Life From Your Lips (Ruby Rose fanfic)

TWO (Iselen POV)

"Fuck, I'm so hung over... What the hell did I drink last night?" I grumble feeling dizzy, I think I'm still half asleep and decide to remain lying face down although this bed is a bit hard, I fear I'll throw up if I turn around. I don't understand this, I don't usually drink too much, it gives me a stomachache and nightmares... In fact, I had a very weird dream: I was locked up in a tomb and...

"Is that her? Is she the divine creature?" a voice whispers in a foreign language, I know it's not my mother tongue but can understand it. My brain is working in slow motion right now and seems unable to react, get surprised or wake up completely so I remain lying down, tiles are cold under my body but I don't care because I feel hot. Where the hell am I? Shit, I'll be late for work and professor Stephens will get angry at me.

"Of course she is, don't you see the drawing on her skin? I didn't know that Isis' maids got ink done too..." A different voice answers and it sends a shiver down my spine when I listen to her... so sweet. I must be still dreaming because women with sweet voices don't usually pay attention to me or maybe it's because I'm too awkward trying to flirt. Opening my eyes takes a lot of effort but it's futile because this place is dark except for the light flickering behind me. My stomach feels a bit upset and I wouldn't like to throw up in front of the woman with an angel's voice... Some soft fingertips graze my lower back carefully, following the lines of the tattoo I got done the very same night I read the letter that confirmed I was going to travel to Egypt to join Mortimer's team: goddess Isis kneeled down, her spread wings covering my kidneys and protecting my body... "It's gorgeous, and loot at this... It's Horus' eye..."

"Only people coming from a poor background get tattoos in the kingdom of Kemet, well, you got them to pay homage to your maternal family too but they're uncommon among nobles... Do you think the goddess tries to send you a message introducing you to her tattooed servant?"

"I don't know, Atet, maybe... It's pretty obvious this woman is the answer to my prayers... It can't be otherwise since we've followed the ritual to the letter and, suddenly, she was there lying on the floor in the middle of the corridor in front on my private sanctuary of Isis, in my own home. The goddess sends me her tattooed maid with her portrait on her flesh so I know she's not an impostor, I'm sure of that... Her clothes are a bit weird..."

"Why does she cover her legs like the strangers from the north? And I don't even know how to describe those things she wears on her feet... they don't look like sandals at all. At least, the top is soft when you touch it but thicker than linen... maybe heaven is colder than earth although it shouldn't be given that they're closer to the sun."

The conversation I'm listening to is completely absurd and makes no sense: if this is a dream, I'd better wake up now. I need to get up, take a shower and eat something to get rid of my hangover... I'll be late to work and Lara will take advantage of it to cling to the professor like a limpet and butter him up... I can't allow that. I lean my hand on the cold floor and manage to turn till I'm lying face up but I need to close my eyes because I feel dizzy and clench my jaw to hold back the nausea. Maybe I ate something that didn't sit well with me... Food poisoning sounds right because I don't usually drink alcohol. Do I have a fever? I raise my arm slowly and lean my hand on my forehead letting out a moan when I feel my head throbbing.

"Wow, is that silver? She's wearing lot of rings..."

"I think so," the woman with a sweet voice gasps surprised. "It's an ankh hanging from her neck... and an Osiris' pillar... The bracelet looks like a snake... It must be a cobra, you know, Uadyet, the goddess who protected and breastfed Horus till Isis was able to get her son back..."

"The gods' flesh is supposed to be made of gold but silver jewels are more valuable, there aren't silver mines in our kingdom and we have to bring it from distant lands... But it seems to me that they have a lot in heaven..."