| THE ADVENTURES OF THE O'CONNELL FAMILY Page 58 |
| Nephthys back to the Underworld. "You said Jonathan and Evie are brother and sister, correct?" Gabrielle nodded. "And of course Nefertiri and Ramesses II are brother and sister..." Senbi's eyes lit up. "What are you saying, your Highness?" "Then this brother and sister of the future must together bring about the final end of Nephthys!" Heidi Rittner ([email protected]) July 24, 2002 Osiris, Ardeth, and Evie quietly made their way from behind the ancient pillars and statues towards the voice of Nephthys. Osiris was in the lead, keeping one ahead and checking around each corner before giving Ardeth and Evie the hand signal that would tell them that all was clear. Osiris looked around the corner to the hallway of the throne room. Only one of Nephthys� men stood guard outside the door. It was the man he had seen before and he still had Jonathan�s shirt in his fist. Osiris looked to Ardeth, signaling them to stay. Evie watched the exchange of hand signals. �What�s wrong? Why have we stopped?� �The throne room is just around that corner,� Ardeth nodded his head towards the direction. �It is being guarded. We need to take care of him as quietly as possible. We do not want to alert Nephthys or her other guards.� �What can I do to help?� �Whatever happens, stay hidden here. If something should happen to Osiris and myself, you will need to go back to Gabrielle�s brother�s house to alert the others.� Evie nodded and prepared herself. She peaked from behind their current hiding place, watching Osiris. Osiris looked at his surroundings while thinking of a plan. He needed to make a noise loud enough for the one guard to hear, but quiet enough so that it would not be heard by the others inside the throne room. He took a coin from his coin purse and held it in his open palm as he continued to look around. Unfortunately, the dirt walls and floor would not make much of a sound, so his aim had to be accurate. There was a small gold statue of Horus perched on a pillar directly across from him. It could also be seen from the guard�s viewpoint and would spark his curiosity. Osiris looked down at the coin in his palm and tossed it up and down in his hand to get the weight of it. He took aim and threw the coin, missed and watch as the coin bounced off the wall to land next to the pillar. He drew another coin, once again weighing it in his hands and taking aim. This time, the coin his the statue, making a clanging noise. Osiris immediately shrank back into the shadows to wait for his prey. Omin stood outside the throne room door mumbling to himself. Omin, go fetch the man. Omin, go fetch me the whip� He continued to mumble. He was sick and tired of the Nephthys woman giving him orders. She had promised him enough gold so that he would be able to do as he pleased for the rest of his life, but he had not gotten a single coin. Now she assigned him to guard the door. He was highly offended at being given the job of a simpleminded slave. So what if I hurt the little man? At least I didn�t kill him. His brooding was interrupted by a small clang. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw two round objects in the sand reflecting the torch lights. He looked back at the door. Bah! So what if I leave my post for a while. No one will come for the man anyway. They�ve all left. He made his way slowly to the statue, keeping an eye out for intruders. As soon as he made out the two round figures to be gold coins, his greed overrode his caution. He threw Jonathan�s shirt to the ground and rushed the rest of the way over to pick up the coins. Finally some gold coins! Now where did they come from? He heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed and quickly turned around grabbing for his sword, but it was too late. Osiris quickly quieted the man from alarming the other guards by putting a quick end to the guards life. Osiris looked back and saw Ardeth standing ready with his sword in hand in case he needed Ardeth�s help. Osiris signaled him over. �Quick. Help me drag the body to the shadows where I was standing. We want them to think he has wondered off in case anyone leaves the room.� Ardeth nodded and they completed the task. Osiris signaled for Evie to join them. She picked up Jonathan�s discarded shirt on her way over. Osiris continued with his next plan. �Now we reach the most difficult part. They are behind those closed doors. We do not know how many guards she has in there with her, where they are all standing, or exactly where Jonathan is in the room. We must be careful. Here is my plan. Ardeth. You�� He stopped as they heard the crack of a whip, followed by Jonathan�s muffled cry of pain. Evie could feel the anger rising in her. She felt as if it was radiating out of her pours. How dare she!? That is the last straw! �I�m going to kill that bitch.� Before Osiris or Ardeth could stop her, she took off in big strides towards the closed door. �Evie, wait!� Again, the crack of whip and muffled cry. Evie stopped and quickly turned toward Osiris and Ardeth. �I don�t care if she had her own bloody Army of Anubis! If I had to, I�d go through all of them to get to her!� She burst through the door and immediately saw her brother with two bloody whip marks on his back. She then looked up to Nephthys. When their eyes locked, Nephthys took a step back. She felt as if she was punched in the gut. She could feel Evie�s power and anger radiating full force. Nephthys held up her hand to stop the guards from attacking. Nephthys raised her chin in defiance as she spoke. �So. You�ve come for your brother, have you? I�m sorry, but you won�t be leaving with him.� Jonathan raised his head to look at his sister and let her know that he was all right. He could see her becoming more and more angry and she seemed to have a glow of power around her. He�d never seen anything like it. Nephthys looked down at Jonathan and caressed his cheek with the back of her fingers. �I�ve decided to keep him for my amusement. If you want him back, you�ll have to go through me.� She looked back at Evie. |