When they got home three days later all Rick could think about was getting a bath and relaxing in one of the hot springs. The hot springs were a natural part on the Medjai mountain home and pools had been curved into the areas where they springs came up naturally. Some of the pools were big enough for up to half a dozen people at the time and others were big enough for only one or two people. Also, the men's and women's sides were separate for the Medjai believed that men and women should not see each other naked unless they were married. Of course relationships did happen outside of marriage but they were kept very private and the Medjai did their best to ignore that such a thing happened.

"Rick you're home," said Evie the minute Rick entered his and Evie's room.

"Yes, Evie, I'm back," said Rick giving his wife a kiss.

"So any trouble while on patrol?" asked Evie.

Rick shrugged, "Not really. There was a group of archeologists, but we managed to scare them away without too much bloodshed."

"Who was hurt?" asked Evie just a little anxiously.

"None of the Medjai," Rick assured. "Ardeth did have to use his scimitar on one of archeologist as the man tried to attack him. The man should live though, as long as his friends get him to a hospital."

"You seem very—" Evie searched for a word to describe her husband's attitude and finally settled on one. "Dispassionate about the whole thing."

"I'm not going to get all emotional about the man who tried to kill my brother," said Rick. "Personally, I think he got off too lightly, but Ardeth didn't want to kill unless it was necessary and although I agree, if Ardeth had been hurt that archeologist would have wound up with worse then he got."

Evie nodded in understanding for she knew that Rick was very protective of the people he cared about and that those people would be counted on the fingers of one hand, which included her, Alex, Ardeth, Kadin and perhaps Jonathan and that was it.

"Now if you don't mind I'm sore, hot, tired and sweaty and I'm heading for the hot springs for a nice long soak," said Rick. "I've been looking forward to it for three days ever since I found out we were heading home. I'm sure Ardeth is already there and wondering where I am."

"Fine, you go and I'll see you when you get back."

Rick nodded and headed out the door without another word.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

When Rick got back to his room an hour later it was to find Evie waiting with an expectant look on her face as she had some kind of secret. "Rick I have something to tell you," said Evie.

Rick looked at his wife trying to guess what the news could possibly be. "What's the matter?"

"Absolutely nothing," said Evie grinning her face shining with happiness.

"Ahha, then why are you grinning like a loon?"

"Rick, dear, do you remember what the doctor in London told us after we had Alex?"

Rick thought back for a moment then said, "He said you could never have another child because having Alex did something to your ability to have children."

"Well the doctor in London was wrong—or perhaps it's because I died at Ahm Shere and was brought back to life. but in any case I'm pregnant."

"Pre-pre-pre-gnat?" stuttered Rick so surprised he couldn't even get the word out. "Are you sure?"

Evie nodded. "I'm sure, and besides I went to see the healers and they agree that it probably happened soon before you left."

"But the doctor in London—"

"Didn't you hear me before," Evie interrupted. "The healers think that it has something to do with me dying at Ahm Shere and then being brought back to life. They think it revitalized my system or perhaps undid the damage having Alex caused."

"What does Alex think about this or have you told him?"

"I had to tell him since I'm beginning to show," said Evie dryly. "He seemed very happy and excited about it. I hope you are too."

"Are you kidding. When we got married we always planned to have more than the one child but bad luck or fate soon nixed that idea when the doctor told us we would never be able to have another. So, yes, I'm very happy about it, not just happy ecstatic!" exclaimed Rick picking her up and swinging her around gently not wanting to hurt his wife or the baby.

"Rick, put me down," said Evie laughing. "You're making me dizzy."

Rick complied but only after kissing his wife passionately from sheer happiness.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

When Ardeth was told about Evie's pregnancy he was just as surprised as Rick had been, but once he had gotten over his shock very happy for them.

"I thought your doctor told you, you could never have another child?" asked Ardeth, in shock.

"And he did, but the healers told Evie that they believe it's because she died at Ahm Shere and was then brought back that maybe it undid the damage that Alex's birth caused."

"How does Alex feel about this?" asked Ardeth.

"Well, I haven't seen him since I got back, he's apparently been with his friends, but Evie said he seemed really happy about it. And the truth is that Evie and I had always planned on having several children but because Alex's birth was so difficult that just wasn't possible—at least not until now anyway."

"And how does Jonathan feel about it?"

"I haven't seen Jonathan either actually. He's been keeping to himself a lot since we came here, trying to stay out of the way I assume, as well as out of trouble."

"Some of the Medjai have reported to me that Jonathan has seemed very unhappy and that he has been spending a lot of time outside leaning against one of the walls, out of the way, but just watching the world go by but not interacting with it or else he has been seen sitting under one of the trees doing the same and as far as I know he has made no friends in his time here."

"Well, this is not the usual kind of place that someone like Jonathan would ordinarily spend their time," Rick pointed out. "Jonathan is used to living in a huge city like London, where there is plenty to do to keep from being bored, but here—well no offence but for someone like Jonathan there's no entertainment—or at least not the kind of entertainment someone like him would be interested in."

"Yes, I suppose that's true," said Ardeth. "But he needs to find something to interest him for you and your family could be stuck here for the next five or six years depending on how long this war drags on."

"I know," said Rick. "Evie, Alex and I are very happy here, of course, we've all found friends and activities to keep us occupied, but Jonathan, well that's different."

"Perhaps I should have a talk with him," said Ardeth.

"You can try, but I have my doubts as to whether or not it will do any good. If he can just find some kind of activity too keep him busy and from feeling useless it would be a very good thing. Doing patrols or any of the kinds of things that Medjai do will more than likely not interest him."

"I suppose I can see why Jonathan would be unhappy here," said Ardeth. "He grew up in a modern city and as much as I love Hidden City and the peace and quiet here, for someone like Jonathan, well, it would boring. We do not have what most of the modern cities do—movies and concerts and plays and clubs. Those are things of the modern world and Hidden City has not changed much in 5000 years. We don't even have electricity not that you would be able to get it this far out in the desert anyway."

"You do have an extensive library though, even Evie was impressed the first time she saw it and I have seen Jonathan with a book every now and then, but I suppose he can't spend the next however many years doing just that."

"Men and women need to do something with their lives in order to feel useful," said Ardeth. "Now, if we can just find Jonathan something to do, something that will interest him that will solve the problem."

"But what?" asked Rick.

Ardeth thought about it for a moment then brightened as if he had thought of something. "Some of the children have been begging to learn English and nobody has had time to teach them, but Jonathan could do that. He speaks Arabic tolerably well so he should be able to understand what the children are saying and maybe if he's teaching classes in English reading writing and speaking it will keep him busy at least part of the day."

"Who taught your people English before?" asked Rick.

"It was an older man who was always more of a teacher then a warrior. He learned English on his own and then started a class. He was a mentor to many of the younger people both men and women, including me. That's how a lot of our people learned to speak your language, but Akil died just a few years ago and there has been no one to teach the people English since, as he never took an apprentice."

"Well, if we can convince Jonathan to do it, it is a very good idea. I'm not sure he'll agree to do it though and also, will the people accept him as a teacher?"

"I'll talk to them," Ardeth promised. "Ask them to at least give Jonathan a chance. I'll talk to Jonathan too and see if I can talk him into teaching this course in English."

"Alright and I hope your people agree and that Jonathan decides to cooperate for you are right he can't spend the next ten years wondering around like a ghost and without a purpose. Who knows he might even make a decent teacher."

"We shall see," said Ardeth seeming to be lost in thought and that was where Rick left him a few minutes later not wanting to interrupt whatever Ardeth was planning.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

Within a week Ardeth had talked to some of the most prominent members of the community and although some of them had been reluctant to agree to a foreigner teaching a class at first Ardeth had pointed out that Akil was no longer with them and that no one else had so far been willing to take up doing what Akil had done for so many years. Ardeth had also pointed out that Jonathan was the perfect person to teach this class for not only did he speak Arabic tolerably well, but perhaps this would teach their people at least to tolerate anybody different from themselves. And finally, Ardeth had said because Rick was his brother that made Jonathan also related to him because he was Rick's brother-in-law. That argument was spurious at best Ardeth knew, but it had shown that he would not have Jonathan shunned when he had done nothing to deserve it.

The people in question had gotten the idea rather quickly and had no choice but to give in or risk offending not only Ardeth but Rick who had saved the king's life on the O'Connells first visit to Hidden City and for that reason alone the rest of the Medjai who didn't like foreigners had had to accept the O'Connells as Medjai.

Once that task was accomplished and he was sure the people he had talked to would spread the word and before another week was out he was sure he would have people asking when the class would start and also people who were against the very idea of a foreigner teaching their children anything. There would be no trouble though not after what had happened on the O'Connells first visit for Ardeth had made it clear that anymore incidents and whoever was behind it would either be banished or beheaded depending on the severity of said offence—no exceptions.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~

A few days later, found Ardeth going to see Jonathan who was in one of his two usual spots this time sitting under a tree. People might wonder how there could be tree when you lived inside a mountain but again the answer was that part of the mountain was open to the sky and where the tree stood at one end of the meadow was in that section. Of course, there weren't many trees but just a few to give people shade when they were having picnics or just relaxing with a book. According to Medjai history some of their ancestors had specifically brought the seeds from fig trees from out of the desert to here. The trees were ancient and tall but not tall enough to be seen over the top of the mountain which the Medjai would never have allowed.

Jonathan looked up as a shadow fell across the pages of the book he was reading and saw Ardeth standing there calmly waiting to be acknowledged. "Ardeth, old boy, what can I do for you?"

"Mind if I sit down? I have a proposition for you," said Ardeth.

Jonathan nodded and put his book aside and listened attentively as Ardeth outlined his idea of having him teach a class in English to the children and whatever adults wanted to attend.

"Ardeth, old boy, that is—" Jonathan tried to find a word that Ardeth might not be offend by, failed and used the word he was going to use originally, "—a silly idea. I don't know the first thing about teaching children. I've never even been near any except Alex. I would be a very bad teacher."

"How do you know you will be a bad teacher unless you give it a try?" asked Ardeth calmly.

"Because I know," said Jonathan. "All my life I've been very bad at whatever I've tried to do and eventually I got so tired of failing that I gave up completely—which led to my drinking, gambling and womanizing. Now I realize I've changed a lot in the last five years but me teaching a classroom full of kids is still a bad idea."

"But Jonathan consider this, no one has been willing to fill the void that the death of Akil left—he was the guy that was doing it, but he died a few years ago—or to take on the responsibility of teaching our children English and in a very few years none of our people will speak anything but their native tongue and then how will people who only speak English understand us? Besides you're not bad at everything, you are a great shot with a gun as you proved at Ahm Shere and if not for that talent I would very likely be dead."

Jonathan nodded silently acknowledging Ardeth's point, but not responding verbally.

"Jonathan, I need you to do this for me," said Ardeth. "I want the children to understand what people are saying to them if they are talking in English. I realize that there are dozens of languages in the world but English and perhaps French and Spanish are the three most common ones spoken today. I know you don't speak the other two but you could teach these children to understand English and to not only speak it but read and write it."

"Why me?" asked Jonathan.

"Because nobody else has stepped up to do it and these children desperately need to know what other people are saying. The world has changed a lot in the last hundred years but Egypt has changed more than the rest of the world put together in that same amount of time. Where we used too only have people that were born here or people whose ancestors had been slaves to the great pharaohs, now we have foreigners coming into the port at Cairo and more and more of those everyday and most if any of those foreigners speak Arabic. If we do not change with the times my people will perish. Please, Jonathan, do this for me or at least give it a try. If you really don't like it you can always stop, but please, please, at least give it a try."

Jonathan studied Ardeth for a long minute seeing the almost desperate look in his friend's dark eyes and slowly began to realize that to have Ardeth begging for something told Jonathan that this was very important to his friend. "But what about when the war is over and I leave? What will you do then?"

"Well, when that day comes, perhaps one of your adult students will want to take over for you. If not then we will just have to find another solution."

Jonathan considered this then slowly nodded. "Very well, Ardeth, I will do what you ask. I will try to teach any of your people who want to learn English, but just make sure you tell whoever wants to take this class that if they can't put up with a foreigner teaching then they shouldn't come for the last thing I need is a disruptive influence. Remember I am doing this as a favor to you because you have always been there to help out my family when we really needed you and because you are my friend."

"I consider you my friend as well and that is why I am very thankful that you have agreed to teach this class. Now what is this I hear about you spending a great amount of time with my cousin Helima?"

Jonathan looked up in shock at Ardeth's words. He wasn't so much shocked that Ardeth knew about his talks with Helima—for dozens of people had seen them together—but the fact the Helima was Ardeth's cousin. "Your cousin?" stuttered Jonathan. "Helima is your cousin?"

Ardeth took pleasure in Jonathan's discomfort for a moment then replied, "Yes she is, I take it she didn't tell you?"

Jonathan shook his head still looking stunned. "Not one word."

"I see," said Ardeth studying Jonathan's expression. "So what have you two been doing?"

"Just talking," said Jonathan with a shrug trying not to show his nervousness for Ardeth could very easily tell him to never go near his cousin again and although it would break his heart he would be forced to obey for Ardeth could very easily kill him if he wanted to. "Helima is the first person to voluntarily speak to me beyond the usual greetings. The rest of the Medjai tend to ignore me. Of course, I'll admit that I haven't really approached any of them either, so I suppose it goes both ways."

Ardeth did not reply for Jonathan's simple statement told him far more then Jonathan probably realized. Jonathan was very lonely here in Hidden City and he had finally found someone he could talk to—a friend in other words. Of course, Ardeth realized that if this relationship continued then it was very likely to turn from simple friendship into love and personally, if that happened Ardeth didn't really have a problem with it, although he knew some of his people would. He would just have to deal with the problems that could bring if it happened for Helima was a very lonely woman. Sure, she had friends but having friends and having a husband were two totally different things. Having friends was fine, but having someone to love and to have children with brought a totally different kind of fulfillment then simple friendship did, but unlike most of her friends Helima had never married, although she had dated several Medjai she had never even got close to marrying any of them. As for Jonathan, even when he was in London, Ardeth had always noticed that in his own way Jonathan was lonely to. Jonathan had tried to fill that empty place with alcohol, gambling and women or at least he had until Ahm Shere, but now there was nothing to fill the void that such activities had left.

"There's nothing wrong with that," said Ardeth. "I won't even have a problem with it if it turns into more than friendship, but let me give you fair warning hurt her you won't only answer to me but to her and Helima is perfectly capable of defending herself from any unwanted attentions."

"I would never hurt her, at least not deliberately," said Jonathan trying not to sound relieved. "If our friendship eventually does turn into more than that then that's fine with me."

"Very well I will arrange a room for you to teach your classes. You should be able to start in a few days," Ardeth said, accepting Jonathan's word.

"Alright," Jonathan agreed soberly and watched as Ardeth rose and headed back towards the palace.

~~~Rick and Evie~~~