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. And remember: Pilage first, THEN burn.
-Belle
"So," Lira broke the silence as the rode on, "Now that I've bared my soul, it's your turn."
"There's very little to our existence that you don't already know I'm afraid." Ardeth insisted in the most boring tone possible.
"All the same, I was promised an impressive tale and I expect one, even if you have to lie."
"Well, in short, we are warriors. We descended from the guardians of the pharaohs of Egypt. Each generation has been sworn to protect the secrets of the kings." Ardeth explained, but no matter how he tried to make it sound uninteresting, the simple fact was that it wasn't.
"I know you're trying to make me lose interest here, but you've got to understand, a wolf in sheep's clothing is still a wolf, and I'm not easily fooled." she explained, "Besides, you're unfortunately gifted with a story teller's voice. I think you could make geologic erosion sound interesting." Ardeth chuckled to himself, but said nothing and for a few minutes there was silence again.
"I'm surprised." Ardeth broke in after awhile.
"By what?"
"You're not throwing questions at me left and right."
"Ah, you're a busy guy. You must have a lot more on your mind, and I'm not going to distract you with silly questions."
"There are no silly questions." Ardeth insisted, "And I could use a little distraction."
"Ok then," Lira began, thinking for a moment, "Why twelve tribes?"
"As my American friend would say, it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Really?"
"No. In all honesty, there is a lot of desert to cover. Though we have one duty that consumes the whole of our thoughts, we also keep watch over monuments, tombs, and temples throughout Egypt."
"What's this one duty?" she asked, and Ardeth turned his head to her, an eyebrow raised as thought chiding her. "I'm sorry, top secret, hush hush, you could tell me but then I'd never make it back to camp. I understand." Ardeth sighed. He should tell her something.
"There is a lost city, deep in the desert, beneath which is buried the most dangerous being the world may ever see. The Med-Jai, since the death of Seti I, have been pledged to guard this creature and prevent its resurrection."
"Sounds exciting." Lira was clearly interested, "I assume, since we're all still here, that you've so far been successful." There was a moment of silence, and the chief grinned to himself.
"Not quite." he remarked. Lira was now very interested, but the stoic figure next to her ventured no further.
"No. No, no, no, no, no. You are not going to say something like that and then not tell me what happened."
"It is not for you to know."
"Then you should have lied. You should have said, 'Oh, yeah, we've done a great job. The earth was, is, and always will be 100 safe.' But no, you had to let me peak in the bag, I got a scratch on the nose, and now I want to know what kind of cat was in there."
"You really are treading on too near the river's edge."
"Just continue the story. I'm not going to tell anyone. Who would I tell?" it was a joke, but for a moment she was silent and her tone turned somber, "You don't even have to mention any names."
"It was four years ago. Two different groups of diggers arrived at the sacred city to look for a very famous artifact. It's a book actually, the book of the living. Anyway, normally we let the bedouin scare the tourists and archeologists and treasure hunters away, but the bedouin and other nomadic tribes were camped far away by the Nile. So, we tried to drive them away, we threatened death upon those who remained. But they had found the book, the wrong book, the book that had the power to bring the creature we fear back to life. And so the creature rose and brought with him the Ten Plagues of Egypt. It was a woman who had awoken him, and she stayed behind, convincing her brother as well as the man who had led them out to the city to stay and find a way to kill it. Thus, we joined forces, snuck into the city, found the right book, and sent the immortal beast back from whence he came." Ardeth surmised the tale with as little detail as possible, and for a moment, Lira just stared at him with inquiring eyes.
"Wow." she breathed, finally returning her gaze to the sands ahead of her, "You make it all sound like a day at the office."
"You sound as though you wish you'd been there."
"Like I said, orphans have an inferiority complex. We dream big."
"It's really not as glamorous as all that."
"I can't imagine that having to kill innocent people is at all thrilling or enjoyable, but saving the world and having the heart to recognize that sacrifices must be made for the good of all humanity... it's heroic."
"I wouldn't go that far."
"Heroes are never the people we think they are. They're much grittier and rougher than the sparkling ivory gods that are told of in children's tales. They have ghosts, usually the kind that follow them around all their lives. A hero isn't defined by perfection, he's defined by the way he deals with tragedy, grief, and chaos. He makes the executive decision to take a man's life for the end of saving thousands of others. The real hero has to live with that every day."
"And where did you learn all this?"
"Just occurred to me, just now." she grinned playfully.
"Well, it's incredibly wise. But the heroes of that story are the three who stayed behind and fought for humanity in spite of how far out of their element they were."
"I was talking about them you big lout." she chided. Ardeth looked at her in dismay and she stared back stoically. Finally, the corner of her mouth twitched, and she started to laugh. It was infectious, and Ardeth laughed ever so quietly in spite of himself.
"So who am I in the story? The sparkling Ivory god who didn't quite live up to his title?" Ardeth asked with a smile.
"Goodness no," Lira snorted, "You're the overachieving, control-freak, 'expert warrior' who needs to get that chip off his shoulder before he can live up to his own lofty expectations." Ardeth couldn't believe what he was hearing and for a moment he stared at her wide-eyed. Lira looked at him with large green eyes and shrugged, "What? I read anything I can get my hands on. There are certain formulas and it's usually easy to peg where each player in a story belongs."
"And you? Which character are you?"
"My lord," she smiled, "There's not a book written that's seen anything like me yet."
It took a few more hours before they were heading back over the dunes and into camp, the next scout was already riding out toward them. Ardeth nodded as the soldier passed and continued toward the healer's tent where he could see Bahir standing outside speaking with his mother. Both horses stopped, their riders dismounting. The sun was just rising to it's zenith and the heat was really beginning to take a toll on Lira. Wiping the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, she quickley began unbuckling the the saddle and loosning the straps. There was a warm, firm hand on her shoulder and she turned. Goodness, but he did have very deep brown eyes.
"You are exhausted, let one of the young men take care of that." he instructed, trying to pull her away from the animal, but she stood fast.
"I will thank you to let me finish this menial task before I'm sent back into my little cage." she replied, turning back and continuing to remove the saddle. It was not long before she was able to pull the saddle off and carry it to a rack just outside the entrance to the tent. Ardeth was about to finish ushering her indoors when she picked up the brush and began grooming the animal. He was impressed with her knowledge of equine care, but he didn't want her using up all her strength.
"I think that's good enough." he offered as she finished swiping the brush over the horse's left rear flank. Lira turned to him, eyes squinting and hands slack at her sides.
"Forgive me for not wanting to return to my cushy little prison." she muttered, "But, as you wish." Walking swiftly past him and setting the brush down where she found it she swept noiselesly into the tent. Ardeth looked around bewildered. Bahir, who had just finished his conversation with Dalal, only shrugged. Ardeth's mother, though, gave him a stern look, shook her head, and walked into the tent behind the outsider.
"What did I say?"
A/N: So why did I do this? because women are stubborn, and men NEVER know what they've done wrong. My HUGE thanks to Nakhti. You really lifted me up there. You're absolutely right, the people I'm trying to please don't use IM speak. And it has gotten dead around here (no pun intended) I've noticed, and that really breaks my heart. This used to be such a lively, kickin' place. I mean, I'd update a story and it would only be at the top of the list for five minutes before six more story updates knocked me down a peg or two. Those were the good old days tear. Oh well, we shall persevere! And Nacey, thanks for giving my story a once-over. I'd really like to know you're opinion. I'd love to get a sneak peak at your next chapter as well. What can I say? I'm an impatient woman.
So, anyway, this update is a little late for all of you who are still with me out there. Things been a-happenin around here. If I hadn't been so far ahead in my chapters, there wouldn't even be an update tonight. My boyfriend got in a TINY fender bender and the lady he hit talked to him and told him at was all cool since there was literally no damage (except for her car which had already had MASSIVE damage to the back end). Anyway, they both drove away from the scene and the bitch (forgive my french) went home and filed a hit-and-run and claimed that all that damage done to her car had been done by him. Well, long story short, the police were at our apartment at 7:30 in the damn morning. They were all uppity until they looked at his car (a relatively new car without a single scratch on it) and realized there was no POSSIBLE way that his car did all that damage.
Sorry, had to vent there. It's been very stressful. I know it wasn't ME it happened to, but I love him very much (yeah, sounds mushy, but deal with it) and seeing him that scared breaks my heart. I actually ended up crying at work. I work at a bank. It was very dignified. But I'll shut up now. You're probably not still reading. Toodles!
