Hello all! Thank you for taking the time to read 'Lily of the Valley'. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Big thank you to all of you who reviewed, liked and alerted the story.

Disclaimer: I do not in any shape or form own anything related to the Mummy franchise. I only own, Elisabeth 'Lillian' Borchardt.

Cairo, Egypt - 1924

An ancient and secret organisation. A group of horse riders clad in dark robes and turbans with markings on their cheekbones and sometimes forehead. Known as protectors, bodyguards and even soldiers, they're called the Medjai and have been around for more than three-thousand years.

The Medjai have guarded multiple hidden and forgotten places across the desert, but their main goal is to prevent the rise of evil in the world. Evil, which comes in various shape or forms. But the one they fear the most is a High Priest named Imhotep, who was the advisor of Seti I.

It was exactly as Menna had told her, a group of desert dwellers who made sure tourists stayed out of trouble or stop them from causing harm, though her former nanny had left out the bit about the Medjai being ancient guardians whose apparent purpose is to stop evil from rising.

It all sounded like a bunch of hokum to Elisabeth, almost like a fairytale, but she wasn't going to tell Dr. Bey that. Not everything he'd explained to her sounded like a made up story though. Mostly because she had seen the Medjai before, today even, which meant they were very real and thus their history also was.

No, the part which sounded beyond believe was that the Medjai were all about preventing the rise of evil on Earth and that apparently the most dangerous evil of all was a High Priest called Imhotep. Some man who had been dead for over a thousand years. How could someone who wasn't even alive anymore be able to wreak havoc on the world?

Elisabeth was unfamiliar with the story of High Priest Imhotep and Dr. Bey had skipped that part rather quickly, which meant he either didn't deem it important or that he didn't want her to know about it.

She glanced at the picture of the American once again. So far the curator had only told her who he'd meant when he used the pronoun we, but he still hadn't explained to her why he was asking her for help instead of these Medjai folk.

It made no sense to her. Sure, she was intelligent, she spoke a few languages and knew how to talk her way out of almost any situation. She was a trader, a dealer of trinkets, a thief even to some.

That did not mean that she was a detective and most of all she was definitely not a warrior. She fought with words, not guns and swords.

"Let me see if I understand this correctly. You are part of this secret organisation?" She began and Dr. Bey nodded. "And you're also the curator of this museum."

"Yes. Look, I may be too old to ride out there with the Medjai, but that doesn't stop me from doing my duty to help my people however I can." He replied impatiently.

At least the man acknowledged his age and truthfully he didn't seem very fit to be a Medjai warrior. Elisabeth honestly wondered if the man would be able to survive in the desert even for one night.

"And this artefact you mentioned, you think this guy has it?" Elisabeth asked.

For some reason Dr. Bey pressed his lips together in a tight line. Somehow her words had insulted him.

"We don't think, Miss Borchardt, we know." He replied shortly as he unfolded his hands and placed them on the surface of his desk.

Oh, she'd started something now, hadn't she? If she wanted answers she'd have to choose her words correctly.

"Yes, you mentioned that. But how do you know for certain? Tourists come and go. Some buy trinkets, some take things from excavation sites. For all you know he could have just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Words were not chosen wisely apparently for Dr. Bey stood up from his seat. His face slightly red and a thick vein above his right eye seemed ready to pop. The woman cowered back in her chair a bit.

"Because, Miss Borchardt, this person was the last one seen to leave the site and the only one we haven't been able to track down yet."

The last one to leave the site? There were even more questions springing up in her mind and if Dr. Bey was that adamant on getting her help, she should be allowed to ask him a thing or two more.

Elisabeth cleared her throat, trying to ignore the slight shock the curator had given her by raising his voice all of a sudden. "Okay, so there is physical proof he was there at this forbidden place and that he was the last one to leave?"

"Yes. Yes." The man across from her answered letting out a deep breath.

"Like I said, we are certain that he was the one. It was seen with eyes of our own. So, to come back to my original question. Will you help us search for this man?"

Elisabeth crossed her legs, leaned back in her chair and pretended to think about his proposal. Actually it was more of a question she had. Because so far he hadn't even offered anything in return for her help.

She wasn't going to do this for free. Though she was incredibly interested in this supposedly important object. Why was it so valuable? It obviously had something to do with that High Priest.

A dangerous man, buried at a sacred site, which was being kept out of sight purposely. Either this place was something incredible and filled to the brim with treasures, or it was a place filled with booby traps to keep people out if those Medjai failed to protect it.

The American had found this place. He had managed to leave it unharmed and apparently without the Medjai doing anything about it. She looked at the picture again for the third time, this man piqued her interest a great deal.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Bey. I mean, is there actual proof that he took something from the site? You say he took something, but you don't even know what he took. This all sounds incredible far fetched, even you have to admit this. Oh, no, don't get me wrong,-" She quickly added as she could see Dr. Bey was about to lose his temper.

"I do believe you belong to this secret group called the Medjai. There is no doubt about that. But a stranger took some an artefact from a forbidden place, which is the resting place of some dead High Priest? The American was seen leaving the site, but nobody thought of stopping him and now you can't find this man and are asking me for help with finding him?"

She stood up and pushed her chair back.

"I fail to see what I can do, when apparently it was thanks to your own people that this man managed to escape in the first place,-"

Suddenly a loud bang echoed through the office causing everything to fall silent the moment the sound settled down. Elisabeth had almost jumped out of her skin and grabbed hold of the chair to steady herself.

With her heart bursting out of her chest from the scare, the woman turned her head towards the door where the sound had originated from. The man who had slammed the door and scared the living daylights out of her was obviously a Medjai.

His robe long and black as the night, accompanied by a turban of the same colour propped on the top of his head. There were two identical markings tattooed on his cheekbones and his expression was a stern one. As if today hadn't been exhausting enough with trying to get away from Dr. Bey, now a member of his group decided to show up within the museum.

"Ardeth, Salaam." Dr. Bey said with a short bow of his head.

The man nodded at the curator and threw another glare in Elisabeth's direction. It was obvious he had heard her latter words, but how much he had actually heard in total she did not know.

She acknowledged him with a quick bob of her head. The man Dr. Bey had greeted as Ardeth made his way over to the two of them. He halted a couple of feet next to her, but chose to ignore Elisabeth now that he was proper greeting distance.

"I came as soon as I heard from Samir. He told me you found the person you were looking for." The Medjai man said to Dr. Bey in Arabic, his eyes flicked to his right for a quick second.

Elisabeth frowned as the man clad in black mentioned the name Samir. The name Samir was quite a common amongst the people of Egypt, but something inside Elisabeth told her that the Samir this Ardeth character was referring to, was the same Samir she knew personally.

Which meant that her initial hunch, of who had probably betrayed her whereabouts to Dr. Bey, had been right. It had in fact been him. Oh, he was going to get it the next time she saw him.

There was no doubt in her mind that this wasn't the first time he'd pulled that stunt. Pretending to help and then revealing her hiding place to the curator. No wonder the man had been able to find her each and every time. It must have almost always been Samir judged on this tidbit of information. She was sure of it.

"I am going to kill him." Elisabeth muttered under her breath.

Cairo, Egypt - 1920

How long had she been here? Five minutes? An hour? It was hard to tell without a pocket watch and the sun was currently obscured due to the location of her hiding spot. Not that she would have been able to perfectly tell time simply by looking at the sun, it would be an estimated guess such as noon or dinner time.

It didn't really matter how long she'd been where she was as long as it was long enough to get away from him and also make sure to get back to the house in time before supper.

With her right hand she reached for her pocket and searched with her fingers for the weird rectangular shaped object which she had nicked earlier that morning from some tourist in the Casbah.

The item was heavy for its size, which could either mean it was a completely solid or something was hidden inside of it. She'd promised to return the item, it could fetch a higher price on the black market, but a promise was a promise and she didn't take those light-heartedly. Plus, the reward would still be high enough.

"Ma sha Allah." A voice suddenly said just as she was about to move away from the barrel she'd been sitting next to.

Elisabeth looked up into the direction of the voice, locking eyes with a good looking male. He seemed about her age, with a neatly trimmed beard and dark eyes. He appeared to be alone, glancing left and right before making his way over towards her.

"Anti jamilah." The young man said towering over her.

Elisabeth knew what it meant, she spoke the language perfectly. Well, perhaps not perfectly. Menna, her nanny since she was ten years old, was from Cairo and spoke broken English.

It was easier to teach a young girl Arabic than learn a new language at her age. It was safe to say Elisabeth knew enough of the language, she would just never sound like a native.

But that didn't matter now for she was not in the mood for flirtations, especially with someone she did not know and because it was also the wrong time for it. If this guy planned to keep talking to her, the officials would surely find her again.

She turned her head away from him and stepped away from the barrel.

"Hey, wait!" He yelled at her in English as she hurried past him. "I did not mean to frighten you."

Elisabeth halted and looked back at him over her shoulder. "You didn't. I just don't have time." She replied in his language.

The young man's expression suddenly changed and he clacked his tongue. "You know our language? Do you live here?"

Oh great, he was of the sociable sort. She pressed her lips in a tight line and walked back to him.

Her expression angry and she got up in his face. "Yes. But I don't have time to talk to you."

"I'm Samir." He said completely ignoring her words, which she was certain she'd pronounced correctly. "What is your name?"

"Mein Gott." Elisabeth cursed in her own language.

"Mei,- sorry?" Samir repeated.

Elisabeth shook her head. "My name is,-." She paused, she couldn't use her true name. Not with a stranger.

"It is Lillian." She told him instead, which was her second name.

"Lillian." He tripped over her name. "What does it mean?"

She gave him an odd look. "What? It is a,-" She did not know the Arabic word for lily.

"It means,- flower."

"Flower. It is a nice name, it suits you."

This was taking forever. She had to get away from him before their talk would alert anybody in the premise. She could not get caught with this artefact resting in her pocket.

Quickly, she slipped her hand towards its location, checking to see if the box was still there. Was it her imagination or did her coat feel lighter than earlier? Elisabeth glanced down to her right.

Her pocket seemed flat, as if there was nothing there. Her eyes widened and her lips parted and when she looked back up all of the blood drained from her face.

Samir was already standing a few feet away from her, holding a rectangle shaped object in his hand. He tossed it up into the air and caught it, quite gracefully, with his hand once more.

"Until we meet again, Zahra!" He laughed and dashed away like a rabbit running from a predator.

It took five seconds before Elisabeth realised that she had just been robbed. Her. Robbed. In broad daylight, nonetheless. Her jaw practically dropped to the ground. Nobody nicked from her. Especially not some good-looking man with barely any hairs on him. Except for his face.

"Elisabeth Borchardt!"

Crap. Elisabeth didn't even dare to turn her head around at hearing the voice of the district's official. She had two choices. Either run for it and give chase to Samir the thief or politely wait for the officer and innocently ask what he wanted from her. The good thing was that he would find nothing on her. That very thing made her blood boil at the same time.

This was turning out to be a bad day indeed.

The young woman sighed and ran her hand across her face. Acting innocent it was. She took a deep breath and turned to the man who had just screamed her name across the plaza. "Salaam. However may I help you today?"

Cairo, Egypt - 1924

Samir might have made a bad impression the first time the two of them met. But that changed almost immediately the second time their paths crossed. Once a trickster, always a trickster as it turned out to be.

Elisabeth gritted her teeth and muttered something as Dr. Bey licked his lips and coughed awkwardly to draw her attention back to the present.

"Miss Borchardt, meet Ardeth Bay. Chieftain of the Medjai group that protect the site where High Priest Imhotep is buried."

Ardeth Bay finally decided that now was the moment to exchange pleasantries. He turned his body towards her, standing about four inches taller. The turban made him appear even taller than he probably was, but his posture and demeanour was impressive to say the least.

His features were sharp, his skin a warm tone and his beard trimmed every so neatly. Even now that she saw the dark markings on his cheekbones, she still couldn't make out what they meant and she doubted he would tell her if she asked about them.

The most impressive thing about Ardeth however were his eyes. Warm and gentle, nothing like the way he carried himself.

She'd seen those eyes before though and now that she got an even better look at Ardeth Bay, she began to see even more similarities. That sharp jaw line, his strong nose, even his beard was trimmed in the same manner.

It didn't take long for Elisabeth to put two and two together and she mouthed an oh my god, after realizing something about the man standing next to her. But she couldn't believe it, she didn't want to believe it.

Every time Samir and her spoke, he always felt the need to complain about something regarding his older brother.

Akhi did this, Akhi did that, Akhi gets all the attention.

She knew very well akhi was Arabic for brother, but somehow she'd never asked more about Samir's family. Especially because after asking about them twice it was obvious that it was a topic he shut down quickly.

Elisabeth knew Samir lived in the desert with his family, which was probably the reason why she'd only met him and not the rest of them. Not even his mother, whose name she did know due to that one occasion when Samir asked for her help which involved her.

But now she didn't dare to ask Ardeth Bay about her inkling regarding Samir, mostly because she was afraid that he was going to confirm what she suspected.

The more she stared at him up close, the more certain she got. Cursing herself, Elisabeth made a mental note to ask Samir about it later instead, before she was going to kill him, of course.

Did this automatically mean that Samir was also a Medjai? He lacked the tattoos on his cheeks, but did every Medjai have those? More questions crossed her mind and for a second she'd forgotten why she was standing in Dr. Bey's office.

"Miss Borchardt." The Medjai man greeted her.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ardeth Bay." Elisabeth extended her right hand towards him.

His name didn't sound Egyptian or Arabic and she wondered if it was his true name or an alias he used. Nonetheless it was a nice name and suited him. He lowered his dark eyes and shook her hand only once, his grip was warm and firm.

He turned his attention back to Dr. Bey who, in the meantime, had stepped away from his desk.

"Ardeth is the one who saw the American last. Because of this, you might want to direct any questions you have to him. Also any other information you manage to find on the man, or if you happen to somehow stumble upon that which he stole, you'll report to him." He nodded in Ardeth's direction.

Apparently Dr. Bey was already under the impression that Elisabeth agreed to help him out, but again so far nobody had made any sort of offer in return.

Sure, she respected the Egyptian culture, unlike her father in her opinion, but that didn't mean she worked for free. She was about to open her mouth when Ardeth spoke up.

"I'm afraid any other inquiries will have to wait. There are different matters I need to discuss with you first." He said this to Terence Bey who arched an eyebrow.

"Very well, I guess we don't have anything else to discuss. Miss Borchardt, you know the way out?" The bald headed man motioned into the direction of the door. But Elisabeth wasn't going to let herself be pushed out of the room that easily.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Bey. But I am certain I did not agree to help you or the Medjai yet with this incident." She cleared her throat. "I mean we haven't even discussed compensation for this."

"Compensation?"

"Surely you did not think I was just going to help you without knowing what's in it for me?" Elisabeth huffed.

"Honestly, Dr. Bey. I thought you knew me better than that?" The Medjai and Dr. Bey looked at each other. Neither of them spoke but it almost seemed as if they were having a conversation with their minds.

Finally, at the same time, both men turned their heads her way. She did not like the look on their faces however. Her comment probably insulted them on some level. Elisabeth knew she was very good at that when it came to Dr. Bey and she suspected Ardeth Bay would not be any different.

"You realize that the Medjai asking for help should not be taken lightly? Especially if it is asked of an outsider?" Ardeth began before turning to Dr. Bey. "What exactly did you tell her?" He asked him in Arabic.

But it was Elisabeth who answered. "Dr. Bey has told me more than enough. But as I said, I do not work for free."

"Miss Borchardt, the fate of the world might depend on finding this man. It is a risk we're not willing to take." Dr. Bey replied.

"Yes, yes. High Priest Imhotep will unleash evil upon the world. But why ask me? I do not even know this man, yet you ask me for help and why? Because I'm good at finding hidden things? Because I'm good at tricking people into giving me artefacts you're looking for? Perhaps if you give me a good reason, preferably a sum of money, I will help you find him." She crossed her arms and stared at the curator.

Dr. Bey rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous manner. He really did not have any other choice but to tell her why he'd asked her out of all people. The Medjai couldn't seem to trace this American, but still there were plenty of other people in Cairo they could ask for help. Finally Dr. Bey gave in.

"We believe that your father has had dealings with this man before. Right before he left for Berlin even."

Ah, of course. Her father.

It was only logical they asked for her help. if anyone would be able to figure out who and when her father had had dealings with, it would be her. Well that explained more, still it was not a good enough reason. Especially since Dr. Bey used the word rumour.

Elisabeth was already planning on helping them, mainly because this story about Imhotep interested her, plus the chance of finding a forbidden city with a possible treasure intrigued her even more.

But now that Dr. Bey had mentioned her father, even if it was a rumour, she knew there must be something good to find if he indeed spoke to the American.

"Will I get something in return if I help?" She asked once again.

Her eyes moved towards Ardeth Bay, whose face had turned even more cold and harsh than it had looked earlier. It was clear he did not like her behaviour. She wondered for a moment if Samir had ever mentioned her to him. If he did, he definitely was never going to treat her with the same kindness his brother had done.

It was Ardeth who replied through gritted teeth. "If you find him, you will be rewarded. Though assisting in possibly saving the world should be enough to satisfy one who has honour."

Honour. If Elisabeth really was anything like her father, there was no honour to be found. She had respect, sure. But honour? She conjured up a smile and for the second time that day extended her right hand towards Ardeth Bay. "You've got yourself a deal, Chieftain of the Medjai."

::::::...::::::

The Borchardt residence.

Her feet felt heavy the moment she dragged herself through the front door. She was warm, sweaty, tired and hungry.

Before walking back to the house, Elisabeth had gone back to the market to look for Samir. There was no doubt in her mind that he had been the one to betray her whereabouts to Dr. Bey, each and every time.

The main reason why she had no doubt in her mind was also due to the extreme similarities between that of Samir and the Medjai Ardeth Bay. Ardeth was Samir's akhi. He had to be.

The two looked almost identical, despite Samir being the younger one if she remembered correctly. Unless there was more than one brother. But of course her hope of finding the man for the second time that day had been in vain.

There was no trace of him in the market, nor the narrow streets behind the Casbah. She'd even asked around just to make certain, but nobody could or felt the need, to help her.

Eventually she made her way back to her house feeling mostly angry rather than happy because of what occurred in Dr. Bey's office. She would be lying if she said she wasn't excited with starting her search for this American man.

The easiest place to begin her search would be in her father's office. There were a few things she had to search for, the first being information on the High Priest Imhotep. Who he was and where he was supposedly buried.

Then she would have to figure out when her father last spoke to the man she was suppose to find. Ludwig had left for Berlin in 1923, which meant that the American had been out hiding for at least a couple of months already.

At some point she would also have to ask Ardeth Bay a couple of questions. When at he last seen the American and where. Most importantly, why had he let him go in the first place? Did he perhaps know what this artefact looked like?

There were a lot of questions needing to be answered, still and she could only hope he would be willing to answer them. How was she suppose to contact him actually? Through Dr. Bey? Perhaps she'd left the museum too quickly.

Elisabeth sighed deeply and rubbed her temples as she walked through the entrance hall. She was tired and her head felt like it was ready to explode.

"Danaya." The soft voice of Menna sounded from the end of the hall.

The Egyptian woman approached her with a smile. "You were gone long, everything alright?"

"I'm fine, Menna. I had a talk with Dr. Bey and a friend of his." Elisabeth lowered her hands from her face. "Which reminds me, if a man comes by named Ardeth Bay, you may let him into the house."

Menna cocked her head and frowned at the girl. "Ardeth Bay?" She repeated, the name sounded odd when she pronounced it.

"You know the name?" Elisabeth asked.

She would be surprised if Menna did, though it was her former nanny who had told her the story of a nomadic group of desert dwellers. Perhaps she knew more about them than Elisabeth realised.

However Menna shook her head. "No. But I will remember it. Would you like some coffee, danaya?"

Coffee. Yes, she would love that very much. Elisabeth leaned forward and planted a kiss on Menna's forehead. "Thank you, ammati. I'll be in papa's room."

Menna nodded and walked away into the direction of the kitchen as Elisabeth went to her father's study room. The room was grand, as was all of the furniture in it. Many artefacts covered each corner of the room and multiple maps of excavation sites adorned the walls.

Behind her father's den desk stood one of many floor to ceiling bookcases. She knew this was the one she need to begin her research for this specific part contained books on the 19th dynasty. Dr. Bey had said Imhotep was the high priest for Seti I. Thus that was where she would begin her research.

It wasn't until she found herself having difficult reading one of the books in front of her when she realised the sun had already set. Her initial intention of only spending a short time on research today had already failed.

As it turned out, her father did not have that many books regarding the reigning period of Seti I, which automatically meant quite the lack of information regarding High Priest Imhotep.

It irked her a great deal. This man was obviously important and dangerous, why else would the Medjai guard him after thousands of years? So why couldn't she find hardly anything on him?

Elisabeth groaned and slumped back in her father's chair. The room was getting darker by the second, not to mention warmer. She unbuttoned her white blouse, stood up from her seat and walked over to one of the windows.

The cool evening breeze was welcoming against her bare sweaty skin.

Perhaps it was a better idea to continue her research in the morning. Maybe even figure out a way to contact the chieftain of the Medjai to ask his all of the questions burning on the tip of her tongue. She still couldn't believe that Ardeth Bay was probably Samir's older brother.

There was really no such thing as coincidences, at least she did not believe in them. It didn't matter that he was though, in fact, in could make things easier. Samir might even be able to give her information if his older brother was unwilling to give them to her.

Elisabeth sat down in the open window and listened to the birds chirp from one of the many lemon trees standing in the garden, hoping that tomorrow would be able to provide her with answers.

As you can probably tell, Samir will have some part in the story. Minor, but still crucial regarding the relationship between Ardeth and Elisabeth.

Now you all know the back story of how Elisabeth met Samir (and also Ardeth). At some point she will also meet Rick, Evelyn and Jonathan. But the main focus at the moment, is what takes place before the rise of Imhotep.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you think or of there is anything you'd like to see happen.

Until next time! Take care!