| ADVENTURES OF THE O'CONNELL FAMILY Page 27 |
| He looked at her skeptically. �Princess Nefertiri?� Upon hearing this, the priests murmured amongst themselves and took a closer look. They immediately dropped to the floor, bowing to her. �Yes, it is I,� she responded, lifting her chin a notch, daring him to question her identity. �What are you doing without any guards and why have you changed your hair? I received a note from Pharaoh Seti on the day after you and he disappeared saying that the two of you left in the middle of the night and would not be returning for some time. What is wrong? Is there trouble? It is not like him to keep things from me.� Imhotep looked around at the other people in her group with their eyes all downcast. �Who are these people?� Evie had to think fast. �My father and I are in trouble, and these people have helped me and will continue doing so until all is well again.� Imhotep still wasn�t completely convinced. �Forgive me Princess, but I must ask that you prove to me that you are in fact who you say you are. May I put you to a test? A challenge that the Princess would never deny.� Evie�s courage faltered a little, but she did not let it show. �I will accept any challenge to prove myself.� Imhotep nodded and gave the priest next to him an order. �Go and fetch Princess Nefertiri�s weapons instructor, Anck-su-namun. Have her bring the tridents.� Rick tensed and cursed under his breath while Jonathan mumbled �Oh, bloody hell�. They did not understand the ancient Egyptian language, but they knew there would be trouble when they heard the name of Anck-su-namun. Milo ([email protected]) April 16, 2002 Gabrielle had moved to the back of the room when Imhotep had entered. As Jonathan began to realize where she'd squirmed off to he recalled that she and Imhotep had given each other odd glances, and Gabrielle had also made a small noise in her throat when she'd seen him. Turning around Jonathan saw the uncomfortable look on Gabrielle's face, and walked over to her, frowning. "What is it?" He asked. Gabrielle looked as if she'd gotten the shudders for a moment and shook her head, "Nothing..." But Jonathan wasn't ready to give up just yet. "That's it, come here." He said, taking her arm and pulling her behind a huge door into the hallway. He looked into her deep brown eyes with question. "What is it?" He repeated. "Imhotep." She tensed up again at her own voice saying his name. Looking down, "We have a bit of history." "Oh boy." Gabrielle nodded. "It was before he became a priest...I was young...fourteen probably. Imhotep was older, much older. This was all before I became somewhat of an outlaw, back when my parents were alive. They were very rich and our family was held in high regard. So...so was Imhotep�s family." She started to shake a bit in anger as she remembered her past encounter with the priest. "One night I was..." She cleared her throat, obviously upset. "One night I was outside our home by the fountains....and....Imhotep....he....walked over and...forced me....to..." The anger was so present in Gabrielle's eyes Jonathan couldn't help but stop her from talking. Seeing her that way scared him and he didn't know why. But all he knew was she needed to be comforted. So in an instant he had his arms around her and was pulling her to him shushing her. "You don't have to say it Gabrielle. Don't think about it. I'm here now and I won't let him hurt you." It sounded so cheesy coming out of Jonathan's mouth, but he was more serious than he'd ever been in his life. He knew that against Imhotep he was no competition. But he also knew that the feeling he was having was none other than pure rage. He had to do something. Anything. Gabrielle didn't cry but he knew she wanted to. She just couldn't because she was too proud. But Jonathan had seen the look in her eyes, and he wasn't about to let Imhotep go unpunished for that. Shell ([email protected]) April 16, 2002 In the damp dark confines of the cellar, Alex yelled for someone to help him. He didn't want to die, he had too much he wanted to do, and most of all he didn't want to die because he didn't want his parents to feel that sort of sadness. It was useless, he slunk over to the chair they had left for him and sat down trying to accept that he was going to die this time, and that there was not a thing that anyone could do to help him. ~*~*~*~*~ What Alex did not know was that he had been seen. A boy his age who oddly enough looked exactly like him had been wondering around in the dark prison of the palace, and had caught a glimpse of Alex. Adom came to the realization then that Elder Hesina had been correct about her vision. She had seen strangers that were not strangers come to their land to stop a great evil from destroying their world. Adom at the time had passed it off. Unlike the rest of the young boys in his village, and with them men, he didn't think she truly saw what she said. Now he knew the truth, and he raced out of the palace using the secret way known only to the most knowledgeable of the Med-jai, as well as to little boys who snuck around, and went to where he had hidden his horse. He mounted up, then road off in a hurry to go to the secret place where his Med-jai clan made their home. His father would be upset that he had snuck out in the dark of the night, but he was too worried to sit around and wait until morning. His mother and grandfather should have shown up at least two days ago and everything seemed calm at the palace, so it was obvious that something was up. The absence of the Pharaoh and his daughter without explanation would have caused a great commotion, and guards would be everywhere in search of them. Adom rushed back to tell his father, the leader of that particular Med-jai clan, what he had seen that night. Adom and his mother were the only two who would dare go against his father's wishes, for anyone else who ever dared to defy Osiris would be dead before they ever thought to defy him again. Deana Lisi ([email protected]) April 17, 2002 �You love me?� Nefret said, hoping she hadn�t heard wrong. �Truly?� Ardeth nodded, and tried to hide a wince at moving his head. �Truly.� |