Thank you so much for all of the reviews! They are like lifeblood. And to all those who read and do not review, I thank you too (I do my share of lurking as well ;) ). So not a lot of new news with this chapter and a rather large section of movie dialogue (I'm sorry! :( ) But there is also a lot of non-cannon dialogue and interaction! :)
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Ardeth had explained quickly and in tones too low for Hadiyya, who was being entertained by one of the men, to hear the legend of Imotep and Ank-su-namun to Deirdre. She felt ill. What had they done? "Oh, Lord." Her hand covered her mouth, she watched her innocent daughter laughing while the fierce looking warrior made animated gestures. "Why didn't we leave…? Why wouldn't they leave?" She rubbed the bridge of her nose and then her temples.
Ardeth reached over and began to massage the back of her neck. "You have not been wearing your glasses."
She had relaxed some under his ministrations and gave a half-laugh. "You sound like my brother."
"Obviously we agree on something then."
This drew a weary chuckle from Deirdre. He continued to attempt to ease some of the strain in the muscles of her neck, which, while it did not cure the headache, he knew helped with the pain. His thumb scraped against a chain on her neck; he frowned and gently began to tug on the necklace. Deirdre lifted her head and squinted in his direction when his ministrations ceased.
Ardeth was holding in his hand her pendant. "You're wearing it." The comment was loaded with emotion and complexities. He lifted his eyes to meet hers.
"You asked me to never take it off," her tone was matter-of-fact, which caused his heart to squeeze that she would wear it still, simply because he asked her to.
He allowed the pendant to slide from his fingers; to lie sparkling dimly against the fabric of her dress. "Do not hide it," his voice was rough; he swallowed, trying to clear his throat, "how can it protect you as it should if none know it is there?"
Her eyes clouded with questions, questions he should have answered six years ago. Ardeth shook his head. Deirdre frowned, hurt in her eyes. He wanted to reach out and smooth the frown from her face, but there was too much between them now and no time to untangle the mess.
"Not now. This is not a discussion for this time and place." He hoped that they still knew each other well enough that she knew he was not trying to brush her off, but promising answers later.
The hurt slowly passed from her eyes, though the frown remained; she nodded. She was still squinting; the warrior wanted to continue in his attempts to relieve some of the pain, but her body language was telling him that contact right at the moment would not be welcome.
He turned to look at Hadiyya who was sitting on Ehsan's knee giggling, probably at some story the younger man was telling her. The chieftain's brother had been casting him looks ever since they had first seen Deirdre and Hadiyya the night before; he knew his brother suspected something.
"What does she know of her father?" Ardeth asked pensively.
The redhead's eyes glanced at him before joining him in contemplation of the small child. "She is still young enough and has little enough contact with other children that she does not ask too many questions too often. When she does ask I tell her that her father is a great man who loves her very much. That he would be with us if he could, but he has things that he has to take care of and right now it keeps him away."
Deirdre looked back at him; his face had tightened with pain. She bit her lip. "I won't keep her from you." He met her gaze. "I don't know what is going to happen, but no matter what I want you in her life…"
'What about you?' he wanted to ask, but knew as with so much else, now was not the time.
There was a commotion at one of the entrances drawing everyone's attention. Ardeth's eyes narrowed at the sight, the group of his men he had sent into the interior had emerged, two of them carrying one of the white men. "Go to Hadiyya, do not let her see anything," he said briskly to Deirdre as he rose and went over to them.
The firey young woman would have normally argued against such a tone, but knew that if he was telling her not to let the little girl see something, it was truly gory. She swiftly went over to Hadiyya and, smiling, took her daughter into her arms. She then proceeded to keep her daughter's eyes away from where the group was. Deirdre could not see what exactly was going on, her already poor eyesight shot to hell with the headache, and part of her was almost glad for it, she was actually a little afraid of what she might see otherwise.
Ardeth called his men over to another entrance, where they had heard noises approaching; they all began to form up. Deirdre moved closer to see better but still far enough away for safety.
Her brother, the Carnahan siblings and the other two Americans spilled out to the cocking of rifles.
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Rick had automatically raised his rifle at the sound and sight of all the guns now pointing at them, ready and awaiting any indication from the leader, who was the only one who had not leveled a gun on them. The Egyptologist was kneeling in front of the line, clutching the damn book. O'Connell lowered his gun reluctantly.
The leader pulled down the scarf that was covering the lower half of his face and stepped forward. "I told you to leave or die." He looked at them. "You refused. Now, you may have killed us all," Rick could not help the chill that skittered down his spine, "for you have unleashed a creature we have feared for more than 3,000 years."
There was a flash of blue behind the line of warriors; Rick's eyes locked with Deirdre's. She held the gaze for a moment but then looked down, almost ashamed, but not of herself. The American scowled at his sister's actions before turning his attention back to the leader. "Relax. I got him."
"No mortal weapon can kill this creature," the dark man snarled, disgustedly. "He's not of this world."
The line parted and the leader stepped to the side as two of the warriors carried Burns forward to lay him near Henderson and Daniels, who knelt to cradle their companion.
Daniels turned to them. "You bastard."
"What did you do to him?" Henderson demanded.
Rick heard his sister make a sound of protest.
"We saved him." The leader leveled them with a cold glare, making it clear just who should really be feeling guilty at the moment. "Saved him before the creature could finish his work." His gaze turned back to Rick. "Leave, all of you, quickly, before he finishes you all." He spoke in Arabic, gesturing his men forward; he followed them. "I must now go on the hunt, and try and find a way to kill him."
"I already told you, I got him," Rick reiterated.
The leader froze; then turned back to them and took a step toward them. "Know this, this creature is the bringer of death. He will never eat, he will never sleep, and he will never stop." He turned again but was halted when Rick's hand shot out and gripped his arm.
Their eyes met, anger burning in both pairs. "And what about my sister?"
The leader removed the American's hand from his arm and stepped closer. "I protected her, what you are supposed to do." The dark man looked him up and down disdainfully. "I would remove Deirdre and Haddiya from your care, since you seem incapable of doing your job, but I have not the men or time at the moment to take them home."
"And what gives you the right to 'remove' them from my 'care'," O'Connell stepped forward going toe to toe with the other man.
A smirk graced the leader's lips. "Because Haddiya is of my people, and thus under my protection; which makes Deirdre, as her mother, under my protection as well." He turned, leaving a gaping Rick O'Connell behind him.
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Deirdre knew that her brother wanted nothing more than to tear into her about what Ardeth had said, but there was no time. They all gathered up all that they could carry on horse or camel back and rode off as quickly as possible.
"Mummy." Deirdre looked down at her daughter, who was cradled in her arms. "Will I get to see Ehsan again soon? He told good stories."
The redhead swallowed hard but managed to force a smile. "I hope so, sweetheart."
They stopped at an oasis to rest for a while, and did the same on the next day. On the third day Deirdre slipped away from the group while they rested. Somehow she had managed to dodge her brother the last two days and intended to do the same for as long as possible. She loved Rick dearly, really she did, but she chafed under his demands to know about Haddiya's paternity and what would amount to Deirdre's last year in England.
She slid down a dune and remained sitting there in the dark, waiting.
"You are taking a risk."
She turned toward Ardeth's voice though she could only vaguely make out his outline in the near-pitch black. "I needed to see you at least one last time before we got to Cairo."
He was silent for a moment. "We cannot speak long; they will begin to worry for you."
The redhead nodded and bit her lip. "Haddiya was asking after Ehsan, saying that he told 'good' stories."
He shifted and she could hear the touch of amusement when he spoke, "My brother is very creative in his story-telling."
She nervously rubbed a finger over her pendant.
The Med-jai chieftain took a deep breath. "On the third day after you arrive in the city come to the Cairo Museum of Antiquities; I will be there on that day. However, should you need help before then go to the museum and show your pendant to the curator, Dr. Bey; he is my uncle and will see to it that you and Haddiya are protected."
"Thank you," she said quietly.
They lapsed into silence.
Deirdre gathered sand into her hand and allowed it to slowly slip between her fingers.
Ardeth stared out into the impregnable darkness, as if trying to divine its secrets.
"Ardeth," she finally whispered. "What are we doing?"
They both knew what she was really referring to.
He took a moment to answer. "I do not know."
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So after I wrote that first part I realized how incongruous it was to what everyone else in the cannon was going through right under Ardeth and Deirdre's feet. In fact it now rather amuses me having the crew running for their lives below while our couple have a moment and little Haddiya is laughing at a wild story Ehsan is telling (Ehsan has been very quiet about himself and what he's like for the most part, but now his voice has finally started talking and I am growing quite attached to him.) And of course I am not making things too easy for our couple right now; they have a great deal to discuss and no time to do it in. Gotta love tension… ;D Anywho, enough about my twisted sense of humor. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry about Ardeth and Deirdre's history still not really coming out but they're not quite ready yet. The next part they'll either be in Cairo or Deirdre will be telling at least some part of their past… I'm not sure yet… These characters really do have a life of their own and will do as they wish… Please let me know what you think!