How's Amira doing?" Aeon asked Nasir as soon as he was awake. Aeon had wandered around the village the next day after he had awoken, getting reacquainted with everyone since it had been years since he had visited, but now sat with Nasir in his kitchen enjoying a cup of tea.
"She has woken up, and her fever seems to be broken," Nasir said. The relief in Nasir voice was obvious. "It would be good if you'd come and examine her yourself, though our healer thinks that she will get better if given time."
"Your healer is likely right, but I'll be happy to got up and see her and do my own examination," Aeon agreed without arguing.
"You sure are looking better than when you left my home the first time," Nasir commented.
"I slept for nearly 12 hours my friend, so of course, I look better. I didn't awaken even once and wouldn't have, unless there was gunfire or something else out of the ordinary," Aeon told Nasir. "I certainly feel better after sleeping for so long."
"So I saw you looking at Nadia, and you seemed rather shocked. I noticed how your eyes widened, as if surprised at something," Nasir mentioned to Aeon. Nasir's tone was questioning and curious, but not accusing.
"I was hoping you hadn't noticed, until I figured out how to handle the situation," Aeon groaned slapping a hand over his face. "The truth is that every immortal has a kind of a mate, someone they can trust with anything, and basically build a life with. I was shocked as you noticed when I looked at your daughter for the first time. I knew in that instant my life had changed completely, and meeting my mate was not something I ever expected, even though there have been plenty of people in my family that have met theirs."
"So what does this mean for Nadia?" Nasir asked in an intent voice.
"It means I ask to court her in the old-fashioned sense of the term and while she knows I am a healer and about my magic she doesn't know about that other thing. I know you do, as did your father, your grandfather and great-grandfather, but she isn't about to become chieftain, and it was agreed that whoever became chief of the tribe would be told in case you ever needed my services."
"No, she doesn't know about that other thing just that you've been a friend of the tribe for years and are always available to help out when needed," Nasir agreed gravely. "I have kept my word and told no one as did my father and grandfather."
"I know you haven't my friend, that not a concern for me, but Nadia will need to be told now in privacy, and she'll have to swear to tell no one," Aeon said. "I know your daughter is likely still mourning her husband, which is why I need to go slowly. I don't want to push her into anything, as not only would that get you mad at me, my future happiness is also on the line."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Nasir asked not liking the sound of that statement.
"Just that now my happiness is tied up in getting her to agree to be my mate, which eventually means us getting married and having a family, but I know that it will take awhile to get to that stage, if it's even possible in her case. If she rejects me for whatever reason, I'll do my best to convince someone to end my life, whether that's you or one of my own family."
"But your immortal," Nasir said.
"I and my family are as close to immortal as anybody has ever come my friend, but my we are not gods and it is possible to end any of our lives if you do it in the right way. Suffice to say, that no mate of one of my family has ever rejected that person, but then, most of them that are mates to one of my family haven't lost their spouse no matter the reason. In fact, it's only happened once with my cousin, Minerva Hotchner and her mate, Jason Gideon, who lost his wife before he met my cousin."
"I see," Nasir digested this new information, for it was something he had not known, but if he thought about it, it did make sense. He also understood that it was a subject that usually didn't come up, and he had never thought about the fact that Aeon could permanently die, but only if it was done in a certain way. Those thoughts had never even entered his head. Nasir understood that it wasn't information given out lightly, and it had never occurred to him that such a thing was even possible so he hadn't thought to ask.
"Yes, we don't age from a certain point in our lives. Yes, we heal very fast from physical injuries and yes, we are always healthy, so I can't get this desert fever that is so prevalent here in this part of the world, but that's about it really," Aeon explained. "If we're poisoned, stabbed, shot or any other way, we come back to life eventually usually only hours later. Also, something like acid might burn us severely, but we'll heal from that too."
"I'm not sure that Nadia will ever want to get married again, even though I know she wants children," Nasir said.
"I know, that's what makes it so difficult," Aeon said with a gusty sigh looking despondent.
"All you can do is ask if she is interested in going out on a date with you," Nasir said. "If you do eventually tie the knot, I'll be very happy, as you've been part of the Medjai for generations, even if most people don't know that."
"Even if they suspect, I know, most of them would never think about saying anything or betraying you," Aeon said.
"No, they won't, but that doesn't mean we don't get an occasional bad egg that betrays their duty," Nasir said. "Betrays their sense of honor and integrity. I'm well aware that even a Medjai can betray their own if they are offered enough gold. You don't want to know what we do when that happens."
"I can guess," Aeon said. "I know that hasn't happened in generations, but I know very well it's still possible. Humans have really gone downhill in the last few hundred years. In the last few centuries, people have gotten greedier and have less morals and ethics, then they used to."
"True and even the Medjai can be affected by such major changes in the world," Nasir agreed, "but hopefully, it won't be in my lifetime."
"I think your ancestor Ardeth Bay would be proud of how you have maintained the Medjai in this difficult time," Aeon added.
Ardeth Bay was a legend to the Medjai in this century, as he had defeated Imhotep, when some archaeologist who been digging where Hamunaptra was buried, had found the book of the dead, and brought him back to life.
The legend went that he'd had help with that task from a family known as a O'Connells who were long dead, along with Ardeth Bay.
Nasir was his many times descendent, and tried his best to maintain the integrity of the Medjai, which wasn't very easy as there were many temptations, particularly in the cities, where morals were much looser. The Medjai still guarded Hamunaptra from people who wanted to dig up the ancient city, but it was getting harder and harder to fulfill their duties in this modern time.
"I certainly hope so," Nasir said, smiling before changing the subject since it made him uncomfortable. "I'll probably never know until the day I meet him in the afterlife."
"Which is a day that is over century away," Aeon said.
"Exactly, so why worry about it until then?" Nasir said.
"Please, don't mention to Nadia about the mates thing, as I wouldn't want her to feel obligated," Aeon requested then paused as if something had occurred to him. "On second thought, magicals also have a mate, so maybe it isn't as bad of an ideas I was originally thinking. Nadia knows that I have magic and I don't have to mention that other thing at least at the start. It might explain to her why I want to court her in the first place."
"If that's the way you want it then so be it. I'll leave it up to you to tell her about the immortality and just back you up when necessary," Nasir agreed. "I wish you luck in winning my daughter's heart."
"I have a feeling I'm going to need it," Aeon agreed.
The two continued to talk for sometime, and Nasir gave Aeon permission to pursue his daughter so long as it was on her own free will.

~~~Aeon and Nadia~~~

"Nadia I know you lost your husband and that you're probably still mourning him, but I was hoping that you would agree to let me court you," Aeon told his mate.
Aeon looked hopeful, Nadia noticed, which melted her heart.
It was a few days later, Amira, who was rapidly recovering from having the desert sickness that she'd had, had been allowed out of bed for the first time just this morning. Aeon had checked her over and had agreed with the Medjai healer that Amira was mostly over her illness, though weak from having such a high fever and drinking nothing but liquids to keep hydrated for a few days. High fevers could sap your strength and also kill you if they couldn't be brought down, as your body basically burned up from the inside.
"Why me and not what of the woman of Cairo?" Nadia asked. "I would think that you would have dated plenty of women since you live in such a major city."
"I won't say I haven't," Aeon said. "But the first time I saw you, I felt as if I had been hit over the head with a hard blow. You know about my talent to heal don't you?"
"Yes, so what does that have to do with you asking to court me?" Nadia asked.
"Just that my ability to heal injuries or illnesses that would take much longer with regular medicine has to do with my magic," Aeon explained truthfully. "The truth is, that things like desert sickness has a high mortality rate, and a regular healer can only do so much to improve whoever has it chances of surviving. Whoever has it had better have a strong immune system and a strong will to live. Of course, being young and healthy also helps, but for me, it's different, as I can do much more than a regular doctor can. What I'm getting at though, is that magicals kind of know when they've met the one."
It was true to a certain extent, so he wasn't exactly lying, just not telling Nadia that a magical didn't know immediately when they had met their mate, but they did within a few weeks. With an immortal however, it was a totally different story, and they knew immediately when they had met the one they could settle down with.
"The one?" Nadia asked in obvious confusion.
"The one they know they can settle down with, trust them with anything, and basically build a life with," Aeon explained calmly.
"But you could settle down with anyone," Nadia protested.
"No, I couldn't Nadia," Aeon told her gently in a quiet chiding tone.
"Why couldn't you? I mean there are millions of women around your age in the world, so why me?" Nadia asked naïvely.
"You have enough experience with human nature to know the answer to that question if you think about it," Aeon told her serious. "Do you know how many people would take the information that I have magic and turn me into the government. Even if they didn't, they could spread the information, far and wide, and the criminal element would want to kidnap me for my talents, not caring, that I could burn out, or put myself into a coma.
"They could threaten my family if I didn't cooperate, kill some of them, in order to make their point, or kidnap at least one of them for the same reason.
"I have parents and siblings, and numerous cousins that could be in danger if word got out what I could do. Telling the wrong person could set off a chain reaction and other magicals would be looked for, and they'd mostly only end up killing or kidnapping, ordinary humans. It would be chaos and magicals would then become known to governments around the world and would probably be forced to then register or face severe consequences," Aeon said when Nadia remained silent for several minutes.
"It's not like my family goes around telling people they have magic and in fact, they don't use it in public where other people not in on the secret can see."
"I hadn't thought about that," Nadia admitted wincing at the scenario that Aeon had painted. It was all too realistic as she wasn't unaware of how greedy and selfish humans could be.
Such a situation will quickly spiral out of anyone's control.
"I'm sure, that it would have occurred to you that what I described is all too likely to happen if the wrong people found out eventually," Aeon said. "I know I shocked you with my request to court you and I'm sorry if I did, but I wanted to make my request before one of the other Medjai did."
"What makes you think that would happen?" Nadia scoffed.
"Don't be naïve Nadia," Aeon told her giving her a look. "You are the daughter of the chieftain of the Medjai, which means that to marry you would put your husband into a very important position and might even see them become chief when your father dies or at least second in command. I've seen some of the Medjai looking at you, as if gauging their chances of being successful of you accepting their offer of a date. Just because they haven't done so before now, just means they are respecting the fact that you are still mourning your husband. It doesn't mean they wouldn't have asked you at some future date once you've had more time to mourn the loss of your husband, who died so young."
"While you have made a good point, my oldest brother is set to become the next chieftain of the Medjai not me, so that means if I do marry again, that person doesn't have much of a chance of becoming chief, unless they kill off my brother and all his boy children as well as my other three brothers and their boy children. Still, I won't say your scenario isn't valid, as they could die due to some disease like the desert sickness. Or possibly my brothers could die in battle to where I was the only one left to take command of the Medjai," Nadia said. "If that happened, then I would probably be forced to marry if I didn't already have a husband, to someone I didn't even like, much less respect, as I probably wouldn't be given a choice in the matter."
"Yes, I've met your oldest brother years ago now, but still we have met," Aeon said. "I know I haven't seen him since I've been here, but that's only because I'm sure he's out in the desert patrolling Hamunaptra."
"And how do you know about Hamunaptra? Not many outsiders have that information, so my father must trust you completely for you to know about the lost city buried out there in the sand and that the Medjai still guard against anyone from discovering it," Nadia demanded.
"Your father and I have known each other for a long time Nadia. I believe I am one of the few outsiders that he does trust completely, or he never would have allowed me to use my power to heal your niece. In return, he is one of the few that knows about my magic, as it's not like I go around telling people about my ability as we just discussed a few minutes ago."
Nasir also knew that Aeon was immortal, but he was the only one that was still alive that knew that particular secret. Nasir's father and grandfather were long dead, and the rest of the Medjai might know that he had the power to heal, but didn't know about his immortality or at least he'd never told anyone else, though some of them might suspect that he wasn't exactly mortal, especially some of the elders, who'd been around for a long time. Those elders would see that he hadn't aged at all since the last time they had seen him, especially if it was several decades later, and so they would likely suspect that he wasn't completely mortal.
"Besides, the existence of Hamunaptra isn't exactly unknown, just its exact location," Aeon added. "Why do you think you have archaeologists showing up every once in awhile?"
This was very true, so Nadia nodded.
"So will you allow me to court you Nadia?" Aeon asked returning to the original conversation topic.
"I don't know," Nadia said uncertainly. "I don't know that I ever want to even consider getting married again. I still miss my husband so much, even though it's been three years since he was murdered and it doesn't help that there was no justice for him, as the ones who killed him were never caught."
"I'm sorry that happened to you and as for the person that killed your husband it shouldn't be surprising that they were never caught as most cops aren't exactly competent over here. I doubt they went out of their way to find the culprit, as corruption runs rife though the police organization."
"I know and that's what is so frustrating," Nadia said. "It wouldn't be surprising if the cops that were on the case were bribed to shove it into the cold cases file as unsolvable. While I would like the case to be solved the cops wouldn't have listened to me if I had tried to get them to actually do their jobs, as I'm only a woman after all. Who cares about my feelings after all I'm only a woman and they have no power for the most part here in Egypt, not even in this century."
"Woman have much more freedom in this country than they used to," Aeon said.
"While that's very true, there's that old attitude that women are only good as wives and bearing children still lingers in a lot of Egyptian men. Unfortunately, all the cops in this country are men and a lot of them have that kind of attitude, and rarely treat women as equals and good for anything besides being their whores," Nadia said.
That was true, Aeon knew so he couldn't exactly tell Nadia that she was wrong.
"I didn't know Azim, but wouldn't he want you to move on? At least date again, and possibly marry a second time, while you're still young enough to have children? Would he want you to continue mourning him for the rest of your very long life? You know that people can live for a couple of centuries now, even though I know that doesn't usually happen for people like the Medjai, because they're warriors and a lot of them don't live past their 50s or 60s if they don't die younger."
"No, he wouldn't," Nadia admitted. "I would hate to disappoint him when I finally go onto the next plane of existence, but I am also not entirely sure if I'm ready to get out into that minefield again. And yes, it is possible to live a couple of centuries now, but that's mostly people who live in cities not the Medjai. As you have already stated my people are warriors and live the lives of warriors, which means they're usually short."
"I do understand," Aeon told Nadia gently, his tone tender and understanding.
"I will admit the woman tend to live longer than the men, but that's only because the women can't be warriors, which I think is unfair," Nadia said.
"You might think so, but you also must realize that if all the women young enough to bare children are killed, then there will be no more children for the Medjai unless they marry outside the tribe," Aeon said. "I'm not saying that marrying outside the tribe hasn't happened in the past, because you did just that, just that those women wouldn't know Medjai ways and would probably insist that they live in a city like Cairo or Alexandria where there were modern conveniences like electricity, shops and vid theaters."
"I know you're right," Nadia admitted. "I know in a lot of ways, our society is still very patriarchal and primitive."
"Did you really want to become a warrior at one time?" Aeon asked Nadia.
"When I was much younger, before I met Azim yes," Nadia admitted. "Azim wasn't Medjai or a warrior, but he could still fight if he had to, he just preferred not to. Still, he was a good man. It was only a childhood dream I know that and I knew I would never be allowed to become a warrior and not just because I'm the daughter of the chief of the Medjai, but because I'm a woman. So you see, I had two strikes against me right off the bat."
"You were expected to marry and bear little ones," Aeon said knowing the way that Egyptians, particularly the Medjai thought. While things were better than they used to be for women here in Egypt, there was still a lot of inequality inherent in Egyptian society, even in this very advanced time.
"I did marry, but Azim was killed before we could have children," Nadia said.
"Well, at least your a widow now, which means they can't force you to marry again," Aeon mentioned.
"While that's very true. It doesn't mean it discourages some men from asking me out and while I haven't been approached by anyone, I know very well it will happen, you being a case in point," Nadia said.
"I'm really sorry, Nadia," Aeon said. "I know you're still grieving, but I also know you need to get on with your life as human beings are living so much longer now. Your father implied that you might never want to get married again after losing your husband when I asked him for permission to court you. He said it was your choice as whether or not to agree to my request."
"That sounds like father," Nadia said, smiling. "He would never force me to accept anyone's offer if I was against it."
"He said while he would've liked grandchildren from you, he also understood that you might not be willing. He said he would welcome any children you had if you did marry again," Aeon said.
"He has plenty of grandchildren already," Nadia laughed. "All four of my brothers are married and have children. If my oldest brother doesn't take over from my father, then it'll probably be my brother's oldest son. The succession, when it comes to the next chieftain is in no danger."
"That doesn't prevent him from wanting children from his daughter," Aeon said. "You have a large family and you should be grateful for them as a lot of people families are relatively small. Like you, my family is humongous with numerous cousins, nieces, nephews aunts, and uncles. I love every single one of them, even if I don't see them very often, because I usually stay here in Egypt and don't go to the states where most of them live."
"What about your parents?" Nadia asked fascinated with what she was hearing, because she knew from experience that most families were relatively small. Aeon was exactly right her family was much larger than a lot of peoples even here in Egypt and she should be grateful she had them."
"Yes, my parents are still very much alive," Aaron said smiling. "We talk all the time on the vid phone when I'm home."
"I've never been out of Egypt," Nadia said looking and wistful. "My husband and I lived in Alexandria with all the modern conveniences and we visited the Medjai here a few times a year before he was killed, but it still took me forever to get used to living so primitively again. I got used to all the technology and modern conveniences really quickly."
"I can understand that," Aeon agreed. "I would be hard for most people to switch from more primitive conditions to more modern all the time."
"You know, you're actually talking to me like a human being," Nadia noted. "So many men talk down to a woman as if they're stupid that it drives me insane, including a lot of Medjai men, who should know better."
"My parents raised me to treat everybody with respect and equality," Aeon explained truthfully. "My parents have a very harmonious and equal relationship, and so do my godparents. My father never complains when my mother leaves the house to open her bakery very early in the morning every day and the same can be said for my Uncle Aaron when my Aunt Shonda leaves to open her antique shop.
"Both my uncle and dad respect that their wives have businesses to run and so don't try to make them stay home so they can be waited on hand and foot like so many men, even in this modern time seem to expect."
"That's the way it should be," Nadia said appreciatively, "but often isn't. You've been so understanding that I'm still grieving for Azim and haven't tried to force me into anything, so I'll say yes, to that offer of a date. Let's see where it leads. Perhaps it's time to start living again."
"You won't regret it, I promise," Aeon said, smiling, wanting to cheer, but managing to contain his reaction as he didn't want Nadia to change her mind.
"We'll see," Nadia said smiling at Aeon's enthusiasm.
She had a feeling Aeon was right. She wouldn't regret agreeing to let him court her, but still, she'd see.
She would simply take it one step at a time.

~~~Aeon and Nadia~~