I realize there are a lot of stories in this fandom where the main pairing is Ardeth/OC. And yes, this is also one of those...
Though, I sincerely hope you will give this a go and will enjoy it.
Part of this takes place before the Mummy movie, but it will all fall together at some point.
Disclaimer: I do not in any shape or form own anything related to the Mummy franchise. I only own, Elisabeth 'Lillian' Borchardt.
Please let me know what you think, feedback is always welcome.
Enjoy!
Cairo, Egypt - 1913
It was a grand looking object, even in the eyes of a thirteen year old. It had been a few months but at last she was allowed to gaze up close at the magnificent bust.
For a while the statue had been locked tight behind the two grand oaken doors, which contained more than the one odd trinket found by her father during multiple expeditions. But none of those artefacts compared to this one.
Even now, when she was finally allowed to stand in its glory, the watchful eye of Ludwig Borchardt was ever so close. Still, that didn't stop her from reaching out to try and touch it with her long fingers.
"Vorsichtig, mein liebling!" Her father said in a firm tone grabbing hold of her thin wrist in the process.
"Aber, papa,-" But her father shushed her once more. He pulled her back and got down to her level.
"Nein, Liesl." Ludwig pinched his daughter's nose. "This is my greatest discovery yet." He turned his head to look at the limestone bust standing on the dark wooden desk on their left. "If you happen to break it, it would be disastrous."
The young girl rolled her eyes. "Am I not always careful, papa?"
Perhaps she was, but it was a risk Ludwig was not willing to take. His thirteen year old daughter Elisabeth was very nimble indeed when it came to handling delicate objects. A skill which would come in handy once the day would come when he would no longer be able to obtain artefacts himself.
But that day would not occur for at least another decade.
"Why is she missing an eye?"
Her father sighed. He squeezed the girl's upper arms gently. "I'll tell you if you promise to behave yourself while I'm gone? To not put your mother into any trouble or the servants, for that matter."
The little girl's nose twitched slightly but she promised him nonetheless. He patted her on the shoulder. "Good, girl."
"You see how her right eye is sculpted in a more rounded manner, which makes the black painted quartz stand out to resemble an actual eye?" Ludwig began as he raised his arm to point at the head's eyes. Elisabeth nodded.
"Well, I believe that the person who this bust was sculpted after, never had a left eye to begin with. The surface looks way too neat. If there had been a jewel in that eye it would have looked more chipped or mangled, but instead the surface is sculpted smooth and flat."
Elisabeth made a face of disgust and looked at the sculpture of the beautiful woman. "And what about her nose?"
"What about her nose?" Ludwig frowned at his daughter.
"Isn't it a bit too straight?" She continued. Her father couldn't help but chuckle softly. Elisabeth wasn't a vain girl, thank goodness. But there was one thing she was incredibly critical of when it came to her own physical features. Her nose.
"She has the most beautiful nose I have ever laid my eyes upon. Aside from your mother's nose, of course."
His words did not fool Elisabeth at all, but they did manage to conjure up a smile on her face. "How long will you be gone, papa?" She asked him.
Ludwig placed his hand against his daughter's cheek and rubbed his thumb across her skin. "A few months, mein schatz."
"Will you bring me back a present?" She looked at him with bright wide eyes.
"Natürlich." He leaned in and planted a kiss on top of her head. "Don't I always?"
Cairo, Egypt - 1924
Her eyes scanned the early morning papers. The front page was almost filled to its entirety with a black and white picture of a sculpted head representing a beautiful young looking woman. The text beneath the picture said;
Found by Ludwig Borchardt of the Deutsches Archäologische Institut in Cairo, Egypt.
Elisabeth took a deep breath and let it out accompanied by a long sigh as she looked at the man standing right next to the bust. The man was her father, with his white moustache and a broad grin on his face.
This article was going to pose a problem. It was a lucky thing that her mother was currently back in Berlin, which meant the person who'd have to deal with this nonsense back in Egypt, was her. She tossed the paper aside and got out of the chair.
She was certain it wouldn't be long now before the museum's curator were to appear on her doorstep. Demanding to talk to Ludwig Borchardt most likely. The man was positively insufferable, as was the curator.
Leaving the house as soon as possible to roam around the local market, felt like the best thing to do. Until the man would give up searching for her father.
The young woman walked towards the mirror in the hallway and twirled her hair up into a French twist. She gave herself a look over and nodded at her reflection. That would have to do for today.
As she reached for the doorknob, ready to turn it, the sound of a clinging bell echoed through the hallway. Speak of the devil. Elisabeth stepped back and pressed her hand against her chest.
"Blasted." She breathed.
"Miss Borchardt!" The voice of Dr. Terrence Bey sounded from the other side of the door. "I would like to have a word with you."
"I don't." She muttered under her breath as she backed away from the door to run into the opposite direction.
She could still hear the muffled yet loud booming voice of Dr. Bey behind her. He'd specifically called out for her instead of her father, which was rather odd, but that didn't stop her from getting out of the house.
Along the way she passed a middle aged woman. Her name was Menna and she'd been working for the Borchardt family, ever since Elisabeth moved to Cairo as a young girl. The stocky looking lady with hair as dark as coal and eyes the shape of almonds had taken care of her probably more than her own parents ever did. Elisabeth stopped and placed her hands on the woman's shoulders.
"Menna, I am not here." The girl said and nodded her head in the direction of the front door.
"Ai, what have you done now, danaya?" Menna asked her with a quick shake of her head.
This time Elisabeth had done nothing. In fact compared to what was normally the case, she'd been incredibly quiet over the past few months.
Though truthfully her hands and mind had been itching to go after that rumour about the French Foreign Legion discovering the city of the dead about a year ago. But because of her father angering the Egyptian authorities yet again, she'd laid low for a while.
"Look at me, Menna. Do I look like someone who causes troubl,-"
But she stopped as Menna glared at her intensely and with great disapproval.
"Never mind. Just, tell Dr. Bey I am,- somewhere." Elisabeth patted her former nanny on the arm and made her way towards one of the back rooms.
Once there she made her headed to the nearest window and moved the sheer drapes aside. There was not much to see on the other side, except for a few citrus trees obscuring part of the view. Quickly Elisabeth opened the window just enough to squeeze through.
It was quite a hassle as she wasn't exactly the shortest woman around, at least not to Egyptian standards, but due to her line of work she was rather flexible enough to climb through the opening.
She dropped herself onto the ground and pushed herself up with help from the wall. It wouldn't take long for Dr. Terrence Bey to realize she was no longer within the house, but just enough to get out of his way and stay hidden until he'd give up waiting for her.
However, knowing him, that might actually take some time. Elisabeth straightened her white blouse and made her way towards the market. She'd probably had to buy something to hide her hair, which most definitely would stand out amongst the crowd. Almost nobody in Cairo had golden brown hair, let alone a light complexion.
::::::...::::::
After walking through the narrow streets of Cairo, Elisabeth finally reached the market hidden within an even bigger maze of streets. But it was no problem for her, she'd lived in Cairo practically most of her life.
The real problem was hiding her face from people who knew Dr. Bey and this would surely be one of the places the man was going to search for her. She didn't know how he did it, but in the end he would always find her one way or another. The man had eyes everywhere.
"Zahrah!"
Elisabeth halted as she passed one of the many shops selling rolls of fabric and, strangely enough, cigars from Cuba. Most of the people in Cairo had trouble pronouncing her given name, but they did try.
Zahrah was a name used only by one specific person. Someone she had met back in 1920. The man who had called out to her was quite handsome. Tall, with broad shoulders and hair tied back in a ponytail.
She smiled when he waved his hand, it had been some time since she'd last seen him. There had even been a time she did not care seeing him at all.
"Samir." She exclaimed as the man approached her. "What are you doing here?" She asked him in his language.
"Errand for my mother." Samir replied smiling broadly.
Of course that was the case. Samir and his family didn't live in Cairo, they lived somewhere in the desert. Whenever he was in town, he was always on some sort of errand. Whenever he said 'for my mother', it hardly ever literally meant that.
"Where are you heading to? You seem flustered." He continued glancing her up and down.
"Dr. Bey." Elisabeth said. "You wouldn't by any chance have read the paper this morning, have you?"
"Actually, I have. Your father looked,- what is the word,- magnificent?"
Magnificent. That was not a word Elisabeth would use to describe her father. Aside from his gift of conning people into getting his way, she had not inherited his looks. No, those she got from her mother, for which she was incredibly grateful.
Sea green eyes and golden brown wavy hair and a sharp nose..
Samir probably meant the way her father had appeared in the picture, not his grand moustache. Which reminded her, she was still in need of a disguise in order to avoid prying of people who were acquainted with Dr. Bey.
The shop Elisabeth was standing in front of did not belong to Samir or anybody she particularly knew, but it was a great place to get what she needed.
She reached into her back pocket and took out a small pouch filled with currency. She took out some coins and held them in front of Samir.
"Could you do something for me?" She gave him a pleading look and Samir returned it with a frown.
Five minutes later Samir returned from the shop, holding a long piece of fabric in one hand and a smaller one in the other. The larger shawl was a dark burgundy red and the shorter piece was an odd colour of purple.
He handed them to her and Elisabeth couldn't help but arch an eyebrow at the two incredibly mismatched looking colours.
"You have terrible taste, Samir." She replied eyeing the colours described often in stories as those worn by the whore of Babylon.
"Pah. You sound like my mother." He extended his hand to return the change he'd been given from the shop owner, but Elisabeth shook her head.
"Keep it. For your lovely mother." She chuckled.
Samir shrugged and placed the coins in his pocket. "You know, I also have a brother."
Elisabeth waved her hand. "Yes, your older brother who you always complain about. Akhi is annoying, akhi never listens even though I am only one year younger."
"He is and he doesn't. But, I will give him your warmest regards. Not the money." He quickly added.
"No, of course not. That is for your mother." Elisabeth winked and thanked Samir once again for helping her with obtaining the fabrics.
"Goodbye, Zahrah."
As quickly as she could Elisabeth wrapped the purple fabric around her face and head, making sure most of her golden tresses were hidden out of sight. She then draped the burgundy shawl around her upper body, She couldn't do much about the pants, but at least she wouldn't be recognized as Elisabeth Borchardt who usually only dressed in light colours.
Now all she had to do was stay out of sight long enough for Dr. Bey to give up the search for the day. She doubted the man was going to sit around her father's house in order to catch her.
::::::...::::::
Lunch had come and gone and customers were slowly leaving one of the lesser known cafés in the area where Elisabeth had taken refuge for the day. So far she'd had no luck with overhearing passersby with interesting information on artefacts, but she had managed to escape prying eyes of people associated with the curator. Or so the young woman hoped.
Quietly she sat underneath one of the windows of the coffee bar, eavesdropping in on conversations to the best of her abilities. Most bars in this area didn't allow women inside and thanks to Samir's choice in fabric, it was more than obvious that Elisabeth was a woman.
Ultimately, hiding was more important than obtaining information for her father, who probably wouldn't be back for another couple of months, especially now that he'd finally decided after a decade to reveal his greatest discovery to the public.
Her stomach growled as the mouth watering smell of food, coming from the kitchen near her, hit her nostrils. It was probably safe now for her to return to the centre of Cairo. After all, she'd been gone for almost four hours.
Perhaps a quick stopover at the market to get some food would satisfy her stomach, maybe a small gift for Menna as a thank you for getting rid of the curator. Elisabeth stood up from the sandy floor and dusted herself off. Discovering more about the ring would have to wait until tomorrow.
"There you are." A loud voice spoke and Elisabeth flinched. She recognized it far too well. She turned her head and locked eyes with a bald headed man who currently looked quite proud of himself.
"Oh, for heaven's sake." Elisabeth groaned softly as Dr. Bey crossed his arms.
"What on Earth are you doing here of all places? Don't you know this is part of the slum area?" The man continued.
Well, she wasn't able to outsmart him now. Running away right in front of his face would stir up more trouble than what the whole situation was worth. How had he even managed to find her out here?
Every fibre in her body had the urge to strike back with a witty comment, but manners held her back though her mind thought otherwise. There was a reason why she had chosen this area and it hadn't been because of the lovely view, or the smell for that matter. Except that whiff of hawawshi currently being prepared a few feet behind her.
Elisabeth lowered the sash from her mouth and smiled politely at the man. Someone had ratted her out to him, she was sure of it. From a distance he could have never known it had been her, sitting on the ground in a crouched manner, with all of her western features hidden beneath an array of red and purple.
It would be impossible to find out who had managed to reveal her whereabouts to Dr. Bey, there were too many people the guy knew but she was certain it had happened when she was at the market with Samir.
Perhaps he was the one who had told the curator how she'd veiled herself, he'd probably done it in order to get a reward. Next time she'd see the man again, she was going to interrogate him on it.
"Dr. Bey, I had no idea you were looking for me? To what do I owe the pleasure?" She said as innocently as possible.
"Actually it's your father who owes me the pleasure, but seeing as he's currently in Berlin, I guess you'll have to do instead." The older man gritted his teeth and motioned to his left. "If I may take up some of your time?"
No. "Certainly." She replied. "Please, lead on."
The two of them walked out of the lower streets of Cairo back towards the market where Elisabeth found Samir earlier this morning. If she were to spot him now, there was nothing she could do but ignore it for the time being, which was very lucky for him indeed.
As they walked towards the centre of Cairo, most likely towards the museum of which Dr. Bey was the curator of, Elisabeth suddenly noticed somebody following them with their eyes.
She decreased her speed and quietly turned her head. Now that she looked more closely she spotted another one of them on the other side of the street, dressed in the same long black robe. She reached out and grabbed hold of the curator's arm.
"Yes, Miss Borchardt?" He asked with a frown on his face.
"I think we're being followed." She whispered glancing once more over her shoulder.
But Dr. Bey waved his hand and removed her grip on him. "Don't be ridiculous. Why would anyone want to follow us and especially during this time of day?"
That was an excellent question and unfortunately Elisabeth had no answer to it. But she didn't think she was being ridiculous at all, because it wasn't the first time she'd seen men clad in dark long robes accompanied by an impressive looking turban on their heads.
In fact, she must have seen them at least more than once but never here. Never in Cairo, at least not in busy crowded streets and not as close by like this. Usually they kept their distance, but they were always watching from afar.
Like that one time last year, when she managed to take that Anubis jar from a bunch of French guys at Al-Minya. She'd seen them on horseback when she made her way through the desert towards Cairo, but they hadn't done anything.
What were they called again? She'd asked Menna about it, but for the moment she couldn't recall what name they went by. According to Menna they were a nomadic folk that lived in the desert. Keeping tourists within the borders or out of places they shouldn't go, especially excavation sites.
She narrowed her eyes and noticed markings on their faces, she couldn't make out what they said and it wasn't because those men were standing too far away to properly see. It was because if there was one thing Elisabeth never learned or got a hang of, it was reading ancient Egyptian and she was most certain that that is what those markings were.
She moved her gaze to check if there were more of them but she couldn't spot anyone else. When she turned her head back to the other two, they were gone as well. That was odd, they were there just a second ago. Elisabeth stepped back and her eyes searched around the area, but the market was far too crowded.
"Where did they go?" She said.
"Where did who go?" Dr. Bey asked cocking his head sideways.
Elisabeth ignored his pointless comment. She wasn't nuts, she had seen them. The question of why were they here in Cairo rose again.
Were they really keeping tabs on her and the curator? Or only on one of them. It couldn't be her. Elisabeth hadn't been near or around any of the sites for the past few months, nor had she tried to sell any artefacts. Not even to the Museum of Antiquities. Dr. Terrence Bey, the curator of said museum, sighed out loud.
"Listen, Miss Borchardt, I would really like to continue. Unlike you, I don't have all day to roam the streets of Cairo."
Ouch. That was harsh. You'd never would have guessed this man had even hired her a few times before to get something he needed which he himself could not obtain.
"By all means, Dr. Bey, don't let me stop you. You are the one who wanted to talk to me, not the other way around. I was perfectly fine hanging around the lower streets."
For a quick second he looked her up and down, before he scoffed and turned his back to her. "I'm sure you were. Come now, we're nearly there."
::::::...::::::
Elisabeth's initial hunch that Dr. Bey was taking her to his museum turned out to be correct. She still couldn't believe the amount of trouble the man had gone through to have this conversation with her, the topic no doubt being about her father and the lie he'd told the Egyptian officials. The newspaper article of this morning was all the proof they needed to support it.
Dr. Bey led the way through the museum towards his office. The logs in the fireplace were still burning when they entered the room. He told her to have a seat in the chair across from him. Elisabeth did and finally removed the burgundy and purple cloths from her head. She shook out her golden brown hair which had turned more wavy due to the humidity.
"Finally." The bald man commented as he sat down in his chair. Elisabeth couldn't agree more. "Let's get straight to the point, shall we?" He continued reaching for something in the upper drawer of his desk.
Dr. Bey took out a couple of things. A few pieces of paper, a picture and a newspaper. The latter probably being this morning's paper. Elisabeth folded her hands together in her lap and waited for him to begin his questioning.
"I would like to begin with this,-" He shoved the newspaper in her direction. Elisabeth leaned slightly forward and took a quick glance at the picture of her father on the front page.
"Is this about the promise my father made about not revealing the statue to the public?" She asked nonchalantly.
"You know very well what this is about, Miss Borchardt." Dr. Bey's voice rose. "But you and I both know a thing or two about this bust of one of Egypt's most well-known ancient Queens."
Elisabeth pressed her lips together. She knew exactly what he was referring to. Back in 1912 her father made the discovery of a lifetime, according to his own words. But the problem was that he had lied to the authorities about what he was taking back to Berlin with him somewhere in 1913.
He never mentioned the bust, at least not to the exact detail. By the time the Egyptian officials discovered what her father had taken with him to Berlin, it was too late. No law or order could turn around what her father had done. He had calculated it all very cleverly.
It also didn't stop Ludwig from returning to Egypt to continue more excavations on various sites, but the place he always returned to was Amarna. But he never made the same type of discovery he had done so back in 1912. It didn't matter, his name would forever be known as the guy who discovered one of the most pristine looking pieces of Queen Nefertiti.
But that wasn't really what Dr. Bey was referring to and Elisabeth knew exactly why he was as upset and angry as he was. Because not only did her father lie about taking the bust to Berlin in 1913, it wasn't the real one. He'd taken a fake one with him.
The original still being somewhere in Egypt, but even Elisabeth did not know where her father had hidden it. Now that he had revealed the fake bust, it no longer mattered. The world had seen it and the world was going to believe that that statue was the real deal.
"Dr. Bey. You must understand that I do not condone in any shape or form what my father has done regarding the statue of Nefertiti."
And it was the truth. Despite being able to behave in the exact same manner her father was able to when it came to getting his way, Elisabeth did not agree on how he handled Egyptian artefacts.
The curator took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.
"I believe you." He replied, suddenly looking rather tired. "Still, it is not the main reason why I asked you here."
Elisabeth blinked her eyes and gave him a doubtful look. "It's not?"
"No, it is not." He repeated. "Though I do really want to find the location of the actual statue. But I highly doubt your father is planning to return within in the next year or so and even when he does, he probably will not reveal the location to anyone. Least of all tell me."
That would most likely be the case. Even Elisabeth did not know the secret about the bust until a few years ago, when she accidentally walked in on her mother and father having an argument and overheard them talking about his greatest discover being his downfall if the truth ever came out.
Naturally curious, Elisabeth immediately decided to roam through her father's papers and archives, only to eventually discover that he had hired a sculptor to copy the statue and change her appearance before taking it with him to Berlin back in 1913. How much he actually altered, she did not know. Nor had she to this day figured out where the original bust was kept.
But as it turned out, that wasn't why she was sitting in the museum of antiquities at this very moment. She hated to admit it, but she was rather curious to find out why.
"So, what is the other reason you decided to walk all the way through Cairo in order to find me?" She stared at him.
Dr. Bey cleared his throat, ignoring her rather obvious comment that she was very much aware of the extravagant way he'd gone through in order to find her.
"I know I normally ask for your services with,- objects. But this time it is something else."
"Something else?" Elisabeth repeated with a frown.
"Yes." He confirmed.
The woman grimaced. "I hope you're not talking about something still alive?"
"Sort of,-" Dr. Bey cleared his throat, placed a photograph on the table and pushed it her way.
The picture was that of a man, though it was hardly a good picture. It was a bit blurry, but the man was most definitely someone who was not from Egypt. His hair was short and of a dark shade, most likely brown. He wasn't a bad looking fellow.
"It's a picture of a man?"
"Yes, it is. He is an American and that is the most I know about it. I don't have a name or how long he has been in Egypt. In fact, I'm not even sure if he is still in the country. But if he is. I want him found."
It was incredibly weird seeing the man in front of her behave the way he did. It was obvious he wasn't just a curator. She'd known for a while now that he wasn't.
The amount of money he was willing to pay sometimes in order to obtain an artefact from her so her father wouldn't get his hands on it, proved as much. But at the moment Dr. Bey behaved more like a policeman instead of someone who dealt with antiquities.
"I fail to see why you're asking me about this. You want me to search for a man? Has he done anything wrong?" She asked.
"He took something. An artefact, but we're not exactly sure what he took. The other problem is what he knows. The place where he took it from is heavily guarded and," Dr. Bey paused for a second before continuing.
"All I know, is that this man went somewhere he shouldn't have, took something that wasn't his and we have no trace of where to find him or the artefact."
At the word 'we' Elisabeth looked up from the picture and at the curator. "Who's we?"
If you're still reading this, thank you for giving the first chapter a chance.
Let me know what you think about it, I really would love to hear your thoughts!
Hope you all enjoyed and will keep on reading.
Until next time!