So sorry for the long wait everyone.

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Enjoy this new chapter!

Chapter 18 - Confronting Elisabeth

The desert

Elisabeth stared at the flames dancing around on the logs before her. Tiny embers fell onto the sand every now and then and the occasional crackle soothed her mind. In the centre of the fire lay a stack of papers, at least that's what they used to be. Slowly they were burning up until eventually they'd be nothing more than ashes blowing away on the gentle desert's breeze. Raising her eyes, the golden haired woman stared at the chieftain of the Medjai, who stood on the other side of the pit with his gaze focused on the flames.

But actually Ardeth was deliberately keeping his focus on the documents that were going up in smoke. There was a lot going through his mind right now and he found himself having trouble with each individual thought. One of them was in regards to what had been written down on those pieces of paper. Knowledge on Hamunaptra, Amun-Ra, Imhotep, Anck-su-namun and more. He knew those foreigners he met last night were more than they appeared to be. The man with the red tarboosh in particular.

As it turns out, his gut feeling had been right. That man knew things the City of the Dead that most people didn't, most of it knowledge that only those of the Medjai possessed. But it wasn't Ardeth who had discovered the documents written by that old man and he probably never would have if it hadn't been for Elisabeth Borchardt.

At first he had been angry with her for disobeying his order. He had given it with the best of intentions. It was safer for him and for her if she were to wait in the darkness while he checked out the camp. Elisabeth's indiscipline of ignoring his command turned out to be a blessing in the end. If she hadn't done so, he would have never gotten the confirmation of his suspicion regarding the foreigners. Nor would he have gotten his hands on the journals written by the apparent Egyptologist with the dumb hat.

Elisabeth had managed to surprise him more than once that night. First by telling him her reasons for defying his order. Something which still confused him. But then secondly by showing him what she had found during her search in one of those tents. It was too dark out for him in order to read what was actually written in those books, but Elisabeth assured him it was mostly and mainly about the city of the dead.

After she had told him, Ardeth didn't hesitate for a second and placed the documents inside his saddlebags, planning on destroying them immediately the minute they were to stop for another rest. A part of him wanted to go back and make sure those men never saw the light of day again. But he was outnumbered and despite assuring Elisabeth he would have been fine either way, he knew when was not the time to press one's luck.

Now after a couple of hours of riding through the desert, Ardeth decided on their next stop. It was in a more open space, near a small water pool, not safe enough. But the sun would rise soon and that would provide them with the safety they needed for the next few hours. Enough time to have a well deserved rest. This time the Medjai chieftain made the fire, under the watchful eye of Elisabeth. He could tell she was tired, not used to travelling during the night. It didn't matter for they would be in Cairo within another day. She would survive it easily enough.

Fifteen minutes of silence had passed by now and the documents containing all of the information on the City of the Dead and Imhotep were long gone. Nothing more but a pile of ash. Finally Ardeth dared to raise his head and look at the woman sitting on the other side of the firepit. He found she was no longer staring at him. Her head was tilted sideways, resting on her knees while her arms were wrapped around her legs. Was she asleep?

He couldn't tell from where he was standing but the quietness gave him some time to think. Thoughts he'd been pushing away earlier as he felt her looking his way more than once. Ardeth found himself having difficulties forgetting and even ignoring things she had said to him earlier. For example, when he got angry with her for following him. He blamed it on her personality, her stubbornness and need for being treated as an equal. But he had been wrong.

She had done it because she'd been afraid. Not for being alone whilst waiting for him, but because she had been worried. Troubled that there was a chance that something could go wrong and that she wouldn't be there to help out. Initially he hadn't quite understood why she'd felt that way, but then she mentioned his younger brother, Samir. How he had gotten hurt, almost murdered and that she'd almost been too late to save him.

Her words had had a strange effect on him. It was hard to describe the exact emotion, but he remembered what it felt like. Warm, comforting, exciting accompanied by a weird sensation settling in the pit of his stomach. Whatever it was, it caused Ardeth to be almost nervous to look, let alone speak, to her. But oddly enough that was precisely what he did want to do. Observe her from the corner of his eyes, notice everything she was doing, hear her talk, hear her laugh.

Ardeth ignored the thoughts invading his mind, he didn't want to dwell on those images or strange sensations. He slowly made his way around the fire towards the woman, who still hadn't moved an inch. The Medjai chieftain halted and lowered himself down next to her. Up until now his presence didn't stir her either. Ardeth saw no other option and he placed his hand on her shoulder, he shook her gently.

It had the desired effect at first, as his action caused Elisabeth to wake up. But Ardeth could not have foreseen what was about to happen next. Without warning the woman jerked her head back swiftly, a gasp crossed her lips and she moved her arms in a swooping motion around her. One of her hands smacked Ardeth right across his nose and the Medjai let out a loud grunt as he fell sideways into the sand.

Immediately he reached for his face and felt the area where she'd struck him. Elisabeth turned towards him and her eyes widened. "Mein Gott." She exclaimed as she saw Ardeth on the ground. Quickly she crawled forward and reached for him.

"I'm so sorry. Here, let me have a lo,-"

"No. It is fine." He mumbled as he moved away just when she was about to pull his hand from his nose.

"Just let me make sure nothing is broken. You can't look at it yourself. Unless you have a mirror hidden somewhere underneath your robe." Elisabeth commented.

"There is nothing hidden underneath my robe." Ardeth replied.

"Alright." She raised her arms. "I won't look. Goodness, even Samir didn't give me this kind of trouble when I accidentally punched him."

Her comment didn't seem to stir anything in the man and reluctantly Elisabeth backed away, but as she did, Ardeth lowered his hand allowing her a gander at his injury. Her mouth slowly formed a small smile and she motioned for the Medjai to move closer towards the fire so she could have a better look, finally getting the opportunity to see what sort of damage she had done.

As she examined his face up close, Ardeth kept his gaze firmly focused on the firepit. He found her effort to help him rather pointless as he could already tell that his nose wasn't broken. He doubted she could have broken it at all even if she'd hit him harder. The girl was strong of mind, not of body. He lowered his eyes for a quick second and shifted them in her direction.

"You were right." Elisabeth told him. "Your nose is fine. Just a bit bloody."

"I told you this already."

"Yes, I know. Nothing can hurt the almighty chieftain." The woman rolled her eyes with frustration.

The tone in her voice had not gone unnoticed by Ardeth. She was mocking him, something she tended to do but hadn't done so in quite some time. Her reaction confused him as he had seen such a change in her of the last couple of days. The woman he had come to know during her time with his people, his tribe, was a much friendlier, polite and caring person than he could have ever imagined when having first met her. Here he had been thinking that he had finally gotten to see the real face of Elisabeth Borchardt.

A foolish thought. It seemed the closer they were getting to Cairo, the more she was becoming like the woman he had met all those months ago. Rude, impudent and even deceitful at times. How Samir could have fallen for such a woman was beyond him.

"By Allah, I do not understand what my brother sees in you." Ardeth spat angrily.

His words had an instant effect on Elisabeth. She stopped and stared at him with her jaw slightly dropped. Her brow furrowed and a look of hurt flashed in her eyes. It was then Ardeth realized he had just crossed a line he shouldn't have, especially considering he knew all too well what had transpired between her and his brother. Elisabeth straightened herself and raised her head slightly.

"I guess that makes two of us." She retorted. Quickly she stood up and walked away, leaving Ardeth alone at the fire and his bloody nose.

The Medjai chieftain sat there slightly stumped, her reaction was one he had not seen coming. What he had anticipated was something along the lines of a witty comeback or perhaps an exclamation of anger, like she had given him the last time he had asked her how she felt about his brother. But not this time, this time he had managed to struck a painful nerve. Ardeth followed the outline of her silhouette heading off into the dark until she finally came to a halt next to Samir's horse.

Ardeth inhaled deeply and eventually pushed himself up from the ground. Quietly he started walking, wiping some of the blood away from his upper lip in the process. He wasn't ashamed or too prideful to admit whenever he had done something wrong, even though the thought he had just expressed was one that had crossed his mind more than once. Ardeth cleared his throat as soon as he was a but a couple of feet away from her, to prevent her from getting startled in case she hadn't heard him.

"I'm sorry." He said the second he stood still. "I should not have said that to you. Forgive me."

Elisabeth shook her head but kept her back turned towards him. "Don't be sorry. You probably meant what you said, so there's no need to take it back. I just,-" She paused and let out a shuddering breath. "I just wish he didn't make things so difficult."

"By asking for your hand in marriage, you mean?" Ardeth asked and immediately Elisabeth spun around, her eyes wide.

"How do you know that?"

Was he suppose to tell her the truth? That he had overheard her conversation with his brother? Or only mention that he had discussed it with Samir almost right after it had happened? He doubted any answer would be the correct one and thus he chose to avoid it all together.

"What matters is that he asked you. Marriage is not something the Medjai take lightly, nobody should, and Samir knows that."

Elisabeth wasn't sure how to reply. In the end it didn't really matter that Ardeth knew about what Samir had asked of her. But a part of her felt that him knowing complicated matters even more. Ardeth was his akhi as well as the Medjai chieftain. She had no idea if that meant that he had to give his consent or blessing in order for a marriage to happen, she doubted Samir would allow anything like that to get in the way. But she hadn't even had any time to properly think about Samir's proposal.

He was her friend, probably her only real friend. They had been through so much together, but did that automatically mean a relationship was destined to happen? In all fairness, Samir was the only man in her life. The only man she actually trusted wholeheartedly. A man she wouldn't hesitate to die for if it meant saving him, something that had almost happened once or twice in their lives. Was that not also an indication she should not be afraid and simply accept him as a husband?

"I haven't given an answer yet." Elisabeth said quietly lowering her eyes.

She could hear the shuffling of Ardeth's feet as he stepped closer. He was tall, taller than Samir and his presence more intimidating than that of her friend. Usually she wasn't bothered by the Medjai Chieftain and his appearance, but that wasn't the case at this moment and she was unsure where that feeling was coming from.

"Why?" Ardeth's voice was deep but soft.

The last time he asked her such a personal question with regards to Samir and her feelings, she'd responded rather short and harsh. But this time she didn't feel any desire to keep what happened a secret from him. Taking a deep breath, the woman tilted her head back and stared into a pair of dark eyes. He was standing closer than before and Elisabeth swallowed nervously.

"He caught me off guard, Ardeth. I wasn't expecting it. Yes, I know how he feels about me, he has told me so more than once. But I,- I just wasn't expecting this to happen."

"It could not have been that unexpected? And surely, it is also not the first time a man has tried to ask for your hand?" He wondered out loud. It was meant as a comment to lighten the mood a little, a way to start clearing the tense atmosphere lingering between them, but he found himself rather curious about her answer.

Elisabeth shrugged. "I do not know what to tell you, Ardeth. You said it yourself, what could someone possibly see in me? Not to mention when for that matter? I don't sit at home and wait for bachelors to show up on my doorstep. And men that I do meet are strangers I need either for information or because they have something I want and once that is done, I get out."

Hearing her repeat his earlier comment made him flinch a little, but the other sudden and rather embarrassing realization which hit the chieftain due to her words, was that he hardly knew anything about her private life. He was only aware of certain things he had seen with his own eyes or heard about from Samir.

The daughter of a well-known Egyptologist, a man who was known as a liar and a robber of tombs in the eyes of the Medjai. And like her father, Elisabeth didn't care how or who she'd have to deceive in order to obtain information or an artefact from, as long as the reward was worthy enough. The latter was something he'd learned from Dr Terence Bey and one of the main reasons why they'd asked for Elisabeth's help with finding the American. A decision thus purely based on a dishonourable reputation.

But that part of who she was differed from the stories told by Samir, although some of them were in line with what dr. Bey had told them. However, Samir was more praising of her actions. She'd helped him more than once, saved his life even. She even had a hand in saving their mother's life at one point when she'd been sick and his younger brother couldn't gather the medicine they needed. Elisabeth had gone as far as stealing from one of the local doctors in order to help Samir out to cure their mother's illness.

One thing was certain, Elisabeth confused Ardeth greatly. She had more than one face, but they all belonged to the same person.

Ardeth stared at her, listened quietly as she spoke and as he did, he recalled something Samir had told him two days ago. A suspicion he had as to why Elisabeth was reluctant to accept his proposal. He was under the impression that Elisabeth had no idea what love was or what it could be. Based on what Elisabeth was currently telling him, Ardeth was slowly beginning to believe that his brother was probably right about that.

If that was the case, then perhaps there was a chance she did love his younger brother. Ardeth had seen them together. Seen the way she cried for Samir as he was dying, holding his hand tightly with hers. She'd even begged Ardeth at one point to not let Samir follow her back to Cairo even after he was healed up, because she was afraid he was going to get hurt again. There were many reasons, many forms of proof that Elisabeth was probably in love with Samir.

But why was he feeling this doubtful about it? Why was there still a voice in the back of his head telling him to find out what she truly felt for his brother?

"Do you love him?" Ardeth asked interrupting her.

"What?"

"You heard me." He continued and he knew she had heard him, for the look of shock which had crossed her face was evident enough. "Do you love my brother?"

"Of course I love him. But that's not a good enough reason to become his wife!" Elisabeth replied looking incredibly flustered all of a sudden.

"Agreed. It is not a good enough reason."

"That is what I told your brother."

"You did not." Ardeth corrected her and the woman blinked with surprise. "I heard what you said. You told him you weren't sure if you loved him in a way a man loves a woman."

The medjai recalled the moment he had overheard them as he'd stood there on the outside in front of the entrance of his tent. Samir had been on the floor with Elisabeth sitting right next to him. Ardeth had arrived a few seconds before Samir asked the girl to be his wife, an action he then sealed with a swift kiss, followed by another question which should have been the end of it all.

"Do you,- Do you love me, Zahrah? Not as a friend or a brother..." Samir asked, his voice getting quieter.

"I...I'm not sure." She answered honestly.

To Ardeth it confirmed his own speculation at the time that Elisabeth did not love his brother the same way as he loved her. But Samir was a stubborn one and swallowed her words, truly believing it would only be a matter of time before she would figure out that she was in love with him and wanted to spent the rest of eternity by his side.

"Mein Gott." Elisabeth gasped. "You listened in on us?"

"I was unaware of you being there and therefore the idea of knocking on my own tent did not enter my mind." Ardeth quickly explained, though he hardly felt it was necessary to do so.

"But as I said before, it does not matter how I know. What matters is that Samir is willing to wait, as long as it takes, for you to come to your senses. Something I do not see happening."

His words were like bullets and each one of them hit her straight in the chest. Elisabeth should have known that she would not find support nor any form of comfort by pouring her heart out to Samir's brother. A foolish idea. The desire to share her thoughts and troubles with him had only made how she was feeling even worse and she was no closer in making a decision. Elisabeth took a step back, but there was really nowhere for her to run to.

"What do you mean, you don't see that happening?"

"It means that I believe you are too afraid to deal with the situation and instead will continue to give him false hope."

Elisabeth stared at him for a second with slight aversion, before swiftly turning her back on him. She didn't want to hear it, even though she knew he was right with everything he said. She was indeed afraid and therefore had done what she was good at, ignore, deny and run.

But she knew she would be unable to continue that behaviour for Samir wasn't some random person. Not some stranger she'd met only once. She had to figure out what it was that she wanted. But she had no idea how to do that. How were you suppose to search for something you didn't understand? The only thing Elisabeth did know was that she didn't want to hurt anybody, least of all Samir.

"You mean, you deem me unsuitable for your brother?" She crossed her arms and looked up at the sky.

"Samir is not the one for you. I do not think you love him, not in the same way as he loves you."

His voice sounded closer than before. Ardeth had moved as he spoke and was currently standing directly behind her. So close she could feel the warmth radiate from his body.

"What do you know about love?" Elisabeth spat. "Samir told me once that you can get anything you want and not just because you are chieftain. How dare you tell me when you probably don't even know what it feels like to love? A man who only has to snap his fingers in order to get what he wants?"

Ardeth wasn't surprised his brother had told her this. A jealousy between siblings. A topic of discussion that had occurred many times in the past. However, Ardeth never lingered on it for too long. Mainly because it was the truth, he could get anything he want but that was something he didn't care about. There were more important matters going on in his life.

A family, a quiet life, these were things he never thought about. There was no time to deal with it. And so perhaps Elisabeth was right and he too did not fully understand how it felt like to be in love with someone. But somehow he was certain that what was going on between his brother and this woman, wasn't the right example.

"I do not know what else he told you. But I am not like that, Zahrah."

He raised his hand and wrapped his fingers around her upper arm, slowly turning her around to face him. She obliged with ease, but didn't dare to lift her head. Ardeth swallowed a lump which had started to form in his throat as he grabbed hold of her chin with his thumb and index finger. Finally, Elisabeth looked up at him, her green-blue eyes locking onto his.

"But I guess you are right. I am in no position to judge on love. Perhaps we never know what it truly is until it hits us when we least expect it..." He paused and absentmindedly moved his thumb towards her mouth.

It wasn't so long ago that he had been in this exact same position. Standing alone with her, only a few inches apart. And that heavy but very much identical tingling sensation settling in the pit of his stomach. All sense of logic lost and instead replaced with a different desire. The last time this happened he hadn't acted upon, but now...

If not now, then when would he get his chance?

Honour be damned. Ardeth leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. He had waited too long for this. She was soft, her mouth warm and she did not resist his advances. Without holding back he pulled her closer and placed his other hand behind Elisabeth's head, tilting it slightly to deepen the kiss. A low moan escaped her and a shiver ran through Ardeth's body at the sound of it.

He wanted her. Gods knew he wanted her. Even Samir had accused him of it multiple times. But he thought it was just envy talking. He had waited for this, a longing to capture her for himself and he was only now beginning to realize this. They were so close now, he was so close. But if he did not put a stop to this, then the night would not end and morning would never come. He couldn't let it go that far.

With a deep growl coming from his throat, Ardeth suddenly stopped and slowly pulled back, though his hand still rested on the back of her neck. He opened his eyes and stared deeply into hers. He had surprised her, but not as much as he had surprised himself. Ardeth inhaled deeply, a shuddering breath, and took another glance at Elisabeth's slightly swollen lips.

"Ardeth,-" She whispered and once more he leaned in to capture her mouth. He couldn't stop and in all fairness he didn't want to.

Alright that chapter went a different route...I wasn't planning on letting anything happen just yet between them, and then all of a sudden it was written.

I can only say, or ask, let me know your thoughts.

Have a great day!