Hi everyone, thank you so much for reading this story. I hope you're all enjoying it so far :) and that you don't mind it's not completely focused on the movie as of this moment.

Vintage Scotch, thank you so much for your kind words. It made me incredibly happy reading such a thorough review. I'm glad you like Elisabeth and that you find her a well-rounded character with a good balance between flaws and strengths. I do try.

To the guests, Angela, lovefiction2020 and SunMoonAndAllTheStars, thank you al so much for liking the chapters so far! Hopefully you'll enjoy this one as well.

Once again thank you and everybody who read it, and added it to their alerts/favourites.

Enjoy chapter 3 of 'Lily of the Valley'.

Cairo, Egypt - 1924

The birds were still chirping in the lemon trees, even louder than before. Had something startled them or were they simply being extra obnoxious at this time of day?

Elisabeth opened one of her eyes to look at the evergreen right in front of her to see what all the commotion was about. But something was different than before, she blinked and pushed herself upright.

There was not tree in front of her, instead she was staring at a couple of books which she'd been reading for research on High Priest Imhotep.

She frowned and turned her head with utter confusion towards the window, she was sure she'd been sitting in that very same spot, right before she opened her eyes.

The study room was so warm and humid that she'd unbuttoned her blouse and opened one of the windows to sit at and let the outside breeze cool her sweaty skin.

The plan had been to stay there for a few minutes and then head up to the dining room to get some candles, so she could continue researching her father's books. But that was apparently no longer necessary as night time had come and gone. The sun shone brightly through the now closed window, morning had dawned.

Elisabeth didn't recall getting away from the window, nor did she remember falling asleep even. She pushed her chair back. Had Menna found her asleep in the study and carried her to the desk?

No, that would not be possible, the woman was strong of mind, not strong of body. Perhaps she had been sleepwalking, but that was something she had never done before to her recollection.

A chill ran over her body and Elisabeth glanced down at her chest. Her blouse was still unbuttoned. However she'd managed to get away from the window, it was a good thing. If she had been sleeping, she might have fallen out of it at some point during the night.

The woman stood up from her seat and groggily made her way back to the window, opened it and stuck her head outside to look around. The birds had stopped their morning song and the sounds of men and women shouting indistinguishable words filled the street around the house.

This was probably something not even worth fretting over, but that was something she tended to do whenever something unexplainable happened. There was nothing out of the ordinary to be seen amongst the lemon trees either.

A knock sounded from the far end of the room and Elisabeth turned around swiftly. It was Menna, standing on the threshold of the door connecting the study with the corridor.

"Sabah alkhair, danaya." Menna entered the room but stopped midway, cleared her throat and patted her chest with her hand.

It took Elisabeth a second to realise Menna was trying to tell the young woman to cover up her exposed bra.

"Sorry." She quickly muttered as she buttoned her blouse. "Good morning to you too."

"I knew I'd find you here. Your room was empty this morning." Menna commented with a shake of her head.

"You should not sleep in here, danaya. It is not healthy for your back. Next time you walk to bed instead of staying in here."

Elisabeth frowned at her former nanny as she walked over to one of the other windows to open it up.

"Did I sleep here?" She asked watching the older woman closely.

Menna clapped her hands together. "Did you not hear me? Your bed was the same as yesterday. I see you here in your papa's room. If you did not sleep here, then where did you sleep?"

It wouldn't be the first time Elisabeth had not spent the night in the house. But the reasoning behind that, was something she would never reveal to Menna, or anybody else for that matter. She was no fool though, Menna always knew who was in or out of the home, but in the end she would never pry.

Elisabeth smiled weakly at her nanny. "I'm sorry, Menna. I'll go to bed next time. Thank you for checking on me."

"Aywa, it's fine." Menna waved her hand. "I am going to the market this morning. Please, stay out of trouble."

She threw Elisabeth a stern look before turning on her heels to leave the room, shaking her head in the process while muttering something under her breath.

Elisabeth groaned and buried her head in her hands. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like such a careless idiot.

Falling asleep without realizing and not to mention walking around apparently without being conscious about it. Whatever had been the case last night, she'd have no choice but to let the matter go.

With a deep sigh she turned her head back to the desk, ready to clear it up when something caught her eye. It wasn't any of the books, nor paper fallen from the scattered stack on the desk, but something purple and red.

She leaned forward and reached for the pieces of fabrics lying on the chair where she'd woken up a few minutes ago. It were the shawls she'd used to cover herself up yesterday. The awful mismatched coloured cloths Samir had bought for her in the market.

But how did they get here? Elisabeth remembered leaving them behind in the curator's office, or hadn't she? Had she per chance brought them back with her and in the end use them to cover herself when she fell asleep last night?

Quickly she shook her head. No. No that she would have remembered. She had left them at the museum.

"Oh, what does it even matter." She told herself. "I have more important things to think of."

Elisabeth took the shawls with her and walked out of the study.

After having a quick meal, a warm shower and a change of clothes, Elisabeth left the house to continue her assignment elsewhere. It was apparent she wasn't going to find a lot in her father's books.

So far the only things she'd discovered about High Priest Imhotep was that he served Seti I. There were no records really to be found on the man, making her think he probably vanished at some point or that nobody wanted him to be found.

One thing was for sure, there had to be a pretty good reason why the Medjai protected Imhotep's location so intensely. Especially due to the severe lack of data on the guy.

It wouldn't come as a surprise to her, if those Medjai tried everything they could to keep records about the priest hidden from the outside world. Including books and scrolls.

Elisabeth realized if she ever were to ask Ardeth Bay about the High Priest, the chances of him telling her specific information was going to be slim to practically nothing.

She'd have to think of a way to make him tell her at least something, without making it seem that that was all she was interested in. She'd have to ask him questions in such a way, that it would seem she needed details about the missing American and not the High Priest.

After all, it was the American this whole search was about. The curator had asked for her help. Well, the actual reason why they'd asked her help in the first place, was because of her father.

That already made the whole matter even more interesting. If her father had been in contact with this man, what was the reason? Knowing Ludwig it could mean something of incredible splendour or absolutely nothing.

The other problem was that her father was currently back in Berlin and she had no idea when he would return to Egypt. The only thing she could do was sent a written message, asking when he was planning to return with her mother.

For there was no way she would get any information about the thief via a letter. Until then she'd have to find a different way of figuring out where the American was. It was rather odd though, considering the curator asked for her help, when even he himself had commented that it would probably be a while before her father would return from Germany.

Elisabeth was quite used to her father not being home. The longest was during the start of the Great War, when he was in Berlin because of that blasted statue. Elisabeth had been lucky that her mother wasn't fully German and she, at the time, was only an adolescent.

They used her mother's French maiden name when it was needed and stayed in one of the smaller town on the outskirts of Egypt most of the time. Especially, after too many British soldiers and officials began to occupy the city of Cairo. If her father had been there, perhaps things would have gone differently.

The people of Cairo had not cared for the British occupying most of Egypt. Eventually, Ludwig didn't come back until the war was over, which took four years and even after that it was a tricky matter for them to be in Cairo. Her mother ignored her father for over a good course of six months after his return.

It was not something to dwell on as it no longer mattered, it had been almost six years since the war ended and two years since the unilateral declaration of Egyptian independence. Things had significantly changed, though Elisabeth did still use a different name when dealing with Englishmen. Out of precaution, of course.

Finally the market came into sight and Elisabeth stopped a couple of feet away before entering, placing the sheer purple shawl in her bag and draped the red one loosely around her shoulders.

She had promised Menna to stay out of trouble, for today at least, and that was exactly what she was going to do. The main reason why she decided to go to the market in the first place, was because she was hoping for the chance to meet with Samir. Although she had no idea whether that was going to happen or not. Their encounters were always unplanned.

Yet due to what occurred yesterday, Elisabeth couldn't shake the feeling that a chance of meeting him today were significantly higher than normally. All she had to do was look out for him and catch him before he had the chance to scurry off.

She roamed the narrow streets for a while. Where was that tall traitor hiding?

The early morning market was always a busy one and she wouldn't be surprised if Samir was deliberately staying out of sight from her. If his older brother had mentioned her to him, then she probably wouldn't find him at all.

Elisabeth decided she was going to search until noon before backtracking towards the museum to have a talk with the curator. She had to find a way to contact the Medjai chieftain and ask him a thing or two about the missing American.

Suddenly she stopped. There, in front of one of the more touristy eating locations, stood two men. One dressed in a long black robe and the other in the exact same outfit he'd worn yesterday. She recognised both of them immediately. Samir and Ardeth Bay.

Though Ardeth was actually the one she really needed to see, it was Samir who she wanted to talk to more. Plus, she very much doubted Ardeth would plan on running away from her the moment he'd see her approach them.

With clenched fists she practically stomped through the plaza towards the men. Of course, it was Samir who noticed her first. His eyes widened slightly as he saw Elisabeth's angry face walking his way in a swift manner.

Quickly he patted Ardeth on his shoulder, said something and rushed off before she'd even gotten close enough. Her jaw dropped as she watched him dash off. Oh, she was really going to kill him now.

Cairo, Egypt - 1920

She hoped to encounter him sooner or later and when she did, she was going to kick him all the way to Timbuktu. But it had already been over two months since she'd seen the guy who'd robbed her and she was beginning to wonder if he was even a resident in the city of Cairo.

She'd never seen him prior to that day and he had the kind of face one would remember. Sure, he looked like any other local, but the way carried himself, not to mention he had managed to deceive her, it was different from anybody else she knew.

Her father had given her an earful after she'd returned to the house. Not because she no longer carried the trinket with her. Oh no, he had no idea about that. The shouting had been due to the fact that she was late for dinner and it was her turn to buy it as well, which caused an even larger uproar within the Borchardt household.

It was a good thing Ludwig had no idea about the dealings Elisabeth ran. He would never allow her near any of the digging sites ever again, or worse, sent her to Berlin. Somewhere she did not want to go.

Letting herself get robbed by that young man still irked her, even after those couple of months. She couldn't possibly understand how she'd let herself get distracted like that.

The fact he had even managed to get a hold of the object in her pocket was another matter entirely. Though she couldn't possibly believe he knew what to do with the artefact, which made it an even bigger waste and failure on her part. But based on the fact it had already been over sixty days since she'd seen him, the chances of encountering him were getting slimmer and slimmer with each passing day.

The only thing she knew about him was his name and his name was not an uncommon one. If she were to ask around the area where they first met, she'd probably be presented with more than one Samir.

If there was one Elisabeth didn't believe in, it was luck. To her, luck was a matter of believing in something hard enough and then it would happen. As long as she kept her focus and actions on that which she wanted to happen, surely 'luck' would see it take place. But as luck would have it, she did not encounter the thief that day.

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

It wasn't until a week later that it would go her way. Elisabeth's father was leaving for Berlin once again. He was taking a small ship from Port Giza all the way up the Nile, until he'd reach Port Said and from there he continue his journey on a larger commuter ship to Europe.

"Take care good care of your mother, Liesl." Ludwig said to his daughter as he kissed her on the cheek. His grand moustache tickled her skin.

"Always, papa. You behave yourself out there." She looked at him firmly.

Her father let out a loud laugh. "Unglaublich. I shall have to find you a man to care for from now on."

Elisabeth twitched her nose. "That is not funny. I do not need a man in my life. You are enough to deal with." She gave him one last hug and waved goodbye as he got onboard.

"Tschüss, papa."

These journeys were always long and it would be a while before she'd hear from him again. But the feeling of missing her father vanished as she stood in the harbour waving goodbye to him. She spotted a slight familiar looking silhouette walking along the banks of the river.

She wasn't a hundred percent sure if this was the same man who had mugged her a while ago, but it was a risk she couldn't let slip through her fingers. Without giving it a second thought Elisabeth left her mother behind, who was still waving goodbye to her husband. This felt like the only chance she was going to get to catch him and she wasn't going to miss it.

The closer she got towards the stranger, the more sure she felt that this was in fact the same guy.

He hadn't noticed her yet, walking absent-mindedly along the elevated edge near the water. Elisabeth was only a couple of feet away from him, but she'd seen enough to recognize him and that it was indeed Samir.

She hadn't considered at all how she was going to approach the situation, her mind was only focussed on finding and confronting him head on.

"Samir." She said firmly and with confident, standing only inches away from him now.

The tall figure stopped, raised his head and turned around to look at whoever had just called out to him. His eyes widened when they landed on young woman in front of him. Her head tilted back, arms crossed and an angry gaze directed at him, he couldn't help but let out a huff of surprise. He knew who this was.

"Zahrah. We meet again." He replied in Arabic.

The same words he'd spoken last he'd seen her. Though at the time he'd only meant them as a polite way to say goodbye. Samir never imagined he was going to see her again.

"You have something that belongs to me." Elisabeth narrowed her eyes. "I'd like it back."

The upper right corner of Samir's mouth twitched as he observed her closely. She was a pretty thing. Her skin light of colour, despite the fact she lived in Cairo, if he remembered correctly. But a lot of foreigners always hid themselves from the rays of the sun.

Her hair was a golden light brown, which matched her complexion. But the part that called for attention the most were her eyes, like the Nile river, a greenish blue hue.

Samir bowed his head. "My apologies, Zahrah. If you could refresh my memory, what is it that you claim I have?"

He raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence. He knew very well what she meant. Obviously he no longer had it, it was back safely where it belonged. But the girl was in no position to be told about that.

"You are a terrible liar, Samir."

"It pleases me to see you remembered my name. I see I have made an impression on you." He flashed a broad smile.

Elisabeth rolled her eyes. He was the same amount of annoying as he'd been the last time. Somehow she already knew this was pointless. It had been two month. The object was long gone by now.

The only good thing she could get out of this conversation was to put him back in his place and make sure he was never going to come between her and a deal ever again.

She uncrossed her arms and sighed. "Listen, I don't know why you chose to steal from me, but it is not appreciated. You seem like a smart man, too good to go down a path of thievery."

Her Arabic was good, a slight accent, but only minor. It was clear to Samir now that she had been in Egypt for quite a long time. He looked up into the direction of the boat currently leaving port, before looking back at her.

It was obvious she was trying to persuade him to agree with something, but the anger was still visible behind her eyes. All of a sudden he let out a laugh.

"I'm sorry, do I amuse you?" Elisabeth arched her eyebrows, getting more irritated by the second.

"No, of course not. I am sorry." Samir cleared his throat. "You are right. Stealing is wrong, I know this. I assure you, it is not something I normally do, I had my reasons."

"Reasons?"

"I needed money for medicine. My mother, she was sick. We do not live in the city. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,-"

Somehow Elisabeth did not believe that latter bit. But the first part sounded quite believable. "You thought I was an easy target, didn't you?"

Samir shrugged. "Perhaps. As you can imagine, I no longer possess the item."

She'd figured that out already. At least now she knew the reason behind his behaviour. One thing was for sure, she wasn't going to trust this guy and she hoped after this, she would never have to encounter him again.

"If you try to steal from me again, Samir. I will have to report you to the authorities." She threatened.

"I swear, on my mother, I will not." He replied raising one of his hands and placing it on his heart.

For a few seconds Elisabeth stared at him, gave a short nod and turned around to leave. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at Samir one more time. "I hope your mother feels better."

Samir watched as the young woman walked away all the way back towards the location where the boat departed from earlier. He pressed his lips in a tight line to stifle a chuckle, pleased she bought the lie. "Until next time, Zahrah.

Cairo, Egypt - 1924

"Samir!" Ardeth yelled loudly after his younger brother. The unexpected action had caught him completely off guard. All he'd said, after having patted him on the shoulder was. 'Good luck, akhi.'

But Samir was already gone before he could stop him. What in Ra's name could have made him to run off like that? It wasn't until something passed Ardeth in a quick pace, a shimmer of red caught his eyes, that he realized what had caused his younger brother leave.

"Coward!" Elisabeth yelled in Arabic at Samir as she increased her speed.

"Miss Borchardt."Ardeth said to her as she rushed by him.

"I'll be with you in a second, Chieftain Bay. First I have to kill your brother." She replied shortly.

Kill his brother? It wasn't uncommon for people to get angry with Samir. He was a free spirit and didn't always abide the rules. But he would always help the tribe, where the Medjai could not go.

He was Ardeth's eyes and ears. He did not understand where miss Borchardt anger came from, but he doubted she very much really wanted to kill Samir. He had to hurry after her before she'd vanished out of sight.

She was a swift one, not like his brother who was probably long gone by now. But Ardeth had to make a bit of an effort to keep her within his sights. Finally he caught up with her when she had to stop due to a cart passing right in front of her.

The Medjai reached out and placed his hand firmly on her shoulder. He could tell she was not pleased as she tried to pull herself free from his grasp.

"I'm afraid this cannot wait, Miss Borchardt." He said to her, making sure his hold was strong enough so she couldn't follow his brother's example of running off.

Elisabeth glanced up at him, her expression angry and her jaw clenched. Then she sighed and dropped her shoulders, indicating that she wasn't planning on walking away. Not that he would have let her, of course.

"My apologies, Chieftain Bay. That man and I have,- unfinished business." She told him.

"I believe you said you were going to kill him?" Ardeth furrowed his brow as Elisabeth cleared her throat.

"Figure of speech." She averted her eyes as her cheeks started to faintly change colour.

"I understand the feeling, but I'd prefer it if you won't." His mouth twitched slightly and he finally dropped his arm to let her go. "Now, as I mentioned earlier, we have more important matters to discuss. I'm sure you have a couple of questions?"

More than a couple. But yes, she did. At least now Elisabeth didn't have to go to the museum to ask the curator for help. She still had the distinct feeling Dr. Bey wasn't going to let the matter go regarding the public display of the 'fake' Nefertiti bust. Though something told her that this current problem of finding the American was higher on top of his list.

"Shall we head for my house?" Elisabeth suggested, but immediately the man shook his head.

"If it isn't any trouble, miss Borchardt, I'd rather we go to the museum. I have a meeting with Dr. Terrence Bey later this afternoon." Ardeth then stared at her with surprise as Elisabeth let out a soft growl of frustration.

Hope you all enjoyed! Have a great day.