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Breathing out an exhausted breath, the goddess Isis closed her eyes and concentrated again. Her hands where outstretched, and above her, images quickly flashed by...images of times long ago, from beginnings of the religion mortals today call Christianity, to Medieval times, to even more recent as just a few weeks ago. She had even looked in the Field Of Reeds and Set's own domain. But still, there was so sign, no indication of where or when the young girl Tari had gone. She was so sure this spell would work...that it would lock in on her, but it all proved useless now. Without knowing exactly where the girl was sent, there was no change of locating her energy wave...her signal, and Isis was as lost now as when she first started.
Grunting in frustration, the Mother Goddess lowered her arms, and the images disappeared. She sighed, then looked around the large room that held more spells and enchantments than she could count. Wall upon wall was filled high up to the ceiling with small niches that held papyrus sheets and scrolls inscribed with words and charms that no mortal could read, as the language they were in was long dead by their standards. The long table she stood in front of was nearly filled to overflowing with scrolls, each proving useless in finding Tari. The scroll she was just reading...thus helping her to see images and events in the past, stopped glowing and went back to its worn coloring.
A look of desperation crossed over the goddess's features then. It's been only a day or so since Tari disappeared, but time was running out. It would only be a matter of days or even hours before Set closed in on the child that was born with her husband Osiris's soul. How could she divide her time between finding Tari and the child? What should she do now? A sad, hopeless sob escaped her lips just as the large double doors to the room opened, and Hathor and Ma'at stepped in, followed by Thoth.
"Horus is just about recovered, thanks to the ambrosia. Anubis is watching him now, making sure the little fool doesn't go running off to try and confront Set himself.....again. You'd think he'd learn after all this time." said Thoth, trying to lighten the mood...but at the look on Isis's face, he knew no amount of jokes would ease the worry from the Queen's heart.
Isis just barely nodded, looking down hopelessly at the bunch of scrolls on the table. The other gods looked at each other for a moment, and then Hathor stepped up to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Nothing yet?" she asked as she gently stroked Isis's long hair.
Isis gulped, then shook her head, feeling tears well up. "It's...it's hopeless. I thought I was helping by diverting Set's spell to send her to the Underworld, but I just made things worse. If we don't find her soon to help find the child, Set will.....Set will..." She could barely speak he words as her throat became tight with sadness as the tears spilled free. She hastily tried to wipe them away. She was a goddess...a queen no less! She had no time to shed tears.
"Please do not despair, My Lady," Ma'at, standing near her. "We are also trying out best to find the child...Hathor, Thoth, and I, and we WILL find him. And I'm sure if you keep trying, you'll find the mortal girl Tari. We can't give up. We must keep working..together."
At those encouraging words, the Queen Goddess smiled slightly at her, then nodded. She gratefully took the Goddess Of Justice's hand in her own, then was surprised when Hathor put her hand on top of theirs, followed by Thoth. Together in the sunlit room, the group made a silent vow to never give up, and to do all they can to find Tari and the child before Set struck again.
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Morning spilled into the small bedroom like a shower of gold from the cut out window, bathing Tari's form in its glow. The sunlight fell on Tari's face, and she groaned sleepily and turned away. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the brightness. Just then, Nkosi walked into the room, and he stopped short as he watched her lay on the bed. With a small smile, he walked up to her and knelt next to her. It was almost a shame to wake her, looking so comfortable tangled up in his sheets and her long braided hair flowing about her head. He would have given just about anything to keep gazing on her peaceful face, to just have the time to memorize every outline and shape of her nose and full, pouty lips. But as much as he wanted to, he knew that there was no time....if they were to be at the palace early, they had to get ready to leave now.
Sighing with regret, he reached forward and gently shook her. "Hey..time to get up," he said softly. Tari groaned again, then a moment later, her eyes fluttered open. When she saw Nkosi looking down on her, her eyes widen in surprise and she sat up quickly.
"Oh! S..sorry, did I oversleep?" she said, rubbing her eyes. As he was getting up, she gave him an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, I'm not exactly a morning person..."
The young man only chuckled as he helped her stand. "No, it's fine. I only got up this early myself because of the celebration at the palace today. I thought we might get an early start and get there before all the crowds. If not, it could take a while to get an audience with the king."
"Oh, right.....meeting the king." Tari gulped and looked down on herself. She had never met royalty of course...coming from America, but even she knew that you can't wear just anything to meet a king or queen. She hoped what she had was good enough.
Nkosi saw her look and smiled reassuringly at her. "It's alright, the king is not very big on formalities, and I'm sure the palace servants will take good care of you once they know you really need to speak with him." He winked at her.
Tari sighed slightly with relief before nodding her head. Nkosi then took her hand, and she couldn't help blush just a little at his muscular bare back as he led her to the front room where a small breakfast of bread, cheese, and delicious dates...a fruit Tari had only read about...were waiting for her.
Soon, after a quick cleanup, they were on their way. Once more Tari found herself sitting behind Nkosi on his horse, holding on to him tightly. Outside, Tari saw people were already up and moving, carrying baskets on their heads or opening up outside markets. People rushed by, pulling along their donkeys and generally yelling and talking with each other, giving a vibrant and energetic vibe to the village. Young girls grouped together to talk about the latest gossip, while young men hurried off to meet up with their instructors and classmates. Tari closed her eyes and sniffed the air filled with the delicious smells of breakfast being made.
But besides that, she also saw that people were also making preparations for the celebration at the palace. Men and women were carrying large bundles wrapped in papyrus and leaves.....obviously meant for the palace, and dressed up a little fancier than before. She saw women checking their dressed and making sure their wigs were on correct, and even checking each other's make-up. Around their eyes were dark kohl, the popular eye make-up used for so long by the Egyptians for beauty as well as to keep away eye-infection.
Curious, Tari looked up at Nkosi. "Nkosi...what is the celebration for at the palace?" she asked.
"Why, it's the king's birthday. This will mark his 35th year, as well as his 5th year reigning as king." the young Egyptian man smiled. "It's quite important, as not many kings live to his age." His eyes had a slight sadness to them. "Most of our princes and kings are killed by assassins or by sickness long before that age."
"I see..." Tari nodded. She remembered reading how dangerous it was to come from royalty in ancient Egypt, and knew how important this celebration was. Inside, she actually felt honored to be able to witness this. If she ever got home, she certainly wouldn't forget it!
About half an hour later, they were coming up on the palace, and Tari could only gasp in wonder at the sight. The first thing she noted was the amazing color. In her time, the ancient palaces were crumbling and dust-colored, with the paintings long faded out, but here....the palace was a beautiful shade of cream, with fresh hieroglyphics painted all along the immense pillars and columns. Intricately designed balconies went all round the second story, with beautiful curtains at the cut-out windows and doorways blowing gently in the wind. Even as Nkosi stopped and got off the horse, then helped her down, Tari couldn't help continue to stare. The palace was large, and through the enormous double front doors...which were wide open and flanked by two guards, Tari could see a wonderfully designed courtyard with a small pond in the middle, small trees surrounding it. Never in her life had Tari imagined that in this time, the palaces would be so beautiful and....grand.
Nkosi couldn't help by chuckle slightly at the look on Tari's face. "Come on, there's much more to see inside," he smiled. After giving his horse to a stable boy, he led Tari in through the immense double doors, nodding to the two guards that stood on either side. The guards nodded back at him, obviously knowing each other, then gave Tari curious looks.
But Tari ignored them as she walked into the beautiful courtyard. All around, servants and nobility were hurrying to and fro, making last minute preparations for the celebration. Young girls were dashing across carrying dresses meant for Ladies, and boys hurried along with clay pots, containers, and pans meant for the kitchen. But despite those distractions, there was no way Tari couldn't notice the sheer beauty of the courtyard. Wooden benches and seats were all about, obviously meant for the royalty and visitors to the palace, and bushes of flowers of all kinds aligned the pathways and corners, giving the area and sweet and calming scent. More than anything did Tari want to stay and taken in the beauty, but Nkosi pulled her along. "Come, we don't have much time, the celebrations starts soon!"
He took her hand once more and hurried through the courtyard and into the palace itself. Inside, Tari passed through a long corridor with that had more freshly painted hieroglyphs on the walls, along with paintings depicting battle scenes and daily life in the ancient land of Egypt. Before Tari knew it, they had arrived at a large double door that Tari knew for sure was the throne room. It was wooden and painted with the sun rising on one door...complete with birds and other animals, and the sun setting on the other, with various night creatures crawling around.
Just as Tari and Nkosi came up to the doors, they swung open, revealing two more guards who nodded welcoming to Nkosi, and the inside of the throne room. As soon as they stepped inside, Tari's eyes widened more. "Woooow...." Tari breathed out.
The throne room was filled to near capacity, with people from various backgrounds and social standings walking all around. Not only were there the dark-skinned Egyptians, but also visiting dignitaries from different countries......the much darker Africans kings laughed and clasped hands with the lighter-skinned sheiks from Arabia other countries from the Middle East. Asian-looking women glided across the floor with their dresses of many colors, and Tari was even surprised to see a group of Greek men of different ages...wearing their trademark togas and green wreaths in their hair...talking quietly amongst themselves.
"This..this is amazing!" Tari said in wonder.
Nkosi nodded in agreement. "Yes, since this is such an important event in our history, many have come to pay respect and to wish good luck." His smiled then faltered as he looked at Tari. "With such a celebration and support, perhaps the king will be even more than happy to help you find a way back to....back to your...home."
Tari gasped slightly, and as she looked into his eyes....the funny feeling came back again. That small, tiny stab right in her heart as she thought about what would happen if she found a way back home. Would she ever...could she ever see Nkosi again? For some reason, she didn't like to think about that. She had come to care about him. But did she...dare she think it...love him? Tari's heart beat faster at that thought, but she forced it to calm down. No, not love. She had vowed not to ever love again, because love only betrayed her, stolen her trust and innocence. But as she stood looking deep into Nkosi's eyes, a tiny spark ignited...a spark she didn't want, but grew nonetheless.
"Nkosi, I..." She was about to tell him how much she appreciated his kindness, his caring, but that if he did have feelings, that it would be no good, that she had vowed not to love again, when just then, there was the sound of clapping and cheers, and the crowd parted way. Dashing into the empty space, laughing and shouting, was a group of short, stocky dark-skinned children, wearing leafy green headdresses and leaf skirts, and carrying various musical instruments. They formed a circle, and when Tari saw their faces, she saw they were not children, but instead short, little adults! They stood no more that three and half feet. Some of the little men in the group had a bit of grey hair, and the women had little leaf bras. They were midgets!
But Tari remembered they were called something else in this time....something that started with the letter "P". She thought for a moment, then it came to her; "Pygmies!" she said with joy. "Oh Nkosi, they're Pygmies!" She giggled and watched in fascination as the little people began to play their instrument and dance in time to the music, some clapping their hands. Soon the whole room was clapping and dancing to their song. Nkosi smiled at her as she watched the show of the dancing Pygmies, then put a hand on her shoulder.
"I have to leave for just a moment to find the king and let him know you're here. Will you be okay?" he asked.
Tari looked around her in concern for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay." She smiled confidently and nodded her head. At that, Nkosi gave her one more encouraging smile before turning away.
For the next few moments, Tari enjoyed herself with the music of the Pygmies, clapping and singing along. The song ended, and just as the applause ended and another song began, Tari felt a hand on her shoulder. She gasped and turned around.....but was only met by a group of about four young Egyptian girls....looking to be about her age, if not a bit younger.
The girl who had her hand on her shoulder smiled at Tari. "You're the girl that Nkosi found, right? You're Tari?" she asked.
"Y..yes. How did you know?" She blinked curiously at the girls.
"Nkosi is very popular here, so any word about him spreads very quickly here, as well as all news!" the girl said, chuckling softly. The other girls with her blushed softly at the mention of Nkosi.
The obviously leader of the girls took Tari's hand in her own. "We're the palace servants here, and we heard you're supposed to meet the king. We can help you look presentable!" She grinned widely at Tari.
"Oh..well, I don't think I should leave...HEY!" Tari barely had time to finish these words as the girl pulled her along, the other servant girls following behind.
"Come on, it'll be okay! We'll take you to Nkosi when you're done!" Giggling, the group of girl surrounded Tari and whisked her away.
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"Damn it, where did she go?" grumbled Nkosi, walking along the palace corridors. It had taken him longer than expected to find the king...even on his birthday he was working, and was having a serious discussion with farm worker that had a complaint far on the other side of the palace. When Nkosi finally found him, he had to wait until the king was finished speaking with him. It seemed to take forever, but he was finally able to tell the tall King Narmer that Tari was here, and she had needed his help finding her way back home. The king agreed to see her, and when Nkosi went back the throne room, Tari was gone.
No one knew where she went, and Nkosi's heart beat wildly as he thought of things that might have happened to her. She could have been taken! He shook his head from those thoughts and hurried through the long hallways, making sure to look into each room. When he was done, he thought of the upstairs. But that was mostly for the women...at least that's what he was told. He had never been up there before, but he had to check. If she was still in the palace, that's where she would definitely be.
He hurried up the stairs, and when he reached the second story, he found it strangely empty. He passed by the balconies, and a moment later, he thought he heard giggling. Were there people up here after all? He thought they were all at the celebration downstairs.
He turned towards to where he heard the sound from, and a moment later, he heard it again...laughing. He hurried down the hall, then stopped at a doorway. He heard talking, followed by giggling again. So someone IS in there. Perhaps they can tell him where Tari went. He nodded to himself and stepped inside the long doorway.......and stopped himself short after taking a few steps, taking in a breath.
He had stepped into the short hall that led into the intricately designed palace bathhouse, and standing at the edge of the large sunken tub was Tari, completely unclothed. Surrounding her and curiously stroking her braided hair as Tari looked on shyly was a small group of the palace servants, only partially clothed themselves. But he only had eyes for Tari. For a moment it seemed his heart stopped and he forgot to breathe. He knew he shouldn't look, shouldn't invade her privacy like this, but he just couldn't get his feet to move. She was a vision...a vision from the gods themselves. At that moment, one of the girls leaned forward and whispered something in Tari's ear. He watched fascinated as she blushed and shyly smiled, shaking her head as the girls giggled once more.
He should have moved then, should have been respectful and left, but once more it was if his feet were made of stone. A patch of cloud finally floated away from the sun then, and as the other girls moved away from Tari, a ray of sunlight landed on her from one of the cut out windows, bathing her in its glow. He couldn't take his eyes off her even if he was forced to....it was so mesmerizing; the shape of her legs, her thighs, her stomach, her.....he had to stop and squeeze his eyes shut before opening them again.
Just then, one of the girls poured a small vial of perfumed oil into the water, then taking Tari's hand, gently helped her into the water. It was then that Nkosi finally shook himself out of his stupor. He backed away, nearly tripping over his feet, and then rushed away, a blush staining his own dark cheeks.
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Just as she settled down into the cool, scented water, Tari stood back up and turned towards the bathhouse doorway. "What was that?" she asked out loud, hearing a scuffling sound. The servant girls...sitting on the carved out edge of the immense tub with their feet in the water, looked up curiously.
The one who had dragged Tari away from the throne room nodded to the girls, indicating that she should go and see who it was. The youngest of the girls got up and rushed to the doorway, but found no one there.
"It's alright, there shouldn't be anyone up here. We cleared everyone out, and just about everyone is at the celebration anyway." the younger girl said, nodding with confidence.
Tari felt herself relax as she settled back into the water. She had never expected to be fussed over like this! While she was shy about getting undressed in front of strangers, at least they were girls, and Tari definitely felt she needed a bath anyway. If they wanted to cater and fuss over her, then she wasn't going to argue! But still, at the doorway, she could have sworn she saw a shadow and heard someone. She sighed and put the thought out of her head. It couldn't have been, the whole area was cleared, like they said, and no one knew she was up here. She just hoped she would be ready by time Nkosi was ready for her.
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Soon after, Tari stood in the middle of a small bedroom as the girls helped her into a new dress, similar to the one she had before but with more colors and just a bit shorter. After the bath and getting all the grime and dirt off her, Tari felt a lot better, and more than ready to meet the king.
When they were done, one of servant girls nodded in approval and smiled. "There, now you're ready to meet the king!" She then lowered her voice. "And Nkosi will like this too!" she said, winking.
Tari blushed hard as she shook her head. "Oh..no! No, it's not like that, Nkosi and I aren't...I mean, there isn't anything between.."
"Of course not!" she giggled along with the other girls. Before Tari could explain anymore, she once more took Tari hand and whisked her away again. Tari sighed, already getting tired of explaining there was nothing between her and Nkosi. There couldn't be, even if somehow she did want to, because if things go as planned, she wouldn't be here long enough anyway. Before she could help it, the sadness at that thought was back, and it wouldn't go away, not as easily as it did before.
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To be continued...
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