kick open the door, draw his swords and scare them half to death. Instead, he tapped lightly on the door.
"Mr. O'Connell, this is the manager. I demand payment immediately!" he thundered. In a moment the door swung open, Rick already halfway through a tirade.
"What is this? I paid you in advance, you cheap..." O'Connell had finally noticed who it was that stood in front of him, "sack of camel dung. How've you been!" Ardeth was slightly taken aback as Rick embraced him quickly, pulling him into the room and shutting the door. "Evy! We have a guest." In a moment the adorably studious figure of Evy O'Connell appeared her glasses on the tip of her nose and a thick volume in her hand. Instantly she smiled.
"Ardeth! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?" Evy asked, setting the book down on a table and crossing the room to stand by Rick who placed his arm warmly around her.
"Rather a long story actually. Mostly, I wanted to catch you before you left. I hear your family has grown." Ardeth explained, and before either of them had a chance to answer, a toe headed three-year old came running out of a back bedroom, wooden sword in hand, heading straight for Ardeth. The intimidating warrior stepped forward and lifted the boy at arms length, laughing at his boldness.
"He certainly has Evy's tenacity." Ardeth said, turning his head for a moment. This was, in hindsight, a mistake. The wooden sword came down on Ardeth's right ear, eliciting a muttered swear and a chuckle from the seasoned warrior, "And Rick's knack for trouble." Evy took the laughing child from Ardeth's hands, confiscating the offending toy and chiding the boy all the way back to the bedroom.
"His name is Alex." Rick continued, to which Ardeth nodded.
"Like Alexander the Great."
"Yeah, now we just hope he doesn't try to conquer the known world."
A/N: I know this seems to be going slowly, but the problem with many of my fics is that they move too fast, and I recognize that now. So trust me, this is going somewhere. I just need to build. I am like a great architect... or at least a halfway decent student of architecture. Braelyn, sorry about the dialogue. It shows up on separate lines on my computer, but I run a Mac, so things usually show up weird on everyone else's computers. This chapter I saved as a Microsoft Word document (because Appleworks can do that y'know) instead of an html. Let me know if it's any better and if it is I'll reload the previous chapters.
Let's play a game. Everyone who's actually read this fic all the way through, please leave a review so I know ya'll are still with me. It doesn't even have to be impressive. Just write "yo" or "hey dawg" or even "Squeedlyspooge" (that will make sense to all you Invader Zim freaks in the hizzy). Just click the button, say one word of your choice and submit it. I'll keep this up as long as I've got just one person reading, but I'd like to know if anyone else has stuck with me.
