Chapter 10-


“ Alex, you come here right this instance!”

Ravena smiled to herself when she saw Evelyn chase her 6. Yr old. It was time for his bath, and she could see he was being stubborn about it. He reminded her of Rick so much. She was in full view of the Egyptian sun, lying on something like a patio chair, except made out of wood. Her chair was placed on a small hill in the campsite underneath a looming tree, which gave her plenty shade. Despite Ravena’s efforts, the Medjai women stated that if she were to go outside, then she must be covered in layers of blankets. She was thankful for the small breeze that came in from the west. She closed her eyes, placed her book on her lap, and lowered back her head, enjoying the distant laughter. Ravena didn’t notice footsteps advancing towards her. She heard a rustle behind her, and she opened her eyes. It was Ardeth, holding a cup of water to her.

“ The elders suggested you might be thirsty.” , He said gruffly.

Raven lifted her head, and hesitantly reached for the glass of water.

“Oh, well, thank you.”

He nodded and turned briskly towards the camp.

“Wait! Uh, um, I just wanted to thank you again...for saving me.”

Ardeth stopped, and turned his head around so that she could only see his cheek. Ravena continues on...

“If it’s any consolation, because I know you’re disappointed that you didn’t find Rafe, uh, I know where he is, at least I’m pretty sure I know where he is. ”

Ardeth turned around sharply, his eyes set with surprise and determination. The corner of his mouth twitched with an upcoming smile, and he strolled over to where she was sitting. He leaned over, placed his hands on her shoulders, and put his face close enough that she could feel his breath tingling on her lips.

“Where, where is he?!”, he said lowly, but firmly.

Ravena blinked with surprised, and Ardeth tried to focus on her answer, instead of her full, red lips.

“He and his second-in-command, Max, were spending the night in the tombs in case one of the workers tried to steal something. He barely comes out of there at all. Rafe spends all his time in there exploring, he might not of noticed you guys attacked yet.”

Ardeth threw back his head and let out a reasoning laugh. He hugged her, jumped up, and hurried down the hill to the council’s tent. Ravena was in shock, thinking about how well she had fit into the contour of his body during that hug, or his intoxicating laugh.

Ardeth was still chuckling to himself when he headed towards the council’s tent, though his mind was still on that hug. What an idiot he was, he had no right to touch a woman as perfect as she. He shrugged it off, lifted the flap of the tent, and bent under it. Inside, it was slightly dark and musty, but filled with laughter. There was Rick, telling the Council about some incident that happened in England. The elder Medjai were obviously enjoying his company, hanging on to every word he said, and laughing whenever a humorous part came in. Ardeth cleared his throat loudly.

Abdul, the head of the council, chuckled and motioned for Ardeth to sit. The rest of the council sat around him, with Ardeth and Rick in the middle (Rick was grinning at how cool it was that he was the centre of attention).

“Well, Medjai leader, what is it?”

The brave leader, whose head was bowed, looked up and replied,

“The woman told me where we might be able to find the remaining Nazis. Unfortunately, they are already in the tombs. Who knows if they might accidently , or purposefully reawaken the creature.”

Abdul stroked his greying beard absently, and pondered on that for a moment.

“Are you sure, Ardeth? We have to be sure, it is dangerous to take chances.”

The leader stared at the Abdul for a moment. They were the Medjai, when the creature was of concern, they were SUPPOSED to take chances.

“Well, I’m don’t have a definite answer to that, but...”

“But, Ardeth, we can’t risk it. We will wait two more days. The woman should be better then. She will be there with us when we do search for them.”

Ardeth sighed, and he and Rick looked at each other. O’Connell shrugged. The leader just nodded, and the two men got up and stepped out into the bright sunlight.