Ch. 16~ Bad News
Basal led her to a large tent, saying that his brother wanted to see her. He lifted the tent flap and stepped aside to let her pass. Jeweli went in, taking in the décor. It was very simple, yet with a little bit of traditional elegance. It was so very…Ardeth. Looking around, she saw him reclining against some pillows on a rug in front of the fire. She watched as his hand ran along his chin, coming to rest in a fist at his mouth. He sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. Jeweli silently knelt behind him and put her arms around his shoulders.
"Hey," she hugged him when he jumped. "You ok?"
Ardeth relaxed and ran his hand over her arm, holding her there. "I am now."
Jeweli smiled and raised his right hand to her lips. She kissed it, then realized that his knuckles were all bruised and split. "Oh, my God. What happened? Who the hell'd you lay out, hun?"
"No one, unfortunately. Jeweliandra," he pulled her around so that she was sitting where he could see her face. "The Elders have decided that you will not be allowed to remain with me, even if you wanted to. They have always been wary of outsiders, but a woman…" he sighed, covering her hands with his. "I apologize for the way I reacted when I saw the markings. But, you must know, my uncle wrote something there that he should not have"
"I know."
His head shot up. "You do?"
"Yeah. Evie translated it for me after Alex asked me when the wedding was." Instead of looking at him, she focused on the fire. "What are you gonna do?"
"What do you mean?"
"They said I can't stay. And, quite honestly, I hadn't thought that far ahead, considering I figured we wouldn't actually survive. Everything I own, my whole life, is in England. I don't know anything about living in the desert, or being a Madji. I'd probably just screw everything up."
"Stop that." He told her firmly, turning her face toward him. "You are the most capable woman I know. If anyone was fit for this life, it is you. I will do anything to make you see how much I care for you," he hesitated. "Even if it means giving up the Madji and coming to England with you."
Jeweli blanched. "No, you can't! This is your home. These are your people. You…you can't just leave your whole life behind for me."
"And why not? Jeweliandra, I love you, and I want to show you that. Listen to me, I may be the Chieftain and Commander, but the Elders are the ones that people listen to. I cannot convince them once they have set their minds. Why…why are you crying?" he touched the tears as they slid down her now clean cheeks. "I did not mean to upset you."
"Ardeth…I can't let you do this. Not for me. You have family here who love you. You have a duty to protect Egypt, and I can't let you throw that all away for someone who's not worth it."
"What?! Aho bi*, how could you possibly say such things about yourself?"
"Because it's true. You need a girl who can stand by you, someone you can come home to at the end of a mission and not have to worry if the Elders threw her out. You need someone who's innocent, someone who's pure. You need a girl who can five you children, Ardeth. I told you, I can't have kids. I'm damaged goods. Wait, let me rephrase that so you understand. I'm a tomb that's been forced open, pillaged, and looted. I'm broken, unclean even. You don't need that. I'm sorry, but I won't let you do this, not for me." Jeweli undid the amulet and pushed it into his hands before getting up and running from the tent.
Ardeth
"Jeweliandra! Jew-Dana allah aniaka.**" he threw a bowl, then ran after her.
He couldn't see her. No matter how fast he ran, she ran faster and disappeared from his sight. Eventually, he found himself back at his tent. He went in and sat down on the rug and let the tears fall. Ardeth never cried, not since his mother died when he was a boy. So, why now? Why did his body finally feel like forcing the tears out? Because, said a little voice inside of him, love is an insane emotion that can make you do insane things. Like telling a woman you've known for a week that you were going to leave the only life you've every known, just to follow her. Oh, Allah, why is life so cruel?
Jeweli
She heard him calling her, but she kept running. This couldn't happen, she wouldn't allow it. There was no way in hell she was going to let him give up everything he'd lived for his whole life. She loved him, and that meant she needed to take his happiness into perspective. If he left all this behind for her and went to England, he would never be truly happy. Ardeth was a desert man, a man used to the old ways and the closeness of a tribe. The rest of the world wasn't like that. England was often cold and rainy, so fast paced and distant.
Jeweli hit someone, nearly falling over in her blindness. "Whoa there, Jewels." Rick caught her. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Let go of me," she twisted away and ran to her tent. When she got in there, she tied the flaps shut. Jeweli collapsed on the blankets serving as her bed and buried her face in the pillows, muffling the sobs that tore from her throat.
"Jeweli?" Rick was outside. "Jewels, what happened?"
"Go away."
There was a soft knocking at the pole holding the entrance. "Jeweli, sweetheart? Talk to us. What happened?" Evie asked gently. "What did he do?"
"He?" she heard Rick whisper. "You mean Ardeth? Oh, he's a dead man."
"Ardeth didn't do anything. It's what I did, what I said," she choked out.
"Sweetheart, may I come in?" There was no answer.
Rick
He nearly tore open the flimsy tent, if his wife hadn't stopped him.
"Perhaps we should let her be. Why don't we go speak to Ardeth, see what he has to say?" Evie put her hand on his arm and beckoned her brother away from the tent from which they could still hear quiet sobs.
He's dead. I'm gonna kill him. Rick thought to himself as they hurried to the man's tent. He threw it open and marched right in with no invitation. Ardeth was sitting on the floor with his fists placed firmly on his forehead, as if praying. He looked up when he heard them come in.
"Hey there, buddy." Rick grabbed him by the front of his robes and forced him against the table at the center of the area. "What the hell did you do to her? Huh?!"
"I did not intend to hurt her, if that is what you are asking." The Madji pushed Rick's hands off and moved away.
"Ardeth, Jeweli's in her tent crying her eyes out right now." Evie informed him. "She won't tell us what happened except that she did something. Please, could you tell us?"
He turned around, and they were surprised to see that his eyes were red and that there were tears still in his beard. Ardeth took a deep breath to steady himself.
*= My love
**=Damn it.