I was a little worried about this chapter. I wasn't sure if it would work but I'm fairly pleased with it. I hope you will like it. Next chapter will be the last.

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Chapter Six

Truth

"Can we sit down?" Imhotep asked carefully as he met Ardeth's gaze. Ardeth nodded and they both sat down on the edge of the bed. Almost out of habit Imhotep's hand was placed on Ardeth's lower arm and neither of them even seemed to react to the touch at that point.

"Truthfully," Imhotep said with a silent voice, trying to find the right words for what he was about to say. "I had seen you when you helped O'Connell to fight me and my priests. I couldn't help being impressed by how pure your soul was. You're unselfish; always fighting for those you care for. You would never turn your back on anyone who needed your help." Ardeth sat silently as the priest spoke, not sure how to react to the words he said.

"I brought you here because I wanted to know more about you," Imhotep continued. "I wanted to be close to you so that maybe I could learn what it feels like to have a heart such as yours."

Ardeth sat completely silent as he tried to understand what the priest had told him.

"I still don't understand," he mumbled as he lowered his gaze slightly, his eyes then falling on the bronze coloured hand on his arm. The touch was surprisingly warm; by some reason he had always imagined the priest's touch to be cold, like death.

"Also," Imhotep suddenly continued, making the Medjai meet his gaze again. "I guess I also brought you here because I wanted you to know who I am. You said yourself that you had only been taught that I am the bringer of death. I am so much more than that. I wanted you, the leader of the Medjai warriors, to know that I too was human once. I was just like anyone else; the only difference was that I just happen to fall in love with the pharaoh's mistress. That sealed my fate."

Silence filled the room once again as the priest and the Medjai looked at each other. Ardeth kept hearing Imhotep's word over and over in his head. He kept thinking that even though he knew every single little detail of what his forefathers had told him about Imhotep he still had never even thought of him as a normal person. He had been a creature, a walking disease not human.

"Perhaps my people have been unfair to you," Ardeth admitted with a silent voice. Imhotep met Ardeth's dark gaze, smiling warmly at him.

"Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that," he said softly. Ardeth wanted to return the smile yet somehow he couldn't; he could only nod slightly to the high priest.

After that day the atmosphere between the two seemed lighter, maybe even pleasant. Ardeth found that he didn't mind the priest's touches and he was no longer uneasy in his company. Despite this, Ardeth still felt troubled. Thoughts about his people kept entering his head along with thoughts about O'Connell and his family. They must be worried about him.

"How long are you planning to keep me here?" Ardeth asked one night as the two of them were getting ready for bed. Imhotep looked at the Medjai with a serious face.

"Do you wish to leave?" he asked as he sat down on the bed where Ardeth was already sitting.

"I cannot stay here forever. You know I can't," Ardeth objected. "I have my people to look after. And my friends must be looking for me." Imhotep's face changed from serious to a soft expression.

"Do you really wish to leave?" he whispered. Ardeth nodded.

"I have to," he answered. The high priest lowered his gaze for a mere second and then gazed right into Ardeth's eyes. He carefully raised his hand and fingered the tattoo on Ardeth's forehead, following the symbols with the tip of his finger.

"Sleep now," Imhotep said after a short while and retreated his hand. "I promise that you will soon be back with your friends."