Disclaimer: The Mummy movies do not belong to me.  I acknowledge that they are the creation of the great Stephen Sommers, and the actors who portrayed the characters.  Eshe Bey, and Olia Bey are mine so you can’t take them.  I acknowledge the title of my story comes from a song that I heard, from Steven Curtis Chapman, so thats his too, and in part the idea from my story comes from that song.  www.stevencurtischampman.com

 

Author: Shelby

 

Summary: This is a story about Ardeth’s life, and a sad one as he has to face raising his child alone. 

 

Note : Again I know people have been doing stories of Ardeth and his family, but again I want a stab at it so her I go

 

 

 

No Greater Love

 

 

Prologue

 

Since the fall of Hamunaptra, Ardeth’s job as leader of the Med-jai had not gotten any easier.  Their sworn duty to watch over he city had not changed, and despite the protest of the younger members of the tribe, that duty was still in place.  The world was changing, and the simple ways that his people  lived their lives seemed to be forever threatened.  People from other places began to travel to Egypt, most interested in the ancient cities of Thebes and the pyramids but there were still those who sought Hamunaptra, and also those who wanted to see the end of the Med-jai, ancient followers of Imhotep, who wanted his tribe wiped out.  With all of his duties, the only thing that kept Ardeth focused was his wife Eshe, and their daughter Olia, who was a constant source of joy to both of them.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Chapter 1: Olia Bey

 

The woman, and girls of the Med-jai were not allowed to become warriors, that job was left to the men of the tribe.  It had been that way for thousands of years, and would be that way for a thousand more.  The girls were taught things, such as how to make clothing, fix meals, and take care of the younger children, none of them really had an interest in what the men of their tribe did, none accept Olia Bey.  Her favorite time was when she was with her father, and over, and over again she begged to hear the stories of Hamunaptra.  She had not even been a glimmer in either his nor Eshe’s eye when Imhotep had walked the earth, and three years later they had given her life.  Now she was 6, and a very mischievous, spirited child.  That mischief often got her into trouble, as it had done today, and now in her room she waited for her father’s return.  All she had wanted to do was go exploring around the ruins of Hamunaptra, to prove to Adom and the other boys that she was not afraid.  It hadn’t been difficult for her to steel her fathers horse Osiris from the stables, nor had it been difficult to get to the city.  Unfortunately Osiris had not liked being away, without her father, and before she knew what had happened he had taken off without her.  That hadn’t even been the worst part.  The worst part was that just as she was about to explore the small crator she had found near what remained of the head, of the statue of Anubis, Badru, her fathers second in command over their tribe had found her, and now she was here.

 

“Noone understand me,”  she said as she kicked the rocking horse Ardeth had carved for her when she was born.  When she had gotten home, Eshe had used a switch on her, and her legs still stung from that.

 

“Maybe I should run away, what do you think Bebti,”  she asked of her Falcon.  Bebti had been given to her by Badru, despite her fathers protest, and was the only one who she felt close to at this moment.

 

“Maybe we should fly.  You could teach me,”  she said petting him.  He had on a velvet hood, to keep him from flying away.  When she heard the handle to her door twist she ran over to her bed, quickly getting in.  Her mother had told her to stay in her bed, and while getting switched from her mother hurt, it was nothing compared to when her father spanked her, and lately that seemed a great deal of the time.

 

“Olia come over here,”  Ardeth said as he sat down in the rocking chair.  He didn’t sound happy, and that wasn’t good.  After taking a few breaths she crawled out from beneath the covers and kept focus on her feet.  When she reached the rocking chair she was lifted onto his lap, and then he started to rock her.

 

“Will you explain to me why you went to Hamunaptra?  Why you chose to disobey my rules and your mothers?”  he asked kissing the top of her head.  Her black hair was an unruly mess, and she still had dust on her face from riding Osiris as fast as she could get him to go.

 

“Adom says I’m just a girl,”  she said.  Ardeth waited, and when she didn’t say anything more he asked her for more of a reason.  His love for his daughter was the greatest he had felt, next to the love he had for Eshe, but Olia’s reckless ways were not things he approved of.

 

“They make me angry father.  They always say I can’t go with them cause I’m not allowed.  Well I showed them,”  she said proud of herself, then her father held her so he could see her, and the anger she found in his eyes quickly turned her pride to fear and shame.

 

“Going to Hamunaptra is not allowed, nor is taking Osiris without my permission,”  he said.  When he spanked her, she held in her cries until he left, then she buried her face in her soft pillow and cried as though her heart had broken.

 

~*~*~*~

 

In the commons room of their small home, Eshe sat in the other rocking chair, mending a dress Olia had torn just the other day.  She looked up when her husband came from the back of their home, and the look of sadness on his face, caused her to put down the dress and go to him.  Needing to feel her touch, Ardeth opened he arms, and sighed as she came into his embrace.

 

“Tell me what I have done wrong?”  he said  rubbing his hand over her back.

 

“My love, you do nothing wrong.  Olia has a adventurous spirit, and in time she will learn the ways she is supposed to follow,”  Eshe reassured.  After a moment, Eshe pulled away from him, and took his hand leading him to the back of their home, to their room.  There was nothing fancy about it, It was a room with their bed, another rocking chair for when Olia came in from having a bad dream, and a wardrobe for their clothing, as well as a small dresser.  Once there, she had him remove his robes, getting from her dresser the special oils she used when she gave him a massage.  When she turned, he was already laying on their bed, and Eshe smiled.  At first when she had been promised to Ardeth by her father, she had not been happy.  The first few years of their marriage had not been anything she had liked.  Then when He Who Shall Not Be Named came back, and she thought she would lose him forever, her love for him grew, and after that time it had remained a strong, constant force in both their lives.  After pouring a small amount of oil between his shoulder blades, Eshe settled beside him and began to rub there.  He didn’t surpress his moan of pleasure at feeling her hands on him, giving him comfort.  Over the past 12 years of their marriage it was her hands that had tended to his wounds from battles fought against those who tried to disturb Hamunaptra.  It was her hands which gave him the most pleasure, and her hands which soothed the tears of their daughter when she was most upset.  When she began to kiss his shoulders, he closed his eyes trying to focus on his breathing, and when he felt her lips on his neck, and her teeth graze against him, he let out low moan.  He rolled on his side to face her, and she smiled at him.

 

“I wish you didn’t have to go away,”  she said softly.  He reached out and unbuttoned the front of her robes, letting it fall away from her shoulders.  Her brown eyes grew dark with passion, and her black hair fell in waves over her shoulders as she leaned in to kiss him.

 

“Only for a few days,”  he said as he helped her lay beside him, then moved over her, and thrust into her.

 

“My Ardeth,”  she cried out as he stroked into her slowly.  He slid his arms beneath her and his lips found hers, neither seeing their daughter standing at the door.  Olia knew a closed door meant not to enter, but she had wanted to tell her father she was sorry. Now she just stood there, not sure what they were doing.

 

“Father,”  she called out.  Her voice broke through to their private world, and Ardeth pulled the blanket over them before pulling out of his wife.

 

“Olia, the door was shut,”  Eshe said, letting her husband get control of himself.

 

“I want to tell father I’m sorry for being bad,”  she said.

 

“Go to your bed, and he will be in later,”  Eshe said.  Olia walked out not happy that he was not going to come now.  In her own room, Olia dressed for outside.  Despite getting punished twice that day, she wanted outside to look at the stars, and maybe talk Badru into letting her help watch over Hamunaptra.  After getting on her little boots, and combing her long black hair, pulling it back in a tie, she headed outside.  Just as she was about to go out the door someone knocked.  Quickly she opened it, and found Aine there.

 

“We need your mother.  Chione is having her baby,”  she said out of breath.  Olia turned and found both her parents coming out from the back of the house.

 

“There are complications,”  Aine said as Eshe sliped on her heave robe for the cool night.  Once they were gone, Ardeth took Olia back to her room and helped her get ready for bed, letting the fact that she was ready to go out again, slip.  Now as he rocked her she asked about what she had seen.

 

“Momma cried”  Olia said softly, getting more sleepy as her father rocked her.

 

“Not out of hurt.  When you are older, and ready to know what all of that means I will tell you.  Now my little Femi, it is time to sleep,”  he said.

 

“But what if I see him again,”  she said starting to panic.  Lately Olia had been dreaming of a shadow creature, who told her scary things, and sleeping frightened her.  Ardeth had taken her to the elders, who assured him that the dreams were nothing more than that.

 

“Shh, if you see him again you tell him that your father is protecting you, and then I shall come,”  Ardeth assured as her  cradling her in his arms so that she could see him.  She reached up and traced the tattoo’s on his forehead, yawning in the process.

 

“I want a tattoo on my head father,”  she said yawning again.

 

“I want a star there,”  she whispered then closed her eyes.  Ardeth kept rocking her watching her as she slept, then decided to make a tea for when Eshe arrived home.  Carefully he stood, and walked over to his daughters small bed.  Gently he lay her on the down filled mattress, and pulled the soft covers over her.

 

“Sleep well my Femi,”  he said kissing her head.

 

~*~*~*~

 

It was quite late when Eshe returned, and she was glad when Ardeth came and took her into his arms.

 

“The child wasn’t meant for this world.  I tried to help him, but he just wasn’t ready to be here,”  she said letting her tears fall.  Out of the many babies she had helped to birth, there were only a few that didn’t make, it, and those few she mourned.  He lifted her into his strong arms, and took her to their room.  There they made love into the wee hours of the morning, a love which always helped to heal her heavy heart.  It was before the sun rose that Olia and Eshe said goodbye to him, then went about preparing for the day at hand.  Ardeth had to go visit one of the other Medjai tribes, one that watched over and protected the sands of Ahm Shere, and wouldn’t be back for a month.