Title:  Passion - Chapter Nine – Sitting Still

Rating:  PG13 for now
Author: Angela - jedinineofnine@hotmail.com - http://oocities.com/saturnfiction
Summary:  Something’s bothering Ardeth. Of course it’s never as simple as that.
Disclaimer:  No infringement intended.  I own Asenath, Drake, Samira, Mahmud, Abdu, Omar and Ali.
Prequel (which should be read to get this):  http://fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=654922&chapter=1
Codes:  Ardeth/Ancksunamun, Imhotep/Evy

*

After spending all day in bed, wondering and waiting, Rick had just about come to the point where he was willing to accept the possibility that Drake’s men had killed Jonathan. Evy’s brother had no returned since noon when Rick had sent him to the criminal’s hideout. It was now getting close to nightfall and still no word.

Rick had worked for Drake for quite a while before finding Evy and getting himself into all that wonderful trouble that changed his life. He had quite a few reasons to feel a sense of loyalty to that man. But if so help him, if Drake had killed Jonathan, he was going to find himself at the sharp end of a knife. Rick wiggled his foot boredly, half ready to put the next person he saw at the sharp end of a knife. The suspense was killing him and each moment that passed meant Evy, Ardeth and Imhotep—not that he particularly minded the latter—were in that much more danger. “I’m gonna have to quite dealing with Med-Jai,” he decided, feeling his blood pressure rise at the mere thought of one of those warriors taking his friends down.

He clenched his fist and smashed an unoffending pillow at his side, about ready to call the authorities on this. “Screw the Med-Jai secret,” Rick hissed, ready to betray the knowledge of a race of secret people for the sake of two people he loved—and the freak. Ardeth would absolutely kill him for it, too.

But just as he was ready to punch the dented pillow again a sound caught his attention. Singing. Singing in the hallway, getting nearer and nearer. Jonathan’s singing, the way he sang when he was drunk. Rick mourned the fact that he didn’t have another book to throw.

The door burst open and in came two very cheerful forms, both familiar. O’Connell smirked and crossed his arms. “At least you got the job done, Jonathan, never mind how long it took.”

“It’s my fault, Ricky,” announced the very dark companion of Jonathan. He grinned and ushered himself into a seat, kicking his feet up on Rick’s bed. “When he came I insisted we have a few drinks. A few turned into quite a bit, actually. We really meant to come right away.” Drake inhaled deeply and rubbed his belly.

Rick nodded smartly. “Yeah, meanwhile my friends are in trouble. They could die, you know.”

Drake shook his head and smiled. “Nope. Already sent a few men out towards the desert looking for your friends. Jonny here told me that much, at least, though no matter how drunk I got him he wouldn’t tell me exactly what this is all about.” The dark thief twirled a sapphire ring around his finger. “So, Ricky. Enlighten your old boss and try not to tell me a wild tale like last time.”

“Right,” Rick breathed, motioning for Jonathan to shut the cracked door. When it closed the ex-Legionnaire leaned forward with a conspiring glint in his blue eyes. “To begin with, my two best friends are possessed by two ancient dead people that are trying to hurt them. I hope your men don’t kill them for fighting back, because in all likelihood they will—which I could have told you about if you had come sooner. Second of all, when they reach the Temple of Set, I’m sure something terrible is going to happen. Don’t ask me what, but that’s the way these stories go. Third, if something does happen, it’ll likely be the end of the world. Sound good?”

For a long moment Rick’s old boss said nothing at all. He chewed on a finger thoughtfully, took a few breaths and didn’t look at all like he had heard anything of what Rick had just said. He was miffed. O’Connell sighed and opened his mouth to apologize for his irritability when Drake finally looked up and spoke with mild patience. “We didn’t come right away, Ricky, because I knew about them leaving even before Jonathan came. My people saw, you understand. I sent some thugs out last night to watch the three of them. I thought the high priest was up to something, so I wanted to investigate. I gave explicit orders that the lady not be harmed, but I can’t speak for your Med-Jai friend. They’ll watch and report to me, and if Miss Carnahan gets into trouble, she’ll be rescued.” He smiled.

Rick sighed, feeling slightly ashamed of himself. He was behaving like a jerk and he knew it. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be…me. I’m just worried and being stuck here in this bed doesn’t help.”

“I understand,” Drake answered, with a smile. “Your lady’s in trouble. I’ll send some more men out with more detailed instructions—assuming you tell me the whole tale. Is Imhotep the danger, here? I’m not sure why you’re dragging him around, Ricky, but I understand he’s very dangerous.”

With a snort, Rick rubbed his temples, then looked his friend over. “How do you know?” So far as he knew, no one had told Drake about Imhotep.

There was a certain enigmatic grin that Drake got once in a great while that Rick found personally a little irritating. He supposed he shouldn’t be all that surprised, really. Drake was pretty lofty about attaining any and everything he was curious about. He leaned back and studied Rick. “I wasn’t honest with you last time, but when am I ever? Ask yourself how I happened to have one of the seals last time.”

Rick frowned in thought, then shrugged. “You’re not gonna try telling me you’re really a Med-Jai, are you? They all seemed to be Arabic to me.”

Drake laughed at that, shaking his head fervently. “No, no. Never that. My time for that passed a long time ago.” He cracked a grin. “I’m not particularly fond of them, my friend and I do tend to distrust them, but I know them. I was adopted into a Med-Jai family as a kid and they were gonna train me up as one of theirs, but I never quite fit in. They’re a little bit perturbed that a criminal like me knows their secrets, so you can understand why there’s no love lost.”

“Well, small world,” Jonathan breathed, looking at his reflection in a nearby mirror. He squinted and stumbled a little. “Why’d you hide it, old boy?”

The assassin crossed his arms and looked the two of them over. “Frankly, before it wasn’t necessary to tell. I’m not a Med-Jai and never will be one. When I learned you knew of them I didn’t know what that meant, be it you were enemies of them or me. I don’t like the Med-Jai, but I won’t have their secrets out, either. I wanted to know how you interacted with them.”

Rick nodded in understanding. “So Ali being caged was all a ruse, then?”

Again Drake laughed, his eyes very amused. “Hell, no. That robed terror tried to break in, knowing exactly what I would do if I caught him, so he paid the price.” The thief looked at his old friend expectantly. “Anyway, perhaps you should tell me exactly what’s up so we can get down to price.”

At that Rick groaned, but he found it difficult returning that familiar grin. “Yeah, yeah,” he replied, looking at his friend in a new light. It didn’t make him feel any more trusting about the price, though. He smiled. “Did you know Ardeth Bay?”

*

Akhenre paced the desert, keeping an ever-watchful eye out for Med-Jai or any other possible interference. The night was young yet, but danger wasn’t a respecter of time. They were being followed, obviously. Ancksunamun had seen them once or twice. Unfortunately Akhenre’s stolen car had run out of gas nearly three quarters of the way to the temple, leaving them the unpleasant task of walking the rest of the way and making it harder to give their followers the slip. Her Med-Jai lover was a trifle concerned about them, but she wasn’t. She had come too far for this to go wrong. She had been pulled from the very clutches of Hell.

She looked up at her lover as he came near and sat beside her. He too was quiet and his doubts about this whole thing troubled her. Akhenre wasn’t the same man he had been back in ancient days. Or perhaps it was that he was too much the same. He was good no matter how he tried to be like her. She was beginning to find him colorless and that made her heart pang. Ancksunamun loved Akhenre, she truly did. But she was so changed, so different from him that it frightened her for them. She wanted to love him as she had, but darkness covered her and he was still bathed in light.

Imhotep brooded across from her, staring into the flames of their campfire. He had been completely silent the whole trip, unless spoken to. He looked like the young Imhotep who had been marred by the loss of Nefertiri’s love. So beautiful in his pain. He was going to have to be the one that left this time. A sacrifice for her redemption. Ancksunamun thought that fitting. He had given so much for her sake.

“You truly love her,” she commented, watching his resentful eyes rise from the fire. “You would give all for her to be free.”

The priest looked back down and inhaled deeply. The hurt of 3,000 years was displayed clearly on his somber face. He didn’t want to leave this world. “If I would give my soul for a woman I did not love, I would give it for her,” was his reply, sorrowful and pretty to her.

A smile spread across her lips as she watched him suffer. “But you haven’t given your soul for me, Imhotep. You gave it for her even then, for I had only the love of your pain to enjoy. You gave it to escape her torment.”

Akhenre reached for her hand, his brown eyes ever filled with compassion. He looked at her reprovingly. “Must you speak of these things? My love, it is getting late. You should sleep.”

Compassion. Ancksunamun had been spared little of it. Yet she knew all of the ways one could twist it. Suddenly she became curious about something and ignoring Akhenre’s words, she said, “Would you speak with her if I let her free long enough?”

Eyes flashing, Imhotep’s attention was quickly turned completely to her. He looked like he hungered for the very thing she was offering. “Ancksunamun,” Akhenre started in warning tones, but a hand to his chest quieted him.

“He is going to die soon, my lover. Does he not deserve last words with Nefertiri?” The look of fear written in the eyes of both these men made her smile. “Will you not talk to her, Imhotep?”

Quickly was the priest’s response—the only response one could give in a situation like this. Of course he would talk to her. “I will, if it is truly her and not you in her place.” His tone was so pleading.

Ancksunamun closed her eyes and willingly let go, for the sake of knowing it would only cause them more pain. Nefertiri raced to the surface of their shared consciousness and when those eyes opened again, they were filled with fear. “Imhotep!” she cried, leaving her place in the sand and making her way to him. Evy felt her eyes filling with tears, both from hurt and anger. His expression was quite alarmed when she punched his shoulder as hard as she could. “You stupid idiot! How could you?”

He had the look of a mouse trapped by a cat, but even that wouldn’t make her laugh. “Nefertiri?” he questioned, obviously in the dark about what was causing her anger. Maybe he wasn’t even sure which woman she was, but he’d find out soon enough.

Evy punched his arm this time and his brow narrowed. Imhotep grabbed her by the wrists and held her still and that’s when the true tears began to fall. “Don’t die, Imhotep. Please,” was all she could think to say and that brushed aside his doubts. Instantly she was pulled into his warmth and felt lips on her forehead. She could sense Ancksunamun laughing.

“My love, I will do as I must for you and our child,” he told her in firm yet gentle tones as his hands touched her hair. “If this is what it takes, so shall it be. I will not budge on this.”

Evy wiped her cheeks and turned to the other sitting in on their private moment. “Akhenre, please don’t let her do this. Please. I know there must be some goodness in you. She doesn’t love you.”

The Med-Jai looked back with concealed feelings, the shadows of the flames dancing softly on his face. “I’ll do what I must for Ancksunamun, Nefertiri.” Her heart sank. “I won’t abandon her to the torments of Set.” Akhenre looked away and stood, moving away from them and trusting his lover and Imhotep’s resolve to save her.

Turning back to Imhotep, Evy gave him her most wounded expression, but it didn’t work. She knew he would go through with even death if it would save her. She had just begun to learn who he was and who they were together. And her baby…she would grow up fatherless. This couldn’t happen. Imhotep smiled softly and brushed his hand across her cheek, the pulled her forward to his mouth. “Do not be afraid.”

Evy scowled at him. “Don’t be stupid. Of course I’m afraid.” She nuzzled into his neck, wishing she couldn’t feel Ancksunamun’s interest. Her desire for pain in others was frightening to Evy. Ancksunamun’s intent was not redemption, but to hurt everyone that had ever hurt her. Her soul was tortured by some sickness that affected everyone.

Imhotep pet her warmly, stirring again the fear of missing him. It wasn’t fair that he had to give this up after everything that had been done to him. Evy hugged him close, letting a few more tears fall. “Why do these things happen to us?” she whispered against his shoulder.

“Do not become enamored of that question, Nefertiri,” Imhotep answered her and she closed her eyes. He continued touching her back and shoulders. “Instead ask how you can go on and do what your heart tells you. Paint your toenails red and when Livia is old enough, do the same to her. I like red.”

Evy laughed and looked up softly, touching his cheek. “Livia, huh?”

He nodded and kissed her hand. “Not pink or brown, my love. Red like the roses you showed me in England.” He wiped at a tear that trailed her cheek. “Nefertiri, I am so sorry for all I have done. Please forgive me.”

The urgency in his voice caught her off guard, threatening her eyes with moisture again. She could feel him shaking and it scared her. “Of course I forgive you. Imhotep, why wouldn’t you believe that? I love you.”

The proud priest closed his eyes and shook his head as if he wanted to escape some terrible reality. “Then that is the most I could hope for. I love you so.”

“Imhotep,” Evy breathed, pressing her lips against his and stealing a kiss as he fought himself. The most he could hope for? It occurred to her then that he might be afraid of what would happen to him. He was cursed…unforgiven? It was clear what Ancksunamun had escaped. Did he fear entering that? It was on her lips to speak words of comfort, but Ancksunamun would only use it to further his fears. The evil priestess couldn’t hear her thoughts, only read her emotions. “Imhotep,” she repeated, this time not in question. She pushed him back to the sand and he let her, accepting her body over his.

But something was happening and she knew that they wouldn’t be allowed any more warmth in this coldness that surrounded them. Ancksunamun was fighting for control now. “Don’t die,” she whispered, touching his lips. Evy then slumped forward and relinquished control.

He waited and when Ancksunamun looked up, there was a smile written across her mouth. “Poor little lovers. If only the evil Ancksunamun would have mercy! But mercy doesn’t exist, Imhotep. You will die tomorrow.”

Imhotep shoved her off him and she laughed, but she had had her fill of tormenting him. Nefertiri had let something slip and she had to be sure it didn’t do any damage to her already precarious situation. Ancksunamun stood up and walked through the sand to where Akhenre stood in silence. His back was to her and the vision brought little images to her mind of him leaning against the wall in the temple, taking his punishment after he had thought himself a murderer. She ran her hand up that strong back and he turned. “I have returned, lover.” The priestess pulled him closer, noting the sadness written in those brown eyes. It hurt her. Imhotep and Nefertiri she could hurt. Ardeth Bay she could hurt, but not Akhenre. He was still innocent. “Would you hold me?”

Wordlessly Akhenre obeyed, wrapping her inside those warm arms of his counterpart’s. She regretted nothing of what she was doing, except that he could see her doing it. “I won’t fail you, Ancksunamun,” he reaffirmed and she closed her eyes. He wouldn’t fail her—not if he could help it. But she was failing him and a part of her didn’t even care. He was so far away from her heart right now, yet all too near in certain ways. He wouldn’t last in this world, she knew.

Ancksunamun thought back on Imhotep’s plea for forgiveness. That she could never have and wanted even less. She wouldn’t be what he wanted her to be. In that he would forsake her. A moment of disgust would take him away and he would hate the monster that she was. Imhotep gave that up for love, but she could never.

Akhenre trailed his lips to her neck where he thoughtlessly marked her. Yet Ancksunamun suddenly didn’t have the energy to laugh at the strange feelings that brought to Nefertiri. He was in love with a fantasy of what she had been. She would be a fool for not knowing that. And she didn’t have the heart to change him.

*

Hadassaknamu – Short reviews are happy reviews. I’m glad to get any thoughts. :-D Thanks very much!

Lula – You are so kind to say what you do. :-) Don’t apologize for being late though…I’m thrilled to get any reviews whenever, as I said over AIM. It’s a treat!! Thinks do look a little freaky, eh? Yikes and away! Hehehe. And things might get a teensy freakier in the future…muahahaha. I’m glad you like Akhenre – he’s quite straight laced, huh? But he’s quite willing to do anything to make up for her hurt. Thanks!!

Fan of the Mummy – I know…things look scary for Immy and Evy. :-O Thanks for sticking with the story and reviewing!! :-)

Marcher – Shhhhh! ;-) Hush, you! JK. I’m glad you liked Drake…I felt bad for his dying in our little RPG. Doh! But such is life…or death. Thanks for the review!! :-D

Thanks everyone else reading…I just got inspired and had to finish this chapter…and begin the next! Lol. Now that I’ve finally figured out where I wanna go with the plot. I was getting a little frayed there. -Angela