A/N: Here is a short chapter for you. I'm not to pleased with it cause its sort of jumps through but with holidays and birthdays and stuff its been hard to actually bring you a chapter longer than this. Next chapter should be better. Also the story is getting close to its end so if you have any last minute requests let me know. Ok Thanks for reading and please review. It helps me want to write. Happy New Year!!
Chapter 19 - Out of Egypt and Into the Darkness
The dark tunnel had gone on for what seemed to be ages. It had been cold and damp from the very beginning but upon reaching the outside everything was forgotten. The exit was far from the city and nothing but barren desert lay before him. No sign of life was visible. The Nile must have laid in the opposite direction. The sky had now begun to turn a very light shade of blue. There wasn't much time till sunrise. Severus turned and hastened back, Remus would no doubt have news for him.
"Severus, good you're back before sunrise. The Pharaoh has not called for Alexandria yet. You need to get home and give an excuse to your servant. Make something up about finding a woman fair enough for the pharaoh. Take a woman with you if you must just so no one suspects you. I have spoken with Alexandria and we have a plan."
"Well aren't you going to elaborate?"
"There is no time. I will just ask you to find your way back here but do not let anyone and I do mean anyone see you come into the temple. Take the tunnel around mid day. I will explain from there."
Severus nodded and looked out of the crack between the door and wall. The coast was clear. I wish this would just end already. This is ridiculous. When I get my hands on Narcissa next time… T
he streets were already filling but mostly with servants who were readying their master's houses and breakfasts. Where does one look for a beautiful woman who is fit for a pharaoh at a time like this? It would be near impossible. Then it happened almost as if it had been planned. A young woman walked down the street in his direction. Her dark brown hair was hanging to her elbows and her hazel eyes could be seen from a distance. The basket in her hand was full of white cloths indicating that she too was a servant. It was now or never. Sure she was pretty but with a little help she might be beautiful.
Severus watched as she caught his gaze and smiled for him flirtatiously. Her steps became smaller and she practically stopped to try and catch his attention. In his opinion she would never outdo Alexandria but perhaps the Pharaoh would have a different view. Remus' words came back to him ("It doesn't matter what mistress you bring the pharaoh he will still choose Alexa"). Still, pretenses were important.
"My lady," the words slipped out before he had time to think of what would go next. Never had he really tried to woo any girl. Narcissa had noticed him herself without his encouragement and Alexandria, well even now he was not sure what she had been so attracted to.
"My lord, did you need something?"
"Yes, I have a proposition for a lady like you."
"I am no common woman passed from man to man, if that is what you would wish of me. My master however would be glad to have you take me off his hands for a good price."
"Who is your master?" Severus asked looking around.
"A great man but with no need for extra hands. Do you think me worthy my lord?"
"I require no mistress but I have been searching all night for a woman worthy of being mistress to the Pharaoh," he said turning his stern face towards her so she knew he was not lying.
"You're eyes show that you have not slept an ounce my lord. Please let me show you to my master's house and you may take it up with him."
Severus followed as she retraced her steps back to a home the size of his and filled with luxuries. The owner was an old man who made money off breeding horses for noble families. Convincing him that he would be handsomely paid if the Pharaoh took her as his mistress was easier said than done. The owner seemed rather reluctant at giving away such a rare beauty to be only a mistress and not a wife. Still the title of Pharaoh made it hard to pass up the bargain and he agreed to let Severus take her.
The maid he owned flung open the doors to his home the moment she saw him and flooded him with questions. They were soon answered when he ordered a bath for the girl he had found to suit the king. She was to be dressed and prepared quickly because keeping the Pharaoh waiting was out of the question.
"My lord you have not had an ounce of sleep. Perhaps you should wait till the Pharaoh sends for you. You must rest properly."
"No I will not keep him waiting. I have searched too hard to wait much longer," he lied and paced around the room.
"At least take some wine," she kneeled and lifted his chalice.
"No, I cannot. Is she ready yet?"
"I will check."
"I'm here. Does this please you my lord?" the girl with the dark chocolate colored hair asked walking before him in a thin white linen dress that left little to the imagination.
Severus looked away, "It is not me you should be trying to please."
"The Pharaoh is a prize indeed for a woman of my rank but you, my lord, are equally a prize to me," she nearly whispered so not everyone would hear. "I would go to great lengths to please thee."
"I have no need of a mistress. Now come, we cannot keep Pharaoh waiting long."
They rode horses to the Pharaoh's palace and then waited inside till he was ready for them. Severus looked around for the time but remembered that the only dial was outside in the courtyard. Damn.How am I going to manage to stay here until then so I know exactly when to go? The doors flung open and the rather short tanned man walked through. The gold headdress he wore reminded him of King Tut's (one of the ones Alexandria had explained to him while looking through a few books).
"Ah, my friend you made it."
Severus would have answered instantly if he had not been thrown off by the appearance of three tall men all dressed in black robes and carrying staffs with them. His sorcerers. Neville was indeed one of them. He stood just beside the king to his left his blue eyes burning into Severus as if he knew that something was going on. "Yes and I brought you a very beautiful woman as promised. I have searched and searched and it was not till early this morning that I came across her."
"Let me lay my eyes on her. Yes, she is a beauty indeed. Her eyes do they have color?"
"Almost."
"I see. I want to compare them. Bring me the priestess."
Neville stepped forward and bowed. Severus watched as he pulled a vile from the inside of his cloak and threw it at his feet blowing a large puff of gray smoke into the air. The magic of ancient times… How petty it seems. The Pharaoh then walked over and offered him a seat. It was most important for him to stay calm as if nothing had happened out of the ordinary. He listened and even tried to smile very slightly every now and then at what the Pharaoh had gone into talking about. For the most part it was nothing he cared to hear about. As a matter of fact Severus was positive he would have rather spoken with one of the sorcerers rather than the Pharaoh. Still he tried. They were after all "friends".
The doors flew wide open for the second time that morning. With Neville walking in distraught. "She's gone! The priestess is gone!"
"What?!" both Severus and the King shouted at the same time. This Severus had not planned but figured that Remus had. It was certainly a surprise to him, not to mention a very bold move for Remus to have taken.
"Are you sure?" the Pharaoh gritted his teeth.
"Yes. When I arrived they were already searching for her to bathe her and then send her to her beast. I did not wait for news. I think someone is conspiring against you," he said making sure to look at Severus.
Thinking quickly he nodded, "I agree. We should look for her. But where do we start?"
Neville raised one eyebrow and inspected his face carefully. Luckily for him emotions did not come that easy even when trying to express them. It was enough for the pharaoh who immediately ordered the vizier to send out troops all over the city and down the Nile.
Has the vizier been standing there the whole time? I hadn't even noticed. He must have been hidden really good because the blue headdress he wore was nearly impossible to miss. It was such a shade of blue that it could not be easily dismissed. In a matter of minutes the city had gone into chaos. The soldiers were making a mess of houses and temples. The citizens on the the other hand were in a panic for fear of the beast. They were sure it would waken soon enough. Severus had been ordered by the pharaoh to stay with him until she was found. For most of the morning he remained at the pharaoh's side pretending to be just as interested in finding her.
The dial moved quickly to the middle indicating noon. Still no signs anywhere. It was a positive thing but how would he be able to escape to the temple. The guards had probably already found the entrance to the tunnel. "Severus," the pharaoh bellowed. "I will go out and join the search. Will you come with me?"
"Perhaps we will have better luck if we search separately. I will go check her temple once more to see if perhaps she is hiding there. I don't see how she could have just disappeared. Its not possible. Where shall I meet you?"
The pharaoh nodded trustingly, "By the river when the sun has moved the dial to the three."
Severus watched as the pharaoh mounted his horse and took off. Instantly he broke into a run and headed for the temple. Soldiers were guarding it when he arrived. "Why are you just standing there? The pharaoh has just sent me to run another quick search of her quarters so I will need you to do that and meet the pharaoh by the Nile. I will search other parts of the temple. You there, go right! I'll take the left. The rest of you spread out through other sections!" he ordered and to his surprise, they obeyed.
The end of the musty tunnel was coming up any moment now. There was light filtering in now and he took the steps up. The sun hurt his eyes but he squinted and looked around. Arms wrapped around him and he looked forward to see Remus smiling at him. Alexandria held him tightly and then looked up into his eyes bringing her small hands to his face.
"Severus. Oh, I'm so glad to see you are ok."
He held her and kissed the top of her head, "As am I. Thank you Remus. Now what?"
Remus walked back over to a map he had pinned to the sand with four decent sized stones. "There is a spot over here," he pointed. "It will open a portal out if we can get there. We have very little food and drink not to mention the pharaoh will be looking for us soon. Its quite a distance to travel on just horseback."
Severus noticed the two horses waiting for them for the first time. "Where are we?" he asked.
"We are here, on the opposite side of the city and river."
"The pharaoh will be meeting his men at the river at three so we don't have much time but its still a head start. Lets go."
Remus mounted his horse and started off. Severus did the same but pulled Alexandria up in front of him. They would at least get a couple of miles before the Pharaoh would know anything. The sun burned his shoulders and arms as they rode northwest of the city. Remus too was trying to cover his head with cloth. Luckily Alexandria had a full cloak and hood to cover her.
For hours they rode. Severus was feeling pain in his inner thighs and a bit of dizziness from the sun. The desert was truly unfriendly toward them. They had eaten their ration of food already. Remus had not been exaggerating when he said it was a "little".
"Stop!" Alexandria shrieked suddenly after the sun had fallen. "Stop!"
"What is it Alexa?" Remus asked when she jumped off the horse and ran back a little.
"Oh no…" she said her eyes widening.
"What is it?" Severus asked still mounted.
"The dragon! He's awakened!"
"How do you know?" the two men asked in unison.
"I felt him leave the earth."
Sure enough in the very distance the saw a light in the sky hit the ground. It was too dark to see anything in detail because they were now too far. Severus put his hand out for her. "Then we need to flee and make haste."
Remus took off and they followed. The horses were running as fast as they could in the desert sand. "Faster!" Alexandria shouted. Severus handed her the reigns and then turned to look behind them. He could see red lighting the sky in the distance. The city was probably burning. A shot of flame came down in between the city and them lighting the ground enough for him to see that the dragon had found the Pharaoh's army.
"The Pharaoh's army is getting close and the dragon has already found them! How much further Remus?"
"Close now but we have to be careful not to miss it. When we get there Alexandria I will need you to channel your magic onto it. Severus you do the same. I will fight Neville if the Pharaoh gets here."
"You?" Severus asked.
"Yes, you stay far from him."
Alexandria nodded, "I agree. Narcissa wanted you to face him but now that Remus is here, you wont have to."
"Neville will try to kill you though," Severus shouted dismounting his horse at the wave of Remus' hand.
"Yes I know but he wont. Just trust me. We will fight, you just… There! Its right there!" he pointed. For a second Severus thought he saw a glimmer of light in the darkness. "Go now!"
"We have bigger problems," Alexandria said looking up and around.
There was silence between the three of them. The flapping of very large wings could be heard in the night sky. They scanned the moonless sky but saw nothing. "Down!" Severus yelled pulling Alexandria to the floor. Claws swept the air right above them. "He's here and he wants you back Alexa. Stay on the ground!" The horses were in dismay and began running in opposite directions.
"Use your magic from down there," Remus instructed.
Alexandria shot a hand up throwing blue light at the spot they had seen a shimmer in. Her body began to take its light blue glow lighting up their surroundings. The dragon noticed too and swept down again. Severus threw a rock at its face and hit it causing it to screech in fury and blow fire in his general direction. Remus threw from the opposite side. The dragon blew flames once more at Remus this time, who only jumped out of the way just barely.
"There they are!" The Pharaoh's voice sounded from behind them.
The three sorcerers appeared in front of him. Alexandria stood and yelled at the dragon in Egyptian but it was not something Severus understood. It swooped and instead of aiming for the three of them it aimed for the trio of sorcerers and the Pharaoh. Alexandria grabbed Remus' arm. "Get Neville quick!"
Remus threw a silent spell at Neville pushing him to the ground making him angry enough to slip away from the others who were now busied with the dragon. Alexandria in the meanwhile turned her attention back to the portal. Severus followed her lead and in due time it began to open. They could hear Neville and Remus fighting in the background but did not turn to look. As soon as the portal was open wide enough Alexandria turned to Severus. "Go. You first."
"No, I wanna go with you."
"Severus I need to make sure you go. Alexander wont keep me here for long. You go first."
"Wait!" Remus shouted. "You and Severus go together last. The portal wont stay open without you holding it open…" his sentence interrupted as he dropped to avoid being hit by Neville's staff. While Neville struggled to lift the heavy staff Remus ran and tackled him through the porthole. "See you on the other side…" he was gone.
Alexa turned to Severus and he wrapped his arms around her smiling. The nightmare would be over soon she thought. The slipped through the portal and felt it tug on their skin painfully and spit them out on a dark stone floor that was slightly flooded.
Severus felt his body hit the ground hard and Alexandria beside him. Slowly he tried to raise himself to see where they were but it was no use. His head was throbbing and the room was spinning. He thought he saw Remus and Neville both laying on the ground not far from them. The room went black.
Alexandria opened her eyes. The blow to the head had caused her to blackout instantly. "Severus?" she asked in a low tone. There was no answer. "Severus?" she repeated.
"He's not here."
"Where is he? Who are you?" she asked not able to lift herself because her body felt like lead.
"He's in another cell. My dear you don't remember me?"
Alexandria's head turned from one side of its hard resting place to the other. Alexander stood before her himself with an emotionless face. "What do you want?"
"A pure blood child from you."
"No. That you will never get. Leave me alone. I just want to live with my husband!"
"You're husband doesn't deserve you! I wont allow it."
"You wont allow it? We're already married!"
"Yes, and do you know how fast I can change that?"
Alexandria turned away, "No, I'll do anything. Just don't kill him..."
Alexander laughed, "of course you will my dear. Of course you will…"