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Somewhere on the river Nile, Egypt, 1924

It was clear that the Medjai Chieftain had no faith in her whatsoever or perhaps he was simply afraid what she would discover on her own. Matters that him and his group of protectors had failed to figure out for themselves. Though technically she was no closer to knowing the identity of the American, she did learn a thing or two, with no thanks to Ardeth Bay.

Elisabeth was convinced that the group of French legionnaires who vanished last year, was the very same to which the man she was searching for belonged to. Now all she had to do was get back to the house and locate Ludwig Borchardt's journals regarding mythical places.

Perhaps she'd even have luck with journals regarding the area around Minya, the place the legionnaires had apparently travelled towards. Thankfully she had more than one lead to go by this time.

She threw a quick glance at the man standing next to her on the deck of a small boat which was to take them back to Cairo. Samir had come to her rescue last night on the beach of Alexandria. Though the woman was positive she would have been able to get out of the assault on her own at some point, at least this way there had been no need for bloodshed.

There was no doubt that Luc Bonnet was already awake by now and unsure of what had happened to him. The chances of him alerting Colonel Paul-Frederic or any other superior authority about it was slim. To be humiliated by a woman would only hurt his pride and make him a laughing stock amongst his fellow officers.

"You're upset." Samir suddenly stated catching her looking at him.

They hadn't really discussed the events of last night or what it was exactly that Elisabeth had discovered through the Légion étrangère. But that hadn't stopped Samir from staying with her throughout the remainder of the night until early morning came and it was time to leave the city.

"Yes." Elisabeth replied, there was no need in denying her emotions.

The Medjai turned her way and chose his next words carefully. "You did not discover what you wanted?"

A small smile appeared on the woman's face. "Not really," She lied. "But that is not why I am upset."

Samir frowned and for a moment thought that the attack from that legionnaire was the reason why his female friend was troubled. Truthfully it had scared him slightly. It wasn't the first time he'd found her in a similar situation like that, only the last time she had been more than capable to get out of it herself. She'd even saved his life that time.

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

Giza, Egypt, 1921

All she had to do was get information on where they were planning on taking the canopic jars, though whose supposed remains they carried Samir could not tell her. The man Elisabeth was meant to follow were currently sitting at one of the tables in the Casbah playing a game of poker. He was joined by one other gentleman who seemed to be having the upper hand in the game.

"I'll I need to know is whether or not he has the jars and if so, where he is planning on taking them." He'd told her.

"Remind me what's in it for me again?" Elisabeth whispered to him as she watched one of the men angrily slam his fist on the table.

"Do I really have to say it?" Samir complained but the girl threw him a look and he complied. "That I will never bother you again."

"Wunderbar. Now, I'll see you later."

Clad in a long red dress, Elisabeth made her way to the table and stopped a couple of feet behind the man who appeared to be winning this round. She quietly glanced over his shoulder at his cards and back at the ones lying on the table. It was clear this guy had been bluffing.

She looked back up and caught the eye from one of the men across from her. He didn't say anything, but his arched eyebrow indicated that he'd definitely noticed what she was doing. Elisabeth took one step back and made a signal indicating the guy she was standing behind was bluffing.

The arched brow turned into a surprised frown. He moved in his seat and placed a higher amount of money into the pot. This caused the apparent winner to suddenly jolt upright in his chair.

Elisabeth walked away from the table and threw one last look over her shoulder before sitting down alone at another table. There was no need to draw more attention to herself, she was certain the bluffer was going to lose which meant the other guy would surely head over to her as soon as the round was over.

It took about two minutes until her prediction came true. The man she was to get information from stood up from the table with his winnings as the loser threw his cards onto the table and cursed loudly. Elisabeth grinned and pretended to take a sip from her drink as the guy she'd signalled to earlier was heading her way.

He wasn't a tall man, but muscular none the less. His blond hair reached his shoulders and his eyes were a shade of light blue. He bowed his head slightly as he reached her table. "I thank you for your help. Might I join you for a drink?"

"Please,-" Elisabeth motioned at the seat across from her.

"My name is Hans. Hans Harrer."

The reason why Samir had asked for her help, aside from the fact he hardly spoke any English let alone German, he was convinced she'd have more luck as a woman than he did as an Egyptian man with obtaining the information he needed.

"Liesl Heckmeir." She replied extending her hand.

Hans shook it but didn't let go. "Du bist Deutscher?"

Elisabeth smiled. "Ja."

It was as easy as taking a piece of fruit from a crowded marketplace. The two of them talked for only half an hour in which the man had bragged not only about the canopic jars but also about a necklace and a few other trinkets he'd taken from one of the dig sites near Giza's pyramids. She soon find out that he kept the jars in a trunk in his hotel room and he was planning on taking the jars to München, Germany. Unless somebody would come along with a higher price.

Daringly, Elisabeth asked if Hans was willing to show her the jars. He was reluctant at first, but after a gentle touch and squeeze on his arm, he extended his hand towards her and guided her towards the room he was renting. She glanced over her shoulder a couple of times to see if perhaps Samir was following them. But she couldn't see him anywhere.

Hans halted in front of the door leading to his room. He turned to Elisabeth and cleared his throat. "Wait here." He told her before slipping inside leaving her behind in the hallway.

That was odd. Elisabeth waited quietly until a loud bang, like gunshot went off inside the room. Without hesitating she pushed the door open and headed inside.

There was a man lying on the floor, his hands raised in a defensive manner. Hans hovered above him, his arm raised and a gun pointed at the stranger on the ground, but Elisabeth recognized him immediately. It was Samir.

"Dirty thief!" Hans exclaimed in German as he spat unto the floor. The trunk which stood at the end of the bed had been opened and three of the four jars were on the floor in front of it.

Another click sounded, Elisabeth jumped forward and grabbed one of the canopic jars.

With one big swoop she hit Hans on the head. A cloud of ashes exploded covering the German and herself in a curtain of grey. He fell to the ground and a bright red spot appeared through his blonde hair. She breathed heavily both hoping nobody had heard that gun shot go off and that she hadn't accidentally killed Hans by clobbering him on the back of his head.

"Ya Rab,-" Samir breathed as he looked up at the woman, both surprised and relieved. She might have just very well saved his life.

"What are you doing here?" Elisabeth asked him as she offered him her hand to help him up. "I thought you were going to wait for me outside?"

That was the plan he had told her, but actually Samir had intended from the very start to use Elisabeth as a distraction so he could locate the German's room, get inside and take back the stolen canopic jars. He'd be a fool to tell her the truth he'd been using her from the beginning.

"Thank you for saving me." He said to her instead, words he actually did mean. If it hadn't been for her, the man would have pulled the trigger and shot him through the heart.

"You're hurt."

Samir glanced down at his right arm and noticed a tear in his linen shirt. Blood trickled down his arm, creating a long trail of dark red through the fabric. Perhaps after tonight he was going to keep his promise to the golden haired woman and stay out of her way forever.

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

"Perhaps I should tell Ardeth to release you from the agreement and let him search for the American himself." Samir suggested.

Immediately Elisabeth turned in his direction. She vigorously shook her head. "Please don't. If you must know, it is your akhi I'm upset with."

She didn't even have to tell him why she felt this way about his brother. It was clear her distress was because Ardeth had sent him after her the moment she left Giza Port. It had been a long journey and she'd been completely unaware that he was following her every move quietly, up until last night.

"Maybe I should apologize for not telling you I was tracking you." He suddenly said.

"You, apologize? This was not your doing, Samir. You were following an order from somebody else." Elisabeth grumbled and pushed herself away from the railing.

"But if you are set on apologizing, how about for tricking me all these years? Thanks to your brother, I now know that it was you who kept exposing my whereabouts to Dr. Bey. Behind my back, no less?"

A blush crept over his cheeks. He knew this was a subject they were going to discuss sooner or later. Ardeth warned him Elisabeth was incredibly agitated the moment she realised Samir was the reason that Dr. Terrence Bey always knew where to find her.

But then she surprised him by saying, "Actually, you know what? It doesn't matter. It's my own fault for not figuring it out myself." Elisabeth let out a deep sigh. "It was too much of a coincidence you always showing up whenever I was trying to avoid him. I should have noticed the signs."

Samir kept quiet. Somehow those words even managed to make him feel more guilty about their history that he already felt. The amount of times he tricked her into helping him was a long list. She'd saved not only his life but also his mother's.

If it hadn't been for his tribe, the Medjai, or the fact that Elisabeth's father was an Egyptologist they were keeping tabs on, he probably would have left her alone the moment she asked for it. And she had asked for it on numerous occasions in the first two years of knowing each other.

"Samir?" She then asked him.

"Yes, Zahrah?"

"Might I ask you something about you and the Medjai?"

He wasn't surprised she had questions about this. It now seemed like a good time to give her the opportunity to let her ask him a thing or two. "I will answer as much as I'm allowed to."

For a quick second Elisabeth's mouth twitched though if it was because she thought it funny or was annoyed with him, he could not tell.

"I take it that, despite the lack of markings on your face, you are a part of the Medjai like your brother Ardeth?"

Samir nodded. "Maybe it is easier to think of me as a,- spy? If I walked around the cities looking like my brother, I would draw to much attention to myself."

It made sense to her. The tattoos were what gave the Medjai away. It was probably the reason why she never saw them in the city, except on a few occurrences and only because she was paying extremely attention to her surroundings in those moments.

"How long have you been one? Since you were born?"

"No. I mean, I was born into the tribe, but one becomes a Medjai from the start of manhood."

A chortle escaped Elisabeth's throat and Samir threw her a questionable look, not understanding what was so funny.

"Manhood?"

"It varies per person. It ranges between ages sixteen to twenty-two." He explained now seeing that she was probably making fun of him.

"Were you a Medjai when we met?" She then asked him and that question threw him back. Because it was due to their first encounter he finally became like his brother.

"I'm afraid your questions end here." He told her firmly.

Elisabeth cocked her head and gave him a look, but refrained herself from protesting. He'd told her more about himself than he'd ever really done and she honestly appreciated him for it.

A couple of days later

Her father's study was an absolute mess and Elisabeth was incredibly thankful that neither one of her parents were in Egypt at the moment to tell her off. She reckoned if they had been, she probably would not be living in the house anyway.

Currently, she was standing at the very top of a ladder in front of one of the bookcases, reaching for the top shelf where her father kept more of his travel journals inside a box.

Ever since returning from Alexandria two days ago, she had spent almost all hours of the day in the study. Much to Menna's chagrin who forced her out of the room every evening around dinner time. Of course Elisabeth sneaked back at the break of dawn to continue her research.

So far she had found a lot of information regarding Hamunaptra. Unfortunately, there was a lot of contradicting data on the City of the Dead. Possible locations, curses and treasures. She even found a little bit on the Medjai though it was stuff she already knew. The most interesting part of information she could find came from her father's own writing and it spoke of two books.

The Book of the Dead and The Book of Amun-Ra. One made out of pure obsidian and one made of pure gold.

It was rather odd. Elisabeth had always assumed the Book of the Dead was nothing more than a roll of papyrus with a few spells and incantations from a couple of priests. According to the document it was an actual book. The other one, the Book of Amun-Ra, was one she'd never heard of.

There was no doubt in Elisabeth's mind that this was one of the reasons why Ludwig might have contacted the American, but how he knew him was still a mystery. Though she was certain of one thing and that was that her father had indeed met with the man. That was definitely not a rumour.

Unfortunately there was no information to be found in the document on meeting up with anyone who has ever actually been at Hamunaptra. Which meant that the last place she could find more was in Ludwig's travel journals.

She reached for the top shelf, a bit wobbly to be standing at the very last step of the ladder, but it was doable. The urge to simply yank the entire box down from there was tempting, but who knew what else could be in there. Just because the box said Journal on the side, did not necessarily mean that was all that was in there.

"Aaaaahh!"

A loud scream echoed down from the hall. Elisabeth let out a gasp as she nearly fell backwards. That sounded very much like Menna. What was going on? Another scream followed only this time it seemed to be coming closer.

Her former nanny practically stumbled into the study, out of breath and clutching her chest with her hand. She pointed into the direction of the corridor. "Danaya,- there is a man inside the house,- what are you doing up there? Get down!"

A man inside the house? At that moment said man appeared in door opening and Menna let out another scream, stepping back until she reached the wall. "Medjai,-" She mouthed.

The guy who had scared the living daylights out of her was Ardeth Bay. He turned his head and glanced around the room and stopped when his eyes landed on Elisabeth standing all the way on top of a ladder.

"Miss Borchardt." He greeted her.

"Chieftain Bay." She nodded in return.

Menna kept mumbling prayers, her eyes wide and focused on the man clad in black robes next to her. Elisabeth made her way towards the floor. Half worried but also mildly amused by the older woman's fear of the tall man. "Ammah, this is Ardeth Bay. Remember I told you about him?"

"He is,- do you not know what he is, Danaya?"

"I know." The other woman assured her. "It is alright."

Though she still eyed the Medjai warily, Menna straightened herself and walked around Elisabeth and Ardeth in a big circle until she reached the hallway again. "I shall go and make some tea." She said softly before vanishing out of sight.

"I believe I may have frightened her." The Chieftain exclaimed. Though he did not sound surprised.

"You do have a certain presence about you." Elisabeth pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh.

Ardeth cocked his head sideways but did not comment on her obvious enjoyment regarding the matter. "Samir told me you found some information on the American?"

"Did he now?" She frowned at his words.

If she remembered correctly, she had told Ardeth's younger brother that she had hardly found anything regarding the missing thief. It seemed Samir had not been entirely honest to his akhi.

"What did he tell you exactly?" Elisabeth crossed her arms as she sat down on her father's desk. She motioned for Ardeth to take a seat, but same as the last time they'd spoken, he preferred to stand.

"Samir told me you met with someone from the French Foreign Legion?" The Medjai began. "You met with this man late at night, but you were attacked and that my brother saved your life?"

Oh. He really had decided to tell Ardeth almost everything that happened. The only thing missing was their conversation from the barge ride back to Cairo. "Did Samir also tell you that I hardly found out anything from the soldier?"

Ardeth's mouth twitched. "You still found out something, did you not?"

There was no way Elisabeth was going to tell him what she'd find out exactly. That she now knew where High Priest Imhotep was buried, that she knew about the possible treasures hidden in said place and that she knew it was in the direction of Minya. Basically she had found out a lot of interesting things, though nothing specific regarding the American.

"Was that all Samir told you?"

It almost seemed like Ardeth was about to say something else, but then his eyes landed on the documents scattered on the desk in front of him. His eyes widened as it was clear what the information on the papers was about.

The words Hamunaptra and Amun-Ra were not written in German and thus it was understandable enough for him to figure out that Elisabeth had figured out more than she led him to believe.

His dark brown eyes moved back to her and for a second Elisabeth felt incredibly stupid for not setting her behind down on top of the documents. She knew more than Ardeth wanted her to know. But there was no way for him to take that back now.

Perhaps that was why he had sent Samir after her in the first place, to make sure she wouldn't discover that which she had. She uncrossed her arms and leaned slightly back on the desk. "Something wrong, Chieftain Bay?"

"I see you have made some discoveries." He replied quietly.

Elisabeth glanced over her shoulder at the papers. "Technically this belongs to my father. But yes, I now know of that which you tried to keep a secret."

Ardeth stood tall and exhaled deeply. "I guess we no longer require your services." He then said.

"Excuse me? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe you hired me to find your thief. As you can tell, I have not found him yet."

However the Medjai Chieftain turned his back on her and started to walk away. As quick as she could Elisabeth got off the desk and rush forward to step in front of him. Ardeth halted but averted his gaze.

"I am this close in discovering the guy's name. Once I know it finding him will be easy. What difference does it make that I know where High Priest Imhotep is buried?"

"Because anyone who knows of the location is suppose to die." Ardeth spat angrily, finally lowering his eyes to look at her.

"Oh, please. I know the name of the place, not its location. If it is any consolation, my father doesn't seem to know either. Just let me finish what you hired me to do."

Even if he'd tell her no, there was no way for him to stop her. She knew too much. She knew Hamunaptra was not a silly story to scare children. She was going to go there one way or another.

If Ardeth released her from the contract, than she had more time to locate the City of the Dead instead of dealing with finding the American. Whatever his answer would be, her goal would not change. She pursed her lips and kept her eyes on him.

Some part of him already knew it was pointless to stop the woman in front of him. Samir had made it clear if Ardeth would go along with his plan of hiring Elisabeth Borchardt, he would probably never get rid of her. "Zahrah is like the Nile, calm, sweet and always there."

Though in his opinion this woman, who he had only known through stories from his brother, was nothing like the Nile. Perhaps she was like that with Samir, but not with him.

Ardeth had met her face to face for the first time about two weeks ago and so far the only thing she had in common with the famous river was the colour of her eyes. She was more like the sea. Timid and serene at first glance, but with many secrets hidden below the depths.

He could understand why his brother spoke so much of her. Why he had offered to be the one to follow her to Alexandria so Ardeth did not have to. Perhaps it was a better plan to keep her close instead of letting her go.

"Alright." Ardeth eventually said. "We will continue our agreement."

Elisabeth smiled and extended her arm towards him. He took her hand with his and held it for a few seconds, feeling the warmth spreading through their palms.

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