Hello readers, I hope 2021 is of to a good start for all of you. I was completely done with 2020.
My husband and I were tested positive for Covid at the start of December. I honestly can't understand there are people out there who don't believe in it or say it's like the flu because...it's not. Not with us it wasn't. We're fine now though.
Then the day before Christmas Eve my grandfather passed away.
So, yeah 2020 ended and I'm glad it did. I can only hope 2021 will be different in a good way.

Hope all of you are doing well and staying save.

Thanks so much for reading this story!

Hope you enjoy this next chapter

Half a day's journey to the Medjai camp. Half a day he said. Elisabeth coughed loudly and tilted her head back to look up at the sky. The moon was still visible though faintly as it was already starting its descent towards the horizon. The tip of the sun peeked over a sand dune in the distance, spreading a blanket of golden glow across the lower part of the sky.

It was a beautiful sight, but the situation she was currently in wasn't. Samir had been quiet for the past hour. At least, she figured it was an hour, there was no way for her to tell, but it had been completely dark last he said anything. She wondered how long it would take for the sun to fully rise. A minute, perhaps two?

Sawsan had begun to walk in a steady pace instead of a fast trot. The trot made Elisabeth wobble in her saddle too much for comfort, causing a minor fear to settle in the pit of her stomach that if she wasn't careful Samir might fall off at some point. If that happened she would fall right along with him due to the rope holding the two of them together.

But it could very well be the other way around, as Elisabeth was probably one of the worst riders ever in history. Samir could probably sleep on his horse without taking a tumble, unlike her.

She licked her chapped lips, but didn't dare to take a sip from the water. She needed it for Samir. Which reminded her, now was a good moment to stop and give him some. It had been a while. Elisabeth tugged on the reigns and the horse halted almost immediately.

"Samir?" She whispered and glanced over her shoulder.

The Medjai's face was hidden underneath his headwear. Somewhere during their trip through the desert, the piece of cloth had begun to unravel, at least he was protected from the sun. As he rested quietly against her shoulder, she could hear his raspy breathing and she didn't like the sound of it.

"Samir, wake up." She said a bit louder, but he didn't budge.

"Samir?!" Elisabeth moved her arm in an uncomfortable manner in order to pat him on his back to the best of her abilities.

A low moan came from him. "Mmm."

Words no longer crossed his lips. But he was alive. She lifted the water skin and held it against his lips. Tilted her hand and couple of drops fell into his mouth and down his throat. Carefully she lowered her arm, making sure not to spill too many drops of water.

"There." A weak smile formed on Elisabeth's face. "You'll be alright."

However, Samir didn't respond. His eyelids flickered and for a split second they opened up, but soon closed again. The Medjai collapsed against her back. There was no spark or energy left within him and it scared her more than anything else ever had.

"Don't die, Samir." She whispered softly. Even if she would raise her voice, he probably wouldn't register it but she needed to say it for her own comfort. "Don't you dare die on me."

The sun had crawled out from behind the large sand dune by now and the sky was finally turning to a more brighter blue instead of the dark navy colour it had been during the night.

Unfortunately, Elisabeth didn't have anything with her to protect her from the sun. It was bearable at the moment, but how long before her skin would start to feel irritated from the bright rays. Sure she had lived in Cairo for over half her life, yet she kept her skin out of the sun most of the time by wearing long sleeves or a hat.

None of these were available. She'd given her shirt to Samir to soak up some of the blood from his wound, leaving her with only a short sleeved undershirt. Her skirt was torn because of that Brit when he pulled her to the ground. She'd left her sash behind as well as the rest of her clothes.

It was her own fault forgetting them. Getting Samir away from their small camp and to his people as quick as possible was more important than a couple of garments. None of that would matter if this journey was going to take any longer. As soon as the sun reached midway, both of them were doomed to not survive today.

A shuddering breath escaped her and she felt her eyes sting with warm tears. A lump formed in her throat, which she then quickly swallowed away. She had to find them, she just had to. For both their sakes. But most of all for the man leaning against her.

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

Her body swayed slightly from left to right, she was aware of it, but the thought to stop never crossed her mind. It was rather unfair to the creature she was sitting upon, but Elisabeth had no desire stand still. Not until they found the Medjai camp. Besides feeling moving meant she was still alive. At least for one of them.

It wasn't until her head bobbed dangerously forward that the horse automatically stopped and Elisabeth emitted a soft gasp. The drowsiness was becoming an actual problem now as well as the struggle to keep her eyes open and focus on what was ahead. She couldn't count on the horse to do these things for her.

"Nur die harten kommen in den garten." She mumbled underneath her breath. "We can't give up, Sawsan. It won't be too far,- I hope."

Unless she had managed to have gone in a complete other direction, but Samir's instructions had been clear and if she had gone wrong it was not her fault. Because everything around her looked exactly the same. The only guidance she had was the sun and the four legged animal underneath her behind.

But Sawsan didn't move just yet. She stood completely still, except for her ears which turned slightly. Elisabeth narrowed her eyes and looked around them. There was nothing there except for miles and miles of sand and hills.

Suddenly without warning the horse jolted forward. Elisabeth let out a loud shriek and fell against the creature's manes. She was running incredibly fast, faster than the woman had seen her done since they left camp. Had something spooked Sawsan? Or was this the sign of hope Elisabeth had been waiting for?

She held on to the reigns as tight as she could, her knuckles turning white. Please, let it be the Medjai. Let it be them. She closed her eyes as she prayed to whatever God or Goddess was willing to listen to her.

And that was when she saw it. Shimmering objects in the distance. Her heart sank a little. A figment of her imagination was not something she needed right now. But apparently the horse thought otherwise as she did not reduce her speed.

The closer they got to the object, the clearer it got. Soon the shimmering was gone and Elisabeth recognized the shapes as tents. Tents of elaborate colours and various patterns. Some bright and some pale. Stripes, swirly lines and diamond shapes. This had to be the Medjai camp. It had to be.

"Stop!" A loud voice boomed in Arabic. He then proceeded to say more, but it was a dialect she had never heard before. The only word she recognised was, who.

Elisabeth had been so caught up with finally seeing a sign of life that she missed two men clad in black robes approaching her. The markings on their faces, as well as their clothes, was all the proof she needed.

"Please!" Elisabeth said hoarsely. "Samir is hurt. I am looking for your chieftain or his mother Dalila,-" Her voice cracked. They'd made it. Finally after what seemed like forever, they had reached the Medjai tribe.

One of the men yelled something at his friend, but Elisabeth couldn't make out what it was. They both lowered their weapons and Elisabeth let go of the breath she'd been holding, her chest heaving up and down. Quickly she turned her head to glance over her shoulder to look at Samir, see if he was moving. But the man remained motionless.

"Samir,-" She whispered. "We made it. We're here. Your mama and akhi are coming."

"Miss Borchardt!"

At the sound of Ardeth's voice, Elisabeth's bottom lip began to quiver. All was going to be well now. They were here, he was here. His people were going to take care of Samir. Heal him, fix his wounds and patch him up.

"Ardeth,-" Elisabeth breathed as the dark haired Medjai chieftain halted next to Sawsan.

His eyes widened at the sight before him. Elisabeth looked terrible. There was blood on her skin and on her clothes. Her skirt was ripped, exposing her legs all the way up to her thigh. He could see bruises on them and sunburn on her face and shoulders..

But when he saw Samir, his heart stopped. his younger brother was pale and slumped against Elisabeth's back. He squinted his eyes and noticed a rope tied around the two of them, binding them together.

Elisabeth followed his eyes and quickly began to untangle the knot in front of her body. Immediately Ardeth ordered for the two Medjai behind him to grab his brother and help him down. The rope fell to the ground and they quickly managed to pull Samir down from Sawsan.

Samir was unresponsive during all of it. His head flopped from left to right, like a puppet. Elisabeth clenched her jaw as she watched her friend being carried away quickly towards one of the tents. Had she been too late? Her heart jumped as a loud high-pitched wail erupted from the tent Samir had disappeared into.

Ardeth turned his head towards his tribe. It seemed as though he was contemplating on what to do next. Stay where he was or hurray and make his way towards his little brother.

"Go."

He looked up at the golden haired woman on his brother's horse.

"Go, on. Go to Samir." Elisabeth said again. "I will come."

Ardeth opened his mouth as if he was going to say something. But ultimately pressed them together, nodded at her and made his way towards the tent where they'd taken his brother. Elisabeth watched as he vanished and her eyes began to water. A soft whimper escaped the threshold of her lips and she quietly cried.

The Medjai tribe folk watched on as she made her way past the collection of tents on Sawsan. Elisabeth stopped a couple of feet from the tent Ardeth had gone into and managed to get off the tall horse albeit in a rather ungraceful manner..

Elisabeth touched the sand with her feet, it would appear she'd lost a shoe. When had that happened? It didn't matter when or where she'd lost it. The one thing she currently did not want to lose was Samir. She limped towards the entrance and moved the large cloth obscuring the inside of the tent aside.

It was quite crowded in the tent, which also turned out to be bigger on the inside than she'd initially thought. She spotted Samir's location quickly thanks to the amount of people gathered in the back. A group of women, Ardeth and one elderly fellow. The Medjai chieftain was holding his brother's hand and some of the women were weeping.

From this distance Elisabeth could see that her friend's eyes were still closed and his skin incredibly pale. Had he even moved at all since they took him of his horse? Slowly the woman stepped forward only to be stopped by a group of rather burly looking men dressed in those long black Medjai robes. They said nothing to her, instead they just stood there blocking her path and view.

Because of this she hadn't seen Ardeth leave his spot next to Samir to head her way. His voice was loud and deep and two of the men stepped aside to let him through. There was a woman standing next to him. Ardeth nodded and the unfamiliar lady walked over to Elisabeth and bowed her head.

"She will help you." He told her.

Elisabeth frowned at him with confusion. "Help me? No, I need to see Samir."

She was about to move when the four large guards shouted something in a dialect Elisabeth did not understand. Ardeth replied with an equal threatening sounding command and they stopped. Samir's brother lowered his arm and glared at the foreign woman.

"You will listen while you are amongst my people." His tone was harsh but his gaze quickly softened when he noticed the effect it had on her.

A sense of guilt suddenly hit him. It was obvious something terrible had happened, not only to his brother but to Elisabeth as well. He didn't mean to yell at her, but he had to stick to the rules of his tribe. He was the chief after all.

"Zahrah." A woman showed up behind Ardeth. Her voice soft and old.

Elisabeth locked eyes with her. She looked a bit like Menna, but thinner and her skin more tanned. Her dark brown hair was covered with a piece of sheer purple fabric. Fabric she had seen before. It was like the shawls Samir had bought for her at the market all those months ago when she needed to hide herself from the curator's ever watchful eyes. But apart from the familiarity of the garment, there was a striking similarity between the old woman and Ardeth Bay.

"Dalila?" Elisabeth narrowed her eyes as the woman grabbed her hand.

She nodded.

Finally Elisabeth's knees gave away and she fell to the ground right in front of Samir and Ardeth's mother. Dalila talked to her, but for the life of her Elisabeth couldn't understand any of it. It was Arabic, she was certain of that, but the dialect was one she had never heard before.

Elisabeth turned her head towards Ardeth who was already looking at her and his mother. His expression did not reveal what was currently going through his mind. Within a second he snapped his fingers and she then felt two strong arms slither underneath her body.

The warm grasp of Dalila's hand vanished as one of the guard carried Elisabeth out of the tent. She didn't even bother to protest. Whether that was because she knew it wouldn't get her anywhere or because she simply couldn't due to fatigue, she didn't know. Closing her eyes, she let out a deep breath and let herself be transported to wherever it was.

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

"Ai!" Elisabeth hissed through her teeth as one of the tribe's women patted her cheek with a wet cloth.

The woman spoke to her softly as if to comfort her, but she couldn't understand most of it. Samir never mentioned before that his people spoke a different dialect than what was used in Cairo. It was incredibly frustrating for someone like Elisabeth who spoke more than one language herself and therefore was able to communicate with all sorts of people most of the time.

The only reason why it was maddening at this particular moment was because she wanted to know about Samir. How was he doing, had they made it to the camp in time, but most importantly, was he still alive?

Elisabeth closed her eyes as she let herself get taken care of. She doubted the cut on her cheek was in need of sutures, or maybe it was more of a hope. Somehow she didn't have high expectations when it came to the Medjai tribe and their way of care taking. After all she had to fetch medicine for Samir one time when his mother had fallen ill.

Thinking of that made her realize she should have been more firm with her friend when he ordered her to head for his people instead of riding back to Minya. But then again based on how she felt after trekking through the desert for only half a day with a dying Samir, she knew this had been the better choice. The lesser of two evils.

The woman grabbed her chin and gentle dabbed a wet kerchief against her lips. Elisabeth could only imagine what she must look like. Clothes torn in various places, bruises on her skin, Samir's blood on her hands and Lord knows where else. Compared to Samir things weren't that bad. He'd been punched, knocked down and stabbed.

Her eyes suddenly widened and without warning she jumped up from the floor. She had to tell Ardeth what happened. Where his brother had been hurt aside from the obvious wound above his chest. The Brits had hit him multiple times in his stomach, what if he was bleeding internally? She darted towards the front of the tent and through the flap aside.

She collided against a tall and broad man, looking up she recognised him as the guy who'd carried her away from Ardeth earlier. Next to him stood another man. It would appear the two of them had been put there to stand guard. Probably to make sure she wasn't getting anywhere for the time being.

"I need to see your chief."

Elisabeth straightened herself and spoke sternly in Arabic. The guards threw a quick glance at each other and Elisabeth was pretty certain they understood her perfectly. The familiar one shook his head.

"We are here to make sure you stay. The chief can not be seen at this moment. He will come when the time is right." He replied his eyes lowered for a second but quickly moved back to meet her gaze.

"I need to tell him something important. It is about his brother. It is a matter of life and death!" Her voice trembled and quickly Elisabeth cleared her throat.

She had to convince this man that she needed to see Ardeth or at least get a message to him about what other types of injuries Samir might be suffering from. It was going to be the latter because it was apparent this man was not going to let her pass.

"Please, you have to inform the chief that his brother might be bleeding internally. He was punched in the,-"

Her words got cut off as a large hand grabbed her arm and forcefully pushed her back into the tent. Elisabeth stumbled back as the man who had pushed her shouted something at the other woman. She nodded and placed gently grabbed hold of Elisabeth's shoulders.

"No, let me go!" She turned her head towards the entrance and caught the eyes of the friendlier guard. "Tell your chief! Please!"

The tent flap closed and Elisabeth let out a soft sob as she was guided back towards the ground with help from the other woman. Had the guard understood her words correctly? If so, was he even going to head over to Ardeth to tell him what she said to him? All she could do was hope that Samir was doing okay and that he was at least still alive.

Elisabeth cursed herself. She should have asked them about Samir's condition. However there was not telling if the guards outside the tent even knew what state Samir was in. The only things left to do now was wait for Ardeth to show up with some good news.

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

The water was cold, but in spite of that surprisingly welcome on her warm and partially burned skin. Elisabeth stayed quiet as the woman, who she'd learned was named Yara, scrubbed the sand and dirt from her body. Elisabeth had begun to assume the woman was actually some kind of nurse or assistant to the village doctor as she really treated her like some sort of patient.

Yara avoided every bruise she came across while washing Elisabeth carefully with the rugged sponge. There were more cuts and scrapes than Elisabeth realized and the dark-haired Medjai female checked each one of them and tended them quickly but thoroughly. She also reckoned Yara was only a little older than she was. Give or take a decade at the very most.

As the German girl sat there in the small wooden tub, she closed her eyes and listened to Yara as she hummed softly behind her. She had no idea how much time had passed since arriving at the camp, but it couldn't be more than an hour or two and still there had been no sign of Ardeth. Patience wasn't her forte, but in this case she doubted even the most composed person could withstand waiting this long.

"Mmm."

She winced slightly as Yara started to massage her back. The woman said something but Elisabeth couldn't really make out what she meant. Something about the colour red and blue. Probably another bruise. She leaned back into Yara's touch and let the woman work her magic on her battered body. But before she had the time to finally relax and divert her troubled mind, a loud voice boomed from the front of the tent. It was one of the guards.

Yara jumped away immediately towards the noise, leaving a confused and rather shocked Elisabeth alone in the tub. The woman went outside and spoke in a rapid manner at the guards. It didn't take long for her to return and when she did her face flustered.

She picked up something dark blue looking from a nearby chair as she headed back to the tub. She moved her hands frantically at Elisabeth, ushering her to get out of the water.

The blue thing she'd picked up turned out to be some kind of robe. As soon as she got up Yara draped it over her shoulders and motioned for her to put it on. Elisabeth quickly did as she was ordered, all the while wondering what was going on. She soon got her answer.

Ardeth Bay stepped inside, his gaze immediately went to Yara and he threw her a silent look. Obviously there was a certain order or command behind that look as Yara bowed her head and hurried out of the tent without looking back at Elisabeth.

The robe the woman had given her didn't really manage to do what it was meant for, which was cover her naked and still wet body from the Medjai before her. Rather awkwardly she couldn't find any way to wrap it around her properly, there was no tie accompanied with it.

Elisabeth suspected there might be a hook somewhere on the inside to close the robe, but there was no way she would be able to do that crossed her arms in front of her body, hoping that would suffice in keeping the satin piece of clothing in its place.

"Samir?" She asked quietly searching the Medjai's eyes for a hint on his brother's well-being.

"He's alive." Ardeth replied. He sounded out of breath as if he'd been running on his way over from one tent to the other.

Elisabeth let our a sigh of relief. "Gott sei Dank. Thank God. Can I see him?"

But when Ardeth remained quiet, she cocked her head and frowned. She took a couple of steps and stopped right in front of him. "What's wrong?"

She widened her eyes and moved one of her hands in front of her mouth. "Is he dying?"

"No,-" The Medjai said quickly, yet his expression soon turned grim. "What I mean is, we're not sure. He is breathing, not as he should, but better than when you brought him to us. He regained consciousness for a little while."

"He did?" Elisabeth lowered her arm and pressed her hand against her chest. "You must let me see him."

This time Ardeth answered her with a shake of his head. "He's asleep. You can see him tomorrow."

Tomorrow? There was no way she would be able to wait that long. If Ardeth was worried that she was going to wake Samir or anything, he was mistaken. Perhaps there was another reason behind his reluctance. Maybe he blamed her for what happened to his younger brother. After all, compared to Samir there wasn't much wrong with her apart from bumps, bruises and cuts.

"Not tomorrow. Please, Ardeth. I promise I will be quiet. I,- I just need to see him for myself." Her bottom lip trembled and she quickly pressed her teeth on them to stop it from quivering.

When she said his name earlier it stirred something within him. Hearing her say his name now for the second time send a clear and intense jolt through his body. She never called him by his name before. Always calling him Chieftain Bay.

The relation between the two of them was business first and nothing else. But when he saw her on Samir's horse, tired, scarcely dressed and hurt, he wanted nothing more than to help her down and take care of her. Until he saw Samir and his brotherly instinct took over.

He still had no idea what had happened after they left Minya. But from the very little information Samir was able to provide him with, Elisabeth had saved his life. Ardeth wasn't sure in what way exactly, but it was clear she'd bandaged his wound and made sure he got home to his tribe.

He wanted to know everything. How Samir got stabbed to the near point of death. How Elisabeth got that cut on her face and those bruises on her body. But those were questions that had to wait. The most important thing now was to make sure his brother made it through the night. That was something he couldn't tell the woman in front of him. There was still a chance he could die and Ardeth didn't want anybody else to know yet.

"I promise you. Tomorrow you will see him as soon as the sun rises. I will wake you myself." He told her calmly.

But of course she wasn't going to listen to him. She never did. "How am I suppose to sleep when I have no idea how he is doing?"

Ardeth sighed with frustration. "I just told you of his condition. That should suffice. You've done your part, there is nothing else you can do to help him more than you already have."

"I should have shot those men sooner. I waited too long. If I'd only been a little bit quicker then Samir wouldn't have been,-"

Elisabeth stopped and walked away from him. She halted in front of a low bench and sat down on it, her head turned away. It was clear she wasn't going to see Samir anytime soon. Maybe Ardeth was right about that, but she wanted to see him so much. Especially since she felt it was mostly her fault that he got hurt.

The soft shuffling of footsteps across a carpet sounded from her left and then stopped. She looked up to see Ardeth standing close. His expression was warm but also seemed rather sad.

"You care a lot for him, do you not?" He asked although it didn't really sound like a question.

"Of course I do. I've known him for so long, how could I not?"

Ardeth cleared his throat and suddenly sat down next to her. "I believe my brother is very fond of you."

Oh no. No, this was not something Elisabeth wanted to discuss with him or anybody else for that matter. It had already been difficult enough to make it clear to Samir she had no desire to be anything more to him other than a dear friend. She didn't want anybody else to have something to say on that either.

"I know." Her voice was almost a whisper as she lowered her eyes and glanced at her hands. "He's told me."

"He has? When?"

Elisabeth turned her head and stared into Ardeth's dark eyes. "It doesn't matter. He knows how I feel about it."

"How do you feel about it?"

"That's none of your business, Ardeth." She was about to move away again but something pressed on top of her shoulder.

"My apologies. You're right it isn't my place. Forget I asked."

And even though he knew it was unfair of him to have asked it, a part of him still wanted to know. Perhaps it was better to ask more important questions, now that he was there. Even though he told himself it was better to wait until tomorrow, he didn't want to leave the quiet and private situation he was currently in.

"Elisabeth,-" He said. It felt a bit odd saying her real name and even Elisabeth looked at him a bit surprised. "Will you tell me what happened?"

She nodded and began to tell everything that had happened. From Minya until today and as she spoke, Ardeth's hand had unconsciously slipped down and rested on her lower arm for the duration of the story.

Thank you for reading, would love to hear your thoughts.